Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Amen. And now the Pledge of Allegiance. Good morning.

Good morning. Thank you. We have three presets today. The first is at 9.05. We will take public comment at 5.05. We'll have our first budget public hearing at 5.05. We will also have public comment. There is an additional item of Consent 10, which is adopt a proclamation declaring Bible reading week in Martin County, Florida, and there's a request to withdraw the Florida Inland Navigation District small-scale derelict vessel removal grant grant reimbursement check presentation for fiscal year 2026. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

I'll move approval of the agenda. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We'll take proclamations first. The first proclamation is a proclamation declaring Hunger Action Month.

Our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring Florida Redevelopment Week in Martin County, Florida.

Now we'll hear from the public. The first request to speak form I have is from John Dial followed by James Andrews.

James Andrews is next, followed by Dr. Roy Spicer.

Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Roy Spicer is next, followed by Rick Carlins.

Thank you. Rick Carlins is next, followed by Maureen. Steve?

Thank you. Maureen, Steve is next, followed by Anne VanderSteel. Hi. It's Steel.

Thank you. And Vander Steele is next, followed by Kim Call.

Kim Call is next, followed by Angela Harrison.

Thank you. Angela Harrison is next, followed by Victoria Blake.

Thank you. Victoria Blake is next. Followed by Patrick McDonald.

Thank you. Thank you. Patrick McDonough is next, followed by Babette Carboneau.

Thank you. Abbott Carboneau is next, followed by Alexander Cook.

Pull the mic down a little bit. Perfect.

Thank you. Alexander Cook is next, followed by David Bromley.

Good morning. I have to hold this thing. We're going to make it tall enough for you. I'll come down here. How's that?

Thank you. David Bromley is next, followed by Derek Powell. Good morning.

Derek Powell is next, followed by Yamila Roland-Escalora.

Thank you. Yamila is the last request to speak form I have. If you would like to address us, please fill out a request to speak form and hand it to the bailiff. Thank you.

Thank you. Brian Irvine is next, and I have two requests to speak for him. Well, one is from Mr. Irvine, and the other is from Steve Addison. Would you like to speak on public, or would you like to speak, Mr. Addison, on public hearing, quasi-judicial number two?

Thank you. Steve Addison is next, followed by David Levine.

Thank you. David Levine is next. And Mr. Levine is the last request to speak for him that I have.

Commissioners, it's time for Commissioner comments. We'll start with Commissioner Hetherington.

Yeah, I just want to say what an amazing turnout on our September 11th honor and remembrance ceremony at Layton Park and our walk over the Veterans Memorial Bridge. There must have been hundreds and hundreds of folks there. And it was so nice to see the young students. They were, and thank you to the school district for letting them come to Layton with a excused already to attend that remembrance ceremony. Again, there must have been 500 people and there was a lane closed down and it was nice to feel that support and the theme, I think, of everybody that spoke that morning was unity and how we

Thank you. I'll play on to some of what Commissioner Hetherington just said, but I'll bump the number up. Uptime is up for me as well. Many people would like to have access to that button. 3,000 people attended, not 500. Last year, they had 1,500. This year, we had nearly 3,000. And I'd like to thank PAL of Martin County. What they've done is they printed a photograph of each of the victims of 9-11, all of them, and put them on cards. And the folks that walked carried one.

I had Sean Lynch, and I went home and I looked him up. He was from New Jersey. He was 36 years old. He was a father. He worked at Cantor Fitzgerald's. And so what I liked when we remember, because I hear a lot of people saying, oh, we were celebrating September 11th. No, we weren't. We were not celebrating September 11th. We were remembering. PAL did a remarkable job, so did our fire rescue and our sheriff's office, the school district, as Commissioner Hetherington mentioned. What was heartwarming was how many children were there, because I would say, obviously, 99 percent of those young peopl

I also would like to add my thanks to the fire department and the sheriff for organizing the events of September 11th. It was really, really well organized. It was beastly hot and everything went off seamlessly. And also, I wanted to call our attention, there was a Star Spangled Banner performance that was the most beautiful that I've ever heard in my life. It was a sixth grade boy played the Star Spangled Banner on his electric guitar. And we were out in an open field, so he had amplifiers turned up really, really, really high, which was just perfect. That kid just shredded that guitar. It wa

We have his contact information. We can bring him. Let's do it. Let's do it.

