NACO, oak trees, and playing fields

1:59:52All right, I have some um well I guess we'll start with NACO. I so I uh recently attended the NACO conference. Um It was in an interesting city where They had to cancel I always do the NACO bike ride. And um it's an early morning thing and they didn't have one in Philly 'cause they said it was too dangerous. So that was that was kind of interesting. Um But um as one of the highlights was uh our own Gavin here winning

2:00:22uh Intergovernmental R Relations Off Official of the Year. Uh Davin won that. He's with Fak. And that's me in the upper Um

2:00:34Picture. Um, talking to General Mc McChrystal, is that how you say his name? McChrystal, who used to run JSOC, um he was our speaker at our board meeting, board of directors meeting on leadership. Um very interesting man. And um I talked to him about initiative I've had for a number of years at NACO to make it easier for the spouses of um military families to be able to work in multiple states because

2:01:05my daughter is a a PA and every time they move which sometimes one year, sometimes two years Um she has to go through this whole process to be able to be a physician assistant in that state. And um it takes six to eight months She has to get a letter from everyone she's worked at. And it's just crazy, um, what some of these military families go through. So he was appreciative of that. I didn't really take very many pictures. Do you have anything else to add to Nako? Um Oh

2:01:36yes, this is fact. Uh this is Derek. burger getting an award. When he was my assistant and we go to the fact conferences, he would take classes and um get his uh points towards um filling fulfilling this education program and he was able to come over, finish up and get his award um this last week, so Um or two weeks ago. Um That is the CGE designation. It

2:02:07consists of a total of forty-five hours of coursework. Gosh, Jack, your your staff should be able to get that. Consisting of um Let's see, d diverse range of courses such as growth management, financial management and ethics, elective courses such as affordable housing, emergency management and resiliency. So um That was very good. Uh I um On the way home from fact. I stopped at a um A publics in Orlando.

2:02:38And Yeah, they put oak they put oak trees in theirs and we put crepe myrtles. And it was so hot in Orlando and when I drove in that parking lot It was so refreshing to drive in through the shade. There's some there's some more pictures from there. But this is what this is what I was talking about to Commissioner Oakley, who looks like he's gone, but They're trimming their trees. And they're thinning 'em out so that they grow healthy. And um But it it's it just looks so much better than what we have.

2:03:08So as you're driving around the county, take a look at our development and look how we really have So few of our tree canopy left in the developed areas. Um I spoke at the Bama dinner. I think you should have a picture of that. Maybe, maybe not. Um which is the Bay Area Manufacturing uh annual dinner. And Then I have a few other notes. So I mentioned to you Um that this upcoming year and I don't remember what

2:03:38they call it is the two hundred and fiftieth year of the of our independence, when we declared independence. And almost all the counties that I talk to have something planned. So I thought we should start thinking about something. And you know those video machines that we got? Um You know those ones, those those ones that were Yeah, so I got one and the county got one. You can project

2:04:09a movie or something 300 feet to 30 feet in perfect quality, their laser. We could we could have fun with those around the county showing showing You know. interesting historical things. That's just a mu something that came to my mind. But I'd like for you to assign someone. She might be sitting to your right. to be thinking about What can we do? to celebrate in a special way our two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. Yeah, I'll be thinking

2:04:39of of things.

2:04:40It it might be good if we could collaborate with the cities and All work together, whether it's one side or two sides. Yeah. I was thinking downtown Newport. And incorporate some little fireworks.

2:04:55Let's not just leave it to the cities though.

2:04:58No, no, meaning like ask them to to partner with us. I mean it's not probably going to be a cheap endeavor, but there I think it needs to be a whole at least the offer needs to be made and have the whole county and

2:05:11involved.

2:05:15I was thinking we could each do a part of reading the Direct Declaration of Independence. Um

2:05:20light the buildings up?

2:05:22Huh? Light buildings up, you know. I don't know if we're allowed to put banners on polls on State Road 54 and 52, you know, some some bunting or whatever. But let's let's think about doing it up. No, I think they we want to come you to come back to us with ideas. We will come back to you with a Suster Centennial. Is that what they call it? That's what it's called. Okay, yeah, I I can't remember that. Um All right. I um I've got a very

2:05:52big issue brewing in my district and it's gonna touch both of yours and that is the lack of playing fields. Before it was Little league baseball, but now it's flag football. And uh yeah, it's bad. But we just went through uh a a procedure that our county put together for four different leagues was included Pop Warner Or PAL, I'm not sure which. And the NFL League um, and two others on who would

2:06:22get to play like on one field. And um they you know, they ranked and scored and the the team They picked two teams. Actually one gets to play at Mitchell, one gets to play on a field at Starkey. And the team that was founded by uh a a mom in Starkey Ranch actually I think. Um a a a flag football team from 2021 with 400 girls is out. No fields. So um imagine the calls and texts and things that

