[0:46] Parks and recreation month celebrate the vital role parks and recreation professionals play in building healthier

[0:54] stronger and more connected communities. We're pleased today to recognise parks and recreation

[1:01] professionals who made it all possible for us here at clay

[1:06] county park justin spears is here with us with awesome

[1:10] service members to read today. >> clay county parks and

[1:20] recreation areas preserve the county's cultural historical and

[1:25] ecological resources while providing families with opportunities to connect with nature and enjoy a high quality

[1:31] of life and whereas access to parks and recreation promotes

[1:36] physical health through active lifestyle and supports well-being by reducing stress, strengthening relationships and

[1:44] providing opportunities for children and adults to experience and enjoy the outdoor and whereas parks and recreation

[1:52] programs educational activities including community events like youth sports and environmental education are essential to the

[2:01] healthy development of children and/or as designated parks and recreation areas also promote economic prosperity through

[2:08] increased property values increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses and crime reduction

[2:15] and whereas in july 2026 parks and recreation month celebrates

[2:21] the power of and highlights where parks and recreations unite people and strengthen communities and advance

[2:28] community well-being through connection, play, nature and

[2:33] belonging and inclusive public spaces that build resilience and

[2:38] foster community pride whereas parks and recreation professionals are vital to thriving communities providing

[2:45] and maintaining accessible welcoming and sustainable parks,

[2:49] facilities and programs that enrich the quality of life for

[2:53] all residents. Therefore be it resolved that the board of county commissioners does hereby

[2:59] proclaim july 2026 as parks and recreation month in clay county,

[3:04] in doing so we honour the dedicated clay county parks and recreation employees and support staff whose daily efforts to

[3:12] maintain and enhance the county's parks and recreation facilities create lasting opportunities for residents and

[3:19] visitors to connect, play and build a stronger community.

[3:23] duly adopted by the board of county commissioners, this

[3:27] 14th day of july 2026, do we have a motion?

[3:33] all in favour? [applause]

[3:41] >> first off I want supporting , without you we wouldn't be able to do what we do for the community.

[3:49] to our county manager thank you as well and the support staff we rely on on a day-to-day basis. Most of all I want to thank my

[3:56] wonderful staff as to -- introduce each and every one of

[4:02] them and let's go from there. First we have erin.

[4:09] end. They oversee that complex and do a great job there. We also have lisa and liz who

[4:16] are part naturalist and there they had -- stewardship of the

[4:23] natural resources of clay county.

[4:28] we have miss connor who's our recreation coordinator, oversees all of our programs and thank you for what you do.

[4:38] to far left with emily who's new coordinator.

[4:46] what she's done is nothing short of fantastic so thank you for what you've done. Also mr. Eric the manager,

[4:55] without him, our parks would not try in the way they do today so

[5:00] thank you for supporting that. Thank you for your support of

[5:06] parks and recreation. This saturday I. Have to do a

[5:11] promo, we have nice event that we're doing at 2:00.

[5:19] to prevent. Please come out. We also have a tournament at the regional sports complex on

[5:26] trails and natural resources. If you have not, check our

[5:32] website or social media or facebook or instagram pages.

[5:37] thank you. [applause] sheriff's

[7:00] office? Then we have mr. Dingle from the

[7:05] clerk's office, nothing about there? All right thank you guys for being here.

[7:09] moving on to the approval of minutes I'll entertain a motion.

[7:15] >> motion to approve the board of county commissioners meeting

[7:20] on june 23rd 2026. >> second. >> a motion and a second all those in favour say I I.

[7:30] motion passes unanimously. Moving on to our first public

[7:36] comment portion of today's meeting, this portion of the agenda is designed to allow citizens an opportunity to bring

[7:41] matters to the attention of the board. At this time the board is not going to engage in debate or

[7:46] answer questions but you may email and steph will address

[7:52] your questions or you may email your district commissioner. Public comment cards are currently located at the back of

[7:58] the should be submitted to the clerk to the far left of the dais. Please limit your comments to

[8:06] 3 minutes. Before addressing the board, please state your name and address. I would like to open the first public comment.

[8:12] at today's meeting. We have one card, mr. Joe

[8:17] tierney. My apologies if I mispronounced it. >> good evening.

[8:27] last thursday, one of our pilots had a hard landing and the plane

[8:31] ended up landing upside down. We call 911 and the

[8:40] first responders showed up and it was an awesome display of

[8:46] coordination. The fire and rescue crew from station 24 did a fantastic job getting the pilot out of the

[8:54] aeroplane very quickly and then transported him to the hospital. The clay county sheriffs responded especially deputy

[9:02] elias and deputy sterling and they took charge of a bunch of

[9:13] pilots standing around watching us out of the way and control this completely. It was awesome.

[9:20] even commissioner renninger who I'm not sure how this happened but he reached out to me and let me know that an air ambulance

[9:27] was ready to go if needed. It was not needed.

[9:33] the network of responders who were available to assist was

[9:38] very impressive. From the 911 called until the pilot was on the way to the hospital was probably about

[9:45] 45 minutes total. It's nice to know we have this kind of coverage here in clay county.

[9:49] I just want to thank everybody that was involved.

[9:55] thank you. >> thank you, that's great. Any other public comments? Moving on to the agenda to our

[10:06] consent agenda items three through nine today, do any

[10:10] commissioners, would they like to pull any items?

[10:19] hearing none I'll entertain a motion.

[10:23] >> moving to approval. >> second in the motion. >> I have a motion of a second for the approval of the consent

[10:29] agenda items three through nine. Any further discussion all in

[10:33] favour say aye. Any opposed?

[10:38] carries unanimously moving on to item number 10, our discussion and updates, the progress report on the abundant transportation

[10:45] program and other capital projects by our capital projects

[10:50] team. >> good evening.

[10:59] update the progress of teammate over the last -- for project

[11:05] number 1, the pine tree lane, the county's team continue the

[11:12] status meeting, anderson continue to continue the installation of the drainage structure, pipes, subbase, base

[11:20] material, curving, sidewalk and medium work along the north side of the project. The project 74% paid out on 106%

[11:27] of the time used. Extension of time is anticipated

[11:31] due to weather delays as well as conflicts along the adjacent

[11:36] properties. For project number 2 from us 17

[11:41] to peters creek, the county's team superior continued about monthly status meeting, superior completed the installation

[11:48] concrete island for the west to northbound right turn lanes just west of the crossing and continued construction of the

[11:56] clay cut-off wall at pond c2 while moving the clay material

[12:02] from point site to two pond sie three as of june 23rd, all work

[12:07] within the right of way at us 17 and county road 29 intersection

[12:12] has been completed. The signal maintenance of that intersection has been thrown over to the contractor.

[12:18] the project is on schedule with 83% paid out and 77% of the time

[12:26] used. Project three be through to the roundabout at county road 29 be, achieve substantial completion

[12:36] on may 19th with 83% paid out while the project's schedule duration remains in dispute the contract or in the county met on

[12:44] june 15th for the final inspection. The project was not accepted due to minor repairs such as placing

[12:51] some sidewalk in couple cracks in the sidewalk. For project number 5, the design team completed the pond analysis

[13:00] and provided comments back to the saint john management district based on their request for additional information

[13:05] related to the permit modification that was submitted. Responses were under review by the district they accept the

[13:12] responses and approved the permit, team will update the modification number provided by the district with mitigation

[13:19] bank in advance of submitting the permit modification to the army corps. For project six a the first time

[13:26] a letter discrepancies found by -- discussed the last update

[13:31] being coordinated with the army corps. The team started preparing closeout documentation for this

[13:37] project. Once the permit is received, plans will be signed sealed and the package will be delivered to

[13:42] the county. Projects three a four and 6b are all complete. In support this work w continues

[13:48] to work with project management and inspection services as

[13:54] of july 7 the program expanded 161 million and on the county

[13:58] website, the bond transportation dashboard will be discontinued or replaced with the static bond transportation historical

[14:06] storyboard. That concludes the update for the bond transportation program. Do you have any questions?

[14:13] >> any questions for the commissioner? >> I have a question. On page 3, project 3b cracks in

[14:19] the sidewalk, is it compact underneath the sidewalk?

[14:24] correct could be caused by a loader driving over it or it

[14:30] could be just -- f. Wave cracks on brand new sidewalks --

[14:36] >> the point of the cracks of the sidewalk, the item before dot, the replacement was required so the subcontractor

[14:43] was actually installing the side drives up on the sidewalk, corrects the sidewalk so places the side pair can now have to go

[14:50] contract to come back and repair the sidewalk that got damaged. So even though it was looking good before they had to come

[14:56] repair the side could still have to fix the sidewalk that got

[15:02] damaged. >> thank you. >> the question I have is when would you say is maybe a target

[15:09] date for the full completion of the btp project in terms of --

[15:17] it's done? >> we talk about the work, I'm

[15:21] sure that's what you're interested in. Projects one and two that are still left yet to go, more

[15:28] towards this fall if you would kick those will be finished and as those project finish up, the less still pending would be the

[15:35] impairments for project five and six a and the last piece is what we call a wrapper per ports. There'll be a wrap up report for

[15:42] each one of the projects as an example project for for its complete and it's roughly 600-page report and then as each

[15:50] of the reports will be completed those will be overall summary reports for the overall program and those will follow up but we

[15:55] have to get to the end of the construction and any pending issues that -- with each one of the individual projects.