And also, I want to talk about some wonderful improvements that we've made in water quality in South Florida. I'm our representative on the County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake Okeechobee, and we have been in a drought situation in our wet seasons for the last two years. And you never miss an opportunity to take care of an emergency. We've had a drought, so we've been able to address some characteristics in Lake Okeechobee over the last two summers, particularly this summer. In 2026, the South Florida Water Management District and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissio

It's hard not to mention something about the 9-11 bridge walk that we had. It was such a memorable occasion. I've done that a few times now, and I would like to encourage our residents to come out and be a part of that event each year. Even if you're not able to do the bridge walk, the ceremony itself on the field there at Jock Layton Park is very moving. When I thought about all the thunder that's already been taken by the other commissioners and what I could say about the event in addition to what they have said, I would just say that we heard some really moving speeches. by our sheriff and

Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, I hear what you're saying about the signage. And I've had people say to me, well, what's going on there? Did you approve that? Never came across my desk. However, you have to remember that folks are driving rather quickly on a lot of streets. It has to be printed in a way, and the verbiage must be concise. Because, you know, you said a lot, and that's fine, but that would be if it's written. If it's lived local... that would be state mandated, live local. People have a question, there's a telephone number to call Martin County. So I would definitely do that. We don't

There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Please continue.

So I also was out at the pump station of C-23. Governor DeSantis did come in. He spoke. quite eloquently about this new system that's flowing into the C-44. It was really hot there. Thank goodness that we did have a tent, but definitely wanted to be a witness to that. The other thing is I was also at the Bridge Walk. And every year when we celebrate, there's always a moment for us to reflect on where we were, what we were doing. how we could imagine this could happen in our country, having lived overseas in other countries and in the Middle East. I certainly understand the depth of despair, bu

I want to add another thing. Governor DeSantis said at the C-23, C-44 interconnect ribbon cutting that since he's been governor for eight years, that Florida has invested $10 billion in water quality improvement projects, which is a remarkable achievement. So I wanted to show my appreciation for those worthy projects, too. Mr. Donaldson. We are ready to begin the rest of our meeting. Let's take up, should we take up B and C1 first? Sure. Which is Library Board of Trustee Appointments.

I'll move waiving Samantha Suffolk's conflict of interest. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes four to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

I would do Samantha for the one that ends in 2029. And then the other one for the other person.

Got it. Is that satisfactory? Yeah. Okay. We don't need to vote on that, do we? Or do we? I'd make a motion to do that. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Thank you. We will now take a public hearing.

I'll take the one where the folks are here from Hobson.

Okay, that's public hearing. Public hearing quasi-judicial number two, which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an amendment to the Martin County Zoning Atlas to change the zoning district classification for Hobson Business Park LLC. And Mr. Sinnott will be here momentarily.

This is a quasi-judicial hearing. Anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn in.

I do. This is, are there any ex parte disclosures? Commissioner Vargas. Yes.

If I have any of the reports been filed.

I have them, and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy. If I have any, they've been filed. And Commissioner Hetherington. Mr. Sinnott, have you provided a copy of all of your relevant materials to the clerk?

I see that there's a request to intervene. Is there an intervener? Yes. Okay, so this is a slightly different procedure. Please explain how this is different and what the procedure is.

Since it is very rare that we do have an intervener, Ms. Elder, can you explain how that happens? What qualifies someone to be able to be an intervener?

Do you have a list of the permitted uses under M1?

How do they generally or specifically differ from the permitted uses in G1 and L1?

Okay. Also, is live local permissible under M1?

Any other questions? Not yet. Okay. Mr. Raines.

Questions for Mr. Nolan. Let me just finish up if I could.

Questions? I don't see any. Mr. Mackey, would you like to intervene?

Questions for Mr. Mackey? Nope. I don't see any. Let's proceed. All right. Mr. Capps.

Well, would anyone from the public like to address us? I don't see any. And Mr. Irvine, I know that you filled out two requests to speak forms, but you only are allowed to speak once about it.

So there are no public comments. So we will return to the board. Commissioner Capps.

So this parcel of land has two portions on it that have been talked about. One is the 3.7 acre piece that borders Powerline Road. And that one is a mandatory rezoning. And I wonder if our county attorney could just refresh our memories about what mandatory means and why that term is used.

So our options for the mandatory rezoning are limited industrial district, general industrial district, or heavy industrial district. And the one that is the most limited would be limited industrial district. And I think the applicant has already said that they're willing to go with limited industrial district on all of this land, so I would think that would be the most appropriate thing for the 3.7 acres. With regard to the larger piece, that's 104 acres. And when comparing M1 zoning with general industrial, GI, we see that the two are similar but not the same. The General Industrial District

Yeah, I have a question for the attorney. Can you split the property as such with two different zonings?

