Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Please stand with me as we have our invocation. I pledge to the allegiance and Polk County Fire Rescue Chaplain Mr. Hanley will lead us in invocation.

Good morning. I would invite you all to pray with me. Heavenly Father, over and over again, you make a way in hard times when there doesn't seem to be a way through. When we feel hopeless, you provide hope. When we feel discouraged, you provide joy. You guide us with love and strength. Thank you. Today, remind us that you are near and draw our hearts closer to you. And I ask this prayer in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Good morning commissioners staff and visitors I'm Caitlin Hoverkamp public and media relations officer for Polk County government. Today we are recognizing three employees for their service to Polk County. I'd like to invite the employees to come to the front as their names are called and then if the honorees will remain at the front while the commissioners return to the dais behind them we will take a group photo at the end. Delia Juppie has served the residents and visitors of Polk County for 25 years. Throughout her career, she has served in a number of roles with different divisions. In 2001, Delia began working as a fiscal specialist three for Polk County Transit Services. From there, she served as an accountant one with the Polk County Community Health Care Division. She then began working for Polk County Budget and Management Services Division as a Budget Analyst I before being promoted to a Budget Analyst II and then Senior Budget Analyst. In 2024, Delia was promoted to her current position where she serves as a Fiscal Manager for the Polk County Fleet Management Division. She is a graduate of the 2007 Emerging Leadership class and has obtained two commendations throughout her career, including being awarded the division's Outstanding Team Player Award in 2012 and the Transit Peer Choice Award in 2013. Delia is a member of Haven Worship Center in Winter Haven. In her spare time, she enjoys hunting, fishing, airboating, crocheting, spoiling her two dogs, vacationing, and spending time with her husband, Todd, her four daughters, Amanda, Ashley, Tennille, and Tiffany, and her three son-in-laws and their eight beautiful grandchildren. In the future, she looks forward to retiring because it will allow her to travel to Georgia to spend more time with her family, to volunteer at her church, and to take care of her grandchildren during school breaks and throughout the summer. Paula Vassar has served the residents and visitors of Polk County for 25 years. As Paul cannot be with us today, his wife, Nicole, will be accepting on his behalf. In 2008, Paul joined the Polk County Circuit Court to serve as a lab technician for Polk County Drug Court, which is a court-supervised comprehensive treatment program for nonviolent defendants for the 10th Judicial Circuit Court. He also served as a case manager and an addictions counselor for the Polk County Drug Court program. Following nine years of service with the Circuit Court, Paul moved into a new role with Polk County Court Services in 2017, serving as a probation officer before moving into his current role as a court services electronic monitoring officer. Paul is a certified juvenile justice officer and a certified field training officer. He is a member of Grace Point Church in Winter Haven, where he serves as the head of church security and oversees church ushers and greetings. In his spare time, Paul enjoys barbecuing, ministering, and spending time with his wife, Nicole, his three sons, Justin, Ryan, and Jesse, and his father-in-law, Rudy. He looks forward to continuing working for the county and sharing the gospel. Ronald Chimichis has worked for the Polk County Fleet Management Division for 35 years. He began working for the division as a Fleet Technician III, and he now serves as the division's maintenance shop supervisor. Throughout his career, Ronald has obtained several Master Automotive Service Excellence certifications in medium-heavy trucks. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, bicycling and spending time with his wife, Laura, and his son, Zachary. In the future, he looks forward to retiring and spending more time with his family.

Madam Chair, that's over 85 years of collective service for the Pope County.

Perfect. Thank you guys so much.

85 years, that's amazing, and congratulations to all, definitely. Now we will continue with public comments concerning agenda items. Amber, do we have any?

Yes, ma'am, we have one.

Okay. Okay. Yes, we have Ms. Ann Clausen. There she is. Ann, if you would state your name and your address.

You've got three minutes. Ann Clausen, 2457 Delphi Circle, Lakeland, Florida. Good morning, County Commissioners. I want to sincerely thank you for your continued support. Um, for the funding that we receive. I know we have, um, other partners in the room that, um, receive funding, uh, through the half cent sales tax for the lip funding match that you're approving today. And I just want to say how very, very important it is, um, for all of us that receive funding, but specifically I can say for central Florida healthcare, we just added our 19th health center. We have 17 health centers in Polk County. And we served last year 86,000 patients, almost 300,000 visits, and filled 400,000 prescriptions. So we stay very busy every day, 730 employees, but we can't do it without the funding that we receive. And so we are so very grateful. And so I just want to say thank you and how much we appreciate it.

Well, thank you, and we hear all the wonderful things that you and your staff are doing for our community, so we greatly appreciate what you're doing with the money. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay, now we move on to our county controller, Stacey Butterfield. Good morning. Good morning.

Today we have for you to approve and ratify payroll checks number 04923 through 04939 in the amounts of $23,608.55. We have 3,115 direct deposits in the amount of $4,771,601.23 dated September 4th, We have wire and electronic fund transfers of $26,150,000. $555.31, dated September 1st through September 14th of 2026. And lastly, invoice checks numbered 511896 through 513453, totaling $10,832,569.17, dated September 1 through September 14th of 2026. For you to approve or modify, please. Move for approval. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

We also request the approval of your minutes of your regular board meeting that was held on September 1st of 2026, please.

Motion for approval. Second.

Motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. And you have one more.

Yes. Yes. Madam Chair, I have item C3, which is for you to consider the adoption of a resolution that would authorize the issuance of utility system revenue bonds. They would be a series 2026 in an amount for principal not to exceed $250 million. The expected amount is a little bit less, but we want the resolution to cover so we can cover all the cost of issuance and anything as we go to the market. to issue these bonds and the utility expansion needs to be done and it's driven by that growth and the residential as well as that commercial development. So the bond team is ready. I wanna thank the county team, the county attorney, county management utility system, Tamara and her team and I think Charles Richards is in the audience as well and our team and then we have Michael Weiner from Holland & Knight and to hear today in case there's any specific questions you have. But once we proceed, if you adopt this resolution today, we will issue the bonds, the market will go to the market, and then we will bring back a closing for you in a few weeks.

Move for approval. Second. Second.

