Public comment from registered speakers
What the county recorded
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It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Dec 7, 2021
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The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Dec 7, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 32m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 71% of 120 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Thank you. And we certainly value our relationship with you. And thank you. Three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Is that right? Thank you. And some change. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, so now is the time for public comment. Citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any item coming before the board and on items to be placed on a future board agenda or other business under their purview. Today's public comment will be handled as follows. First, we will take public comment from those who are
here in person. Then we will take public comment from those who have pre-registered for WebEx Link and are currently on queue. This format does not weigh the request that when you address the board, comments are not directed personally against a commissioner or team member, but rather directed at the issues. This provides mutual respect between the board members and the public. For WebEx and in-person participants, after stating your name and address for the clerk. Am I supposed to read that right now? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay. The timer, let's see. Uh
the timer will be activated and we'll start a countdown. After two minutes, a beep will sound letting you know that only one minute remains. After your time is up, two beeps will sound indicating that three minutes have passed and you should close your comments. WebEx participants will be disconnected automatically when their time is up. The following people have signed up to speak in person. Madam Clerk?
I have seven individuals who have signed up to speak in person. I will call the first three names so you'll know um who's up next. The first person signed up is Raymond Gadd. Followed by John Hefferin, followed by Joseph Pas Pasanis.
Rig Add, Deputy Superintendent of Schools, [address removed]. Um this is gonna be the easiest public comment you ever have to receive. Um I'm actually here to thank the County Commission, Dan Biles, and um his administration. Um early on in the pandemic, uh the school system was struggling trying to figure out how to feed our students and our families how we could buy devices for kids so that we could
do online learning. And I happened to be talking to Commissioner Starkey and she said, Well, you know, we have this CARES Act funding, you might be able to get a million dollars of that funding to help out. And so uh my CFO is with me, Olga Swinson. And um so we pulled the Treasury document on implementation of the CARES Act and saw that indeed schools may get some of that funding. And um so I got with um County Administrator Dan Miles. And uh he made it very
clear to me immediately that if um the needs that we had met the cr criteria of the CARES Act, that you had given him the authority to make sure it got funded. So nine million dollars later, uh Ms. Starkey was a little under in her estimate, but nine million dollars later, you, the county commission, funded A lot of needs that the school district um required early on in the pandemic. I want Olga Swinston to tell you real quickly what those are. And
I have a token of our appreciation from the Pasco Education Foundation. I don't think it will interfere with any gift policy. It's a towel and a little cooler. And based on your agenda today, you might need a towel. Um so I'll let um uh Olga just tell you what you funded and then I'll pass these out.
Good morning. Good morning. Um again on behalf of the school board, the superintendent and every employee of the district, thank you for the contribution to the school district. А вис демоніфор? Uh the d development and implementation of online learning. As you know, our students had to take online courses last year. About thirty percent of our students uh uh did that from home and about the seventy cent for actually came into our schools. Uh we distributed seventeen thousand
computers to our students. We also served over one million meals to students and families around across the entire county. And we also use exp all the uh uh We use the money for all the expenses associated with contact tracing. As you know, we had to do that last year and we spent a lot of time doing that. So that's uh really a summary of the of the what how we use the money. Again, thank you.
That's amazing. It's great seeing you again, Olga.
Thank you, sir. I'm I'm really glad we could help the school districts when they needed it because we got our money so fast. And so uh Thank you.
That's very nice.
Thank you, right? Appreciate it. Not really that one extra very
all the work.
Morning. My name is John Hefferon. I'll try to speak fast with three minutes. Uh I come from the Philadelphia.
Name and address, please.
