Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

All right, if you would please stand for the pledge of allegiance and invocation. I thank the Lord for this beautiful day. Thank you for all being a blessing. Lord be with us, guide us, direct us in the things we may uh commissioners in this board and do the best we can do what we have to do. Lord be with all of us. Our first responders in our country Lord be with all of them. Military and all of the president, what's going on in our little league. Need to try to pray, Lord. Be with [snorts] the seller and his family who lost a member last week. Uh just want to put your hands down and do and just be with uh guide us, direct us and do the best we can in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, staff. What deletions and additions do we have? We have two additions. There was an advertising notice of public hearing for intent to file USDA rural development application. So, we'll have an additional public hearing. Uh which would come in um basically before Mr. Foreman. And then we have a discussion and action, the commercial lease agreement with Ameripro for the two fire stations. Okay. I'll seek a motion for approval of the agenda. Motion approved. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Okay, Mr. Foreman, if you would read the proclamation as far as the dates. Yes, sir, Mr. Chair. Proclamation number 2026 P-10, a proclamation to designate April 12th through 18th, 2026 Public

Safety Telecommunicators Week. Whereas each day millions of Americans dial 911 for help in emergencies ranging from house fires and automobile accidents to heart attacks, poisonings, and missing children. The men and women who answer these calls for help, gathering essential information and dispatching the appropriate response, can make the difference between life and death and property loss for persons in need. Columbia County Combined Communications Center 911 Public Safety Telecommunicators are among the more than 500,000 first first responders nationwide working daily to protect and promote public safety. And whereas public safety telecommunicators are more than a more than a calm and reassuring voice on the other end of the phone, they are knowledgeable and skilled individuals who work closely with police, fire, and medical [snorts] personnel. They coordinate and manage vital communications during emergencies in areas such as highway safety, road maintenance, woodland preservation, public utilities, rail and air traffic, plus other services that affect the health and safety of our citizens. Because emergencies occur around the clock, we rely on the vigilance and the preparedness of these individuals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And whereas the mission of the employees of the Columbia County 911 Communications Center is to serve the citizens of Columbia County and their public safety organizations through the efficient and effective operation of next generation 911 and public safety land mobile radio systems by by providing a timely and quality emergency response capability to those we serve. And whereas the Columbia County 911 Communications Center processed emergency and non-emergency calls through the year, dispatching the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, the Lake City Police Department, Columbia County Fire Rescue, and Lake City Fire Department, and Emergency Medical Services to requests for services within and the roughly 800 square miles comprising Columbia County. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed further by the Board of County Commissioners, Columbia County, Florida, on this 2nd day of April, 2026, that the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners designates the week of

April 12th through 18th, 2026 as Public Safety Telecommunicator Telecommunicators Week. And be it proclaimed finally that the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners invites all citizens to observe this week in honor of all telecommunicators who answer the call as the first first responders and help to protect our health and safety. Motion to approve 2026 P-10. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Is somebody here to accept this?

[clears throat]

Thank you, Commissioners, for having us here this morning for recognizing the contributions of our public safety telecommunicators. Public safety telecommunicators are the unseen heroes of the emergency response system. They're here on nights, weekends, holidays, and hurricanes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I'd like to take just a few moments to recognize a couple of our personnel that have recently in the last year or so reached the milestone of 5 years of service to our community. We've got a couple of them here, a couple of them are working, showing dedication to the public safety in Columbia County. First, I'd like to recognize Megan Murphy. She's at work right now. If you call 911, she might be the one that answers. But when taking 911 calls, Megan consistently demonstrates an urgency in receiving and recording situations that are occurring, providing our first responders with the information and everything that they need to respond and to provide help. Megan's one of our most dedicated team players. She's willing to come in on short notice when someone's sick or is out, ensuring we have enough public safety telecommunicators to always answer the call. Uh Jesse's here today. Jesse, if you will stand up. Uh Jesse genuinely loves what she does. She shows that care and professionalism she brings to every call and every interaction. Her dedication to service doesn't stop here. For the past 7 years, she's also served as a reservist firefighter, further demonstrating her passion for helping others and her commitment to keeping people safe both on and off the radio. She not only supports the citizens who rely on us most during critical times and critical moments, but she's also a valued teammate. She's always willing to help, encourage, and lift up those around her. Throughout her time here, she's continuously pushed herself to grow and be the very best that she can be. I'd like to recognize Ace Parker. He couldn't be here this morning, but Ace has become one of our Ace trainers, no pun intended. He's become one of the go-to personnel to kick-start a new training in the right direction. Ace has found multiple ways to contribute to our center through training scenario development, constructing training tools, and crafting various forms in every day around our center. And then Travis Zabaneh, Travis is here. Travis has the coolest, calmest demeanor when taking 911 calls. He's calm but compassionate. He's always ensuring steady-handed calls when emergencies

need that sort of Excuse me, that sort of stability the most. And in the most chaotic of calls, his voice is unwavering as he guides a caller through their crisis. THANK YOU.

[applause] [applause]

THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. UH PROC- PROCLAMATION NUMBER 2026 P-09 recognizing National Lineworker Appreciation Week. Whereas electric lineworkers approach their job with a sense of service and responsibility to their community. And whereas often they are the first on the scene when severe storms or natural disasters strike, making [clears throat]

sure roads are safe and the lights are on for all for other resource person- rescue personnel. Excuse me. Whereas these dedicated [clears throat] individu- individuals work daily handling thousands of volts of electricity. And whereas many lineworkers are asked to work in hazardous conditions away from their families so that they can build and maintain the systems that bring electric power to people across the country. And whereas their job takes courage and is essential to keeping our nation safe and working. And whereas it is [clears throat]

whereas it is important whereas the importance and the difficulty of [snorts] their job recognized recognition is very seldom. And whereas the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has established that the second Monday of April of each year should serve as National Lineworker Appreciation Day. And whereas it would be an appropriate time for Columbia County to also recognize the diligence of lineworkers in our county, now therefore be it resolved by the board by the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners that we are grateful to and acknowledge the efforts made by lineworkers throughout the county to help keep the power on and protect the safety of the public. We encourage all Columbia County residents to observe April 12th through April 18th as Lineworker Appreciation Week. All right. Move to approve the voting 2026 P-08. You got a motion. Second. You got a second. Any further question? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you. On behalf of Suwannee Valley Electric, I'm Trevor Touchton, and with me I've got Jeremy Lemon, Adam Ford. Good stand. Uh we'd like to thank the Board of County Commissioners for recognizing National Lineworker Appreciation Week, and taking the time to honor these dedicated professionals. As this proc- proclamation notes, Suwannee Valley lineworkers approach their job with a deep sense of service, responsibility to the community they serve, and to the commitment is ev- evident every day across our region and service territory. In 2025 alone, our crews worked 158,000 hours and traveled more than 800,000 miles with no major accident or injury. That's a clear reflect- reflection of our dedication to safety and to serving our members. Additionally, our lineworkers are often the first on the scene when severe weather or natural disaster strike, answering the call when it means missing family time, birthdays, school events, and holidays. This is 24/7 work.

The work that they do is essential to keeping our community safe, connected, and working. And we are grateful for the importance and the difficulty their job is being recognized here today. So thank you again for your continued partnership and for expressing your gratitude to those at SVEC who work every day to keep the power on and protect the safety of the public. [applause and cheering]

What day doing? Breaking the camera down? Thank you. Must be a photo op going on back here. He might not want to let me do that. HE WAS GETTING READY. [laughter] I TELL YOU WHAT. HE STAYED UP WITH ME. YEAH, we were very proud of that young man. He has done good. Yeah. Yeah. That's my older brother's boy. Thank you. He's one of the four that didn't go TO SUWANNEE TECH. [laughter]

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. ONE MORE, JOE. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. Proclamation number 2026 P-08 recognizing April as Emotional Support Animal Awareness Month in Columbia County. Whereas emotional well-being is an essential part of overall health for children, families, and individuals throughout Columbia County. And whereas emotional support animals, ESAs, provide comfort, companionship, and a sense of security to individuals experiencing emotional, psychological, or medical challenges. And whereas emotional support animals can help reduce feelings of anxiety, loneliness, stress, and depression while promoting emotional regulation and resilience. And whereas increasing awareness and understanding of the positive role emotional support animals play can help reduce stigma surrounding mental health and encourage individuals and families to seek support when needed. And whereas local youth advocate Ashley Com- Comby, did I say that right, Joe? Comby, I want to make sure I said the young lady's name She says she did. She did? Okay. Oh, there she is. Thank you. All right, I'm going to start that one over. Whereas local youth advocate Ashley Comby, founder and president of Positive Change National Foundation Inc. and Miss Northeast Florida's Teen, has worked to promote emotional wellness for children through community outreach, hospital care bags, educational efforts, and partnerships with mental health organizations. And whereas recognizing Emotional Support Animal Awareness Month in April provides an opportunity to highlight the connection between emotional support, compassion, and mental health, while also leading into May, which is [clears throat] nationally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. Now therefore be it proclaimed that the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners does hereby recognize April as Emotional Support Animal Awareness Month in Columbia County, and encourages residents, schools, healthcare providers, and community organizations to learn more about the emotional benefits of support animals, and to promote kindness, understanding, and mental wellness for all. Motion to approve 2026 P-08. You got a motion.

You got a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Young lady, you accepted. Hi everyone. Good morning. I uh members of the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners. My name's Ashley Comby, and I'm the founder of Positive Change National Foundation Inc., my nonprofit, as well as Miss Northeast Florida's Teen. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you today. This cause is not just something I advocate for, but it's something that's truly shaped my life. When I was younger, I experienced profound loss over the years. One of the most difficult losses I experienced was wit- was witnessing the passing of my best friend's little brother, Jackson, in a tragic ATV accident. At a young age, I didn't understand how to fully process this kind of grief. Just 2 months later, my family brought home a dog named Bentley, and in so many ways, he changed everything for me. Bentley became more than a pet, but my comfort, my sense of stability, and my safe place during moments when the world felt overwhelming. Research shows that emotional support animals can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress by lowering cortisol levels and increasing feelings of safety and companionship. I can personally say that I felt every bit of that impact. Since then, Bentley has been by my by my side through some of the hardest moments of my life, including the loss of my papa, and most recently, my close friend and teammate, Chloe Crigall. In each season of grief, it he has been a constant source of comfort when words simply weren't enough. I founded Positive Change National Foundation to bring comfort to and emotional support to children facing medical challenges and in difficult life circumstances. Through this organization, I host stuffed animal adoption events for children unable to own their own pets, provide hospital care bags, and partner with incredible organizations in our community to ensure children feel seen, loved, and supported. As a part of my mission, I wrote my children's book, Bentley Makes It Better, which helps young children understand that it's okay to feel big emotions, and that comfort can come in many forms, including through animals like Bentley. Emotional Support Awareness Month recognizes the impact animals like Bentley have on individuals

like me, and also will educate our community, reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, and encourage family to seek out healthy forms of support. It would be an incredible honor to work alongside you, and thank you for making this proclamation a reality and continuing to spread awareness for children and family who need it most. Suwannee County has recently honored my proclamation request, and I'm working to make this statewide. Thank you again for your time, your service to our community, and your thoughtful consideration. [applause]

