Additional Personnel Request - Code Compliance Department - $306,821.00

1:08:37We'll move to R forty seven. Additional personal request for code compliance.

1:08:42Is this possibly my favorite thing today?

1:08:46I I'm surprised you didn't comment on the Cogan Grasser went

1:08:48through it. I need balloons and fireworks.

1:08:53Okay.

1:08:56This morning. Favorite thing this morning.

1:08:59Well good morning.

1:09:00It's a good morning. That's all I'm

1:09:04Mm-hmm.

1:09:17That greatly reduces the pressure.

1:09:22You don't even have to present. Let's just go yes.

1:09:28I moved to a cruise.

1:09:32So are we good? Uh Patrick Ariton, Code Compliance Director. uh this morning asking for Extra or FTEs for code compliance. I'm sorry.

1:09:48And they're all for me.

1:09:50Yeah. So I'll just go over a quick agenda for it. I thank Commissioner for saying that so early. Very appreciative of it. In this fiscal year we'll go over some impacts, those are the big things that you probably want to know what the bottom line is and what it's going to cost. So currently uh this is the way our overview looks. It's it's changed just slightly recently. We had two officers leave, uh so we're we're actually down two at the moment. Um If you look at the way these numbers

1:10:20play out, and I think I've spoken to uh a few of the commissioners, if not all of you, at one point, talking about the number of code officers there are out there. If you if you drill these numbers down, there's uh one code officer for about 23,000 residents. And um They need some help out there right now. And if you break it down even further into square miles, uh one code officer covers 35 square miles, and they're responsible for if you took an average and they actually uh were working businesses routinely, they would have uh four

1:10:51hundred and fifty-two businesses that they would be responsible for uh for one code officer. On the bottom there you can see we also handle some navigable waters, as you folks know, uh docks, uh canal widths, stuff like that we also uh look at, our guys look at. So to say they're understaffed is um is a phrase I wouldn't use, uh overstretched maybe at this point.

1:11:17The objectives behind this, obviously number one, is if you have two people at a location, it's better than one. Um I know you're familiar with law enforcement. They like to send a couple of people out. We would Like to send two people to some of these. We just can't at the moment. Our response time uh is pretty good right now. We've gone from about seven days since I came on to a little over four days response time. That's just in general for all of the priority calls. Uh goal is

1:11:47to get down to respond within twenty-four to forty-eight hours for every call that comes in. We have done a number of missions. I don't know if I've sent that information to you. I probably uh should send you more of that. We do a lot of assisting with some of the other Pasco County. Departments, parks and recreation, we do own a boat, so we do offer that. We go out and help them recently with swim lines along the Anclote River or Anclote beach

1:12:17area. Uh we also do a lot of work with the Sheriff's Office and I I believe recently we've had two of our guys become instructors for ATV and boat. So we'll be working a little more with the Sheriff's Office. Uh we want to increase uh our It won't increase our presence along US Highway 19 and we'll touch on that a little bit later. And the creation, you know, fostering these relationships within the community. We are in the process of trying to get together a

1:12:47list of all the HOAs and all the presidents within those HOAs so that we can work with them, find out what issues they're having in their neighborhoods, and how we can help them. And then ultimately, if we ever get to the numbers where I feel comfortable enough, we'll start back on full-time weekends. Uh right now, if we uh are granted the five additional FTEs, we're gonna try to initiate at least one weekend a month. And we'll just put that sporadically so the citizens don't know that

1:13:17we're coming. Um so we can Look for those signs and those right-of-way violations that are happening during the weekends.

1:13:26So the fiscal impact is going to be the first number 306, 821 will be the upfront impact. Uh that does include uh operational cost and vehicle. So it's the startup cost. The 409-097 will be budgeted for next year and obviously with operating costs we'll have to annually budget for that going forward. The uh second line there, which I'm not very familiar with the Municipal Services Fund,

1:13:57so I'm not going to go into detail on that. You folks are far more educated on it than I am. This is how it's going to be moved around, realigning the funds from the Municipal Services Fund, restricted reserves account to the Municipal Services Fund, to us, the Code Compliance Department.

1:14:16Staff plan. This is what we're planning on doing with the five additional personnel that we bring in. As you see on the top, we are going to start looking at businesses and commercial properties a little harder. They're going to review business tax receipts, research site development plans, and that coincides with that landscaping issue. uh who has kind of violated that original site plan. w uh when they first put it in. One of the personnel is going to be assigned to review

1:14:46these plans and research these plans, and they're also going to be tasked with tracking the data that's associated with these violations. Uh another one will be right-of-way violations. Uh, that includes the trash and the signs that we're starting to see uh routinely. We're getting complaints on Uh they'll be keeping track of that and exp uh responding to them. So there'll be a person solely dedicated to that uh violation. And then the last one, we're getting a number of fence violations and

1:15:16permitted use zoning violations. We're going to try to dedicate one of his personnel to research and review and handle those cases as they come in.