Okay, so is there any residential? Well, let's see. I guess it would be the north portion. It says A1, A1. Is there any residential in that area? I'm asking growth management. Because we're talking about M1, RE2A, A1, A1.

You're referring to the M1 that's owned? Requesting that. So what would you recommend?

I just wanted to talk to you. I appreciate you saying that because it has to be palatable to those folks that have lived out there or plan to live out there longer or generational. So I would like to make a motion that we approve this parcel in its entirety to the LI zoning.

I'd like to turn our attention to page 283. It has another designation called page 6 of 22. And I wonder if we could get that on the screen. Yes, page 283, or you could say page 6. Of the agenda item, I believe. The staff report.

Yes. Thank you. Let's look at the heading. It says targeted industry industry's business uses, and if we look down, about ten down, one of the targeted industry businesses says data processing services. Could that mean a data center?

So if we run with LI, we could have a data center, potentially. Not likely, but potentially.

And if we stuck with M1, we wouldn't have a data center, right?

So I would ask Commissioner Vargas, in light of what you've just heard, do you want to stick with the LI?

I would, because in light of what we spoke about at the last meeting and this morning, the comments, we have a moratorium right now. We have time to investigate.

Right now. Did we not speak last meeting about that?

The moratorium is coming back at a future meeting. Okay. That's fine. So we'll address it at that point. And I understand your concern. I'm very concerned about that, too, and I did see that. However, the likelihood of this happening immediately with the uproar in our community I think would be more remote. And I'm very cautious in saying that. And we do need to bring that matter up sooner than later about the moratorium. That was discussed last time. This is what our community wants.

But if we had a moratorium that was passed after we award this zoning, it wouldn't apply. This would be grandfathered in.

All right. So what's the alternative then for the zoning for this? It is more intense.

But why award the zoning that would allow it to happen?

So if I antiquated, isn't it we have to change the zoning? Is that correct?

So it could be developed now as a data center, the M1, is that correct? No, M1 does not provide a permitted use for a data center. But it's more intense.

Ms. Elder, could there be any restriction? I understand I've read all of this, the uses for the different zoning. Could there be any restriction? The permitted uses are for data centers I'm referring to.

So it's more beneficial to be more homogenous, to be homogenous on your zoning rather than having three different categories on one own parcel.

I'm going to pass the gavel and second Commissioner Capps' motion. Commissioner Capps.

So one thought that was advanced by Attorney Raines. is one that we hear quite often. It's like, go ahead and give us our zoning and you'll get another shot at this later at a thing called the final site plan approval. But what we've learned about final site plan approvals is that they're judicial decisions and I call it putting the cherry on the cake. The cake is already baked, the icing's already on it, and final site plan approvals are kind of about chewing around the edges on smaller issues usually, like, oh, let's have some more shrubbery around the edges of the property. Let's put in a t

And also, the final site plan may not come back to this board, as you brought up in your commissioner comments this morning.

A lot of those administrative today. Okay, well, I just want to say for the record, Commissioner Capps, you know how I feel about data centers, so it's not something that I definitely want to expose us to, but we do need to address this at our next meeting.

But you are. You're exposing it to us by keeping your motion on the table.

Well, then what is the resolution right now for this?

to award the limited industrial on the 3.7 acre piece because it's mandatory rezoning and to leave the existing M1 zoning on the larger piece, which is 104 acres.

Okay. So on the smaller piece, the three-plus acres, there could be a small data center put there.

No, I don't think that piece of land is big enough. That would be a problem with size.

No, no, I'm not talking about a mega. I'm talking about a smaller one. Well, it could be. I mean, we have, with Martin County, we have a small data center also.

Well, what would be the setbacks, Pete, on that 3.7 acres? Like, If we give them limited industrial on the 3.7 acres, you can't build on the full 3.7 acres. You can only build on probably an acre or two, right?

Yeah, which is not large enough for that.

Okay. So that we still have the exposure to what you're here.

So you're thinking we could build a data center on 3.7 acres? And that therefore we should go ahead and expose the rest of the property to a gigantic data center of 104 acres? Why don't you just limit it to the little tiny data center on Powerline Road and not put a gigantic one in on the 104 acres?

We have a small data center there on the small parcel. Colleagues, colleagues, I appreciate it. And then the other thing is we could keep the M1 zoning, and that is a heavy industrial.

No, no, no, it's not. M1 zoning is not heavy industrial.

But I just heard the county attorney say that M1 does not have a data center as approved use.

