Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

So serious today.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting. If you would kindly rise with us for the pledge and the prayer.

Lord, we thank you for this day and for all the many blessings that you've given to us. Thank you for giving us a new day and renewed opportunities to love and serve each other as we love and serve you. Lord, we also thank you for the privilege it is to call this place home. We ask for your favor and blessing on all those in our community who may need it most and for continued prosperity for each man, woman, and child in Marion County. Father, we also pause this morning with heavy hearts as we mourn a great loss to our Marion County family today. We thank you for the life of Marion County Fire Rescue paramedic Clifton Murphy, for his sacrifice and dedication and service to others. Please be with his family, friends, and colleagues. Grant them a peace and comfort during this time, and may his memory continue on through all of us. Lord, please go before us now and bless all that we do here this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Good morning, Madam Clerk.

Chairman Zalek.

Here.

Vice Chairman McLean.

Here.

Commissioner Curry. Commissioner Bryant. Here. Commissioner Stone.

All right, we're ready to go. Just a few announcements. If you all please make sure that your cell phones and everything is on silent. If you have to have a conversation, if you would kindly do that outside in the foyer, we would really appreciate that. We're going to get kicked off this morning with our proclamations and presentations.

So moved.

Second. I have a motion by Commissioner Bryant, second by Commissioner McLean. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Or no, we did that. I think so. No meetings coming up?

We got stuff. You want me to go fast? All right. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. We're excited to kick off America 250 celebration. Amanda, give us an update.

Well, good morning, Commissioners. Amanda Tartt, Assistant County Administrator. As we began this journey, the White House issued a call for Americans, local governments, businesses, nonprofits, schools, and communities across the country to come together to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary. And Marion County answered that call. I have a short video that I'd like for you all to bring your attention to that shows just all of the wonderful things that Marion County was able to do over this past year.

For 250 years, America's story has been written by generations of people who dreamed, sacrificed, and believed in something bigger than themselves. This year, Marion County came together to add our own chapter. And our America 250 celebrations became more than a milestone. It was a chance to create moments worth remembering. From gathering in faith, hope, and community, to representing Marion's pride at the state capitol. We paid tribute to our fallen and honored our hometown heroes. Showcasing local art and creativity and celebrating the true spirit of our community. Paying solemn tribute to our fallen. Coming together for an evening of celebration, generosity and community support. and dedicating a lasting tribute to our namesake. Standing shoulder to shoulder in support of our veterans and first responders. A new addition to the horse fever herd, liberty, brought art, history, and the enduring spirit of America together in a celebration of unity and heritage. And it all came together on Independence Day, as Marion County celebrated the people, places, and moments that make our American story uniquely ours. The story of America is still being written. And this year, Marion County became part of the next chapter, We are united by history and ready for the next 250 years.

So from the beginning of all of this, it was our goal to make America 250 more than just one event. It was about honoring our history, recognizing those who had protected our freedoms, and celebrating our community and inspiring the next generation. As you just saw, that vision came to life in so many different ways. And none of this would have been possible without the incredible support that we received from our community. So when we talk about the finances of this event, the board generously gave us $75,000 of seed funding to get us started. Through the generosity of our sponsors and donors, we raised $126,400 at the America 250 Gala and generated another $164,500. That gave us a total of $365,900 with approximately $287,800 in expenses, leaving a balance of $78,100. The remaining funds will be distributed in accordance with the board's direction outlined in Resolution 26R170. We'd like to take a moment to recognize those who helped make this possible. To every sponsor, donor, and community partner who contributed their resources, time, and support, we say thank you. Your generosity helped us turn an idea into a celebration that brought thousands of people together. But not every America 250 mission involved a podium, a microphone, or a fireworks show. One of my favorite examples involved just some little girl stuffed animal. During the excitement and massive crowds, a young girl named Chloe became separated from her beloved toy, Mew Mew. One of our employees learned about what happened and decided to step in. She purchased a replacement of Mew Mew with her own money and made sure Chloe received it back. And she included a note sharing all the great fun that Mew Mew had had while she was away. Now you might look at that and think that's a pretty small thing, but that's really what community is all about. It's about looking out for one another, it's about helping when someone needs it, and it's about having employees who are willing to go above and beyond to make somebody's day just a little bit better. That may have been our smallest mission of the year, but it certainly ended with one of the biggest smiles of the year. Commissioners, I would ask that you would join us around Farrant so that we can recognize our employee, Lauren Casey, for her commitment to our high card values and making sure that Chloe got Mew Mew back safe and sound.

Way to go, Lauren.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Come right here. You have to be in the middle. Oh, no. We'll present this certificate for you, and thank you for just doing that. You know, it's funny. You probably learned that from some of the things we've been doing in leadership and all the other pieces of it. And what is so cool is that you took the time to do that for that little girl and made her dreams come true. That's real high-card play, so we appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Lauren. And finally, I want to recognize the people behind all of the celebration. Our America 250 steering committee, our community partners, our municipalities, businesses and organizations, volunteers and county staff all played a role in making this possible. what started as a vision became a true community effort we set out to honor our past celebrate the present and inspire our future and i believe marion county did just that thank you commissioners for your support and thank you to everyone who helped marion county's america 250 celebration one that we can all be proud of and now i would like to call up the members of the america 250 steering committee If you all could join the commissioners on stage and remain on stage for a group picture after we've called everyone up.

All right. Amanda will make this painless and as quick as possible.

It will be quick. All right. Loretta Schaefer. Jessica Heller. Danny Hart. Bobby Perez. Captain Felix Rodriguez. Bob Vass. School Board Member Conrad. Mayor Marciano. Greg Davis. Sue Mosley. Melissa Connor. Jessica Schultz. Valerie Hancher. Julie Mancini. Tiffany Swain and the rest of the making it Matthews crew. Kayla Matthews. Claire Siders. Austin Wicker. Jessica Hawley.

Good morning.

Josue Bezula.

We are.

Mark Anderson. Stacy Causey. Lacey Larimore. Roger Waddell. Giovanni Arenas. Jim Coulard.

We're good.

Lauren Casey. Jared Goodspeed. Jared Peltz. Lester Hawley. Tracy Straub, Ashley Gerdes, Craig and Liz Phillips, and Dr. Danielle Brewer.

Ma'am?

And last but certainly not least, Sarah Russell with AdventHealth.

And thank you to Ms. Amanda Tartt for leading this in such a tremendous way. I'm sure the chair will say more about that.

All right. We've got a couple more certificates to get out here. Tiffany? Where's Tiffany at? Okay. Okay. Okay. Dr. Brewer? Dr. Brewer? Please. All right. Everybody get their little, everybody get their memento? Everybody got one? Okay. Got their certificate? Okay. All right. All right. Mark, how are we doing this? Mayor, good to see you.

Hi, how are you?

I don't know. Yeah. Lord have mercy. Yeah, come on. Where's the little man at? All right.

Come on.

Aw.

What's up, big guy? What's going on? How are you?

You doing good?

Hey, I just want to say thank you on behalf of Marion County, Mayor, everybody that came together, Sue, the school board. This is what real partnership looks like. It took everybody, Liz Phillips and Mr. Craig. Thank you so much for hosting America 250 The Ball. You made this thing happen this year, and we appreciate your investment in the community. Thank you, everyone, for truly making it exceptional. I can't leave the mayor out.

Here you go, my friend.

You know, I've learned that whenever I go somewhere, I'm definitely going to speak. But I just got to say that, you know, that the celebration was an example of how our community come together and really just serve one another. You saw families out there. You saw different political officials. And everybody was just out there for good. And I think it's a great example. You know, you look at our country today, and unfortunately, there's a lot of division. But that day was an example of how we can come together and serve one another. And we can all agree that we want to make our community better. And I'm just thankful for all you, the commissioners, and the work that you guys did. It really was a great day. So thank you so much.

Thank you. And will you all also do me one favor? Along with the Philips and AdventHealth, our title sponsor, that truly... seeded the whole thing in the very beginning to help us secure the fireworks and do all the things to make it an incredible day. Will you give a round of applause to those folks? All right. Let's go, Mark.

Thank you, everybody.

We appreciate it.

It's okay to be somber, by the way.

All right. Okay.

Did everybody get a memento?

Thank you so much.

All right, beautiful, beautiful.

Thank you. Commissioner, one last thing related to America 250. Amanda, can you please come up to the stage too? Yeah. I wanted to give a special thanks to, once the board said, let's do it, staff went and did everything they can to make it successful. Roger? I think he walked every business and he talked to every business owner in Marion County and did a great job to get us financially where we needed to be to pay back the county for the seed money and to pay for all the expenses. On top of all this, we selected the right person to lead this whole effort. Amanda, your perseverance, your I can do it attitude made this happen and made it successful. Thank you for all what you did. And this is a small recognition, personal recognition from me. It's very heavy. And Commissioner Zalat, for all the no's we told you and all the no, we're not going to do this. And you know he is the man with ideas. And once you accept one idea, the next day he will come back with another one. So we had to say no sometimes. I appreciate all what you did. Thank you for your leadership and what you did for us. Thank you. And the mic is back yours?

We'll give it to Amanda. Let's take a picture. Yes.

I don't have anything to say.

You don't want to say anything?

No, just thank you to everybody. It was a wonderful team effort and just seeing all the other communities, whether it was Bellevue, Donnellan, the Sheriff's Office, OPD, the City of Ocala, Marion County Fire Rescue, the school board. It was, you know, event after event, idea after idea, and everybody came together. And the smiles on the faces of the people on July 4th really... just made it all worth it. And the kids singing at the Capitol and how excited they were. It was amazing. So thank you all for everything that you put into it. And I think we did our community proud that day and I'm glad to be a part of it. Thank you.

Mm-mm.

