Minutes - Brevard County Board of County Commissioners

If you wish to speak to any item on the agenda, including consent items, please fill out a

speaker card before the item is considered by the Board. Persons addressing the Board shall

have three minutes to complete his/her comments on any agenda item for which he/she has

filled out a card. The Chair has the discretion to determine or alter time limits on any item

which is not a quasi-judicial public hearing.

The Board of County Commissioners requests that speakers appearing under the Public

Comment section of the agenda limit their comments and/or presentations to matters under

the Board's jurisdiction. In Quasi-Judicial proceedings, fifteen (15) minutes shall be allowed for

applicants and five (5) minutes for other speakers.

Commissioner District 1 Katie Delaney , Commissioner District 2

Tom Goodson, Commissioner District 3 Kim Adkinson,

Commissioner District 4 Rob Feltner, and Commissioner District 5

Thad Altman

Present:

INTENTIONALLY OMITTED

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Kim Adkinson, District 3

Commissioner Adkinson led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

TELEPHONIC APPEARANCE

Commissioner Feltner asked for a motion to allow Commissioner Goodson to participate by

phone.

The Board granted approval for Commissioner Goodson to appear by phone.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Thad Altman

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

SELECTION: CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR FOR 2025-2026

Commissioner Adkinson made a motion for Commission Altman to be appointed Chair of the

Board of County Commissioners.

The Board appointed Commissioner Altman as the Chair of the Brevard County Board of

County Commissioners.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

SELECTION: CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR FOR 2025-2026

Chair Altman noted the next order of business is to have a motion for Vice Chair.

Commissioner Goodson made a motion to appoint Commissioner Adkinson as vice chair of the

Board.

The Board appointed Commissioner Adkinson as the Vice-Chair of the Brevard County Board

of County Commissioners.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

SELECTION: CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR FOR 2025-2026

Chair Altman stated he would like to commend the job that Commissioner Feltner has done as

Chair; it has been a great joy working underneath him; he did a wonderful job and served with

honor and dignity; and he would like to present something to him before the Board proceeds

any further. He presented Commissioner Feltner with a plaque. He stated Commissioner

Feltner made this job look easy and it is not as easy as it looks; if anyone has noticed he has

already called two Commissioners Representatives; he apologized for that stating it is a habit

after 21 years; it has been a joy to work with this Commission and the staff; and he is really

looking forward to serving them in this capacity as Chair.

D.1. Minutes for Approval: September 10, 2025 1st Budget Hearing; September 23,

2025 Final Budget Hearing; October 2, 2025 Zoning Meeting; Amended Minutes of

May 20, 2025

The Board approved the September 10, first budget hearing, October 2, zoning, September 23,

final budget, and the May 20, 2025, regular meeting minutes.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

E.1. Resolution for Susan Jackson, Deputy Director of Public Works - District 4

Commissioner Feltner read aloud, and the Board adopted Resolution No. 25-138, recognizing

Susan Jackson, Deputy Director of Public Works, for her many years of service to Brevard

County.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

Susan Jackson stated she is humbled and deeply grateful for this Resolution and the

recognition; she stands before the Board today filled with mixed emotions, so happy about the

new chapter ahead, but a little sad to be leaving a place, people, and a mission that has meant

so much to her for almost three decades; as she reflects back over the years, she can say

without hesitation that serving the public and the employees that she has had the privilege to

lead, has been the greatest honor of her professional life; her journey has been shaped by all

of the people around her, including County leadership and her colleagues across every

department; she has had the benefit of their support, their wisdom, and their unwavering

commitment to public service; and they are truly the heart and soul of this organization. She

continued by saying to her friends and family, she thanks them for their encouragement and

understanding throughout her journey; the sacrifices were real and their love has been her

foundation; what she hopes remains, as she steps away, are the accomplishments that they

have achieved together; to her Public Works family she is so looking forward to the incredible

things that they will continue to accomplish and do it better; but she will say one thing, she will

be watching from the sidelines and yes, she will be entering service requests when she spots a

pothole, happens to see construction debris in the gutters, or the over-enthusiastic sprinklers

that like to water the very expensive pavement. She expressed her appreciation to the Board

and stated she will treasure this recognition always.

Chair Altman stated it has been a great honor to have Ms. Jackson serve the people of

Brevard; she represents County employees and citizenship in an exemplary manner; her skill,

commitment, talent, and compassion is wonderful; and she will be missed greatly.

Commissioner Feltner commented he has had the great pleasure of working with Susan since

he was elected; he takes advantage of his office being in this complex; he is a regular in the

Public Works area; and Ms. Jackson has always been incredibly gracious; and he has some

empathy for the pickle ball community of District 4 because of the increased time that she is

going to have to play, he is sure she is going to shame a lot of people out there.

Commissioner Delaney stated she thinks District 1 is the most called District and there is so

much need in that community; Ms. Jackson is always there to answer questions, with

timeliness and organization; she really appreciates her; being a new Commissioner, Ms.

Jackson was such a resource for her office; and she thanked her for her time, effort, and

service to the community.

J.5. Legislative Intent and Staff Direction, Re: Future funding needs for restoring

health to the Indian River Lagoon, municipal support for the County managing

dedicated funds and public input.

Commissioner Adkinson advised she is on the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program

(IRLNEP) and a presentation was given; she thought the Board should hear it here; she

appreciates them for coming; and she thinks everyone is going to be pretty excited to hear the

difference that Brevard County makes in general taking care of its environment.

Valerie Seidel, Balmoral Group, stated Balmoral Group led the team for Dr. Duane DeFeese

and the others at the IRLNEP updating the economic impact of the Lagoon; she has with her

Courtney Cortez as a Brevard County native and a senior economist with this firm, who worked

on this quite a bit; one of the things they did that was different with this economic update was

really focus on the ecosystem services, and more importantly, the Lagoon system includes over

900,000 acres of natural land and AG lands that retain more than 100 billion gallons of flood

water annually; that is an important point, if that additional 100 billion gallons of floodwater had

nowhere else to go, it would be going into people’s homes, the streets, and buildings; and they

thought it was important this time to focus on some of those ecosystem services including

50,000 acres of natural lands providing additional coastal protection and 360,000 acres of land

providing water filtration and purification, which generate values that have true contribution to

the local economy. She continued by saying overall the modeling found that these ecosystem

service values generate over $10 billion annually in value, she will talk about a couple of them

today, but that ranges from over a billion dollars annually just in property value premiums that

come from the additional values in the property sales to $250 million in coastal protection, $530

million in water quality, and so forth; the way they look at these ecosystem services is they run

models that estimate what the ecosystem service would have been if the habitat was not there;

for example, with coastal protection, displaying a screen shot of Tequesta near the County line

border, showing mangroves and oyster beds; in this case, they are finding that those

mangroves, oyster beds, salt marshes, and so forth across the Lagoon are removing exposure

to coastal hazards that it would not have if those natural processes were not intact; and in other

words if that land was not preserved and conserved, the coastal protection would not be there

to the tune of about one-quarter of a billion dollars per year. She went on to say there are

current National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded projects in place

right now that are estimated at $8.4 million per year just in coastal protection; water filtration is

similar, in the map displayed, one can see the values ranging from $50,000 up to $4.5 million in

different basins and that is another 360,000 acres of different habitats that are providing water

and nutrient filtration, which is work that would otherwise have to be replaced with

infrastructure, really expensive treatment plants, and so forth; these are important ecosystem

services to the tune of more than half a billion dollars per year; the projects underway now,

alone, are expected to add another $38 million; from a wildlife to habitat perspective, the people

of Florida have consistently stated a preference for strong preservation of environmental

habitats for wildlife and habitat connectivity and these habitats across the Lagoon generate

more than a billion dollars per year, and with the public’s willingness to pay, that ranges greatly

from $400,000 to $90 million by these subbasins; and finally on the property values, when

talking cold, hard cash, this still has an important value, the way it is looked at is looking at all

the sales transactions from the County Property Appraiser and Department of Revenue (DOR)

and holding constant statistically the value of those homes if paved over the Lagoon, basically,

what that house would be worth, three bed and two bath with a pool or whatever, versus one

that is close to the Lagoon. She noted they were able to tease out statistically that in Brevard

being within 100 meters of the Lagoon adds about $350,000, with all other factors being equal;

that varies greatly by location of course; in Palm Beach it is almost $1 million for that same

value; in Brevard specifically, they end up with about $6.1 billion in property value premiums

contributed by the Lagoon; that sounds like a lot of money, but if one thinks about it, the total

value right now is about $114 billion; in the whole scheme of things it is a couple percent, but it

is an important couple percent; and when they annualized it, that is contributing almost

$400,000 annually to the local economy. She stated they looked at the NOAA-funded studies

that are taking place right now, a number of principal investigators and programs within Brevard

