Public comment on agenda items
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, Apr 5, 2022
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The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Apr 5, 2022
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 26m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 77% of 94 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Here. Okay, and now is the time for public comment. Citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board and on other business under the board's 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 a WebEx link. and are currently on queue.
We request that when you address the board, comments are not directed personally against the Commissioner or team member, but rather directed at the issues. This provides mutual respect between board members and the public. After stating your name and address for the clerk, A three-minute timer will be activated. After two minutes, a single beep will indicate you have one minute left. When your time is up, two beeps will sound and you should close your comments. WebEx participants will be discontinued disconnected automatically
when the their time is up. And Madam Clerk, do we have anyone signed up for public comment?
Yes, Madam Chair, we have six people signed up in person and there is no one signed up on WebEx. Thank you. Let's call
the first person.
Okay. Um the first person signed up is Christy Zimmer, followed by Robert First. Uh followed by Dixon Phillips.
Good morning. My name is Christy Zimmer. My address is [address removed]. I was recently told by one of the commissioners when discussing an issue why it got passed and I was told because no one was there to object. Okay. I'm here to object to items C17 and C16 on your agenda.
Both of those are land sales. One is for the property located at 7107 Hat Pen Loop in Wesley Chapel, which is part of the Watercrest development. That property is designated forest and parkland and it is being sold to Leonard Construction. And for the price of twenty six thousand five hundred dollars. According to the property appraiser's office, the assessed value is forty seven hundred and twenty. And the just value is
sixty-eight thousand two seventy-six. It's designated forest property. Is this property going to remain undeveloped or is this person going to be able to develop that property? And why is it being sold so cheaply? The other one is 7037 Hat Pen, same buyer. Price is twenty eight thousand. Tax assessed value is $46,850 and the just value is $67,739,
and it too is also designated as part property. If this is being developed into housing, why is this property not being sold in a big process to the open market when we have such a high demand of values in that neighborhood right now? Why are we giving away the farm? Thank you.
Robert first? Sixteen and seventeen.
Good morning. My name is Robert First. I'm here representing Pasco's professional firefighters. Uh the address for Our union hall is two one seven three five YMCA Camp Road, Land O' Lakes, Florida, three four six three nine. Here today to speak on public safety as it stands today in Pasco County. Four forty-one thousand and sixty-five calls for service in 2021 exceeded the 10-minute threshold to get the first unit on scene. That means that it takes more than ten minutes to
get a fire engine on a scene in a day and age where houses can be fully engulfed in flames in less than five minutes. That of course assumes that the fire engine that we're talking about or the rescue that is assigned to the protect that location is in service and in quarters at the time when the call for service comes out. Nearly 10,000 of the 89,447 calls for service in Pasco County last year exceeded 15 minutes to get the first rescue or the first unit on scene. That
is not a rescue unit, that is a fire engine. 15 minutes to get the first paramedic on the scene. Imagine having to perform CPR or rescue breathing for one of your loved ones for that period of time and then having to possibly wait longer for the ambulance to show up while the fire engine does the same thing you did for the past 15 minutes. Since january first, of twenty twenty two, through march thirteenth, Pasco Fire Rescue is declared Signal 40, which for those of you that don't know means that we have no ambulance
to send on one side of the county or the other or both.
The total time for that is a grand total of one thousand five hundred and eighty six minutes. If you extrapolate that by dividing it by sixty, you get Over twenty-six hours out of basically a hundred days where there was no ambulance to send to a 911 call in Pasco County.
I promise you that that number would be significantly higher if it was extrapolated out to today because in the last two weeks we've had some of the longest signal forty times that I have seen in my career in this department.
As staggering as the this statistic is, it's only the beginning. How many minutes was there only one ambulance or two ambulances to send in Pasco County?
How long was the response to the next 911 call for that ambulance? What was the preventable negative effect medically on that person or the house that we were trying to protect from a fire? The normal or expected increase in yearly calls for service in Pasco Fire Rescue is typically around 5%. In twenty twenty one, the increase was sixteen percent. That's more than tripled the average. We attribute it directly to the growth, the unfettered growth in the county.
Simply put, the fire department and the sheriff's department, as you can see with the representation here, were stretched way too thin.
The population growth and lack of infrastructure is overwhelming our ability to safe to safely protect the residents as they want and deserve. Per capita spending in the Greater Tampa Bay economic region for Pasco County is the lowest in the area on money attributed to fire rescue. We need more funding to perform essential services we are tasked with providing. The men and women of Pasco's professional firefighters will continue to work tirelessly every single day to provide our citizens with technology, expertise, and the care that they deserve. We need
this board to be the public safety advocates they claim to be. And provide the funding so we so desperately need. Only then will Pasco have a chance of being a Premier County.