I have a first and a second. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Stacey, and to the whole team that you've announced for your diligence in this. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

I forgot to mention Tanner Lee-Milson with my team, who has taken the lead with the entire team, because it does. It's a team. You all, as the board, have assembled a great team of financial advisors, attorneys, et cetera, and... We appreciate it, so look for good results. Well, we appreciate that very much.

Moving on, we'll have the approved consent agenda.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. And Attorney Randy Mead? I have nothing at this time. Thank you. And County Manager Bill Beasley? Aye.

Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board, members of the viewing audience. The manager's office will have two items for consideration this morning. Before I get to item G1, could I ask Mr. Jim Tully and his family to come to that center podium, please? Jim told me he had a fairly good-sized family. He's right. Bless your heart. Madam Chair, members of the board, item number G1 is to request the board to confirm the appointment of Mr. James Jim Tully to serve as the next director of the Polk County Utilities Division. The Polk County Charter specifies that the county manager's appointment of executive service employees is subject to confirmation by the Board of County Commissioners. After a thorough internal review, I have appointed Mr. James Tully to the position of director of the Polk County Utilities Division, effective November 9th, 2026. Mr. Tully has more than 20 years of experience in engineering, geology, capital project management, community development, and public utility operations. He currently serves as the capital improvements program manager and deputy director of the engineering and technology group within the Polk County Utilities Division, a position he's held since September of 2024. He previously served as the capital projects manager within the Polk County Utilities Division from January of 18 to September of 2024. Before joining the Polk County Utilities Division, Mr. Tully served as a project manager with Jones Edmonds and Associates in their Winter Haven office, and as a geologist and engineer in the firm's Gainesville office. Between August of 2003 and October of 2005, Jim served in the United States Peace Corps as a community development volunteer in the mountain town of Batak, located in southern Bulgaria. Jim continues to be civically engaged in the Babson Park, Cricket Lake, and Lake Wales communities. Mr. Tully holds a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering Sciences from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geosciences from the University of Notre Dame. He is licensed in Florida as both a professional engineer and a professional geologist. The utilities division director is an authorized position in the FY2526 adopted budget, and the existing appropriations are sufficient to cover the negotiated annual base salary of approximately $168,730 and employment benefits of approximately $45,470. So Madam Chair, members of the board, I think Jim Tully represents the very best in technical competency, engineering ethics, moral civility, and public service. It is my honor and professional privilege to recommend the board confirm my appointment of Mr. Jim Tully to serve as the next director of the Polk County Utilities Division, effective Monday, November 9th, 2026.

Move for approval. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion?

Madam Chair, if I may?

Sure.

Yeah, I just want to say, Mr. Tully, your reputation precedes you for sure. And the more PEs we can have in more places as a fellow PE, I really appreciate your dedication. not only to the county, but to the profession. And the level of really professional knowledge that you bring to this position, I think, we couldn't ask for anything better. So I'm certainly glad to have you on, and congratulations on the promotion. Thank you very much.

Anyone else? Jim, you got to say, Madam Chair, Jim's got a few minutes.

Yes, in a minute. Anyone else in the commission? I just want to say welcome, and I know that I know you're going to do a great job in this, so we appreciate your diligence and dedication, and we welcome you. So I have a motion and a second, no more further discussion. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. Now it's your turn.

Thank you very much, Commissioners. Thank you, Mr. Beasley. I'd like to thank Mr. Bodie as well for the confidence in me to serve and to lead Polk County Utilities into the future. I'd like to thank my wife, Amy, and all my kids for all their support day in and day out. I know my kids would like to thank you for the opportunity to miss a little bit of school this morning. They seem very excited about that. I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank my predecessor, Tamara Richardson.

Please.

Tamara's here, wonderful, thank you. I don't think there's any doubt that Tamara is leaving Polk County Utilities in better shape than she found it. She's done a tremendous job, a wonderful leader. So thank you, Tamara, for your leadership and your guidance and for making Polk County Utilities the kind of place where we all really enjoy coming to work every day. I'll share one quick anecdote if I can. Tamara, this is something I'll always remember you by. This was just a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago. I was sitting at my desk and Tamara popped her head in. She said, Jim, I have something very important to show you. She reached into her shirt and she pulled out. the cutest little baby squirrel you have ever seen. In addition to being an excellent utilities director and engineer, she's also an animal rescuer. In fact, Tamara, I think my kids would really like meeting your squirrel. Do you have a squirrel on you at the moment? Okay. All right. Some other time. But I say all that to say Tamara will be a very tough act to follow, certainly. But thank you for the opportunity to serve, and I sincerely appreciate it. I'm looking forward to serving the commission and the citizens of Polk County. So thank you very much.

Thank you.

We have a good showing, Jim, from the Utilities Division in the back.

Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.

Final item from the Manager's Office, Madam Chair, members of the Board, item number G2 is to request the Board to approve an interlocal agreement for improvements to the City of Lakeland's John McGee Park. Board action today will allocate an amount not to exceed $300,000 for designated park improvements consistent with the mutual benefits outlined in the proposed interlocal agreement. Polk County and the City of Lakeland proposed to enter into an interlocal agreement providing up to $300,000 in tourist development tax funds for facility enhancements at the John McGee Park that will support large-scale sporting events to attract tourists and out-of-county participants. The City of Lakeland will manage all planned park improvements, fund project costs above the county's contribution, which is estimated to total $761,000, and provide quarterly expenditure reports to the county. All improvements must be completed no later than June 30th of 2027. In return for TDC funding, Polk County will receive an annual 100% discount on the city's base rental fees and first priority use of the park, subject to the agreement during its 10-year term. The Tourist Development Council did unanimously approve this expense at their most recent August meeting. The overall fiscal impact is a one-time expense not to exceed $300,000, and that expense is budgeted and funds are available in the tourism and sports marketing adopted FY25-26 budget. So Madam Chair and members of the board, I think in keeping with the board's support for creative partnerships that will enhance tourism across all of Polk County, I would recommend the board to approve the proposed interlocal agreement between Polk County and the City of Lakeland for tourism development tax funding in connection with facility enhancements at the John McGee Park and to authorize the County Commission Chair to execute that proposed interlocal agreement.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. That's it for me, Madam Chair. Okay. Let's go to commissioners now. Becky Troutman.