County are contributing to those; and they looked across the different habitats from salt

marshes to oyster reefs, wetlands, and so forth and at all of these different projects, how much

it is expected to cost over 10 years in current dollar values, and what benefits they are

expected to generate over the next 10 years. She added for example, the salt marsh project

that was chosen is expected to have a total cost of $380,000, but total benefit is about $2.8

million; the two really big projects in terms of benefits are both removing empoundments at

Kennedy Space Center (KSC); one can see the benefits on those are huge, $55 and $30

million, really transformative projects expected to really change the nature of the fisheries and

the water quality which has a lot of public benefits; in terms of how these tease out across the

different types of projects, one can see there is Benefit-Cost Ratios (BCR), meaning how many

benefits one receives per dollar of cost; anything over one is good, and it has cleared the

threshold; the two that she has mentioned have really high BCRs, and even if they were taken

away, there would be an average of about 10; but, all told, there ends up being about 24x

return on investment, so really good expenditure of public funds. She went on to say lastly, they

have included a more traditional economic impact study, which is direct spending, margining

out things that are not produced locally like when one buys a gallon of gas because gas is not

made here, so a lot of that leaves the area and it creates indirect jobs and indirect business

expenditures; when there are visitors there are also induced impacts; looking at the Lagoon

overall, they end up with about $26.9 billion in total output, which is contributing about $15

billion to local Gross Domestic Product (GDP), including the $1.4 billion of annualized property

value impacts and supporting 128,000 jobs, a really significant impact; looking at that across

the sectors one can see how this teases out across everything from the actual resources

management, to the recreational spending that is generated, and the aerospace that depends

on having this wide open space without development in it; and finally for Brevard County

specifically, they pulled some numbers just to drill down to this a little more, and a big chunk of

that aerospace that Brevard benefits from and a big chunk of the recreational benefits are also

generated in Brevard County to the tune of supporting more than 80,000 jobs and totaling

about $10.6 billion in annual economic values added to the local economy, generating $637

million in State and local taxes every year that contribute to support local services. She stated

all of this data is available in a dashboard that is publicly available so people can slice and dice

it by their County, City, local area, by the sector that they are interested in and so forth, really

providing a lot of transparency into where these numbers come from and whatever a particular

audience may be interested in; she wanted to mention one small thing, the natural resources

management is particularly interesting because for the jobs that are generated in this area, on

the slide the indirect and induce, for every job they were able to identify 440 directly-funded

resource management jobs; the modeling shows that those jobs generate another 600 jobs just

by themselves; it may not sound like a lot but if it is compared to some of the other sectors,

each job may generate another point 3 or point 4 jobs, whereas these resource management

jobs were showing that they were generating more than one additional job, so a really good

investment of public monies; and she will be happy to take any questions.

Commissioner Adkinson stated when Ms. Seidel was talking about the return on investment 24

times, she asked if that was overall.

Ms. Seidel replied on those NOAA funded projects, yes.

Commissioner Adkinson asked if that would be different in Brevard County or would it be 24

times, she knows this would be just a guess.

Ms. Seidel explained they looked at those projects that went across the Lagoon and tried to

capture all sections of the Lagoon within those calculations; having said that, fish do not care

where the County line is, so when they have new fish passage are, they are now generating

benefits wherever they swim and they are caught; it would be safe to say that the overall

numbers show Brevard captures a lot of the benefits from the Lagoon; it would be more difficult

to say that ecosystem service only went to Brevard County; and she asked if that makes sense.

Commissioner Adkinson responded affirmatively.

Commissioner Delaney asked if Ms. Seidel would email the presentation to her.

Chair Altman stated he will echo that so the Board has the electronic version of it, it would be

very helpful. He thanked Ms. Seidel stating this was very thorough; he knows the economic

impact is staggering; what is more staggering than the economic impact are the spiritual

components; nothing can replace what it is to have a beautiful Lagoon to see a mullet run or to

catch a fish with one’s child, see a sunset or sunrise, one really cannot put a dollar value on

that; it is good to be able to objectively also communicate the fiscal impact; the question he has

is did they evaluate the economic impact if the County did not protect the Lagoon, for example,

repeated algae blooms, the smell, the health risks; he has a friend who nearly lost a leg from

vibrio in the Lagoon; that is a whole other area, the economic impact of doing nothing.

Ms. Seidel stated that is a great question and one that they frequently get; in this case they

were looking at what is there; she would argue that one way to look at it is this is what the

County has to lose if it does not continue to make the investments; they have looked at harmful

algae blooms and their impacts along the Lagoon, as well as down in the southwest gulf coast;

and the impacts are massive and can completely wipeout those annual values of the County’s

recreation in a given year or more because social media does not always recognize that

something that happened in one county did not happen in another county or another city. She

continued by saying she would encourage the Board to use these values of what is at risk if it

does not continue to make the appropriate investments; the NEP has estimated that over 20

years there is probably a total expenditure of about $4 billion, to truly restore to what people

who were here may remember the Lagoon being like; and that is the path that would need to

continue to be followed. She noted the numbers for commercial fishing are extremely low, so

low that they were looked at many times before vetting them with a lot of people and that is

where they are; they are showing now about $3 million annually in Lagoon-wide commercial

fishery not just Brevard; and 20 years ago that was an order of magnitude larger than that.

Chair Altman agreed with her.

Ms. Seidel finished by saying that is already seen in terms of economic impacts.

Chair Altman noted that is an interesting point; he knows it used to be the speckled trout capital

of the world, all the world records held in the Lagoon; and it also used to lead the State of

Florida in Clam fishery.

Ms. Seidel advised those numbers have dropped off a cliff; the number for the wildlife habitat,

the public’s value, going back to Chair Altman’s point about not being able to put a price on it,

that billion dollars per year generally represents a lower bound of what the public has indicated

it is worth to them to have those lands available to them and to their children.

Chair Altman thanked Ms. Seidel and Commissioner Adkinson for placing this on the Agenda.

F.1. Save Our Indian River Lagoon Contingency Fund Request for the City of West

Melbourne Ray Bullard Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade Project (District 3)

The Board approved and authorized the Chairman to sign a cost-share amendment increasing

funding for the Ray Bullard Water Reclamation Facility Upgrade Project by $1,300,000.00.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.2. Approval RE: Educational Facilities Impact Fee Deferral Contract for the Wings of

Grace Ministries Inc. between the Brevard County Board of County

Commissioners, Brevard County Public Schools, and Wings of Grace Ministries

Inc.

The Board approved and authorized the Chairman to execute the Educational Facilities Impact

Fee Deferral Contract for the Wings of Grace Capernaum Place Affordable Housing

Development, upon approval and execution by Brevard County School Board, as currently

presented and attached; and authorized the County Attorney’s Office to record the Notice of

Assessment, as currently presented within the Contract, which constitutes a lien on the

property for the deferred balance of $41,475.50.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.3. Approval, Re: Resolution and Underground Easement (Business) from Brevard

County to Florida Power and Light Company for the Benefit of the Veterans’

Memorial Park Bandshell and Additions Project - District 2.

The Board adopted Resolution No. 25-139; and authorized the Chairman to execute

Underground Easement (Business) from Brevard County to Florida Power and Light Company

for the benefit of the Veterans’ Memorial Park Bandshell and Additions Project.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.4. Acknowledge receipt of the FY 2025-2026 Parrish Medical Center Revenue and

Expense Budget and Millage Resolution.

The Board acknowledged receipt of the FY 2025-2026 Revenue and Expense Budget and

Millage Resolution for Parrish Medical Center.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.6. Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Reallocation of FY25 Unspent Funds

The Board approved the reallocation and subsequent budget change request of $1,511,987 for

FY25 purchase orders not received prior to September 30, 2025, as scheduled; and authorized

all necessary Budget Amendments (BCRs).

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.7. Bill Folder

The Board acknowledged receipt of the Bill Folder.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Chair Altman asked the County Attorney to speak up if there is anything that needs a roll call

vote.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, advised the Board is not going to have anything where a

roll call vote is required; sometimes it adds clarity if there is a supermajority requirement for

example, so then it may be asked for at that time; and it is the Chair’s discretion if he chooses

to exercise a roll call vote.