Thank you very much. And I gave him extra time because he's representing A good.
Dixon Phillips, followed by Richard Riley, followed by Jennifer Seni. Sini. Thank you.
Dixon Phillips representing IFF Local Forty Four Twenty. Uh my address is protected.
Good morning commissioners. My name is Dixon Phillips and I'm the District Three Representative for IFF Local 4420. On July 6, 2021, the representatives of local 4420, including myself, stood in this very room and asked for your support in an increase in the MSTU. We stood at this very podium and explained to you Hara County is no longer safe. We told you that response times were longer than ever. And we were experiencing an increase in call volume that this county has never seen. You ignored us.
Call volume increased by sixteen percent from twenty twenty to twenty twenty one.
The National Fire Protection Association states in Article seventeen ten That an ALS, advanced life support unit, must be on scene in less than eight minutes on 90% of all incidents. On over fifty percent of Pasco County fire rescue's calls, response times are greater than ten minutes. That means on average it takes over ten minutes for an advanced life support unit, whether it's a fire engine or an ambulance, to arrive on scene of your emergency. Earlier this year I witnessed
cardiac arrest occurred in Pasco County. It took eight minutes after the 911 call was received to find units available to send.
Ladder thirty seven, which services the Sun Lake area, came in service and was dispatched to the call. It took fourteen minutes for Ladder thirty seven to arrive on scene. where unfortunately the patient was deemed dead on arrival. This was not the first time this has happened, and unfortunately it won't be the last for the foreseeable future. Then every firefighter's worst fear happened, a pediatric cardiac arrest. When this call took place, the units assigned to the call were available in their station. It took fourteen minutes for fire rescue
to arrive on scene after 911 was called. When they arrived on scene they found a pediatric patient, pulseless and not breathing. Thankfully. The cruise. Who some are represented here in this room today? We're able to save this patient. However, the patient will have deficits due to their brain not receiving oxygen for such an extended period of time. The American Heart Association states that brain death and permanent death start to occur in four to six minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest. The American Heart
Association studies also show that a victim's chances of survival are reduced by 7 to 10 percent with every minute that passes without defibrillation and advanced life support intervention. Very few attempts at resuscitation succeed after ten minutes. On july sixth, two thousand twenty one, the County Administrator stated that two new stations, Station nine and station three, were going in service this year. It was also stated that Station thirty, which services Newport Ritchie, was receiving another rescue. Well Commissioners, here we are. Nine months later, we have no new stations
in service, no new engines in service, and no new rescues in service. Rescue 230, which has the station waiting for it, has sat outside of Westfleet Parked for months. Until fire rescue is given what it needs, civilians, both young and old, will continue to die unnecessarily. Maybe one day soon we'll finally be able to call Pasco County safe. Thank you.
Thank you. Richard Riley?
And who's
after
Richard? Uh Jennifer Sini followed by Nancy Hazelwood and Neil Corella.
Good morning. I'm Richard Riley, [address removed]. I normally come and speak to you about the rural protected area and and the um uh concerns we have up in uh Trilby area. Um But today I'm going to ask about the penny for Pasco. I understand that it is coming up for renewal, that it has had two terms of fund providing extra money for the county for, according to your view,
the Pasco County uh website. on for conservation of land and national resources, transportation, education, economic development, and public safety. I when I googled on a penny for Pasco, the thing I came up with First was a penny for your thoughts. I thought that was appropriate. Um I want you to continue. I want the um referendum that will c the I believe it's a referendum that'll come uh this uh fall to continue
the penny for Pasco. Specifically, I would like it to continue to support In a simpler manner than it is doing right now. I've just been preceded by some very s uh specific legitimate needs uh for public safety. I agree with that. I'm glad we have as much as we have. Both the fire and the sheriff's office are excellent and necessary and uh I support them. I do hope that
you can do that and I hope you can do it and supporting the Penny for Pasco. My point here is I think they should be separate. I think the environmental uh support, the natural resources, education, transportation All are very, very necessary for um on Our our quality of life. That's one of the reasons that the Penny Pasco was um promoted, is for a quality of life. I
think we need safety. And I think we need a quality of life. Thank you very much. Thank you. Wow. Two minutes.
Actually one minute. Jennifer Seney, followed by Nancy Hazelwood.