Thank you. I just wanted to thank you guys. No, she's Miss Northeast Florida. All right. [laughter]

Thank you. And I really appreciate Thank you. THANK YOU, GUYS. [applause] [clears throat] BEAUTY AND THE BEAST RIGHT HERE. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, RIGHT HERE. [laughter] I only ride it. [laughter] [cough]

Okay. Uh second motion to approve the consent agenda. Motion approved. Thank you. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion to adopt. Second. Motion. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Okay, Joe. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um for several months now, there've been negotiations between the county and the city. Board's aware of it. Uh relating to a possible sale of the wastewater treatment plant at NF MIP to the City of Lake City. Mr. Martin, city's attorney, and I have been working together for some time, and we've reached a point in the process where if we are going to move forward, there needs to be a public hearing. Uh that's required under Florida law both for the city and the county to allow their constituents to come in and air any concerns or questions uh about the potential sale. Uh what you have in your packet is the uh most recent draft agreement as of the date of my request to set the public hearing. The only things that have changed since that date is I now have information that the sale price that would be on exhibit J will be approximately 1.591 million dollars. So the 1.5 is to refund money borrowed from the landfill fund, uh and then the $91,000 in change is money that the county has paid out that we were not able to get reimbursed through grants or some other option. So when we talked about making sure the county is fully made whole with with respect to out-of-pocket, that's what we're talking about. Most of the money the county's paid out are coming back through grants or some other purpose. So, your exhibit J will show that number. The other provision that Mr. Martin just asked me for yesterday, and I don't think it's objectionable, uh relates to the deep injection well. The county currently holds the permits for the deep injection well. There is some concern that that might not be fully assignable, which means you would just sign it over, and city would be 100% responsible. We may have to remain involved. However, the provision says we

would only be involved to the extent of cooperation. We would not have to incur any costs. We would not have to perform any work. So, it may be having to be on phone calls, or sign documents, or things like that, but we wouldn't have to expend any county monies um under those provisions. So, you're not approving the agreement. Make it very clear, you are not approving the agreement at this time. I'm asking to set public hearing for the next board meeting. I need that authorization so I can advertise for it. Obviously, if you don't set the public hearing, that's a way of saying you don't want to do it. Uh but if you do set the public hearing, at that hearing, and after that hearing, you would consider whether you want to do approve the final agreement. The city is going to have to go through the exact same process. As the you know, it takes two to tango on this. So, my request is to set a public hearing at the next board meeting uh to consider [clears throat] possible sale of the wastewater treatment plant at North Florida Mega Industrial Park to the city of Lake City. Joel, I have a couple questions.

Of course, yes. interlocal agreement Uh I see we got money in there for the landfill for the H. One of the things we have promised our septic haulers that we would provide them a place to dump septics out there. There's nothing in this contract that says the city has to has to provide them a place to dump. It does not. I think that needs to be in there, or if it's not there, they have to provide a place somewhere for the septic haulers to dump. I don't know if you know it or not, there's a bill going through Tallahassee right now. They're back on this pumping septic tanks every 5 years. You got to have your septic pumped every 5 years. We've got to have a place to dump this septage. Yes, sir. And and that's a that's a great candidate for an inclusion. I do know that from uh well, I don't know. I know through staff that the city's position is that St. Margaret's facility is actually better suited because of the level of flow. But I hear what you're saying. You're like, if it's not here, get a promise that it's going to be somewhere. I don't think that's objectionable. So, if you'd like, Mr. Commissioner, I'll I'll talk to uh the city and Mr. Martin about including that provision as well before the the public hearing. And also, last time they proposed something like this, it was like 8,000 gallons a day, or something like that. That's nothing. Mhm. That's that's two trucks dumping a day. Mhm. We need we need at least 50, [clears throat] 60,000 gallons a day. I mean, that's you know And and it's my understanding that that was part of the big hangup out at NF MIP is that the flows just aren't there. But that at St. Margaret's, the flows would be there. So, I don't know that they would necessarily want to cap it as much as, you know And you know, here's the I we we don't care where we dump. Mhm. But we need to make sure in this contract they're providing a place for us to dump septage. Yes, sir. And the next thing I I got a question about the interlocal agreement right now on operating the treatment plant. I brought it up at the last meeting. Right now, they're in debt to the county 80 plus thousand dollars. Mhm.

How do we collect that if we give the city a bill for that, or The the true up still needs to happen, right? So, that that [cough]

and Mr. Martin and I talked about that, too. So, up through the date of closing, that agreement is what's operative. So, there's an amount owed based on the true up. We'll have to true up at closing. So, the closing under the agreement will be the end of May. So, it's this just like purchase and sale contract when you buy real estate, right? You enter into a contract, then you go do everything you need to do to to to dot your eyes and cross your T's between then and closing, and then you don't close unless everything's resolved. So, that's obviously something that we would need to make sure with staff on our side and their side that we've trued up, because that agreement obviously will go away. Once they're the owner, they don't need an interlocal. They'll be the owner operator. Right now, they're the operator, we're the owner. That's what we had to have before. So, yeah, that that's that issue is not being swept under the rug, sir. That'll be something we have to address prior to closing. And like Mr. Fuller was saying, you know, with that bill going forth like it is, I mean overnight, they could literally shut down where you're dumping today. I mean, you know, it's just

shut it down if this bill goes through. Because of the requirements they're putting on land spreading, that's going to end that. And that that's where the problem is is that, you know, we'll call it preemption. They're you know, they're coming up with these 5-year pumps, if you want to say. And that that's been a talking rocket for quite many years now, hasn't it? And and they're finally getting some ground, but you know, but again, they're not providing us with because we, David, only if I'm correct uh when we were going to design of NF IP, because [clears throat] of the money factor, we backed that part out, correct? You know, as far as the septage part out there. Yeah, right. Yeah, we did not put in the septage receiving station because, again, like Joel had said, the amount of flow at that plant uh at this time wouldn't compensate for the flow of septage. But I I I agree with you know, it seems like DEP needs to step up and provide funding, you know, because like Rocky said, 8,000 gallons a few years I was in it, that's that's nothing, you know. But the but then again, on the city's defense, you can't go in there so hot, you know. You get it. I'm sure I don't know what the design fee would be, but it's uh it's probably a lot. I don't know. You know, [clears throat] I did the the design and the plan at the at Mega Industrial Park was to put these big holding tanks in to hold it, and you can inject it into the plant as you can take it. Uh you know, that might be what needs to be done. But whatever needs to be done, it's got to be done. And if we're going to turn over the sewage to the city we need to make sure it's in there. How many counties, Rocky, uh opposed over there in Bradford right now, you think? How many How many septic the contractors like y'all probably dump? I mean, how many surrounding Raymond's? Yeah. Oh, I don't know. They probably like 10, 15. All that. Yeah. And he's limited out, too. I mean you don't ever know now if you're going to be able to dump it out when you get there because they only take so much a day, so

I mean, see, do you know how much he required? I mean L 2 a day, how many gallons a day? Raymond? I don't know. It's 10 10 acres, I think it's 2,500 gallons per acre, or something like that. Yeah. Oh. Okay. The any other discussion? I'm just [laughter]

I know it's kind of time sensitive, but if we put the sewage plant over here on the mega park $10 million, or whatever it is and then we go pretty much what I'm seeing here, we almost give it to the city to take care of the sewers. That's what the deal is. I mean, we're not getting $10 million out of that sewage plant. How much we got in it, David? How much we got in? I mean How much did I So, we've got the 1.5 that we borrowed from the landfill that we need to get back, and we got about $91,000. So, a lot of the money that's gone into the building of it is grant funded. Okay? So, what's happening is our obligations under those grants are continuing obligations under those grants are being handed over to the city. So, when you talk about actual hard dollars that have come out of the county, it's that 1.591. That's not to say there's not manpower hours and things like that that are unaccountable for. I mean, that that's true. But in terms of the money that came in to build the plant, that was associated with a grant agreement the city will take on all the obligations of the grant agreement. That's what this looks like. Okay. Mr. Chair. They got it. In addition to that, there was the loan from the Department of Commerce, and the city will assume the loan from the Department of Commerce for the for about $5.5 million. Kind of like taking over payments on a car. Okay, yeah, but that that that kind of like the people that the the people that's listening to this know where the money came from to build the plant. And they're not saying where you have give a plan away that you spent $10 million on it. So, the funding I apologize. But here's the thing, Evan. The plant's not costing us any money right now except for our our our payment on our on our loan. Why would we give up control just to just to worry about a our payment on that loan when we're when we're making money off the city? The

agreement it just don't make any sense to me. Why would you want to give it away? I don't know. It just Well, I know we've all talked about not wanting to be in the sewer business, and we got in the sewer business. We I I I don't know exactly

We're in the sewer business. I know we're in the sewer business. We're not going to get out of the sewer business. And then, I mean, you know, going forth, we got it right here. I think there's a an addition on the Mhm. coming out of the USDA. We're fixing to go on the hook in a big way in that industrial park. Yeah, we got the our return is a lot more foreseeable. I I get And that's that's that's my my comfort part, if you want to say. It's just that the you know, we uh you you can see a return on your dollar. And and I hope the mega industrial yard fills up in the next 5, 10 years where we don't recognize it. But we don't we don't know that. I mean, yeah. You know, it seems like we take one step forward out there, and it's beyond our control. It's just all the loopholes and economic development here still every single day trying to get a customer in here, you know. It's just Well, our people

And it's not just here, it's everywhere. It's everywhere. Mr. Chair. We gave them $5.5 million of our grant money for the water almost 2 years ago now. I don't think there's a single stick of pipe that laid in the ground out there yet, have they? Mr. Chair. Yeah. All right. Two questions. Uh to answer Mr. Phillips' question the sewer plant was primarily funded originally by the Florida Jobs Growth Grant. That was about 10.5 million. Then we picked up some advanced wastewater treatment grants through the water management district. We used some ARPA money, of course the landfill money, and then of course the loan from the Department of Commerce is what finally filled it out. So, other than the loan and the landfill money, it pretty much came from ARPA, uh water management district, and Florida Jobs Growth. In terms of Mr. Ford's question, um What was it again? I said we give them 5.5 million dollars for distribution line for water almost 2 years ago. I don't think they acquired any right-of-way yet, and I don't think they made a stick of pipe yet in 2 years. That is correct. Well, yes and no. They went to the water management district to get the easement from the water plant to the industrial park. The water management district then said, "Well, we'll sell you the land. We'll give you the land, but if you pick up this additional easel, we'll sell it to you." That is still in the process of being transacted. They voted on it, they're moving forward with it. The land will actually be owned by the city instead of the water management district, so the need for an easement through it for the city isn't going to be there, but right now that transaction's not finalized. So, right now what's going on is the actual design. So, when did that transaction even get started happening? Uh maybe 2 months ago. Huh? Maybe 2 months ago. And who And who started that at that time? Me. Is that right? Exactly, the county. That's what I'm saying. We do everything We do everything out there to turn it over to the city. I don't understand that. I really don't understand that at all.

