[0:03] everyone. Uh, if I could have your

[0:05] attention. Thank you'all very much for

[0:06] the um May 20th, 2026 meeting of the

[0:10] Conservation 2020 Land Acquisition and

[0:13] Stewardship Advisory Council, excuse me,

[0:16] Advisory Committee. Uh, we have a quorum

[0:18] and I'd like to call to order. And first

[0:20] order of business, a pledge of

[0:21] allegiance. If you join, stand and join

[0:23] me.

[0:26] I aliance to the flag of the United

[0:29] States of America and to the republic

[0:31] for which it stands. One nation under

[0:34] God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:37] justice for all.

[0:41] >> Thank you very much. Please call the

[0:43] role and we'll

[0:46] move on after that. Thank you.

[0:49] >> Renee Manita for the record. Karen

[0:52] Andress

[0:53] >> present. Carl Barco

[0:55] >> here.

[0:57] >> Joseph Cruz

[0:58] >> here.

[0:59] >> Ron in

[1:00] >> present.

[1:01] >> Christy Knight

[1:02] >> here.

[1:03] >> Matthew Lincolnhal

[1:04] >> here.

[1:05] >> Fred Bonson

[1:06] >> here.

[1:06] >> John Paul

[1:07] >> here.

[1:08] >> Chris Robin

[1:09] >> here.

[1:10] >> Nathan Shaw

[1:11] >> present.

[1:11] >> Shane Spring

[1:12] >> here.

[1:13] >> Andrew Sund

[1:14] >> is present.

[1:14] >> Gary Tasman

[1:15] >> here.

[1:16] >> Bridget Thorough is absent. And Savannah

[1:19] White, did she slip in? She's absent.

[1:22] That's a quorum.

[1:24] Thank you very much. Thanks everyone for

[1:25] coming. Uh, previously Renee circulated

[1:28] the minutes of our April 15th meeting.

[1:31] I'd like to see if anyone has any

[1:33] comments on their assume you've had a

[1:35] chance to read them. Any comments? And

[1:37] if not, we'll entertain a motion for

[1:38] approval of the minutes.

[1:40] >> Ch. I'll make a motion to approve.

[1:42] >> Thank you.

[1:43] >> Second.

[1:44] by Miss Andress. We have a

[1:45] motion, a second. Any discussion? Any

[1:47] opposition? That carries. Uh we have

[1:51] several uh staff negotiated purchase

[1:53] agreements tonight. Four in particular.

[1:56] Uh a couple of things of interest or of

[1:58] note relative to these. We have to vote

[2:01] on each of them separately and staff has

[2:04] to record our vote. Even if it's a

[2:06] unanimous vote, we'll still need to

[2:07] signify by raising our hands so there's

[2:09] some acknowledgement that that is our

[2:11] vote so that the record will record it.

[2:13] uh if you would please hold off any

[2:15] motions until after we've taken public

[2:18] input because members of the public may

[2:19] wish to comment on uh any particular

[2:22] one. So that's kind of the way we'll proceed on each one of them. We'll

[2:25] take them individually uh have a

[2:27] presentation by staff, ask questions,

[2:30] open it to the public, and then take

[2:31] whatever action that the committee deems

[2:33] appropriate. Everybody okay with that?

[2:36] All righty, Mr. Clemens. First one is

[2:39] nomination 143-2

[2:41] Orange River Preserve Infill 3.2 acres

[2:44] with a score of 61. Please proceed, sir.

[2:47] >> All right. This parcel is about a 3 acre

[2:50] tract of land. We've got it under

[2:54] contract for $495,000.

[2:57] The county will pay for the title

[3:00] commitment, closing fees, survey, phase

[3:04] one and phase two. The situation with

[3:08] this is a little more complicated

[3:10] acquisition. The property's going

[3:12] through foreclosure and bankruptcy.

[3:15] So, um,

[3:17] >> are there any other problems?

[3:20] >> So, um, staff staff recommends to

[3:24] proceed with it. As you can see, this is

[3:28] an infill parcel that has uh really

[3:32] bifurcates our property and acquiring

[3:35] this will make that one complete system.

[3:39] >> Mr. Clemens, I think this is in tier one

[3:42] of our acquisition schedule.

[3:43] >> That is correct.

[3:44] >> Thank you, sir.

[3:46] >> All right. You've had a brief

[3:48] presentation. It's an infill item of

[3:50] nomination 143-2. Does anyone on the

[3:52] committee have any questions of staff or

[3:54] comments? If so, Mr. Spring,

[3:57] >> do we know how much they owe on the

[4:00] property for closure

[4:01] >> over the 500,000?

[4:04] We also owe somewhere in the

[4:06] neighborhood of approaching 200,000 in

[4:09] fines on this that we can get forgiven

[4:13] under the county ownership.

[4:18] So, it resolves a lot of issues.

[4:22] There were some code violations

[4:23] associated with this property in its

[4:25] past use.

[4:28] >> Is it a local bank or is it a national

[4:31] bank?

[4:32] >> Excuse me.

[4:33] >> The local bank or national bank that has

[4:34] a foreclosure?

[4:35] >> I'm sorry.

[4:36] >> Local bank or national bank that has a

[4:38] foreclosure?

[4:39] >> I that I'm not sure.

[4:44] » Clemens question. If there's that

[4:48] outstanding debt that you mentioned, and

[4:49] I don't know if I heard correctly,

[4:50] 500,000 plus another two plus some other

[4:53] items, our purchase price is less than

[4:56] what would satisfy all those. I would

[4:58] presume that those are claims that are

[5:01] prior to our involvement, meaning the

[5:03] county. How do we solve it without

[5:06] picking that up?

[5:07] >> The ownership is under a bankruptcy

[5:09] trustee. So, the trustees and of the

[5:12] court had to approve the settlement.

[5:15] >> Thank you. Any

[5:17] other questions on 143-2?

[5:21] >> Quick question, Mr. Broco.

[5:22] >> Um, on the scoring, and this happened on

[5:24] several of them, some of the numbers are

[5:25] in red. What's the difference between a

[5:27] red?

[5:28] >> We we put the red numbers. If the

[5:30] scoring, if you look at it by itself, it

[5:34] would score the 61 points. If you look

[5:36] at it as part of the overall system

[5:39] attached to that whole preserve, it

[5:41] would score an additional four points

[5:43] because it's part of a larger system.

[5:47] Okay,

[5:48] >> we had talked about that at previous

[5:49] meetings and you know to keep things

[5:51] simple, we said we would give the score

[5:53] to give you all an idea as to what that

[5:55] differential would look like.

[5:57] >> So, but this how many acres?

[5:58] >> About three three and a half

[6:02] >> and you gave it two because it would

[6:04] have gotten zero without that.

[6:07] >> Correct.

[6:07] >> Okay. Thanks.

