Commissioners miscellaneous business

1:47:01Well, I uh actually don't have anything a lot to bring forward, but I would like to say something with with all the issues and fires and problems we have on the west coast of the United States. and first responders are out there each and every day. I would like I know that we thank them for all they do, even even their first responders. But I also want to support our first responders and all the work they did here when we had flooding and all those issues

1:47:32and they're put their life on the line to go out and save people in flood and all that. You know, thinking of the supporting of their first responders on the West Coast for fires, we're real grateful for first responders here at Haskin County too.

1:47:48Agreed.

1:47:48That's

1:47:49all right, man.

1:47:49Commissioner Weightman.

1:47:51Thank you. Similar to Commissioner Oakley, not a whole lot just decided for a fund 2025 and under the board leadership of uh Chair Starkey and your you know new committee assignments. So thank you and uh look forward to a good year with everybody.

1:48:08Commissioner Yeager.

1:48:10Okay. We're doing commissionary, don't I?

1:48:12Yes.

1:48:12Okay. Can I have a slide, please?

1:48:17So um there was a bunch of us there for the prayer b breakfast. That was amazing and um we had a good guest b guest speaker.

1:48:26Next slide please.

1:48:32So we had um we had a sub we surprised the senior center, the two different senior centers along with Kathy Pearson with Santa Claus and we sang Christmas carols and gave out candy cans and um it really made their day. Some some of the elderly they said their family doesn't celebrate Christmas, so that was their that was their Christmas. And those two the cute little kids in the picture of Kathy's grandkid.

1:48:54Ah

1:48:55next slide.

1:48:56They're not in Disney clothes, what's wrong?

1:48:58No, so we had a um like a a Christmas event out at Moon Lake where we fed two hundred and fifty families and the parents got to go shopping. So um that was that was an amazing event lost by the community. and m uh Metro Ministries, Ryder Gaston Um Grace's Food Pantry. We had the River Ridge uh basketball team there helping for a gazillion hours. Um and this was Tunnel to Towers. This was my first um

1:49:28Tunnels to Towers event and it was so emotional I couldn't stop crying. Um and I was uh pleased to offer their CO for them to their house. So That was an amazing event. If you've never been, I encourage you to go to one. So that's all I have for District 4.

1:49:46Very busy. Commissioner Mariano. All right. So I'm not sure what the agenda item was when we moved me up there, but so I know yeah, I

1:49:52don't know. I think they'll they'll fix that.

1:49:56So I I want to address uh in pup in public comment today. Um I think we're unfairly shot at, uh, myself included. Um You know, P Pasco County changed from being part of, let's say, the Nature Coast, it's all natural. We made we we rebranded ourselves to the Sports Coast. Um when I look at Hernando County, I think they made themselves the adventure coast. So I don't know what changes were or where the offense was, but I want to say this board I think has done a phenomenal job working on the restorations up and down the coast, but

1:50:26not only that the water quality effort that we put in. I'm very proud of the Regional Planning Council and now I'll be the estuary chair. I think it means something that I'm actually doing something for environmental policy.

1:50:41So I think what we're doing and working closely with fish and wildlife. to actually improve where we've actually improved the water quality so much that we we went from ten days to forty days. And I will tell you the only time we've had any issue with the scalloping season is the dredging was done on the Anclote River that had some things that spewed up to the bottom. That's the only part.

1:51:02I thought that's right.

1:51:03So so that was like so misguided the the statements that were made today. So I just want to make sure I I address that and cover with you. Now I did say way back when when they wanted to make us part of the aquatic reserve what it was going to do to parts of our coast. And one of them was very key was down the Leisure Beach Channel. That channel goes out just to the end of where the development is, it stops. If you're at low tide, you cannot use that channel because you can't get out. So it's almost useless. So those people find their way to go across to go to the north

1:51:33to get the Hudson Channel. Markers 12 and 13 would allow a straight shot going right into what fronts up in front of Lonnie Lee, getting out to the Hudson Channel, and that would actually minimize the impact. Because if you look at all the props cars, and I can tell you you can talk to many, many people, we've heard about them before, all the props that get torn up running through there. tearing that up. They're tearing up either seagrass or dirt or whatever. If you put in A five foot depth channel, you can actually replant it like they did in Homo Sassa, but they did a great job at Kings

1:52:03Bay, and they brought all sorts of sea life back. And we get that opportunity coming down up and down the coast. So when I want to pull out us from the aquatic preserve, I want to get it to the where the parts are that we need to to go forward so we could do improvements like that that'll improve the life of our citizens that like to go out and boat. I mean let's go take care of the humans at the same time when we do this water quality improvements, when we do these channel restorations, and we if we can get that other channel done, which we need to get out of the aquatic preserve, it'll improve b water water quality as well and

1:52:34provide more cigarettes. So I don't want you to be afraid of what she was saying. It's very important to Leisure Beach people to get that done. Signal Cove will tell you the same thing, they both share it. So I'm gonna go s real strong. With it, but I don't want you guys to be scared of what you heard this morning because it was completely off base. And I want to say, I want to reach out to like JP, David, Mike, uh, Jason. They have been so phenomenal work through these storms, uh, getting people back in their homes now and making the steps forward. And uh, I'm gonna put out to sh to Kevin Guthrie, who I think the I hope Donald

1:53:04Trump's listening, but I think he should become the head of FEMA. I think it's happening. What he could do out there. would be phenomenal uh and hopefully that'll that'll help us and help the whole nation. Thank you.