1:15:30Do I have one more? Okay, so w with that any questions? I know that was kinda brief. Lunch time. Commissioner Starkey.

1:15:39Well I I am excited about this. I know um you know Commissioner Bradford has has uh also expressed how we needed to go ahead and get started on these things. ASAP. So um I am grateful that you were able to bring this forward now because the need is great. And you know, I I'm finding actually many places that never came in for a cycle. They may have got their zoning

1:16:10and then they just went off and opened their business with no site plan review, no site plan approval. Um and so we just you know we can we just have to have some work to do to get this county back where it needs to be. And what and once we've got it, you know, I I I think that we'll get to a place where it'll be much easier for our businesses um to to maintain what we want them to maintain. Um and easier on everybody. And I won't be putting in uh showing you all those

1:16:40pictures all the time. You're

1:16:43not

1:16:43and uh driving everyone crazy. So um I'm I'm really in support of this and I know you need more, um, but this is a great first step before even before October first.

1:16:55Commissioner Bradford.

1:17:01I uh I concur with Commissioner Starkey, it's something that we need to do, we need to do as soon as possible. Um the stretch is a nice word, uh, but uh we could do even more, that would be great. Uh you know we asked the same amount of people to do more work. So them back up is of utmost concern to all of us. They want more we want them to be able to

1:17:31want to come to work and make a difference for the community. And that's our should be our goal.

1:17:40Commissioner Oakley?

1:17:41Yeah, I'll have to agree. It's uh it's kinda overdue because of the amount of people we're gaining in the county uh year after year that are coming here and moving here. We have a lot of issues out there in some of the over areas of our county that are have been neglected because we don't have enough people. So I'm in agreement. Did you make a motion?

1:18:03I I move make the motion to approve. Second.

1:18:07Further discussion. Thank you. I I think Pat you're doing a phenomenal job. Um I think your hands are tied a little bit. The homeless situation that we have up on US nineteen, um what's what's the status on leisure one at Leisure Beach? Well, we've had the drone footage showing a camp out there and we know they're violating out there and What what have we what what has ever happened with that camp? We know there's violations. Yes.

1:18:34Yeah. When our officers initially went out there they didn't see the violation from the right-of-way but later they were able to obtain a view from it. So the property owner has been cited for it. So they've been warned to remove uh the trash and the debris. There's a trespass agreement in place already, I believe, with that property. So when the time comes to actually move anybody from there we'll have to have the sheriff's office go with us and um remove the people prior to the trash. But the property owner is responsible for that.

1:19:05Okay. And and that would be something that you would if they didn't clean it up you'd clean it up and then we'd put a lien to the property or what would happen?

1:19:11Yes. I mean typically we Historically we have helped with the cleanup. Uh we're kind of stepping away from that a little bit. Uh force the property owners to do their cleanup on their own property, but yes, that's technically the way it goes. So

1:19:24I think one of the things if we're gonna clean up all these camps up and down nineteen is to actually maybe look at putting money into that as part of what we do here. Um, because right now just leaving it there with all that trash. I mean you you saw Hurricane E and all the trash that got like thrown in. And that was just a fairly clean place. You take all the trash that's along our coast, along nineteen, where all's that trash gonna go?

1:19:47I got I gotta trash.

1:19:49So environmentally it's something we need to go address as well. Um I know the trespass agreements are critical. But again it's it's still doesn't seem to be getting it done. What like This is like over three weeks ago now. What has happened out there? Any anything? Like other than sight it up. Has he cleaned it up at all? Do we know?

1:20:09I don't I don't believe there's been much of a cleanup in process, but as you're aware of there is a process. So they're given thirty days uh to clean up or make uh appropriations to clean up and then Technically they'll ask sometimes they ask for an extension, but that's where we're at about right now. So we're almost at that d that first deadline.

1:20:28Uh so let's let's let's go down to the subject 'cause again I'm I'm I'm in forward of doing things that are gonna get things done, um you know backing things that way, but If I've got a homeless population that's there. We've got a trespass agreement that's in place. You find this a violation. Why did they have thirty days to go clean it up? Why aren't we doing this? Why isn't it being done quicker?

1:20:51Well the state requires that we give some type of warning time frame before you actually cite.