[6:10] everyone hear that discussion. The the

[6:12] red marks are to consider the adjacency

[6:14] factor that we've talked about in the

[6:16] past.

[6:18] Any other questions, comments? Seeing

[6:20] none, we'll go to the public. I don't

[6:21] have any cards on item 58. Would anyone

[6:24] in the public like to speak on

[6:25] nomination 143, Orange River Preserve?

[6:28] If so, please come forward.

[6:31] Seeing none, we'll close the public

[6:32] input. What is the uh pleasure of the

[6:35] committee or any other thoughts or

[6:36] questions on nomination 143-2?

[6:42] Uh,

[6:43] >> Mr. Cruz moved that we proceed with

[6:44] acquisition. Do we have a second?

[6:46] >> I'll second it. Shane Spring.

[6:48] >> We have a motion to second. Discussion.

[6:51] All in favor, please raise your hand.

[6:54] And that's unanimous. Does anyone oppose

[6:56] it? If so, raise your hand. None. Renee.

[6:59] That's unanimous.

[7:01] Next is nomination 656. in addition to

[7:04] the Buttonwood Preserve with a score of

[7:06] 4750 if you consider adjacency issues.

[7:10] Mr. Cuz

[7:12] Clemens, please provide us some update

[7:14] on that as well.

[7:16] >> The and this is in uh tier one also,

[7:19] correct?

[7:20] >> Yes. Thank you. Tier one, this parcel is

[7:24] about a 28 acre track of land. It fronts

[7:28] on Stringfellow. It's adjacent to um

[7:33] systems in this area and and part of the

[7:36] Buttonwood preserve separation by the

[7:39] road. The um appraised values came in at

[7:44] 1.4 million and 1.54 million. The

[7:48] purchase price is 1,395,000.

[7:53] The county pays for phase one audit,

[7:56] title policy, and survey.

[7:59] This parcel is also

[8:02] contingent upon a simultaneous closing

[8:07] of the parcel that you see up there as

[8:09] 657.

[8:11] Uh they have common ownerships and in

[8:14] both of these but uh when we were when

[8:17] this was presented that was one of the

[8:19] conditions for this to go forward for

[8:21] acquisition. So staff is recommending to

[8:24] go forward with this contract.

[8:29] >> Mr. Spring,

[8:30] >> what is the

[8:37] » If you've seen those large plastic

[8:40] water containers, it looks like there

[8:42] was a shrimp farm to the north or a fish

[8:45] farm to the north and during the

[8:48] hurricanes, it looks like that container

[8:50] floated onto the property. So, we had

[8:52] staff go out, get an estimate as to what

[8:55] they thought it think it will cost to

[8:57] remove it, and that 5,000 number is what

[9:01] we were given. The property owners are

[9:04] elderly. They're scattered

[9:07] throughout the country. Um, they really

[9:09] don't have the whereforall to

[9:12] handle this. So, um, that's why we're

[9:15] recommending a reduction in price and,

[9:17] uh, taking care of this ourselves. Any

[9:23] further questions,

[9:26] >> Robin?

[9:31] » It's going to be about $50,000. Just a

[9:34] fraction under 50,000 per acre.

[9:43] » South reason

[9:53] Correct.

[10:01] » What

[10:02] >> I understand,000.

[10:19] Well, if you're looking at 50 acres,

[10:22] what's that? $500,000 difference.

[10:26] >> Right. But that one went to tier two.

[10:29] So,

[10:33] » any other comments or questions of

[10:35] staff?

[10:37] >> If the phase one audit doesn't come back

[10:39] clean, who's responsible for radiation?

[10:44] >> We either they pay it or we can

[10:46] terminate the contract. Okay.

[10:58] I would just like to say this has been a

[11:01] long

[11:22] Any other comments or questions?

[11:24] >> All right, we'll go to public input. I

[11:26] have one card from Robert Ballard on

[11:28] this particular item. Please, please

[11:30] come forward and state your name for the

[11:32] record. And you have three minutes, sir.

[11:39] » Yes. I'm Robert Ballard with Klua Land

[11:41] Trust, also a native Pine Islander. Uh,

[11:44] I've been working on this property for

[11:46] nine years to try to get it preserved.

[11:48] If you're ever out on Pine Island, as a

[11:51] native Pine Islander, it is probably the

[11:53] most purest piece of property left on

[11:55] Pine Island without a lot of invasive

[11:58] plants and stuff on it. So, I encourage

[12:00] you to go forward with this nomination

[12:04] uh because it's really critical to my

[12:06] community to save it and save this big

[12:08] piece of pristine Pine Island as it is,

[12:11] pines and palmettos. So, I appreciate if

[12:14] you go forward with that.

[12:16] >> Thank you very much.

[12:17] >> Uh, would anyone else in the audience

[12:19] care to speak on item 5B, nomination

[12:22] 656? If so, please come forward.

[12:25] >> Uh, could I just make one more comment?

[12:26] Uh, Renee just reminded me the Tus Land

[12:29] Trust, we're so invested in this that we

[12:31] offered $80,000 towards the maintenance

[12:34] and improvements to this property if

[12:36] it's purchased. So that is uh the

[12:39] conclusive interest is committed to

[12:41] making $80,000 towards the uh parks and

[12:44] recreation from improving it.

[12:47] >> That's great. Thank you for that

[12:48] additional information. That's that's

[12:50] very great great info. Thank you sir.

[12:54] Seeing no other public input uh

[12:56] nomination 656 which is addition to the

[12:58] Buttonwood Preserve 28 acres roughly

[13:01] with a score of 47. What is the

[13:03] committee's pleasure?

[13:05] to move forward for acquisition.

[13:06] >> We have a motion to move forward for

[13:08] acquisition by Mr. Spring, second by

[13:09] Miss Anderson, and Mr. Cruz. At the same

[13:11] time, almost.

[13:13] We have a motion, a second to move

[13:14] forward with acquisition. Do we have any

[13:16] further discussion?

[13:18] All in favor, please raise your hand.

[13:22] All opposed, please do the same. Raise

[13:24] your hand. Seeing none, that's unanimous

[13:26] approval. Thank you very much, everyone.

[13:29] The next item, which as Mr. Clemens

[13:31] mentioned is somewhat tied to the

[13:32] previous one and it's a contingent type

[13:35] arrangement is parcel number 657 which

[13:38] is also in addition to the Buttonwood

[13:40] preserve 28.13 acres with a score of 47.

[13:43] Mr. Clemens, can you give us some

[13:45] background on this one as well?

[13:46] >> Yes, this parcel is contiguous to the

[13:49] one we just spoke about. it has um

[13:54] 60% of the ownership on the first one

[13:59] um is common in this site here. So,

[14:03] three people own the subject site we're

[14:05] speaking about that own 60% of the one

[14:09] that is contiguous to them with the road

[14:11] frontage. And I bring that up because

[14:13] when we initially appraised this, we

[14:15] appraised it as if it had no legal

[14:18] access.

