Commissioner updates CARES Green Key diverging diamond

1:44:05I during FAC, I did a tour and I was just so impressed with the uh Palm Beach Engineering Department. And I just gave um the uh presentation to Mr. Karbala. And um one of the things that I really liked was our streetscape division. And um I was gonna read it to you but I don't have time now, but Uh I think I'll send you the verbiage to everybody. Uh really incredible streets gate program and a big tree program in

1:44:36Palm Beach County. And I think some of the commissioners who were driving around there Uh well, Commissioner Fitzpatrick and her aide. Noticed notice their medians and how they do their trails, not smushed up against the road like we do. So um really good ideas coming from Palm Beach. They also have the world's largest um waste waste to energy plant, and we toured that and I'd love to take our staff down there to look at it and see how they implemented their expansion. Um these are uh

1:45:06some of the landscaping photos that we've been giving to The code enforcement um we do five every Friday. You can see the whole head all the hedge is gone. I didn't see what the other ones were.

1:45:17Go back to the second picture.

1:45:19There, all the landscape gone. Landscape gone.

1:45:23Oh map might have been it.

1:45:24There.

1:45:25I mean go ahead and next go forward. Forward. These are banking just on the edge of that.

1:45:32Yeah, weird. Weird, but it's supposed to have a hedge all the way across. So um we sent a second notice in May. So I'm looking forward to finding out what action we're taking. If you're driving down fifty four, you will notice the Regents Bank um and Mitchell Ranch Plaza re redid their hedge and mulch and it makes a huge difference. So We we're slipping backwards when we're not enforcing the landscape ordinance. Um I do wanna say I've asked I think since

1:46:02spring for a meeting with the cities on this side, uh a joint meeting with the commission and Port Richey, New Port Richey I haven't seen that date yet. Um Mr. Karbala, I'm curious if you could give us uh a report sometime on what we do with SEPTIC. I think maybe we're not paying enough look at that. No trees, no hedge. They took everything out right there on State Road 54. And um at T Barda we are going to be working on an interlocal agreement. It turns out we don't

1:46:32have one. Regional Planning Council has one, Tampa Bay Water has one, but T T Barda has been acting without any kind of interlocal agreement and I think this would be Really good. For T Barta and we'll also uh be including the cities in the funding. We have even though they sit on T BARTA, they haven't been assessed anything. So looking forward to that and that's something that this board will have to approve. Okay, I think that's it.

1:46:58Your meeting's the second at Starkman February.

1:47:04November second? November second. Well I'll be in Germany. Oh no, I'm here.

1:47:11Thank you for working that around my schedule.

1:47:13Bye. All right. Thank you. I'll

1:47:16see you in a bit.

1:47:18Oh, thank you, sir.

1:47:23Let me let me put on the spectacles so I can actually read here. Hold on a sec.

1:47:30All right.

1:47:33Real quick here. Commissioner, if I could make these mics are really low by the way. We can turn the volume up. Commissioner, I'd like to make a motion um for For cares. Um, they're having a fundraising event at Sun West Park on October 16th and 17th 2021. It's a beach charity event and festival. Um, there's gonna be beach chairs painted by local artists, will be auctioned off along with many other activities they have this year to year. I've I've asked for those. This multiple

1:48:04years. So all I'm asking is a a motion to waive the park fees the amount of one thousand sixty eight dollars for the CARES event at Sun West on October sixteenth and 17th.

1:48:13Second. Second. Okay. Having a motion of second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye opposed, likes aye. Thank

1:48:19you. Motion

1:48:19passed four zero.

1:48:20And I'll probably let um Commissioner Mary, I'll talk about the event more because he's a big part of it. So I will save that for you. Okay. Okay. And just an update, um, I think everybody is aware that the new contractor for the diverging diamond is in place now. Um obviously we're very happy about that. We're gonna thank F DOT Secretary Um David Gwynn and the Surety Company for working so quickly after the other company defaults. to get back out there. I was I was charmed to see yesterday when I drove by a numerous

1:48:51uh vehicle out there.

1:48:53Other roads.

1:48:54Right. Well I'm just talking about this one now. Yeah. Um so happy to that. I know the community's very happy about it. I'm not gonna give a date. on when the guesstimate is it'll be completed but and We're happy it's moving forward again. That's it. Thank you.

1:49:07Okay.

1:49:09Okay, Ms.

1:49:10Fitzpatrick.

1:49:11Well I don't have the photos, but I would like to mention a few things. I did go to the Floor Association of County's meeting last week. It was very informative and their Solid Waste Department is five times the size of ours. And I would like to go back and take an inside of the facility tour, and I've already spoken with them about that.