I can find that paper. Um Basically, I filed the application cuz at the time it was a county grant. Of course, I worked with Steve Brown from the city at the same time cuz we had to make sure Let me take a step before that. So, the original plan was one thing when we switched to this plan, if you remember the original design said go down Timberwolf Road and then through the project. Correct. Our county engineer said he thought that was not the optimal path. So, we had meetings and they changed the optimal path of the meeting to go straight from the water wells straight out that road to the industrial park, so you'll have more footage along Tire Road because you'll be coming in in the middle of the park and tying up to Tire Road 90. So, we had to change all the designs because the designs were going a different route, but based on like I said, our engineer's recommendation, we switched the routes. And then we had the whole issue of getting with DEP to change the grant. We had to get approval from Senator Bradley to say that the change is consistent with the intent of the legislature cuz it was a legislative appropriation. So, there were just a lot of little details that uh took a long time to get down there. I mean, if we're going to keep down this road here, we might as well just do like do what the county does. Just make everything city of Lake City and do away with the county commission.

[cough and clears throat]

Just become city wide. Mr. Loper. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A couple of things. And the problem with the property of the pipe going from the water plant to the industrial park, the water management This is another screw-up by the water management district. They didn't realize that the water plant never got a permit and that the water management district owned the property that they built the water plant on. That was a recent relevant revelation on the part of the water management district. A lot of revel- a lot of revelations lately. My other question is I don't recall who's paying for the water line, but if the city is responsible for the wastewater that's in the industrial park, are they responsible for all the lines and everything that's in the industrial park? Or is it like Commissioner Alford just said, the county is going to subsidize that and pay that and get grants and do whatever it does and spend manpower? That needs to be in the agreement somewhere. My also understanding is that there's not enough flow so now to put businesses in the industrial park, you're going to have to build septic systems. Who's paying for that? If If the city is responsible for the wastewater in the industrial park, then they should either be responsible for it or they shouldn't be responsible for it. So, I think that needs to be in the agreement. Who's responsible for what goes on in the wastewater and in with the pipes and the distribution because the the wastewater plant can't really can't operate right now because

there's not enough flow depending on where the businesses go. I think that needs to be somehow incorporated into the agreement, and I don't know if Mr. Foreman maybe he'll listen to the tape after. I don't know if he can hear me. But uh that that needs to be done. Otherwise, the county the county taxpayers are going to be be taking this in the azoo as President Reagan said. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, nobody follows through with interlocal agreements. We write them up, we get them signed, everybody signs them, and then we throw them back here in the I don't care. It happens somewhere. That's right, sir. That's the end of it. So, I have an update on that issue that Mr. Loper referenced. Um Customer that's out there now uses less than 1,000 gallons a day. The problem was if you pump it to the lines that are there, there's not They call it scour velocity. I won't get into the technical details. You're basically taking a 1 and 1/4 inch line and dumping it into a 6-inch force main that has no flow in it. The reason it has no flow in it is it was designed originally to pump from the prisons back to St. Margaret's. Now that the prisons are or the prison is directed to our sewer plant, at this time until a larger customer comes in, there's no flow in it. So, if you pump a 1 and 1/4 inch line into a 6-inch line, that sewer is not going anywhere. So, that's what they were saying about it wasn't financially viable. This week, the city has come up with an option, and they will be connecting over the next 3 weeks Agri-Liquid to the city sewer system by running a 1 and 1/4 inch line to the sheriff's office. So, that's kind of where that's at. And the city is providing all the labor, and all they need are the parts. I think the total bill on that's going to be about 20,000. It's not a city bill, or it's not a county bill, rather. Um So, how come this option just come available now?

You would have to ask We were told no so long that we can't do this, we can't do this. We don't have flow to it. We can't have lines to it. Article comes out in the newspaper. Next thing we know, hey, we can run an inch and a quarter line all the way to the sheriff's office. So, early on they all believed

Basically, they they done it under pressure. Yes. Of getting it done. Early on, they all believed that they would put in a temporary tank at the end of the driveway and do pump and haul until such time that you could put in a major lift station that would take care of the problem. They went to get a permit for that, and the state said, "That's not acceptable." So, then they were talking about the septic tank as an alternative, and then the city came up with this option as a cheaper, more effective, more affordable alternative that puts them on city sewer. And but the people that decided they wanted to to try the tank deal, that was the company. That was the company. That was the company's engineering feat that they did, and they It sounds like to me they got the horse uh you know, cart way ahead of the horse to the fact that they didn't get the proper permitting or what have you leading up to that. Correct. Correct. So, at the end of the day, the tank works as long as they're in construction. They're ready to start production and go into business. And so, they're getting out of construction and moving into production changes what they can and can't do. So, while they were in construction, that was not something that was an issue. But now that they're going into production, the state said, DEP said, uh no, we're not going to permit But David, the the building permits and all were issued issued on the assumption they were hooking to sewer from the building department. Got it. For our our building department, Cuz we have to know where they're going to put sewer before we issue a permit at the building department. And that permit was issued that they would go to with the fact they were supposed to do the sewer when it was built. Well, in fact, when they ran water and gas up uh North Florida Mega Industrial Parkway or Tire Road, uh they had plans to run a sewer line as well until the engineer said it won't work.

Because of the low flow. Because of the low flow. They ran it. The company ran it to Yeah, the company ran all their lines out to the end of their driveway ready to hook up to city sewer, but the city engineer said, "That's great, but it won't work." But you know, I mean, it's uh I'm just goes all the way back to '22. Yes. When the city provided, you know, a letter saying that utilities are available. That is correct. And uh that being said, you know, that's it's in my opinion, the company's one that got involved, didn't go forth with the proper planning to get it there, knowing they're going to be a low flow user. But the And I think the tank's still sitting there. It was there the day before yesterday cuz I think they were going to put it on right away and then like Chad asked for them to make sure it was off right away. I think that's where we're sitting at today. I know for a fact when you're negotiating more cards you can hold in your hand for that on that negotiation, the better you're going to come out on that negotiation. Why would we give away our trump card at the making industrial park is beyond me. Makes no sense whatsoever. If it's about money, say it's about money. Because that's the only thing I'm hearing. We don't want this deal. We don't want to operate this plant. It's about money. We end up giving the city all the money to operate it. We just said no anyway. They I mean as far as that goes, again like I said earlier, is it about money? Sure it is. You know, we're on the hook for what's that total loan out there? $5.5 million. Over 16 months. And we're fixing to jump into a major amount here. This is going to be bonded. This is a This is probably the most money the county's ever borrowed.

In my time. And and I can't ever remember county ever borrowing anything. But this is a This is a serious investment in Ellisville. And you know, on the outside of that, if you don't have the agreement in place and what is this, no not nobody's saying the city's going anywhere. But Here's the thing, Mr. Chairman. We're fixing to borrow it. It's on our agenda today. Borrow $50 million to build a plant in Ellisville. Now, I know for a fact the way you pay for utilities is to grow the utility and finally get enough customers that you can make the utility pay for itself. Instead of trying to grow our utility, we're giving it to the city. You can't grow a utility giving it away. Well, they The Maegan, I'm not promoting just for the city here, but the in the Maegan industrial yard, am I correct, David? That's still in their protected their protected service area, correct? I think the better thing I can say is in this agreement, Joel can speak to this, it includes that they will provide services to the industrial Oh, absolutely. Yes, yes. But I'm saying outside of that agreement, that still falls within their corridor of [music] their service area. Got it. I'm not sure legally how that works. Uh we originally got into it in the industrial park because we felt that the If that was the case, Mr. Chairman, we would never been at the industrial park. So, I again, since it's outside of the city limits and I'm not an attorney, I don't feel uh qualified to answer that question.

I got you. I just remember discussion on that years past, but Yeah, their service area generally extends outside the city limits, but I would need to update that to know definitive answer to your question cuz it's kind of in that wiggle area. Typically has a radius that extends from property to city limits. I think it's 5 miles, but again, I don't want to say that's the answer. I'll I'll check on that for Well, But the agreement does cover that.

I I guess it's going to all be negotiated at the public hearing if we have one. So, what we're doing now and and and and it's good. Like I said, this is sort of like a mini public hearing. Um if you set the public hearing, you're saying take it to the next step. If you don't set the public hearing, there is no next step. So, the request is to set the public hearing, but of course that's for the board to decide. All right. Well, submission to the board. I'd like a motion to set public hearing. Yeah, I move that we set the public hearing. I'll second it. All right, we've got a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Yes, sir. Can we go ahead and hold the public hearing?

Yes, yes, please. Then go ahead, David, on this on the US good time Sorry, I missed that. So, we advertised in the newspaper and a copy of the notice that was in the paper is in your packet. Notice of intent and public meeting notice, Columbia County, Florida will file an application with the financial assistance to develop a new wastewater treatment plant at the existing Ellisville WWTF site. A public meeting to receive comments will be held at 9:30 a.m. on April 2nd, 2026 at the School Board Administrative Complex, 372 West Duval Street, Lake City, Florida 32055 to discuss the proposed project and provide opportunity for public comment. Uh at this time I'd like to recognize Lori Hodson. Many of you remember her and she works with North Florida Professional Services and she has a quick presentation. Morning. Well, my board, can you flip the slide, Patrick? There you go. Good morning, Chairman, Commissioners. Again, my name is Lori Hodson. I'm a planning and grant specialist with North Florida Professional Services. I'm here today to assist the county in meeting an application requirement uh applying for funding through USDA Rural Development Wastewater Disposal Loan and Grant Program. The program is providing funding in the form of grants and low interest rate loans, which may be combined depending on USDA's determination. We're working with USDA through this process and the application is being developed in accordance [clears throat] with that program. And according to this slide here, the the application is to replace 50,000 gallon per day MLE Ellisville wastewater treatment package plant.

The need, capacity limitations, long-term growth planning, environmental protection, and regulatory compliance. The approach is conventional four-stage BNR treatment process with infiltration treatment wetlands. Proposed is a 250,000 [snorts] gallon [clears throat] per day BNR process train with the use of infiltration treatment wetlands. Regulatory The proposed treatment configuration has been evaluated for compliance and the cost is $38,127. Thank you. What I'd like to add is as she mentioned, this is going to go to USDA. They will come back with a how much is grant, how much is loan. So, it still has to come back before you before anything's actually approved. This is just to submit the application to USDA so they can tell [snorts] us how they're going to structure Okay. Okay, uh board, is there any questions y'all have for Ms. Lori? Okay, at this time I open up the public hearing. Anybody here to speak for or against? Okay, speak up. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I know there was some discussion a few weeks ago when the county was trying to figure out how to bid. Apparently, the purchasing director was never here to explain that. How did North Florida Professional Services get involved with this? Did we look at any of our other consulting engineers? Did that Was that ever evaluated? Or did this happen before you guys decided to evaluate the engineers? I mean, this this is I see Mr. Ford is shaking his head, but this is another North Florida Professional Service project.