F.5. Acknowledge the County’s Municipal, Community Redevelopment Agencies

(CRA), FY 2025-26 Annual Budgets and Amendment

Sandra Sullivan stated the reason she wanted to talk about the Community Redevelopment

Agencies (CRA) is because of the increase in Brevard’s budget; 2022 it was $1.8 billion and

2025 $2.8 billion; looking at real estate going up, the amount of property taxes being felt by

people, makes this a hot topic at the State level; both last year and this year, the State did

legislation proposing to do away with all new debt in CRAs and to basically pay off CRAs and

close them; she continued by saying she wants to bring up the point that there are three CRAs

that have no debt and can be closed now; since a number of CRAs had been presented earlier

this year, there was a brief conversation about this topic; North Brevard Economic

Development Zone (NBEDZ) is a tax increment, like a CRA, and these are a tax increment;

Eau Gallie River Front, because of the increase in property values, they are bringing in almost

13 percent more of an increase in revenue in just one year; taxes are going to CRAs when

fiscally the County should be looking at closing CRAs in order to get taxes down; and she

stated, “I want property taxes to be less so that the people may have more,” by Calvin

Coolidge. She added smaller government, less taxes, the principle of being a fiscal

conservative; she would encourage the Board to have a genuine conversation under this Item

about sunsetting the CRAs with no debt and encouraging interlocal agreements with the

remaining CRAs to pay down their debt, and to work with them to not take on additional debt;

as of the last budget there was a $2.2 billion deficit in transportation; there were a lot of issues

with the Fire Department; there are sewage plants that still have development on them and are

at capacity; there are dumps all the time; and this Board is not being fiscally conservative, so

she hopes it will discuss closing those three CRAs.

Commissioner Delaney inquired what it would take to dissolve the CRAs that do not have debt.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, replied by saying it is variable and it depends on whether

they were created pre or post charter; it depends on the language and an interlocal agreement

that was negotiated by the Board; for most of these CRAs, sometime in the era between 2017

and 2021, several of them have interlocals, some of them the Board gave over the right to

terminate the CRAs other than limitations that were put forth in the Interlocal Agreement; it

really depends on each one individually; and he cannot answer that as to all of them off the top

of his head right now, but he can pull that information together.

Commissioner Delaney commented that would be great.

Chair Altman stated one of the points that was made about the CRAs producing more revenue

because property values have increased, is part of it, but one of the reasons that revenues

have increased into the CRAs is because the CRAs are doing such a phenomenal job

revitalizing the downtown areas; another reason revenues are going up as a County is the fact

that downtown redevelopment and CRAs are increasing the quality of life that the County has,

so people are paying more to live here and businesses are coming here; it has been a

complete and total success; he sees the revenue increase as a positive not a negative; he gets

so much out of going to downtown Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, Eau Gallie, and the Merritt

Island Redevelopment Agency, it has turned this County around; and he thinks it is a wonderful

thing.

The Board acknowledged the County’s Municipal CRAs FY 2025-2026 annual budgets and the

City of Titusville CRA budget amendment.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

PUBLIC COMMENTS (Individuals may not speak under both the first and second

public comment sections.)

Robert Pickert stated he is a long time Brevard County resident, Indian River Lagoon (IRL)

supporter, and EHS Manager for Wakefield BioChar; he would like to propose a circular

approach for managing dredge Lagoon muck that would be good for the Lagoon, good for the

watershed, and good for Brevard’s economy; amending dewatered muck with biochar would

transform the muck into a slow release fertilizer and soil amendment; replace or supplement

the Save Our Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL) tax with a non-tax revenue from the sales within

and beyond the watershed; distribute a high quality and permanent source of carbon to

landscape soils that would reduce the flux of nutrients and other contaminants to the Lagoon

and provide a way for Brevard residents and businesses to contribute directly to the restoration

of the Lagoon; and the irony is to get the muck out and to stay the muck away, someone needs

to embrace and enhance the muck. He commented first he is going to talk about biochar;

biochar is a powerful plant-based soil amendment produced by woody biomass in a high

temperature, low oxygen environment through a process called pyrolysis; this locks carbon into

a lightweight and stable form with incredible surface area, think activated carbon like the water

pitcher in one’s refrigerator; that carbon remains stable in soils for hundreds of years; biochar

has impressive health benefits; it absorbs and retains water making landscape soils more

drought resilient; it absorbs nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, making them more

bio-available to plants and less leachable to surface and groundwater; it absorbs and retains

metals such as arsenic and chromium and organic contaminants, including the many emerging

ubiquitous contaminants like Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS); and it provides the

ideal habitat for beneficial microbes critical to soil health, increasing nutrient utilization,

decreasing nutrient demand, and increasing microbial metabolism of a growing list of toxic

chemicals. He added it increases soil exchange capacity, making plants more salt tolerant;

there are more benefits including the fact that biochar is carbon negative, often providing

sellable carbon credits in voluntary carbon markets; and he has distributed biochar flyer from

IFAS explaining some of the benefits of biochar so the Board does not have to take his word for

it; pelletized biochar is highly effective media for stormwater treatment in low impact designs;

and to get a feel for how this could finance the SOIRL programs, the sale of 2,000,000 one

cubic foot bags for $45 each, the equivalent of four bags for every home and business in

Brevard, Volusia, Indian River, and Martine Counties would generate nearly $100 million of

annual gross sales. He went on to explain assuming 40 percent goes to retailers, the remaining

60 percent or $60 million would be applied to capital and operating costs and generate annual

net non-tax revenues of $20 to $40 million; the County could also produce upper sacks for

commercial landscapers; the numbers would start out smaller, but could get larger if distribution

was extended beyond the watershed, think about taking market share from biosolid based

materials like Milorganite; the owner of a popular nursery said that if Sally Scolera of IFAS gave

a dewatered muck biochar soil amendment a favorable review in the Sunday paper, they would

have over 100 customers asking for it on Monday morning; she has responded to the idea

enthusiastically, calling it fantastic; and he brought some bags of biochar for the Board to play

with or will work with the Board to distribute them.

Chair Altman stated the Board would definitely like to hear the rest of the presentation if Mr.

Pickert could provide a copy of it; he loves the fact that he is the first person to stay the County

needs to embrace the muck; he thinks it is a great idea and one needs to include in this

economic impact, the sale of muck; he picked a good day to be in the audience because there

are a lot of people in attendance from the IRL committee; and he thinks it offers great promise.

Mr. Pickert noted it is a lot of work to make this happen, but people are going to do a lot of work

anyway, so it might as well make it count for the Lagoon.

Chair Altman asked if he came all the way from Valdosta.

Mr. Pickert replied, he is a Brevard County resident and has been since 1991; his wife was

born and raised here; they have been here as a family ever since; their production facility is in

Valdosta, Georgia; he works remotely; and he gets to the plant to help. He noted he would love

to talk to the Board more about the company and what it is doing and the source of the biochar

materials and lots of other stuff.

Chair Altman commented his staff with follow up with Mr. Pickert.

Commissioner Feltner asked if the biochar is a product of gasification.

Mr. Pickert stated when one pyrolyzes woody waste there is a synthetic gas that can be used

as a source of gas for operating turbines, engines, or whatever one wants to do; it is captured,

but not realized into the environment; the carbon credits come from the fact that woody waste

will deteriorate and decompose in the environment, generating methane and CO2; if that is

interrupted and is sent through pyrolysis process, it captures those gases; and then it has now

prevented those hydocarbons from entering the atmosphere. He continued by saying they get

carbon credits associated with a lot of biochar that they sell; his point is they can do this and

provide biochar for the County; he would like to see the County have its own pyrolysis system,

take storm debris and woody waste from the yard waste collection program, and produce its

own biochar right here and use it for a dozen different things.

Commissioner Feltner asked with the synthetic gas, one would then capture from that; and if

this was being done at the municipal level what would Mr. Pickert suggest, run a generator.

Mr. Pickert advised he would feed it right back into the process because the pyrolysis process,

think incineration, but it is lower temperature, less oxygen; but feed it right back in so it is a

self-feeding source of the energy for driving that process.

Commissioner Delaney stated that hopefully the Board can convince Mr. Pickert to move that

business to Brevard County.

Vance Ahrens, President of the Democratic Caucus of Brevard County, stated being in

attendance today draws attention to an atrocity that has befallen on one Brevard County citizen

and hopefully to propose a resolution for this Board; on February 15 a 15-year old boy was

home asleep when more than a dozen masked soldiers broke into his home and took him away

from his family; they threw this child into an adult prison known for its inhumane treatments;

over the following nine months, Mohammed has been subject to harsh unsanitary conditions,

has significant detrimental weight loss, has contracted scabies, and has been subjected to

severe beatings; this child has been unjustly and illegally held in Israel without a complete trial

or hearing, without direct contact to his family; the right to freedom, due process, and protection

of one’s government are fundamental rights for all United States (US) citizens; and Mohammed

is a boy from Palm Bay, a natural-born citizen of the US, being held in a foreign prison under

appalling conditions. Vance continued by saying that this summer Mohammed was planning on

getting his driver’s license like any 16-year old, instead he was being beaten in a prison in

Israel; the State Department has stated there is no higher priority than the safety and security

of its citizens abroad; the continued detention of a citizen, especially when that citizen is a

minor, should be a profound concern to the citizens of Brevard and this Board; it is highly

appropriate for this body to speak out against the inhumane treatment of one on its citizens; an

email has been sent to each Board member with a copy of a resolution for the County to

formally demand the immediate release of Mohammed and return to his family and to call on

the US State Department to ensure his safety and unhindered access to his family and US

Counselor officials until his release; there is contact information in that email; and Vance also

has a copy of that resolution here today and looks forward to working with the Board to help

make this a formal resolution.