Yes, just one thing. Yesterday, I was able to attend a press conference where we learned about a $16 million archery course that is jointly funded between the Easton Foundation and Fish and Game. with the state of Florida, and that's going to be out at Tenoroc. So in a few years, we will have a wonderful venue. And with the help of our tourism and sports marketing team, I am sure we will have both national and international competitions soon at that venue. So we're glad to have that here in Polk County.

And if I'm not mistaken, the governor was here to present that?

Yes, he was.

Okay. Anything else, Commissioner? Okay. Commissioner Wilson? No. Okay. Commissioner Braswell?

Don't have anything.

Commissioner Scott?

Yes, ma'am. A few things this morning. The first items are going to be related to CareerSource Polk and the Florida Commerce and CareerSource Florida's letters. So I'll go with K1, move to approve or need a motion to approve a written response to Florida Commerce and CareerSource Florida's formal notice of material noncompliance. required governance action, and potential removal for cause dated August 25th, 2026. And this is in relation to the letter that we received some background. We received a letter from the state basically documenting deficiencies within career source bulk. And this is our, we have to provide a written response within 15 calendar days of that letter. So this would be the motion to approve that response would be sending out today to the state. I'll second that.

Okay, I have a motion and a second. Any questions or discussion? Yeah, I have a question.

So, Randy, we send this response. Now, do we know what they're going to do? Are they going to come back with, We need this, or we need that, or we need more?

We don't know exactly what will occur once we send a response, other than staff does have a phone call scheduled with them at the end of the week to discuss further action or how we proceed. As I think the board's familiar with, the consultants that we have retained, we have retained until the end of December to assist us in... It says it's putting a plan together to correct some of the deficiencies of career source folks. So we do have a plan to continue to address this as we move forward, but we don't know exactly what the state will do once we send this response.

And this is the one that we had so many days of getting it in on time?

Yes, sir. The 15 business days that was in the letter. Okay, thanks.

So the state does not have a time limit or a certain time to respond to us?

As far as I'm aware of, no.

Okay, so we just accept until December that we have.

And we'll continue to work with them as we have been since we received the letter.

Okay. I might add in our letter response that we have that we're sending back to the state, we do offer up... more due diligence on our side, both on the commission side being the county, and we'll also place some additional requirements on the board of directors for CareerSource Polk. So while the state is not necessarily demanding each one of those steps, we have, at the direction of our consultant, Canopy, have provided some additional guidance, if you will, and some guardrails that will allow us to have dedicated follow-up and timelines with CareerSource Polk to further the betterment of the organization.

Madam Chair, Randy, for you, so again, as Commissioner Scott just stated, there are some actions to be done within 10 days, 20 days, and 30 days, so this will also go to the current career source, Polk Board, for them to understand as far as our expectations.

I will forward that letter, and I think they're actually copying on the letter, so we will send that letter to the resource. Okay.

All right. Thank you. We will send it or? Yes, we will. Oh, we sent it.

We'll send it. The county will send a copy to Chris Horsepoke through their chair. Okay.

Any other question, discussion? Okay, so we have a motion and a second. No more questions, discussion. Everybody, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries.

All right, K2 on considering the permanent removal of the career source Polk, executive director for cause. I'll just read up, it's a little bit longer of a motion. So based on the career source, Florida's notice dated August 25th, 2026, and the compliance and governance assessment prepared by the county's consultant canopy management consulting group, I move. The following, that the board finds calls pursuant to section 445.007 Florida statutes to remove the executive director of CareerSource Polk, Stacey Campbell-Dominick. such cause to include without limitation, neglect of duty, gross mismanagement and lack of performance and direct staff to provide Ms. Campbell-Dominick notice of the board's findings and give her until September 28th, 2026 to provide a response to the career source Florida's notice and the compliance and governance assessment and why cause does not exist to have her permanently removed and place on the October 6th, 2026 agenda an item for the board to consider the permanent removal of Stacey Campbell-Dominick as the Executive Director of CareerSource Polk. And finally, Stacey Campbell-Dominick's temporary removal as the Executive Director of CareerSource Polk shall continue until the temporary removal is terminated by this board by way of reinstatement or permanent removal by this board.

Okay, I have a motion. Second. It's second, questions and discussion. Yes.

Yeah. I'm not going to vote with that, and I'll tell you why. This is, I understand the seriousness of the state's position, but it's just gone way too fast. I mean, I know it's been two or three weeks, but we do have a company canopy that's looking, continue to look into this, right? Randy.

Yeah, that's correct.

Yeah. They're, they're continuing to look into a, we have a temporary person in that position, correct?

That's correct.

And she's there already.

Yes, sir.

Okay. So the organization continues to run, um, I would feel more comfortable, I think, us as a board, as a county, need to vet this as much as we can to totally understand what we're doing here before we do it. I think, and I understand, you know, your point of view here, but I think there's just no rush. I mean, I feel rushed in this decision and I don't like that. So I would prefer to sit back, let Canopy do its thing, Let time tell us what all was going on there and move in that direction. Also, and I bring this up not directly related to your motion, but... The more I hear about CareerSource anything, it seems like there may be better ways of doing business. I would like to, once this is behind us, to vet the idea of other options besides one person and a board in Polk County. It just seems like there's some better options out there, but I'm just throwing that out there. But I'm not going to support the motion.

Madam Chair, if I may. Yes. Just in follow-up to that, so specific to CareerSource folks, I've been on the board for more than a year, and there's been other concerns that came up, but now specific to our response back to the state, we are documenting clearly non-conformance, non-compliance to the PIP that's been in place to remedy and guide corrective actions at CareerSource Polk. So again, when we look at the executive director's position to lead and to comply with governance and the regulations, that's their due diligence and obligation. So while I understand Commissioner Roswell's point as far as time wise I've been watching this for over a year and almost two years actually and and some of the other information that I've received it's been going on for more than that two-year period too so while I understand as a county we want to be diligent I think us providing 10 days for the executive director to reply back with you know rebuttal if you will to the claims then that gives her the opportunity to do so if she doesn't then This motion provides us the ability to move on and get kind of new footing there. And outside of this motion, too, I think later on we need to discuss from the directors, sorry, for the board that's currently at CareerSource Polk, you know, there probably needs to be some you know, purview into that and to see if, you know, five to seven members makes more sense than a board of, you know, 18 plus. Because I think, again, from a control perspective and accountability, there might be some additional needs there. So with that, I'll leave it there.