Name and address John Heffron, th [address removed]. Uh I come from Philadelphia, particularly Kensington neighborhood. Uh if you don't know that neighborhood, you should Google it. It is open-air drug. activity and dealing where I used to shop, deliver mail, run sports clubs and everything else and community organizations. I just moved into the area in September and realized that there was a homeless drug addiction problem. directly
surrounding Beacon Woods. Um I cleared out two lots since I've been there on Beacon Woods Drive as you come off of 19. Uh hypodermic needles in both spots. I got into an argument with two homeless guys, and I also witnessed a drug mule on a bike with backpacks. Uh feeding giving the guy that was begging at the corner drugs. I almost got into an argument with him. Um I like to use the word effective compassion. I've been around this stuff all my life. I
grew up in three low income neighborhoods in Philadelphia and I also We have three buildings in the city of Reading. The lowest кла one of the poorest classi cities in the country. I chased prostitutes, drug dealers, and slumlords in the city of Reading, using city council and the mayor to to try to do so. Um I understand the problems. I've been t I've had discussions with four sheriffs. They're all quite frustrated with a lack of tools to deal with the panhandling, which supposedly is a
First Amendment right. I understand there is a s an ordinance being written by the commissioners to address that. Hopefully that will come soon to give the sheriff some kind of power to do something about this. Also, I went to Amber Mariano's office. The assistant bear told me that eight million dollars was secured for Metropolitan Ministries. I'd like to find out what's being done with that. I have not had time to go.
Um Some of the ideas that I have are not so compassionate, but you you have to understand that drug addicts sometimes or most times have to be forced into a situation to finally get treatment. and people handing money out. uh out of their cars is not helping these people. Uh drug-sniffing dogs, where are they? Can they be bought and trained? Clearing the lots. I understand about uh trespassing and all that kind of stuff, but can the National Guard be brought in to clear these lots where these people
are staying? Can uh local residents do it without legal ramifications? I'm not sure of that. uh getting the trespassing agreements with landlords so the sheriffs can do their job to get them off of their property, understanding many of these uh landlords are out of state. uh any other legal ramifications of the National Guard and private residents doing this. Um also the Pasco County of advocacy for the homeless is trying to find places to place these people with not much success, so
what can be done about that? And I'd also like to know what Penellas County did with supposedly compassionate St. Petersburg, how what now this is what I've been told now. that they were pushed up north. So how did they do that? Why did they do that? And was there any effective way to help these people?
Thank you very much. I think one of my staffers gonna meet you outside and give you a brochure that's in the works. And um I'm sure Commissioner Mariano can meet with you later to talk about things that are happening.
Right there.
Derek will meet you out in the hall. Next. Thank you.
Joseph Passenis, followed by and I'm sorry if I s I pronounced your last name incorrectly. Ron uh Woodruff and Dr. Betsy Coville.
Yes, my name is Joseph Pasanese. I reside at [address removed]. I have a report I'd like to submit for your approval. Most of the received and file.
Second.
All
in favor?
Aye. Aye.
I live in the Key Vista subdivision. There are about fifteen hundred residents. Yeah, living in about seven hundred and eighteen houses.
In this subdivision we've noticed a higher than normal
Number of vehicles that have excessive noise when they travel the public roadways that surround the subdivision. These public roadways are Gulf Trace Boulevard, Strauber Memorial Boulevard, and Bailey's Bluff Road. The vehicles using these public roadways produce unreasonable high noises, can occur at any time of the day. But usually they occur late at night when most people are sleeping. I believe it's important that Pasco
County government do something about this problem to protect the quality of life. of the Key Vista residence. On december third, twenty twenty one, Katie Dolotowski, executive assistant to Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, provided me with some facts pertaining to the Florida noise law. She indicated that the Florida law makes it illegal for anyone to operate a motor vehicle on a roadway and amplify the sound produced by a radio, a tape player, or
even a muffler that is plainly audible at a distance of one hundred feet or greater, or as louder than necessary. My research revealed that enforcement of the Florida Norris law is a quality of life issue. Government in the form of Pasco County Commissioners and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office are responsible for protecting the quality of life of residents in unincorporated Pasco County.
In conclusion I request that the Pasco County Commissioners take action necessary to enforce the Florida Noise Law in Commissioner Starkey's district, as well as in the remaining four Commission districts. Vehicles making unreasonable high noises are not limited to just one commission district. This action should also include requesting Pasco
County Sheriff Chris Norco to fulfill his enforcement responsibility in all five Pasco County Commission districts. Thank you.
Thank you. And I hear that noise across the water in my neighborhood in Gulf Harbor, so I know what you're talking about. Okay. Thank you very much. You're welcome.
Thanks.
Uh that's Waldorf. I think it's a good idea. Waldorf.
Thank you.
Okay. First of all
Uh your name and address for the record, please.
Uh Ron Waldorf, [address removed].