Okay. Somehow I ended up with the gavel. Because our chair has seconded Commissioner Capp's motion. Commissioner Hetherington and I have not had an opportunity to opine, which I would like. Commissioner Hetherington.

I was going to say this conversation has gone completely sideways based on the agenda item in front of us. What I heard was a rezoning and I heard the intervener ask for limited industrial and now I'm hearing this discussion of something that the applicant hasn't asked for, and the intervener asked for limit industrial, and somehow we're talking about data centers on the entire property. So I just would like to refocus us onto the matter at hand, which is a rezoning of this property. And I feel like we're getting kind of on a slippery slope legally on speculating uses and talking about what's

It's interesting how agenda items can just, you know, when I'm reviewing the agenda a week out, a couple days out, you think, okay, this is going to be a pretty easy agenda. This item is not so concerning. This particular one, I even wrote it down well before the applicant had offered it, and I was thinking general industrial to limited industrial because those were the matters that we were supposed to be thinking about. I was actually going to compliment every once in a while there is an agenda item that works its way exactly the way, at least from my perspective, it should. We had a gentlema

But if it was going to be a data center, they'd have to have told you that, correct?

On public record, if it's an applied and filed application, you're not giving us a secret. Yes, sir. While you're standing here, Mr. Raines, can we go back to the the map that shows the property with the different designations? Because doesn't this applicant or owner also own actual GI property already adjacent to the north, like south of Bridge Road and north of the parcel that we're speaking of?

Yes. Can you bring it down a little bit further? Okay, so that's cut there. Yeah, that's what I want. So that purple, you see the beige LI, there's two LIs in there, the beige ones. The property wrapped around it in fuchsia, whatever color you want to call it, does this applicant own that property as well? Yes, sir. That's my understanding. Okay. And on GI, could he put a data center there?

Okay. And so he already owns that property. It's already GI right next to this property. How many acres is that? Do we have any idea? It looks pretty big if we compare it to the MI 104 acres. 14.7. Okay. 19.7. Oh, 20 acres. But then there's the other piece, too, or it's just those, that's the whole thing?

Okay, go back to the one with the purple, please. This big section where it says, like where you can see the word that says resolution, is that his also? Both sides of that beige?

So you don't break them down. You don't show the individual lot lines there on who owns what. Here is the lot line for that. That's somebody else's. Correct. Yes. Okay. I'm just wondering if they have GI and you're talking about building I think, as Commissioner Hetherington said, we're really fixating, and I get it's a very important topic, but I feel like we're fixating on the concept of data centers and not to scare the residents that live nearby. But if you look at the list of what could happen on any of these properties, including M1, there's a lot of things that people would not want to

Thank you. Okay, we're going to have Commissioner Vargas.

Okay. So I'm looking at the 22-page staff report here, and I was just filing through it very quickly. The permitted uses, I see the limited industrial, I see the general industrial, and then I see heavy industrial district. Which one is the M1?

You see, I couldn't find it here, and I thought I'd ask the experts, so I did look. In my 10 seconds that I have to do that, I speed read here.

Okay. So I couldn't refer back and forth to LI to GI on this 22-page staff report and say, well, is more robust, the general industrial and, of course, the heavy industrial. Am I correct?

Right. Okay. So GI cannot be transposed to the M1 zoning right now.

Okay. Well, the limited industrial, as I can read this here, is restrictive. Correctional facilities not allowed, not permitted. Airports, general aviation not permitted. Biofuel facility not permitted. Research and development laboratories and facilities, including alternative energy, is permitted. Then I see technology centers permitted. Aviation and aerospace manufacturing permitted. This is under LI. Chemical manufacturing permitted. Data processing. centers services are permitted also. Information services and data processing permitted. Transportation, air permitted. Railroad transportati

So, Paul, you mentioned that the MI is basically A light industrial use. Yes, sir.

So you could build like an industrial park, a light industrial park on the full parcel here with existing zoning?

Okay. I had one more question. While we're learning about data centers, we're learning a lot about data centers, aren't we? Aren't we? There could be some side benefits here, right? The table that I referred to earlier was called targeted industries business uses. And Ms. Elder, could you tell us what that means?

Well, as in prior discussions, I think we've talked about how the state of Florida has a list of targeted industry businesses. and data centers is on the list for the state of Florida. And what I wanted to put out there so that we all understand, Paul, you mentioned that if a building is over 100,000 square feet, it comes back to the board. From what I understand, If it's a targeted industry on a list of targeted industries created by the state of Florida, it doesn't come back to the board. It's administratively approved. So in the future, if a data center were to come online, it's very possib

Well, most data centers would probably be over 100,000 square feet. So in those cases, the data center would be administratively approved.