All right. There we go. All right. Our next proclamation today is going to be our proclamation for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Dan Clark, if I could have you come up as well as the many others that are in our audience today. Good morning. Thanks for being with us. Good morning. Thank you so much for being with us. All right. Okay. So you're about to learn a whole lot about childhood cancer if you didn't know it. This is a proclamation of the Board of County Commissioners of Marion County, Florida, whereas approximately 15,500 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer each year, making childhood cancer a serious challenge for children and families. And whereas a childhood cancer diagnosis affects the entire family, bringing emotional, practical and financial challenges to parents, siblings, caregivers and loved ones. And whereas children and families in Marion County are among those affected by childhood cancer. and rely on the support of healthcare professionals, schools, nonprofit organizations, and their community. And whereas researchers, healthcare professionals, and childhood cancer organizations continue working to improve treatments, support families, and help more children live healthy, fulfilling lives. And whereas raising awareness of childhood cancer encourages greater understanding, compassion, and support for children and families facing this difficult journey. Now, therefore, the Board of County Commissioners of Marion County, Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in us, do hereby proclaim that September 2026 be known as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Duly proclaim this first day of September 2026, signed by all five county commissioners, and attested to by Mr. Gregory C. Harrell, Clerk of Court. And as we present this proclamation today, we also would like to talk about something that the county did back in May to help bring awareness to childhood cancer, our Childhood Cancer Awareness Memorial. We also want to take a moment, as I said, to remember a very special dedication that took place this past May we gathered to dedicate a memorial honoring children affected by childhood cancer. Have any of you seen it yet? It's over by the library, and it is absolutely spectacular. Oh, it's up on the screen. There you go. The memorial was created in loving memory of Caitlin Peltz. The dedication and veiling were a special surprise for the Peltz family. And it was certainly a very meaningful moment to honor Caitlin and in recognize the family's strength and commitment to keeping her memory alive. As a matter of fact, I have to say it was certainly the brainchild not to honor Caitlin, but to bring awareness to childhood cancer, by her dad, Jared. And he did a fabulous job in thinking about that and trying to come up with a way to bring awareness to childhood cancer. So this memorial stands as a place of remembrance, reflection, and hope for children and families affected by childhood cancer. It also serves as a reminder that no family should have to face this journey alone. As we said earlier, the Peltz's family's love and dedication are what made this memorial possible, and their story and Caitlin's story and her memory will continue to inspire our community to support families, advance research, and work toward a cure. So we encourage you all, if you haven't had a chance, to visit this beautiful memorial located in front of our Marion County Public Library headquarters to do so. So there's a lot that's been said. There are many organizations that raise funding for research for childhood cancer. If you may ask this question, how many people know or have been affected by someone with childhood cancer? Just raise your hand. How many people know more than one person that's been affected by childhood cancer? Yeah, it's not as rare as we think it is. And I do think that research is extremely important in helping to fight it and to hopefully find a cure. So I'm going to do a shameless plug up here for the Ocala Royal Dames because they're the ones that I can think of that they do contribute to research for childhood cancer. I don't think anybody's here today from the dames. Yeah, we are. We'll represent. but also the American Cancer Society. If you find yourself going, hey, I've got an extra $10 or $25 or $50, and I'm not sure what I want to do with it, and you want it to go to certainly a worthwhile cause, make sure you make a donation to one of those entities. And at this time, I'm going to give Mr. Dan Clark the proclamation as well as the microphone to talk about anything that's going on this month.

Commissioners and Marion County, we want to thank you so much for what you do. I was at the unveiling back in May and it was beautiful. Jared's idea was amazing. Back in 2012, I had a friend have a child get diagnosed with cancer a second time. So we all came together, did a bunch of fundraising. At that time we decided to create a fund in Marion County. It's called Kids Kicking Cancer where we can help families with kids pay bills. We give them gas cards, food cards, rent, electric, whatever we can do to take the burden off of the family. They go through so much. At Christmas, we provide Christmas presents for the one battling the cancer and their siblings. The siblings get left out sometimes throughout the year, so we make sure they're taken care of as well. So we do not have anything this month. In November, we have our annual cornhole and raffle to raise money towards the Christmas funds. We buy them everything they put on the list just so that they can feel special at that time of year like most kids in the community, even though they're going through a very rough time. Then we have other organizations like Jared's and a couple others in town that we're just all coming together to take care of them. Whenever we do an event for a specific kid, the county comes together like we always do. We take care of our own here. And we brought Ryder up here today. I'm sorry, Cole. Cole Ryder. He's one of our winners. He actually struggled through the battle, went through it, and now he's cured. He's going through treatment. So while we do have the positive outcomes like Cole, just last month we had a three-year-old in our community pass away from it. So we were able to help the family with getting a van fixed. Shan's kicked in and helped with the funeral. So we just, we do, we come together as a community, and it's things like what the commissioners are doing now that bring awareness, and we appreciate it very much.

Jared, you want to talk a little bit about your organization as well?

What I'll mostly say is just thank you to the board for the continuing support. Certainly, you know, affecting our family. I did, I think, a really good job at staying in the dark about everything that was going on at the library. That took a lot of effort on my part because I really didn't know anything that was going on, quite frankly. But no, I do. I want to thank the board for the continuing support. I think whether it's something that my family's doing or what Dan is doing plays a really important role. What you don't think about for those families, we had the opportunity for my wife to be with my daughter the entire time. Not all the families do. I will tell you, visiting a cancer floor and realizing that families have to leave their children there throughout the entire day so that they can go work and try to pay bills to keep insurance active or the power bill up. And the amount of fuel that's expended just driving back and forth are a huge burden to those families. And I'm very thankful for what Dan and the rest of those folks out in the community are trying to make a commitment level to support those families. You don't realize the level of support that goes into that and how much it affects each of those families. So thank you as well. It's a pleasure to meet you. I didn't get a chance, but I do. I want to thank everybody.

What's that?

Absolutely. Way to go.

All right. Did you want to say anything? Anybody else?

The Caitlin's Kicking Cancer organization that we have is through the Community Foundation. When my daughter was in the hospital, It was also around the time of COVID and we recognized it was really difficult for family visitations. She didn't get to see her siblings that much. And so we recognized gaming was an opportunity in which they could still sort of see one another and play games together, but do that from a distance. And so we try to support some local families and also go up to Shands to put some gaming carts as part of their volunteer base. so that those children have an opportunity, if you are sitting there all day long, that there's at least something for them to try to pass some of the time, because they are there sometimes weeks on end. So, but thank you.

So as you heard, lots of great ways that if you want to contribute or help or donate, make a difference in someone who is actually going through the treatments, the family or for them. There are lots of different things, and I'm sure that somebody will put all of that on our county's website somewhere underneath our Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. That was me actually saying go do that. So anyway, thank you. All right.

All right. Is Stephanie here from Second Harvest? There she is. Come on up. This is for a proclamation for Hunger Action Month. Whoever's a part of this, come on up to the stage.

Hi, it's nice to see you. Good morning. Thank you for being here. Hi. Good morning. Good to see you. Good morning. Good to see you. Hey, good morning. Thanks for being here. Good morning.

Good morning. Good to see you. Good to see you, sir. Thank you. Good morning. Hey, how are you?

Good to see you.

Good morning.

Good to see you. I don't want to get in anybody's way here, Commissioner.

All right, well, let me go ahead and present this. This reads, whereas hunger is an issue of vital concern in Marion County, where 15.1% of people, including one in every five children, experience food insecurity and may face difficult choices between food and other basic needs. To elevate the voices of those, inspire everyone to act, volunteering, fundraising, learning, and advocating to help end hunger. and whereas Marion County is committed to working with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and other local agencies such as Interfaith, His Compassion, Wings of Faith, The Salvation Army, Veterans Helping Veterans, Brothers Keeper, Farm Share, and other community partners to raise awareness of hunger, expand access to food resources, and support individuals and families facing food insecurity. And whereas through a strong network of community partners, more than 6.5 million meals were distributed to Marion County residents last year through 57 partner agencies, food pantries, meal programs, and other community organizations, helping ensure that individuals and families have access to the food they need to thrive. And whereas organizations throughout Marion County will participate in events and activities during September to raise awareness, encourage community involvement, and help stock the shelves in support of families, children, seniors, and others facing hunger. Now, therefore, the Board of Commissioners, by virtue of the authority vested in us, do hereby proclaim that September 2026 be known as Hunger 6, signed by all five categories, see Harold, our Clerk of the Court. 15.1% of people. I think that's the number that struck me the most. Hunger is not just an issue that we just right here in our community. And 57 different partner agencies are working to try and help solve this issue. So thank you to everyone up here for your agency and for what you're doing. And now I will give it to Stephanie, if you'd like to tell us about some of these activities that we have going on this month.

Hello, good morning. My name is Stephanie Palacios, and I am the Director of Government Relations at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. We cover seven counties throughout Central Florida, and Marion County is one of them. And like the proclamation said, our 57 partners distribute meals to Marion County residents last year. And that's the work of many of the individuals standing up here with me. And these individuals are doing this work every day and helping neighbors, talking to neighbors, and finding out the best way to serve them. So without the individuals on this stage, that number would not be possible. So they're really the hard workers up here. If you're interested in getting involved and taking action this Hunger Action Month, volunteer at one of these agencies. We have fantastic agencies in Marion County, and they could use your help. Volunteer. Take the day to go to one of their distributions. If you have that extra $10, write that check to them so that they can get more food out into the community. Also, ask them how you can help. They may have other ways that you can help that is not just distributing food, whether it's doing some of their paperwork or helping them gain other volunteers. But really, the people on this stage are the people that are doing that work every day. so thank you so much and thank you to the marion county commission and marion county for being such a great partner to second harvest i speak with cheryl often and she is so lovely to us but thank you so much and again um take action this month thank you great job yes yeah

My name is Todd with Veterans Helping Veterans. We like to say thank you, and today we're saying thank you to Second Harvest. Gail Strickland is a tremendous communicator. Our food pantry, we serve 46,000 veterans in Marion County, and we serve about 500 families a month. We only do that because of Second Harvest and we want to thank them because we push out at 19 cents a pound. Thank you, Gail, for that. Over a ton of meat a month comes out of our food pantry. and to the families of the veterans who want America to say, send me wherever you can. And America did. Because of Gail and Peter and the good folks at Second Harvest, I just want to present the Certificate of Gratitude, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Marion Branch, For your tireless devotion and unwavering commitment, you're enhancing the lives of homeless and at-risk veterans throughout Marion County, Florida. Your steadfast generosity, passionate can-do attitude, and fervent spirit serve as a gold standard for all of us to emulate. We are grateful. Thank you very, very much.