Joy Metzler stated these comments are on behalf of the resolution that Vance just spoke on;

when Joy joined to serve in the military there was one focus in mind, the defense of friends and

neighbors; despite being out of the service Joy is driven to speak up for a neighbor that has

been kidnapped and detained illegally overseas by Israeli military forces; his name is

Mohammed Ibrahim, he is a neighbor and a child; his uncle owns a clothing store on Route 1;

Mohammed is a Palm Bay resident; and his cousin is a resident of Tampa City and was

recently murdered by Israeli settlers in July 2025. Joy continued by saying Mohammed was

kidnapped from his home when he was visiting family at 3:00 a.m. by masked Israeli soldiers in

February 2025, zipped tied and blindfolded in front of his family; the nine month mark has just

passed of Mohammed being held captive in a military prison; Mohammed was 15 when taken

and turned 16 while in an Israeli prison cell, when he should have been preparing to get his

drivers permit and start preparing to graduate from high school; as the holidays approach in the

US, people are acutely aware of the missing presence of Mohammed, an American child who

should be at home in the US with his family; and instead he has been beaten, starved and

intentionally deprived of medical care. Joy noted during this his federal level representatives

have been silent on the fate of one of their own constituents; this upcoming Friday will be the

sixth week of people standing on the intersection just outside of this building begging

Representative Mike Haridopolos to show compassion for a child from his District; people know

that a single phone call from the President could bring this boy home tomorrow, but still the

State Department refuses to even issue a statement in support of a US citizen; as a coalition of

over 200 organizations, comprised of faith groups, veterans groups, human rights and

advocacy groups and many more, local and national, they would request the Board to adopt the

resolution that Vance Ahrens has introduced and in the absence of in Mohammed’s federal

representative, to publicly call for his release and the full support of public efforts to secure his

return home; people are praying for his safe return before the holidays and the urgency is real;

his health is in grave danger; and the Board’s advocacy for him could mean the difference

between life and death. Joy expressed appreciation to the Board and hopes to see the

resolution passed in full support to bring Mohammed home.

Robin Anders stated this is more of an ask and a complaint; Judy lives on Lee Hall Place in a

cul-de-sac in Port St. John with their property flooding severely five times since 2008; this last

time, two weeks ago, the water was solid from a neighbor’s house that is an acre away to the

corner of their own house; it looked like a lake to include half of the entire cul-de-sac; the next

day to walk the dog, to get out Robin had to go across the neighbors front yard and down the

other side of their driveway because the front was so full of water; the water was this high on

the fence and this high on the house; luckily there is a dirt field foundation so there was no

water intrusion into the house, but it was a mess; and they were under water completely in the

backyard for a full week before it started to recede. Robin continued by saying the reason they

are seeing so much water at the end of the street is because a neighbor five houses up the

street filled in their swale in the backyard; the cul-de-sacs, all the houses have a swale behind

them and it drains into the canal; last year in the summer, the residents received a letter from

Public Works saying they would come out to clear and redo all the swales on the north side of

the street, then received another email saying it would start in two weeks; Robin never saw

anything except them cleaning out the canals, which is great, but their water cannot get to the

canal; Robin understands when there is a flood like this past Sunday, of course the water is

going to raise, but everywhere else in Port St. John came way up and went right back down by

the next day; their property held water in the driveway and the side yard, the entire half of the

yard, if not three-quarters, and the shed and the motorhome was underwater; 90 percent of the

wooden fence was sitting under water for a week and one-half; that is unacceptable and it

stinks; and Robin would really like to get a resolution. Robin stated Public Works had come out

years ago and said that swale was filled in all it needed to do was clean it out and it would

alleviate the problem; that is what is being asked, to have what was supposed to be there

restored; and it was not the current neighbor who lives there it was a previous owner.

Commissioner Delaney thanked Robin for coming to the meeting; when they had met they

talked about some of this stuff; this is a problem that is occurring all over North Brevard; one of

the issues is that the culverts are the property owners’ responsibility to upkeep and it pretty

much does not happen for the most part; Commissioner Delaney spends most of her time

driving around North Brevard, but knows it is probably happening in most Districts as well; one

of the issues is that the culverts do not necessarily get maintained the way that they should be;

in this particular situation with the swale being filled in, there is nowhere for this water to go; at

the back of the properties, a lot of them are behind fences; but those are easements so there is

some gray area as to how the County can come in and maintain the easements when it is

behind a fence.

Commissioner Delaney mentioned hoping that the Board could talk about this and give some

direction to staff, think about it, bring back direction for staff at a later meeting, just open up

some kind of communication about this because it is happening all over District 1; it is not just

that the swale has been filled in or that the culverts are full, it is also that there are massive

sections in Port St. John, Titusville, and some other areas that do not have any drainage

systems near the property; and one of the issues a couple weeks ago was even if the property

owners could get pumps, there was nowhere to pump the water to because they were not close

enough to any kind of drainage conveyance system.

Robin stated it is a hairy thing if the County can come onto the easement because there are

fences; the property owners received a letter in the summer of last year saying they were going

to do just that; when called about it, there was either no funding, or this or that; they have been

calling road and bridge, probably three times just this week; one time they received a voicemail

back stating they are sorry they are holding water, but now will not answer or pick up the phone

for his calls; and they are frustrated and have been fighting with this since 2008.

Chair Altman thanked Robin for bringing this to the Board’s attention; it is a serious problem

Countywide and one of the big challenges this Board has; hopefully Robin will be there to

support the Board when it comes up with some solutions for this.

Jim Liesenfelt asked Robin for the name of the street.

Robin responded Lee Hall Place.

Judy Trandel stated this is important and will get everybody’s attention with this sentence; the

Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is not broken, Brevard County infrastructure is broken; every

resident sees the same challenges, aging roads, and stormwater systems that cannot keep up

with heavy rains, wastewater infrastructure that needs modernization, and growing concerns

about the environment and water quality; these issues affect people’s safety, property values,

economic growth, and daily quality of life; Judy would propose a dedicated one percent

discretionary sales tax focused solely on infrastructure, not a general tax and not a blank

check; every dollar would be legally restricted to essential, tangible improvements, road

upgrades and resurfacing, stormwater and flood mitigation projects, wastewater and sewer

modernization, environmental restoration, and water quality protection; this surtax would be

shared fairly and proportionately between Brevard County and each municipality ensuring that

every community from the largest city to the smallest town has the resources to repair,

maintain, and upgrade the systems that people rely on; and this is how the IRL becomes

healthy again. Judy went on to say why a sales tax, because it distributes the cost broadly,

including visitors, non-residents, users of the roads and waterways, reducing the burden the

burden on property owners and renters; with a clear list of projects, citizen oversight and annual

reporting, residents will be able to see exactly where their money goes, and what improvements

are delivered; this is a future focused plan that supports public safety, protects the waterways,

strengthens the infrastructure and ensures that today’s problems do not become tomorrow’s

crisis, which is already there; this is asking the Board to invest wisely, transparently, and

responsibly in the long-term health and resilience of the communities; a dedicated one percent

infrastructure surtax gives the County tools to finally address what everyone knows must be

fixed; and the hope is that the Board will consider this.

Chair Altman stated he thinks Judy brings up a very valid point and he thinks it will be

discussed in the future; and it would have to be in the public forum and something that the

people of Brevard County would have to step forward and support.

Judy commented she thinks every resident in Brevard County would vote yes, even more, two

percent.

Chair Altman commented that might be found out.

H.1. Petition to Vacate, Re: A portion of three public utility easements - Plat of “Glen

Haven Subdivision Section 2-B”, Plat Book 16, Page 45 - Merritt Island - Shane

Clark Edgar and Jone’e Josephine Infante - District 2

Chair Altman called for a public hearing on a request by Shane Clark Edgar and Jone’e

Josephine Infante for a petition to vacate a portion of three public utility easements at Plat of

Glen Haven Subdivision Section 2-B, located in Merritt Island, District 2.

Marc Bernath, Public Works Director, stated this is a petition to vacate a portion of three public

utility easements, located in Glenn Haven, District 2; these three obstructions, two buildings

and a pool screen enclosure were discovered in a new boundary survey while attempting to sell

their home; it was constructed prior to them purchasing, but was not picked up on the original

title exception; and staff has no issues with the vacating.

There being no further comments or objections, the Board adopted Resolution No. 25-140,

approving the petition to vacate a portion of three public utility easements in Glenn Haven

Subdivision, Section 2-B, located in Merritt Island, as requested by Shane Clark Edgar and

Jone’e Josephine Infante.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

H.2. Second and Final Public Hearing RE: Adoption of Amendments to Chapter 62,

Article IX, Section 62-3316, “On-premises signs” and Chapter 62, Article IV, Table

1, “Signs by type and zoning classification,” in order to allow Community

Development Districts to have specified signage for parks within certain zoning

classifications

Chair Altman called for a second and final public hearing on adoption of amendments to

Chapter 62, Article IX, Section 62-3316, “On-premises signs” and Chapter 62, Article IV, Table

1, “Signs by type and zoning classification,” in order to allow Community Development Districts

(CDD) to have specified signage for parks within certain zoning classifications.