1:49:32There are ways to recycle a lot of the dust and I am researching that as well. And while o I was there I was noticing the landscaping and how Commissioner Starkey had mentioned that the sidewalks are pressed back up along the communities, not basically right on the road, which is kind of what we've done here in Moon Lake. on the west side of the road. It is more pressed up against their community. And I thought it was very nice as

1:50:02as they have the walls along the road for the communities, they have multiple layers of the trees and the bushes where you're not always seeing all of the communities and multifamily units from the road. And then also going into public's parking lot, it was very nice 'cause each of the medians had an oak tree or a small oak tree and everything was matching and again there was multiple layers of landscaping. Secondly,

1:50:34I would like to mention CareFest. It was a great event through Somebody Cares, Pastor Troy Peterson and the other churches in the area. We were able to go to they had nineteen residences that we were able to go to and the one I had went to We were able to help with a lot of the debris and clean up the areas and I wish I had the photos, but I don't have those photos with me today. But we were able to go and help the disabled and the elderly clean up their

1:51:04homes and I would Very much like to see a lot more uh more programs in reference to helping our elderly and disabled as well. Thank you.

1:51:16That's it? Mr.

1:51:18Mariano? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um I'm gonna address Green Key. Um, Just because we had some comments on that today, um and also some good news. Um On September seventeenth, public works applied for a Green Key grant. under the DEO to rebuild Florida general infrastructure program. It's a two million dollar grant. I think it's gonna help quite a bit. Uh I'm still gonna be looking to take my legislative house to kinda match along with that. So all the way to Green Key Road, which by the way the seawall out there came out great.

1:51:48I think there's some great improvements to b for Green Key Beach coming, so I think it's gonna help that area. And For the comments as far as like we've forgotten them, just remember we just did a cleanup for them just a little bit ago too. I want to make sure we address the stormwater issues best we can 'cause it is a low lying area right to the Gulf. But along all Green Key and a lot of those roadways coming in. Uh matter of fact, can you put those pictures up again, Jordan? I had him put up with when Mrs. Woodcher was speaking, just so the board could see him as she was talking. But literally there's this roadway, there's muck in the road. Um And I think just

1:52:19like we've solved other things like leisurely and many years ago we used to flood out. Um If this road rig gets built, if we set the drainage up, if we put the drains in place going right along the ditches, just like we know like Oak Oak Ridge doesn't flood even though it's in the midst of a major, major floodway, because they maintain 'em, we've got to get the maintenance of all these areas along these yards to be dug out. You've got to get the road set up so it can pitch the both ways and get the water to flow out. It's so easy to get to the Gulf that once in a storm event happens,

1:52:49once low co low tide comes, we should be able to clear the road off. On a high tide storm surge situation, it's gonna flood. But we wanna prevent is the other ones. If you see that area right there, that's an area we put a pump in the back side not a pump but a pipe with a flapper valve on it. That was the one area that was dry in that whole area. So I know we can do a lot better there. It's not gonna be perfect on a storm surge. It's right on the coast. It's gonna happen. But I'm gonna tell you we can make this a lot better. And at the same time, I've always said when we fix an area with the stormwater drainage is the time to pave.

1:53:19I'll be looking to come forward with a paving assessment right after that as well. So we can fix this. We do have the things in place. Uh Mike Corbell and his team and and Colleen, thank you. Uh working real close to get it through to to help make this next these next steps happen.

1:53:34I remember when we were out there looking uh it's gotta be six years ago now or seven years ago that we were looking at a lot of these flood areas here. The flooding part of the flooding coming there, it always happens, right?

1:53:47Right. And it's gonna be there's

1:53:48no way to stop it from coming. It's

1:53:51coming.

1:53:52But these areas you're talking about like you were saying To once once it goes away, then it kind of clears out. So

1:53:59once low tide can come in, if you have the proper drainage, it'll go out. If you go back to the slide that shows the Uh the Mukana and the roadway.

1:54:11Next one I think. So that that area right there, that doesn't have to be that way. We can fix that. So you get a a bunch of homes again six, seven days of dryness, you still got that much muck on the road and the water on the road. We can fix that to go away that as soon as that load time comes in, the water can get out. And you if you let it go. So I think that like I said, we can make some major improvements. It's not gonna be perfect, but they won't have to go through that. Yeah and that's the key.

1:54:36I gotcha. Yeah.

1:54:37Right. Um on another note, uh there's a project I'm gonna say it was nine years ago. I think Tropical Storm Debbie's when it was. Uh we had a big flood. We had like just made a motion here to kinda like declare a state of emergency. I went back uh had a truck for my insurance company and we kinda like just were loading up sandbags to figure out where we could go try to help somebody. And a deputy come over and she was taking some sandbags, gonna put 'em her in her patrol car. I go, where do you gonna go? Where are you gonna go with that? Because you want like six bags.