Did I miss anybody else? All right, well, again, thank you all for being here, and take action this month. Thank you.

Now we have a special recognition for you and your family. All right. And I asked Chief to help me a little bit too.

Good morning.

How are you?

How excited are you? My man. I feel you, sister. Chief, will you come right here?

All right, let me tell you a little bit about Preston before we celebrate his retirement. So Preston serves as our Director of Emergency Management for Marion County Sheriff's Office, bringing more than three decades of public service. I had to get a paper to write all this down. Public service experience. His career included service with the Ocala Fire Rescue as a firefighter, paramedic, captain, hazmat team member. He served at the Ocala Police Department as a reserve officer and trained for their SWAT team. He retired from the Ocala Fire Rescue on July 2017 and didn't have enough, so he joined Marion County Sheriff's Office as the Director of Emergency Management. Let me tell you just a quick story because there is nobody more prepared for something to happen, like literally the ideal Eagle Scout in the world than Preston, right? He is prepared before prepared even had a name. As director, Preston led Marion County's comprehensive emergency management program, overseeing preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation efforts for natural, technological, and human-caused emergencies. He directed countywide emergency planning, training, and exercises. And listen, we've never had more training exercises until we had Preston. But we were ready every single time, and the citizens of Marion County every time benefited from that. And you know what I love? Especially those that were critical. Especially those that needed the most help. You made sure that transportation, that churches were open after the storms, that there were ways, even when we had to get schools back up and running, Preston made sure that those people were safe and they had the care. And so, my friend, there are so many families that can say successfully, and some people that are alive today, because you were prepared for those storms. It tells a lot about a man. And I also wanted Chief to say a little bit about all the working together that we do on behalf of emergency services and, of course, our friend Preston.

Sure.

Thank you.

So when it comes to public service, this is an amazing book into a storybook career, over 30 years of service to the community, whether from fire rescue, Ocala Police Department, Marion County Sheriff's Office, emergency management. I echo what you say when it comes to preparedness. Nobody has prepared this county when it comes to an emergency, whether it was COVID, whether it's hurricanes. Preston is that guy that will not take no for an answer. If you know Preston, he just doesn't take no, and he finds a way to make happen what needs to happen. And sometimes we'll be in meetings and be like, golly, Preston wants this done. But at the end of the day, he finds a way to make it happen because he knows the end outcome is going to be safety for our community. I don't know how we replace Preston. I know they're going to somehow replace him. I don't know how that's going to happen because nobody's going to fill the shoes that Preston has. For me personally, this story started in 1995 when Preston and I worked for the city of Ocala. And we've been dear friends ever since. Families are friends. We travel together. We have great times together. So I'm looking forward to continuing that. He's retiring a little bit before I am. So you're going to have to catch up. But I also don't know how Preston's going to retire. I think it's probably going to last about two weeks. I'm just incredibly proud. I do have just a small coin that I want to give Preston for service professionally. But again, to me and my wife Tracy, it's more than public service. He's just a great friend and thankful for that. Thank you so much, Chief.

I appreciate that.

So it seems like all of the big things usually happened when I was chair. And I can't tell you how, I mean, I've lost count of how many things we got to do. There were hurricanes. There was COVID. There was when we had to get a school opened and we had to find places for special needs to go and worked through that. And then a special needs shelter opened. And there have been times that our community has been going through something. And my first phone call in the morning would be from Preston. And generally the last one in the evening would be from Preston. And there were many others in between. But when we weren't going through an event, if Preston and I didn't talk for a little while, I would get the phone call, oh, you don't care anymore? I'm not important anymore? You can't talk to me anymore? And that went both ways. But there were also some times when Preston would call me, I would have to send him to voicemail because the other thing that you have to know about Preston is when he gets you on the phone, he can talk a lot. Right? I think we can all agree on that. But it goes back to saying what everyone else has said. It's because of his dedication. His dedication to his job. His dedication to this community. And our community is certainly better for that. And we certainly were always prepared when anything happened. And through all... of the different events that we went through, I think that you have to be super proud when there's only one little tiny flub. And there was only one little tiny flub, not that mentioned. It was a messaging thing. And people got their... wires crossed, we'll just say it like that. And so that also, that's huge too, because in this line of work, communication is extremely important. And Preston, you have done a phenomenal job. You have served your community well in every role that you have served your community in. And as Chief said, there are big shoes to fill and we are certainly going to miss you. But my friend, Your retirement is well-deserved and you need to retire and go enjoy that time with your family. Because as we all know, time is fleeting. And I know Ms. Wanda is making a list and she's going to keep you busy. That's how you're going to retire.

Well, I'll just add on to that. Preston made sure that he stayed connected, not just in the nucleus of the county, but also the outskirts of the county with Reddick and McIntosh. And he was very attentive to their needs as well. and making sure that we were able to open shelters so that those folks were able to stay as close to home as possible during the events that we had, where we had to evacuate. And not only did he make sure that those schools were open, but he also intensified the hardening of schools during his tenure over the last several years. So that, again, is another testament to his care and concern for this community. And during those evacuations, he'd haul me up in his big old truck and take me to visit so that we made the rounds and we were able to make sure that everybody who were in those shelters were getting what they needed. And the pets were also attended to appropriately. And so, Preston, I mean, truly... Your love and concern for this community is going to continue to go forth as a legend. And so there will be those that will come behind you, and I hope they will use you as a role model of what excellent looks like and caring for us during emergency preparedness. And it's not just during the emergencies. It's making sure that we're ready for the emergencies, which is a continuous time. So God bless you and your family, and I hope you really will enjoy your retirement.

All right.

I got to get in on this too. So Preston, thank you. Obviously, we've all heard about the wonderful job you've done here for Marion County. And I also want to thank you personally. So I first got to know Preston. One of my first jobs out of high school was at the Florida State Fire College. It was a part-time job. Preston was one of the instructors there. I forget which classes he was teaching. But I remember someone telling me about him. It's like he's a police officer. He's a firefighter. He's an instructor. I mean, this guy's Superman, right? You know, he just was an incredible guy. And always been so personally encouraging to me and I want to thank you for that as well as the job that you've done here and you know you're I know that retirement is it's not really retirement it's more of a reassignment and I know that you've always been mission focused and your mission now is going to be your family and all these other things so it's it's not retirement it's reassignment but congratulations on everything and thank you for the good work that you've done.

all right so let me read this plaque to you on behalf of the board of county commissioners it's with sincere appreciation for your outstanding service leadership and dedication to marion county emergency management your commitment and steadfast leadership helped guide marion county through some of the toughest and most challenging times including covet 19 pandemic multiple hurricanes and we are grateful for your hard work dedication and exceptional service to our community May your retirement be filled with happiness, relaxation, and new adventure. Here's to a life of service. Preston Boland. Now, like Commissioner Bryant said, a few words.

Well, you know, it started in May 14th of 2017. The previous director, Chip Wildey, he told me, he goes, piece of cake. He goes, he didn't have much. He goes, his tenure there, he goes, didn't have much going on. You know, and then three months into 2017, we had Hurricane Irma. And then I had a whole list of staff and I were looking at since 2017. of all the hurricanes, deployments, activations, cold freezes, cold weather sheltering and planning, ground depressions, major depressions that we've had through the years. So there was like 30 or 40 major events, not going with COVID and everything, adding that in there too. The forest fires, the major fire, that was over 4,000 acres. So, you know, those are things that we look back on the different, you know, and I appreciate all the kind words, you know, of leading the division. I have to say thank you to Sheriff Woods for giving me the opportunity and having confidence to be able to lead that division and the commission to be able to support me as well. But one of the bigger things is emergency management is not about one person. It's about a team. And I will tell you, I look out here, all the team members that I've worked with, you know, in Marion County, the city of Ocala, excuse me is the school board you know these are you know we can't do it with just the team that i have in the office i have an excellent team you know and i 100 know is i keep saying to them is we always will leave a better footprint than what we took and in this division and they will continue and then we started sitting and we looked at all the things that since 2017 all of the the bad things you know that we had to overcome storms and events and stuff like that but we started looking at all the positive things and they way outweighed the programs the uh backup new backup eoc you know mobile command project just working with all our partners the sheltering projects and stuff like that in the committees not just for the things that we've done for marion county but for the state of florida the committees that we are on as a group to be able to make marion county a better place And, you know, most of all, the bigger thing that I can't, you know, I couldn't have done it without my family. You know, my wife, you know, has been in public service, you know, as a nurse. And my son is a paramedic firefighter with the city of Ocala. So, again, the tradition will continue on. And I guarantee that, you know, Marion County is in good shape with emergency management, you know, in the future. And I just appreciate everything you all have done for me. Thank you. See you, my friend.

There we go.

Yeah, when you become chair, you become really good friends with Preston. All right, Mr. Tony Cunningham and the team. Yes, sir.