2:06:52I'm getting. And um uh Keith and I have been racking our brains on what can we do. Um I've got uh a talk to Commissioner Flowers from Pinellas County about the property they own on Trinity Boulevard. Can you can he go to Google Earth up there? If you could go to the um Pinellas Pasco County line on Trinity Boulevard. Um I I we've we've touched on this before, Mike, um, about their property but Commissioner Flowers is g is again gonna try to at their Thursday

2:07:23board workshop in Penales to see if at our expense We could put some fields in there and some lights and maybe we'll have to bring a porta pot some porta potties. But um it's land that Penellas County has, Penellas County Utilities, that they are not using. They you know, I asked if we could buy it. Um And um They said no they said no, right? You I mean you were you were leading those discussions. I don't know what their issues were. Okay, go to Up here to the right upper

2:07:53right there. Let's zoom in. Uh T yep, over, over. Right see it right there? It's all upland. It's nope, you went too far. That's that that area right there. Right there. Zoom in on that, please. This is Penellas County. utilities land. I think they were gonna use it for a water treatment facility or something. Um And It's would be they don't use it. They mow it. They have a very nice entrance.

2:08:24I'm just trying to see if we can throw some ball fields on there, even if it's temporary. We'll take the liability Whatever it takes. Commissioner Mariano.

2:08:33I got another idea for you. 'Cause you mentioned Mitchell as well as Trinity and if you talk my district I'm not sure where where it comes in, but I know we're talking about doing something at Magnolia Valley. Yeah,

2:08:43but it's gears away because of the environmental permits.

2:08:46I I think you got that old driving range that was right out front, you got a golf range

2:08:50over right-of-way.

2:08:53Right?

2:08:55Um, I don't know, but I I think with the land space you've got there, if you put enough topping over it and you put the field over the top, I think it'd be all right. I think that would probably be an ideal site to actually go look at doing that. And maybe as you say to try to make that happen with what you've got going on right now. That probably the quickest, simplest, easy way to get something done.

2:09:15If if we could do that quickly, um but I think they're out for bid again. Who's who's here from? Um Is who's your Aka here that knows about this issue? Where's Brantford?

2:09:27Brand Brantford would be the one that is on vacation, so we have kind of those guys really got the expertise. I know.

2:09:36Okay, well I just had a meeting with some of those guys and talked to uh Keith about this and My understanding is they have to go they're going back out to bed that it's got arsenic on it and they have to get army corps approval. before they can even start the the water the you know, the stormwater project. We went through this at Gulf Harbors with the arsenic. That's what held up us closing. And get this, this is where some of the rules are so crazy. We can't even put a tennis court, like a a an

2:10:06asphalt pad

2:10:09We have to get go back to DEP because there's a little level of arsenic underneath. I'm like, well it seems like if we're putting concrete or something on top of it, like even a clubhouse. No, there's arsenic in the ground. So I said People gonna go out and eat the dirt uh underneath the clubhouse? I don't I don't understand their rules. But we finally gave up trying to fight it. So I I think Jack that would I mean Look into it, but I think it's be longer than you think.

2:10:36Another suggestion I had I talked to Keith about was at Mitchell Park. We have the back forty there.

2:10:42The wet

2:10:43it's real wet? At Mitchell Mitchell Fields. We have the back forty where there's really nothing. I mean kids use practice there. And then the field across from the soccer field, it's small, but it could definitely be used for um like like for for kids, like flag football, you know, things like that. I

2:11:00I think one of the fields that this league is going on is at Mitchell. Um I I just we just don't ha we don't have enough fields. I got a league with four hundred girls. They give college scholarships for flag football. There's four um let me say I think it's thirty four teams. That now are out. Why why if if the county's

2:11:18gonna take responsibility and the board approved impact fee increases, why what's the hang up with the school board allowing us to use some of their facilities? It I know in the summertime they're concerned about different things but I feel like this is an unprecedented time. The county's grown twenty years younger within the last six years. They see it. They're in the in the youth business themselves. We have a new administration.

2:11:49I can answer that.

2:11:49And I tried when I was on the school board.

2:11:51So I can answer that. I just recently asked um Keith to pull up all the uh areas that were lacking in parks that were near schools and I have them I have the two the school board and Keith talking to see how many more schools we we have opened up. I think Yeah, don't quote me on this, but I think they're working they have seven right now that they that that that are opened and we're talking about opening more schools. Well and they have they're m all of them are

2:12:22elementary schools.

2:12:23So this is and I tried to I tried to get rid of those fields when I was a school going with them. It's up to the principals.

2:12:29Are they kind of is the school well? There's a hierarchy in the school system.

2:12:35Yeah.