1:55:07She's not going to be able to do it. Holiday Hills over by the Gulf U Mall. I go, you need six bags? I says, I gotta think there's a few more you're gonna need as well if you're in that in that area if it's flooded the way she described it. I go, oh yeah, we need a bunch more. So we load up the truck, we put like thirty-two sandbags in, we put 'em over. This lady was an elderly lady, she had Ms. She couldn't do anything, so we protected her. We used all the other sandbags. We did like three more loads. Later that day, the governor was actually coming to town that night. We kind of walked that whole area. It's where the Gainesboro Pump is. They were pumping

1:55:38water up the hill, down Stone Road. It w turned out it was flowing down a nineteen inner corridor, down to a drainage pipe, coming right back into the same area. Um Then that night by seven thirty after kinda studying the situation, watching the canal which was now it's now low tide. I got like three feet of water this whole area. That's all in there. Uh if you look up down behind the stake and shake that whole triangle, Pensive Lane, Kelso, um Hyperion, Gainesboro. All

1:56:08that area is like under two feet, three feet of water. There's a guy who wants to bring an airboat in there. At the end of the road this embassy And there's a roadway that's uh a canal that's there. It's seven feet below the road. And I got water sitting up here, I got a canal down over there. I said this shouldn't be happening. We put a pump in that night about seven thirty. By the next day One thirty in the afternoon, it was dry as a bone. Okay, since then we put a pipe in. uh a pump in, the

1:56:38next time it rained they didn't flood out. We put a hard pipe in the ground. It's been sitting there now for probably six years, seven years. Same time we did Iron Bark and Grey Birch. That thing's been sitting there. It took a long time to go through engineering. Finally went through engineering and now it's in sitting in the county's attorney's office. for 237 days. And not not faulting the County Attorney's Office or even staff to make priorities. But but I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna put this request in that this is back in the priority list. And I guess what's number fifteen or seventeen?

1:57:08Fifteen. And fifteen, okay. And and literally This is two hundred something homes suffering, suffering, suffering. We missed a paving assessment opportunity from two years ago that could have been passed that I didn't want to do until we fixed the drainage. that now that it's gonna cost them more money. I want to move this up to the top of the list um and get this project done. It's Pipe in the ground. Running all the way down to the canal. It's gonna take two homes which you already bought. that

1:57:39we can clear out and increase the size of that pond. I mean literally, I think with that pawn size and that pipe in the ground, gravity fed, not even pumped, even though we'll leave the other pipe in the ground in case we do have it for an extreme event. We'll solve this whole situation and really elevate a neighborhood that's been depressed for a long time because of this whole situation. I mean the roads are terrible. Uh they did a good job with the uh paper seal that we did was like one of the neighbores we did. But it just it just needs something and to be right across from the Gulfi Mall we could do we could do so much better. Uh

1:58:09so I'm gonna ask it to go to the top of the list. Mike, if you want to talk to it, but I really feel that strong. Nine years have been long enough. I know it's a situation that You know, you got to look at different things. But I'm going to tell you for my district to see this thing here, to have it not done at this point, I really want to s make a motion to move it to the top of the list. That's my motion.

1:58:27Second.

1:58:28We got a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye.

1:58:31What's

1:58:31I

1:58:31don't

1:58:31know why

1:58:32the list we're talking about here?

1:58:33So it it

1:58:34sounds like fifty lists. We can have discussion.

1:58:38So we had we had asked the the administrate uh county administrator to because in the procurement issue the board knows my office is having difficulty with the proc moving procurement items forward. Um we had asked each of the branches for their top ten of the of a priority list of what they wanted us to work on first. Gotcha. Um public infrastructure has

1:59:09produced a list that has more than ten, but that's fine. And this particular one happens to be number fifteen. I work for the board. If the board wants us to give that more priority, happy to do that. But something else falls off the

1:59:26list. It's not going to mess up Quail Hollow though, is it? No, you don't want to you don't want to push Quail Hollow back.

1:59:33I just don't think it's to me uh I'm gonna tell you, to do this and to do this agreement, it shouldn't be a big deal. It's literally a pipe in the ground. It's already been engineered, already put approved. It's just a matter of getting it through to get it to proc procurement. If we need to go hire some more people, To go help Jeff's office go through? Let's go do it. But there's no way this progress should be sitting, sitting, sitting. And I end I'm gonna say Mike, uh in fairness, I understand why it's not the highest priority. Because the people with the pumps we have in place, they haven't flooded. Huh

2:00:04okay, so I understand why you prioritize it that way. Your team's been a great job every year out there, every storm event, but it's just time to like move on. And if we have to do some things to help you get your projects done quicker, because it shouldn't just be a bureaucratic hold that's doing this, because the funding's already there, already approved. And and and if Jeff needs help, let's go find out how to get this stuff done. I mean people want us to get things done.

2:00:29Is it gonna affect Quail Hola? Okay, then never mind.

2:00:35All right.

2:00:38So I got a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, lag, sign. Motion passed.

2:00:45I have to go to a meeting at twelve when I'm late.

2:00:47Yeah,

2:00:47that's true.