Yeah, good morning, Mr. Chair. Come on up, guys. Good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners. I'm Tony Cunningham. I serve in the role as the utilities director in Marion County. And we're going to talk a little bit about wastewater this morning. So one of the most taken-for-granted things and services that we provide is wastewater service. Most of our infrastructure is underground, and you cannot – you don't see that infrastructure. You don't realize all the work that goes into providing wastewater each and every day. Josh, there's one more. And so what today is about, there's an organization called the National Association of Water Clean Agencies. And what that association does is recognizes when folks in the industry do a really good job. And so what you have before you today, and I'm going to mention each one, is you have lead operators from each of five facilities. We have five significant wastewater facilities, and each of them have received an award. And what that award is about is the wastewater industry is a heavily regulated industry. So there's a lot of regulation that goes behind it for good reason. Wastewater treatment is considered one of the most triumphant public health improvements in the last 200 years. And there's a lot of specific activities that go around making sure that's done well. And it's done 24-7, 365. We don't have hours. 168 hours a week. There is no break. Wastewater treatment is done that whole time. So what you have in front of you, I'm going to, you guys raise your hand when I recognize you. So Clifford Smith is the lead operator from the Southwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility. They received, I think it's the gold award for, and essentially this has to do with environmental compliance and meeting all your criteria at the plant. Nick Rutters is the lead operator at the Silver Spring Shores wastewater treatment plant, or what we now call them water reclamation facilities, because these facilities, what they do is they don't just treat the dirty water, they reclaim it so that it's beneficial back to the environment. So he is the lead operator there. Robert Russell, the Gold Award for the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility. And then the other two gentlemen you have standing here, the award for their facilities is called the Platinum 8. And the reason that's called the Platinum 8 is it's a whole other level of consistent, high-level compliance for eight years. And so Steve Jones is the lead operator at the Stonecrest Water Reclamation Facility, and Dave Green is the lead operator at the Salt Springs Water Reclamation Facility. so again we really wanted to recognize them and their hard work and obviously it's not just them it's a team of operators behind them we are monitoring and operating these plants 24 7 365 and they do a phenomenal job and the reason you don't recognize them and think about them a lot is because of what such a good job they do uh the only time that you really we joke about this We do a million things right and nothing happens. You do one thing wrong and it's a major thing. And so this is recognizing the million things right that they do each and every day, 365 days a year. So please, please give these guys a hand and appreciate it.

Oh, and I didn't recognize Josh. You don't need to.

Yes ma'am, no problem.

all right next up we have public comment i've got a couple people let me see if somebody signed up for this morning here so joyce are you here joyce yeah she's right there okay come on down because you have agenda item 722 i believe all right and then anybody else that wants to speak on an agenda item they can make their way to the podium Good morning, Joyce. If you could give your name and address for the record for the clerk of the court.

I'm Joyce McElrath, 7575 Southwest 72nd Court here in Ocala.

Yes, ma'am.

We're here today to... decided to see or hear what really an enclave be for the Capozzoli area. My understanding, it's an area that's surrounded by another area. Ms. Capicoli is saying that she is now in a medium density and wants to, or is it vice versa, she's low density and wants to go to vice versa, to the medium density area. Of our people that are in the area, 10 of the people that live on 72nd Court, eight of them are from 75 to 78 years old. There is only one family with teen and one family with small children. On 80th Street, from 80th Miss Cappuccoli's place down to 200, there's only seven places. One of them has small kids, and the other six have 65 to 80-year-old people. One other place that is right next to Miss Cappuccoli's home is an 80-plus-year-old woman who has been surrounded by Westwood Trails and Miss Cappuccoli's new development that she wants. This poor little lady wants to stay there because she's so old. That's her home. That's her husband's place that he created with her for her. So we really don't feel like that she can go up to a medium when all the surrounding areas are all low density. And that's what we get to say. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. We'll pull that agenda item, and our attorney can give us just a little bit of feedback. That was for the Ag Enclave. That's a new bill that the Florida legislature passed this last year. And we're dealing with the repercussions of that. Thank you for your time. Anyone else on an agenda item? If not, we'll move back into our commissioners. We have some sets of minutes.

Second.

I have a motion to move the minutes 3-1 and 3-2 by Commissioner McLean, second by Commissioner Stone. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That passes unanimously. All right, constitutional officers, 4-1 through 4-3. Commissioners, any questions? Any questions?

Mr. Chair, I'm good, and I'll make a motion to approve 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3. Okay.

I have a motion by Commissioner Stone.

Second.

Second by Commissioner Bryant. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously.

Mr. Clerk, good morning. Good morning, Mr. Chair. I have for the board's consideration and adoption budget amendment resolution items 5 1 1 through 5 1 20 would point out that item 5 1 2 relates to 4 1 which the board just approved 5 1 11 relates to consent agenda item 7 5 4 and 5 1 11 relates to oh sorry just got that that's it okay yep commissioners any questions for the clerk on the budget amendments

Seeing none, we'll take a motion.

Mr. Chair, if no one wants to pull 754, I'll move it up for approval with the budgeted items 511 through 5120. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Stone and a second by Commissioner Bryant, including consent agenda item 754. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously.

5-2? 5-2-1 is a project adjustment item related to the infrastructure surtex capital.

Commissioners, any questions or concerns?

So moved.

All right. I have a motion by Commissioner Stone, second by Commissioner McLean. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. 5-3.

Yes, sir. Next item, 5-3-1, is a request for disposition of miscellaneous property.

I moved.

I motioned by Commissioner Stone. Second. Second by Commissioner McLean. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. All right. We'll move no public hearings, Commissioners, today. So we will move into the consent agenda. Start with my Commissioner Stone. We will pull 722 just so we can have a conversation.

Very good. No, I got all of my questions answered. I would just say 713, they generate $2 for every $1 that is utilized by the county.

Okay. Commissioner O'Brien?

761.

Commissioner McLean? I'm good. Thank you. All right. I'll take a motion for the balance, commissioners.

Motion to move the balance of the consent. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Stone, second by Commissioner Bryant. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. 7-2-2. Guy?

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This item is a request to amend a settlement agreement that we have with Ms. Capozzoli. That current settlement agreement relates to the processing of what's called her Fludra claim, which is the dispute resolution proceeding under Section 70.51 Florida Statutes. And pursuant to that agreement, Ms. Capozzoli was allowed to refile an application before the 12 months expired from her original application that was denied by the board. She is in the process of working through that. Actually, there was a hearing last night at the planning and zoning meeting. And then the final hearing on that application would come before the board in October. And in the meantime, the Florida Legislature adopted a new Senate Bill 686 that became effective July 1st of this year. And that relates to an amendment to the already existing statute dealing with agricultural enclaves, and it provided some additional criteria that would allow for parcels that fit into certain characterizations to qualify for an ag enclave, and they amended the definition in the statute that deals with also the definition of the agricultural enclave. So yesterday I sent to the board members a memorandum wherein I kind of outlined where we are in this process. Ms. Cappazilli, because of that new statute, submitted an application to be classified as an Ag Enclave. And that's going through our gross services department at this moment. The specific relevant new language that was added to the statute by the legislature specifically says a parcel of land that does not exceed 700 acres. In this case, Ms. Cappazzoli's land is less than 20 acres, so it certainly fits less than 700 acres. And it's surrounded on at least 50% of the perimeter. by a parcel or parcels that are designated on the local government future land use map as residential. And in fact, all of the property around Ms. Capozzola's property is designated residential. And it's within the urban service urban growth boundary. And so it satisfies all of the criteria under that heading. It It also meets the other criteria under the newly amended statute to be considered for an ag classification. The statute requires the property to be undeveloped. The applicant acknowledged that the property does have a single family residence. However, within the general statutes that deal with ag classifications, having a farmhouse certainly does not prevent someone from obtaining an ag classification. on their property. And then furthermore, the definitions in Chapter 163, the Community Planning Act, that define various terms applied within that whole act include the definition of developed. And the definition of developed expressly excludes a single family residence from the definition of developed property under the act. And so My opinion is that her property would qualify under the act in that definition as an undeveloped property. The result of that is that Ms. Capozzoli is allowed to, subject to the county, we have to give her a written letter within 30 days from the day she requested certification as an ag enclave. Whether we believe it is or isn't, and then we also have, either way we have to set a public hearing for the board to make a final determination of her property as either it is an ag enclave or it isn't. Again, it appears to me that it satisfies the requirements for an ag enclave. And we have no choice but to set a public hearing. Once you get to the public hearing, the statute provides that the board could either agree or not agree that it's an ag enclave. It really doesn't give you much, the statute doesn't give you much basis to determine that it wouldn't be an ag enclave if it meets all the criteria of the statute. But the statute acknowledges that the Board could deny it, in which case the statute says that Capozzoli would then have the right to immediately seek a petition for writ of certiorari to challenge our denial. So, as I indicated a moment ago, the The process she's currently going through, even before the new amendments to the statute, would have resulted in us having a public hearing on her application in October. It would seem to me that the hearing that's already going to be scheduled for that could be well used as the hearing we're going to have to have for her application for an agricultural enclave, that we could use that hearing time in October to have the board make its decision on her application.

Thank you, Guy. I appreciate it. So hopefully that gives you some Ms. Joyce, hopefully that gives you a little bit more information in regards to the process that we have to go through. Did she leave already? Okay. But unfortunately, Senate Bill 686 is compelling the County Commission to do something that we already denied at some level, right? And so because we said the traffic was no good on 80th, we said that that new intersection hadn't been put in, and because we know that it will cause even though we know it will cause issues. This new legislation is compelling us to relook at this and Maybe even compelling us to grant a different density.

It would appear that way. And on the traffic, it expressly provides that her obligation is similar to some other provisions in the Community Planning Act. Her obligation is simply to provide a proportionate share payment or to provide some improvements that would equate to a prop share payment.