Um
I'm here because I moved here a year ago. And I wanted to build a garage to put jet skis and other things that don't fit in the garage in the house. It took me I'm not done yet, we're eleven and a half months into it. To do two days' work. Took one day to pour the concrete for a twenty-six by forty garage. And one day to erect the building with a six or seven man crew. We still haven't done the electrical work, so technically
we're still not done. Now Um Sonia, who is the works with Mr. Jack Mariano has been very helpful. Um hooked me up with Roy Mazor who has ch changed everything and made things I wouldn't say easy, but
Couldn't have got it done without him. Uh I've been in the building trades for almost 40 years. Um speaking of which? Huh?
Million dollar houses up north, two million dollar houses. Twenty million dollar houses on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. Uh your building department is Totally This Functional. Okay, total it. Your inspectors are not qualified. Uh the people that work in their office wanted me to get a topographical survey. And um a
grading plan, but I was exempt because I live on one acre. They tried to force me to do so without Sonia and Uh Mr. Roy, um uh probably would have been forced to do so. My Demeanor has a lot to do with why I was successful. in that as well. But I have some suggestions that I would like to make to Not everybody in this room because they don't want to hear it, but I'd like to get an appointment. Mr Mariano.
to it Um Make my suggestions to them because just one example that I'll use Uh Olympic pool. Who got a hundred permits? Okay. There's no way he should have got a hundred permits. Now if you ask Royce says, Well by law we have to give him permits. No, you make a rule You get twenty permits or ten permits. When you finish five pools, we give you five more permits. You don't allow people
to go around and pull a hundred, two hundred permits and defraud all these poor homeowners. uh it seems like the county is protecting the criminal contractors and not the taxpayers and residents. So I don't have anything further to say. I'd just like to get an appointment with this gentleman. Thank you. Uh based on forty years of experience, I think I thank you
very
much. And uh one
of his assistants.
There
you
go. Thank you.
Doctor Betsy Covell.
Is that something we need to receive and file?
No. you.
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Doctor Betsy Coville, [address removed]. As a veterinarian and I begin educating myself about the plight of rabbits, I will share what I learned with you. A unique but unpleasant aspect is the numerous ways mankind has figured out how to both use and abuse them. Cosmetic testing, raised for meat, farm for fur, entertainment, used as bait for other animals. In comparison, who would have thought being
a pet would be anything but heaven? Together we found thousands were not only not in heaven, but the third most surrendered pet. They require higher maintenance than dogs or cats and can live ten to twelve years. Frequently dumped outside when the rescues are full, they starve, become prey for coyotes or hit by car. No matter which way we are exploiting them, the bunny mill is consistently the source. No different than the puppy
mills we recognize as inhumane. The doughs are bred every heat for eight to ten liters a year as long as feasible. The small and sickly are sold as bait or as reptile food. They live their entire life in a cramped, dark, dirty cage without benefit of exercise or sunshine. The boredom results in abnormal behaviors, biting wires, self-mutilation. There are currently three locations in Florida which have placed bans on retail sales of
rabbits. Orange County, DeSoto County, and Key West. They have all placed rabbits along with dogs and cats in their retail sales ban. Key West simply added rabbits to the definition of pets. Similar to retail bans for dogs and cats, they allow sales from shelters and rescues. Petco and PetSmart stopped selling rabbits in 2007 and only work with rescues. They are the number one and two retail pet supplies in the U.S.
So obviously a ban will not hurt these businesses financially. This ban will take the pressure off rescues and humane societies, removing the guilt of turning them away and negating the need for owners to dump them. Pasco County has been a leader in the state for protecting animals with anti-tethering laws and pet sales bans. Now, as we are working to educate and change laws in neighboring counties, we hope you will be the trailblazer for the
Tampa Bay region. Thank you for your time.
Yeah. Next. Renee Rivard, followed by Miriam Parham.