Billy Prasad, Planning and Development Director, stated this is the second and final hearing for

amendments to Chapter 62, Article IX, Section 62-3316, titled “On premises signs,” and

Chapter 62, Article IV, Table 1, entitled, “Signs by type and zoning classification” in order to

allow CDD to have specified signage for parks within certain zoning classifications.

There being no further comments or objections, the Board adopted Ordinance No. 25-21,

amending Chapter 62, “Land Development Regulations”, Code of Ordinances of Brevard

County, Florida; amending Article IX, Section 52-3316, “On-premises signs”; specifically

amending subsection (A) to provide a signage allowance for Community Development District

(CDD) public or private parks; and amending Article IX, Table 1, “Signs by type and zoning

classification”; specifically amending Table 1 to provide under all zoning classification an

on-premises signage allowance for CDD public or private park use; providing for conflicting

provisions; providing for severability; providing for area encompassed; providing an effective

date; and providing for inclusion in the Code of Ordinances of Brevard County, Florida.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.1. Approval Re: Disbursement of Educational Impact Fees (District 1-5)

Jeffrey King, Planning and Development Deputy Director, stated this is to authorize

disbursement of educational impact fees in the amount of $9,903,325.44 to the Brevard County

School Board in accordance with the Interlocal Agreement; and authorize the County Manager

to execute all necessary Budget Change Requests to implement this disbursement.

The Board authorized the disbursement of Educational Impact Fees in the amount of

$9,903,325.44 to the Brevard County School Board, in accordance with the Interlocal

Agreement; and authorized the County Manager to execute all necessary budget amendments

(BCRs) to implement disbursement.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.2. Approval Re: State of Florida Department of Transportation - State Road 405

Landscaping Termination Agreements - District 1

Marc Bernath, Public Works Director, stated this is request for approval to terminate three Joint

Participation Agreements (JPA) with the Florida Department of transportation (FDOT); the

Agreements were initiated back in 2002, 2003, and 2004 respectively; this requires the County

to maintain a portion of State Road (SR) 405 from SR 407 to US 1; the great thing about JPAs

is that they help fund and offset things like this when the Board may want to do an aesthetic

improvement; the downside is in perpetuity, as long as the JPA is in place, the County must

maintain it; back in 2019, it was determined that the vegetation was out of compliance and it

had to be taken down due to safety concern; and now it is going to cost the County $1 million to

replace it. He reiterated this is a state road and there is no requirement for the County to

maintain it; and by getting out of these Agreements they will be able to restore the existing

landscape and use the District 1 MSTU funds for higher purposes.

Chair Altman stated he is a big advocate of these beautification programs, he calls them

transportation enhancement funds; some of these monies come down from federal dollars; he

hopes as the Board moves forward, it can figure out ways to maintain them in perpetuity; one

does not do them to be installed, beautify and then be destroyed or taken out; he is hoping as

the Board moves forward it can look for funds to maintain, some of the Community

Development Agency (CRAs) could maintain those; if there was one in North Brevard that

would have been a great revenue source; he drives SR 405 every day; and he really

appreciates the beautification.

Commissioner Feltner commented up in North Brevard there was a very serious accident

where a family of four from Great Britain did a U-turn there on Columbia and that is forgotten

now, but it is very possible that they did not see the oncoming truck when making that U-turn

because of the vegetation right there on Columbia; he thinks that was discussed yesterday in

his briefing; there is a place for some of these things; and with some of the intersections he just

shakes his head because he does not understand putting a tree in the middle of the road and

then forcing people to make a U-turn where they cannot see around it. He added he

appreciates the Chair’s thought on that, but some of these probably need to be removed from

the roadway.

Chair Altman agreed, saying that safety always comes first; that is why they need to be

properly designed and maintained; and the Board does not need to compromise safety in doing

that.

Commissioner Delaney stated this was a little tough for her originally; Mr. Bernath had brought

this to her early on after being elected; the struggle was because this is the road that goes into

the Space Center; of course, people want it to look really nice and for people to have a

beautiful drive to the Space Center; however, when she realized it was taking from the

maintenance funds, there is so much need in the north end that she would love to look at other

revenue streams to make that possible; maybe the Titusville CRA, she does not know where

those boundaries are; but maybe that is something that they can help with.

Chair Altman stated he knows people see signs in a lot of places including Brevard and other

communities, the private sector, private service, clubs, businesses that adopt medians; maybe

the Board or staff can reach out to its private partners and get some support; that is something

he is personally interested in getting involved in; it is important to the aesthetic and the viability

of the community; and he called the vote.

The Board approved and executed the Landscape Memorandum of Agreement Termination

with FDOT and adopted Resolution No. 25-141, terminating the Landscape Memorandum of

Agreement for SR405, project FM #413698-8-74-01; approved and executed the Joint

Participation Agreement Termination with FDOT and adopted Resolution No. 25-142,

terminating landscape improvements on SR405 at the intersection of SR407, project FM

#416386-1-58-01; approved and executed the Joint Participation Agreement Termination with

FDOT and adopted Resolution No. 25-143, terminating landscaping improvements on SR405

from Sisson Road to TICO Road, project FM # 416585-1-58-01; authorized the County

Manager to execute all other project-related documents and/or required changes contingent

upon County Attorney, Risk Management, and Purchasing Services review and approval; and

authorized the County Manager to execute all necessary budget amendments (BCRs).

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.3. Appointments of the North Brevard County Hospital District Board Members

Meeting went into Recess

Meeting Reconvened

Joseph Asch stated he is a cardiologist who practices in Titusville; for the last 30 years he has

cared for patients at the bedside and gained more than 20 years of experience in hospital and

medical staff governance; he has chaired clinical departments at local hospitals and at

Wuesthoff Rockledge, he coordinated medical staff quality, as Chair of the Clinical Quality

Committee; he was also president of the medical staff; his experience in medical governance is

not easy to come by; and is needed now because sadly Parrish has a quality problem. He

continued by saying first, Parrish suffers from entrenched leadership; according to the

American Hospital Association, Florida’s hospital CEOs in general serve terms of four to seven

years; rarely do CEOs serve 10 years or more because orderly and timely succession

encourages innovation; the current CEO at Parrish was hired in 2001, which is more than 24

years ago; he asked why has he been the CEO for so long, could it be that the hospital board is

stagnant and held back by institutional inertia; he noted of the nine board members, four have

served more than 20 years, one of whom has served for almost 30 years, and three other

members have served between 10 and 13 years; the average board tenure at Parrish is 15.6

years; by contrast, many elected officials in Florida have term limits, and none of them serves

15 years in one office; the Parrish board does not have term limits; and only the County

Commission and the City Council of Titusville can impose tenure discipline by encouraging

healthy turnover and avoiding entrenchment. He went on to say the CMS star ratings, or the

gold standard measure for quality care and they show a serious downward trend for Parrish

over the past eight years, not calendar quarters, but eight years; in 2018 Parrish had three

CMS stars which is considered an average score; in 2019 and 2020, Parrish got one star,

which is considered poor; from 2021-2024 Parrish had a four-year run of two stars,

improvement; and in 2025, Parrish fell back to one star, which puts Parrish in the bottom five

percent nationally for quality. He noted in Brevard County there are three hospitals with four or

five star ratings; Parrish is the only hospital with a one star rating; before it closed in April,

Rockledge hospital actually had a five star rating; patients read about these ratings and if the

quality of ratings for Parrish persist at these low levels, patients who have a choice to go

elsewhere will take their business elsewhere, affecting Parrish’s bottom line; and in closing, 125

residents of North Brevard have signed a petition supporting his application to the Parrish

board. He stated the people want new leadership, and many other residents in North Brevard

agree with them; and if appointed to seat four, he will fight for fresh ideas which will support five

star medical care at Parrish because the patients deserve better than one star results.

Shelby Love stated she applied for this position because she places a high value on public

service; she has previously served as a chairperson of another County board; and she has a

Master’s Degree in Public Administration with the focus in healthcare and a desire to do the

right thing for the residents of this community.