[16:06] >> is there a warranty on this? >> each project has a two year

[16:10] warranty and it's established they fail completion of each one of the individual projects as each one of the projects finish.

[16:22] that project's warranty already started. So when the overall program is going to be finished I would say

[16:29] the reporting by the hopefully the end of this calendar year,

[16:38] >> I have a question. >> yes, ma'am,. >> on project five, based on your update, there are all of

[16:48] these -- just to give you approval for the permit can you

[16:53] clarify -- ml confused, -- it's my understanding you actually

[16:59] have to get permission before you can complete the project but you're giving us a timeline for the end of the year for

[17:05] completion. So talk to me about what that looks like. >> for projects five and six a,

[17:10] were completing with our portion of the project, these are to the project, the intent we is to have a project design and permit

[17:18] and fully prepared for the next push, if you would with richard,

[17:24] looking at the future traffic forecast and when those projects would actually need to go into actually construction.

[17:31] but the entire project would be designed and shelf ready so

[17:38] project five is the eastern extension of the work that is currently going on with the british expansion on 220 as well

[17:44] as the intersection and I guess if you would as county continues

[17:50] to grow west, that's where the work is going and looking at the

[17:57] additional mile to actually, which would be the next section. But you'll have basically a shovel ready project.

[18:04] and then six a, which is this section of county road 315 that

[18:09] connects with us 17 and also connects with cathedral parkway which now gives you a cross county connection from 17 and

[18:16] all the way up. That would be the next section which would be permitted, designed for four-lane with new

[18:24] roundabout at 315, 315 be with storm sewers, storm management

[18:29] system, storm water ponds and sidewalks, back lanes and so on and again it would be a shelf ready project.

[18:37] >> so I guess the point of clarity, was there is scope

[18:41] change on these two? Because I can't imagine we're talking about these two projects that were never slated to

[18:48] actually have construction be part of the project?

[18:52] >> during the program, backing up all the way to five plus

[18:56] years ago when -- had said the roads were looking to perform

[19:01] work on, as the work -- as each one of the roadways were

[19:06] envisioned on what type of work we could do with the money, that

[19:10] was both concerned with the ponds as well as ten other

[19:16] different funding sources. It was developed through the program on how much of each one of the roads would actually be

[19:22] designed and constructed and what extent some operational

[19:26] approved, like you've seen on county road 2009 or the actual

[19:30] development of a road to support the existing and future traffic.

[19:35] that was all in conjunction with the designers the engineer's

[19:39] input from the county engineer on which project and how to

[19:44] develop each one of the projects based on a concept or an idea, we want to make improvements to these roads.

[19:53] >> so when you present this -- once this is presented

[19:58] completed, it will be once the designer complete, not necessarily constructions. >> yes.

[20:05] >> only for these two? >> yes.

[20:10] >> that's clear, thank you. >> follow up question with a 315 project six a, this might be more of a question.

[20:18] we talked a lot about how dot prefers projects that are

[20:24] obviously roads because the roadway touches 17, does it put us in the mix? Does it help?

[20:30] >> it does. It's one of the criteria to be on the top, be considered in a todo list, it does touch -- for

[20:38] a few years when I first started we had a road on their, interior

[20:43] road going to be a very important connector between

[20:49] county road 216 and sandridge dot -- they finally said --

[20:57] that's yours. So when we mark it and present to a team, that well you see 218, we do have about a mile and

[21:06] a half of extensional that's shovel ready get ready to go to

[21:10] work as part of the btp design portion. We always say 2301. We're not going to build the 301

[21:20] unless you have us 301 under, it does get a lot of consideration.

[21:25] 220 will go from the back under presentation as it goes to two

[21:33] county road -- the connection is complete. We want to see connectivity for their funds to be spent on a

[21:42] regional basis, not a micro local basis.

[21:46] >> I think I have a follow up. Was your answer to my question

[21:51] concerning skill a yes or no? [laughing]

[22:00] when these plans were conceived, projects five and six a, were

[22:06] originally construction projects or was there a change in scope

[22:10] let us know -- >> the scope was put together,

[22:17] again character with intent to do work, being designed,

[22:21] purchasing a property right away to make the road expansion

[22:26] operational improvement was necessary but the intent was to look at each one of those roads and identified what really needs

[22:31] to be done and from there start developing the plans.

[22:40] >> okay. >> any other questions on btp?

[22:46] going to transition to capital projects, the other half.

[22:52] >> see what happens when we go quick through the agenda, we get to ask a lot of questions. >> on the transportation side,

[23:03] the report from six directors, justin pierce, parks and

[23:09] recreation director, public works director jane price, facility operations and maintenance division director

[23:15] and sitting to my right, capital projects director.

[23:20] project to report was compiled by veronica our capital projects

[23:24] cost control specialist. General terms of all the county capital projects was consistent 262 projects the total budget

[23:33] portfolio and workday is valued at $216,460,490 with a spin rate

[23:44] of $158,413,529, split across 25 different departments. To date, the fiscal year total budget capital projects

[23:52] department managing 86 of those 157 projects across 13 different

[23:58] departments or roughly $102,151,487 in the operational

[24:06] department. Of that 15 of those projects are completed this fiscal year. For the overall status of the

[24:12] public safety bond, so far to date the county spent

[24:17] 24.1 million of the 65 million in bond. For a quick rundown running down in numerical order, highlights

[24:23] some of the public safety projects or fire station if you would fire station number 1 construction 66% complete, 39%

[24:31] paid out, forecast completion is all this year.

[24:37] fire stations 13, 15, 16 and 21 are all at 90% design complete,

[24:42] specifically for fire station 15, developers started clearing

[24:47] and grubbing the site in preparation for construction.

[24:52] forecast completion for the station 15 is summer 27.

[24:58] once the fire station 20 is operational complete.

[25:02] second fire station 80% complete and 57% paid out with forecast completion later this summer. Fire station 24, construction is

[25:12] well underway with 27% complete, 11% paid out with forecast

[25:17] completion spring 27. The contractor completed the

[25:22] installation of. >> interpreter:, security fencing and field office construction drilling.

[25:27] the old bay was demolished and building foundation were placed

[25:32] along with the utilities and preparation for repla

[25:41] replacement s. -- 90% completed in 17% forecast for completion

[25:46] summer 27 well sleep radio antenna construction is 95% complete and the demolition of the old tower was completed at

[25:54] 70%, then spread out with forecast completion later this year in the fall. Next up, protocol project is

[26:02] economic development building. The project include designing

[26:06] permitting building of the new two story 34000 square foot

[26:11] building next door building is now finished, staffed and fully

[26:16] operational. Ribbon cutting ceremony planned for july 28th. The project was completed about

[26:22] two months late -- later than planned but finished by $400,000

[26:27] under budget. A note of excellence for the team last month kick this project was selected by a a bc

[26:36] for association, those with contractors award in excellence construction for both the general and the speciality

[26:43] contractors picked this award celebration is a collaboration in term for the entire project team, recognising the sending

[26:52] contribution to both the contractor, the county, architect and the engineer. The award will be conferred at

[26:58] the celebration on august seventh. Next up, omega park, project -- this project will change the

[27:07] parks utility services from the existing failing on site septic

[27:11] tanks to using clay county utility authority services for water and sewer utilities provided along county road 218.

[27:18] the sewer portion of the project was completed in june. Decommissioned and the old septic tank system underway as

[27:25] well as installing water lines and preparing to transition to

[27:30] water connections. Last note on the library, the

[27:36] third public hearing -- public meeting for the library

[27:40] scheduled for this thursday july 16th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

[27:47] at the centre located at 835 plantation parkway pick

[27:53] alternative to our county engineer for roadway project

[28:00] updates. >> thank you. Will start with county road 220, which the intersection 220

[28:07] henley is 90% complete, getting a lot of punch list item from

[28:13] the residents, disturbing request and signage alterations that we're looking into and it works very well very efficient

[28:22] intersection now. The four laning of the road back towards the bridge approach is completed to joe jones and that

[28:31] should be open -- joe jones has been reopened and traffic is

[28:35] underway there. The bridge is still on schedule for an october, mid-october opening.

[28:44] it's 90 plus percent complete with dot punch list items

[28:48] remaining -- they're very minor characters one crack that you

[28:52] just have to repair as part of building the concrete pier we're

[29:00] going to be one thing -- traffic shift real soon the next couple

[29:06] of weeks. The roundabout that is there will not be a true road where you can go around it for about

[29:12] two to three weeks it's going to be single lane traffic as they complete the tie end. That should be -- shouldn't take

[29:21] very long, should be done probably by middle of august, maybe three to four week project but there will be restrictions,

[29:28] in other words you can't make a u-turn, a full 360, it will only

[29:32] be through traffic. The road -- operating on

[29:38] thursday morning at 10:00 k. Last week and is working well.

[29:43] hopefully the traffic out there we'll see a bit more efficiency

[29:48] in folks. Also sent a picture like you saw the boardwalk that had to be constructed to preserve somewhat

[29:55] lens as they had a requirement of the saint johns river water

[30:02] main district permit. We have been busy, it's been three weeks since I've been here and in that time we resurfaced

[30:11] complete doctors like draft ... Portion of doctor ulrich -- the

[30:21] plastic striping will be put on there in the next few weeks. They moved over to the bay area, there's this neighbourhood in

[30:28] there they're working on and then as we come to look ahead,

[30:36] remobilizing and get to the early to mid august time frame.

