Commissioner reports and policy ideas

55:23Okay. Move back to committee reports. Commissioner Oakley.

55:32On Saturday there was a um Monarch Butterfly Festival there in Date City. Uh you see Senate there um with uh

55:44Secretary of Ag Wilton Simpson and also uh Jim Scheibe of the City of Dade City uh commission. So very nice event. Um a lot of people out and a lot of people love the beautiful butterflies we get to see every now and then. But it it's amazing that a monarch butterfly can travel uh up to about three thousand miles and uh It does that through several generations

56:14of of the butterfly itself. Otherwise, it don't just hatch out of the cocoon and fly 3,000 miles. It actually takes it a time over eight or ten generations for that butterfly to make it to the South. So there's a lot of work. They I guess they're born with the instinct to when they come and move on to the south and have this. But it was very well attended. A lot of people there, uh absolutely Chamber of Commerce Day in Dade

56:45City. Uh Just just a great event. But basically that's all I had. Okay. Okay. Mr. Waver.

56:53Good. Couple of uh policy ideas here they've been chewing on and talking through with um

57:04Carbala. So based on those it was good we had the mobility discussion because this goes along with that. As Nick pointed out, we have you know houses popping up like mushrooms all over the place. And um so there's been some challenges there especially on the way here and you travel fifty-two going east or west, it's bogged down. We've all done we've all been stuck in track. traffic, whether it's there's construction on collectors, arteriors, county roads, there's congestion on even dirt roads going

57:34east and west wherever you go. And as we know the growth is going to continue to come. People are going to continue to choose to move to Pasco. But we need to come up with with a Syria in my opinion in a series of good neighbor policies for the existing residents in this town and in ensure the the development and the developers are being good neighbors to those who who are being impacted and to those who are traveling to get to and from where they go. And so I don't have any recommendations for what those good neighbors

58:05policies will be. The county administrator has some level of experience with this, but I think part of it needs to be surrounding MOT. Currently, the county kind of gives a blank stance. On MOT on how long road work can be done. If the work plan says the contractor can get the work done in 30 days, then you don't need to have a 60 or a 90-day permit. They need to get on it, get their work done, open the lane, and be as least disruptive

58:35as possible. possible for people to get to and from and where they need to go pick kids up from schools. So I think that needs to be encompassed into these good neighbor policies. That way it makes traveling around this county uh a little bit more pleasant as people continue to move here. So I bring that up for folks to to to chew on and think about and I didn't put on or the county administrator to opine on his experience with good neighbor policies.

59:06It's a great topic. Commissioner O Mr. Bellanka.

59:09Yeah, I I just, you know, thank you, Commissioner Weightman, for bringing this up and being a fierce advocate for the citizens on this. I think we've all experienced that in some form or fashion. One of the things that we talked about with the team is how do we become a good neighbor, not just in our own uh our own capital projects and and that encompasses all government projects, right, to include F D OT, but also developer projects. And so when we see lane closures or we see requests to uh to do things that are gonna disrupt the normal way of life, there's probably ways that we can do better. If

59:40you'll indulge me for just a couple minutes, I can I can ask uh our two assistant county administrators over infrastructure and development services just to give you a quick idea of some things that we're doing as a first move, but then we'd like to kind of come back with just some more more formal actions. of of what we would like to do. It it it could incur additional cost on projects um as well as development costs, but I I I think they're minimal when you consider the overall cost of of business and commerce within and and just delay for the traveling public when we talk about those things. Things.

1:00:10Uh David Brantford.

1:00:12Sure. Thank you, Mr. Karbala. Um, you know, on the development services side, we we're we have several initiatives that are in the works that will support this good neighbor policy and and just one quick example that we've seen um cropping up as issues within our communities is construction routes. Um We have not historically defined construction routes and as we continue to grow and see this development, we are seeing impacts in heavy equipment, trucks, um, you know, that that construction traffic not only impacting

1:00:43um the residents within the communities, but also, you know, school uh morning peak rush hours and those types of things. So we'll we're taking a look at that more closely. Another thing that we're looking at, and this is just probably probably broader and kind of stepping away a little bit from the traffic side, is is really looking at our buffers between varying land uses and how do we minimize those impacts in terms of what we're approving for growth. And then just real quickly, as as we are reviewing the plans, myself along with Mr. Engel

1:01:13and his staff have been having conversations with our team about really taking a broader look of these projects beyond just the four corners of the projects, taking a look and seeing what's in the surrounding areas, so surrounding communities, and really kind of taking a look and seeing how those communities will fit in with the existing environment and what we could do to minimize those. Mr. Adumo and I have already had conversations on MOT and that falls under kind of the traffic responsibility. So I'll hand it over to him to expand

1:01:43upon some of the things that we're thinking about from that front as well.