[14:20] that came in at around $150,000.

[14:24] In the negotiations, they property

[14:26] owners pointed out their assessed value

[14:29] is around $285,000

[14:34] and they could go through the process

[14:36] and just assemble the whole parcel as

[14:40] one tract of land, which would cause us

[14:42] to have to go back, reappraise it, and

[14:45] go through, you know, a full analysis

[14:48] again. So instead of doing that, we had

[14:50] our staff do an in-house value

[14:53] adjustment, assuming that it had legal

[14:56] access. And in doing that is where we

[14:59] came up with an appraised value of about

[15:02] 200,000.

[15:04] That's based on the upland area only.

[15:08] That's about 8 acres at 40,000 an acre.

[15:13] That would be 320 by itself. And if if

[15:16] you were to assemble it to the as a

[15:18] larger piece at 50,000 an acre, that

[15:21] puts us at over 400,000. So we feel that

[15:25] making the internal market adjustment is

[15:28] reasonable and easy to explain and

[15:32] probably in the long run less costly

[15:34] than than uh going back through the

[15:37] whole process again. So, we're

[15:38] recommending the purchase at the um

[15:44] uh $285,000

[15:48] that being the county pays for the title

[15:50] policy

[15:52] survey and phase one audit and it's it

[15:56] also is uh contingent upon the

[15:59] simultaneous closing of the adjacent

[16:02] parcel.

[16:05] >> Thank you. questions of Mr. Clemens. Mr.

[16:10] >> Tasman,000

[16:15] at least the land trust is pledging. Is

[16:17] that 80,000 per

[16:20] um per parcel or total for the both

[16:23] part?

[16:30] » Well, if Mr. Ballard speaks, maybe we

[16:31] can convince him to double it.

[16:38] Just kidding, sir.

[16:42] » All right. Anyone have any other

[16:44] comments or questions? Karen.

[17:09] » Okay, good. I'll hold any motion till we

[17:11] hear from the public. But thank you.

[17:14] Anyone have any other thoughts?

[17:17] >> Mr. Robin,

[17:22] » it is

[17:26] interest

[17:27] >> in in the past. I think they've been

[17:30] solicited.

[17:32] I

[17:32] >> uh

[17:38] » and that's certainly something we can

[17:39] consider once we close on this.

[17:44] There's a parcel north of here that has

[17:45] come in for review. That'll be

[17:49] >> Mr. Clemens, if I may, the

[17:52] Charlotte Harbor State Lands is

[17:54] highlighted in a light green and then

[17:56] you have this parcel. What about the

[17:59] parcels below it that are just normal

[18:01] color? Is that stateowned too or who

[18:03] owns?

[18:03] >> Those are those are privately owned.

[18:06] >> Okay. And if you that southerntherly

[18:10] portion, if you look where the uh green

[18:13] hashmark area is and look north of that,

[18:16] that's a couple of hundred acres. And I

[18:18] just spoke to that property owner

[18:20] probably six months ago and asked her if

[18:22] she wanted to nominate it. Uh she said

[18:25] no, that was gifted to her. I don't know

[18:28] if it was her husband or father gifted

[18:31] it to her and it was important to her.

[18:36] Fair enough.

[18:37] >> Thank you.

[18:42] » Any other comments of or questions of

[18:44] staff before we open up for public

[18:46] input? Seeing none,

[18:49] >> I just have a comment and I don't want

[18:51] to look at it on this one, but in the

[18:52] future when we look at projects like

[18:54] this, when you evaluate the the value of

[18:58] the property, I I hope you look at the

[19:00] developable possibilities. For instance,

[19:02] if this is subject to compensating

[19:05] storage and it can't be developed, then

[19:07] the value I would assume is much less

[19:09] than if it could be. So

[19:10] >> we address it for those factors.

[19:13] >> If there is you can build on this

[19:16] >> the stuff that's fronting.

[19:18] >> Yes.

[19:19] >> What elevation is the land? You know,

[19:22] >> I did check it, but I'm thinking it's

[19:27] five or sixish, but I I

[19:28] >> That's what I'm saying. If the land is

[19:30] at elevation five and 100year storm is

[19:32] at elevation 10, you can't build on that

[19:35] land. And and I don't want to bring it

[19:37] up on this one, but in the future, I

[19:39] hope we look at those things.

[19:40] >> Well, similar properties out here are

[19:42] selling and I'm seeing them developed. I

[19:44] just drove out there today.

[19:46] >> I'm just asking that we look at that in

[19:47] the future because I I think that's a

[19:50] significant thing, not only today, but

[19:51] as as we continue.

[19:58] » Thank you. All

[19:59] right, we'll go to public input. Mr.

[20:01] Ballard, please come forward, sir.

[20:05] >> Please again state your name for the

[20:06] record and you have three minutes.

[20:10] » Yes, Robert Ballard includes the land

[20:12] trust. Again, I've walked these

[20:14] properties three times now and this

[20:16] piece we're looking at right now, the

[20:18] uplands are matching what we just

[20:21] approved to go forward with. The other

[20:24] part is mangroves which is very critical

[20:27] to the whole ecology of of Pine Island

[20:30] itself. U the upland part there's an

[20:34] eagle's nest that I found on my one of

[20:36] my trips through there and Ottoman

[20:38] didn't know about it and now they know

[20:40] about it and they're watching it and

[20:42] they had eagles again this year on it.

[20:44] Uh it's almost on the border of the

[20:46] piece you just approved there. Um but

[20:49] it's uh it's contingent the other piece

[20:52] and and to me it's important to keep it

[20:54] all together if you can. Uh you're

[20:56] looking at the piece coming up probably

[20:58] nomination in a next meeting or so just

[21:01] north of that which is part palm farm

[21:04] and part mangroves and stuff. Uh and

[21:07] south of it what you see in the in the

[21:09] gray area is mangroves. So it's not

[21:11] really development property. uh and

[21:16] maybe someday the owner would come up

[21:18] with a reasonable price to donate that

[21:20] but but I I suggest go forward with it.

[21:23] My opinion.

[21:26] >> Thank you very much sir.

[21:29] >> Would anyone else in the public care to

[21:31] speak on nomination 657 28.13 acre

[21:35] additions of Button Court preserve. If

[21:36] so, please come forward.

[21:39] Seeing none, we'll close the public

[21:40] input. What is the committee's pleasure

[21:42] with respect to nomination 657?

[21:48] » We have a motion by Miss Sanders, second

[21:50] by Mr. Cruz to pursue purchase of uh

[21:54] move forward to recommend purchase of

[21:56] this parcel pursuant to the negotiations

[21:59] that the staff has accomplished. There

[22:01] we go. We have a motion and a second.

[22:03] Any further discussion? All in favor,

[22:05] please raise your hand.

[22:08] Anyone opposed, please raise your hand

[22:09] as well. Seeing none, that's a unanimous

[22:12] approval as were the other two. Thank

[22:14] you.