Mm-hmm. Good morning, Commissioners. Nice to see you. Renee Rivard, P.O. Box 81, Cortez, Florida. The Tampa Humane Society has taken in 246 unwanted pet rabbits so far this year. That's a hundred more than last year. Hillsborough County Commissioners are taking action because the Tampa Humane Society is their partner in helping the county with unwanted pets. There is no facility in Pasco
County that takes in unwanted rabbits. Suncoast House Rabbit Rescue is your partner uh with uh unwanted pet rabbits here in Pasco County. Suncoast House Rabbit Rescue has told you that they are overwhelmed. In September alone they had to turn away sixty six unwanted pet rabbits. It is extremely difficult to find fosters and homes for rabbits. Rabbits are a high maintenance pet. They
need lots of room to move around and chew on everything. They also need specialized veterinarian care, which is expensive. The majority of rabbit sales are impulse buys at retail stores. You have roughly forty-five pet stores in Pasco County. Thirty-six of them survive without selling rabbits. Only nine sell rabbits. Petsmart and Pecco don't sell rabbits. A manager at Pecco said they don't sell them because they are the third given up pet behind dogs
and cats. A sales girl at Foster's Exotics in Port Ritchie told me that rabbits are not good pets for children. They don't like to be picked up and you need lots of space for them. Another sales girl there said they are cute when they are babies, but a lot of people don't realize the care that's involved. Like they don't want to be in a cage. An associate at Pet Supermarket said kids see pictures of bunnies at Easter time and ask their parents to buy bunnies. Then the bunnies end up being homeless. You see, commissioners,
even the salespeople know that rabbits are a high maintenance pet that are an impulse buy and end up being unwanted. We spoke at your last animal advisory committee meeting. The committee seems interested in a ban on the retail sale of rabbits and even made comments that ferrets and other small small animals should be considered. Your animal services staff said they would do some research and get with you about this matter. Commissioners, please help your partner, Sun Coast House Rabbit Rescue,
and start a discussion about adding rabbits to your retail pet sales ban, like Hillsborough County is doing. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. We have
And the last one signed up in person is Miriam. Uh Parham? Or par pari.
Mm-hmm.
Depends on who you ask, my husband or his son how to pronounce it. Anyway, my name is Miriam Parham. I'm at [address removed]. I've been a Pasco resident for about 23 years. But I also represent a nonprofit 501c3 group that's been incorporated since 1989 called Florida Voices for Animals. We have almost 5,000 supporters in the area. and we're all volunteer. Our mission is to educate um the public about animal abuse and exploitation. And the sale of rabbits, as you've heard, can contribute
to both abuse and exploitation. So abuse at the hands of people who don't know how to take care of them and well meaning uh adults and even children who don't know how to proper handle these gentle animals who require a lot of care. But in transportation there's a lot of exposure to stress and then at the retail store also the way they're kept in the cages and they're also crowded often if you go to some of the pet stores. They have those wire cages that are very harsh on their tender little feet. So you've heard a lot of statistics, so I'm
not gonna repeat anything like that. But as you see they're turned into the shelters and the shelters are overwhelmed and they're turned away. Then the sanctuaries apparently are overwhelmed so they can also turn them away. So um The they require more time and effort and socialization than people realize. And yes, they're bought primarily at Easter time, but it is a year-round pro problem and as you heard from other small animals too, like the ferrets, the guinea pigs, um, and other small animals. So As you heard, how fragile
they can be. They can chew and scratch, like you heard. Um, they can scratch the little faces and hands of the children handling them, and they can also break their backs when the children pick them up and handle them and they can drop them. So there's a lot of stress and discomfort and um Then when they're released because they're not wanted either accidentally or on purpose, they're exposed to the cold and the heat and they don't do well in an environment that they don't know. And they also get sick very often, even in the domestic in the household, and they they're
good at hiding their illness, so a lot of times you don't even know when they're sick till it's too late. So they really do require a lot of care. So um So in summary, um we don't think that um pet rabbits would make good pets and they certainly shouldn't be sold at the retail stores. Um certainly support adoption of those who are out there that need adopting and All animals shouldn't be left out of this equation and talking about animal protection. You hear about dogs and cats, but we need to add these other small
animals to this equation. And they should be provided protection from potential cruelty and mistreatment and not being sold in the stores. And we hope you pass this not just at Easter time but year-round. And again, the best solution to preventing these is to not have them sold in the stores. So thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it. Yeah.
Thank you. Madam Chair, that was the last um person who had signed up in person.
Is there anyone else here who would l would like to address the board? Please come up and uh give us your name and address. Do we have anyone on whether we do? Yeah.
My name is John Russell, live at [address removed], which is in the Heritage Lake area. Uh uh my comment that I wanted to make is relative to agenda item one twenty five. Am I supposed to wait for then or can I Comment no.
Is that the public hearing in the afternoon?
No.
The way my book is organized, I'll never forget.
Yeah, that's this afternoon. Um
is it okay.
