Commissioner updates on tourism broadband and stormwater

46:54Um any Well I tell you what we can do. Mr. Moore, you ready for your old business? We'll start that and then we'll come back to it when he gets there.

47:01Just a couple of quick things. Um I I did find somebody to um um replace Miss Mother's Head on the Commission on the Status of Women, I appreciate um M Ms Motherhead and all the her efforts. But obviously life gets in the way and work gets in the way sometime. But I think most of you know um um Jenny Yingling. She's an awesome person, um, very, very involved with the community, um in a number of ways, um big when it comes to rotaries as well. So I'd like to make a motion to appoint Miss Jenny Gingling to the commission on the

47:31status of women.

47:33Second. Okay, I got a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed like sigh motion passed five zero.

47:41In uh tourism update, uh more exciting news from um Florida Sports Coast for the third year in in a row, um Florida Sports Coast has been recognized by the Atelli Awards. If you remember the Atelli Awards are the premier award hosting Award, I guess you could say, for video and television, um across all screens, and I say all screens, that may you know movie screens, Roku, cable, whatever it may be. They received over twelve thousand entries this past year from all fifty states in five continents. Even

48:13Netflix, Nickelodeon, CBS, even the PlayStation are some of the names you may know that have won the tele awards. So Florida Sports Coast this year won five tele awards, which is pretty incredible. Um two videos were produced in 2020 that you may remember the Sports Sports Co Strong and Game On. I think they should we showed both of those at our meeting and at the at the um banquet as well. So they won a silver award for Sports Co Strong, and that was in branded content

48:44and social impact, and they also won the Game On. um Silvertelli Award for branded content with a budget under a hundred thousand dollars. So congratulations to the Florida Sports Coast team for all their great work and obviously spreading the word about Pasco County. So thank you. That's all I have.

49:02Okay. Mr. Starkey? I'm gonna talk real slow for sure. Why you wouldn't speak when he gets here or

49:10what uh I I wanted to uh investigate a little more about broadband in the county and I know I've talked to the administrator about it, but Um apparently during the COVID the school district had to take buses and put 'em around The county with um Uh so students had access to the internet. And so uh I mean there's federal money coming to expand broadband and I just want to make sure that that um if there's money available and we have need that

49:40we're accessing that I I know that many times um Greg Armstrong has said that one of the inhibitors of growth on the nineteen corridor was uh high speed internet access. And so um I don't know Eric if that's your department or who's that Had You know, do we have an overlay of where we have high speed internet access in the county and can it be better? Um maybe talk talk with uh our E D C folks, folks. Were were you you gonna gonna say something?

50:10Well, I mean the FCC maintains a site that shows all the providers in all the areas throughout the country and Yeah. Everybody in Pasco has access to more than one outside of a very small percentage it only has access really one provider. Um but But I mean so there are a lot of different options out there for people.

50:34Which I mean it's broadband is defined by the FCC. So that includes satellite uh I mean even Elon Musk has a new satellite uh system that will give you the same speeds that you can get from Frontier and Spectrum today. So I mean there are a lot of different broadband avenues out there. Now if somebody can't afford the monthly The Matley. connections there there's federal programs and their programs at Spectrum and Frontier have to help with that, but that's an income Based. uh need based program.

51:03And is that something that we have to work with Spectrum and them on to access for citizens who don't have high speed or Internet access, or is that something that they do on their own? That's something they do on their own. I mean we've

51:15got to be

51:15I've never really been involved in the broadband meetings on I don't know if you have, but I've heard been hearing a lot of them on the NACO national calls that I've been on and then I was surprised to hear that we had some issues with many of our students, especially on the east side.

51:30Yeah.

51:32Yeah, that they could not do their home you know, participate in school.

51:37Yeah. Mr. Chairman. Yeah, sir.

51:39the the issue for the commission to get involved is that several years ago the legislature took away your ability to regulate, to to franchise frontier and spectrum and so you don't have any clout over them anymore for in as I just discussed with Commissioner Moore. About installation of lines, tearing yards up. That's They respond to the PSC and That's pretty

52:09much it. Well

52:11I guess I guess if as a

52:12regulatory

52:14And maybe I'll talk to uh I know the lobbyist for Spectrum, but if there's a way that we can access funds to help put in lines where It's cost prohibit prohibitive for s especially in our rural areas. There are funds out there Fortnite and I think we should be looking at it since I'm saying that. Um I wondered uh what's going on with our P Bass uh study and when will we be seeing that?

52:44So actually we have a meeting scheduled to the County Administrator in the middle of this week to discuss our approach to what the board's direction was. But we're we're still several months away from presenting a final solution back to the board for consideration. Okay.