1:20:56Okay, so what is it?

1:20:58Is it thirty days? Thirty days is what they they asked by state.

1:21:01Is it asked or mandated?

1:21:03Mandate, but you can give less, but you can give up two thirty.

1:21:06Okay, so why

1:21:07so in that situation we we base it on how much stuff is there, trash, and give appropriate time, which we think it would be to clean it up.

1:21:16Can can I add to Commissioner

1:21:18Starkey

1:21:19guy? So so when we go so we we had this this morning and I um emailed uh to ask a few questions about it um on some liens or some fines that became liens this morning. So when you go in and have to clean up a property Um, my understanding is uh if they pay those fines then they can pay 'em and it's gone. But if they don't, it goes on and it doubles. Is that correct?

1:21:48That's correct. It comes back in an invoice to us and we double it and then add the paper fees.

1:21:54Yeah, so what was six thousand dollars to some property next to Universal Plaza in in uh pick cleanup fees became twelve thousand dollars. So I just want to make sure you you guys knew that. I mean it's to their benefit to go in and clean it up themselves. Because if we're gonna pay for it and I citizens are gonna cover that bill, it's gonna be much more expensive for us.

1:22:16So so for the residents that have to deal with this and obviously crime goes up, trash goes up, uh It's unpopular as far as local retail establishments that they'll they'll go hang out in front of. Uh they'll panhandle more. I don't know why and I think this board should do but we should look at the changing this policy right now. If we're giving these people thirty days, I think that thing should be sh shortened up to a week. And if it's a ton of stuff that's out there and a ton of people that's out there, so be it it's on them. They let it happen. It's illegal. We should be doing it. We shouldn't give them 30 days. It should be seven days.

1:22:47What's that? Go ahead. if we can, I'm saying.

1:22:53There are So trash and debris, you're gonna have to give 'em thirty days unless there is a

1:23:03There's a statutory phrase which is that basically that the harm the harm that is occurring cannot be uh

1:23:14Exigence. Exigency. Um trespass is a whole different animal because that's you're really operating outside of one sixty two. You're operating on a trespass agreement that a property owner has uh signing to the sheriff's office. So you've moved out of code enforcement and you've moved into criminal trespass. So so

1:23:44what Patrick is saying is correct that that in from his standpoint and from what his agency does. Statute statutorily there is a 30-day clock for most everything that code enforcement does.

1:24:01The trespass agreements are sort of you need to look at them in sort of a separate file.

1:24:08Well the ones he has the most effectiveness is w when there's a trespass agreement. If there's no trespass agreement you can't go check the site out of you can't see it from the road, correct?

1:24:16If

1:24:16we can

1:24:16see

1:24:17it from the public

1:24:17right away,

1:24:18we can address those issues electrically. Most of the time is deep in the woods, you can't see it. So the trespassing rooms are critical for you to be able to go look look and investigate, correct? It's probably more critical that the

1:24:28Sheriff's Office can go on the case.

1:24:33And then we'll handle the trash side.

1:24:35Okay. So if You have a trespass agreement in place. Do you have to call the sheriff first or do you go in to look at it first?

1:24:45They'll look at it, they'll drive by the location and see if they can observe the violations from the public right away.

1:24:51So if you can't see it from the public right away, knowing there's a trespass agreement in place, do you have to wait for the sheriff to go in and go take a look at it?

1:24:57For safety purposes, absolutely. Okay.

1:25:00That's what that's the procedure that you do, period. Yes. Okay. Um And how much I I know I know Alex is in the audience. I think we've talked to you like a like to have like a week's notice to when you're gonna go back go out there?

1:25:12Uh we try to give them as much heads up as we can. It's been better lately that we can give them a little more advanced notice uh because their services are required elsewhere as well, but I think we've set it up fairly well lately.

1:25:26Okay. So one one of the things, Deb Eubanks who runs that homeless group that says hundreds of people that uh follow her and she had a thing going on and Jeff, I think we you were on the email and you commented on it or or saw the email.

1:25:38Well I

1:25:39I've seen it, I've not commented on it. So on on a safety aspect, look let's say someone feels they're on sa it's unsafe. I mean in as you just said Your deputy uh your your code enforcement people won't go in there because they're afraid. We we talked about the machete attack up in Hudson or the h the machete threat to your people that you said, we can't go there anymore. That's when brought Alex and the Sheriff's people back in to say if you're gonna go in there, you've gotta be safe, you've got to be protected because you you guys don't carry. um and in

1:26:09and going through that If someone calls in and they think there's something going on. Um and they're afraid of their safety. What is the level of safety that we need to be at?