[30:40] in the same time. , we're going to move around a

[30:44] little bit. Or asphalt paving system, overall paving system, this isn't paving roads that look

[30:52] like the interstate, it's a rural road where you expect low

[30:57] traffic volumes, low traffic -- they were able to complete since the last three weeks, black creek drop, becky street,

[31:05] waterway, a portion of shed road, round road, holly hill

[31:09] road, opie road and grove road. Less three roads never heard of

[31:14] to go to drive through three counties to get to empiric there

[31:18] down county roads saint road 21, almost county line there was a

[31:22] big lift for the public works -- crews to get out there 17 times

[31:29] a year. Thereof the list now. They are fantastic. They turned out very well.

[31:39] will have a project in downtown keystone, near the high school,

[31:47] that's underway, lot of dot or a lot of utilities in that area

[31:51] that we're having to deal with. Flipping over the fdot to us 17,

[31:59] board of d.o.t. Roads, black creek to oak street cog verbatim what is going on from the dot upgrade, contract to work on the

[32:07] removal of the old pedestrian poles.

[32:12] those were there the 209 intersection. Didn't say the rest of the story.

[32:18] dtp finished at 209 and 17, the construction is not finished.

[32:23] you have about another six months of that and as you can

[32:27] tell, it's coming together, we warned you there was a very

[32:33] different configuration there. You're starting to see the

[32:37] makings of the island that will prevent traffic separation,

[32:42] making a safer north and south turn of 209.

[32:46] you won't be able to cross over, taking one more conflict out of

[32:51] the way. Country works resume intersection of russell road 17 this week, this was now and once

[32:59] completd they'll move back from there. If you've been in downtown, they're not finished with the

[33:04] medium work they're. The crew will complete at 17 and

[33:10] 209 and then shift downtown and complete what's going on around

[33:16] -- I. Guess it would be center and walnut street.

[33:24] so the intersection is 60% complete. They did get a time extension, they got some rain, their

[33:33] completion date is november 16. So that's -- they did have days

[33:38] added for weather for exchange road 16, that's going well, they

[33:46] continue to work on it I noticed they did finish -- don't know if it will meet the county attorney's d.o.t. Specifications

[33:52] but they did improve the return from 2009, to state road 16 w

[34:06] west. 218 at 16, they did shift the

[34:11] intersection slightly to allow for trailer and larger trailers and larger vehicles to get through there without running

[34:17] off the pavement. It's an improvement, may not be

[34:22] a solution but it is an improvement. The work is scheduled to be complete in the coming up by the

[34:30] end of the year late december. They're working in green code,

[34:34] they resurface one lane from the railroad tracks to 16, 217 this

[34:40] week. I think that covers it, looking ahead, work will begin in the next two weeks and we've got

[34:49] some pretty efficient work going on with that group and I think we have a couple of proposals to finish out this year and maybe

[34:56] get a couple more streets and then we had for next year.

[35:10] >> ryder road, only going right now from 17 and eventually --

[35:16] once they move construction towards the church more got.

[35:25] [indistinct] >> right now there's a lot of underground work, underground work and storm drain going on in

[35:31] the road, doesn't even look like a road down there now. I showed you a picture of how the folks that are using the

[35:37] impact have to travel from the library over. So it's a bit of a demolition course there.

[35:42] the work on the roundabout is the first step in that that actually completed in august. My best guess would be by fall,

[35:52] october pick once they get an underground in place, going to want to get that paved stabilised and close off at the

[36:03] west end of the athletic field, east end of the church parking lot and have the apartment and church enter, will

[36:11] have to make sure there's access to the apartments as well. Those will be from town center boulevard, I'll get a real date

[36:20] on that. >> many compliments to

[36:27] complaints one was equipment, I think it was the first day

[36:32] equipment parking resolved, the other complaint is why we do it when csx was doing their work on the rail lines.

[36:42] >> the best I can tell you is csx doesn't really share a lot of information on where they're going next.

[36:55] that seems a simple operation flagging railroad crew cut

[37:01] 24 million people consist of them can flag, so that's the

[37:06] entire state. City are out there, we offered

[37:14] to postpone doctors resurfacing and that it was like look like

[37:20] we'll get out there in two weeks and we won't be back there for

[37:25] 25 years. There was no scheduling

[37:30] whatsoever. >> to take away a lot of compliments, there's one lane traffic for quite a while on the

[37:36] drive while they pave, but I think the residents, weather

[37:41] that fairly well and were very appreciative. >> I went through it a couple times, it was definitely alarmed

[37:49] and we got very few calls back we got a lot more calls where

[37:54] the railroad tracks were. There were a few people that were worried but I was surprised that they did do --

[38:06] >> pleasantly surprised. >> there was a couple times where it was paved they don't do it that way now they paved an

[38:14] own operation so they had a failure that that even added to

[38:19] some of the one lane. >> just as a conversation I had

[38:26] with roller operators, very pleasant people to work with so

[38:30] my compliments. >> richard, I got a text before

[38:36] we were walking into the meeting that someone from fox talked to

[38:40] someone in your office and they were telling them that phase two

[38:44] of the resurfacing had been cut for budget reasons but that was

[38:49] news to me. Do you know anything about that?

[38:54] >> if you didn't cut it or I should say this, it is scheduled

[39:00] -- actually scheduled as our first purchase order because we don't want to stop can I go through paperwork and restore it

[39:07] pursuant to basically as soon as the budget is -- we will issue

[39:14] those streets and we won't stop. >> okay, that's what I thought

[39:20] too. >> you would have had to told us to do that. That part of the budget is --

[39:26] >> what you said about mobilisation made a lot of sense. It makes a lot more sense to

[39:31] make our dollars stretch. >> so far they're doing very

[39:39] well this year. We had about four or $500,000

[39:44] under one of them that we had been able to hopefully get

[39:48] moving and finish this year. Fox meadow, the idea that it would be the last project in 2025-26 and the first project of

[40:00] 2027-28 and no delay. >> thank you I appreciate it.

[40:05] >> I have some comments, I guess a couple questions.

[40:09] so first, the 220 bridge, I will say from the community, we hear you loud and clear, we want that roadway open just as bad as you

[40:17] do pierre can you talk about just for backstory for the public on what happened with the drainage and why it's kind of

[40:24] like where we're at where we're at.

[40:28] >> first it's unscheduled. They have until december to get it done. So it's on schedule here could

[40:33] we have something in florida that I'm not used to and it's a

[40:37] state issue. We have liquidated amateur spec

[40:46] however you have to have the opposite, finish early, you

[40:51] rewards, we don't allow that here. So if you get someone that does expenditure industrial and

[40:59] industrial drive and finishes 90 days early like they did they're, they can go do something else because it's not

[41:07] clay county d.o.t. Said you get a thousand dollars a day for finishing early. So we tried, we pushed every

[41:14] button we can calculate just don't have a chequebook to write to him and say okay get $10,000 a day or whatever, finishing

[41:22] late, but you don't get 10,000 for finishing early. So there's no incentive unless there's contractors with work

[41:32] backed up. >> that's what I was getting at, the drainage. >> on the drainage part, the

[41:38] drainage part is not adding to the schedule whatsoever,

[41:42] drainage part is we discovered during the project, again it's

[41:47] -- keep in mind, this bridge which restricted in 1991, so

[41:52] we've been driving on it restricted infrastructure for 33

[41:59] years 34 years. Underneath that with types, that

[42:03] was just as old or older and were actually able to do it

[42:08] through million bucks and over them to pay for the repairs. Those are part of the project -- not part of the project but the

[42:16] project area that we're facing while it's closed didn't add any

[42:21] days whatsoever. >> other than that the area from

[42:27] night box to the bridge could be a completely new road and that's

[42:31] where we're at now. Going to be cut a couple of weeks of it, there's one renter, one resident that lives back

[42:40] there, we are working with him to give him maybe a week of

[42:45] unpaid access where he's -- we can do that that will speed up

[42:50] the resurfacing of that part of the road. >> and then the second thing, the radar road roundabout in may

[42:59] -- ma hearing you correctly in terms of, you'll be able to go through the roundabout, just not around it?

[43:05] >> correct. If you forget something at home depot, you'll have to go down. >> so you don't foresee --

[43:12] obviously we're getting close to school starting so that's a very high traffic area high school right there.

[43:17] so it's going to be operational, it's just you can't really use

[43:23] it. >> we would want that to probably -- since you brought that up, that will -- we will

[43:28] get gear for that to be finished by august 11th.

[43:32] that would be business. The roundabout will become a real roundabout, not a decoration.

[43:42] >> commissioner renninger. >> back to 23, you're

[43:48] questioning -- the permitting issue change on the 220 bridge

[43:53] from water management district to army corps of engineers.

[44:05] in fact posing a bit of a problem.