52:55I'm looking forward to that. Um I uh So I was on a national panel last week, um, trying not to hack my way through it, um, with the League of Cities and the Count National Council of Mayors. And um I was and there was a commissioner, another commissioner from Um Texas, I think. And we were talking about workforce. So it was a a panel on Workforce and guys, you know, I thought we

53:26were groundbreaking. in our support of AMPSGILS and and that million dollars that we gave to our workforce board. But oh my gosh. w what these counties around the country are doing And investing in workforce development. is unbelievable and um I may work on bringing a report to you guys about what what's happening in other places because these counties look at workforce development training as a major investment in the cities and the citizens

53:56in their in their county and the strength of their economy. Um I mean they've been funding community college programs and funding apprenticeships and it's and I'm talking about apprenticeships and other people's businesses. So It's it's very interesting. Uh one of the One of the counties had um a program to during COVID and they had eight hundred s uh county s uh citizens um participate in an upscaling upskilling

54:27program that the county paid for. So more I think we we can still do better.

54:37Uh, let's see. Oh I uh had a call yesterday from someone on my civic association board. We had a fifty foot boat sink out in Gulf Harbors and a rental slip. Oh, yeah. Supposedly rental slips are illegal. Um the owner is not even living in the country. And can't be reached. Um, so they have been looking through Municode and looking everywhere for what the rules are on people renting slips

55:08out in their backyard. So um county attorney or I don't know who who that would be but Um If we could get some help seeing if we have have an ordinance. I do believe one time we were I was driving with staff in Gulf Harbors and I know there's a home that rents out like four slips and they said that they didn't think that was legal, so Um So if you could um let us know, we'd appreciate that. And lastly on the federal lobbyist,

55:38I know that and I was gonna text my friend Janet Long here, but I know that Pinellas County um with their lobbyists They they have a meeting with their like we're gonna have this morning. We're having a recap with our lobbyists, but they have a meeting before this season starts with their lobbyists and that includes their federal lobbyists. They I believe they have more than one. And I think that we need to get more engaged to be sure we're getting, you know, all our ROI with our federal lobbyists. So do

56:09you meet with the Pinellas County and the Hillsborough County Administrator? Ever Once in a while.

56:18I think it would be i really interesting to see how other counties um use their lobbies to make sure that we are We're taking advantage. Um I know that Pinellas County is getting all kinds of transportation grants. uh for uh from the FTA. I think there's one in the paper there was one in in the paper again this morning. They're going for a build grant. And I just I really wanna be more proactive on that side of our house, so Okay, I think um oh one last thing. Sean's

56:49not here yet. But um I want to be sure we're scheduling that meeting between New Port Richey Port Richey and Pasco County. We used to we we've done a few, we haven't done it in a few years. I think it's time again. And I don't know, in the past we also had one with Um on the other side.

57:07We haven't done it since COVID.

57:09Yeah, so actually the first one that we did, we did it with all the cities. Um we did it out in Saint Leo, I think. Um and we had I had all the cities. But I don't mind splitting it in two. Um

57:21sympathies going on.

57:26Yeah. Eastside then west side meetings. Yeah. One in the fall, one in the spring, but COVID, you know, kinda stopped that. We canceled the the the West Side one. once COVID hit last spring. So Yeah, we can if the board wants, we can restart the annual meeting with them on the spring fall cycle that we were on. Which would actually put the east side up next. So

57:49definitely want to talk to them about trails, greenways, I think dredging. Um wanna to talk about I want to discuss some of the ordinance they've just enacted So Thank you. That's it for me. C R A commercial transfactory. C R A.

58:07I would like to s um we had a Moon Lake community meeting. I would like to thank Mike Karbala and Ainsley and our Sheriff's Office and Code and all the other assistant county administrators and their teams for coming out that evening. I feel it was a great meeting and the community was able to get a lot of answers that they didn't have and now they're directed to who they need to speak with. Next I would like to say I went to the AM skills graduation last Friday and that was a great event. Do

58:37we have the pictures?

58:40Thank you. So they host a one day workshop a workshop and then they offer a two week workshop, uh boot camp, where they go and they create and do electrical skills and they learn different skills for different trades. The next one is in Hillsborough, but then the next one in Pasco County is in September. So I am looking forward to seeing how that goes.

59:05These were photos of the graduation.

59:12This is that lighthouse for the blind, their new building.

59:15They were sad to see them leave.

59:19They charged us by the

59:24Like to see them continue to work together. There was nine students in that program and then on the Friday they each got to interview with one of these larger with one of the companies in Pasco County. So not only do they teach them the skill and the trade, They Connect them. with a career and then they can go and do be an apprenticeship for that company.

59:51Next, I know we've spoken about it in the past, is the front landscaping. So I wasn't sure if we had an update or if we wouldn't if Commissioner Starkey, if you were looking to make a motion to direct staff to amend the cone. So there was a Tree in front of every yard or every landscape?

1:00:12Well uh I think the staff is is working on that. I actually participated in the um vertical and the horizontal um discussions uh with staff last week and then I was on the Tampa Bay Builders Association. And I I and I'm gonna I'm gonna make this fun comment. Sally you were on there, right? Yes. Yeah, so um I showed my video. And again, I don't know who made that. I don't wanna know of the what I call the slum building and

1:00:43um And there was a there was an engineer that showed some pictures.