You go down to Fort White, it's another fiasco down there where they just started building after 2 years. And and who knows what's going to happen down there. So, my question is, again, this is the public hearing, maybe Mr. Ford could help us, or maybe you can, Mr. Chairman, is how is it that this is North Florida Professional Services? My question is, were any of our other consulting engineers, and we have some pretty good ones, I guess, were they evaluated to do all this because this engineering firm will make a lot of money from this. Thank you very much. That's that's that's my statement for the public hearing. Anybody else? I'll see none. I declare the public hearing closed. David, you got to elaborate. Sure, I'll answer Mr. Luker's question. This has actually been going on, I think, for 2 years or so. So, the decision to use which engineering firm occurred long before we went through the process of evaluating new continuing services contract. I I thank you. Do you if you'll remember back, Mr. Murphy brought up a preliminary engineering report at our meeting for us to approve 270 for 265,000, I think it was last year. I think it was, David. Yeah. North Florida did on this same project a preliminary engineering report. So, we got We got several hundred thousand dollars invested in this project already. That's But that's that's And that's what's kind of led us to the point of where the engineering situation is now, correct, Robert? All right. No, that was questioned at the meeting how it come up and how it got it through, but as far as I know, it's never come back up for a vote, so we tabled it that night with for more information and no I think it was a budget amendment. We We tabled it as far as I know, it's never come back up for a vote. I can go back and research it.

Well, if you would, please. So, uh With that So, what we're voting on here, correct, Joel? Correct me if I'm wrong, is just to go forward as we are as it's presented at this point. File the application. File the application. Okay. Now, Mr. Ford brought up a point there. If we do the the research what he's saying and uh and if it was not if we tabled it and then it would come back for it Joe was saying it's premature. I So, at the last board meeting you approved to move forward. That's right. So, there was a vote at the last board meeting to move forward with the application. I think it was the last one or the one before last. That's when Lori brought to my attention there is a requirement of USDA that it has to be a public hearing. This is really reaffirming the vote that you held either at the last meeting or the meeting before. And this engineering fee is for the process of this application, correct? Right. This is to process the application, to do the preliminary engineering report and all that. And again, that was a year ago or two years ago. I don't know. Last year. It's a very long process to go through this with So, how was that preliminary engineering report paid for? It didn't go through a budget amendment. I mean, we paid for it with our funds. Out of a different out of a different account, I guess, or accounts that already existed. I I don't I can pull the invoices and see where they were paid from. It was done under a task order. That's what you're asking. I'll be able to tell you if there was a bank or something. Probably so. Or Well, it wouldn't have been reserved at that time. It would have been money in the budget from the general fund. So, it would have been probably your professional services account. Um like I said, it was either a year ago or two years ago. I'd have to look it up.

Okay. The uh okay, so with that being said, uh seeking motion to go forth with the application. Motion approved. Got a motion. Second. Got a second. All in favor say Aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed. Okay. [snorts]

All right, Mr. Kirby. And I believe that that's the only addition that we that we're going to do. There's one more addition we can do later if you want. It's the commercial building lease agreement for Ameripro. Okay, we'll get that right. Don't you have a second here? Yeah, right. We'll get it after a second. Okay. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Kevin. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Back in February 5th of '26, the board awarded the bid for solid waste collection 2026C to Adams Sanitation Holding Company. At that time, we were dealing with the EMS problem and I advised this board that I want to make sure that Adams was capable of handling our business. We have done that. All the way to the point that we added a $5 performance bond that wasn't in the initial contract. So, I'm pleased to announce we do feel comfortable that they are ready to go. So, you've done all the heavy lifting today. Your only purpose is to approve the contract with Adams. Recommend a motion to approve contract with Adams Sanitation Holding Company. Chairman, before we go on this, I have a a few things I would like to see added to the contract So, I I consulted with uh uh David and Joe earlier in the week about the 12% franchise fee. How do we collect that? Uh never did really get a clear answer on how we collect it, but there's nothing in the contract that says we can audit the garbage company to make sure we're getting the full 12% of the commercial sales. Um Nothing in the contract who deals with that. I was told by David he thought the landfill director dealt with it. Nobody can Nobody would know for sure, but Kevin might could answer that. I don't know because I was told that Kevin does everything with the landfill and anything involved with the landfill goes

[snorts]

How How do we know How do we How do we audit this 12% when he And my And my other question is is it's just the garbage contract that pays 12% franchise fees or does all commercial sales pay 12%? Okay. And do we audit that in any way or we just allow them to self-report? Okay. To kind of cover it real broad, let's go to class three first of all. All of your franchise hold holders pay 12% on cubic yards. Waste Our current provider for the city is unique. They do tonnage. Everybody on that side does 12%. On the class one side of things today, if you'll recall back when we got involved with Waste Pro, why there was a debate about back charging the customers the 12%. That time it was negotiated 8% so the back charge wasn't full 12%. Your contract today, your new provider will pay 12% period. Class one, class three. They also advised moving forward, probably at the next meeting, I'm weaving my way through all this. We John and I, meaning Locklear, we have determined the new rates. Solid waste assessment, new tonnage rates, new cubic yard rates. They've also agreed, they will maintain, meaning Adams, they will maintain the same rate that all the other franchise holders are holding. You have the ability in today's contract, meaning the current Waste Pro contract, and in the future contract, to audit within up to five years. You have the ability to do that. There's no funding in place to do that. That has always been the argument, when I say argument, the debate, as I've dug through this. You know, theoretically, you're supposed to have a different color truck to haul city garbage versus county garbage. Cuz when the garbage truck goes down the line, there's no way to ensure you're not commingling city

and county garbage. So, when you get into the franchise fees, etc., so to answer your question, 12% today, 8% of commercial industrial, 12% on everything else, and there is ability in your contract today, and in the contract I'm discussing, to perform an audit. But there is no funding in place to perform an audit. So, have we ever done it? So, we've never done an audit. Not that I recall. Kevin, what does the city's contract uh say as far as franchise fees? Do you argue with that? I've got a piece of paper down there I do. So, Kevin, my question are you said they paid on tonnage. So, can we just look at the tonnage that they haul and we can we know what the we know what the impact fee is? Of course, now it's based on the on the revenue generated. So, So, current class one, Waste Pro pays 50 for class one, $52 a ton residents, $60 a ton. Waste Pro pays a 12% franchise fee less disposal, which calculates out to 8% commercial industrial waste. Class three current, Waste Pro's 37 per ton for the city. I do not think they have franchise fees. Waste Pro $5 per cubic yard

[clears throat]

plus 12% franchise fees for Columbia County. Residents and non-franchise holders, $41 a ton. Franchise holder, $5 per cubic yard plus 12% franchise fees. That's what you currently do today. Does anybody go back and check these numbers? I mean, they self they self-report or So, you said there's no money in there. So, let's let's start with franchise holders. Okay. If you own a 20-yard can at $5 a cubic yard, that's $100 plus 12 is $112. That's easy. Right. No. No. No, the cubic yards is basic. The tonnage is where it gets complex. So, we know that they haul X amount of tons in. We have no idea how many cans went in that truck to make that truck.

Right. We know how much tons are there. Today, you charge 8%. The new contract, you charge 12%. So, I guess to answer your question real basic, the landfill director {slash} Kevin Kirby, you going to look at your tonnage times 0.08. That is the math. So, and we to my knowledge, we've never done a formal audit, but it's just math. Right. I I I'm just saying I was just questioning if somebody follows up on this. We do. We do. I was under the from what I what I was told, they just we just allowed them to self-report what they owed and paid us, you know, so Yes, the way you validate it, you look at your tonnage times 0.08 on the tonnage side. You look at your volume times 0.12. That's That's the way we do it. Now, Kevin, the franchise dollars that are raised here, where are we where are we spending that in the enterprise fund? Is it earmarked for So, as I indicated, in the immediate future, I'm going to be coming back. We just completed our solid waste assessment. You got your solid waste assessment. Got your tippage. Got your franchise fees. You combine all that business, that's what captures your operations at the landfill, your equipment, your labor, your expansion. And of course, I'm going to prepare to talk about that at a later date in very much detail what's needed to expand the landfill, what's needed to operate the landfill. But today, you've already done your heavy lifting. All you're doing is approving your contract after you approved your bid. That's all. Once again, the only reason I didn't ask for approval of contract last time we were in the battle with EMS. Y'all remember? We were like, "Oh goodness, let's let's make sure we know what we're doing out here." And may I find Frank, we calculated performance bond that was not in the initial contract. But we were nervous because of the EMS and it calculated to $4.3 million. And And Adam said, "Let's just round it off to 5 million." That's how confident they are.

Well, I think we should set aside some money from the enterprise fund to do an audit. At least. Every 5 years. I think that's easy enough. I mean I I I just like to make sure I mean that's a lot of money. We're talking about a lot of money. Yes, sir. I don't We need to make sure we're getting what we supposed to be getting. That's easy enough. And I can build that into my new rate schedule. I mean we're we're actively building it right now. Right. It don't hurt to do it. We should have been doing it for years. If if if I may, Mr. Chairman, it it wouldn't be that unusual for us to reserve to ourselves the option to audit whenever we want as long as we pay for it. It it's not an unusual thing to include in a contract like this. So, if for any reason you know, the landfill director or somebody believes that revenue is being underreported, we can trigger an audit, you know, on our own. So, if that's something that you would like for me to add into the final contract, I mean that's that's the kind of thing you would just move to a to adopt the contract as amended. And then we would just I like that idea. It as long as we're incurring the cost, again, I I don't think, you know, we have to worry. We're we're negotiating in blue skies, right? So, when you negotiate in blue skies, the vendor typically says, "Well, yeah, whatever you guys need to feel reassured that we're telling you the truth." That's all you're asking. You want to be reassured. I move we approve the contract with Adam Sanitation Holding Company with the amendment that we're talking about. That the county has the option to audit. That audit. I second that. Got motion and second before we take a vote. Gentlemen, like to speak to this. Come forth.