Well, in that hearing that we had last time, part of the reason I think that we were uncomfortable with it is because we didn't know when that new intersection would actually take place. If it could take place, it's got private property issues that it has to go through in order to actually get that intersection to a light at some level. And the interesting part about that is I don't even know, Guy, if... proportionate share would include that because it's not a current project. So would they still, could they still be responsible for that intersection in the future even though it's not a current project? How would we figure out the prop share payment?

I think we can work through that. The statute, as often is the case, doesn't give you all the possible details you have to deal with. But I think that's certainly a legitimate question. And my understanding from talking to

Her attorney is that they're willing to pay a prop shares They said that at the last hearing we just we don't have it in the work plan We don't have it in the five-year plan. We don't we there It's not in any plan that I know of to actually get that done so

I know that last night I wasn't at the meeting, but Dana told me that Mr. Gooding, who's representing some people that are proposing to put in a signal further down 200, that he's indicated that that may have some beneficial effect on the traffic issues.

Another signal further down?

Well, not another one. This would be In other words, there was a proposal that Ms. Capozzoli had that Stephen was not in favor of that. Okay. But this is further to the east on 200.

It should line up with that other subdivision, right? Tracy, do you know?

Good morning, Commissioners. Tracy Straub, Assistant County Administrator. What Mr. Gooding shared last night is there's been discussions with some of the private property owners at 80th Street and State Road 200 about realigning that intersection, which would bring it slightly to the south and to the west, which is the intersection that was brought up last night.

And then that would be in line with the other subdivision across the street. It would. I mean, that's what we were talking about. Eventually, it's just past the C store. Yes.

Right now, 80th does not come in at a right angle, and so it is an odd intersection to make improvements to in that nature. So by changing the alignment, it brings it in at a true T intersection.

But four-laning that road is not in our plan at this moment, right?

So it's in our 20-year sales tax. In our 20-year plan. We do have some design in our five-year. Yes, sir.

Okay. So it's still, I mean, as far as construction, it would still be five to ten years. It would be more than that.

It's still unfunded. Yes, sir.

Okay. Okay, commissioners. Anyway, I just wanted to give those folks that are in the neighborhood at least some understanding. I mean, we already denied this application. We're only rehearing it because of Senate Bill 686, and I think we had to rehear it because of a publishing error.

Well, that's my question, Mr. Chair. So today, under what scenario is it moving forward under the agricultural enclave, and when will that come before us?

Well, this is asking you to extend the, under the current settlement agreement, they had to bring in all of their applications, I think, by September 15th or the 17th, and they were on schedule to do that. But recognizing that all of their current application may be moot because of the Ag Enclave statute, they're asking to simply extend the date in our current settlement agreement until October to find out if the board's going to approve the Ag Enclave. If the board approves that, then their current applications would be moot. If the board doesn't approve it, then they still want the right to Get a final decision from the board on their current application that's working through the process.

So is that what we're being asked to do today, to decide how it's moving forward? I'm sorry, I still don't quite understand what... You're just being asked to...

As far as the settlement agreement, that's all you're dealing with. You're being asked to grant an extension of the previous date, I think of, again, September 15th. Let me see if I can pull that up here. Let's see. If the new applications are not presented to the BCC for a vote on or before October 20th, Previously, it said within six months after the effective date of that agreement, which would have been in September. So they're just asking you to change what was in the previous agreement from September 15th to October 20th.

Okay.

That's all this is doing.

That's all today is.

That's all today is. And then within 30 days, though, they still have to get a notice back from you whether you think it meets the state criteria, right? So there's two things.

So, okay, that's where...

The application for the Ag Enclave was submitted on August 11th, so we have to submit our written response to that. by September 10th. And once we do that, then we would schedule a public hearing for the board to make a determination whether or not this would qualify as an ag enclave or not.

So do you already, does that come before us to decide if it's an ag enclave or does staff decide if it's an enclave?

Well, staff has to make an initial determination. And let me back up in the statute. So the way the statute is written, it provides within 30 days after the local government's receipt of the application, the local government shall provide to the applicant a written report detailing whether the application complies with the requirements of paragraph A of the statute. So paragraph A simply says if the property has one or more adjacent parcels and permits development as the same density or higher density than the proposed development. So they're seeking the same density as the medium residential property to the west of them. So I think the staff's written report is going to indicate that it complies with the basic criteria of paragraph A. Once they do that, then the Board of County Commissioners has to hold a public hearing So that would be within 30 days after September the 10th, we'd have to hold a public hearing to approve or deny certification as an ag enclave. So that's what we have to do.

So will that public hearing and the other public hearing that they're requesting on October 20th

What they're saying is if the board at that public hearing approves it as an ag enclave, that would make everything else boot, and the project will go forward as an ag enclave.

So that will actually come before us before October 20th?

Yeah.

It'll have to.

Well, the public hearing would have to be before October 20th, right? Yeah.

Commissioner, the land use application and the zoning application is coming to you on October 6th.

Okay.

So what we'll have to do, that's a timing quirk then. Well, what you could, the board has the authority to schedule a public hearing either before October the 6th. You have 30 days from September the 10th. So you have to have the hearing by October the 10th, give or take. So there's nothing that says you have to take the full 30 days to have the public hearing. You could schedule the public hearing at the end of September, for instance.

Can't we have the public hearing the same day? You could have it the same day.

So we'll just have that one ahead of the other, scheduled ahead of the other. Guy, if the determination from the law ends up becoming the fact that you have to grant them medium density at some level, then is that just a straight zoning case? And then they meet the land development code and site requirements of medium density? Or how does it work after that? Or could they bring a PUD later on after the determination? How does this process play out?

Well, once the board certifies it, then they actually submit their development plans to the county.

So it would just be straight zoning?

Yeah. OK. And then when they submit their plans, the county and the applicant have to agree on a process for submittal analysis and final approval, which may be administrative in nature. So once they submit their plans under the statute, there's not a typical zoning hearing anymore.

Okay.

So the key issue for the board and the public is the hearing that we're talking about October the 6th, where the board would decide either it is or isn't an ag enclave.

Okay. You wouldn't even have PUD opportunity to shape the project.

Well, it talks about the same density as an adjacent development. So the key is the statute doesn't talk about the specific zoning. It talks about the same density as the adjacent development. So it could either be straight zoning or it could be a PUD with four units per acre under the medium residential land use.

So if we approve the Ag Enclave, we could at least approve a PUD and go through that process?

I think you can do that.

And at least put the buffering requirements and other things that we did for the same requirements we at least did for the neighboring property. Yeah, I would think you can do that. Or something like that. Depends on their zoning.

If they already have the zoning and then they're just talking about the density.

No, they have land use, but we would be approving the zoning to medium density, but then...

No, their zoning is not. That's density. Zoning and density is two different things. They already have the zoning. They don't have the zoning right now. They don't have the zoning. Okay.

That's what I was going to ask. We could grant their zoning as straight zoning, medium density, or we could grant their zoning as a PUD. What's their zoning currently?

Their application coming to you for land use and zoning. I understand. And straight zoning. It's not a PUD. That's their application that you denied before.

No, it's a PUD. It was a PUD? Their application previously was a PUD. Okay. It was a land use and a PUD.

Your mic.

Your mic's not on.

I apologize. I'm Tracy Straub, Assistant County Administrator. The item that was brought to the Planning and Zoning Commission last night was a land use with a PUD zoning change. It is... They have considered your comments and tried to incorporate the buffers that were talked about last time. And I think you would see a package that is comparable to the neighboring one. And it is all available on that online application.

Right. But if we had to declare it an ag enclave, then you could impose the PUD zoning.

Well, there's a provision in the act that says the local government may not enact or enforce a law or reg for an ag enclave which is more burdensome And for other types of applications for comparable uses or densities. Right, so you could do the same thing. The next door one would.

Yeah, I mean the PUD is the same thing that people next door have.

Would that also include a developer's agreement?

We don't have a developer's agreement.

There's not one being proposed with it?

Well, we haven't received. They have time after the board determines that it is an ag enclave to present their development plan to the board. So we don't have it yet. Okay. We have the one that they're cycling through right now, but that was before they even passed this new statute. Okay.

So today we are approving to extend that date to October 20th.

Right.

I thought you said October 6th.

No, October 6th was, the request for the agreement is to extend it to October 20th. Okay. The October 6th would be within that time, but the agreement itself and what's on the agenda today is October 20th.

I think that's where we're all getting a little, because we've had so many different little communications. Thank you.

Who pulled this one?

Which is going to answer questions if if. But it sounds like you all got it figured out.

I think we're good.

So I'll move seven to two for approval.

Okay. I have a motion by Commissioner Stone, second by Commissioner McLean. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. All right. And then Commissioner Bryant.

Yes. Just because this is such a large expenditure for this event, I wanted Loretta or someone from the team to come up and explain this one to me.

What was that? Which item, Commissioner? 761.

761. The TDC over Ocala. $100,000 for an air show. Yep.

Good morning, Commissioners. Great to see you again. Loretta Schaefer, Tourist Development Director. The Wings of Ocala Air Show was actually brought to us in 2024. It was a three-year agreement that we brought before you for 25, 26, 27. Unfortunately, the Blue Angels did not select Marion County in 25, 26, but they did select us in 27. So what you're looking at is a three-year agreement that was over three years, and so we had that last year of the three-year agreement. So now we're in conversations about... Continuing this in perpetuity, knowing it's a great thing. It is expected to bring over 40,000 people to the community over three days. The city of Ocala has been amazing in the amount of money they have also put into the project to be able to care for first responders. And so it's a wonderful opportunity. We've been working for many years.

And it brings 50 grand a year.

100.

Is it 100 a year?

100 a year. And so we were you all awarded in 25, 26, 27. But the first two years we were not selected. And then the third year, the Blue Angels did select Ocala Marion County.

So it's the Blue Angels that come.

Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

And it is all day, every day of the event, the community is going to be wowed by it.

Truly, truly. And we're very excited to not only bring this to the community, we'll be bringing meeting planners and journalists and helping other people tell our story at the same time in tandem. of all the great opportunities there are to do here in our community and of course it's branded ocala which is great um is as a matter of fact the first day they put it out just is a reservation for tickets over a thousand tickets went in the first day so they had to cut it off when they finalized contracts with the city of ocala but it's going to be a grand event people are looking very much forward to coming and were they able to confirm the room nights Absolutely. It's a $4.5 million economic impact into the community, and specifically as it relates to room nights, it is going to bring in...

I read through the report. I just wanted to make sure that they were able to confirm them from the first.

Almost 8,000 room nights, 7,800 room nights, 7,853 room nights. I was just reading this, too.

It's $3 or $4 million in economic impact? 4.5. 4.5. Yep. It's specifically $4,570,186, and that would be direct and indirect.

But it's going to be a significant lift for the community. Of course, it's in May. It coincides with all of the great things that go on with the Kentucky Derby. And so we're working synergistically with the World Equestrian Center and really to try and make it a sense of place, not only during that week, but a couple weeks around it so that we can increase that length of stay.

So it'll sell out our Our community. Yes. So hopefully it does. That's always what we're aiming for is 100% occupancy. 100% occupancy. Yes, sir. That's pretty huge. Yes. Yes.

Thank you. Over multiple days, which is – and hopefully it will bring in new people that haven't been exposed to the community that will fall in love and continue to come back.

Yeah, and go home. Absolutely. Thank you.

Any other questions I can answer for you? That's it. Thank you, Loretta. Oh, yes, ma'am. Thank you. All right. I'll move for approval. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Bryan, second by Commissioner Stone. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. All right. What's next, Commissioners? Mr. Attorney, anything?

I just want to go back to that ag enclave. Yes, sir. One other provision of the statute says if the applications approve, the owner of the parcel may submit development plans for single family residential housing, which are consistent with the land use requirements or future land use designations, including uses density and intensity of one or more adjacent parcels or an adjacent development. So that would be consistent with the PUD. But significantly, It goes on to say development for which plans are submitted under this paragraph must be treated as a conforming use, notwithstanding the local government's comp plan, future land use designation, or zoning. So the statute says this trumps even our comp plan.

Imagine that.

So that's what we have.

Thanks to our friends. All right. It's good to have good friends.

Those in the media listening, I hope that you picked up on that.

Who was the sponsor of that, Bill?

I don't know. I don't remember. 686? I don't remember.

Yeah, I don't know.

All right. What's next? Mr. Administrator.

I'm done. Oh, wait a minute. No, I'm sorry. You're definitely done.

I'm just kidding. It would be nice if I was done.

Let me go back to that. I'm sorry, Cheryl.

Oh, Lord.

No, couldn't remember. Good work.

What was that?

Okay, so... I had nothing under the county attorney. I thought we were going back to 7.1. I apologize.

Yeah, did you? I mean, anything else we need to talk about with you? No, thank you. Okay. Monier, good morning.

The only item I have commissioned is to give you an update on the opioid settlement funding and how we are handling the regional account and the county account. Awesome.

Good morning, Commissioner Cheryl Butler. I've asked Kendall Stevens to give this presentation. As you recall, in July, during our budget workshops, there were questions. So she's going to give you all things opioid settlement.

Perfect. Good morning, Kendall.

Good morning, commissioners. I'm Kendall Stevens, community services manager. We also have some representatives from Marion County Hospital District here for questions later on. As Cheryl mentioned, I'm here to give an update on opioid settlement funding as a result of our budget workshop. So to begin, I wanted just to share some context to remind everyone why we receive this funding. So back in 2018, the state of Florida entered into litigation against 11 of the corporate distributors and manufacturers of opioids for their role in the opioid epidemic. In 2021, the Chief Deputy Attorney General reached out to Marion County Commission, encouraging the county to enter into a memorandum of understanding that would govern how the proceeds from the lawsuit were allocated. That same year a resolution was passed that allowed us to enter into that MOU and then fast forward to 2025 we expended our very first round of funding just last year in both our county and regional fund. So it's been a long time in the making but we have made a lot of progress that I look forward to sharing with you all. I also wanted to provide some clarity around the buckets of funding that our community receives. So for the sake of my presentation, you'll hear me refer to the regional and county fund, because those are the buckets of funding that our department oversees and helps to manage. The city of Ocala does receive their own allocation, and they use that for their local abatement efforts. The county fund is to be used for county abatement efforts, and the regional fund is to be used for broader community-wide abatement efforts that are overseen by the regional opioid settlement committee. Now, the most common question we can ask is, how much money are we slated to receive? So I'll ask you to draw your attention to this chart. And I apologize in advance. There's a lot of numbers up there. The very first column in gold breaks down the years. We are currently in year five. So we do follow the state fiscal year that began July 1. We typically receive disbursements at the beginning of the calendar year. So we anticipate year five sometime between January and March. To date, we have received years one through four. So if you look at that second blue column, our county funding, to date we have received a little over $1.8 million from the lawsuit. We have accrued a little over $140,000 in interest for a total of just under $2 million in that fund. The third column in gold, the regional funding, we have received just over $7.6 million in deposits from the lawsuit. We have accrued a little over $560,000 in interest for a total of just over $8.1 million in that fund. Now when you look at years 5 through 18, those are not bolded because those are projections that are provided to us by the state. And what we've observed is that the actual disbursements have been larger than the projections. So that totals line at the very bottom will likely increase in size over time. the 18-year period. But as it stands today, with all of the projections over the 18-year period, we are slated to receive a little over $5.8 million in our county fund, a little over $19.7 million in our regional fund, for a combined total of $25.5 million between both funds over the 18 years. I will also note that unlike many of the other grants that we manage in our department, there are no expenditure deadlines with this funding. Now I will touch on several key governance elements throughout this presentation, but hands down most important is our statewide response agreement. And this really governs all things opioid settlement and how to manage the funding that your municipality receives. It goes into detail about calculations, how money is dispersed across the municipalities, reporting, things like that. My favorite section is at the very back. There are two exhibits, exhibit A and B. Exhibit A is labeled core strategies. Exhibit B is labeled approved uses. And between both of those is how we can actually spend the money. I know this came up during our budget workshop. And between both exhibits, it's 14 pages, so it's hard to quickly summarize for you all, but what I have done is I've taken all the categories from each exhibit, and I have listed them up on the screen. I have also starred the strategies and uses that we're currently prioritizing in our implementation plans, and I'll read those aloud. So in Exhibit A, we're prioritizing pregnant and postpartum women, expansion of warm handoff programs and recovery services. In exhibit B, we are prioritizing support people in treatment and recovery, connections to care, address the needs of criminal justice-involved persons, and leadership planning and coordination. So throughout the presentation, when I refer to funding priorities, this is exactly what I'm talking about. A few other key governance elements. So in order for us to spend the money, we need direction on how to prioritize the funds. With our county fund, we work with our administration team for direction. And with our regional fund, we work with our regional opioid settlement committee that I will touch on here in a minute. Once we receive direction, We then start drafting the opioid implementation plans that are due to DCF by July 1st of each year. And that's really a breakdown of how we're prioritizing our funding and how we've spent previous year's funding. We also have financial reporting that's due to DCF by August 31st of each year. So we just submitted that last week. And that's a breakdown of how we've spent our funds over the year. And then data reporting. So for projects that are actually up and running, DCF requests for us to send in demographic information about the individuals we're serving in those projects. And that's due the 18th of each month. Now, I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to our Opioid Settlement Committee. As you can see up on the screen, we have a robust list of stakeholders from across the community that represent mental health and substance abuse. And we're so grateful for them. They're incredibly engaged. Not only do they give direction, but they share stories and they give data. And so again, we're very grateful for their participation. I also have to give a special shout out to Commissioner Bryant for her time served as our chair. And now Commissioner Stone, who will be our county representation now that Commissioner Bryant is leaving the committee. So thank you both very much. And now before I get into the funded projects, I wanted to touch on the funding process because this also came up during budget. So one point to make before I get into the different funds is that in order for an application to be received and to make it through the process, it must meet the priorities. So I'm talking about those priorities that we had starred on the other slides, and I've also listed them up here for you all. So that is crucial. Projects have to meet the priorities we have outlined in our implementation plans. With our county fund, again, we work with administration for direction, and we keep that process internal to county departments. So once we receive a proposal from a county department, we vet it by administration for approval before we bring it to you all for final approval at a Board of County Commission meeting. With our regional funds, we actually have an interlocal agreement with Marion County Hospital District. And so they actually host an invitation to negotiate that applicants can apply to by referral and so once they receive an application they are going to vet the application in depth and work directly with the applicant they bring their recommendations to our committee the committee will then vote and we bring it before the board again for final approval And now on to the best part, our funded projects. And I wanted to start off with something that is actually up and running currently. So our first project is with SMA Healthcare. They renovated an existing facility into a 24-bed women and children residential treatment program, Marion County's first local option for treating addicted pregnant women and their substance-exposed newborns. Since June of last year, they have treated approximately 152 patients. Another project with SMA that'll be a game changer for our community is the central receiving facility. So SMA is converting a building on their existing campus into a full central receiving facility, combining inpatient crisis stabilization, addiction receiving, and detox under one roof with eight Baker Act beds and five detox beds. They will actually be opening in January 2027. I just got an update yesterday, so November has been pushed out to January. But this building will support jail diversion, reduce ER use in our hospitals, and add in-county Marchment Act access. Another regional fund project is our Coordinated Opioid Recovery Network, also known as CORE. This is a 24-7 partnership between SMA, Marion County Fire Rescue, and Ocala Fire Rescue that connects individuals with opioid use disorder to immediate treatment, field-based medication-assisted treatment, peer recovery support, and warm handoffs from crisis response to long-term care. This program has actually treated over 500 patients since June of last year. We also have Dignity House with Wear Gloves. Dignity House is a transitional lower barrier pet friendly male shelter for individuals with opioid use disorder and co-occurring conditions, combining housing with counseling, peer support, case management, and job training. They are currently serving 20 of a planned 60 bed capacity by year three. To date, this program has served 51 patients since June of last year. And our last regional fund project is with Open Arms Village. So Open Arms Village is renovating a facility on the Compassion United Methodist Church campus into a women's transitional recovery residence slated to open in November of 2026. The program fills a critical housing gap for single women exiting rehab or incarceration, which is currently a population underserved in our community. And our county funded project. So this is a partnership with Marion County Fire Rescue. They are deploying advanced transport ventilators across all frontline advanced support units to improve emergency respiratory support for opioid related overdoses and respiratory failure, strengthening field to hospital continuity of care. Deployed just recently, the initiative aims to reduce overdose fatalities and hypoxic brain injury. We are also currently in talks with Marion County Fire Rescue for an additional proposal out of our county fund. So once we receive that proposal and vet that proposal, we will likely amend our county plan and bring that amended plan as well as the new proposal before you all at a future board meeting. So that's something that's coming up on the horizon. And before I close, I shared with you all how much money has been deposited. I wanted to share how much is unencumbered and remaining in both funds. So when you take into account all of the approved projects, all of our encumbrances, which is money we've set aside for a priority but have not awarded to a project yet, and our administrative allocations, we have just over a million in our county fund and a little over 1.6 in our regional fund. And with that, I'm happy to take questions.