1:26:21Cha.

1:26:24So that was as the board is aware, that would the the what's at issue here is the new statute that was adopted, I think, two years ago, that basically says that code can't the board can't take anonymous complaints anymore. Um I got that email chain yesterday morning, I was preparing for the board. I have not had the opportunity to go into the legislation to see if there's I mean there's no public records exemption. The The

1:26:55question is whether or not there is some other exemption that was adapt adopted with with that statute. I just haven't had time to

1:27:03s I'll give you time for that. I and I I know you've seen it, so I'm I'm glad you're in the loop and I'm glad we're talking about this now. Alright, so let me go to another thing. Um yesterday I went with uh Rich Jenkins, we drove up and down nineteen, pretty much knew what the sites I'm gonna go look at, the ones that had vegetation in, the ones that didn't have vegetation in, some were newer projects that were in. Some were a little bit older. And some just uh some had vegetation, some didn't have any. Some of them. Just probably just took them out 'cause there's monument signs on the ground.

1:27:33You couldn't see the bushes. That's my impression. Don't know. Um Even if you offer those people money to go do tree mitigation funds, as part of this is code violations. Um I would like you to be able to go through and and put a report together with each individual one. That we if we go up and down nineteen, this somet I think I should start out. Go up and down nineteen and go look at everyone that looks to be in violation. and then ask them why. they wouldn't use the tree mitigation fund to comply.

1:28:04Now I know you're gonna get someone to say, well, I think the bushes are gonna be too high, I think the trees are too much to block my view, I don't have the money to go put in a parking lot where I gotta go put a median in, to put plants in. I would like you to get that information if we're going to go do this to find out what's going on. Um, I've always felt that some of this on on nineteen was gonna be very tough. When you're driving down and you get poll signs that are like sixty feet in the air, people can see that sign before they get up to it. Other times when the monument signs can't see it, it's been a problem and I think it's I think it's a reason why we get a

1:28:34lot of blight. So I think a lot of them that are not going to be a little bit more than Don't change one monument sign, don't want to give up their height. They don't want to comply to the other land development code. But I would like you guys, if we're going to do this, to find that out. Let's go find out what's causing the problem of why they don't want to comply. Because we're offering free money with the tree mitigation fund to do it. There's got to be a reason in our doing it. And if we're going to go through this, I want to get that information back.

1:28:57It's not 100% free. They have to invest as well.

1:29:00That's okay. But I mean this is it's a big financial incentive to go.

1:29:05Um

1:29:06They may not tell you. They may tell them.

1:29:11Well, I think that's we need like forty more officers then.

1:29:16Well I a and again we gotta we

1:29:18gotta focus on nights.

1:29:24We can put it on their plate and and see if we have the opportunity to

1:29:28do it.

1:29:28I mean if

1:29:29you if you would go can you put the map back up? To show where the codes are?

1:29:50Okay.

1:29:53Commissioner Oakley only gets a couple.

1:29:56Even

1:29:56though you're at half the county. But if you look at your intensity seems to be right along Those quarters are nineteen anyway. So I think maybe we need to look at look at that district and maybe adjust if we're gonna bring more in. Maybe you need just have someone specifically right on that roadway. Going up and down. Let everything branch off to the side, but let someone focus right in that area and just let's go dissect it. Let's go find out what's going on with

1:30:18it. Well that's the the additional staff or the the way I outlined it there. The one person can look at that. Uh but we're only gonna have one person that we can potentially dedicate to it. So nineteen alone would be very cumbersome for one person.

1:30:33But if you look at all your violations, I'm sure that's what the predominant number is. And if you look at you got some people that cover all the way from nineteen to Shady Hills, you got another one that's going from there to the coast. You've got a couple of smaller segments that are going deep over the little road, um, back over. I think it's maybe time to re look at that code and let's go look all the way down. So you're not having like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven eight code people on on nineteen already? Maybe you change the districts and let's focus on that corridor. Put two

1:31:04in there up and down. Make Marine Parkway the mix or Ridge Road the mix or whatever and just focus on that and then everything east and west of it that can be broken up other ways. But that's your big corridor, that's where your big problems are and everything falling off that. Most of your homeless are coming off the nineteen, they're coming to the woods blanketing right off it. That's where the issues are. So having like ten different guys in different areas I think the approach needs to be looked at. Commissioner Weightman

1:31:29wider discussion on the five, right? That's where we are.

1:31:33We do. We're still in discussion.

1:31:34Yeah, I'm ready to go. We have a question, but he needs to speak.