[22:18] » Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. I should have

[22:19] mentioned that it is tier one.

[22:23] All righty. Uh item 5D is nomination 665

[22:28] Pine Islands Pine Island Flatwoods

[22:30] infill a 10acre parcel with a score of

[22:33] 23. Mr. Clemens, please give us some

[22:35] background on this parcel, sir.

[22:37] >> Yeah, this is somewhat of an infill

[22:39] parcel. is within the um

[22:44] Pine Island.

[22:46] Gosh, I can't I can't What's that?

[22:48] Buttonwood.

[22:50] >> Pinewood. Flatwood.

[22:51] >> I was going to give him a glass of some

[22:54] kind of wood.

[22:55] >> It's one of our preserves and it infills

[22:58] and it's got access to the uh you see

[23:00] that hash mark that runs through the

[23:03] preserve. That's an access for the

[23:06] private ownerships in there. And this

[23:09] area has been a troubled area for us

[23:13] from a maintenance standpoint because of

[23:15] those access points. Um in fighting with

[23:19] neighbors, uh property owners fighting

[23:21] with the county, they had some other

[23:24] access potential um points within the

[23:28] preserve. So we've consolidated it to

[23:30] that hashmark area. So, buying this

[23:34] property, as you can see, that takes

[23:36] another private ownership out of play

[23:38] and impact off of our maintenance staff.

[23:42] The uh appraised value for this parcel

[23:45] was $430,000

[23:47] and 400,000. The purchase price is for

[23:51] $400,000.

[23:53] The county pays for the environmental

[23:55] phase one audit and survey. Other costs

[23:59] are paid by the seller. uh staff

[24:02] recommends buying this parcel for the

[24:06] previous mentioned uh reasons

[24:11] and is it is also a tier one part.

[24:13] >> It's tier one also correct.

[24:17] >> Thank you sir. Any questions of Mr.

[24:19] Clemens relative to nomination 665

[24:25] question on the um contamination I

[24:27] assume the same answer. That's correct.

[24:29] And that's pretty standard in all of our

[24:31] contracts. We always have the right to

[24:33] bail out fest county contracts period

[24:36] for district.

[24:37] >> Obvious reasons. Help me make sure I'm

[24:39] for everyone the map I'm reading

[24:42] correctly. The green hash comes down

[24:46] goes east, west, north, south, east,

[24:48] west, and then there's a yellow hash.

[24:52] Does that provide access to this

[24:53] particular parcel so that you can

[24:55] maintain it?

[24:56] >> Correct. That was one of the

[24:57] contingencies in this even being

[24:59] nominated.

[25:00] >> I just want to differentiate between the

[25:01] two colors because the the legend says

[25:03] yellow is easements. Wasn't sure about

[25:05] the other, but it looks that color

[25:07] because it overlays the green.

[25:08] >> Yeah, the yellow are private easements.

[25:10] The green hashed are

[25:14] easements on county property to those

[25:17] private

[25:19] tracks of land in there.

[25:22] >> Thank you. Any questions of Mr. Clemens

[25:26] or staff on nomination 665.

[25:29] Seeing none, would anyone in the public

[25:31] care to speak on nomination 665, Pine

[25:34] Islands, Pine Island Flatwoods in

[25:36] Philip, 10acres? If so, please come

[25:38] forward at this time.

[25:41] Seeing none, we'll close the public

[25:42] input. What is the committee's pleasure

[25:44] with respect to nomination 665?

[25:50] » Motion by Mr. Spring, second by Miss

[25:52] Andress. Any discussion?

[25:56] All in favor, please raise your hand.

[25:59] Any opposed, please raise your hand as

[26:01] well. Seeing none, that's unanimous

[26:03] approval. Thanks everyone very much. Um,

[26:06] we will move on to acquisition reviews

[26:08] or possible acquisition reviews. We have

[26:10] two parcels for consideration. The first

[26:12] is nomination 655-2

[26:17] and it's a Charlotte Harbor buffer

[26:19] preserve infill of 2 acres with a score

[26:21] of 39. uh near your capens. Mr. Clemens,

[26:25] please uh give us some input on this,

[26:27] sir.

[26:28] >> This property is about two acres. It's

[26:31] improved with a house and some incillary

[26:34] structures.

[26:36] Uh the property owner previously

[26:39] nominated this. We were unable to come

[26:41] to terms.

[26:43] The um and the reason was price. Uh that

[26:47] was about 18 months ago or so.

[26:51] They have pursued a way of access over

[26:57] county property. They do not have legal

[26:59] access at this time. Uh the way that

[27:03] Florida law is written, it is nearly

[27:06] impossible to exclude access from a

[27:09] property owner to a public access point.

[27:14] So they're looking to go down and across

[27:18] our property. If you you see the yellow

[27:20] line, but then you see a faint dirt road

[27:24] that runs through there. That's the path

[27:26] that they've been using to get to this

[27:29] property. And that path has existed

[27:34] probably since about the 50s or 60s.

[27:38] and um the

[27:43] they have renominated this but they've

[27:45] also pursued that way of access and

[27:51] they brought it back and said that if if

[27:54] we could get to their price which is

[27:57] somewhere around

[28:00] 6 to 800,000

[28:02] they would rather sell it than to

[28:04] continue going through that process and

[28:06] I

[28:07] staff would recommend

[28:10] removing a neighbor within our preserve

[28:13] as well because we don't have control of

[28:16] what happens in there when you have a

[28:18] private ownership. Um, if you look, you

[28:21] can see a lot of scarring in this area.

[28:24] It is uh

[28:26] people come out in their ATVs and such.

[28:29] I I know fish and wildlife

[28:32] um monitor this area, county staff

[28:35] monitors this area, but you can't be out

[28:37] there 247 and and uh so that's kind of

[28:42] the reasoning. Staff recommends buying

[28:46] it for the purpose of the management

[28:49] aspect of this. Um, but if we don't go

[28:54] forward with it, then we'll we'll be

[28:56] working with them to perfect their legal

[28:59] access. So, that's kind of where we are

[29:02] on this one.

[29:03] >> So, our our function is to make a

[29:05] recommendation on whether you should

[29:06] pursue acquisition, not acquire at this

[29:08] time because we haven't gotten that far

[29:10] along. Correct.

[29:12] >> Correct. That would be to put it in the

[29:13] process. And if you do recommend going

[29:16] forward with acquisition, I would

[29:19] recommend to put it into tier one

[29:21] because if not, they're going to come

[29:23] after the way of access. And I suspect

[29:27] at that point, they'll want even more

[29:29] money afterwards because now when you

[29:31] have a perfected legal access, it's

[29:35] going to be easier to market.

[29:42] » It's a dirt. It's a dirt road.

[29:51] » They could.