Commissioner Troutman.

My comment regarding the timing of this, when I look back at the information that was provided to us, the PIP was put in place after two consecutive program years of failure. And so unfortunately, I think You know, we are feeling somewhat rushed, but I believe it's been in the eyes of the state for them to have put her on this PIP that there were years where the performance was not where it should have been. And so I think even though Our actions are in a short time period. The actions and the oversight and the ask and the request to continue to bring those services up to par and to better performance for the residents of our county has been going on for multiple years. So I think to continue any longer would be a disservice to our community. If we find Evidence stating otherwise, we can always come back and visit it, but it appears that there has been a neglect of duty and definitely a lack of performance despite attempts from the state to put in methods to help bring that performance up. So I would be supportive of this motion.

Commissioner Wilson? Yeah, I'm going to kind of echo what Commissioner Troutman said. Once this came up, I'm just going to say a month ago when we started talking about it to the board, I got to doing a little investigating on my own, and just like she just said, there's been problems there for years, and I don't understand how it could have continued the way it did, but I will support this.

Well, what I'm going to say is that from the beginning, this has, I'm going to agree with Commissioner Braswell, this has kind of like spurred on us. And even though this has come, what I'm hearing has had problems for years, this is the first time I've heard about it within the last three weeks, I'm going to say. I don't even think it's been a month. And you're right, it's just going so fast that I can't even keep up with it. I agree that there are things that are going on, but I also say why not wait until we get all the things cleared before we make a decision such as this. So I'm not going to support this motion. So anybody else want to make any comments?

Madam Chair, if I could, just again, going back pre, before the August 25th letter. So this goes back to when I was onboarding for the new dashboard for CareerSource Florida, that I was made aware of our lack of performance as CareerSource Polk. And that's when I brought it to the boards. Notice that, you know, we as a, we meaning we're kind of overseeing CareerSource Polk, for CareerSource Polk to be in the bottom 20 percentile for multiple years and as low as last place and never having gained anywhere middle pack or above with relation to ranking within the state. To me, there's no reason that we were always in last unless we just don't have the right leadership. So again, at that point, it wasn't to the severity of once we received the letter from the state, then it just kind of seconded, but in the more severe case of what I was already seeing based on the dashboard and my interactions with CareerSource folks. So I understand, again, for those that haven't necessarily been in the weeds, if you will, for it. But I've been staring at this for almost two years, and to me, this action can't come quick enough. But I do appreciate Attorney Mink's input as far as providing the Executive Director that 10-day window to reply back. Again, if there's defensible reasons of why we are where we are, then... let's see them in writing. But if not, then we need to move on. So I do respect all the board members' opinions. But again, having looked at this for two years and having also received communication from those in the field and in the education sectors throughout the county that have really been wronged by CareerSource Polk, it's, to me, very disappointing to hear that that's been happening. So I look forward to CareerSource Polk being better than what it ever has been. and to have really a shining star of an organization versus right now a fairly dark cloud.

And I do remember when you brought that up to the board, and again, that was the first time I've heard of anything going on with CareerSource. And I'm not saying that the report and the letter that's gone out showing all the deficiencies that are going on with it. I'm not negating that. I'm just saying that I feel rushed into this also, and I want to make sure that all my T's are crossed and my I's are dotted before we make a decision. a permanent decision to remove somebody permanently. So that's my take. So I guess we'll go for a vote. Am I correct, Mr. Mandy? Okay, so all in the motion is to, would you read the motion again? There it is. Considered the permanent removal of the career source Polk, executive director for cause.

And then Madam Chair, that was also just part of that motion was that we were providing until September 28th, 2026 for a written response from the executive director to state otherwise as far as the removal and also that the temporary removal would remain in place unless we reinstate or permanently remove by the board.

All in favor?

And there will also be an agenda item placed on October 6th for the board to consider the permit removal.

Say that again. I'm sorry.

On October 6th, there will be an agenda item for the board to consider the permit removal. Okay.

All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? No. Okay. It carries. Thank you. Anything else? Yes.

Yes, ma'am. So K-3 is to a motion to consider the removal of the career source public executive director as a member of the Citizens Healthcare Oversight Committee. And I guess, Mr. Mankiewicz, you just want to give some background to that so the board is aware.

Yeah, that's a pointed position based on the individual's expertise in the workforce development because of the prior motion. find good cause to have her removed. This is to go ahead and remove her from the Citizen Oversight Committee, which actually has a meeting on September 25th. We will work with staff to bring you back another, if this passes, another individual to take that seat. It just won't be before the September 25th meeting. Does the...

Interim director, will she serve on the oversight committee? No. That would be a vacancy then.

It would be a vacancy until we can bring you back another individual. Right. And those positions, I can't remember exactly which district it is, but the position is appointed by specific districts.

Okay. So you're making that motion? Yes, ma'am, I'm making that motion. Okay, so you made a motion.

Second.

Okay, so motion and a second. Any questions or discussion about that? Yes.

Well, I mean, yeah, I'll support that in lieu of the fact that she's not working as a director anymore. It doesn't make sense to have her on that committee.

Anyone else? Okay, hearing no other questions or discussion, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay, anything else, Commissioner Scott?

That loaded me up. I had something else, but I'll figure it out till the next meeting. So I appreciate it, Madam Chair.

Okay, thank you. And I don't have, oh, I do have. I have to reappoint Diana Welsh as a member, seat five of the Polk County Historical Commission for the three-year term October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2029.

I'll make that motion.

Oh, that's right. Okay. Okay, so there's a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. You want to make the next one too?