Good morning commissioners. [address removed]. It's been a long time since I've taken advantage of this public comment. Um but I was there in the beginning of the penny. in two thousand and four. As a matter of fact I was part of the settlement agreement in two thousand. that started this whole movement off. So I'm here to first of all say thank you for your joint workshop. I thought it was a good workshop. I'd like to see the school board and
the county work together cooperatively. Um an hier to say thank you. for supporting the penny as it stands today. I specifically want to point out that you kept the percentages in the penny the way it is. And I think that's very wise because that formula has worked twice before. And we need a formula w that will work again. Please do not make the mistake. Do not fall into
hubris and assume That because the penny passed by over seventy percent last time, you can do the same thing this time. In ten years, the population of Pasco County has grown significantly. And there are many people in this county that don't know about the penny. And quite frankly your penny pack Political Action Committee of which I am a part has the job of making sure that Your citizenry hears about the penny in a positive way.
If you mess with a formula that is already proven twice before, you run the risk of sinking this penny. I specifically can talk for the environmental groups in this county. Um we fought long and hard for the percentage that we got in the penny and we did it in collaboration with the other parts of the penny. And there was a reason why the penny has been divided evenly for two decades, for
20 years. It was because that creates the synergy among all of us that allows us to campaign really hard. for the penny. And by the way, your penny pack? assumes that the devil is after them. And that's the way we campaign and we would like you to think about it similarly. So please First of all, thank you for supporting the penny like you did at your workshop. But please keep the percentages the way they are.
Um one more thing, I understand that everybody needs money. And I acknowledge that public safety fire And the Sheriff's Department are always looking for more money. They will never have a time where they don't ask for more money, legitimately so. But do not take it from other parts of the penny because that will destroy the synergy. Of the penny. Thank you for this time to speak with you. Thank you.
Nancy Hazlewood, followed by Neil Carella.
Nancy Hazewood, [address removed]. Thank you for the joint meeting for the penny for Pasco. I'm also here to speak about that. And please keep the levels of money for each part of the penny as it is today. I am in favor of the penny and especially the E Lamp program. I was also there when they managed to start the penny and it was a wonderful thing for the whole county. Please
take in consideration that all parts of the penny needs to be funded as is. And I do hope Yeah. In some other way you find more money for our police and our firemen, we all support them. But messing with a penny might not be your best advice. Thank you all.
Neil Corella?
Neil Corella, [address removed]. This in reference to Pilot Country Airport. Does the board communicate back and forth? I've never been to one of these meetings before. Can I ask questions to the board or I just gotta speak? D. Okay. Well, over at Pilot Country we've had uh zoning issues come up of uh as of late and uh on the west side of Pilot Country they put high density housing right underneath the flight path. of airplanes flying in and around the airport,
which to me makes no sense. I mean Florida statute laws 333.01.5 says it has to be airport compatibility. I don't know how putting high density density housing around airports is compatible with an airport. I don't know how the board can sit here and look me in the eye and tell me it is compatible in any way to an airport. Now there's plenty of other things you could do. Industrial, Home Depot, you know, retail, all kinds of other things can go there. All you have to do is move up the road another three-quarters
of a mile and be out of the area that's protected by F dot. So I just asked the board to consider the Florida State statutes when they do this next consideration on the things coming up in the future. Thank you.
Thank
you.
Is there anyone else here who wishes to speak to the uh board this morning? Die in?
Good morning everyone. My name is Diane Jones. I live at [address removed]. I'm here to speak about the Penny for Pasco. I serve on the Citizens Committee along with Jennifer. And I'm actually very torn on this subject because obviously you can't argue with the statistics and the information that was just given by our public safety officials. They're s y they're so respected and s and what they do is so important. But I'm here because I believe
that the best chance the Penny has for passing this year is to keep The percentages to keep the way that the penny is is divided the same it's been for the last twenty years. My grandpa always said if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And I I I live my life and I live my business that way. And I do believe that the citizens of Pasco County have come to support the penny. They've come and and they've seen how well it's done over the last twenty years and that it's working. And one of our strongest statements for the for
the pack this year is going to be promises made, promises kept. We're just gonna keep doing what we're doing because it's happen it's working so well. Um every category is so important. I wish there was more money. The numbers are going up. I'm thrilled to see that. Um I wish I could come up with a solution to to to provide public stage with more money. But I believe that the penny should remain the way it's divvied up right now um so that we can go back to the residents and say we are continuing a
program that has worked and we believe we'll continue to work in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Dane.