[29:56] » Some of the concerns we have and I we

[29:58] have um you know park staff here, but

[30:01] when you're in an area like this, it's

[30:04] pretty flat. You can see it drains to

[30:07] the canal system there. just a slight

[30:10] elevation

[30:12] and grade change

[30:14] changes the water flow patterns and you

[30:18] know from there you run into other

[30:20] issues and you know I certainly defer to

[30:23] the experts if y'all want more

[30:25] information on that but

[30:32] » it it does almost totally bifurcate our

[30:35] property

[30:38] >> just out of curiosity how Did they ever

[30:39] acquire that to begin with with no

[30:41] access?

[30:42] >> Well, it went through foreclosure and we

[30:45] picked it up for about $90,000.

[30:48] But when you go through I take that

[30:50] back. It was a tax deed sale. So when it

[30:53] goes through a taxdeed sale, you inherit

[30:55] the uh

[30:58] nuisances that are remaining

[31:03] spring. So, we're going to go after

[31:05] this. We go after the other house that's

[31:07] there, too.

[31:09] >> I'm sorry.

[31:09] >> We go after the other house that's

[31:11] there, too, as well. See if they're a

[31:12] willing seller as well. If we're going

[31:14] to go after one, go after both.

[31:15] >> I I I those folks have been out there

[31:17] from what I've been told over 20 years

[31:20] and they're tenants. And uh we we have

[31:23] solicited all the property owners in

[31:25] here to nominate their properties to us.

[31:28] If you if you see the property, if you

[31:30] follow that yellow line,

[31:31] >> you see that at the very end of that

[31:34] yellow line

[31:36] right there, that was that was one we

[31:39] closed on probably a year ago when we

[31:41] solicited all these people to see if

[31:43] they were wanting to sell. So, we got

[31:46] that one. So, that's the most westerly

[31:50] private ownership that is interfering

[31:53] with the uh preserve.

[31:57] And then if we do acquire this, we will

[32:00] be required to remove all the structures

[32:02] and everything on this. Correct.

[32:03] >> Correct.

[32:06] >> Mr. Sun, you had a question.

[32:08] >> So the current easement was only back

[32:11] most westerly property. These people

[32:13] have no access to that easement.

[32:15] >> Correct.

[32:16] >> And now the secondary properties, have

[32:19] we had any communication with them that

[32:21] they're looking to pursue legal access?

[32:23] Because I appear they don't have access

[32:25] either currently.

[32:27] They haven't had their attorneys contact

[32:29] us yet.

[32:32] >> And then just last question,

[32:35] if we were to be able to fail to reach

[32:36] an agreement on purchase price, what

[32:38] costs legal cost is associated with the

[32:41] county for them to gain legal access? Is

[32:44] it

[32:47] >> we would have to um perfect their

[32:51] easement rights? we would we would want

[32:53] to restrict it to the path that they're

[32:56] currently following. Um, you know, we

[32:59] certainly wouldn't want to go into a a

[33:01] court situation and they say they want

[33:03] to, you know, a court come back and say,

[33:05] "Hey, follow the yellow line. Now we

[33:07] have a new disturbed area."

[33:10] I I think just common sense wise they

[33:13] would, you know, if it went to trial, it

[33:17] would be a you follow the path that

[33:19] they've been following. And that's

[33:22] pretty much the legal opinion that that

[33:24] I've received is that, you know, that

[33:27] would be what they would get. We don't

[33:30] really have the ability to charge them

[33:33] damages or anything like that. Uh what

[33:36] we would be looking to do is have them

[33:39] pay for a survey to draw out the legal

[33:41] description and then

[33:45] um survey the area that their um

[33:49] ownership entails so that we can have

[33:53] demarcation as to here's where you can

[33:55] go. You can walk through the whole

[33:58] preserve. But I don't think that's how

[34:01] people like to travel out here. But when you see a bunch of toys that folks

[34:05] have and they tend to be these ATVs and

[34:08] stuff,

[34:09] um

[34:11] I just leave it at that.

[34:14] Any other questions of Mr. Clemens?

[34:18] All right. Before we move forward, uh

[34:21] would anyone in the public care to speak

[34:22] on nomination 655-2,

[34:26] Charlotte Harbor buffer preserve infill

[34:28] 2 acres? If so, please come forward,

[34:31] please.

[34:40] Sherry Morris. For the record, I have

[34:43] hiked that and it is creepy when you are

[34:47] hiking through a preserve and all of a

[34:49] sudden you get to something and I tell

[34:51] my husband we can't go there, you know.

[34:53] So, it it really is disturbing as a as a

[34:58] hiker when you think this is, you know,

[35:01] where we're going to get to go and um so

[35:03] and because you don't know, you you

[35:05] you're worried about how the people the

[35:07] owners feel about you being anywhere

[35:09] around there. So, so the more of that we

[35:12] can take care of, the better.

[35:15] >> Thank you.

[35:16] Would anyone else in the

[35:18] public care to speak on nomination

[35:20] 655-2? If so, please come forward.

[35:24] Seeing none, we'll close public comment.

[35:26] What is the pleasure of the committee

[35:28] with respect to nomination 665-2? Mr.

[35:31] Sun, uh, pursuant to staff's

[35:33] recommendation to avoid the uh,

[35:36] potential maintenance and costs and uh,

[35:39] damage to the current preserve. I would

[35:42] move that we uh, move forward with the

[35:44] nomination and place it in tier one.

[35:47] >> Thank you. We have a motion or we have a

[35:48] second.

[35:49] >> Second,

[35:49] >> Mr. Paul. All right. We have a motion

[35:51] and a second to move forward move

[35:55] item 655-2 nomination 65-2 forward. Any

[36:00] discussion?

[36:02] All in favor say I.

[36:03] >> I. Any in opposition?

[36:06] That carries unanimously.

[36:09] I have a question. Robert, can we go

[36:12] after the other property as well?

[36:18] At the same time,

[36:19] >> we can certainly solicit them.

[36:22] >> Do you need a motion or you guys?

[36:24] >> We can just do it. Seth can just do it.

[36:27] I think everyone probably is would would

[36:29] vote for that even if it was a motion.

[36:31] Makes sense. Thank you. Uh the next item

[36:34] is item 6B, nomination 673 in the crew

[36:38] trust, uh 30 acres with a score of 79.

[36:42] Uh Mr. Clemens, please give us some

[36:44] background on this parcel, sir.

[36:48] » Yeah, we're looking at about a combined

[36:50] it's two tracks of land, but it equates

[36:53] to about 30 acres in uh section 29 of

[36:56] the crew area. Um it scores 79 points.

[37:00] staff recommends to

[37:03] pursue this parcel for acquisition

[37:06] purposes. It is contiguous to um public

[37:11] ownership. These lines get a little

[37:13] skewed in the maps, but that uh green

[37:17] line, I mean that green area that's on

[37:20] the left hand side of the screen would

[37:24] form the uh easterly bound or touch the

[37:27] easterly boundary of the subject

[37:29] properties.