[laughter]

Yeah, I just want I just want to reassure Mr. Ford. Part of the issue you guys or the process we've been going through is cuz you don't necessarily have a clean list of your customers. So, we what we'll be doing is we'll actually be submitting a list uh what every time we submit uh the the invoice or submit the payment for the franchise fee, we're going to include these are the commercial customers, these are where those are at. I've spoken to the tax collector's office and so all of that stuff should tie to your business tax receipts. Um shouldn't be as complicated as it has been. We're going to make it crystal clear for you guys so that in the future you'll know exactly what the expectations are. And so, we do it everywhere else anywhere else where we're self-reporting our franchise fees, we prove it. And so, we have no problem proving it. And and the audit thing is is also fine as well. But I just want to make sure that you guys know that when you get it from us, what you'll get is uh you'll get the payment and then with the payment, we're going to list off you have this many units at this much and they should tie back to your business tax receipts. Thank you, man. Yes, sir. Sorry sorry sorry. Steve. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I I got a couple of questions. Is there now two outstanding lawsuits that the county is being sued by Waste Pro? Do you guys know when the Waste Pro contract expires? But and the reason I asked the question, Mr. Chairman, is the Waste Pro is looking for injunctive relief. I'm not exactly sure why Megan Logan is the attorney for one of them when we have a county attorney. It's time to handle people from all over the place and he's a very good attorney, so but I don't know why he's not handling this and why Megan Logan is handling a

lawsuit that's directed against the county. So, there's two outstanding I still don't know why she's the attorney of record. You maybe have an I was 3,000 miles away. That's why. That that [snorts] accomplished counsel I was 3,000 miles Thank you very much for the answer, Mr. Foreman. So, there's two outstanding lawsuits against the county. My question is when does the contract expire? Because I'm trying to figure out why you need to approve this today. They're looking for injunctive relief and it may not need injunctive relief depending on when the contract with Waste Pro expires. Does anybody know when the contract expires? Which would be an indication of why you have to approve this tonight or this morning? Is anybody on the on the board, the county manager, county manager, the co-county manager? Anybody in this room know when the contract expires? The day and the moment it expires. Well, the date's on the contract.

I'll tell you I don't. I don't. I think Joe does. It expires at midnight on September 30th of 2027. So, my question is then if being that this expires in September Which is really October. Uh why does this have to be approved this morning? Because you've got plenty of time to approve the contract make any other changes you want and Waste Pro is going to be picking up the garbage until September 30th. I think it's hard to hear from down this end, but September 30th. Well, I don't know for a fact what why, but I know if I was a I'm and I have been in business. I've done some contracts and you need a ramp-up period. If you know you've got the contract and it's voted on the contract you need a ramp-up period to prepare, get everything ready. They've got to find a place over here to operate out of, an office. They've got to probably buy some trucks, I would think. You know, you can't just you can't go hire without a contract in your hand. You can't go hire however many employees, 100 employees, and buy $10 million worth of trucks and all that on September 29th. I get that, Mr. You know what I mean? I I I just feel like we got to you know, you got to you know. I think they just You got you got to they need a ramp-up period. Get one more word in here cuz everybody's taking my time is that is this is in the courts. I doubt that I guess it's Adams got the contract that they're going to go out and spend $10 million. The court could rule against you guys in court and then what happens? So, I I don't know that this is the wisest thing this morning to approve this, but I just thought I'd bring that up. And just as as another word that Mr. Locklear I have no idea who he is. He's not an engineer, he's a geologist. So, he's not an engineer. Thank you very much. All right.

Got a motion. We got a motion and a second. Yeah. Yeah. Got a motion and a second. I second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Okay, Mr. Chairman, the next item is your supplemental agreement requesting time extension FDOT CEI US 90 and Tire Road. So, I'm pleased to announce that project is under construction. If you'll recall this is a grant-funded project. The initial design included a retention pond to accommodate future businesses if over expected the grant. We had to do a lot of redesigning to fit within the grant requirement. We have done [clears throat] that. This morning we're basic approval supplemental agreement number one CEI US 90 and Tire time extension from June 30th of 2026 to June 30th of 2027. So move. Second. Got a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Thank you, sir. [snorts] Final item is the last meeting we discussed DOT agreement for the sidewalk construction of Plymouth South Wilson Springs Road to Jordan Street down at Fort White. This is a housekeeping issue. I'm requesting a motion to approve interlocal agreement for the sidewalk construction of Plymouth Wilson Springs Jordan Street. So move. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I. Thank you, gentlemen. Come on up, Mr. Hill. Burn ban update. Kevin, I believe that project is under construction too at this time, ain't it? Yeah. So, at this time we're the citizens seem to be doing well. Well, our brush fires haven't really increased. Um we're content leaving it for the next meeting when we lift the burn uh lift the burn ban off for another 2 weeks. I talked to forestry, they're not seeing any increase in numbers either,

so that's where we're at. But just know we're still sitting on a powder keg. It's dry. So, if they ask us, they could burn yard debris now. Yep. As long as they're like said like what Mr. Phillips said at our last meeting with the pose of being very cautious. Right. Um talking to Ray Burton this morning, forestry is they're still prescribing piles. I don't think they're doing any property at this moment. So. So, lift it with extreme caution. Yep. It's it's still it's already lifted. It's just we'll leave it off for another we'll probably back in 2 weeks saying put it back unless we get some unforeseen rain. Yeah. What do you call unforeseen rain? Yeah, there's nothing there's nothing in the long-term forecast. Yeah. I appreciate It's about a 60% chance Thursday or Friday, or something like For hopefully For about 30 seconds. It's 60% chance for that to rain, yeah. Yeah. If they don't change it again before then. It seems to disappear the day before it's supposed to be here. It sure does. Weather man's easiest job in the world. You know, right. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you a lot, Lance. I guess we don't we don't need to do that in the minutes, correct? No, we have that. Lance, appreciate you coming.

[laughter]

Do the rain dance next time. All right, I will be concise. David, don't forget the Of course, we can do it there at the end of the We're going to do that at the end? The release. Okay. Yeah, we'll do that at the end. I've got that right here. Okay. Um so, right now, this first item is the incentive request by project Jumping Jellybean. Um on February 19th, 2026, the economic development advisory board recommended unanimously a 6-year ad valorem rebate to Recoil Trampoline Park. Uh 75% is on new property. Basically, your ad valorem. And 50% is on the tangible property tax. And again, it's based on a $3.5 million capital investment and a 30,000 square foot facility with 30 full-time equivalent employees. And um at this point, I'd like to recommend or recognize the gentleman from Recoil Trampoline. And Patrick, can you load his presentation, or is it already loaded? I guess you need to load his. Okay. Oh. Jennifer said you haven't loaded the hot. There you go. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Trent Coggins. I'm pleased to be here with you today, and I'm very excited about probably what is the worst kept secret in uh uh Columbia County. Uh my wife and I chuckle every time we hear Jumping Jellybeans, which uh Miss Jennifer came up with, um but we might as well just call this project Recoil Trampoline Park. Uh most of you are familiar you're with the business that I have in Valdosta, Georgia. Um I've decided to try to expand that

business down into Lake City. So, I just want to take a few minutes to give you an overview of what this is, but I opened Recoil Trampoline Park in Valdosta, Georgia in uh 2019. Um I had a business idea. Um my town needed something like this, and so uh [clears throat]

the start of Recoil Trampoline Park was very discouraging. Uh I think but this I think Valdosta and Lake City uh Lowndes County and Columbia County are a lot alike. Uh when I started calling franchises uh to see if I could get a franchise interested in coming to Valdosta, it was a very uh discouraging process because we didn't fit the boxes. Uh the population sizes um everything that they needed to evaluate a company like what we do, uh they said no. So, I said I think you're wrong. I'm going to do it myself. So, Recoil is not a franchise. It is wholly owned uh by me. I opened the business in 2019 uh to uh pretty successful business. Uh we we opened trampolines, wall-to-wall trampolines, including dodgeball, foam pits, uh basketball, all sorts of exercise activities. And to be honest with you, that's all I thought it ever would be is just trampolines. Uh we were so popular that immediately I knew I needed to expand. Once we got over COVID, we started uh some rapid growth. In 2021, we opened the laser tag facility. This is a one-of-a-kind uh laser tag uh in Valdosta. We of course have Moody Air Force Base, so you can see we have an A-10 hanging on the wall there. It's our nod to Moody Air Force Base, and we play save the base uh as if our base is under attack, but that uh A-10 uh can shoot at you, and you can shoot back uh while playing uh laser tag. Uh in uh 2023, we opened a hyper deck, which is a five-dimension uh type of game. Everybody now has 3D goggles at home. You may be familiar

with your children or grandchildren using those types of things. So, you in my line of work, you got to have something a little bit better than they can use on their own computer. So, this is a 5D element. Same 3D that you would have, but the floor actually moves as well, which provides an additional element. And then there's also weather elements, wind, heat, those types of things to make that a really interesting attraction. We added uh let's see. Uh phase five, we just added Recoil Racing, uh which is a very unique indoor mini go-kart uh type of thing. Uh children 6 years and up can actually uh ride go-karts indoors, which is which is really You don't have to be 16 years old to ride these crazy fast uh go-karts. That's not what we're designed for. We're indoors, a little smaller, as you can see. Uh it's a uh it's a little unique kind of thing. Show you a video real quick.

[music]

We uh that was our intro video in Valdosta to add the go-karts. We did that last summer. Uh it became extremely viral. It had over 640,000 views uh online. So, uh everybody was extremely uh happy about that coming to Valdosta. And then, phase six that we just opened in January 2026 was our outdoor uh facility. We know we can get people to play inside because it's cool and acclimatized. Uh I'm trying to see now if I can get people to play outside. Uh so, we've added uh a ropes course, a rock wall, and then you'll see our construction zone. I'm sorry. Let me go back to that. Our construction zone, where you can actually ride in excavators, cranes, grapples, those types of things. So, we heard a lot of construction talk this morning. I I I'm sure uh this is as much popular with the parents as it is with the children. I I like to see if I can dig a hole from time to time as well. A couple of accolades that we have had in Valdosta, we've been the best party place voted by the Valdosta Daily Times for seven uh straight years. We've uh been best of Georgia, a leading business, and then uh uh ironically, I I don't know why this is such a I I love to cite this stat, but Coca-Cola says that we have four of the uh top 10 uh revenue-generating Coca-Cola machines in South Georgia in our facility. We sell a lot of Coke. Uh and then

[laughter]

uh so it's You GET YOU GET THIRSTY WHEN YOU'RE JUMPING, I GUESS. I I don't know. Uh the economic impact that we have in Valdosta, we have about a $420,000 uh payroll with 53 employees. Most of our employees are your 16-to-21-year-old. When we come to Lake City, we're going to hire your children and your grandchildren. They're going to work for us. These are not the highest-paying jobs. I will go ahead and admit that. But, if you look statistically at the number, 16-to-21-year-olds are the are the That's the highest level of unemployment throughout the United States. I had one father recently tell me that when I hired his daughter, it was like giving him a raise cuz he no longer he no longer had to pay gas. He no longer had to buy prom dresses. He no longer had to buy makeup. Um it and so, that's that's the type of impact that we have. $150,000 in sales tax revenue, and we also have a manager-to-MBA program. Uh we've uh I I I'm I'm educated far beyond my intelligence. I'll go ahead and tell you that. I practiced law for 20 years, and now I teach uh law at Valdosta State University. My education was very important to me. The MBA that I have is probably what allows me to do things like this more so than any law degree would ever provide for me. Uh but I am very passionate about my uh managers, especially uh obtaining their uh their degrees. And one of the things that I do to promote that is my manager-to-MBA program. Most of my managers come from Valdosta State University. They work their way through the system, and then uh at one of their uh things that I do for them as part of their compensation is I actually pay for their MBA program.