[44:09] >> the other thing is keep in mind, that draws we were doing,

[44:14] building from 2018 and the other thing you have to always consider and this is why even though we praised the project is

[44:23] done or the design plans are there, is the right of way

[44:27] acquisition. Took us over a year, two years

[44:33] to get 151 square feet from dollar general and that was just

[44:39] a temporary easement so they could harmonise their driveway

[44:44] and $547,000 later with literally took that long and every other parcel was settled. So that's -- with project coming

[44:53] up the central that is going in from lava plain to landing

[44:58] boulevard we're not allowed to bid that until -- certified that

[45:03] the right of way is in hand, utilities are relocated, plants

[45:07] are relocated. The environmental permits are in place under railroad -- we couldn't even bid it until a

[45:15] dollar general finally got satisfied. Doing all that they forgot the sidewalk -- now they don't have

[45:24] pedestrian access to the brand new was the --

[45:31] definitely a 24-30 month delay there. Dot hasn't forgotten. They have a few dollar generals

[45:40] to deal with the future. We don't forget about others.

[45:50] the right of way is a big deal commissioner. The permitting could the middle of that was an injunction that

[46:02] did hurt us to. >> as a comment to give you an

[46:08] idea, starting out with the program, we're talking with odot

[46:13] and we had 242 properties where we're going to touch on after

[46:18] acquiring everything, they left and said you're never getting

[46:23] any physical work done in the five years it takes us that time just to get the right of way squared away.

[46:30] so I took that as a challenge. >> I provided about eight photos

[46:42] for eldridge I don't know whether.

[47:02] so reached out to superior under cleaning up and when did they say, it was like the first week of august?

[47:10] >> that's what they're telling us. >> did they tell us what air? >> no.

[47:19] we have all the pictures and got that.

[47:26] >> anything else? Thank you.

[47:35] >> item number 11 is active and upcoming formal solicitations.

[47:49] >> good evening, purchasing manager. Briefing the active and upcoming formal solicitations.

[47:55] for item solicitations we have out, we have rfp number 2526-85.

[48:01] that's the public private partnership to design build and finance public safety complex, that is currently under

[48:08] evaluation, evaluation committee reviewing the proposals and it's scheduled to go to the august 25th board meeting.

[48:15] we have bid number 25-26, 95, clay county fairgrounds

[48:19] hurricane group repairs this will be for the arena.

[48:25] five bids were received and scheduled for the july 28th

[48:29] board meeting. Bit number 25-26-89 nice marina

[48:34] lake shore boat ramp repair redevelopment and improvements, three bids were received and that will come to the 20th board

[48:41] meeting as well peaked at number and new public works

[48:49] construction seven bids were received and that is scheduled for the july 28 board meeting. Bid number 25-26-97 is the eoc

[48:58] hvac demolition and replacement. Bids will open on july 28th and

[49:04] then -- order due july 28th, and this is scheduled for the august

[49:10] 25th board meeting. At the upcoming bids for july

[49:15] and august, and this is in no certain order, we have the fairgrounds water improvements. Fire station 17 shower addition

[49:23] calculate county wide sidewalk and concrete repairs. The jail recreation yard waterproofing roof repairs, the

[49:34] unclaimed disposition services. The impact study,

[49:40] washington avenue repair, that's a theme project.

[49:45] annual roadway pavement marking services and the pavement

[49:49] assessment. Any questions?

[49:54] >> jessica, you may have said it but I didn't hear you. How many bids did we get -- our proposal did we get on the

[50:03] patron? >> we received three or four. I can go back and look. >> it's four.

[50:12] >> as a background question, how does the public, what system do

[50:18] we use. >> we use the open group system. It's free to the public on our purchasing website and any of

[50:27] the suppliers have issues can we contact them directly and we walk them through how to register.

[50:33] >> I get that question frequently. How do I bid on a contract? Opengov?

[50:42] yes, sir,. >> any other questions?

[50:47] >> thank you. >> thank you jessica. >> going to move down one more block here, item 17 direction

[50:55] discussion of appointments to the clay county housing finance authority. Applications were received from

[51:00] the following individuals seeking the reappointment. Roger repstruction and james ryan representing

[51:10] finance. >> did we reappoint?

[51:17] >> I have a motion and a second all in favour say aye.

[51:22] any opposed? Item 18 calculators for documentation was our bid opening tabulations and you can

[51:29] find that in your backup and I will go down to our last public

[51:47] comment section of the meeting, members of the public want to address the commission? There are scars located in the

[51:54] back if you would like to address the commission.

[52:01] or right, hearing none we will move on from that.

[52:07] county attorney. >> nothing in particular, our office is still working on some projects, many of you including

[52:16] commissioner condon. So if there's anything in particular you're looking for, I know commission -- talked about

[52:27] e-bikes. >> we'll talk about that later. >> county manager. >> chair and commissioners, two

[52:33] items for you. In the back in our media room

[52:38] back there, this is her last day here she worked for the county

[52:46] since 2005 for the past 20 years she started out as an it

[52:51] technician and mis. She most recently finished up as a communications coordinator that is here.

[52:56] she's absolutely dedicated to her job, just a phenomenal team member. She's moving out to us to move

[53:02] closer to family. So you cannot blame her for that. I just want to tell her in the

[53:07] next chapter of her career, we exextend sincere appreciation ..

[53:15] I can see her blush already. [applause]

[53:22] >> last but not least, budget workshop. Thursday july 23rd from 9:00 a.m. To 1300 here in the

[53:31] bcc boardroom, we extended it there, a different approach this

[53:37] year. Each department that will be coming up to breathe their budgets along the lines of a

[53:41] port coquitlam on on thursday morning each one of you will receive the slides for tomorrow morning we're going to go over

[53:48] the -- been going over the slides and tomorrow is our last review of those in the department level and we'll send

[53:54] them to you all. Then we have individual meetings scheduled if you want to go over those slides.

[54:01] >> I'll be bringing the snacks. >> we will have a slight break

[54:10] there for -- >> there may be some snacks.

[54:15] >> food makes people happy. >> we know that.

[54:20] [laughing] any questions?

[54:24] >> thank you, sir,, that brings us to the 5:00 time certain. Item number 12 on the agenda. First public hearing on

[54:32] ordinance and resolution to amend the capital improvement plan and resolution for other budget adjustments in jarud.

[54:43] >> good evening, in jarud, before you is an amendment to

[54:49] our budget, this is an amendment that is as brief. We're recognising revenue into several funds across our budget

[54:58] and namely for our general fund, we are increasing our reserves

[55:04] underlying. So pending any questions, that's our budget brief. >> this is a public hearing so

[55:10] I'm going to open the public hearing anybody would like to speak on item number 12 budget amendment, you can come to the

[55:18] podium piercing numbe I'm going to close the public hearing and bring it back to the commission. Are you going to talk about two

[55:24] and three as well? A nice separate items for you? Okay, so we're just voting on these three separately.

[55:32] >> need to vote on all separate. >> so addressing item number 1,

[55:39] which is the cip approval of the amendment.

[55:44] >> I mean to approve item numbe. >> I second the motion.

[55:49] >> I have a motion and a second all those in favour say aye.

[55:54] opposed carries unanimously. Item number 2 is also part of

[56:00] the resolution. >> move to approve. >> I have a motion in the second all in favour say aye.

[56:08] any opposed? Item number 3 is the operating adjustments. I'll entertain a motion.

[56:15] >> move. >> second. >> all in favour say aye. None opposed thank you very m

[56:25] much. Item number 13 is a modification to developer agreement between clay county and the crossings of

[56:31] island community development district regarding 1845 town

[56:36] center boulevard for the clay county sheriff's office county

[56:41] attorney. >> s, this item was included at this place under the time certain for the budget amendment because it was contingent of approval on the budget but it's

[56:50] simply a modification to an original agreement for utility

[56:56] services. Require additional services

[57:00] that. [indistinct] >> delete or not have to vote on this c- >> we can vote but no public hearing.

[57:07] >> alternate motion. >> move to approve. >> second. >> motion for approval and a

[57:13] second. >> all those in favour say aye. Any opposed? Item 13 carries unanimously item

[57:21] number 14 is a public hearing regarding annual rate resolution

[57:25] for solid waste disposal assessment for 26 and 27.

[57:32] >> this is the annual assessment brought before you for disposal

[57:37] services. It is to remain the same at $96

[57:41] for this upcoming annual year and if you have any questions,

[57:46] we do need a public hearing for. >> opening the public hearing.

[57:51] if you'd like to speak on item number 14.

[57:58] seeing none I will close the public hearing and bring it back to the commission. >> I move to approve that we

[58:05] leave the solid waste disposal assessment the same.

[58:09] >> checking the motion. >> motion and a second, all those in favour say aye. Any opposed carries unanimously.

[58:17] just for the public, that's a standard operating procedure

[58:22] there's no increase, it's just to formal approval to put it on the trim notice that's why we have to do that here moving on

[58:28] to item number 15, the public hearing regarding the annual rate resolution for solid waste and recovered materials

[58:35] collection services, 26-27. >> likewise this is for the

[58:41] annual assessment, this is for collection and likewise is to

[58:45] remain the same at $260 -- $262 as the annual assessment.

[58:54] >> okay, I would like to open the public hearing for item number 15 pick anybody wishes to address the commission?