Sure, I want to roll. I move to reappoint James N. Denham as a member of Seat 7 of the Polk County Historical Commission for the three-year term October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2029. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. And I have nothing else. We go to the expedited hearings.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before we present the expedited hearings, we will go over the public hearing general procedures. I remind everyone, if you wish to speak on any of the public hearing items, you will need to fill out a speaker card in the back and give the card to a member of the communication staff. We ask that you please turn your cell phones off or other devices that may distract from the public hearings. Please adjust the microphone and state your full name and address for the record before you begin speaking on a topic. Individual speaking during the public comment section of a matter will be strictly limited to three minutes. The board is experienced in these matters and is able to discern what is legally relevant to an issue and what is not. Information that is relevant or repetitive only serves to frustrate and unnecessarily prolong the day's business. The commission expects civility at all times during all public hearings, speaking out of turn, shouting out for the audience. Disrespectful sounds or utterances while another is speaking are unacceptable and you will need... you will be asked to leave the chambers for the remainder of the day. If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the board with respect to any matter considered here today, you will need a record of proceedings and that for such purposes you may need to ensure a verbatim record of proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony evidence upon which the appeal is to be based, which you must gather at your own expense. Anyone in the audience who wishes to speak and present testimony today must be sworn in. All testimony given during public hearings shall be deemed to be sworn. At this time, if you're going to address the commission or speak on any case today, please stand, raise your right hand, and answer out loud to the following question. Do you swear or affirm the testimony or evidence you provide to the commission today is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. Madam Chair, we'll go over the expedited hearing procedures. Expedited hearings are held pursuant to Resolution No. 2022-089. Expedited hearings are used when no opposition was present at the planned commission hearing. The advocate agrees to the expedited hearings. and recommendation of the Development Review Committee is for approval. Expedited procedures are the following. After staff briefly introduces the case, the hearing will be open for public comment. If anyone speaks during public comment, the applicant will be given the opportunity to respond. After public comment, the board will consider the land use case. At any time, a full presentation from staff can be requested from a commissioner, the applicant, or a member of the public. All documents attached to the agenda item are deemed part of the record of the land use case. Unless removed from the list of experts by motion of the board, all individuals of the list of experts attached to the agenda item are deemed experts for the purpose of the land use case. And at this time, Madam Chair, I will turn it over to Mr. Zisco to present the expedited hearings.

Thank you, Mr. Mink. Good morning, Madam Chair, board members, members of the audience. My name is Ben Zisco, Land Development Director, Polk County. There are four items on the expedited public hearing portion of today's agenda. Item number N1 is an expedited public hearing for case LDC-PAL-2026-7, CIE Update-2026. This item is a mandatory update to the county's comprehensive plan as prescribed in Florida Statute Section 163. The item updates the capital improvements element of the comprehensive plan annually to include updates to the county's capital improvements program, the Transportation planning organizations five-year tip and the school boards capital improvements program so taking those three major capital improvements plans from schools transportation and the county and and folding them into the comprehensive plan on an annual review. While most text amendments to the comprehensive plan require two amendments, this annual update per Florida statute only requires one amendment, so this is an adoption hearing today. The Planning Commission reviewed this and unanimously recommended approval, and following any questions or comments today, staff recommends adoption for submittal up to Tallahassee. Thank you.

Any question for staff? Hearing none, we'll open it up for public hearing. Amber, do we have anyone?

No, ma'am, we do not.

Okay, then I close it for public hearing and bring it back to the board. I have a motion and a second. Any questions, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries.

Item number N2 is an expedited public hearing for case LDC-PAS-2026-12, Pavers Road, UGA-CPA, to consider a development area change on approximately 38 acres. The subject parcel is located just south of the Polk Parkway, abutting the Polk Parkway. It is to the east of Reynolds Road, which you can see on the left side of the screen. It is labeled as Pavers Road Industrial Storage Yard. This road that is underneath the Polk Parkway is Pavers Road, so access is actually gained from Reynolds Road and then Main and then going south on Pavers Road. As I mentioned, the subject site is 38 acres of a larger 58-acre site. As you can see on the screen at the bottom, the northern portion of the property already has a development area of urban growth area, which is consistent with all of the properties to the north of the Polk Parkway, as well as properties to the west of this parcel. The 38 acres that are subject to this item still has a rural development area designation. So the request would provide uniformity across all portions of the site so that it is developed. It has one set of rules and one set of development standards. This item did appear before the Planning Commission and received unanimous recommendation of approval. And as a small scale comprehensive plan map amendment, this is the adoption hearing and staff is recommending adoption.

Any questions for staff? Yes, Commissioner.

Just one question. If we look to the site to the right or to the east, is it kind of a similar thing there? Is it that very northern sliver of that property would be in the UGA, but the one, the southern part of it would be the RDA? Or is that?

I believe as you get further to the east, because the Polk Parkway goes at an angle, I believe that some of these parcels are holistic parcels. You're talking about this area here?

Just literally adjacent, the parcel to the direct east of this site. When I look at that parcel boundary on the northern part of that, it looks like the little cutout there. Yeah, right there. That looks like that's possibly. So I just, again, from future, like how does this play out for the next property owner, the next property owner, that kind of deal? Do we see a point of which we say that has to stay RDA versus becoming UGA?

This portion here certainly is part of the UGA. That would be, I believe, the last one due to the access.

Okay.

So even if a portion of this wanted to change, there's no access to any of the parcels further to the east. The only access is Pavers Road coming underneath the Polk Parkway to access these parcels here. Okay, very good. Thank you.

Any other questions for staff? Okay, hearing none, I open it up for public hearing. Amber, do we have anyone for this one?

No, ma'am, we do not.

Thank you. I close the public hearing and bring it back to the board.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any question or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries.

Madam Chair, item number N3 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2026-10, Airport Impact Districts, to amend the Land Development Code related to siting and development near existing airports. Polk County is currently a part of the Joint Airport Zoning Board, which has an interlocal agreement that prescribes development standards near existing airports. This is a separate standalone document that is often overlooked when development is occurring in these areas. This item is an attempt to create a one-stop shop of regulations by mirroring those regulations and embedding them into the land development code so that development partners and staff have one set of rules and one set of documents to look at for a thorough review and to ensure consistency with development. This item did appear before the Planning Commission, received unanimous recommendation of approval, and it is before you today on its second and final hearing. This is an adoption hearing and staff recommends approval.

Any questions for staff? Hearing none, I open it up for public hearing. Amber, do we have anyone?

No, ma'am, we do not.