Madam Clerk. Yes.
Madam Chairman Do you mind if I ask um County Minister a question real quick before we move on? Because I I there's a lot of people in the audience and I don't want to ask the question during miscellaneous business in case it's all the way in the afternoon and be able to hear. So I
don't think it will be though.
No, I'll just go to the R
sur
paper.
Okay.
So Mr. Biles, can you um just in response to some of the comments made, just so for the for the board and people in the audience, people at home, can you tell us how many engines are in the queue right now? Or rescues, not engines, sorry, rescues. I apologize. Rescues are in the queue right now and when they'll be online.
So nine station I obviously when those will be available as soon as the the facility is built and it's under control. construction. I think we're sixty to ninety days out on that. Uh two thirty we're waiting for the trainees to get through the current training class and then that will be ready to go. The uh the the units available, it's just a matter of getting the the firefighters through the class. Um Station three will go out to bid and start construction here shortly, uh with the next quarter and then I think those are the three major
movements for rescues. Uh we have, you know, working on the current budget, you know, I think the board has already, you know, indicated that rescue 223 is probably the next one would be included in the next budget. In addition to two new fire stations, both uh station two. and station four or post-bond bond funded fire stations will also be under construction in the next 18 months, which would include two more rescue units. Yeah, we're working on some other ways on
peak hour shaving with you know, rescues and stuff like that. So there is a lot of stuff going on. I mean over the past five years the board has increased the rescue piece of the budget almost 120%.
Wh would you know, dwarf just about any other increase in the county. Uh so there is a lot going on.
Okay. Uh a follow up question. Um How are we doing on recruiting people into the fire department to make sure they're ready to go as soon as those fire
departments
are
open? Uh during covet a lot of the fire schools shut down during COVID so we're recovering for a while there we had more vacancies than we had applications for. I think we have on the order of twenty something f twenty to thirty firefighters going through our current training program and onboarding it at the training center. And then there's another group after that, which should get us close to about the 20 vacancies that are planned for station three. That are budgeted but won't
be filled until we're ready to put 'em into the station. Mm-hmm. But it was a challenge for about a year after COVID because the the fire training school is shut down.
Commission more?
Yeah, I I just wanted to we'll have continue these conversations probably this afternoon too, but I wanted to know how many rescues are online right now and when do we expect those to be ready. Right. Um and to the Madam Chair, j and to the citizen that brought up um C sixteen and C C seventeen, I will actually pull C sixteen so you can actually see because If you read the agenda memo, you just read the agenda. If you read the agenda memo It actually gives you an explanation that these did go out to bid in the process it went through.
So what you need to do when you look at an agenda item. online the ag there's an agenda memo attached Read the agenda memo and it gives you analysis And how what was the process? So it did go through that process. But I'll pull it and I'll bring staff up so you can uh see that process did go forward and the county attorney can actually respond to that too, because by statute there are certain things we have to do and the staff does a great job of following through that on that.
So just one one correction. We have thirty seven hires firefighters starting on the eleventh. They're starting their own boarding on the eleventh. That's a big class I mentioned. Doesn't start yet, it starts on Monday. Starts on Monday? Starts on Monday. Thirty seventh. So
Thank you.
And Madam Chair. And how many vacancies do we have and then after
after that? I think we're down to about twenty. Uh and that's effectively fire station three, because those those are budgeted but won't be filled until we're near final construction and that one should be going out to bid here shortly.
Um and I would like to suggest um that when they're getting ready for bid that we put Put in the county attorney's office and then our purchasing whoever handles these that they put a very high priority on getting these documents out on the street.
Yeah there's actually w I I'm gonna look but I think there's actually one rebuild on the street right now for bids. I think twenty. Yeah for fire station twenty. Fire station twenty is yeah out on bid right now and so the one of the new ones will be out on the street once that comes in.
Okay. So
Madam Chair, those are the new vac those are getting filled going to specific stations, but are weren't there seventy seven vacancies?
There were, yes ma'am. And then over the last two cycles we've managed to get enough uh recruits to fill those assuming all thirty-seven show up on one day.
That was kind of my question. Okay, we kind of need to move on. We normally don't get in discussion during this time. So um and I and I agree with Commissioner Moore this more discussion on all funding for um first responders. Will be had by the board. Okay. Um so we have no one else wishing to speak, then I will and Commissioner Moore, I pulled sixteen and seventeen. All right, there you go. Um so we uh Madam Clerk, we have resolution.
Oh we're doing