Commissioner Bryant.

Kendall, can you bring up the list of those serving on the committee? Yes, ma'am. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who does serve on the committee. They are all passionate about the charge of what we're supposed to do with this fund. I don't think any of us ever imagined when we signed that Memorandum of Understanding with the Attorney General when all of this was going on. I don't think that we ever imagined that we would end up receiving this much in funding. It's truly been a blessing for our community. And as anyone who's been watching your presentation this morning can see, We've been able to do a lot of very proactive and positive things with that fund. And I just, you know, want to say that as things keep going, I hope that the focus will remain on that, remain on the treatment, remain on prevention. And I can honestly say that our community is in a much better place today than it was 10 years ago. as far as being able to intervene, being able to help, and being able to direct people to a location and to have a location for them to go when they do hit rock bottom and they are ready to seek help. So I'm really proud of the dedication of all those that sit on the committee. I'm proud of our team, the city's team. We can't talk about any of this without... talking about SMA and what they've brought to the table since they came on board. And anyway, it truly has been a great partnership, and we are changing lives, and we are saving lives, and we are making differences for families within our community who have loved ones who suffer with all addictions. So thank you.

Thank you for your work on that, Commissioner Bryan. We really appreciate it. Kendall, I know you do a fantastic job. Thank you. Thank you. Our partnership with the hospital district.

And if there's anybody I forgot, that was done off the top of my head. It wasn't written. So if I forgot anybody, please accept my apologies. But just for everyone who's involved, thank you.

Mr. Snow?

There's a banner across Silver Springs Boulevard today going back east towards downtown that says you can get help for addiction. Addiction is not something that you have to live with. And so I think it's an appropriate time to, again, say thank you, Commissioner Bryant. This was the beginning. You started this with us representing on this committee today. So thank you for that. But also to remind the public, there is help available. And we do have so many great resources.

We do. And even last, our last meeting had every single one of your minutes.

for the past year plus. And so I was able to get brought up to speed very easy with a concise location. So thank you, whoever orchestrated that. I was very grateful, but also for the public. If you want to really go back and dig into what has taken place over this past year, that was a really great resource. But as a reminder, you do not have to live with addiction.

Not here.

Thank you guys, appreciate it. Thank you, Kendall.

Thank you.

Guy?

So I just wanted to mention that when the board got into this, this was one of these things that sometimes you see on TV. All kinds of attorneys are saying, here's a class action. Do you have mesh issues? Do you have this issue? Do you have that issue? And there's all kinds of attorneys that are regularly making overtures to local governments to join in a wide range of class actions. And this was one that we evaluated and did join in. But there was a lot of counties in Florida that did not join in this class action. And so the board made obviously a very excellent choice in joining in this. The nature of these class actions is this was a nationwide lawsuit and it would virtually be impossible for us as a single party trying to sue Pardue Pharma or any of these other pharmaceutical companies because of the incredibly intense scientific expert testimony that was involved in that kind of thing. So it certainly is something that we evaluate on a case-by-case basis when we get these overtures, but this was certainly an excellent choice for the board.

Because of your guidance, Mr. Mitchell. That's right. We had a lot of discussion about that. We did. So anyway, glad we made the decision we did.

Yes.

One year. That's it.

Thank you. No, sir.

Not even a concern. Question.

None.

All right. Notation for action.

So moved.

I have a motion to move the notation for action 11-1. Any other comments or discussion? All those in favor? Who's the second? All right. So motion by Commissioner Bryant, second by Commissioner Stone. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Stephen, first up is Gritsen. Is that right? Yes. Come on now. So you're signed up for five minutes. And then Jacob Lavoie, you're signed up for two minutes. You can come on to the other podium. Stephen, if you'd please give your name and address for the record.

Stephen Gerritsen. I'm at 6485 Northeast 2nd Place, Nocala.

Thank you, sir.

I have a concern that I've been doing some research on about these AI data centers that I would like to bring up. I did some research, countywide power statistics for Marion County. How much power does the county as a whole, residential, commercial, and everything, uses? On average, 383,000 million watts monthly. as a county. Per capita, that's 11.61 million watts annually per person. Now, a AI data center, a 100 megawatt data center, will use 72,000 or 72 million kilowatts, almost as much as the county uses. A one gigawatt center will use 720 million. megawatts per hour per month. Can the power companies supply that much extra power? Do we have the infrastructure for that extra power? I don't think so. And how would it affect residents' monthly bills? Is the power companies going to have to jack the bills up to cover the extra usage? to create the infrastructure, to spend the money on the infrastructure to build it? Are these companies going to come out and say, hey, we want some extra tax incentives so we come here and build here, so we don't want to pay taxes. We want some money from you guys to help us build the company, like I see a lot of companies do around. It's like, why would we as a county, as taxpayers, pay for them to build something? I don't know of any small business that came in and says, yeah, I need $100,000 to help start my business. Yeah, that don't happen. But I wanted to start my trucking business. I didn't get offered any money to start it. So that's one of my concerns there, as far as that goes. And the reason they use that much is each server will use 10 to 15 kilowatts per server. So you're talking a place that's using one gigawatt? That's a whole lot of power. That's a big concern for me. The other concern is also how much water they use. I don't have it on these. I didn't print it out. But a one gigawatt center uses approximately one million gallons of water to cool their systems. That would be coming out of our aquifer, and we're already short on water as it is. We don't need that. So I say, you know, I would like to see you guys really look into this before your workshop next month and decide, is this what you want to do? You know, is this really what is needed for this county? Because they don't produce anything. One gigawatt center, I think it said 50 employees, and most of them work from home. That's not much of a big, huge job market that's going to create. So that's not a big, huge jump there. The only benefit is if we don't give them a tax break, then we get the income tax, or not income tax, but property taxes from them. That's about it. And then you're going to have the massive generators they've got to have to be able to power the system if power goes out. And the pictures I've seen, I've seen up to a dozen giant diesel generators that are the size of the ones you see behind Publix, or bigger than that. A dozen of them, all running to power this thing. That's a lot of pollution, diesel generators. And just in my last few seconds here, another subject. I live off of 7th Street and Baseline. Baseline has a nice, beautiful road with all the nice, beautiful sidewalks. But 7th Street, east of Baseline, there is no sidewalks. And people have almost gotten hit there. I've seen people riding bicycles from all the way down the street from about 71st Court, I think it is. 71st Terrace to Baseline, there is no sidewalks. There's people walking up and down there all the time. I've done it myself a few times before I had my problems, physical problems. And I'm wondering, is there any way we can put a sidewalk, look into it, a one-mile-long sidewalk?

Yeah, I mean, we can have our team look at it and assess it. They're always going around, and we have a sidewalk plan. So we can have our county engineer reach out to you.

We just approved sidewalks today and well down in Marion Oaks on our agenda this morning.

Yeah, we can have our team look at it. Where is our – is somebody back here?

Commissioner's Assistant County Administrator Tracy Straub. So, yes, if you're trying to point him to Stephen, Stephen can meet him outside the door.

So Stephen will get your information and he'll provide you some information about our sidewalk plan. Okay. Just so you know, we've been doing a little bit of research. We're having both a public hearing and a workshop on data centers. To your point, we're investigating all of those things, at least at some level. But President Trump passed an executive order, and as well, Governor DeSantis and the legislature passed another order or legislation that does protect the rate payer. So no matter where a data center goes, if it ever goes in Florida, we're not saying it's going to come here by any means, but whatever goes in Florida and across the nation, it can't cause a rate increase on the rate payers. So just so you know, from a legislative priority, legislative perspective, both the president and our governor have passed legislation to make sure that whatever power generation, that bill doesn't come to the rate payers. And in many of those cases, I think those guys are building microgrids anyway. But I don't know. Yes, sir. Thank you very much for your time today. Thank you. All right. Mr. Jacob, good morning. If you can give your name and address for the record.

Yes, sir. My name is Jacob Laboy. My address is 48 Regina Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Florida.

Could you just pull the mic up? I'm sorry.