[59:01] seeing none I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the commission. >> , the contract we have with

[59:11] fcc allows for a change if the conditions are present for

[59:23] recycled materials, I hope we have the option to change a

[59:27] contract any recycling would be in our best -- better advantage

[59:33] for -- I think mr. Talents researched that and have some

[59:40] comments. >> for mr. Chair, director of

[59:44] environmental services, as you know the decision was made

[59:49] through our bid process at the beginning of our current collection program and with the contract for fcc to forgo

[59:59] kerbside recycling services due to cost.

[1:00:03] so at that time, cost to process was about three times as much as

[1:00:09] the cost to dispose for that material and there was no

[1:00:14] guarantee that that rate would stay the same.

[1:00:19] that metric is still much the same. The numbers have changed a bit but it's still the same.

[1:00:30] the difference -- the processing cost difference per ton between

[1:00:36] what we pay to dispose of a ton of household trash versus what

[1:00:41] we would pay to process a ton of household recycles, the

[1:00:47] difference in cost, it would cost $145 more per ton to

[1:00:54] processing than it does to dispose. That alone equates to over $530,000 a year estimated, and

[1:01:03] that is not all of the cost involved in recycling, that's

[1:01:07] just a comparison between processing and disposal.

[1:01:14] >> in order to keep fees the same as previous years, we can't

[1:01:19] go down our road recycle, we have to change it to collection

[1:01:25] fees for everyone. So it's still, the decision we made two or three years ago is still a valid decision that's

[1:01:32] the only point I want to bring up here. >> your recommendation is we continue kerbside pickup as we

[1:01:39] have in the past. >> yes. , I don't recommend we change the.

[1:01:43] >> thank you. That's all I have. >> commissioner I appreciate you going down that road, that's

[1:01:47] doing your due diligence which is really good. I think the number remember was like $90, you were saying now

[1:01:54] it's up to 140. >> comparing those two directly,

[1:02:02] yes, it only grows because that's processing versus

[1:02:06] disposal. In that car could also cost us more to transport recyclables as to transport garbage and it cost

[1:02:17] -- the collection cost, which aren't part of --

[1:02:21] >> correct me if I'm wrong but historically, the county used to

[1:02:26] get profit from recycling, it wasn't.

[1:02:31] >> we did get some. >> correct. >> never recovered cost but it didn't cost us -- it was more --

[1:02:39] it covered the processing cost until about six months before

[1:02:47] prior -- six months or a year prior to us, making the dec

[1:02:57] decision. >> go ahead. >> motion to approve the collection cost for fees

[1:03:03] remaining the same. >> item number

[1:03:08] fifteenmac I. Have a motion and a second to approve. All in favour. Any opposed motion carries

[1:03:16] unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to item number 16, this is our first public hearing

[1:03:22] for consideration of the draft community development block

[1:03:26] grant cdbg consolidated plan for 2026-2030 and for the draft

[1:03:32] annual action plan of 2026. >> jodi, clark county grants

[1:03:40] compliance manager. So this is the first public hearing for consideration for the community block grant.

[1:03:47] we looked at two different parts of the plant versus consolidated plan they are high level. The second would be the annual

[1:03:55] action plan which would be the first year of that five-year

[1:04:01] plan. This is a community block grant

[1:04:05] sponsored by hud and the overview -- this will be our

[1:04:10] second consolidated plan or in the fifth year of the first

[1:04:14] plan, and the purpose of the consolidated plan is to

[1:04:18] establish a broad high level national objective that create

[1:04:23] the framework that the whole five-year plan will be based on.

[1:04:30] the consolidated plan doesn't speak to specifics, but rather

[1:04:35] at a high level. The annual action plan, it has two fold purpose, one is to establish the actual funding

[1:04:43] allocation for those national objectives that have been determined and established in the consolidated plan and also

[1:04:51] to establish specific projects. Let's first look at the

[1:04:58] consolidated plan. This year when we looked at this five-year plan, we took an approach that was a little

[1:05:04] different than the first time. We had five years under our belts, we were able to look at lessons learned and the

[1:05:13] engagement of the community over the last five years. So what we did was wanting to consider first of all the county

[1:05:21] strategic priorities which have been outlined in the county strategic plan. We also wanted to look at

[1:05:29] maximum flexibility and those national objectives so that as the county grows over the course of the next five years, the plan

[1:05:35] can grow along with it. We got a lot of feedback in the

[1:05:40] last five years around the idea of more county wide impact and

[1:05:46] county wide focus for the funding -- for this project.

[1:05:50] so what you will see is projects that do have less individual

[1:05:57] focus and more of a community county wide focus. And also again, to align with the county strategic plan, a lot

[1:06:05] of those projects have been approved and are essentially shovel ready from the perspective of the board

[1:06:13] approval. So we wanted to do that pick one all of those things were considered, the proposed project

[1:06:22] categories which are national objectives and the allocation

[1:06:26] percentages that we are proposing over the course of the five years are outlined on the slide which would be

[1:06:34] infrastructure at 60%, parks and public facilities at 25%

[1:06:40] community partnerships and non-profit expansion at 10% and

[1:06:45] administration at 5% so that in a nutshell is the consolidated

[1:06:52] plan, you have a draft of the actual plan available, so if you

[1:06:58] have any questions on the consolidated plan I can take those before we move into the annual action plan.

[1:07:11] >> are don't have questions, just have some comments. So five years ago, we were awarded the cdbg grant, county

[1:07:20] had never been awarded one before. If it weren't primarily for my district clay county wouldn't be

[1:07:28] awarded. So I have a bit of an issue with

[1:07:34] the approach of putting the majority of the cdbg money towards sidewalks when most of my district doesn't have

[1:07:42] sidewalks. So I am not sure, other than

[1:07:48] that however really feel about the action plan. I don't love it, but of the first public hearing, so we will

[1:07:54] see what kind of feedback we get and when we vote, maybe we can

[1:08:02] see what we can tweak. But I understand the county

[1:08:09] strategic plan, and I understand that there's four commission districts. We have done work in all of

[1:08:16] those districts with cdbg over the past five years so that's not the situation at all, but if it weren't for the lower income

[1:08:25] areas of my district we wouldn't qualify anyway, so I'm not sure

[1:08:32] that's really appropriate to make it do more sidewalks and more of the already developed areas of the county.

[1:08:40] but anyway, I am not prepared tonight to suggest changes

[1:08:47] because I respect the public hearings that have happened so far, the public meetings, I want to let the process play out.

[1:08:57] then I also heard some rumblings that there was some interest

[1:09:05] from outside organisations to try to use cdbg money towards

[1:09:10] affordable housing and while I commend that I think that if we're going to visit that, that scope needs to be very narrowed,

[1:09:20] because commissioner, you reminded us on a number of occasions that affordable -- affordable is to us is not

[1:09:28] affordable to the next person necessarily, so there are some

[1:09:33] affordable projects -- housing projects that have been funded under our housing and finance that I don't think are

[1:09:43] affordable at all. I think that those projects, it's because of the percentage difference.

[1:09:49] so if you're selling these homes at half a million dollars and these homes at 350,000, they mean the percentages to qualify

[1:09:58] for these affordable housing grants but that's not affordable and that's not what cdbg is intended for so those are just

[1:10:06] my comments about some rumblings that I heard, but again it's the first public hearing. >> through the chair if I may.

[1:10:15] I'll let jody talk a bit more since she brought forward the

[1:10:19] housing. If I didn't mention the doctor did reach out, I know she couldn't be here today but she did ask about that she reached out by a couple of community

[1:10:29] members about could this be used for affordable housing and specifically could this be used for tiny house and affordable

[1:10:38] housing? Based on that I did ask jody to do a bit of research, she can explain to you what's allowed or

[1:10:43] not allowed in which category that would fall under because if that's a desire from the board to go, it would be -- if you can

[1:10:52] speak to that and then longer term, at that time probably need

[1:10:58] to be addressed but I just wanted to throw that out to get some constituents did reach out to doctor burke and she did

[1:11:03] reach out to me and asked the questions.

[1:11:08] >> tiny homes and tiny home communities are unallowable expense under the cdbg plan, it covers everything from site

[1:11:17] prep, infrastructure that would be required to accept a, sewer,

[1:11:22] all of that, those types of things, to design to

[1:11:27] construction. So it does, it will cover that

[1:11:31] under this current, the way this current consolidated plan is

[1:11:37] structured, the infrastructure part of that would be what would be covered here. If that would be the direction

[1:11:44] of the commissioners to do something like that, we would

[1:11:49] need to submit this annual action plan if approved with a

[1:11:53] contingency and then we would need to do some central amendment change if we were going to change it to

[1:11:59] construction, it's a different category that isn't addressed as one of the national objectives that are outlined in this

[1:12:06] particular consolidated plan so that can't be done.

[1:12:13] >> any other comments or questions? >> I was just going to say, from that aspect, tiny homes are not

[1:12:20] allowed in our current code, but the minimum square footage is

[1:12:24] 700 square feet in our current land development code.

[1:12:37] >> I attended two of the public meetings, and where does the

[1:12:43] public comment come in on the consolidated plan or annual plan? >> it will come in on both, I'll

[1:12:49] put the same -- it's a little challenging to separate some of

[1:12:53] those comments as to which went to which part. Since they were presented together, my plan was to put the

[1:13:01] comments in total in both the survey that has been presented

[1:13:08] and has been available to the public is specifically on the

[1:13:12] consolidated plan. So the survey results will be under consolidated plan specifically.