Uh we put four students. We just graduated our fourth, which you see down at the right hand. He's my current manager uh at VSU. I can't remember what's all on this. There we go. I wanted to get some of this. Uh, uh, let's see. 40% of our clients come from outside of Lowndes County. So, they're traveling and I guarantee you there's people in this room that have traveled to Valdosta to, uh, to Valdosta from Columbia County to come see our program. Uh, now, your current residents will not have to travel, but we're going to bring those outside dollars into you. Uh, we're going to bring Suwannee County dollars and even some Alachua County dollars up this way uh, to come see what we have here. Uh, let's see. Uh, our average drive time is 45 minutes to get to us. The national average is 20 to 25 minutes. And then you see additional local spend. Uh, this was basically cell phone tracking data that we were able to, uh, obtain. Uh, 52.3% of people who come to Rebound Trampoline Park either go to eat somewhere before they get to us or after they get to us. So, they're spending additional dollars. 18.4% spend money on gas and shopping and even 10% spent the night in a hotel room uh, in Valdosta when they came to see us. I was extremely uh, uh, extremely uh, surprised by that. Where those numbers came from is, again, I work at Valdosta State University, so I kind of know some people. Uh, but we were able to get a, uh, NBA uh, team together. And they they have a capstone class at the end of their program where they have to evaluate a

business. One of the businesses they evaluated was Rebound. Uh, and what they calculated was that Rebound's economic impact was 7.3 million dollars to the city of Valdosta and Lowndes County. Uh, so we were surprised and impressed by that. But a lot of those numbers uh, uh, came from their study, uh, which actually taught me a lot about my I thought I knew my business. I had no idea that people were spending 10% of the 10% of the population was spending the night uh, when they came to see us. And that's all that I have prepared, but I'm more than happy to answer any questions uh, that you might have. I got a quick Yes, sir. You're doing these in phases, right? You're going to jump up down to start with, right? Yes. And then you're going to do the other two or three phases, whatever it is. Not in Lake City. W- one of the reasons for I'm asking for this incentive is so that I can do all of this either in phase one or phase 1A. We will have the exact same thing here with within 12 months to, uh, of opening. We'll have everything.

You'll have everything. Yes, sir. Okay. Make sure when you do the go-kart track you got plenty of good guardrails and you got plenty of good bumpers on the car. Yes, sir. Because I guarantee you there's enough of people around here me and Rocky we kind of come from Everett, you ain't going to make the weight classification. [laughter]

You're not going to be able to ride one of them things now. You know, they said there was a weight restriction. So, there's a weight restriction. There may be a weight restriction. Ain't none of us doing it. Have you thought about parking? Have you got plenty of parking place? We have plenty of parking in our design plan. I'm hoping that we have a problem when we need [cough] to add more land to add more parking. That's always a good problem to have. Uh, I believe the current design has 127 parking spaces. I think that's probably more than we use in Valdosta. That's good then. Anyway, the I I did look at your design and and there's a area between the car wash and your car place. Is that going to be a road that's going to go to the backside for more parking? Uh, that will be a road that goes to nowhere for now. Okay. Uh, so it will be an entrance it it my understanding is it will be a city uh, maintained road once it's deeded over uh, by the property owner, but the property owner has allowed me to build that road for him. Uh, but yes, it will go to the back of that property for future development. Is that future development me? It it very well could be.

is road is going to be completed when you do your part. It will it will be completed to the entrance of my building. Well, I'm I know way back in the years several maybe 20 years ago there was a man in Lake City that wanted to kind of do this project. No, they probably don't remember that, but I do. And there wouldn't nobody let him do it. So, I'm glad you're trying to do this. Well, it's a it's a difficult project because it's it's a lot of investment for entertainment. I mean, I know that you guys deal with multi-million dollar businesses. This is not one of those. Uh, but for entertainment purposes it it it it's a large dollar amount.

Well, it's it's I promise you this the constituents are going to love this. Don't don't worry about that. You ain't going to make nobody mad. That Well, that's why I called it the worst kept secret. They they already My phone is blowing up. My text messages are going crazy. I it is a good decision to come to Lake City. I can already see that. Uh, your help w- your help would allow me to do it all at once rather than phase it like I did in Valdosta. Well, I can't do all my work free though. OKAY. [laughter]

I'LL MAKE A MOTION that we approve economic development project for Jumping Jellybeans. Got a motion and a second. Any further questions? All in favor say I. I. All opposed. And we thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it and look forward to working with you. Come down here and want to ride one of them buggies now. Listen, uh, [laughter] so once we get those go-karts up and running maybe we'll just have a challenge for the entire uh, community. And uh, [laughter] I don't know if we need to do that on a night that we'll be closed. But uh, [laughter]

Right, we'll we'll we'll we'll have a I believe we had the first responders earlier. We'll we'll go ahead and have them on notice that we may need their help. Did Did you say you lived up by the old Valdosta racetrack? Uh, no. I I mean, I live in Valdosta. I live next to the university. Okay. Well, there was somebody I talked to and they said he lived out there by where the racetrack used to be and I used to race up there all the time. I know I know exactly where you're talking about, but I don't think that was me. Okay. All right, thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. All right, Dave. Thank you. Thanks, sir. So, the next item we have

[snorts] Clicker's not working. Where'd Patrick go? There he is. Patrick. Clicker's not working. [snorts] If you could go to the one for the rural infrastructure grant which would be my second slide. Keep going. Other way. Other way. [cough]

Keep going. One more. There you go. Thank you. Uh, this grant which is D0342 provides 2 million dollars to put rail in the NF MIP. It has no match, 100% of the total infrastructure project cost. We're located in a rural community and we give the legal sites to anyone who wants it, but because we're a rail community and a fiscally constrained community, we're not required to have a match. Uh, it does include a crossing of Tiger Road and I'm asking for approval for us to uh, for this grant agreement so that we can move forward. Motion to approve rural infrastructure fund agreement. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. And I understood you say it does cross Tiger Road. It says that anything that it will cross Tiger Road. Okay. All right, the next one is the 2019 Small City CDBG Housing Grant. That's the existing housing grant. We're asking you to approve modification three to extend the time limit so we can finish the construction of the last couple houses and get reimbursed. Move to approve modification three. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. All opposed. The next one is a grant application for the old Richardson High School. Uh, Danny Kelly's firm, Kelly Partnerships, estimates the construction cost for the entire project at 1.48 million dollars. So, we're requesting to apply for 1.5 million dollars. It is in the 2028 fiscal year cycle, which means uh, they while the grant applications were supposed to open yesterday and close June 1st, they announced that it is going to be temporarily delayed. So, we're not quite sure at this point when it will open. We're watching it daily. Uh, but we have

30 to 60 days to fill out an application and get it submitted. Uh, it will fund if we request 1.5, they're only going to fund a million dollars, even though we could request a 25% match cuz it does require a cash match. Cuz we're a ready county, we could do only do 25. To do the whole project, we would have to do 500,000. Because they'll only give you up to a million dollars. So, the grant committee recommended for the board to consider the application. The state state will score their usually typically in a cycle. They will score the applications in October, make recommendations to the governor. It will then be put in the legislative budget process for approval in the next fiscal year after that. So, you'll get funding in fiscal year 27-28, basically. Which would give you the opportunity to set money aside for the match over two fiscal years if that's something the board wishes to consider or whatever the board wishes to do. But we're asking approval to proceed with the application. So, we we can make the decision for the how we get the reimbursement at when it's due, right? Or when it comes forward?

When you get the grant agreement and you approve the grant agreement, you are committing to 500,000. Unless the board chooses to do something different.

Right. Last I mean, the board this is the the grant that we missed out on last year. So, I do want to make sure that community needs that grant very badly. So, I want to make sure that we apply for this to try to get this done. Um so, are we ready for a motion? Second. Oh, I was saying we can motion we apply, but Rocky had second. I'll second it. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. The next one is a grant application request. We want to apply for a grant for the Ellisville wastewater treatment plant expansion as we talked to you previous weeks to come into compliance with the consent decree and to bring our capacity to 100,000 gallons. We need to do the band-aid approach. You looked at the three options. The utility authority looked at the three options. You both selected option one, which was Mack Industries, which would be building two more trains on the existing two trains, so you'd have four trains total, 100,000 gallons capacity. Um and that came in at 7.2 million dollars. So, we're asking for permission to go out and look for funding. Motion to approve. I'll second. I'll second it. One thing I noticed on here, could you explain to us what is our grant committee? I don't What what is a grant What What did that come from? So, that was something we decided to do to uh I'm trying to figure out the best way to say this. There are a lot of people involved in grants. And everyone feels they need to have their input and say into how the grants are done. And there was problems with communication. The people in the field that were constructing weren't necessarily communicating with the people in the office that were having to fill out the paperwork. Which contributed to some of the delays in getting reimbursement. So, we decided to create a grant committee to help us on track with all the grants and that everybody would have know what's going on, everybody would have the ability to have their input. And uh so, every time we have a grant now, we take it to this committee. And then they discuss it, try to

identify what the concerns and issues are that different elements would have, whether it's the bookkeepers, whether it's the people in the field, whether it's engineering. And they come up with a recommendation. And then we bring it to you. So, all of them are brought to us though, right? Whether they recommended or not? We just started the committee. We're working through that. I certainly if the board wants to know grants that aren't recommended, we're happy to let you know. We're keeping track of it and keeping minutes so that you can know.

all with this board, not a grant committee. Okay. But I not for the word of your mouth, Rocky, but I I I agree with Rocky. The all grants come to us for final authorization. That that's what I think you're saying, right? And Yeah, I I want to know the grant whether it's recommended or not. I want to know about the grant. I agree. I agree. Yeah. So, if a department comes in with a grant that we think is just absolutely not feasible or viable, you still want to hear it? Yes. Yes. And then, you know, and going back before we take vote Well, we can go ahead and take vote on that. We got a motion and a second on this uh any further discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Okay. David, before you get on to the next one, going back to the Richardson grant, uh not just the Richardson grant, but there wouldn't there you you put out RFQ or something for grant managers or That's been out there. Uh we have not awarded it. We have not reviewed it. I don't even know if it's closed yet. Um I have to write the grant myself, I will. Or if I need to contract it, I will. Um we still have some continuing services contracts out there. Uh I mean, I remember

to decide we're going to apply for the grant before we make those decisions. couple months ago since we said or maybe even more than that on when we did the RFQ request. I mean, I if you don't mind follow up on that. Right. It just hasn't been awarded yet. Yeah. Cuz it'll have to come back for you to award that grant. Uh or that RFQ. So, it's coming back to you to to make the award and it's not made it to you yet. Okay. The award of the management part of it what you're saying. So, we did an RFP to get grant managers and grant administrators. Okay. Uh so, that you would have similar to a continuing contracts agreement with people who do grants. Right. Um that's not made it back to you yet, so you haven't had a chance to pick those firms.