Christopher Childs stated he wanted to apply for this because he has over 20-plus years’

experience in healthcare and his daughter Penelope was born at Parrish Hospital; with his

20-plus years’ experience in healthcare, he was mostly healthcare IT consultant; he worked for

some of the top hospitals in the world, including Cedars-Sinai, Mount Sinai, NYU Langone

Center in New York, and number four in the world Johns Hopkins; he also worked at Wake

Forest in North Carolina; most of his experience with hospitals and ambulatory centers is

focused on operations with EMR and working across departments to get capital improvements,

and things like that; and one of the projects he has worked on for Wake Forest was he was

brought in specifically because they had switched from one EMR to another and missing over

$1 million year over year for lab charges, specifically. He was brought in to lead the team to

figure out where these charges were and to get this missing money; it was actually so big that

they had the story in the local papers; he worked with lab staff, physicians, operations

executives to figure out what the problem was; they had figured out was they were doing wrong

and corrected it; he worked with the trainers to get training out there; he worked directly with

lab staff and the physicians to get that workflow implemented because it would not work without

that; and after all that they met with the executive staff, went through the results, and not only

did they get the revenue back on track, but they were trending up and capturing more charges

than what had been lost from the year prior. She noted he has extensive experience with

working through multiple departments and getting people on the right track, not just revenue

but patient safety, patient privacy, and that is what some of those top hospitals do, like Johns

Hopkins; they are not number one just because they had the top people, they got the top

people because of patient satisfaction and being trusted to take care of them patients; he

learned that from being around all those people; he asked the Board to let him use his

experience; and he advised he usually charges thousands of dollars, but today only, the Board

can get him for zero dollars.

Chair Altman asked if there is anyone in attendance from the Hospital as the Board may have

some questions; and he noted there are two positions for the Board.

Kathy Wall, Central Services Director, stated it is requested that the Board review the eight

applications for the North Brevard County Hospital District Board member seat 4 and member

seat 8; the North Brevard Hospital District is a special taxing district within the County; it was

first created by House Bill (HB) 1370 and adopted by the Florida legislators in 1953 and since

revised to the current legislation in 2003; there are two seats available, member seat 4 which is

appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, and the term will begin on January 1 for a

four-year term; member seat 8 is appointed by the Board of County Commissioners and

subject to confirmation by the City Council; and there are five applicants for each seat, however

two applicants did not specify which seat they wanted so they were put in seat four and seat

eight.

Chair Altman stated he knows a lot of these appointments; there is a ballot to fill out as the

Board did with the Environmentally Endangered Lands (EELs) Committee; and he asked how

the Board would like to handle this, with or without a ballot form.

Chair Altman stated one vote for ballot.

Commissioner Delaney interjected by saying while she understands what the language says in

the referendum, that of course this is a County board, but this is a hospital that affects her

District and part of why she was elected was because, while she cannot discount the good

things that are going on at Parrish and the community involvement, there are people who feel

like there are some improvements that can be done; she feels like if leadership continues to be

the same, leadership, meaning the board, when someone has 20-plus years on a board it is

hard to see things necessarily with fresh eyes; she looked back over the past 10 years, the

minutes and the videos, and it was the District 1 Commissioner that put forward the people that

they wanted to be on this board and it was always unanimously accepted; while she

understands it might not be the will of the Board this go-round, she is proposing something

different than what was brought in the Agenda packet, which was basically a ballot; and she is

proposing more of a ranking system, similar to EELs. She added she feels like that is a fair

situation; and she is also proposing that the top two candidates that are designated for seat

four or seat eight. She went on to say she has reached out to all of the candidates and she

does not believe that anybody has a problem if they are for seat four or seat eight; she thinks

the candidates just did not know which one to write down, and did not realize they could put

both; she printed out score sheets and provided them to the Board members; and she is hoping

for Board support to go ahead and do it this way.

Chair Altman stated he would like to chime in on something in lieu of some of the things that

were said; the Parrish Hospital is a County-wide resource; on a personal level, he can say it is

family; he thinks there are wonderful hospitals in this County; the Board made a conscious

choice after reviewing all of the hospitals in the County, to have a very important procedure,

surgery done, and they chose Parrish because they liked the hospital, the team, and the

surgeons; they could not have been more pleased with the service they received; he knows

there has been some disparaging remarks about Parrish but they live in South Brevard and

literally chose Parrish; they have chosen other hospitals for other needs, but Parrish is a very

important element of healthcare delivery in Brevard County; it is County-wide and it affects, not

only from the term of patients, the whole County; and it also has employees from all over. He

mentioned it is up to the Commission on how the Board decides to choose; and he asked if any

other Commissioner has an opinion on how to do that.

Commissioner Delaney stated she totally agrees and respects that this is a County board; one

thing that she wants to make sure everyone is aware of is that this is also a special taxing

district and the people who would be imposed with those taxes would be residents of North

Brevard, if those were ever imposed; to Mr. George Mikitarian’s work, it has never been done

before; but that does not mean it will never be done; and she wanted to put that out there.

Chair Altman asked if Commissioner Goodson has the ballot.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, advised that Commissioner Goodson does not have the

ballot.

Commissioner Goodson advised he does not have a ballot.

Chair Altman asked to take a five minute recess to see if someone can get a copy of the ballot

sheet to Commissioner Goodson.

*The Board recessed at 10:26 a.m. and reconvened at 10:38 a.m.

Chair Altman stated the Board has a ballot in front of it that Commissioner Delaney has handed

out, where the Board ranks each applicant; it has come to his attention, staff provided an

original ballot; it was not something they were advocating; one thing different on this that raises

a question is this does not delineate the seats; and he asked how will this delineate the seats.

Commissioner Delaney stated on the bottom she wrote the top two candidates with the most

points get appointed to seats four and eight and to please specify which appointee will be in

which seat in the motion.

Chair Altman mentioned he does not know if it really matters, but if there is someone who

made an application, almost all the applicants specifically applied for seat four or eight; there is

a difference and the most telling difference is one of the seats also appointed by the Titusville

City Council; and he is assuming that when one applied for seat eight he or she wanted to be

part of Titusville, whether they live in the City, but he thinks the Board needs a system where it

knows which seat it is voting on.

Commissioner Delaney stated when she talked with most of the applicants, most of them

stated they had just picked one, it was not that they were saying they really wanted to go before

Titusville, or that kind of thing.

Commissioner Adkinson asked if Commissioner Delaney stated she did not talk to all of the

candidates.

Commissioner Delaney stated all but one.

Chair Altman asked if there is any requirement with seat eight that the person live in Titusville.

Ms. Wall advised they all have to live within the boundary of the District.

Chair Altman stated but not necessarily in the City.

Ms. Wall agreed.

Commissioner Delaney commented this is literally up to this Board.

Chair Altman asked if the Board is comfortable with this process, then it can go ahead and rank

and order them; and he asked if that is fine.

Commissioner Delaney thanked the Board.

Chair Altman explained he would like to take another three minutes break so the Board can fill

out the ballots, but there are other questions.

Attorney Richardson asked sometimes with rank preference, one’s first choice would have a

one intuitively, but on this form is it intended to be an eight.

Chair Altman stated he is so glad because he thought the opposite.

Attorney Richardson stated that would be intuitive, but he thinks the language at the bottom

that suggests otherwise; and he wanted to clarify with Commissioner Delaney, her intent.

Commissioner Delaney stated it is the most points.

Commissioner Altman commented that is what he gets for not reading directions. He advised

Commissioner Goodson that the higher the number is what is preferred.

Commissioner Adkinson inquired does that mean that nobody can have the same number,

there cannot be two fives.

Chair Altman noted that is another good question.

Commissioner Delaney stated her intent was to pick one through eight for each candidate

because most likely each Board member will have some different numbers.

Attorney Richardson stated with a ranking, typically it is one number to one candidate; if he or

she were to use number five it cannot be used again on someone else; and there would be

someone who is last and that person would be number one and the person who is first would

be number eight.

Chair Altman stated each candidate has to have a different number; and he asked if he has

that correct.

Commissioner Delaney noted that is different from how it was done with EELs.

Attorney Richardson noted this whole thing is different.

Commissioner Delaney stated but this is the Board’s choice, it is not necessarily how it has to

be; and she wants that to be known to the public, especially when this was historically over the

past 10 years a District 1 appointed board.

Attorney Richardson explained there is a place to sign at the bottom and to make sure he or

she does that for sunshine purposes; there cannot be secret ballots, therefore, the Board

members name has to be on it; and there will be an announcement about how everyone voted

at the end of the process.

Chair Altman asked if the rank in the right hand column should be filled out.

Commissioner Delaney stated she put that there just for the ease of whoever was adding up all

the numbers.

Chair Altman asked if he needs to sign it.

Attorney Richardson responded affirmatively, either print or sign, people just need to know

which belongs to whom; and it will go into the record.

Commissioner Feltner asked to make a suggestion; he suggested moving on to Item J.4. while

staff is tallying that up; and come back to it.