1:31:43Based on the level of this discussion, don't we have a a workshop or something being planned in the mix for code? I thought that we had discussed having some sort of working

1:32:12And we do look to Patrick's team to provide the the the operational tactical look on this to ensure that We're meeting the objectives of the board. So if if there's objectives that you'd like to see that the board wants to see along US nineteen, I would just say we we let Patrick know that and he'll figure out the most efficient and effective way to to achieve those objectives versus, you know, making assignments of particular folks to certain zones.

1:32:42And you got it on forty one. So Well

1:32:46and and fifty four in your district too. So

1:32:50the vast majority of this conversation is around the coach.

1:32:52Well I I have some data to show you when it comes to commissioners.

1:32:56If we need to have a workshop, move on to But

1:33:01Okay.

1:33:02I mean we can do that, yes. Absolutely.

1:33:04Commissioner Oakley, I can

1:33:05hope. I just want to say that um where you're finding these issues happening are s things that have been um produced years and years ago where they have the older sections of our county. That's where you find some of the landscaping and other issues are happening and they're changing uses on some of those buildings and so it gets neglected and that's why We're having to have code in that western part and Kathryn sees that a lot in her area. But there's

1:33:35also round forty one in Land Lakes area 'cause some of that's older area also and some in Wesley Chapel. Uh there's a few in in my area but mine's mostly rural so There's uh less need of so many code enforcements here because it's mostly rural areas, so we have some issues.

1:33:56Commissioner Starkey.

1:33:57Um well I'm gonna show you s some interesting now this is sheriff's calls for service in in in my district, but um just a little part of my district, but um you know when you there's two different things we're talking about and I think Jack was speaking of is And two two different issues. One is existing businesses Who have an approved site plan? who don't maintain their mic speed. Then we have old businesses

1:34:27who came in before we had landscaping codes that we are trying to encourage to spruce up their business. And, you know, uh twenty, thirty years ago, I wrote a letter when I was a citizen activist. What is the vision of the county? And what is it that we want to look like? And and from there, you know, I started a 501c3 called C Pasco and we worked on changing or making a landscape ordinance, a tree

1:34:57ordinance, sign ordinance, lighting, cell tower ordinance, night sky, right-of-way. We did all these aesthetic things. And it's made a huge difference. When when I used to knock on doors to try and raise money when all children built their first um facility up here and we were trying to fundraise for the cowboy Christmas ball, I couldn't find any doctors or any business leaders who lived in Pasco County. They all lived in Penalister Hillsboro. And Uh and

1:35:28You know, that that wasn't good for our county. We had a very high tax rate and a low land bank. We don't have any businesses and we don't have any expensive homes, but very few. And um it's it's it's changed now, but we can't slide back to what we looked like thirty years ago, forty years ago. And I can tell you if we don't stay on top of these things, we're sli we are sliding back. I I can show you picture after picture and I showed you how to go to Um Google Maps,

1:35:59take a picture of what's there today. and take a picture of what was there six years ago is gone. Six yeah in six years it's gone. Or we've let them take their tree. and trim it into the head. And um and so and you got you got a hedge here, nothing, a hedge there. The first thing when you go to sell your house what realtors tell you to do is curb a field. Well, if we're trying to attract quality business here and and and help

1:36:29our residents with taxes. W we have to have curb appeal. And and so I think this is really critical and I don't wanna keep sliding backwards. We and I am very much in support of what these people will do and I will go out there and walk with them if Sometimes they don't want me to 'cause I'm much more um straightforward than them. Um but um I'm willing to work hard in my district to to bring it up. And I hope when you drove nineteen if you

1:36:59went down through holiday I I do hear and believe that things are looking better down there. really been diligent about the sign sign code. We've got reinvestment coming in and I'm I'm hopeful that we're turning around.

1:37:18Yeah.

1:37:21We have a first and a second. Okay. All right. All in favor of the motion? Oh roll call vote.

1:37:26District One, Commissioner Oakley. Aye. District two, Commissioner Weightman. Aye. District three, Commissioner Starkey. Aye. District four, Commissioner Bradford.

1:37:35District 5, Chairman Mariano.

1:37:37Aye. Patrick Pat motion passes. I hope to work with you to talk about that US nineteen because I think with panhandling work with the Sheriff's Office as well going up and down, that corridor needs attention and maybe it's a time to look at the changes here. I've mentioned that. Sounds good. Yes, sir. Appreciate it. Thank you.

1:37:52Thank

1:37:52you.

1:37:57R forty-eight.

1:37:59That's to be heard this afternoon. Yes. Okay,