That's all the matter. Let's let's do a follow up as fast as possible because it seems like it should have done been back by now, but we'll go on. Oh, yeah. That has to come back to you for you to make your selection. So, before we go to award and all these grants, I'm just saying let's let's go ahead and do what we've got to do to move that forward because uh Well, we wanted to make sure we didn't miss the grant.

I understand the timelines. I understand that 100%. Okay. Uh Dollar General. Dollar General number Number 11. This one's real easy. The library came to us. Dollar General approached them, said we really would like you to price apply for some literacy funds. It's up to $5,000. They're requesting $3,500 or something like that. It's to go for literacy materials. Motion to approve. Second. A motion second. [cough]

Further discussion? All in favor say aye. All opposed. The next one is a budget amendment. This one's a fairly large budget amendment. Uh it contains several elements, so I'll walk through it. Uh the first part of the budget amendment is $470,000, which we're going to take from general fund reserves to pay for the difference between what we budgeted for EMS services and what what we're going to have to expend for EMS services now that we've switched to the AMR Pro contract. Second thing is the sheriff's office administration building and task force building needs new air conditioners. That was not included in the budget. It was unforeseen. So, we're asking to take $15,000 from general fund contingency to pay for the sheriff's air conditioners. They like air conditioning. They don't want to get too hot. Uh the next one is we've talked about Five Points Elementary School a couple of times. The city has is working on the technical details to finalize it, but is acquiring Five Points from the school board for 200,000. There was discussions of whether we should contribute half of that or $100,000. Uh for us to do that, of course, we would need an interlocal agreement, which Joe and I will be working on. Uh this is the first step say let's set that $100,000 aside so that when you do approve the interlocal agreement, the funding is there. Uh that would be $100,000 from general fund contingency cuz it was not a planned expense. It was not in our work plan. Then there's a lobbyist settlement of 22-5 from general fund contingency. There was a lobbying contract that we canceled. Um you know, we turned it over to the attorney. We've talked back and forth, and this is the recommended settlement 22-5 uh cuz we did not uh feel that firm was providing you an adequate rate return on your investment. Uh the next one is a retainage from Bell Street and also the retainage from the rail spur. Uh Anderson Columbia basically said, "Oh, we realize we didn't bill you for this stuff. You owe it to us." I

verified in fact that that is in fact true. Uh so, we just recently received the bills for the retainage on those two projects from Anderson Columbia. They are required for They are something we incurred. They are owed by us, and so we're asking to pay for those. Uh one is 74-9 for the for the um rail, I believe, and the other is uh 265,010 for the Bell Street corridor. Uh both of those would come from the transportation trust fund reserves. And then finally, economic and development incentives, um $400,000. We're taking it basically from future enhancements and moving it into incentives so that we can pay the incentives that the board has agreed to in the current fiscal year. So, we're asking you to approve it. Motion to approve BA 26-29. Second. Got a motion and a second. I got a couple questions. And David, does points of statement, I guess you'd say. Economic development incentive that the 400,000, that's in relevance to the economic development agreement we've got with AgriLiquid. That is correct.

a related CEO, correct? That is correct. And then the $100,000 for the Five Points deal. Uh my question is, what's the urgency of that at this point time? I mean, it's my understanding the school board's going forward. And There's not an urgency to it. Uh certainly we could do that at a later date. It's just to set that money aside so if the board decides to move forward once we negotiate an interlocal agreement because the city will own it. Um that money has in a budgeted account. If you don't spend it, it would then go back to reserves at the end of the fiscal year. So just get it and hold it and see what happens and It's creating the budget line item so that when you do do it That is correct. It's just creating the budget line item. Okay, got a motion and a second. What do you call it? There it is. I'm sorry. Come on.

[clears throat]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I got a couple questions about this. I'd like to know why there is no backup material at all. I mean, this board has discussed it. I know at least one county commissioner has discussed this. Well, maybe two. Is having backup material There's nothing here. Nobody Nobody would know what any of this stuff is for. The AmeraPro contract, apparently that $400,000 was approved earlier this evening or this morning and you're making that transfer now. The AC replacement for the Sheriff's Office, there's no backup information for that. Five Points Elementary School I mean, I don't know why this board is even considering that. Isn't that double taxation? Didn't the taxpayers in this county pay for the school? They pay school taxes every year. I look at my tax bill. It's more than it would be if I add all the parts from the school district, it's it's more than the county tax bill. Why why if the city wants to be feel that they have a money tree somewhere and they can just keep tapping the public's pockets, I don't think the county needs to be in that same boat. But that clearly is double taxation. We we shouldn't be Well, I shouldn't be. Maybe you guys feel you should be as taxpayers putting money into that. The lobbyist settlement, I don't know what that is. There's not one word of backup material. Apparently you guys have to make good on a contract. I guess you couldn't get rid of the lobbyist and you had to make some sort of a payment. Why isn't there anything in this about that? Why why doesn't anybody know who the lobbyist was that was fired? Or let go. That would appear to be a legal issue and once again, this is coming from the county attorney. That's voted in by the people and there's not one word in this. Not one word of other than this and maybe it was someplace

else at another time. An economic development incentive, $400,000. Is Is that to replace the $400,000 or whatever it is you want to give to the trampoline guys? Or is that something else? This is just an additional $400,000 that you want to just keep in a fund to give money away. There's no backup material. You guys continue to keep the public in the dark. And forget the public, Mr. Chairman, you guys continue to keep the county commission in the dark. Who get paid to represent us. I think each county commissioner costs the taxpayers over $80,000 a year with their salaries and benefits. And and I take offense to this as a taxpayer and I think some county commissioners may take offense to this and if they're not, they should be. Uh, this is just wrong. And this just continues to happen. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, sir. Okay. We have a motion motion and a second. Yeah. Got a motion. We got a motion and a second. Any further questions of the board? All in favor say aye. Aye. The next item is uh my final Well, no, I got the add-on as well. Is an unpaid leave of absence. Uh, an employee has requested a leave in excess of 30 days which has to be made in writing to the board. Uh, leave without pay shall be granted when it is in the county's interest. So you have to determine if it's in the county's interest. Under the current policy, unpaid leave is typically done for health, education, military service and extenuating and extraordinary personal reasons. One of our building inspectors, Gary, is requesting an unpaid leave of absence from May 11th up to August 3rd. So it falls within that category. He is one of your building inspectors.

Uh, they're very hard to find. They're very expensive. He's very good. Um, but again it's the board's decision on whether to grant the unpaid leave. Do we have plenty of inspectors to follow in his shoes when he's gone? Yes, I will be covered by our existing inspectors. Motion to approve. Got a motion. Second. Got a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye. And the final thing is my add-on, which is the commercial building lease agreement for AmeraPro. They've already moved into one of the buildings. They're feeling very queasy about being in the buildings without having a lease. So this is the lease coming to you. I It is the same terms and conditions that were offered to Columbia EMS and I believe Mr. Foreman has comment. I just had one question. Uh, David, do we know the move-in date for the Fairgrounds station? It's blank on this. I don't think we know that at this time cuz we have to wait for Columbia EMS to move out. I would assume the latest it would be would be at the end of that 90-day period we gave them when we adopted the contract. So So gentlemen, just for your information, in paragraph two, there is a blank for the move-in date on the Fairgrounds station. However, there's only one blank for the beginning of the rent payments. My recommendation is to have the rent payments begin April 2nd cuz we're talking about $2,000 a month and we don't need to go back and revise this, but give staff the ability to fill in that move-in date whenever it happens. It's not consequential to the board as much as it is consequential to AmeraPro. So I I don't you can approve it as presented, but with the beginning of the rent payments on April 2nd is my recommendation. It certainly would be no later than the last day of our agreement with Columbia EMS, which is 90 days from the Motion to approve with the last payment on April 2nd. Is that what you want me to do? The first rent payment April 2nd. First rent payment on April 2nd. That's a motion. Got a motion. Second. All in favor say Any further discussion? I have a question. Go ahead.

the contract though. Is AmeraPro still They're only running three ambulances in Columbia County. Lance, would you like to COME UP HERE? [laughter]

SO I GUESS YES. I MEAN THEY'RE STILL IN the ramp-up phase. With that 60-day ramp-up It was 60-day ramp-up we had, right? Mhm. What phase are we in now? I I I don't know. I talked to Lance on the way in. Sorry, Lance. You can't get out of it. I I talked to Lance on the way in and what as I as we were sitting here, I reached out to AmeraPro for a status meeting. So we're going to do that this coming week. Uh, I'm going to have Lance there, David, Kevin and then whoever AmeraPro wants to have to give us that update. Okay. Um, we knew that there would be growing pains with the transition. Uh, I did talk to a representative of Columbia EMS, uh, Mr. Peeler before I left on my trip and he did report there's you know, there's issues, right? So some Columbia EMS personnel are being hired away. Some Columbia EMS personnel are walking away. Um, they're still to the best of their ability, according to Mr. Peeler, trying to make sure that they're available to fill gaps. I think Lance will tell you there's a lot of challenges associated with this. The logistical issues, trucks coming in. So we're still working through that. Lance can tell you what his experience has been so far, but we are I I sent the email to New Hampshire today to have their business uh consultant or their business development consultant uh, Mr. Mackety meet with us. What I'm being told is the same problem we Columbia EMS had. They can't find employees. It's going to be a challenge.

That's what my point was from the very beginning. You can buy all the trucks in the world, but if you can't put seat belts in the seat, it don't matter. And I And Commissioner Ford, what was represented to us is that in in in in in Gray's guys, when they were having trouble, they would have people from outside the market to come in. That's what I was told too and that's not happening. That is one of the issues that we intend to discuss with Mr. Mackety this week. And my briefings have indicated that we've had four units kind of like we did before since the transition. I'll be realistically right now, we're worse off than we were. AmeraPro is staffing three to four every day in addition to Columbia EMS keeping one on staff. The issue is AmeraPro has a 60-day ramp-up period before they have to meet the contract. That's not up until like I think the 25th of this month. So But at the end of that 60 days, that's when they're required to have their full contract of a five and a half plus supervisor. Y'all, if I'm not mistaken though, we were told they would be ready to go on 24-hour notice, right? We we were told they were rocking and rolling, ready to go. That's what I thought. 100% that's what was represented to us. That's what we shared with you. That's why we have the contract. We're going Like I said, we're going to have that status meeting this week. Um, if I hear any adverse information or anything that I think is alarming, uh, I represent y'all, I'll send y'all a memo. To the five of you just saying, "Hey, here's where we're at." But [snorts] as Lance indicated, in terms of the final hooks going in, that does happen at the end of the 60 days. So they still have a little bit of time, but we don't like the idea that it looks like they're taking full advantage of that time. I mean, we're spending a million more dollars and we're basically the same place we're at. I think Lance would tell you we're not in the same place we were.