Commissioner District 1 Katie Delaney , Commissioner District 2

Tom Goodson, Commissioner District 3 Kim Adkinson,

Commissioner District 4 Rob Feltner, and Commissioner District 5

Thad Altman

Present:

J.4. Board Direction on City of Melbourne’s Request to Amend the Interlocal

Agreement Governing the Olde Eau Gallie Riverfront Community Redevelopment

Agency

Kathy Wall, Central Services Director, stated this is a request for the Board to provide direction

to staff regarding the proposed amendments submitted by the City of Melbourne to revise the

Interlocal Agreement between the Board, the City of Melbourne, and the Olde Eau Gallie

Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA); this would give authorization to staff to negotiate

with the City of Melbourne’s proposed amendments to the Interlocal Agreement, including

establish the parameters the Board is willing to negotiate with the City of Melbourne to revise

the Interlocal Agreement adopted by the Board on May 4, 2021; and based on the parameters

established by the Board, revised Interlocal Agreement and the Resolution will be brought back

to the Board for its consideration at a later date or provide other action as determined by the

Board. She continued by saying the highlights of the City’s proposed amendments include

provisions that the Interlocal Agreement authorize a public private partnership consistent with

State law and city code, increase the associated financing using the tax increment fund which

are currently capped at $6.835 million, the flexibility to use taxable or tax exempt financing, and

to authorize the city and the CRA to adopt a parking management plan and charge for parking,

that such fees can be used to fund capital and annual expenses of the parking garage; and

reduce or eliminate the requirements that 90 percent of the parking garage be reserved for

public parking.

Commissioner Delaney asked if one of the changes is that it is going from a 50-year free

parking for residents to a five-year and only during certain times.

Ms. Wall replied no, they are still recommending a restriction for the 50-year public parking; and

what they are recommending is doing a parking study and five years after the construction of

the parking garage that they can implement fees for parking in the garage.

Commissioner Delaney noted so it opens the doors for paid parking from the citizens even

though originally there was a pretty good deal of 50 years; and that seems like that was more

of a benefit to the community than five.

Chair Altman stated before going to the cards did staff get a tally because he knows there are

people there on the Parrish issue and he wants to be able to allow them to speak.

Paul Alfrey, City of Melbourne Mayor, stated he will keep his comments short because he has

the City Manager, City Attorney, and a couple others that can answer any of the Board’s

questions; to take the Board back on this project, back in 2021 he worked with former

Commissioners Tobia and Zonka to structure this where any money in the Community

Redevelopment Agency (CRA) would go to just the infrastructure to this project; he actually

appreciates that now, and what the Commissioners said; he thinks they all feel similar that the

CRA is a tool, but they want to make sure it really focuses on infrastructure, at least that is his

belief; what they did was say all of that money in 2021 was going to go strictly toward a parking

garage; and everyone knows what happened in 2021-2022 with the escalation of prices and

COVID, et cetera. He continued by saying they have from those actions and working with the

Commissioners at that time, a current savings of about $6.5 million towards this project; there

has been nothing going into any kind of street funds or anything like that has been for this

project; what is interesting now, when talking about construction, the Board is fighting with that

now, what could be built four, five, or six years ago cannot be built for that same price now; for

example, the Law Enforcement Center that was built at that time, was built for an estimated

cost of $35 million and to build it now, would be probably about $48 million; and this is

something they have been trying to get moving on, but the cost to build a parking garage is not

what it was back then. He mentioned, in his opinion, this is a great avenue for them to succeed

in getting a downtown parking garage for Eau Gallie; he is sure he has seen some of the

Commissioners in downtown Eau Gallie and how many of the businesses are growing up, it is

the art district; he will leave the questions for the City Attorney and the City Manager; when he

spoke to the Commissioners back then, it was free parking; he likes free parking and does not

like to go somewhere and pay for parking, especially when the taxpayers have already paid for

the structure itself; his only concern is the maintenance; everyone knows the structure will have

to be maintained; and he would say anything that comes before him now when it comes to

parking cost, he is never for it, unless it is to pay to clean it, maintain it, pressure wash it, or

whatever because there is still a duty to the constituents to maintain the infrastructure. He

stated he appreciated the Board’s time on this; and this minor change is so they can finally get

this project done in a manner that is a cost savings to the residents.

J.3. Appointments of the North Brevard County Hospital District Board Members

Chair Altman asked if there is a tally.

Ms. Hayes stated she has added up the scoring and the highest ranked applicant is Billy

Fitzgerald, the second highest rated applicant is Melissa E. Lugo.

Commissioner Delaney advised she has a comment about this; she has some trouble when it

comes to this; she met with Melissa…

Chair Altman stated he would like to move this to the end of the meeting.

Commissioner Delaney stated she does not feel comfortable making a vote on this.

Chair Altman reiterated he would like to move this to the end of the meeting because the Board

has already embarked upon the Melbourne issue, so he would like to get that one out of the

way and that way the Board can focus all of its attention on one thing.

J.4. Board Direction on City of Melbourne’s Request to Amend the Interlocal

Agreement Governing the Olde Eau Gallie Riverfront Community Redevelopment

Agency

Chair Altman noted the next speaker is Sandra Sullivan.

Sandra Sullivan stated the Board is not in the same fiscal position it was in in 2021; former

Commissioner Tobia did not like CRAs and he, in fact, campaigned on doing away with them;

this particular CRA has no debt; the County could exit this and whether they keep the money

they have received to date from the County or not, it could be structured; the County can stop

and close the CRA which is the will of the State legislators, who last year and this year are

trying to do that; there are a lot of fiscal issues in the County, as she mentioned before in

February; it was noted a $2.2 billion deficit in transportation, as much as the budget was

projected at that time; the County ended up with a budget of $2.8 billion; the County has

sewage treatment plants that the County is still putting development on which are at capacity;

and there are infrastructure needs, and Commissioners are talking about going to meetings

suggesting the County do away with the three percent tax cap. She continued by saying, while

the people just received a tax increase, this deal feels like Driftwood all over again; special

interests, the County is going to give money to special interests because of political

connections; she will tell everybody who is listening in on this, her suggestions is to email, if this

passes, DOGE@mail.house.gov; she reiterated if the Commission passes this deal email

DOGE@mail.house.gov; Brevard County needs Department of Governmental Efficiency

(DOGE), an audit, and it needs to look at wasteful spending just as the State has come into

other counties and highlighted wasteful spending; while the Board is giving the people tax

increases and talking about an increase from $6.8 million to $12.1 million; a month ago it was

$10.5 million; earlier this year it was $8.7 million; they cannot even get their numbers right; the

Board has controversy right now where the Tourist Development Council (TDC) gave $2.7

million to people who did not perform; and she would say right now, there is a bad look on

Brevard County. She went on to say CRAs and the ones that the County has that have no debt,

should be closed out; if anyone wants to talk about blight and what the CRAs do, there has

been a number of CRAs that have had Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)

investigations where monies went to fire, police, a mayor’s pension fund, and et cetera; there is

a lot of concern about CRAs; for the deal to change to where it was free parking for the people

and now they want to charge the people to park for maintenance, this sounds just like the

Cocoa Beach garage all over again; and very simply “we the people” are getting tax increases

while the Board wants to give money to “we the money” special interests, it is not a good look.

She asked the Board to please close the CRA.

Adam Conley, City Attorney for City of Melbourne, stated he is with Jenni Lamb, City Manager

of Melbourne; he is generally there to answer any questions the Board may have; he would

echo some of the Mayor’s sentiments; in as early as 2020 there has been interest from the

private sector to partner with the City and the CRA for a shared parking facility within downtown

Eau Gallie; the Interlocal Agreement that was entered into in May of 2021, for all of its good

intentions, did not necessarily contemplate or address the circumstances of the parking garage

being developed through a public-private partnership; the existing Interlocal Agreement

contains terms such as 90 percent of the parking has to be for public use, which would

effectively eliminate any opportunity for public-private partnership for a shared facility; and the

existing Interlocal Agreement does not contemplate the increase in construction costs that have

been experienced in the past four to five years. He continued by saying the maximum

contribution that the CRA can make, pursuant to the existing Interlocal, is capped at about $8.9

million between debt service, as well as existing funds in the CRA trust fund; what was

presented to City staff this July, and was negotiated and revised in August, that is the version

that County Attorney, Morris Richardson, and County Manager, Jim Liesenfelt, has presented

to the Board; and he is happy to answer any questions. He noted the City understands that

there are some material changes to the terms that are being presented from City Council’s

direction from July, including asking for the ability to charge for parking; the terms of the current

proposal limit those fees to the amounts that are projected and necessary for annual capital

reserves and annual maintenance; it is not intended to be a significant revenue generator for

the City or CRA, it is intended to capture and recover those necessary costs associated with

those capital and annual maintenance costs; and he thinks that goes to the underlying level of

fees and revenues that are likely to be expected for that purpose. He thanked the Board for its

time.

Commissioner Delaney asked with the parking fees, is that determination as simple as a

council vote and it could be changed at any time.