[37:31] That's the crew trust itself, correct?

[37:33] Saying it borders that at least

[37:34] certainly the north

[37:36] >> portion north half of this does.

[37:39] >> Correct.

[37:40] This this is als

[37:45] uh ecosystem area

[37:48] and it will be beneficial to projects

[37:52] that natural resources is working on.

[37:54] >> What tier would you recommend this for?

[37:56] >> Uh tier one.

[38:00] And these are the highest scoring

[38:02] parcels that we have in the in the crew

[38:05] area.

[38:06] >> All righty. Any comments or questions of

[38:09] let Miss Andrew

[38:20] acquire this whole thing for a long

[38:23] time.

[38:27] So you want to do you want to change

[38:28] that and not move forward with this one?

[38:34] » I want to move forward.

[38:38] » All right. Thank you. All righty. Any

[38:40] other questions? Mr. Broco,

[38:42] >> what's this this strip between the two

[38:44] parcels?

[38:45] >> It's it's just mapping.

[38:47] >> Okay. So So they touch.

[38:49] >> Yeah.

[38:50] >> Okay.

[38:51] >> Any other questions or comments? Seeing

[38:53] none, we'll go to the public. Would

[38:55] anyone in the public care to speak on

[38:56] nomination 673 in the crew trust 30

[38:59] acres? Please come forward.

[39:02] Seeing none, we'll close public comment.

[39:04] What is the committee's uh direction

[39:06] with respect to nomination 673 that's

[39:10] recommended for acquisition review as a

[39:12] tier one parcel.

[39:14] >> I move forward.

[39:16] >> Moved by Miss Andrew. Do we have a

[39:17] second?

[39:19] >> Second by Mr. Tasman. We have a motion

[39:20] to second. Any discussion? Any

[39:22] opposition? That carries unanimously.

[39:24] Thanks everyone very much. There's a lot

[39:26] of lot of parcels to look at tonight. Um

[39:29] >> clarify I'm sorry. We clarify that

[39:32] that's tier one, please.

[39:33] >> Tier one. Yes.

[39:34] >> Thank you.

[39:41] » All righty. Uh

[39:44] as everyone knows or we've talked about

[39:46] in the past, we're governed by the

[39:48] sunshine law. And from time to time it's

[39:51] very uh helpful for us to either get a a

[39:54] primer or a refresher as the case may be

[39:56] either way on what that uh means and how

[40:00] that would affect how we operate uh as

[40:02] members of this committee. So we've

[40:04] asked our county attorney's office and

[40:05] Miss Swindle to give us an overview of

[40:07] the Sunshine Law and things we need to

[40:09] be aware of. The floor is yours. Ma'am,

[40:15] please uh please go forward.

[40:20] Thank you. All right. Good evening

[40:22] everyone. Amanda Swendle with the county

[40:24] attorney's office. Um, as the chair has

[40:27] said, I'm here to talk to you about um,

[40:30] public records, sunshine law, and voting

[40:33] conflicts. And just keep in mind that

[40:36] this is like a Mount Everest level view

[40:39] of what is included in public record,

[40:42] Sunshine Law. The the amount of

[40:43] information and rules and exceptions to

[40:45] rules that there are is so voluminous.

[40:48] it would take me three or four days to tell you all about it. So, this is

[40:52] just really the the the highlights, the

[40:55] upshots, and um just the the main things

[40:58] to keep in mind. So, um as as your chair

[41:02] said, um your role as an advisory board

[41:06] member subjects you to the exact same

[41:08] laws and standards that are applicable

[41:10] to elected officials, uh the

[41:12] commissioners who appointed you. The

[41:13] reasoning is is that even though you

[41:15] make a recommendation to the board, that

[41:18] recommendation is part of the entire

[41:20] decision-making process that will

[41:22] eventually go to the legislative body

[41:24] for a vote. So, all of that comes in to

[41:26] what we call um sunshine law. So, the

[41:30] main rules to um to keep in mind is that

[41:33] you should only discuss board me at a

[41:36] noticed public meeting such as this. Um,

[41:39] you should assume that all your

[41:40] communications regarding matters that

[41:42] come before this board are public

[41:44] records. And if you ever have a doubt or

[41:47] a question as to whether a communication

[41:49] is a public record or something has gone

[41:51] out of the sunshine or if you have a

[41:53] voting conflict, just stop and ask

[41:56] staff. So, if you could remember

[41:57] anything from this uh presentation is if

[42:00] a little flag goes up in your brain and

[42:02] you think, just send the question to

[42:04] Renee and then Renee will forward it to

[42:06] me most likely. and and we'll get you an

[42:09] answer. So, that's that's what the

[42:11] county attorney's office is here for.

[42:14] Um, so the Sunshine Law, the rule is

[42:17] that two or more members of the same

[42:18] board may not discuss matters on which

[42:21] foreseeable board action will be taken

[42:23] except at a noticed meeting. So any two

[42:26] members of the same board communicating

[42:29] in any medium. So in person, phone,

[42:32] email, text, chat message, social media,

[42:35] all of those would be uh prohibited

[42:38] forms of communication. Um even indirect

[42:40] communication. So you can't tell, you

[42:43] know, Renee, would you go and pull the

[42:45] other board members to see what they

[42:47] think about this? You know, or um relay

[42:51] information between two board members

[42:53] using a third party. um that would that

[42:55] would be a violation of the sunshine

[42:57] law. Um so what does foreseeable action

[43:00] mean? It means something obviously

[43:02] that's going to come before this board

[43:04] and you're going to vote on it. Um and

[43:07] it doesn't mean that it's on the agenda

[43:09] for the next meeting. It means that it will the potential for it to come to

[43:14] you for a vote is foreseeable at this

[43:17] moment. So we um I would say in this

[43:19] context a a nomination that's been

[43:21] submitted that hasn't come before the

[43:24] board yet, you would assume that that

[43:26] would be foreseeable action that the

[43:27] board might eventually take. So that

[43:29] would come under it. So some some things

[43:32] um some examples I've seen that people

[43:35] get in trouble with texting. Um

[43:38] I would strongly recommend against

[43:41] sending any text messages about any uh class act business. um forwarding

[43:47] materials to another member with your

[43:49] notes or thoughts on it. Um discussions

[43:52] in the hallway right before a meeting.

[43:55] This says after a meeting, but I think

[43:57] it should say before a meeting. Um

[43:59] asking staff to run this by another

[44:01] member. Again, that's that indirect

[44:02] communication. And this is something

[44:04] that we just talked about replying all

[44:06] to a group message. you know, if you're

[44:09] gonna, you know, Renee sends out a

[44:10] message to everybody and you reply with

[44:13] some thought or idea and then everybody

[44:15] gets it. You've just communicated an

[44:17] idea about a a a foreseeable action. So,

[44:22] um, common mistakes, I think we just

[44:25] kind of went over most of those. Uh, the

[44:28] one here, I think social media is

[44:29] interesting. So, um, obviously if you

[44:33] make comments on a post about a 2020

[44:35] nomination, you're communicating outside

[44:37] of a public meeting. And I've even seen

[44:39] some indication, although I haven't seen

[44:41] any court cases, that just liking

[44:43] something could be considered a

[44:45] communication because you're signaling

[44:47] to the public what your opinion is

[44:50] essentially. So, um, just kind of watch

[44:53] out for that.

