including through the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) program, which is a
fellowship-infused training which he founded; he is a graduate of the Employee Development
Program, and currently a class member of the Executive Leadership Institute; and as a side
note, so is his employee Bethany Presad who sits next to Denny in the class. He pointed out
Bethany says Danny always has a positive attitude, is continually encouraging others in helping
to boost their confidence, and is an all-around wonderful person.
K.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Richard Heffelfinger stated he took the Board’s suggestion and went to Cocoa; they had a
wonderful, little meeting there on January 23rd; they were actually considering their community
development district’s second hearing, which they are pretty far down the road in building their
nice development at the end of the road; they really were not interested in his idea to cut a new
road, because that would probably be expensive; and they are going to push forward. He
advised the neighborhood has done an excellent job; they reached out to St. Johns River
Water Management District (SJRWMD), they are still considering the permits; there was a
member of the community who met with Commissioner Pritchett; she was very attentive and
took their concerns; they will look forward in working with her in continuing, because it seems
surprising as those guys had a multi-year plan for that development and phases; and he
understands why they are phasing it because there are traffic issues with SR 524. He noted he
thinks they still owe the County a water conveyance permit; they still owe the County a vacating
of James Road so they can put that road in; he thinks they think they are going to start before
they actually are ready to start; those are the things that they are working on; there was a guy
at Cocoa, one of the lawyers for the developer, and he asked if he had contacted them; and he
asked why would he contact them, as he does not live in Cocoa. He explained the gentleman
pointed out that he should still meet with the developer, so he took his telephone number, and
maybe they can try that, but he does not see them getting anywhere; when James Road is
vacated, he does not know if there is any safety aspect that may be considered when looking to
vacate that road, because that is a safety issue; they think that a single point of exit is the
safety for fire, traffic, and emergency response; and in the past Cocoa told them, that stuff is
coming in on the County road, which is the County’s problem, and he does not think that is
true. He commented when someone calls the cops, Cocoa Police Department is supposed to
respond; of course, if they do not, the Brevard County Sheriff is willing to help out; he thinks he
will bill those guys, so it is not a problem; that single point road with traffic coming on James
Road as part of the stipulation, they will all come flying down Friday Road; and there is any
blockage and any problem, he sees that as a safety, and he hopes that maybe vacating James
Road is a consideration the Board should look hard at. He stated he understands that even the
City’s emergency services were asked, and this is rumor, what about the fire access; they
responded it kind of sucks; they stated they would still be moving forward with the project;
SJRWMD is aware and they received over 100 comments, so they are slowing down, and will
probably be looking for some activity out of the County to make sure that they do not jump the
gun and issue a permit; and he reiterated he wanted to let the Board know of the status.
Sandra Sullivan stated to talk about the stormwater conveyance, back when the Board
approved the stipulated agreement, at the time, the Assistant County Manager Mel Scott,
former Director of Planning and Zoning, he actually made the recommendation to the County
Commissioners that this stormwater conveyance remain in Cocoa, that all of the stormwater
remain onsite, because of the issues of stormwater impacts and flooding in that area; and she
encouraged the Board to read the minutes from 2007 when the Board approved the stipulation
agreement. She continued by saying she is here bout another issue, so save our mid-reach
reef, this is something she has advocated for, for a number a years; currently, it is unburied
because sand has been lost due to storms recently; it was a beautiful reef; right now it is pretty
barren, because it is pretty destroyed; this was under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation Management Act, which is a Federal law; it protects as an essential fish habitat; it
is very important to sea turtles and the fisheries of the Lagoon; and when talking about the