Okay. All right. I don't think I've had enough questions. Commissioner Hetherington.

Yes. Again, we're here today to discuss the zoning, and the applicant made a presentation. The residents had their say, and I would like to second Commissioner Vargas' motion to take into account what the...

See, I didn't. Which motion are we taking up? One second. I just want to be clear on my position. The applicant came in looking for GI, General Industrial, and the staff had agreed with them, and that was their recommendation to the Commission. The community organized, rallied, intervened, and came forward with their goal was to stop that from happening. And their actual, they would have counted it as a win, which is what we heard in most of the public comment. And even the intervener actually had to, like, scrap his whole strategy because he was pleased with the ally. They would have left, pr

Excuse me. Opposed. Did you hear me? Yes. Okay.

That motion fails 3-2 with Commissioners Vargas, Hetherington and Campy dissenting.

There's a motion to change the zoning on the entire parcel to LI. All those in favor? Aye.

She was second. Commissioner Hetherington was the second for that.

That motion passes 3-1 with commissioners Hurd and Capps dissenting.

That's what happens when you pass the gavel.

We are going to take a 10-minute break, and we will return with public hearing number one.

Thank you. We are back taking up public hearing number one, which is a public hearing on the proposed Martin County Trico settlement for Gerald A. Prevac versus Martin County.

Okay. The damages he's seeking are quantity? $50,000. And this was investigated and we've been found culpable? Commissioner Campy.

Thank you. This is not an item that we will take any action on, but I represent the board as our representative with the Trico, and I wanted to compliment our Carolyn Breda, has handled it for quite a long time in Heather's department. We review every single thing. By the time it even comes to me, it's been very well vetted. We never agree to just whatever it is. We really try to be as fair as possible for both the person that is bringing the case, as well as our taxpayers. So when it does come to us, it has been very well vetted, and that number is as legit as it's going to be. We are very ca

This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us? I don't see any. Moving back to the board for a recommendation. Excellent. We will move on to public hearing quasi-judicial number one, which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an amendment to the Martin County Zoning Atlas to change the zoning district classification for Kroc Enterprises, LLC. Mr. Elam. This is a quasi-judicial public hearing. Commissioner Vargas, any ex parte disclosures?

If I have any, that report has been filed.

If I have any, they've been filed. Commissioner Campy?

I don't have any, and that's been filed.

And Commissioner Hetherington? I don't have any, and that's been filed. Would anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony please stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn in?

Mr. Elam, have you provided a copy of your credentials to the clerk?

Questions for Mr. Elam? I DON'T SEE ANY. MR. HOUSTON, WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A PRESENTATION?

Questions for Mr. Houston from Kimley Horn. Mr. Campy.

Madam Chair, after public comment, I would just make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. Mr. Crocker's been a longtime business owner and employer and taxpayer, and I think a product of Hope Sound. So if we can assist him in his efforts to improve his business, which would improve our community, I'm all about it. Thank you.

Would anyone from the public like to address this? I don't see any. So the public hearing portion is closed. Commissioner Capps.

Ms. Elder, there's a sentence in the agenda item summary that says a zoning change is necessary to update the property's development standards. Is that the same thing as mandatory rezoning?

Commissioner Vargas. Okay, so this is similar to the previous conversation we had a moment ago about this being brought up to date because this is the old zoning district. And this, I think, is one of the few parcels, if not the last parcel. Is that correct, to be modified?

And those are the same permitted uses that we spoke about 15 minutes ago, correct? I'm looking at the list.

Is there a recommendation? I'll second the motion. Is there a motion? Yeah, a motion. I'll second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We will take up Department 1, which is Office of Management and Budget Items, which require board approval. Good afternoon, Ms. Murley.

I just want to say I'm not going to be supporting this. We're going to be responsible for the maintenance of this project, $35,000 a year. We're going to take $42,000 allocated from the hog striping storage final order site plan to the project, and I'm not going to be supporting this.

We may have to. I didn't want to do it yet because I may want to vote against several other items also.

Sure. Can I ask a question to your point, Madam Chair? What's our alternative?

That is an alternative, a viable alternative. It's in the FDOT right-of-way.

And then we get all the responsibility for maintenance. No thanks.

And just out of curiosity, where would the hog striping fund, can we put that into general or some other public works? Some place where it's more appropriate.

Ms. Marley, would that go back to jungle or?

Can somebody tell me where these are proposed?