[44:55] Um, public records, moving right along.

[44:58] What counts as a public record? any

[44:59] material regardless of form made or

[45:02] received in connection with board

[45:04] business that's used to perpetuate,

[45:06] communicate or formalize knowledge. So

[45:09] access to public records in Florida is a

[45:11] constitutional right of every person. um

[45:14] they have the right to uh examine public

[45:16] records um on request and the county has

[45:20] an obligation to retain public records

[45:23] and to redact any or um sensitive

[45:27] information out of those. Um so when we

[45:30] say regardless of physical form um it

[45:34] means obviously electronic

[45:35] communications um handwritten notes

[45:38] again social media posts um the um

[45:43] uh the scheduling so a meeting room you

[45:46] know that we a conference room that gets

[45:48] scheduled with different meetings and

[45:49] you have that that's a public record. Um

[45:52] so basically anything that is um

[45:56] memorialized

[45:57] um would be considered a uh potentially

[46:00] a public record.

[46:02] Uh personal devices again this is the

[46:04] big one where people get in trouble. Um

[46:08] sometimes people make an assumption that

[46:10] if they communicate on their personal

[46:11] phone that it's not a public record.

[46:14] That is definitely not the case. So just

[46:16] keep that in mind. If you do receive a

[46:20] communication on your personal device

[46:22] that you think is a public record, I

[46:24] recommend forwarding it to Renee because

[46:26] once it hits our county servers, we'll

[46:28] be responsible for retaining it and you

[46:30] won't. So, um, so what to do? Again, uh,

[46:35] don't decide on your own what is or is

[46:36] not a public record. If you think that

[46:39] it might potentially be, ask question.

[46:42] Um, oh yeah, the disappearing message

[46:44] apps. This is a new one. Interesting. I don't I've never used any of these,

[46:47] but I guess there's apps where you you

[46:49] know, communicate and then it's gone. I

[46:51] mean, obviously there's no way to retain

[46:52] that. I really hope no one's

[46:56] talking about county business on one of

[46:58] those kind of apps, but you know, it's

[47:00] something new that I've heard of. Um,

[47:03] all right. So, then, uh, the last topic

[47:05] that I'm going to really talk about

[47:06] tonight is voting conflicts. when you're

[47:09] appointed to sit on this board, uh you

[47:11] are expected to have uh the public's

[47:13] interest in mind in all the actions you

[47:15] take and that the public interest is

[47:17] supposed to override your own personal

[47:19] interest. So, uh the the rule is that if

[47:23] you have if if an item is going to come

[47:25] before you uh for a vote and that item

[47:29] could potentially benefit you, a

[47:32] relative or your employer that you are

[47:35] not allowed to vote on it, you you need

[47:37] to abstain. You need to fill out a form

[47:40] um saying why you need to abstain and

[47:42] you need to announce that at the at the

[47:44] public meeting. So, um, and this is a

[47:47] really tricky, um, area of the law

[47:50] because first of all, family members,

[47:52] that's divine defined very specifically.

[47:54] It goes up to your parents and then down

[47:58] to your um,

[48:02] your children, but not to your

[48:03] grandchildren or your grandparents. And

[48:05] anyways, there's all different like

[48:07] kinds of um, you know, exceptions and

[48:09] rules. Um, who counts as your employer?

[48:12] That's a very litigated area of the law.

[48:15] Um so all those questions are very you

[48:18] know minutia type questions that again

[48:20] should come to the county attorney's

[48:22] office for a legal opinion.

[48:25] Um so again that's what the county

[48:28] attorney's office is here for. That's

[48:30] essentially my role in being a li le

[48:33] liaison to this board. So um I'm happy

[48:36] to answer any questions that you have.

[48:38] I've gone through this really really

[48:40] quickly I know but in the interest I

[48:41] know everybody probably wants to get

[48:43] home. So, if anyone has any questions,

[48:45] I'm happy to answer them here or you're free to ask me offline.

[48:49] >> I do have one.

[48:50] >> Sure.

[48:52] >> Uhhuh.

[48:52] >> And I like to log everything 2020 post.

[48:55] >> Uhhuh. Is that a problem?

[48:58] >> I I would

[49:01] What is 2020 posting? Are they posting

[49:03] things before a nomination gets voted

[49:05] on?

[49:06] >> Only stuff we acquire.

[49:07] >> Okay. Yes. If it's after acquired, then

[49:09] no, you don't have to worry about it.

[49:10] But I was like, I really hope they're

[49:11] not posting that.

[49:14] >> Okay, good. Um, yeah. So, you're good

[49:16] there. Now, I would avoid, you know, if

[49:19] someone makes a comment getting into

[49:22] some kind of discussion back and forth.

[49:25] >> Well, that's not a good idea anytime, I

[49:27] don't think.

[49:31] » Yeah. But if they posted, you know, if

[49:33] there was a post saying this nomination

[49:35] is coming to us and you did like, you

[49:37] know, happy face, whatever that and

[49:40] again, like I said, I haven't seen any

[49:42] court cases that have actually said

[49:44] this, but I've seen some uh legal

[49:47] theories.

[49:49] So,

[49:50] all right. Well, thank you everybody.

[49:52] >> Well, I have I have one real back to

[49:54] slide four,

[49:55] >> maybe.

[49:59] Uh, tell me when I'm at four.

[50:05] » Okay.

[50:07] >> The third bullet point you mentioned

[50:10] that it should have said discuss a

[50:11] pending recommendation in the hallway

[50:12] before a meeting. Yeah.

[50:14] >> Okay. We voted on uh recommended that

[50:17] the board of county commissioners pursue

[50:18] acquisition of four different parcels.

[50:20] Now, let's say we walk out in the

[50:21] parking lot and are we prohibitive and

[50:24] say, "Well, I'm glad we looked at all

[50:26] those. There were some good things

[50:27] there. What did you think?" Is that a

[50:28] violation of the sunshine law because we

[50:30] have made a recommendation but it's out

[50:32] of our hands now.

[50:33] >> So I I I would kind of split that up. So

[50:35] when you make the recommendation for

[50:38] acquisition by the board I I think

[50:40] that's okay because it's now out of your

[50:42] hands. But if it's for you know to

[50:44] pursue negotiations that is going to

[50:47] come back to you again. So I would say I

[50:50] would say avoid that.