I I haven't had any complaints now. So I won't say I'm in the same place. I So so complaints is what really drives it. When you guys talk about these trucks, right? So you have ALS units and BLS units. Where we were was we did not have ALS units on the roads. Yes. Right? You had maybe one. You're supposed to have several. We were getting ALS calls that BLS people were responding to, right? So, you needed a lawyer, you were getting a paralegal, basically, the way I'd look at it from my industry standpoint. That was where we were really deficient, and I think they're working on that. I think that's part of what's been the challenge is getting uh paramedic EMTs. They just had a Your district

was Three Rivers Estates, or Wilson Springs, you didn't get calls. I'm I'm with you. I'm with you, Commissioner. They're working on a second truck in the south end now, talking to their operations manager. They're looking at somewhere in the Columbia City area for a second one minimum there. As well as the one that's on 18. The one on 18 is staffed 24/7.

Road 18, that's a must. They've got to get somewhere Fort White, Cannon Road 18. They got to get an ambulance It's a 18 staff. That's the one that So, that's when they moved into the first week. They moved into the 1st of April. Well, he must be They must be responding north then, or something. I don't know. They're just busy. Your district's been busy. So. And guys, remember all this in budget season. Because we still, on a staff level, are of the opinion, and by the way, AmeriPro agrees, as much as you want to rely on outside private contractors to fill this need for you, we have got to have some ability on the local level to fill gaps. If that means a truck on the north end, if that means a truck on the south end, if that means trucks on the north end and south end that work on our side, you're too big. Right? You're too big. You need So, when budget season comes around, I know you guys are going to remember cuz it's all going to be fresh on our minds, but that's going to be part of, I think, what Lance and Jeff are going to be asking for is some help, either through grants or whatever, to get us into that position where we have at least one or two trucks. And you know,

And we are having ongoing meetings to discuss the MSTU for EMS. I haven't got any calls to DPC. And the thing about People don't realize Columbia County is a long, skinny county. You know, people don't realize you're in Gilchrist County, you're in Suwannee County. You're pretty close, but Columbia, you got what? How many miles long are we? If you have one unit almost 45. I'd say more than 45. You got all the way to Fargo. So, if you have one unit that covers the south, and one unit that covers the north, they get one call, and you have to send an ambulance from Lake City out to where they were, that's at least 40 minutes to get there. Fargo to Fort White, I'd say is hour. About 40, 50 minutes. 60. It's a ways. Well,

[clears throat] I can say I Joe, I agree with you. You need to have a conversation with them. We are this week. And like I said, Lance grabbed me on the way in, said, "You forgot to give it to Mr. I said, "I did. I sent the email while we were in this meeting to Mr. We want to get together

Yeah, I'd like to hear a little good faith about what they're doing in the county. I mean, if it if they start doing it on the last day of the contract, that's not going to That's not cool. I know this week. It's legal. It's legal. It's their Monday and Tuesday, they had a big hire orientation. We helped them with posting the location for that. So, they they've got their personnel ramping up, but they had to go through their orientation. And I don't know the challenges they're having, and I'm sure there's a lot of them. So, but I'm not mad at them. I just got to leave, man. You know, That's not what they told us. That's my point. That's not what we were told. That is true. That's everything. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Okay. Staff comments, Clint. I'm going to going to jump ahead of the uh public comments in case anybody wanted to comment on Clint's statements up here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh members of the board, just wanted to brief y'all real quick on a couple things that's come up here in the past week. Uh as all of y'all know, mowing season's fixing to kick off. Uh we started the contractors last week. Um we've already started getting some calls with some areas that people uh claim that they're skipping. But, the reason I wanted to bring this to the board, uh four or five new permits were on y'all's agenda today for permits uh for utilities. We have utility contractors countywide right now on every road imaginable that's got the roadsides dug up, that's got marker flags where they've had locates done, and I can't have my mowing contractor mow over these locate flags. So, there's several areas that they will be skipping the backside of the road, or

intersections and all that stuff where they have junction boxes. So, just wanted to make this board aware that that is going to be a problem, but most all your permits that are currently going on now, by the time the second mowing cycle comes around, those areas should be complete. So, we'll be picking up anything that they skip on this first cycle. Just wanted to make y'all aware of that. Okay? Got a question? Clint, I was just going to tell you I talked to the the sheriff this week, too. Easter's this weekend, so they're not going to be manning the springs. They got a lot going on with Easter. But, next weekend, weekend after Easter, they're supposed to start manning the springs again for on the weekends and stuff. Well, I've I've already got that lined up. That was one of my discussion items here. Um the next thing I wanted to discuss real quick is the water restrictions. Uh you heard uh Mr. Crow say at the last meeting, we have got the phase two notification from Suwannee River Water Management. Um and I don't know how many of y'all realize how much that affects uh our department with the ball fields. We have three irrigation wells that feed Fort White, and also southside location. Um the current restrictions right now on that phase two setup shows for landscaping purposes and all that, it cuts the water back to one day a week. Okay? We cannot maintain sports turf with one day a week. So, I'm shuffling the scheduling around to try to keep enough water on these fields, but the problem that we're having right now is our groundwater is so low, uh unless we get some substantial rain uh in the near future, I'll be coming back before the board because we're going to have to eliminate some of the use and play on these fields. Y'all all know when we do that, we're going to have people screaming that kids can't go to the fields, but it's either limit some playtime on these fields, or replace hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of turf because we're already seeing some stress

points now where the repetitive practice and play is killing out the turf because the turf cannot maintain itself. So, I want y'all to be aware of that because unless we get some substantial rain in the near future, that's something that we're going to have to address. And the last thing, Mr. Ford, that you brought up a minute ago, we've had some complaints at Rum Island um about the excessive use and not having law enforcement. We start every year uh usually around the first, the second week of April, we do have them scheduled starting next weekend. Uh we will have law enforcement at Rum Island Park uh to help with the excessive use and people blocking driveways and all that. So, that will start up next weekend. Um Along with the Rum Island stuff, uh we had an issue. Uh Mr. Ford, you sent me a text about people using private gates coming into county property. Uh if y'all recall last year, I did a PowerPoint presentation uh for this board and brought that up, the issues we were having. Problem is, a lot of these neighboring landowners, if you look at the ads that's on uh you know, the computers, they're advertising some of these Airbnbs down there as river access, riverfront property. And these private gates have been an issue. We've had to uh Joel's done a cease and desist order one time for people that was doing stuff on county property. We had an incident the other day where people are trying to do a business coming in off county property. So, I'm going to be requesting I got some information being put together now. We are going to have to come up with funding to replace that boundary fence so that there are no private entrances coming in to county property. They are destroying vegetation, trashing up the area, and it's not our local people. So, I want everybody to understand that. These are people that are coming in and renting these Airbnbs, riding their four-wheelers through the gates,

dragging boats and stuff through gates, not paying to come into the park, and they it's causing a major problem. And again, I brought it to y'all last year. It's already starting this year, so it's something that we're going to have to address here in the very near future. [snorts]

Well, we just spent a pile of more money on that sod around the springs. Well, and and we got, you know, we got that information coming up now, which is another whole project to try to fix those repairs down there that Suwannee River Water Management's helping us with. But, you know, we're fixing to spend a lot more money down there to repair stuff due to the vandalism. So, we're we're going to have to address these issues. Clint, I think we ought to get some signs made up, too, that they can't launch kayak, boats, canoes, or anything except at the boat ramp. Because they're dragging them kayak that are crossing that grass, sliding it down that bank. Canoes, I I seen a lady man bring two canoes in there the other day, and they slid it right down the grass and right into the spring, I mean. We we've had signage down there that that says that. We've got signage currently at these private gates now that say no no entry. They ignore those. They pull them out. They throw them down. Um but we're we're going to have to close off those private gates. But, you're right. They drag those boats and canoes across that grass. They dig They tear it up. They dig holes. They gouge holes in it. I mean, just Thank y'all. Okay, public comments. Thanks, Glenn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate Mr. Pittman's extensive report. The county spends millions It spent millions at Southside. Now, you're making another contract with the city of Lake City who had a reuse plan that they spent millions to build. This was in the days of Paul Bryan. They refused to staff the plant which would have provided gray water to people in the city, and I think they

may be proper pipe at some of the places at Southside. They let the plant go to waste. The Water Management District, which may stand for weapon of mass destruction allowed the plant to fall into disrepair and then gave the city another over a million dollars to fix the plant that they didn't keep track of that was never used. My question being that the county has so much money invested at Southside, and it's clearly a mile. I mean, everybody knows about it throughout the whole Southeast. It would be a shame to see all the grass just go away. Is why isn't there gray water at that plant at that at these parks right now? Why not? You guys want to make all these contracts with the city of Lake City, which clearly has not been competent in the in the in the utility business for years. And now you've got millions of dollars worth of parks that his his crew is tops. I mean, you go to any park, you know how good they are. And and you're still making contracts with Lake City and giving the county's money away. I think that's something you guys need to think about. My other question is, my understanding is the bathroom at Rum Island wasn't working. Is that working now? Is that Is that Is that

Yes, it's working now. Thank you very much. That's That's my

cut the pipe. I don't know. I was just This is a big weekend coming up. Somebody gave me a call, and I didn't know. Thank you very much. I think you need to start looking into that gray water and start putting some pressure on the city of Lake City. Very good points, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Anybody else? Uh All right. I'm seeing none. Uh any other updates, David? You good? No, sir. Okay. Commissioner comments? Mr. Parnell? Uh hope everybody has a happy Easter. It should be a good weekend for everybody, hopefully. And we [snorts] need some rain bad, but after Easter. We've got the stage up there. You can do the dance here in just a second. That's right. Rock? Happy Easter. I think I said enough already today.

[laughter] Mr. Waxman? Mr. Waxman? Yeah. [laughter]

Okay. Just one question. I've meant to ask that. Clear about running a private business out of a state park or county park. Is that legal? No, sir. Not without a permit. Well, don't we have one doing that? We did. I think they're shut down now. They shut them down? I think so, yeah. Okay. I That was the only question I had. You talking about Rum Island, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, both Yeah, we have But, he wasn't both operating on that private property. Yeah. Thank you. All right. And just so there's no confusion, the county's not trying to profit from that. We have to protect ourselves against liability and all sorts of issues when people conduct commercial activity. So, there there is a process for doing it. Just very few people bother to follow it.

So, to clarify what was happening down there. Okay. A private property owner had property buttoned up to the spring with an access gate going in. He allowed a vendor to set up on his property written on his property and going through the gate with the glass bottom kayaks. Okay. And naturally, he was getting paid to let the guy set up there. But, I think he agrees that everybody should agree that that stops. All right. Hope you have a happy Easter. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Have a good Easter. Thank you, sir. Have a good Easter. You can get the go-karts and go race your little ass That's right.