Thank you. I close the public hearing. Bring it back to the board. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any further questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

Madam Chair, item number N4 is an expedited public hearing for case LDCT 2026-13, Eloise Main Street Corridor, LDC text amendment. to provide site specific development standards and uses within the eloise main street corridor. As seen on the screen here there is a pending land use change that will be coming before you in two weeks to create a main street designation within the eloise community on the south side of snively avenue. This text amendment provides specific uses that are permitted conditional uses or prohibited as well as unique development standards for this main street development corridor. This is the first reading of a text amendment as required by Florida statutes. No action is required by the board today. And we will bring this back to you for second reading in partnership with the land use amendment. That's your October 6th amendment agenda.

Any questions for staff? Okay. Hearing none. I'll open it up for public hearing. Amber, do we have anyone?

No, ma'am. We do not.

Thank you. We close it for public hearing. And since this is a first reading, we'll wait until two weeks.

Yes, ma'am. And that concludes the public hearings for today.

Great, thank you very much. We now open it up for public hearings. Amber, do we have any?

Yes, ma'am, we have seven.

Okay.

It's being opened up for public comments, right?

Sorry. For comments.

Public comments, yes.

No hearing, comments. Public comments. We need to change that on the agenda. Okay, we will start with Eve Salambini. If you would state your name and your address, Eve, that would be great.

Good morning, it's Eve Salambini, 4230 Live Oak Road in Lakeland. I haven't seen everybody all summer. Hope you all had a good summer. I wanted to address today Polk County animal control statistics and transparency, specifically how they're being reported and why it matters. The University of Florida compiles statewide shelter data using standardized definitions for outcomes and can meaningfully compare disposition of all animals that are taken in. When it comes to euthanasia, they recognize only two categories. Euthanasia at the owner's request, which is line 20. Can you put that up on the...

I didn't receive a copy.

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I guess I gave them all the reading. Thank you.

Line 20 and euthanasia is line 33, nothing more. Accurate reporting is not optional, it's foundational. Beginning in June, Polk Animal Control introduced a new category called stray confiscated behavior medical impounds on line 16 and a matching category, behavior medical euthanasia, line 34. The part here that's concerning is they excluded these categories from the formula that's used to calculate their totals. So from June through August, 326 animals were in these categories. Removing these animals from the totals artificially inflates the live release rate for poke animal control. By 4.5%, 6.1%, 8.8%, excuse me, This practice also lowers the reported intake numbers by 326 animals over the first eight months. I've calculated live release rates for many years for many shelters. The non-technical formula is noses in and noses out, meaning anybody who enters the system alive is counted and anybody who exits the system is counted. No matter how they exit, Adoption, transfer, euthanasia, death in the kennel, condition doesn't matter, circumstance doesn't matter. If euthanasia drugs are used, they're counted. If the animal dies overnight, it's still counted. If it comes in alive, it is counted. So I'm asking why directly, what statute, what definition, what recognized shelter reporting standard supports excluding these from the totals? because there's none that I'm aware of. And there's another consequence. By separating out the 326 animals that truly had medical or behavioral euthanasia reasons, they highlight the animals that did not fall in those categories, the ones euthanized simply because they entered the system. 2,055 animals in the kennel euthanasia line in the first eight months of 2026. Apparently, those animals must have been healthy, adoptable, treatable, and they were euthanized. Changing the label does not change the outcome for the animal. Moving the animals outside the calculations improves percentages on paper, but it does not improve the outcome for the animal. As always, I'm available to discuss this, and if someone could look into it, I'd appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

Next, we have David Butler.

Good morning. My name is David Butler. My address is exempt.

Mr. Butler, if you could speak into the mic, that would be better.

Is that better? Yes. I don't want to be overpowering. Did you get my name? Was that clear enough?

The what?

My name was clear enough, or did I say it again? Okay.

You said your name already?

Yes. Okay. I know you all work hard. I'm going to say it again. Like I said one time when I was first here, you all probably don't get paid good enough for what you all do. The discussion on the career source lady, very powerful, Mr. Braswell. I appreciate your discussion and your opinion on that. However, Ms. Troutman, last time I was here, you interrupted what I was saying to say I was incorrect about a sign ordinance. I watched a video you made about that ordinance with the snipe sign specifically, and you said if you put them out, we'll pick them up. Was that video incorrect? Last meeting, you belittled Mr. Abercrombie saying he had a math problem. If you'd listened to what he said, I think what he said was actually correct when he said three of the commissioner members didn't attend that meeting. Not that only four of you were here. You're quick to try to correct citizens, but you won't correct your fellow commissioners. A while back, Mr. Braswell said some statements that were about TNVR and FWC outlawing Caspian return that would prove to be incorrect. Did you correct him on those? Some of the things were put out to the point where Mr. Mink had to put out an informal statement saying that or informal disclaimer saying statements by commissioners may not be the opinion of the Board of County Commissioners. Did you interrupt Mr. Braswell and correct him at all? Mr. Wilson, you agreed with Mr. Abercrombie that he had a problem with math. I recall you telling me that you were pretty good on math and then stated that you brought back $22 million and then $11 million for a total of $35 million while flying on the Kodiak to Tallahassee and back. I know that was a slip of the tongue, but did you correct him on that $35 million total? Do you have a math problem, Mr. Wilson? Mr. Wilson won his election by 1,873 votes over a relatively unknown candidate. He raised $67,850. His opponent raised $15,408, four times as much money, but he only won by 2%. That's a math problem. Please don't interrupt me. $7,000 of that money came from Leo's, from the party that Sheriff Judd promoted. Leos that were encouraged to go to that party and donate to a particular candidate. Ms. Troutman, this is just my opinion, but it makes you seem mean and petty and flippant when you treat constituents that way as interrupting them and correcting them in public like that, especially when you're wrong. My initial reason for coming here was to express my displeasure with buying that Kodiak airplane, wasting money, and to get deputies pay raises, or not even pay raises, get them paid their overtime. That still hasn't happened. I'm still going to push for deputies to get paid overtime, but I'm also going to call it out when you treat constituents badly. And Mr. Wilson, the very first time I came here was going to be the last time I came here. But you remember what you did? You pointed your finger at me and told me you didn't like my attitude. You remember that? Of course you don't. Thank you.