1:01:47Right? Yes, um uh Commissioner O we are taking this very seriously and I would like to thank you, Commissioner Weightman, uh, for bringing this, making this an awareness issue. Um we are including this in our written SOPs for our key three departments public works, uh transportation engineering, as well as utilities. Um also we are looking at uh possibly having a discussion with uh with purchasing, uh, to see

1:02:17if we can include some languages in our agreements and contracts. Because um honestly contractors are uh really not aware or take it as serious as we do. uh to pay attention to the impact of our projects, even if it's a temporary project, uh on our citizens who are customers. So um we are bringing this to the forefront, also training for the team, our teams, for the project managers, project engineers to look out for this. uh

1:02:47and also as well as uh construction engineering sp inspection consultants. who usually manage uh manage our projects and we also manage them. So they are where and uh the key thing is documenting the process involved, uh where the attention should be. I think you and I had some discussions on uh one of these issues. that um we should be aware and we should be following up with our contractors. Uh contractors work for us. uh and therefore any engagement uh with our

1:03:18citizens, we must make sure that they are addressing their concerns while they are building the projects.

1:03:24And these just represent some of the some of the things. These are kind of low-hanging fruit and and we'll come back to the board if it pleases the board to kind of enumerate some of the actions that we've taken. There may be other things that the board wants to look at as well. I'll throw open burning out there as another is another issue that that I see with uh with infill development coming along. Uh that may be something we we discuss, I don't know to what what level that regulation is possible, but those are the uh I'll take ideas at this point of of things that you may

1:03:55see with the public um in terms of the the inconveniences surrounding the growth and development and infill of of areas in our county.

1:04:04I'll just add in a couple of things too. You know, when you talk about the traffic routes and um you know, these years ago the the Lynx Golf Coast the Estates we had a a thing where we had a route set up where they're gonna drive on Buffalo Drive. And somehow we changed the law that allowed staff to go change what the board had voted on. I was waiting to see and I don't think we had it back come back to us yet to actually take that authority back. where if if the board had made a decision on where a traffic route was gonna be

1:04:35or some dirt development conditions, if it was gonna change, it had to come back before Another board. to make that decision rather than internal staff. That led to a lot of heartache that didn't have to happen, but we put ourselves in a position where it couldn't go. Is that something you brought back to us or gonna bring back to us?

1:04:50I I just think we've probably been wiser to not even execute that authority at this point. I I'll talk to David about about what to do with that specifically, but I I think we got the message loud and clear as far as overriding any of that. Right, but it's an anomaly, but I

1:05:05And I don't want to see it going on. Let's uh let's say ten, fifteen years from now something that was put in some developments don't come forward, they're gonna come later and all of a sudden they go back to do it again, then someone else can be burdened with that. So I would like to see that change made. uh in in print that puts the authority back here if you're gonna have a public hearing a decision was made in front of people that are sitting here that they know that if the change is gonna happen again it's gonna come to another public meeting and have a public discussion before a change is made.

1:05:32I I think David can look at that with the whole routes. Yeah and and and if I may Chair um you know So another thing that we're looking to implement within the branch too as well is just more utilization of GIS and computer systems and mapping because in that particular case that which I'm we're both very well aware of, you know, decisions were made in the past, and I think the challenges as we have staff turnover, things like that, um, those records may not have been considered as part of the review. And one of the goals that we want to have is to to start capturing um

1:06:03decisions whether it's on MPUD or or other zoning changes so that when the staff does go in and start those reviews they have a centralized location that they can utilize as a reference and then be able to see those and then And you know, uh if there are past requirements for those projects that that they're carried forward or evaluated appropriately.

1:06:27So I don't know if I'm still getting what I want. But again, if a board made a decision, I don't want staff to be able to just, I'm gonna make a r different decision because I I think I

1:06:42I I think David what we just need to do is deconstruct what happened with Buffalo Drive and and make sure that whatever mechanism mechanism allowed staff at the time to do what they did. Can't happen again. We'll bring that back. Okay.

1:06:58I I I don't know what it is. That that's

1:07:03Uh there's a way to do what I think the Chair is is seeking to do. It may be limiting staff's ability to change specific conditions of approval. But my recollection is what the change was, and David can can rescue me as I go down this path, um, is that it was secondary approvals that no longer were gonna come to the board. Like preliminaries,

1:07:34is that or DRC or back in the day DRC.

1:07:38Yeah, it was really the elimination of DRC that caused the issue because it was a it was actually a DRC imposed condition that was then sort of cemented in place by the Board, because the Board funded what DRC approved. And then staff basically overrode both DRC and the board. And then that and it couldn't go back to DRC because DRC didn't exist. But I don't

1:08:04and I don't know that the board wants to undertake the volume of approvals that used to go to the DRC. So there there's there should be a happy what I'm saying is there should be a happy medium to get to where you're you're concerned. And not bring

1:08:23everything forward that Right. And I'm not looking to bring everything forward. But I'm what I'm saying is if something's already been decided, been voted on through a public hearing process, staff should not be overriding that unless it comes back to a public hearing process.