1:00:50That wasn't probably Premier. And um turns out the builders of that project were also on the call. And uh this one person said he was nervous that now they would never get any work from that company. However, that company Big company called up this person and said they're they want to meet with them to work on making their product better. And so they're all very positive about

1:01:20wanting to improve their product And making it better. So they have

1:01:24I've had the same type meetings.

1:01:26Yeah, so they're getting the message. And they are very receptive. So I am still until you guys get it fixed, everyone who comes in front of here with a PUD or M P U D It's gonna have to commit to a tree in the front. But I'm very encouraged that the industry's stepping forward. So thanks for bringing that up.

1:01:47No queen palms.

1:01:49And no queen palms. No rat palms, yes.

1:01:53Queens wouldn't live very long when it freezes here. So

1:01:58Also I would like to just bring up the little road, how it's blocked off and I know we're still waiting on different things. So I would just like to have an update because I see cars speeding by or potential crashes just because everyone has to merge over. So it's not affecting just personal re private residences anymore. It's affecting our public roads. So I would like to know if there's a way to speed up the process or

1:02:24An update on that project.

1:02:26So at this point we're engaging a geotechnical firm to take a look at that.

1:02:31Thank you. And of course, lastly, just to following up with smart growth, we need manage to manage our growth. We need the commerce and the revenue that comes from the properly guided progress. We also need to make specific and deliberate decisions. And yes, like Commissioner Oakley had stated, we need communities and not just subdivisions. Um so we just really need to pay attention to every individual project that comes in front of the board and making sure It's the right project

1:03:01for the right area. Thank you.

1:03:06Mr. Mayor Ivan? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh I wanna say today on the consent agenda we had an item on there that was probably twelve years in the making, maybe maybe even a little bit longer. Uh that piece of property we bought uh up in Seapines is the last piece we're gonna need to go I think do a major, major improvement on all the stormwater issues that have been up there for years and years. Uh when we started dredging Lafitte years ago we thought we had all the parcels. This was the one parcel we didn't have. with that town hall development that was coming into the south. They're giving us the right away

1:03:36we need the other parsers we bought a couple months ago. it's now gonna be able to take a lot of that water north, south and east and west and actually get it out to the Gulf and put 'em in a much better position. So I wanna tell ya I'm so excited about that. Uh and Mike, I want to thank your team again. on uh tower drive. Uh they're getting forward to go Putting the uh markings out to go start doing that and hopefully in a short period of time with this little project that'll get done for this season too. So Those those two issues are like the my last big ones in my district as far as fixing stormwater

1:04:06stuff. So I'm I'm excited all the progress we've made with the stormwater utility, what we've done to to bring this forward. So th I thank everybody for that. Um And Jordan, do you have a picture of the Hudson Beach? This is just a thought. And if you take a look at This is the Hudson Beach area. And will you see Sam's Beach Bar? There's an overlay picture that kind of goes over the black and white that's in there. I asked Debbie Mance to send me a overlay of the picture of the um parking garage

1:04:36they built behind Kazi Kazi University. And uh Just throwing it out there, but that parking garage could actually fit over the parking lot that's at Sam's and be elevated up to a acquire for more parking. I'm just throwing it out there right now for an idea, something to think about, but Uh we may look at trying to find a way to fund that uh for down the road, but It does fit. It could be a a good addition for down the road. Um I'd also like to two uh you know the the people at Westport they gave us some more information. I told them

1:05:07when I was out there the previous month that we're gonna be looking to go maybe not in phase one but phase two that we wanna get their dredging done. I'm gonna work with the people up the C Seapines 'cause they've got a canal situation similar to that uh we'll we'll keep looking at that for them down the road. And for the gentleman still in the audience that brought up the uh uh special ordinance for allowing boat trailers to be parked in in a driveway. Um Sir, we've dealt with that several times before and Jeff if you would uh speak to that because you know the Hudson area with all the canal homes we trying to isolate

1:05:37where they have would be able to like craft something but You actually said we can't treat any One neighborhood di different from anybody else in the county?

1:05:45That's a general regulation through the L Land Development Code. And so if you wanted to change it, you'd be changing it for the entire the entire county, not just a neighborhood.

1:05:55And you can't pick a specific area to make that happen? So what we would do over here would affect uh it would be a full countywide thing. There's no way to isolate certain areas even if they voted on it.

1:06:04No.

1:06:07The problem is if you do that then you'll see what you have in every yard all over the county.

1:06:13So

1:06:13So it is definitely don't want to do that. But you can be understanding of what they have in their

1:06:19definitely. Okay. If you want, sir, I'd be happy to talk with you at a l later time about this, but I I I have tried that before and Let's just Again. The laws are tough to change in certain situations. And that's all I have, sir. Thank you very much. Uh thank

1:06:33you. Mr. Bowles.

1:06:36Just wanna let you know that your Keep Pasco Beautiful was named the affiliate of the year for the Keep Florida Beautiful Association. So that's uh congratulate to the work that that team does every day. So and that's all I have. I keep it short.

1:06:48Okay. Mr. Sner? I don't have anything today, thank you. Okay. Madam Clerk.