Primarily west of St. Lucie River and east of 95?

This is the problem is that it creates winners and losers. Well, someone's going to get it.

And I've been watching projects pending awards, and it looks to me like Port Salerno, New Monrovia has been pending an award for septic to sewer for about four months now. What's the delay with that?

That's a good idea. Thanks. Please proceed.

Any further questions for Ms. Murley? Well, commissioners, I would like to separate number two from the rest of the agenda items.

I'd make a motion to accept all of the items presented by Ms. Murley except for number two.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Commissioner Capps.

Yes. Commissioner Hurd, I was wondering if you could explain your position one more time about number two.

Yeah. It's in FDOT right of way, which I don't think is the best location for using the funding from the CROC or the hog striping storage final order site plan. How much is that amount? Do you know?

But is that the whole thing or a portion of it?

Yeah, it's the $42,000. So we have a development order that requires that we spend $42,000 on planting trees somewhere in District 2. Four. Four, I'm sorry.

Or five. Unless you want them in District 2.

And so I think that we can find a more appropriate location. And also this requires that we spend $35,000 a year to maintain it. And that also seems high.

Well, does that mean that we're not getting the trees one day, like in another location? I thought you said I thought your concern was that they were an FDOT right of way. And Jim, I thought you said that we could plant the tree somewhere else. Does that resolve the problem?

Yeah, so now we need to discuss whether we're going to approve two.

It depends upon if three people want to.

So we want to decline approving item number two. and move that those funds that were generated from the development order of Kroc Technologies revert to District 4.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. Now we'll take up Department 2, which is contracts that meet threshold for board approval of $1 million or greater. Ms. Brotherton.

And we're only selecting one, right? Correct. Of these? So the numbers are the span of the bid. We vetted them and they meet all of our requirements? Yes. A little better? Yes.

OK. Mr. Vargas. So what are we paying per year? to this contractor? It's 25 million total is what I see here, nine years.

Can you help me out here as to how much we're paying them?

Right. So if they have fewer tonnage or less amount of tonnage, shall I say, in a given year and then a little more in the next year, who's regulating that?

MS. Okay. But in the normal course of business, what would that be in a given year? No hurricane, no tornado, nothing like that? What, in your experience, both of you? MR.

That's what I was calculating in my mind, but I just wanted to be sure I was correct. Okay. So that's about it. That's about it. From a course of business. Correct. I understand about a storm.

I just wanted to learn a little bit more about the processes for yard waste. So it's picked up in people's yards by waste management, right? And then they take it over to the landfill and run it through the weight process, you know, the scales, and they drop it off in a building there and it gets picked up by these people and taken somewhere.

So they're responsible for the disposal of everything, you know, and they have their places. Okay, thanks.

Just on to Commissioner Capp's point. So the $18.69 per ton is the haul-away cost. from after it goes to the transfer station once it's hauled away.

And that also goes across the scale. Right. Hopefully they let it dry out for some time. So we're hauling dry debris where they don't have a water hose at this rate soaking the debris. Thank you, Wade.

And those old people drove around without a tarp on it. So by the time they showed up where they were, the trailer was empty.

Thank you. Recommendations? I'll move approval.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We have reached the end of this agenda. We will come back at 5 o'clock or 5.05 in order to continue our agenda item with the adoption of the 2026-27 budget. Okay. Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to our Board of County Commission meeting. It is September 15th and we are about to embark on our fiscal year 2027 tentative budget public hearing, adoption hearing. Ms. Murley, please proceed.

Okay. More of a comment. Ms. Murley, on the total budget dollars, if you could go back to that slide, please. That one, budget total. Yes. FY26, FY27 looks dramatically different. I asked Mr. Donaldson about that. Can you explain why, or Mr. Donaldson can explain why that number is as large as it looks?

Thank you. What I was hoping for was the half a cent sales tax brings in how much money?

Twenty million. So 20 million is voted by the public to bring that money in for conservation land. So 20 million of that increase is from the half a cent sales tax. And then when Mr. Donaldson mentions utility programs, if we're really working hard on converting people from their septic systems to their sewer systems, and uh Port Solano, New Monrovia, we're doing it in Old Palm City. Those projects are multi-million dollar projects that, through the utility department, folks will sign up to be part of it. In Palm City, I think, along Map Road corridor, we're talking about like 1,200 homes will

Okay. We'll take a public comment. Mr. Donaldson, would you like to?

Thank you. Our first request to speak form is from Ethan Pence, followed by Linda Russell. Please come up to the podium, and you'll have three minutes each to address us. Ethan Pence is not here. Oh, here he is.