1:08:36I I I agree with that.

1:08:38I understand. Okay. Right. And again again, y we did the best we could with what we had after that point, but I just want to make sure it doesn't go. And I appreciate this conversation because I've had probably more calls in the past two years with new developments with between where they're driving, what they're doing, how they're constructing, uh times they're getting started and all those things. I want you guys to have the tools to go pick up the phone to somebody. which would which may be part of this air to say stop construction until you fix this, stop until you start that, and

1:09:08have the authority to do that. I want to give you guys the power to say, You're not doing the w the way this is supposed to be? You're violating the law. You we're gonna put a stop work order until you finish 'cause I don't wanna hit the thing, well, we can't stop 'em because we're gonna be liable. I want to clearly laid out as we're doing these things that they have to follow certain things, certain rules that if they're gonna violate and and disturb the public, then they're gonna wait until it gets resolved without penalty of of of us being in jeopardy for that. Okay.

1:09:38Anything

1:09:39else we

1:09:40no talked with DOT about this, also Kelly, Justice Secretary Hall's um uh person and and and she agreed about you know trying to come up with good neighbor policies and them trying to complement whatever the county does within their their projects on on their roads. The next we had we had Tam Bay Water Board meeting yesterday and um obviously the the big topic is you know, conserving water. And so we had an

1:10:10update on uh cooperative funding initiative and part of that what dealt with uh water wise. The goal is to save up to 3.8 million gallons per day by 2030 of water being used. And for FY26, the goal in water saving is 567,000, 560,000 gallons per day. Uh but the minimum goal is 200,000 gallons per day. And so they went through the type of, you know, the

1:10:40rebate program that the Water Management District has and they have uh with their low flows and there's a chart here and I'll give this to the administrator. So in 2025, the rebate for low float toilets and sinks and what have you for multifamily were 13. And in 2026, the completed and projected number of multifamily projects is 21. And it goes down the hotel, commercial, residential, toilets, and then we had you know zero Water Star,

1:11:11which was disappointing to see in 2025, but in 2026 we're projected to see 19 of them. I thought, well, if we want to save water, and we're trying to conserve water as best we can. What if we come up with a policy that requires at least multifamily projects to put in all Uh uh Water wise. uh utilities within the building. And was brainstorming with Karbala

1:11:41about the idea. You know, more and more multifamilies going to converge on our county and Chair you've brought it up in the past, I think when you're on Tap Bay Water about trying to figure out how to At least get the most efficient use of water from multifamily projects. Yeah. Wheels start to turn in with the drought and I'm trying to save gallons. low hanging fruit I think is our multifamily product in in either setting a policy or requirement or goal that they Put maximum efficiency flow

1:12:11toilets and uh sink heads and and what have you. So I just throw that out there. I'll submit this this update to Karbala that he can scan it and email to to everyone to think about. So I just figure I'd bring it up for discussion. Or residential development in general. I d I don't know, but um we've got to try. More and more people are going to be coming onto the system. We're not going to run out of water. The water Tempe Bay water assures us that we have plenty of potable drinking water, but it is going to become more

1:12:42expensive. Water will become more expensive because of the infrastructure cost to move water places. So in order to keep rates down, um, obviously we we need to start thinking about how we're going to going to do that. Um so I just open it up for thoughts on that matter and I'll submit the presentation and Carvalho can mail it out to folks.

1:13:03Okay.

1:13:06Any comments? All right, you can read it, read up on it. Anything else, sir? I'm done. Thank you. Commissioner Starkey.

1:13:12Okay, um I attended the CSW luncheon. We had another sold-out waiting list event. We did have some men there. Um, so it's not only for the ladies. We had a great speaker um whose topic really hit home with some of my friends um who were in a friendship blow up and um I took the book on a girls trip and set it out for them to read but no one picked it up. So their friendship blow up

1:13:43will continue. But anyway, uh it was a great luncheon and um thank you to everyone who participated. Um Over the weekend of April 11th and 12th, Starkey Ranch District Park staff with DMO hosted an NSA softball tournament and the Florida Premier Spring Soccer Showcase. We had 30 softball teams and 300 soccer teams participating.