[1:13:18] >> the reason I ask this, both meetings are extremely large or

[1:13:24] not large, predominant military presence and both those

[1:13:29] meetings, and quite honestly the military spread is a huge population in clay county and spread throughout the county.

[1:13:37] so I don't know how -- do you want to comment about the plan

[1:13:43] now to. >> I'll go ahead and we'll take a look at the proposed annual action plan.

[1:13:49] so this outlines more specific recommended projects under those

[1:13:55] national objectives that are outlined in the consolidated plan. This would be year 1 of 5 years

[1:14:02] and the award estimate from year one is $1,057,772 and in the

[1:14:12] projects that have been proposed in those national objectives

[1:14:19] would be primarily sidewalk installation and/or improvement, so these would then be determined at address level,

[1:14:27] which we have a list of pre-approved sidewalk, sidewalk

[1:14:33] intersections, that were approved by the board earlier in

[1:14:37] the spring so that if this is approved, we have a list to be able to move forward with and they are from areas around the

[1:14:50] county in everyone's district and just as an example of some

[1:14:54] of the projects that are on that list, it would be high impact

[1:15:01] areas county road 218, ten, jefferson avenue, so they do go

[1:15:06] around the county and also then 88 upgrades intersections and

[1:15:11] there's a list of intersections, a couple or aurora and ursa, so

[1:15:21] again, they're spread around are intersections that require some

[1:15:26] ada compliance work. In the area parks and public

[1:15:31] facilities, the focus would be primarily on parks.

[1:15:36] these parks are and the ones that would be covered by cdbg, would be those that earn low moderate income areas.

[1:15:44] again one of the things that is in coordination with the

[1:15:49] strategic plan is ada compliance in the park system so these

[1:15:53] dollars could be used to fund those types of projects to bring

[1:16:00] more accessibility for all residents to those parks, in

[1:16:06] some areas there are great facilities but they're not easily accessible for folks that have challenges so these dollars

[1:16:13] can be used to rectify that. Then we have community

[1:16:19] partnerships and non-profit expansion. This includes neighbourhood cleanups, community partnership

[1:16:25] portion, those have been part -- a core part of the current cdbg

[1:16:30] project and those would continue and those would focus, most

[1:16:38] generally are in the high range, tanglewood and bel air

[1:16:43] middlebrook area and those become partnerships with the community because we have neighbours and neighbourhoods

[1:16:50] and county staff and volunteers along with nonprofits in those

[1:16:54] areas that all get together to execute the community cleanups.

[1:16:59] in addition in this area, under this focus, we would have the

[1:17:07] potential for non-profit expansion, so this would be an organisation or organisations that would be selected through

[1:17:18] whatever mechanism the word finds appropriate to select

[1:17:23] those entities for non-profit expansion dollars and the

[1:17:27] allocation of those funds, of that million plus dollars looks like this pick would be $634,663 towards infrastructure in year

[1:17:42] one, $264,443 towards parks in year one.

[1:17:48] $105,777 for community partnerships and non-profit expansion and then administration at $52,889.

[1:18:01] questions on the specifics of the plan. >> I have a couple comments. With the annual plan and the

[1:18:08] non-profit expansion, listed to nonprofits explicitly and I

[1:18:13] don't think we should explicitly list any nonprofits. I think that should be open for application interpretation when

[1:18:22] the time comes. So I would like to see that

[1:18:26] removed. And just as a side, I was going to get a kick out the administration customer gets 5%

[1:18:32] of the federal grant -- one of my previous lives with

[1:18:37] university of florida university system, they were pre-negotiated administrative costs of approvals of 6070% of every

[1:18:46] dollar went to administration and it baffled me how they got

[1:18:51] that approved through the federal government. But we get 5%, so it's a make over cost.

[1:18:59] and that's for these, all her great benefit she get in

[1:19:04] paycheque and all that kind of stuff, her contribution to this grant, what was the number? 52,000 for a whole year -- for

[1:19:12] all the people working under grant, part of our salary as part of the administration as well, so it probably doesn't

[1:19:19] cover the actual cost of administration but that's what

[1:19:26] we're allocated 5%. Any way, like I said, I don't

[1:19:33] like to see -- I. Would like to have it open until all

[1:19:37] nonprofits, making a bit -- >> we'll make that change and

[1:19:42] get an updated draft for the final public hearing.

[1:19:49] >> any other comments? >> I have two more pieces.

[1:19:58] the schedule, we did six public meetings this time, which is

[1:20:03] more than we have done in the past.

[1:20:08] we did get a meeting at every district.

[1:20:14] to commissioner condon in your area, because it's large, we did

[1:20:19] have a good turnout. We had a very strong veteran

[1:20:27] presence, veteran council members, veterans themselves and

[1:20:31] business owners that serve a non-profit directors that serve

[1:20:37] that community. So they were a strong presence at every one of the meetings this time.

[1:20:43] public comment is still open and remains open through the end of

[1:20:48] the day, not sure exactly whether that's midnight or 5:00,

[1:20:56] but I will take it to midnight. It doesn't shut anything doesn't

[1:21:01] shut off but anything that is received through midnight on

[1:21:06] july 18th, which is saturday will be part of this public

[1:21:12] comment. So then, what is the -- what is coming next? Where are we and what are our

[1:21:21] next steps? So all the public meetings have

[1:21:25] concluded, we do have the public comment.

[1:21:30] still open through july 18, and the next steps are all of the

[1:21:36] public comments and survey results will be consolidated. We will put those into the packets and the next set of

[1:21:43] drafts that will be part of the second public hearing will have

[1:21:48] the change that commissioner renninger has suggested to the annual action plan and then the public comments will be included

[1:21:56] in those packets. At that point there will be a

[1:22:01] second public hearing and then a vote for approval or discussion

[1:22:07] on change, however you all want what you want to make happen

[1:22:11] with this plan. That will be on the

[1:22:15] 28th of july. >> I have one other comment.

[1:22:20] it came from the library meeting that we had, we had an

[1:22:24] individual who had a shoe stored I think it was in five points or

[1:22:29] someplace, moved it to blanding and he and his wife showed up at the meeting and they live in. >> they live in jacksonville but

[1:22:41] his business is online and he was so complimentary -- he said

[1:22:46] he never got anything in jacksonville, but since he moved

[1:22:50] his business to clay county he's been -- he's part of the chamber, so he learned about the chamber, he came to this

[1:22:58] meeting, he was complimentary of clay county and how they treated

[1:23:02] their businesses. He actually told me that, he was

[1:23:08] very pleased with his move to clay county, so good job jody.

[1:23:14] >> thank you. >> I'm good if there are no

[1:23:20] other questions. >> thank you very much. >> going to open the public hearing on item number 16.

[1:23:25] I do have a card on this item from jessica.

[1:23:30] come on a familiar face cat clay county

[1:23:39] veteran of the year. >> good evening my name is jess,

[1:23:45] I am representing clay veterans, appreciated the opportunity to

[1:23:52] speak. A few comments so I don't ramble. I have reviewed the draft of the

[1:23:58] five-year plan, and I found it to be well written, unlike the

[1:24:04] first five-year plan it provides great flexibility being able to

[1:24:09] support emergent projects because we are not locked in as hard. Also thank you to jody and her

[1:24:16] team for all of the public meetings you have put out and put the time together. I would like to focus on a

[1:24:22] portion of the plan for the neighborhood enhancement and nonprofit capacity building. Saint johns county operation

[1:24:32] lifeline, the application for the community development block grant was approved for funding. And governor ron desantis

[1:24:41] signed the budget which included $200,000 appropriation for the

[1:24:46] veterans academy and st. John's community skills center.

[1:24:51] said that saint johns county is just a little bit ahead of what

[1:24:55] we are doing or what we would like to do.

[1:25:00] veterans council in trenton and clay veterans asked a similar

[1:25:04] project that expands access be considered in the plan.

[1:25:11] community facilities provide more than a space, they serve as

[1:25:17] a centralized location residents connect with information

[1:25:21] services and one another. For many individuals, finding

[1:25:25] the right resource can be challenging.

[1:25:29] a accessible facility can help people learn about available

[1:25:33] services can connect with nonprofit organizations and government agencies and participate in programs that

[1:25:38] support health, independence and overall quality of life.

[1:25:44] thank you so much. >> you have one more minute. >> I have one more minute? All right here it goes.

[1:25:50] as you guys develop your community block grant the

[1:25:55] five-year plan, we appreciate it in the planning process includes

[1:25:59] opportunities for residents to share information about community grant projects. We had our first caregiver

[1:26:08] luncheon today, and specifically there are caregivers for

[1:26:13] veterans, it was the first one we ever had in the community.

[1:26:18] and the looks in their eyes, it was emotional.

[1:26:24] there are a few other caregivers that are not specific, we need a

[1:26:30] place for groups like that to meet. I want to make sure that community services, veteran

[1:26:39] services and nonprofits work more closely together.

[1:26:44] >> thank you jess. Any other comments, public

[1:26:48] comment on item number 16? Seeing none I will close the

[1:26:53] public hearing. This is the first public

[1:26:57] hearing, we don't have to take a vote on this one tonight but I will come back at our next meeting.