He savages us. He's got an official prepared statement.

Linda Russell is next, followed by Kayla Glancy.

I think we should just leave it at that.

Thank you. Kayla Glancy is next, followed by Steve Williams. Good afternoon, Kayla.

Thank you. Well done. Steve Williams is next, followed by Vincent Encomio.

Vincent Ancomio is next, followed by Richard Geisinger.

Richard Geisinger is next, followed by Darlene Van Riper.

Thank you. Darlene Van Ryper is next, followed by Josh Mills.

Thank you. Josh Mills is next, followed by Jonathan Perry.

Thank you. Jonathan Perry is next, followed by Olivia Lockwood.

Olivia Lockwood is next, followed by Jason Bultman. Good afternoon.

Jason Bultman is next, followed by Lucas Jones.

Lucas Jones is next, followed by James Jones.

James Jones is next, followed by Amiya Cecilia Jones. Okay. Hey, James.

Thank you. Next is Amia Cecilia Jones. Hi there.

Gary Erler is next, followed by Susan O'Rourke.

All right, Gary, let's see if you can be as cute as that.

I'd revert my three minutes to her. Tell them what you do for a living.

Thank you. Susan O'Rourke is next, followed by John Dial.

Thank you. John Dial is next, followed by Jim Moyer.

Thank you. Jim Moyers next, followed by Martin Mose. And Mr. Mose is the last request to speak form I have. So if you would like to address us, please fill out one of these request to speak forms and get it to the bailiff. Thank you. Afternoon.

Thank you. Martin, most is our last request to speak forum.

Thank you. Well, how shall we proceed here? Mr. Donald.

And also for all the people who have joined us today because you're concerned about the future of the IFAS program, the Master Gardeners, and 4-H, you are going to lose your home at the fairgrounds because the fairgrounds are moving to Indiantown, but you are safe now. Thank you. So, commissioners, we have to do a number of resolutions and pass them, starting with the millage rate, the tentative millage rate.

I thought I could be whatever you'd like me to be. You did it last year.

Are you sure you want me to do this now? Or why don't we do it when we get there? You want to just do it now? Yeah. I can go and do it now. Okay. Whatever works for you. All right. Sounds good.

Madam Chair, are we at the point where I'm just going to start reading these off now? Okay. Seeing no lights on for my colleagues, I'll begin to read. There are probably two dozen, give or take. 34 different resolutions. So how we do this, we read them each. I will tell you the taxing authority, the rollback rate, the percentage of increased or decrease or rollback rate and then what the tentative millage is. So first one, move approval to set the tentative millage rate for Board of County Commissioners countywide rollback rate of 6.2683 with percentage of increase over rollback rate 4.68 for

That is a motion? Yes. Okay. I would like to just make a couple of comments before I second the motion. I would like to remind us all that this proposed budget does not raise the millage rates. We call this a flat budget. The millage rates are going to be exactly what they were last year. And I want to thank staff and department leaders for coming in with their proposed budgets this year reasonably and conservatively. I believe they did that. The entire budget is going up by 5.4 percent. When you think of the national inflation rate, everything goes up in price. It's not that far off from infl

People need a breather. They need a breather. And I think I've been called the money hawk, which I'm very proud. I've only been here a year and nine months, but I saw it immediately what I felt we need to do to quantify with Martin County dollars that are given to us in good faith. Having said that, there is room to tighten the belt. Absolutely. And as a matter of fact, Let's talk about the practicality. More Americans are drowning in their mortgages right now. And that has climbed to 3.2% across the country. This is very real. So that means that these folks owe more than what their property i

We will as soon as your comments are concluded.

Okay, so we will be deciding whether or not we're going to take the tentative millage or the rollback rate?

A tentative millage rate of 6.56, 6.5614.

We need to be looking at the rollback rate, and I am pushing for the rollback rate. There's no reason to increase this particular amount right now. We are not in that position. We're going to fall hard. And I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm a realist also.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Do you want a response? No. Item B, move approval of a tentative budget for the Martin County Commissioner's countywide fund total $334,395,217. I need a second. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to 1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Item C, move approval to set the tentative millage rate for District 1 MSTU with a rollback rate of 0.0643 with a percentage of increase over the rollover of negative 0.93 for a tentative millage rate of 0.0637. Yes, that was reduced. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for District 1 MSTU with a fund total of $372,909. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Item E, move approval to set tentative millage rate for Taxing Authority District 2 MSTU with a rollback rate of 0.0713 with a percentage increase of a rollback rate of negative 0.56 for a tentative millage rate of 0.0709. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Item F, move approval of tentative budget for District 2 MSTU with a fund total of $215,000. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Commissioner Hampton, I'd like to say something about District 3 MSTU. At this time I would like to make a motion to keep district 3 ad valorem collection the same as last year That would be cutting my district funds by 22,000 I think it is twenty two thousand two hundred and thirty three dollars Is that the one which would be the rollback rate of negative one point three one?