1:14:10It was just, we just got accolades into my office on how great everything went and how how nice the fields were. And so I just want to thank thank the staff for that. We all got this nice letter from Novi. about uh thanking Keith Wiley and Brian Taylor, entire team for the incredible job they did getting the fields ready. They had three hundred and twelve teams from around the country here in Pasco

1:14:40County. I mean that's a bunch. And so it went it went very well. So um Jenny and Katie attended the 1050 home dedication and holiday for Habitat and went to a single mother and her son. And they said that she actually put more work in than required. So congratulations to them. Look at Senator Hooper's there. So thank you to Habitat. Um I attended the goat kitchen and

1:15:11bar uh opening at Saddlebrook. And um happy to see them moving on. I don't understand it, but all their palm trees around the pool were dead. I don't know if you noticed that. The frost. Oh the frost, okay. So that that wasn't looking so hot. Um six

1:15:26days of cool weather.

1:15:27I attended the uh TMA meeting. Um I wish I still had it, but apparently we threw away the paper. Um we had a very in depth discussion about the propor apportionment that they ended up with. And um I wish I I had the paper with me, but I'll try I don't remember how to do the math, but

1:15:54I think we'll be changing this. There's twenty-five total MPO board voting seats. And no, there was not a lot of support for the layout because we've always said Pasco, Pinellas together have to equal more than Hillsboro. And um and the way it's set up, some people think that the airport and the port Should be counted as Hillsborough, Um both uh The

1:16:25CEO of the airport and the number two guy at the port were there to say hey they vote in vote independently, but I think where we've left it is we are asking Hillsborough to give up one of their seats and give it to Pasco so we have five. And then Hillsboro County can decide with their remaining seats how they divide it up between Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa and the airport and the port. There was discussion that they are non-voting,

1:16:56there's discussion if they could rotate a seat, but that it should be part of Hills the Hillsborough allotment. So um We had to postpone the vote. And they may be adding another very important TMA meeting over the summer. Um, because we we have certain deadlines. And I have invited and I believe they're coming in the not too distant future, um Michael from the airport and uh the port to

1:17:26come up and talk to us as well. Um let's see if I have something else here. Um Fire. Well you brought it up but I wanted to talk about builders being able to have fi burn right now. I it makes no sense to me. Especially if it's windy. We we've had three scares now in Starkey Starkey Ranch District Park. I mean I wondered if I need to stand behind my house with the hose. Um so I don't think they should be allowed to

1:17:56burn right now. If there's a burn ban, why are they exempt? Well, I I really

1:18:01those are handled under Division of Forestry rules, um, but I'm happy to sit with Jeff, his team, fire rescue, and the fire marshal uh to to see if there's a solution we can bring back to the board.

1:18:12If they're gonna burn, maybe they have to pay to have some of our fire trucks sitting there.

1:18:16Uh I I know we observe some things and I know we inspect them um on a on a regular basis. So

1:18:22Okay. Uh the next thing is yesterday we had a big meeting on Cogan grass. Um And uh David Allen was there among other staff. So I do want to hear how you ended up because I had to leave for another meeting. But uh and it's because I was contacted by a gentleman who's doing some work for the state um on Cocan Grass and they and he's actually from Pasco County. And so they brought in their LIDAR equipment and their drones and it was very interesting. Um In

1:18:53the meantime he called me when when I was talking to him, he said he they were watching the property on Mitchell get cleared with the Saint John's property uh project. And they were clearing the Cogan grass inappro in an inappropriate way and they warned them and they said We don't care basically. So I thought we put steps in place That developers and landowners or whomever had to be notified and d

1:19:23and clear their property correctly before they could start of Kogan grass. But apparently we're not doing that. Um they said that if a coging grass catches on fire and you're standing in a field of cohen grass, you will burn because you cannot outrun The spread of co a Cogan grass fire. It's like gasoline. So um Um can you say how how the meeting went?

1:19:51Um I see Mr. Mickle coming up because I did have to step out, but I think I think the next steps is to look at a pilot for identifying you know the the uh effectiveness of our treatments on Kirk Cogengrass, particularly on the rights away. I do want to mention the development services side just real briefly is because um I did have a conversation with Keith and our um a development review team and we We do have um requirements for initial assessments to identify where Kogan grass is

1:20:21within the disturbed areas. And in the case with the Mitchell St. John property, um not sure what happened there, but we do have that as part of our uh parks, recreation and natural resources assessment of the sites, particularly when they're looking at uh other environmental factors like the tortoises and Delineating where they have those and they're required to um eliminate the code and grass.

1:20:44Okay, then can you let me know what we did on the Coca-Lacas property at Central Pasco Employment Center? That's not clear because it was full, hundred percent full. Okay, right.

1:20:55I think too the commissioner points out enforcement. I mean are we able to we we can put we put the requirements in on the review, is there an enforcement arm to that or are we we lacking that

1:21:05capability? No, we would have that uh enforcement capability through our code compliance then just similar to like say a tree uh tree removal that would fall under the same same authority.

1:21:17Have we ever Ask a developer to or A developer to stop because of Cocongras? To your knowledge?

1:21:27I am not aware of anything.

1:21:28Yeah, neither. But it's not my world. Okay. Um I think that's it for me.