You can Make a comment now but you won't be able to in the afternoon. But you can would you accept right?
Yes. You can make a comment. We'll have to enter it into the record. Okay,
and I have a diagram. If I may have some
all in favor? Aye. Aye.
You've already heard uh all all about the um development along Alvernon.
Um From about um Chris Scherer's development down there and the zoning change from Um residential two, two multifamily Housing one, M H one, I guess is what it's called. And you already know it's a flood zone, you've heard all of these different things. But there's one item that and at the uh Planning Commission meeting that was not discussed or presented properly. Mr.
Sherrer said the he had a transportation uh traffic person go out there and do all these surveys and find out that Saint Lawrence where it hits Little Road. and Heritage Lake Boulevard where it hits Little Road. are fine. The way they are. He did not include If they're gonna put fifty five homes in there. That's going to be another 110 cars approximately for the residents. And in addition to that, you're gonna
have ex a lot of other traffic. And I don't know about your neighborhood, but where I live. I I can't go uh for maybe thirty minutes or an hour before there's FedEx. USP S, uh all of these disdelivery trucks. the garbage trucks, the everybody that's doing maintenance. And If if you notice The intersections with Saint Lawrence, and these are in yellow on your diagram. Saint Lawrence and at Heritage,
there are no right turn dedicated lanes there. And when one car Wants to go straight across, there may be eight or ten or twelve right turn lane Picker tur turn cars going that are held up for two or three lights. And it's also forcing people right now to take chances that they shouldn't take. and Heritage Lake Boulevard. And Little Road. And just li a week ago I witnessed a horrible accident there because people
are just trying to push their limits and get through that intersection. It was like a triple rollover with a car flying through the air. So my point is That I don't think there can be right turn lanes put in there. because of existing infrastructure, poles, drainage, sidewalks, trees and all this. But I just think it's a really bad idea to even Change the zoning. The people I know in that neighborhood say that nineteen homes is perfectly acceptable and
that's what he's This is on the four right now. So I hope you give consideration to the traffic problems that are really going to get much, much worse. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. And I is there anyone else who wishes to address the board? I believe we have someone on WebEx. We do, uh Madam Chair,
we have Carla Card. Ms. Card, you can go ahead and um state your name and address for the record.
Hi, good morning. Can you hear me?
Yes we can. Thank you.
Okay, um very good. Uh thank you for your time. I really appreciate it today. Um I'm here today to discuss the tremendous growth which is leading to the terrible traffic issues and accidents near State Road 54, State Road 56, the Grove, the Tampa Premium Outlets, and Old Casco Road to Bruce Bay Downs. My home is off of Wesley Chapel Boulevard, and this concerns. Touches uh county districts one, two, and three. Fender benders and horrible accidents are happening in
this area every day because of the overgrowth and population. Our community can't handle anymore. Not only is the gridlock and the buildup negatively affecting the quality of life for the current residents, but it's also negatively affecting the wildlife that has nowhere to go and live. Deer are constantly being maimed and killed on these hazardous roads, and it's very disturbing. Yeah. The new construction in the area needs to be reviewed and additional development in this area should be halted. There is no funding, if there
is no funding to fix the road issues, we certainly should not allow more development to increase in this area, which actually increases the chaos. There are several new multi-tenant buildings being built right now. Once completed, the population will grow and cause more traffic issues. It's so bad right now that the emergency vehicles are not able to respond quickly. And how awful this is if you or a loved one needs urgent care. So we must stop any more do new developments until we get this traffic under
control. People are running red lights and blocking intersections, which is causing mayhem. It takes me over 35 minutes to get to I-75 when it used to take 12 minutes. There are six lights, traffic lights, and a short distance, and not one works to move the flow of traffic correctly. There are too many businesses near the I-75 on and off ramps. This is extremely dangerous. Again, we must look at the right-of-way.
Um There are people running red lights like I mentioned. Um And we're running out of room. There are too many businesses. There are too many people being allowed to live and work in a small area with poor traffic control. So we need to stop newer construction or at least require the developers to pay for the build on the roads necessary prior to development of new structures. It's just really becoming too much. And again, thank you for your time and I certainly appreciate all
your attention to this matter.
Ms. Card, we need your address for the record, please.
Uh yes, ma'am, it is uh [address removed].
Thank you. And Madam Chair, that's that's the only I want to do that. All right,