Okay. I'll read it. Move approval to set tentative millage rate for District 3 MSTU with a rollback rate of 0.0383, percentage of increase over rollback rate of negative 1.31 with a tentative millage rate of 0.0378. Second.

So are we, I'm confused. What is the motion on this if Commissioner Capps has just made a statement?

It's actually a little more than rollback, right? It's beyond rollback. It's to make the dollars the same as last year, which would take it down below rollback.

Below rollback. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Yes.

Move approval of a tentative budget for District 3 MSTU with a fund total of $324,881. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Item I, move to set a tentative millage rate for District 4 MSTU with a rollback rate of 0.0463 with a percentage of increase over the rollback rate of negative 2.81 for a tentative millage rate of 0.0450. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for District 4 MSTU of $214,038. Second. There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval to set the tentative millage rate for District 5 MSTU with a rollback rate of 0.0648, percentage of increase over the rollback rate negative 2.01. for a millage rate of 0.0635. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for District 5 MSTU with a fund total of $370,000. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval to set the tentative millage rate for Special District A61 Hutchinson Island MSTU with a rollback rate of 0.1732 with a percentage of increase over the rollback rate of plus 3.87 for a tentative millage rate of 0.1799. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Opposed?

That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. Don't you establish this millage rate?

Yeah, that used to be on A1A landscaping, lighting, you know, to present for them.

Move approval of a tentative budget for Special District A61 Hutchinson Island MSTU with a fund total of $439,159. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval to set tentative millage rate for county fire rescue unincorporated MSTU with a rollback rate of 2.5353 with a percentage of increase of a rollback rate of 4.04. for a tentative millage rate of 2.6376. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4 to 1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for County Fire Rescue Unincorporated, MSTU, with a fund total of $90,105,720. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes four to one with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval to set the tentative millage rate for parks and recreation, MSTU, with a rollback rate of 0.1415. Percentage of increase over rollback rate 4.17 for a tentative millage rate of 0.1474. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for Parks and Recreation MSTU with a fund total of $4,598,946. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval to set the tentative millage rate for county stormwater and road maintenance MSTUs in unincorporated with a rollback rate of 0.5494. Percentage of increase over rollback 4.15. Tentative millage rate 0.5722. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for the county stormwater and road maintenance MSTU unincorporated with a fund total of $16,614,596. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for General Unincorporated, $8,296,433. Second. There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for building and permitting with a fund total of $9,492,356. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for impact fees, $3,926,105. Second. There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for special revenue, $34,650,023. Second. There's a motion and a second.

Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for grants, $2,687,286. Second. There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for other debt service, $9,692,582. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval of a tentative budget for other capital projects with a fund total of $34,425,055. Second. There's a motion and a second.

Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for Utilities Enterprise with a fund total of $131,819,847. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Move approval of a tentative budget for solid waste enterprise with a fund total of $54,164,524. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for airport enterprise with a fund total of $4,168,189. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for Golf Course Enterprise with a fund total of $3,771,000. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor?

Move approval of a tentative budget for internal services with a fund total of $49,130,723. Second. There's a motion and a second.

All those in favor, aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting.

Move approval of a tentative budget for trusts, $85,000. This is fund total. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.

Move approval of a tentative budget for community redevelopment area trusts with the fund total of $10,638,336. Second.

There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 4-1 with Commissioner Vargas dissenting. That's the end. That concludes our required resolutions.

I just want to express my sincere appreciation for your terrific budgeting staff. You do a terrific job. Thank you very much. Very professional.

Thank you. Same here. Great job, Ms. Murley. And her staff.

County Administrator Don Donaldson, you get a lot of credit for that, too. It's the team. No, you can't take any credit. I can't take any credit, no. Stephanie understands.

I'd like to thank the young folks that came to speak and advocate and lobby for their 4-H and for IFAS. They were articulate. They were respectful. They were prepared. Some of them stayed through that whole exciting presentation we just did. And I agree with you. You are absolutely the future of our community and our country.

Ethan, you're a leader. You led off beautifully. You established a model for all. I set the tone. Yep, you did. Thank you. We are adjourned.