Sure. Thank you. Mr. Butler. I just want to say this about Mr. Butler's comments. He always gets back every time about this airplane. You know, and he goes back. I remember one time he said, and I'm not trying to really get on to him because he loves coming up here and getting his time. But, you know, he said, well, all we need is a Cessna 180, what we used to have back in the day and did the job. And it might have. And, you know, we probably could go back to that, get a 180 and get somebody with a pair of binoculars and a spotlight to fly around Polk County to try to catch fish. numerous people that this plane has called. Technology has changed a lot. So I reckon you want to make this county unsafer. But the thing you need to do if you feel that way, being that you know so much about it, you ought to talk with Grady about it. Because it saves lives. It does a lot of things. And to want to go back to those kind of days. So like I said, we prepared binoculars and a spotlight. And to make this county unsafe. I just wanted to clarify that because undoubtedly that's what you want to do.

Next we have James Lloyd Thomas.

Hello, James Lloyd Thomas, 1057 Clearpoint Way, 33813. I'm here to talk about e-bike safety. I talked with y'all before May 19th, and we were kind of waiting on the laws to pass with the state, and the update on that is it was vetoed by the governor. I'm here today. You might be asking, why am I wearing a safety vest and a helmet? This is a memory of the three lives we've lost in the last seven days. One on Reynolds Road, one on Hardin, and it's time for us to take some action, possibly get the sheriff to support a position and think outside the box, not waiting on others to understand that we are a growing county one of the fastest growing and our roads are rural and we have dangerous highways for myself as a disabled veteran I ride an e-bike for recovery I also ride an e-bike on bad days when I feel like maybe I'll have a road rage moment or Can't deal with the traffic. I want to help veterans who lose their license at the courthouse get e-bikes so they can maintain employment and keep good families, and that's my vested interest. All my work is volunteer in this area. In the military, the thought process typically falls into two categories when you're trying to solve a problem, tactical or strategic. We have to do something to stop the bleeding right now And maybe it's wearing a vest. If you're a parent or grandparent, you might want to consider that. Or a helmet. Helmets, definitely. Is it time to ask the people that are selling these bikes to provide these? I think most of the bike shops in Lakeland have already agreed with me that they provide a helmet. Should they also provide the AAA safety guide and start asking more questions so a grandparent doesn't have to feel bad when they bought a e-moto instead of e-bike that was $2,000 more. I would ask that you consider funds for some marketing around the popular areas that e-bikes are rode. There's an e-bike station on Lake Hollingsworth that is run down and already has an area that a poster could be printed and put up. These are simple solutions and the resources are already there. So I also ask you to consider a safety team or some sort of motion or agenda item in the future so we can continue to have the safest county in the country. Thank you.

Thank you. Don't go anywhere. I got a question. When you talk about e-bike, you're talking about a regular looking bicycle that's got a battery that powers it, right? Correct. Is that what you're talking about? Would that fall under like an e-scooter? I mean, I see these little things people stand on. Is that what you're talking about too? No, no.

So obviously the scooters are kind of a little more dangerous and don't go as far as someone might go on a bike, on a regular bike. There's three classes. There's basically about... five to six different categories of this technologies that are continuing to evolve every day.

So, and we don't have any rules for that apply to any of them.

There are rules and a good way to think about it is, Pedal assist, there's throttles that go up to 20 miles an hour. Those are e-bikes. Anything above that is basically a dirt bike with e-power. So they shouldn't be rode on the streets. And some of the shops are not really disclosing that information, the passing, you know, the The AAA safety guide just came out when I first spoke with y'all. I was looking to develop some of that myself. It's getting so frustrating that Southeast University has banned e-bikes on their campus, which I would say could be discriminatory. I think I could get permission to ride my e-bike there if I needed to, to work there or what have you. But they... There's just so many of them and there's just not enough education. So we need that to be developed or at least take a position by the sheriffs.

All right. Yeah. I mean, I'm just curious. I'll look into it because I'm curious about it, too. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Thomas.

You're welcome.

Next. Amber, can we also, for DHSMV, can we see if there's any communications that they've had recently about e-bikes that could be something we could publish on our repurposing of county side of things? Yes, sir. Thank you.

Next, we have Debbie Hicks.

Debbie Hicks, 236 Alderman Road, Lakeland, Florida. I'm going to read mine today, so I stay on target. Good morning. Thank you, Commissioner Scott. for asking me to visit the three shelters that you had already visited. It was an eye-opening to say the least. I really enjoyed it. So thankful you asked me to do it. I look forward to speaking to you about specific topics, but for now, I just want to mention a few takeaways. One, yes, they are all older facilities, but they have and are being kept up with proper maintenance. Improvements are made with structures when possible. Two, the animals are looked at individually and no timeline or kennel capacity dictates how long they have. Three, to do number two, they utilize the full resources of their county. This includes, but is not limited to nonprofits, rescues, foster programs, volunteers, and yes, TNVR. and any other resources available. Four, mostly I saw management employees and volunteers who work as a team with joy in their hearts for these animals and the people of their county. Finally, in noting these things that I saw, I want to thank the commission for moving forward in the process of bringing our facility to a better functioning facility. God bless the special... God bless with a special thank you to the facilities people who have been working on that facility because it needs so much work. They've worked hard. Also, thank you to Captain Barnador who has and I pray continues to implement new procedures that have benefited the animals in his care along with his fellow workers at the facility and the people of this county. Also, thank you to the inmates who are who our county relies on to do those daily chores at that facility. These other shelters don't have that. They have to rely on employees that are paid or volunteers. Lastly, I want to thank the wonderful people I met at the Hillsboro, Sumter, and Pasco County shelters. Their dedication and joy and care in what they do each day encouraged me and warms my heart. Thank you. Thank you.

Next we have Kay Bork.

Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Kay Bork at 1133 Brook Road in Fort Meade. We saw the shelter stats earlier and those are very important for a lot of reasons, but they really tell us as a community that we're not doing a very good job of keeping animals out of that shelter. So I want to remind us to ask ourselves daily, what are we as a community doing to stop creating more animals than our community can possibly care for? What are we doing to support spay and neuter programs and affordable access to those services? What are we doing to call attention to backyard breeders so that the animal control team can address them? What are we doing to give a hand to a neighbor who needs some help with vet supplies or vet services? Today, I want to recognize two groups that are on the front lines and are taking action to stop kittens and puppies from being born, because that's the only way we're going to fix these shelter stats. Street Cat Project, Eve is the leader of that. She's partnered with the SPCA just recently here for September, October, November, and early December to get 300 backyard cats fixed in 13 weeks. That's a heavy lift, guys, but it's going to happen. There's no charge to the caregiver, and it's based on donations. And then TLC Pet Snip, and that's what I gave you a while ago, has started their spay-neuter voucher program. There are specific income-based eligibility requirements, and it's partially supported by donations. Share that with your constituents who may not be able to afford spay-neuter for their animals. I hope that there's a future where we'll actually have some county city funds to come along beside the community to fund these programs. In the end, to stop puppies and kittens from entering the shelter, we must first stop puppies and kittens. Period.

Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Jonathan Robertson.

Good morning. Jonathan Robertson, 6211 Silverleaf Lane, Lakeland. Try to stay with me. I know I sound boring. I tend to drone on, but I'll keep it quick. Anyone at University of Florida graduate? Know any University of Florida graduates? Well, that's in Alachua County. And Alachua County is generally cited as Florida's most documented TNR success story. Their stats are incredible. A two-year targeted program for one zip code produced a 69% reduction. and per capita cat intake in a 95% reduction in shelter killings compared to much smaller gains countywide. I've already mentioned Pinellas County last time I was here. Hillsborough County, their low-income spay-neuter vouchers, their TNVR program, their return to field programs have produced excellent results. All can be easily searched through any sort of AI. We should leverage AI. I mean, we need a TNR program. I'm tired. Eve is tired. We have families. We have personal lives. We work. I took another day off from Publix Corporate to be here. We have lives, but we're waking up at five o'clock in the morning, running around Polk County, trapping cats, getting them neutered, spayed, vaccinated, returned. We are so tired. It's like a dam that's falling apart. and we're using band-aids. We need you folks with your support and your infrastructure to help stop this, because it's not going to get any better. It's going to get worse. So I'm asking you, please establish a Trap-a-New-to-Return program for these community cats. Decades of data from municipalities across the country have shown that when cats are removed from an area without addressing the underlying colony, New, unsterilized cats simply move in. They move in and exploit the same food and shelter resources. Imagine a castle. If we pull everyone out from the castle and take them to the to be put down at the animal control, well, other people are going to just move right into the castle. So it creates a well-documented phenomenon known as the vacuum effect. It means that the population rebounds and the cycle of trapping and killing repeats indefinitely at an ongoing taxpayer expense. That's what I'm not. We're Polk County. We're a great county, right? We're like the best in Florida where I hate to say it. We're sucking at TNRV and it's going to get worse. So essentially, when you think about it, one could argue that we're kicking the can down the road for future Polk County residents for for your budgeting for the future. It needs to be nipped in the bud. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of stray cats running around out there. Eve and I and the handful of other people that dedicate our lives, we can't do it all. We need your help. It's not rocket science. Pull up AI, open AI, grok, whatever. Say, how could Polk County be more like Alachua County and outline it in a way that county commissioners can put it into effect. AI will do the work for you. Don't have somebody spend weeks on it. Get it done in five minutes. Thank you.

Thank you. And next is Joanna Allende.

Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Joanna Allende, 109 Sandburg Lane, Winter Haven 33884. I want to share a story about this elderly man I met. He takes care of a colony of cats, and he's on a fixed income. He's not doing very well health-wise, and does not really have enough money or funds to get his animals spayed or neutered. The animals keep reproducing, but despite his limitations, he loves and cares for them the best he can. So the story goes there, enter a friend from a previous school who posted about a situation. It prompted me to help. Enter Street Cat Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to controlling cat population through TNVR, trap, neuter, vaccinate, and return. And this is where I volunteer. So I started trapping these cats, bringing them to a clinic at 8 a.m., picking them up at 3.30. It is a process. We are tired. It takes a lot. I work full time, but we do it. So please, when you guys see a cat that has an ear tip, leave them alone. The work has been done. I tell this story because there are endless similar stories like this one here in Polk County, and it just highlights the ongoing need that we have. Many simply cannot afford to spay or neuter. They cannot take their animals to the vet for medical needs. They may not even have the ability to transport these animals. Sometimes they just don't know. They may not even have social media to get this information. One might think, well, they don't have to take care of these animals. But these animals have no choice but to survive and will continue to find someone who will feed them. Plus, people genuinely care for them, and thank God that they do. I would like to think that people choose to care than to look the other way. The solution here is not take them to animal control to be euthanized. It is inhumane. And there are certainly times to euthanize an animal because they're injured or sick. But 45,000 animals since 2018, there's something wrong. It hasn't worked so far. So I'm just noticing a pattern. There's specific needs among individuals and families in our community. We need to continue to gather the data on these needs, determine how we can assist them. The community has done such a great job already. We do need your guys' help. And by doing so, it helps prevent animals from entering the shelter. It alleviates the burden and costs associated with our care. And this proactive approach will then help out animal rescues who can now manage their intake and not worry about saving another dog or cat from being euthanized because their shelter is full. So the key word here is proactive. By the time an animal gets to the shelter, that's a reactive approach. So it's critical for us to come together and consider opportunities that can benefit both the animals and the people of our community. Thank you.

Thank you. That's our last one. Amber, do we have anyone else? No, ma'am, we do not. Okay, well, thank you very much. And commissioners, anybody else that wants to? Yes, Madam Chair.

Just in response to Mr. Butler's statement and in regards to what I communicated to him and many others, there is no ordinance that pertains to the snipe signs. They are not allowed in the right-of-way. That is across the state of Florida. At Mr. Scott's urging and working through, we do have an ordinance that addresses the signs that are nine square feet or larger. But again, I did explain this in an email in regards to the questions after our last meeting, and there still seems to be some confusion. So as nicely as I can say it, there is no snipe sign ordinance in place. Thank you.

Any other commissioners? Okay, we're hearing none. We're adjourned. Thank you.

Thank you.