[50:51] >> Good difference. So tonight we could

[50:53] discuss the four that went for were were

[50:56] recommended for purchase but we

[50:58] shouldn't discuss the two that were just

[51:00] nominated.

[51:01] >> That would be my advice.

[51:02] >> Thanks.

[51:02] >> Thank you.

[51:04] >> Good differentiation. Thank you.

[51:07] >> Any other questions?

[51:09] >> Thank you very much for that. Uh there

[51:12] are uh reporting requirements that we

[51:14] all have. So I think that we have uh

[51:17] if you transact and do business with the

[51:19] county and represent projects before the

[51:21] county, you have to file a form

[51:23] quarterly to to show what contacts you

[51:26] made on behalf of clients. And then we

[51:27] each have to file an annual financial

[51:29] disclosure as well. So keep keep that in

[51:31] mind. No numbers on it, but outlines

[51:34] generally where your compensation comes

[51:36] from and things like that.

[51:37] >> When is that?

[51:39] >> I think it's always at the end of June

[51:41] or July, usually in the summer.

[51:44] And now you have to do it

[51:45] electronically. In the old days, you

[51:46] could do it very easy by filling out by

[51:48] paper and sent in. Now you got to go

[51:50] through AI and get your facial

[51:52] recognition and your retina scanned and

[51:53] all that. Do it. It's ridiculous. It's

[51:56] not quite that bad, but it's still a a

[51:59] task. All right. Thank you. Uh, next

[52:02] item on our agenda is management

[52:04] updates.

[52:05] >> Yes, Miss Lumis,

[52:06] >> for the record. And I'm only going to do

[52:08] about 30 minutes. You don't worry about

[52:10] it. Just kidding. Now, one of the things

[52:12] I do want to do is I want to introduce

[52:14] Jeff Anderson um and kind of explain to

[52:17] you one of the things we're we are

[52:18] working on in our department um is

[52:21] promoting Jeff and he will oversee all

[52:24] of our um 2020 employees which will help

[52:28] us a great deal. Right now they're

[52:30] spread out everywhere which they will be

[52:32] but he will oversee all of them. So he

[52:34] will start coming with us to the

[52:36] meetings. So, I want to introduce Jeff

[52:38] and if you can tell us a little bit

[52:39] about yourself.

[52:41] >> Sure. Um, so I started with the county

[52:45] in 2004

[52:47] um with Conservation 2020. Um, I've

[52:50] spent the last six years mainly managing

[52:52] the Cape Coral preserves,

[52:56] but over the years have worked and done

[52:58] management on pretty much all the

[53:01] preserves in the county. Um, so I'm very

[53:05] familiar with with all of them and um

[53:09] just, you know, en enjoy all of it and

[53:12] looking forward to continuing my career

[53:14] doing the land management

[53:16] >> countywide is the city is primarily in

[53:19] be, you know, all over the place.

[53:20] >> Yes,

[53:21] >> all of it. So, we're really excited

[53:23] about it. them. It's been I think really

[53:26] I think since Kathy Olsen was around

[53:28] before we had you know somebody over top

[53:30] of them because each one of them had a

[53:33] different manager. This will make it

[53:35] easier. We'll have a better

[53:36] understanding of everything which will

[53:38] be really good. Um I gave um Renee notes

[53:43] more detailed notes so I'm not going to

[53:44] read through a whole bunch of stuff just

[53:46] some different things. This is just a

[53:48] picture of G. It is completely done now

[53:51] and it's absolutely gorgeous. So, just

[53:53] wanted to show you even better picture

[53:55] than last time. Um, and it all of our

[53:58] preserves, our all of our um 2020 people

[54:02] are doing exotic removals. They're

[54:05] trimming the trails. They're it's

[54:08] everywhere. So, if you want details,

[54:10] it'll be more in the report, but they're

[54:11] all doing it. Um, we did get some

[54:14] benches donated

[54:16] um from Fort Meyers Edison Quanas that

[54:19] are going to go out to Oak Hammock. So,

[54:21] are they there yet? No.

[54:22] >> Okay. But they're going to be going out

[54:24] to Oak.

[54:25] >> Um, Wild Turkey Strand will be having a

[54:28] Memorial Day workday if anyone's

[54:30] interested. 8:30 to noon. Matanza's Pass

[54:34] Preserve is almost done. It's getting

[54:36] closer. Staff have spent days and days

[54:39] working on it for when we can open it

[54:41] up. It's It's going to be absolutely

[54:43] gorgeous. We're hoping maybe June. We're

[54:46] keeping our fingers crossed. Yellow

[54:49] Fever Creek will be closing the parking

[54:51] lot June the 1st through the 4th to work

[54:54] on drainage and parking lot

[54:55] improvements. Um and then since October

[55:00] at our preserves they have caught 755

[55:03] hogs.

[55:05] >> So just ongoing staff are doing an

[55:08] amazing job. So that's it. You have any

[55:10] questions?

[55:14] Right.

[55:19] Thank you very much. U would anyone else

[55:22] uh do anyone have any questions of Miss

[55:23] Lumis?

[55:26] All right. Thank you. Thank you for that

[55:27] report. Uh are there any committee

[55:29] member items that anyone would like to

[55:31] bring forward at this time? If so,

[55:32] please go forward.

[55:35] M Mr. Sure. I have one and it is

[55:37] actually not class act related, but I

[55:38] did want to heap some praise on the

[55:40] parks department and excuse me, uh,

[55:43] deputy director at Lumis' team. We had

[55:46] the Florida High School state

[55:47] championships in baseball happening here

[55:49] in Lee County over the last seven days.

[55:51] Today, we just crowned the last two of

[55:53] the eight statewide champions. And so,

[55:55] big thanks to uh the parks department,

[55:58] all the work they do to make that a

[55:59] wonderful tournament and event and

[56:01] represent Lee County very well at a

[56:02] statewide level. So, thank you guys.

[56:04] Just as a followup to that, the 3A

[56:06] championship game, the squeeze playm

[56:07] made world internet. Oh my gosh. How

[56:10] >> I If you look very closely at the end of

[56:12] that play, you see me ushering my

[56:14] umpires off the field

[56:17] from the opposite dugout because the

[56:19] friends in the one dugout weren't as

[56:20] excited about the squeeze play as as you

[56:22] are.

[56:23] >> It is really worth watching, man. It is

[56:25] so fun. All righty. Thank you. Any other

[56:28] comments? Seeing none, uh our next Oh,

[56:31] public comment. Would anyone in the

[56:33] public care to speak on anything? We had

[56:35] a thumbs up. We're good to go. Our next

[56:37] meeting date is June 17th at 5:30.

[56:40] Seeing no other business, we'll

[56:41] entertain a motion for adjournment.

[56:44] We have a motion second by Mr. Sun and

[56:46] Mr. Cruz. All in favor, please stand and

[56:49] go.

5/20/26 Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee (CLASAC) Meeting

Transcript