Yeah, absolutely. Is that better? Perfect. Thank you. All right. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Jacob Laboy. I'm an expert level animal cruelty investigator and licensed animal control officer in the state of Florida for over a decade. I came to Marion County Animal Services Enforcement Division in October of 2024, where I remained employed until January of 2026. at which time I made the difficult decision to resign from my position. In light of the recent resignation of Marion County Animal Services Director Kira Lynch, I'd like to take this opportunity to speak on a few things I'm concerned will not be addressed or will be subsequently swept under the rug when a new director is appointed. During my time working for Marion County Animal Services, I observed many things, most notably the hard work and dedication of the animal control officers, whom I found actively interested in doing good work. To them, I offer my sincere compliments, as they were most frequently the first to face criticism and shoulder the heaviest of burdens. With that said, I move to my main reason for being here today, your enforcement division leadership, which leaves much to be desired. I'll elaborate on leadership, which would include supervisors, compliance investigators, and managers alike. I found their efforts uncoordinated, contradicting, inconsistent, and often uninvolved or unsupportive to the subordinates that depend on decisive decision making and consistent direction. Furthermore, their arbitrary implementation of state statutes and county ordinances fall short of the minimum expectations of their citizens. I'm requesting a deep dive audit into the Enforcement Division leadership productivity, cruelty investigations, as well as time and resource management. Additionally, please consider restructuring the Enforcement Division, as many in leadership roles are ineffective, uninspired, and downright disgraceful to this field that I have tirelessly served to the best of my abilities. Commissioners, I understand there has been much turmoil in relation to the shelter, which by all accounts, you already have your hands very full with. But please keep in mind, you do not have a healthy shelter if you do not have solid enforcement and vice versa, as one hand does wash the other. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. All right, anybody else in the audience want to speak today? Yep, come on down. Two podiums available for y'all. Name and address for the record.

My name is Joseph Walker. I live at 18820 Southeast, 54th Place, Oklahoma, Florida, 32179. I'm going to speak again on our Merrick Camp Dust Bowl area.

Commissioner Curry's not even here for you today.

I know. Isn't that terrible?

We'll let him know.

I've seen him here. I went and seen him last month. Spent a meeting on here, and we talked about this here.

So, I took any on these?

Okay, we'll move on to, we've got a school over there. That's Marianne Charter School. And I'm not happy with what we've got going on in there.

You got somebody who can pull this up here?

See the picture there on it? See where it is there, on that corner there? That's been, even put the school board, that's on the same block as the school is. I got to realize, they put their sign up there, you know, from the school board on there. They contacted the owner and got permission, but we can't get it maintained, you know, on here. Here's what it looked like 24 and 25. it you see how it looks like that that's the way it stays you know on it why do we have a county commissioners here we have code enforcement all these people in here and then we got international properties is supposed to handle the property there and this is what we get year after year after year Now, I'm moving a little different direction this time. I'm asking for all you county commissioners, our elected officials, to take a six-minute walk from this corner over here. I got it on your paperwork for you. Take a walk and go up to the school because it's kindergarten to five there. And the only school from Mary, I mean, the only sidewalk from Mary Camp is a long... This stretch here to get back to school. Otherwise, there's no sidewalks out there. But I appreciate that and we take care of it. Thank you, sir. And also.

No, we're done.

Thank you. Hold on a minute. We're done. Can I take a minute?

No.

I can't finish the map?

No. Thank you, sir. All right. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Walker. Until next time, my friend. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah. Name and address for the record.

John Burton, 15250 Southeast 105th Avenue. I'm here because I executed an oath to support and defend our Constitution of the United States and of the state of Florida. I will not yield in my duty to that oath. I'm discovering none of you understand the issues I'm bringing before this body because you have not reviewed agendas published by the individuals and institutions to which you are subjecting the residents of Marion County. Their intent is to overthrow our constitutional form of government and replace it with a privatized global government arranged in regions that do not answer to our elected government nor to the people of our great nation. Their words, not mine. In this attack on our constitution, Prescribed algorithms have forced politicians' campaigns to skew negative in their communications on social media, cornering them into more and more extreme policy positions with the intent to destroy peace and tranquility among the people by use of fear. That's terrorism. Unlimited dark money campaign finance from countless whack-a-mole nonprofit organizations that are nothing more than UPS mailboxes somewhere in the Rocky Mountains have eclipsed the voice of most candidates we can trust. Enlisted to further this overthrow of our Constitution is privatized of intellectual and real property owned by we the people that is then used against us, even ghost candidates that flip votes by chaos, fraud, and deception. All currently in progress. I have undeniable proof of my claims in my hand to indicate depositions containing minimum flows and levels and your base and management by the same interest this commission is hired to navigate these frauds. And the name our favorite ghost candidate, dark money operative, on its cover is that deposition right there. I've been to court with these people. I have a 20, 30 year battle with them. And I'm mainly just, what do you guys, this is an attack on our Constitution. What does the commissioners intend to, how do they intend to address this?

Thank you, sir. Have a great day.

That's it?

Yeah.

We just all pledge that flag together. We all swear an oath to our Constitution.

Please have a seat. Thank you so much. Anyone else in the audience like to speak? Come on down. Come on, Mr. Munoz.

Henry Munoz, 495 Marion Oaks Boulevard. I know that in the future, you're going to be talking about this data center thing. I think we need it. I think if it's done correctly, it won't hurt us. And as you just stated, it won't affect our electrical bill. And if we insist on these people generating their own electricity and also recycling their water, they're not going to use more than what we do when we put a new swimming pool in. And I think we need to look strictly at it. And this moratorium vote last night It makes no sense. We've known this thing was coming for at least six months. And I think it's about time you got your people to look at what they need to do and what we need to do and the questions we need to ask to get it done. It's being done very well up in North Carolina, all around the country. And I think this fear tactic about what it's going to cost us is, I think, just a fear tactic.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Muniz. Yes, ma'am. You're going to have to pull that to you. Yes. Thank you. Name and address for the record, please.

My name is Tracy Haskins, address 6065 Northwest 64th Court. I just told you my name. I'm nervous. I'm here today to ask with help for a situation that's left me without water since March 13th. Our well pump fell and it cost $4,000 and I initially was trying to handle it myself to get it repaired and then all of the monies that I was putting away had to get spent on my car, unexpected. finances so I started looking for other solutions for a grant and I've been for the past two months I've been you know applying everything that I needed for that and then the application I got all the data the documentation unfortunately I just learned that there's a lien on my name from February of 2020. And I thought that I was completely done with that, that I did everything that I had to do. And I didn't have any idea that it would prevent me from applying for the assistance that I need. So without it being resolved, I'm not asking for special treatment or to fix everything. I just need a resource so I can help address it or get it resolved.

I don't know what kind of lien you have. So who put the lien on? Is it from Marion County or is it from?

Being incarcerated.

Oh, it's an incarceration. Yes. So all of this stuff is probably a little more complicated than we can accomplish in two minutes. So if you don't mind, I'm going to have you get with, Monir is going to send you to somebody and then they can work through the entire process with you and then bring back a recommendation that we can take action on.

Okay.

Okay. Who is that person, Monir? Amanda. Amanda's going to come and get your information and talk with you. Okay. Thank you so much. Anyone else? community services team will i'm sure we'll help you as well oh sean's walking back there perfect thank you okay anybody else all right we'll bring it back to the board commissioner stone

Mr. Chair, thank you for your leadership for the 250 gala. You really were over the top a lot of times, and we did our best to help remind you of your place. And you took it so gracefully, and you still were able to accomplish something that was just still the talk of the town, and it will be. And for always how we celebrated our 250th birthday.

Thank you for your endurance with me. I love you, man. I love you, too.

And truly, I appreciate your leadership ever so much. And your gracefulness in all that you did, accomplishing it. Graceful. That's not a word people usually use for me. But you did. You accepted it in a lot of ways. As Moneer said, sometimes they had to say no.

Oh, yeah.

But you took it gracefully and you came back in a different way to approach it so that we still had the best across this entire county. So I'm very sincere in using that word. You're very graceful in accepting a lot of messaging. And you were amazing. So thank you.

I really appreciate that. Thank you for letting me be a part of it. It was truly the honor of my time here. So thank you. Commissioner Bryant?

Um, so, uh, on that point, I would like to ask that before we disperse any of the leftover funds that we pay ourselves back or any of the, no, we paid ourselves back the seed money, but we have not paid back the general fund for the money that was expended on on personnel salaries that day so i would like to ask that we do that and then also that we reach out to any of the other entities that expended funds to see if they would like any of that money paid back as well okay that's it i think we can do that i'm not sure monier up to you guys okay yeah on the agreement mr mcclain

Um, no, just, um, uh, one more time, just everyone, um, you know, please be in prayer for the, um, Marin County fire rescue team chief, you and your, your, your, your folks on the passing of, uh, uh, Clifton Murphy. We, uh, extend our, our condolences and, uh, we'll, we'll be in prayer for his family.

So thank you. I think speaking on that fact, chief, can you tell us what's going on today as well? I know that there's a few items going on, correct? Make sure that everybody knows. We can honor him as best we can.

Yes, so last Thursday Cliff suffered a cardiac arrest. We found out over the weekend that they had determined that there was no brain activity. So the family is making the courageous decision today to end life support. He is an organ donor so we will walk through that process of uh, walking him down, uh, to his donation where his life will end and he will provide, um, much needed, uh, organs for donors out there for recipients out there waiting. Uh, that'll happen today about two 30 at advent. It is just for MCFR, uh, employees and VOCC employees and family.

Thanks for letting everybody know about that, Chief. And then also, I appreciate the time. So at 2.30, my friends and the family of Marion County and anyone else that would like to, would you please bring a prayer for Cliff and his family? Yes, thank you very much. Thank you very much, Chief. Commissioners, thank you again for an incredible meeting and time. Is there anything else before the board? All right, seeing none, we'll be adjourned. Thank you all. See you back here at 1.50.