[1:27:02] thank you very much. Moving on to the end of the

[1:27:07] agenda now, commissioner comments.

[1:27:12] commissioner condon? >> I just have a couple. You probably saw the email but I thought it was really cool so,

[1:27:23] the boys & girls club that operates after school programs

[1:27:27] all over the county, they have one at the high school, they are

[1:27:34] working in partnership with this company called waterworks,

[1:27:39] taking these mobile tech jobs simulators around this week,

[1:27:49] different places, they had eight stops, one at clay crescent

[1:27:54] heights high school was one, and the students actually get to try

[1:27:59] out trades, they get to try out like plumbing and welding, they

[1:28:04] had a virtual reality thing. I just think it's really awesome

[1:28:13] that there is a partner in our community that is willing to

[1:28:18] bring a bit more than just telling young people they need to get into trades, and talking with some of our local business

[1:28:28] owners, I had heard they are struggling to hire enough

[1:28:34] employees, and I know that you probably have seen the notes but

[1:28:40] northeast builders association is building a regional job

[1:28:46] training apprenticeship program center in jacksonville in

[1:28:51] august, and we will get invited for the ribbon cutting and that kind of thing, but they have said they have 100% job

[1:29:00] placement, really high wages. I think it is important, for our

[1:29:05] jobs is to connect those employees and business

[1:29:11] opportunities in our area, and commercial development will

[1:29:16] become more important to us as we move to our tax reform which

[1:29:22] I support tax reform but we have to figure out how to fund basic

[1:29:27] services. Anyway just thought it was kind of cool that we are looking at potential young people in our

[1:29:34] community finding skills to have jobs to stay in our community. Just wanted to update you on that.

[1:29:39] otherwise have a great week. >> thank you commissioner co

[1:29:45] condon. >> since the last time we were all together, the five of us were in orlando for the florida

[1:29:54] association of counties summer workshop, and I just have to say

[1:30:01] one that it is always refreshing to connect with other

[1:30:06] commissioners across the state and get their perspectives on

[1:30:10] things. This workshop or series also did not disappoint, I also want to highlight again, a special

[1:30:19] congratulations to commissioner condon for winning her election, that is really exciting. I know you will do us proud.

[1:30:26] the second comment tonight, as was said in the update, the oak

[1:30:33] creek library design unveiling conversation continues.

[1:30:38] this is the meeting that was rescheduled from the

[1:30:42] 18th of june, and so it will be as you stated this thursday, six

[1:30:47] to 7:00 p.m., the phase athletic center, the phase two athletic

[1:30:52] center. There are two, with the winding

[1:30:57] staircase, that is the one, on the second floor.

[1:31:02] the third thing, it kind of spurs from the conversations that we had again during the update that ed gave us, I am

[1:31:10] very curious, I think courtney this one is for you, what it

[1:31:14] will take to get incentives in our construction complex for

[1:31:19] early completion. And I'm also curious to know

[1:31:24] what does the history tell us concerning which would be more cost effective? Is it completion bonuses or

[1:31:32] liquidated damages? Because that seems to be where

[1:31:36] there is some -- do you have any guidance on that?

[1:31:40] >> we do have contracts that have incentives in them, not

[1:31:46] sure about that particular contract.

[1:31:50] most of our contracts do have liquidated damages and then some

[1:31:55] of them do have incentives. >> so that is an isolated incident where there wasn't an incident to complete the project

[1:32:05] early? >> I'm not sure. It depends on the rfp and what was negotiated before it came to

[1:32:13] us. I think we would have to get with the purchasing team in connection with the rfp if that

[1:32:19] is something that the board is interested in, so that would be

[1:32:25] something to talk to them about. But I do know with the

[1:32:29] transportation program we did do that in our contract.

[1:32:34] >> right. The lasting impression that I got from the update was you have contractors who are more

[1:32:42] incentivized to delay a project than to complete it early, maybe I misunderstood but that was what I got from richard's

[1:32:52] comments. So I don't know -- did any of our projects trigger the early completion clause of those

[1:33:01] agreements? >> yes, on the transportation,

[1:33:07] there were incentives for them to complete at certain stages and also liquidated damages, a lot of times they canceled out.

[1:33:14] we do have projects where they received incentives.

[1:33:18] I don't know this particular project, why it didn't have

[1:33:23] incentives, I just assumed that it wasn't part of what we contracted them for, or bid out at that time.

[1:33:33] >> there is basically incentives, also there is also

[1:33:38] the prospect of your early completion incentives and your

[1:33:44] liquidated damages zeroing out, such that there is a zero sum

[1:33:48] game there, is what I just heard you say. Help me understand? >> so I'm trying to think at the

[1:33:57] bottom there were certain goals based on plans, if they were able to get the plans at a certain point they got

[1:34:04] incentives, then you have construction, and also weather delays and time delays, but we had charts --

[1:34:12] >> we are basically giving it back at that point... Okay.

[1:34:17] >> I think it was hard when we were trying to do the incentives from the board standpoint is you know, doing early completion,

[1:34:27] what amount of money are we willing to give them or provide them for early completion, versus just a contract.

[1:34:36] >> wait a minute, early completion is an incentive so

[1:34:40] they get dollars there, but then the liquidated damages portion

[1:34:45] of the contract gets triggered and there are more dollars?

[1:34:50] it is one dimensional, right? It is coming from us --

[1:34:54] >> know the liquidated damages they are paying us for projects to complete. >> so it washes out?

[1:35:06] >> the incentive, this is what you have to balance, you do a contract calculated on a contract, $13 million, and then

[1:35:13] you want to give them an incentive to maybe complete in a couple of months early, and I remember because it was being

[1:35:22] called the carrot, what can we give them? What is the board willing to put out there in extra money to have

[1:35:31] that incentive? >> I will just say there

[1:35:40] shouldn't have to be evaluated on a per project basis, it won't be the same for every single one.

[1:35:45] it is difficult to determine, we may want to look into that we

[1:35:49] can. Most of our construction projects we don't have the incentive, but we do have

[1:35:54] liquidated damages on everything. >> on most we do not have incentives but we do have

[1:36:01] liquidated damages on all of them? >> yes, ma'am,. >> and the liquidated damages

[1:36:07] based on the roadway project, yes. For the building being evaluated on what were the actual damage

[1:36:14] be to the county if it's not completed on time. >> is there a standard incentive matrix or is that totally up to

[1:36:22] who writes the contract? >> for the transportation, it

[1:36:28] was developed through wgi, it was a different formula.

[1:36:34] >> and that's I think the big thing too, that all five of us would have to think about, how much more are you willing to

[1:36:42] pay? We are trying to be conse

[1:36:49] conservative. >> then there's two other things, it's not allowed under federal rules.

[1:36:55] if it's a federal contract, depending on the grant funding

[1:36:59] and the board has to consider, so you have a bitter that says I

[1:37:04] will do a project with $10 million, the next one says I will do it for ten and a half, by the time you give incentives

[1:37:12] it's $11 million. Would it really be in the best interest of the taxpayers because he did not get the best

[1:37:17] value, he may got it faster but those are things the department

[1:37:21] has to lay out and that's why this gets really complicated and that's why I think the county has moved towards liquidated

[1:37:27] damages. You say you will do a project, you will say you will get it done on x a day, if you go past

[1:37:34] x a day. >> during the process, I

[1:37:40] understand all the points. I don't have a problem, again I go back to the update we received pointed to there is

[1:37:48] more of an incentive, if there aren't any incentives to get the

[1:37:54] project completed, then where is the rub? One of the questions that came was how long will it take for

[1:37:59] these projects to be completed? I am thinking like why are they dragging their feet? Is there a number of updates

[1:38:07] that we have received over the last several years where the

[1:38:12] project stalls because they are disputing terms, and then you

[1:38:17] have the added wrinkles of weather and all the things,

[1:38:23] inherent to a construction project. So I am looking to discern what makes the most sense, if you are

[1:38:31] saying okay, we got all of these I call them landmines, you don't

[1:38:37] want to trip up anything that will cause problems, but I heard

[1:38:41] a problem and I was looking for a solution.

[1:38:45] so I don't have an issue with what sounds to me like

[1:38:53] negotiating a tightrope and just leaving that alone, but I am curious to know where is the balance?

[1:39:06] when the constituents are asking us, when projects will be

[1:39:10] completed, and we keep telling them well, it was originally supposed to be completed in august now we are looking at a

[1:39:17] december timeline, is it enough that our response is not only do we have to wait but the county will get some of their money

[1:39:23] back? I think that is really the essence of the conversation and I think that is for them to

[1:39:29] decide, as I am hearing the feedback in this conversation. But it's not lost on me that the question tonight, as I heard it

[1:39:41] was, we are not really dangling the carrot to your point to get

[1:39:46] these projects completed on time or early.

[1:39:52] >> on that particular project there is federal funding so you wouldn't have it anyways. >> that is an answer to the

[1:40:00] question -- >> I don't know how we came up with the number of weeks, the contractor asked for a certain

[1:40:09] number of days, maybe that is something we should evaluate if they were really able to finish it, if they could have finished

[1:40:17] it much earlier but yet we gave them three more months, I don't

[1:40:23] know the answer to that. >> we also rely on the engineer records and architects. We evaluate that along with the

[1:40:31] liquidated damages they also suggested that.