2:12:35Uh So you're saying the school system could potentially be open to the county taking liability and paying them to use the

2:12:43We already we have that agreement now. And we have

2:12:46we have a master agreement

2:12:47from

2:12:47the school board that that could add fields. It's a but but I think the chair is right. I know I've been down this road many times. Until now they have left it up to the principals and there haven't been very many principals that

2:12:59and they don't necessarily want them with lights on and open at night.

2:13:03But my my my angle is to try and make it more of the superintendent's decision and Yes. The principal because we're in need as a county. And all these pe everybody pays taxes. Yeah, that's a public land. Exactly. So these fields should be open.

2:13:19I know a legislator who might work on that. Yeah.

2:13:24Anyway, so we're in we're we are actively working on that, Commissioner Weightman. Yeah.

2:13:29It would just be a a wonderful thing. I mean

2:13:35It just always just scratched my head as to why in the summertime and others it it's you got public facilities that are closed. It's

2:13:44not right. It is not right. Agreed. I grew up playing on those fields. Well

2:13:49there's a new superintendent town.

2:13:51Yeah there may there may be a new opportunity

2:13:55Great idea.

2:13:56Um okay so not a new one. Very good. The the the last one um I wanna say is it's funny 'cause w we heard from our legislators, but I know um our county administrator was at the fact meeting. And we heard Some o some some of the talk about doging us and that we were too heavy with employees and and they were putting numbers up there of employee growth. And then we're going to do that. We had uh the one of the top guys from Lenar, I

2:14:26don't remember who else was on that panel saying, Counties don't have enough employees, it's taking too long to get permits. You know, so they want us you heard it today, they want us to increase our service and um but they're gonna cut our budget with this property tax thing. So which which way is it? I I'm very I feel whiplashed. Yeah, we we we are

2:14:45we formally got doged, right? So we start the process. We start the pro your memo in your memo about the floor, d when do we start our process to

2:14:57Didn't you send Mike a a memo about the M.

2:15:00I said I sent an email to the board. We we're complying with all the state dose requests that that come out. Absolutely.

2:15:07There was a commissioner, I think it was from Manatee, who asked that question. Um just he did it much better than I did,

2:15:12but Yes. I think we saw a lot of AI at the FAC conference and there you go. Big big topic. What's gonna happen? So putting a policy in place, I think we've done that already is what we need to do. Uh so we're ahead of the game there. But there's opportunities through the state. I think if you have a population base of nine uh about a million or more, that you can get some money to go actually set up AI as well. So I think we need to look around us and and kinda join forces to go put a project together because it'll only help us anyway, the better the region does, the better we all do. So I think if

2:15:43we could, maybe David, you could reach out and t let's let's have those c those conversations about how can we tap into some of that state money they've got allocated for AI. Could give us a free program and help us out.

2:15:55Yeah, and I did send back some of the transportation grants that um we talked about and then I resear was researching further while I was sitting there. And I don't think we've applied for any of those. So um we need to get with our our lobbyists And make sure they're earning their money. And if And they need to point out some of those transportation grants that we should have applied for and that we could apply for. We missed a deadline on one. And that reminds me I wanna make sure that rolling grant that's coming out That I told

2:16:25you about that the um Chappa Bay Regional Planning Council is allowed to go for, but we are too. That um federal one. Um We need to be applying for that. Yes.

2:16:39Three years ago working with them we were talking about baffle boxes like Indian River Randy Fine. Um We had them apply and they had to do a special way to do it. They had to include regional planning regional planning council and new estuary, combined them together but had to separate them out. They get a total of nine point five million. All and they've now allocated the first chunk to the estuary, about I don't want to say around two million dollars. We can now go put our plan forward. I think we're working on it right now, right Mike? Sorry, I'm just making

2:17:09some

2:17:09notes. I think we're working on money right now for bath boxes, litter traps through the regional planning council right now that we're gonna submit a plan to to try to get a big chunk of that money. We'll be the first ones jump jumping into it.

2:17:19All right, 'cause there's there's um well like I'm not gonna try and look it up. I'll send it again. But it came from Mike Matthews, he used to chair, used to be the lobbyist for my committee at um NACO. And he's the one who sent that grant to me. It the no fo had come out that day and um w and it's a rolling It's a rolling grant 'til the money's gone and we just if we don't apply we're not gonna get any. Okay. Madam Clerk.

2:17:47If I can have one take back or I missed one. I was remiss in and you reminded me in your presentation. Uh Mr. Goldstein was given the Friend Award for the Florida Association of County Attorney for his work on Live Local. All right, so I thought I needed to bring that to the board for some.

2:18:14I and I and I did get to see some of his presentation. It was very well received. I ran in there and you were

2:18:19done.

2:18:19He's up there with the whole room and he's giving a whole pitch on it. So great job, David.