[1:40:36] >> that begs the question what do you mean the proposed

[1:40:41] recommendation, you guys go in and evaluate? So it becomes a conversation piece not necessarily something

[1:40:48] you accept? >> if we agree with it or not.

[1:40:52] the engineer records and the architect are the experts on how long it should take based on the data.

[1:40:58] but for instance on fire station 24, we had a hard deadline so we

[1:41:03] could not use the recommended date, we had to finish by this.

[1:41:10] >> okay. That is clear.

[1:41:15] yeah. I think you have answered my

[1:41:21] questions. And has given me more to think

[1:41:25] about but very helpful, thank you.

[1:41:33] wow. Those are my thoughts.

[1:41:40] >> mr. Renninger? >> just to amplify commissioner condon comments about where works, I tend to be on the

[1:41:51] exhibit with the drops everything kind of I put together a turbine engine by the way with my artificial

[1:42:02] intelligence goggles. Now I am a certified airplane

[1:42:07] mechanic. [laughter] no, it was really good. Good exposure for young people to different careers, they don't have the opportunity in their

[1:42:14] normal lives. It's like referring back to my

[1:42:19] days when people came to college and I said, what is your ultimate goal? And they would say I don't know,

[1:42:24] and I would say what are you doing here if you don't know? You're wasting your time and my time.

[1:42:30] it did not happen so much in my field which was the trades,

[1:42:37] automotive mechanics, diesel mechanics, child care and all

[1:42:42] that kind of stuff. General education area, students go to college, they don't know why they are there.

[1:42:48] it's not productive. This gives students an exposure,

[1:42:53] we used to have high school fairs where we would bring high

[1:42:57] schools to our facilities and let them touch real tools and all that. It's a really helpful effort.

[1:43:04] more importantly, this project was initiated for dual county

[1:43:11] schools so the conversations I had, they were kind of pushed

[1:43:15] away. That is why they are concentrating in clay county schools. Once again the exposure to clay, the welcoming position of clay

[1:43:25] is much greater and clay county schools. I thought that was interesting. I have a couple things.

[1:43:35] one of our primary duties is safety and security, this week

[1:43:40] we had to talk a little bit about fire safety. We had a mortality, a death in a fire this past weekend.

[1:43:48] it is still being investigated but nonetheless, we did escape

[1:43:53] the july fourth home fires, as we understand we did not have

[1:43:58] any home fires which is very common over the holidays, but we did have some kind of structure shed fire where we lost an

[1:44:06] individual on saturday night I think it was. I want to ask the public to be vigilant with fire safety.

[1:44:14] traffic safety, just so you k know, sending an announcement

[1:44:19] about an annual southern slow down effort by fhp to slow

[1:44:25] people down on the highways. If you see a lot of blue lights, they may be ours and they may be somebody else's, but

[1:44:32] nonetheless, july 13th through 18th, in florida, alabama,

[1:44:39] georgia south carolina and tennessee, operation southern slow down so don't get caught this weekend.

[1:44:46] and then e-bike safety. We had several deaths in the

[1:44:53] county. Our goal is to you know first of

[1:44:58] all we need regulations for the e-bikes. We don't have them right now. The legislature passed a statute

[1:45:07] that was... The governor vetoed it.

[1:45:15] we don't. And the real tragedy of that bill I think was they had a work group in that bill, an initial

[1:45:26] look at e-bike safety, it wasn't all encompassing but they had a work group in there. So that was vetoed as well.

[1:45:33] in lieu of that, I will try to get an e-bike safety pamphlet,

[1:45:43] and I talked to clay county school systems that are willing to distribute it as well, and if we can get something built out

[1:45:51] we were working with the health department and clay county

[1:45:56] sheriff's office, and our own departments to come up with

[1:46:01] those pamphlets or a folder, or a flier, something just to make

[1:46:07] parents aware that these are not toys. It is a form of transportation, okay?

[1:46:13] if you are using these vehicles for transportation there are

[1:46:18] certain hazards and rules that you can apply to mitigate those

[1:46:25] hazards. Parents I think sometimes think they are toys. And I know commissioner sgromolo

[1:46:32] and I observed for young 12-year-old boys in the middle of the road doing wheelies on e-bikes, and they can wreak

[1:46:42] havoc catastrophic results. We want to try to get parents

[1:46:46] aware that there are some restrictions. The last thing I have is something I think I have talked

[1:46:54] to you about, it is going to do away with copper line phones by

[1:47:01] 2029. And I don't know, there are certain states that are suing at&t.

[1:47:06] the spc, this was going to happen sooner or later. And they removed the restrictions from removing all

[1:47:15] these lines, so at&t is leading the charge, they will try to remove these lines quicker, sooner than later.

[1:47:23] and I would say for 70% 80% of us, it really doesn't matter

[1:47:28] because we use fiber optics and we use internet, but there are

[1:47:32] maybe some people in the county that this is the only form of

[1:47:37] communication, so when you talk about 911 and there are no phone for you to call, you know, how serious is this in clay county?

[1:47:48] I don't know. But I think it is something we have to be aware of, next two or three years, some people may

[1:47:55] lose all forms of communication in their home. >> it's a really big deal. It is a huge deal in my area.

[1:48:03] I will tell you why, this will surprise you, fox meadow, very

[1:48:10] little cell phone service in the back of the neighborhood. Remember when they changed the cellular so the guy could build

[1:48:15] a cell tower on his private land but he hasn't finished construction for whatever reason, that is his business,

[1:48:21] but those residents are greatly wanting a cell tower out of there because for that very reason.

[1:48:28] even at our own park, they had conversations with the chief

[1:48:34] because they have the a and b at the fox meadow community park,

[1:48:39] but they said they cannot use -- they cannot use the pulsepoint,

[1:48:44] if they call 911 to use the pulsepoint to tell them how to use the a and, it doesn't always work because they don't have

[1:48:51] great service. It is a big deal. I talked to different providers and then the interesting thing,

[1:48:59] troy and I got down this path with the broadband thing several years ago and it kind of dropped off everybody's radar, is the

[1:49:08] towers, the cell towers are not owned by the big carriers

[1:49:12] anymore, so at&t and verizon, they don't go to put these in,

[1:49:17] they rent tower space. So it is a very complicated

[1:49:23] issue. I don't know what the solution is but you are right. >> the element of this I hadn't

[1:49:30] realized is some of the older elevators have copper wire phone

[1:49:36] lines, and fire alarms. So that is something we have to look at. I don't know if we will have

[1:49:42] elevators at old but it is something we need to be aware of or should be aware of and just take a look at it, what is the

[1:49:49] impact of copper lines going away? Because we all know it is happening, it is going to happen

[1:49:55] sooner than later. And I think that is all.

[1:50:02] hope everybody has a good week. That is all I have, thank you.

[1:50:07] >> thank you commissioner renninger. As everybody said, the summer event, it is always extremely

[1:50:16] valuable to hear what is going on in the state with other

[1:50:20] county commissions, the state wide level.

[1:50:24] attending a breakout out there about data centers and it was a very informative, one of the big takeaways of the breakout that I

[1:50:32] took from was that commissioner in georgia who talked about all

[1:50:37] kinds of levers at a local commissions can pull to protect

[1:50:41] their community. I look forward to sharing those nuggets with staff as we continue to look at our

[1:50:48] ordinance for that, and once again two shout outs, number 1

[1:50:53] thank you to commissioner renninger and commissioner condon, whether you realize it or not you were a mentor from

[1:50:59] afar and in continued education, I finally got my commissioner certification from the university of florida, I think

[1:51:10] people don't understand the breadth of information that we have to be exposed to as commissioners, somebody the

[1:51:16] other day said my knowledge base is a mile wide but it is only an inch deep, that is kind of the way we have to approach so many

[1:51:24] different topics, so that was exciting. Congratulations again betsy calculated the first clay county

[1:51:31] commissioner ever to be in leadership. That is a very big deal and here is why, when you do this job

[1:51:38] correctly in my opinion as all of us work so hard to do,

[1:51:44] lobbying tallahassee, working with tallahassee to protect

[1:51:49] clay county is one of the biggest things that we do. And the florida association of counties is our arm as

[1:51:57] commissioners in tallahassee to fight for local control.

[1:52:01] and by you winning that election and clay county having that

[1:52:06] voice on the state stage is a really big deal. And I am really happy you are representing us there and having

[1:52:12] the future speaker, we are setting ourselves up to be in a very good spot to continue to protect clay county, so I am

[1:52:20] excited about that. And then that night, friday got

[1:52:25] to attend with commissioner renninger and burke, the

[1:52:29] firefighter graduation for the class of 2026 -- 01, just always

[1:52:35] cool seeing the rookies get to the finish line and kind of like

[1:52:40] the harry potter sorting hat, what station they will go to. Where they want to go you can tell and they get excited when

[1:52:46] they get their first station assignment, and really it was so cool seeing the support of families, whether it was kids

[1:52:54] dressed up as firefighters, whether it was their son or daughter you know, cousin, really cool clay county event.

[1:53:02] thanks again to the church for opening their doors to hold

[1:53:08] those events, and fourth of july was different it was different.

[1:53:13] the 250th, you can really feel the pride in the community, it

Jul 14, 2026 BCC Agenda

Agenda

Transcript