Mr. Conley replied likely yes; based on the parking study that the City would do, that would

likely go towards the fees, also with regards to projections for annual budgets for capital

maintenance and other things; the Council just recently gave authorization for the City to start

working on comprehensive public-private partnership agreement for the project; that will go to

the proportionality of those capital and annual maintenance costs for a shared garage project;

the Council will be making decisions on what those rates are, both in understanding what the

underlying obligations are going to be on an annual budget basis for those capital reserves and

those annual maintenance costs, as well as projections from those parking studies that may be

done occasionally; and the Council will ultimately make that decision on what those rates and

charges are, subject to the terms of the interlocal agreement saying the underlying limit and

purpose is to capture those underlying costs, and not go beyond that.

Commissioner Delaney questioned if the Council would like to have a new splash pad or a

statue of someone, could they say this could be a potential revenue stream, and add a dollar to

the parking rates, and have that dedicated to a project they want to do in the City.

Mr. Conley advised as proposed in the current proposal of the Interlocal, section 9 C, it speaks

to eligible uses of public parking fees being for capital maintenance reserves and annual

operational and maintenance obligations for the project; there may be circumstances where

there are improvements or other things made to the garage; and if she is talking about

somewhere else in the Eau Gallie CRA, that is probably not an eligible use of those parking

fees.

Commissioner Delaney stated she just wanted to put that on the record.

Chair Altman stated this Board is not giving final approval on this request today, what it is doing

is giving staff general negotiating guidelines and policy directions.

Commissioner Adkinson stated Mr. Conley talked about the parking fees; originally for 50 years

there was not going to be any parking fees for residents and now it is talking about changing

that because of maintenance costs; and she inquired how the maintenance were going to be

paid for in the original Agreement for 50 years.

Mr. Conley stated theoretically it would come from other CRA revenues and then as the CRA

sunsetted it would come from City general revenue funds; that is where the City’s proposal is

going to the long-term feasibility of the project and recognizing that it may be more

advantageous and equitable for users of the garage to cover some of those underlying capital

reserves and annual costs rather than the taxpayers who generally may not utilize the garage;

and it is an attempt to be equitable with those capital reserves and annual maintenance costs.

Jenni Lamb stated she does not want to duplicate what was already heard from the City

Attorney; back in 2020 and 2021 when the Interlocal Agreement was modified, everybody

agreed that the focus should be on parking and on a parking garage; that is what the City is still

doing; the current Interlocal Agreement did not allow for a public-private partnership and part of

that is that 90 percent of the parking spaces were supposed to be public; if the City enters into

a public private partnership and there are 550 parking spaces, the City said it would only need

about 300 for the community, then only 50 of those could be for the public-private partnership;

and that is one of the reasons the City wants that changed. She mentioned the funding has

gone up with construction costs having gone up across the board, she sees it in almost every

construction project the City has, whether it is a wastewater facility project, or road projects, the

costs have gone up; she thinks it is important to note that while the construction costs have

gone up, part of what the City is proposing, and what it has spoken with the County Attorney

and County Manager about, is that the projections for the garage debt service repayment would

allow the City to sunset the CRA sooner than the current Interlocal of 2038; she would

respectfully request that it stay at 2038, but is projecting that it could be sunset about five years

earlier, with using the funding that has already been saved towards the parking garage, and

that the debt service repayment could be paid up to five years early; she is looking at 2033

could be the date that it would be able to sunset the CRA; the benefit to the County if it is

sunset, then the County’s portion of the tax would come straight to the County after that point;

and it would be five years earlier than stated in the current Interlocal Agreement. She

mentioned she knows in the past, back in 2021, the feel of the Commission at that time was

should it get rid of the CRAs or not; and that is when they came to the agreement that parking

should really be the main focus; to the City the changes that it is requesting, keep that focus on

parking and the maintenance for the parking; the City did agree it would not charge anything up

to five years and then it would be solely for the maintenance costs; the City has experienced

with the parking garage with its own City Hall parking garage, and as it ages those costs are

starting to add up; and it was first covered under general fund, but it is something that adds up

over time.

Chair Altman stated he knows he has his own opinion; he grew up in Eau Gallie, and the Mayor

knows that, right in this downtown area, 1957; it is an area he is very passionate about, it is his

home; he is really excited about the CRA in Eau Gallie, it has been kind of a stepchild in

Melbourne; he remembers when it merged with Melbourne where it had its own city and he

spent a lot of time at the Civic Center, the park, even had to go to the courthouse once for a

traffic violation; he has fond memories of that and it worked out okay, it was when there were

municipal judges; he is real excited about this CRA, Eau Gallie is finally getting its due

attention; it is such an incredible area; and he really is excited about it getting a parking garage.

He went on to comment he really likes it, he thinks it is necessary, he hopes one day to get one

in Cocoa; it has been wonderful having one in downtown Melbourne; he wholeheartedly

supports this; he hates parking fees, and tends to rate communities based on whether they

have public parking or not; it drives him crazy to go to a downtown area, has to download an

app and then cannot remember his iCloud number and then has to find that, finally downloads

the right app, then he has to enter it into the machine, and then even after paying it, one does

not know if it has been paid; the more money one spends on parking, the less he or she can

spend at the shops, restaurants, or bars; he likes the idea of free parking, of a public-private

partnership, as he thinks it can achieve more through public- private partnerships; of course,

that balance of how many are public and how many are private in terms of parking spaces, he

would probably let staff work on that and bring back to the Board some alternatives; and as far

as policy direction, he definitely supports the CRA, does not feel there needs to be a cap on the

amount as he trusts the City’s ability to bid and work with the private developer to determine

what size, what is best, and at what cost. He reiterated he has no problem with raising those

amounts, free parking, and a public-private partnership is a yes, no bond restrictions based on

what the City feels is necessary, and the County; and as far as the sunset, he is in no rush to

sunset the Eau Gallie CRA, it depends on what the needs are there, and if there is more

economic development benefit. He commented he views this as a good thing and he looks

forward to what staff comes back with.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she thinks if this is primarily about the parking garage, they

would not even be here, because that is what it originally was, it was about the parking garage;

her direction to staff would be a little different; she does not know about the 90 percent, maybe

it is negotiable, but not by a lot, in her opinion; she would say if people are paying to build it,

they should get to park there for free for quite a while; at least as long as they have been

paying taxes to build it, maybe that is not 50 years; the bond counsel she thinks, maybe should

be the one who decides what the most economical way to proceed is; she is not crazy about

going higher, as far as the bond; and that is her two cents.

Commissioner Delaney stated she would have to agree with Commissioner Adkinson;

personally for her, she cannot support this today; she would feel much better about it if the

Board negotiated a better deal for the residents in that area; like Chair Altman said, there is

nothing more annoying than going to a parking garage and figuring out that system because

they all have different ones; she would definitely like to see staff try to negotiate hard on behalf

of the residents that are paying for this; and that they should be able to use it for free.

Commissioner Feltner stated the good news is the Board is not voting on the final plan today, it

is voting to give direction to staff to negotiate with the City of Melbourne and come back with a

plan; he has a motion that he will make and hopefully the Board will support it; and he would

delegate the County Manager, the County Attorney, and Chair Altman to negotiate with the

City. He commented he is going to take the City up on the idea that the CRA sunsets in 2033,

he thinks that is a better deal for the County; he wants to see no differential in parking fees,

whatever that is down the road, whether it is five years or whatever the group collectively

decides; that would mean County residents, City residents, guests staying the night down

there, and people from out of town, one fee, everybody that drives in there it is $3 or whatever

the case may be; finally, all money collected in parking fees shall be used for the maintenance

of the parking garage, so he can appreciate that the City does not want to saddle its taxpayers

with the maintenance of the garage; and that is his motion.

Commissioner Adkinson advised she has a friendly amendment; and she asked Commissioner

Feltner if he would consider free parking for at least as long as it is going to take to build the

garage and to allow the bond counsel to recommend the most economical way to proceed.

Commissioner Feltner replied affirmatively. He stated he does not issue bonds, so the point is

well taken, they would have to do that; as far as the length of time, he thinks that can be

negotiated with the City of Melbourne; he thinks it ought to be attached to the 2033 sunset of

the CRA; and he sees those two as being linked together.

Commissioner Adkinson asked if he means he will agree with free parking or not.

Commissioner Feltner stated he would want to see that in the final plan; and how they get to

2033 sunset, to him, is the more important issue.

Commissioner Adkinson stated then Commissioner Feltner is not going to accept that friendly

amendment of free parking for at least as long as it takes to build it.

Commissioner Feltner noted he does not know if the Board can give that direction today to

staff; he will accept as an amendment that they will negotiate that and see what comes back;

the Board can certainly suggest that; but the City has a certain position and they are going to

suggest something else.

Chair Altman noted to make this easy let that be included in the amendment; and he asked

Commissioner Feltner to restate what is part of the amendment.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks he understands what Commissioner Adkinson asked for

is that the free parking be for as long as the CRA lasts.

Commissioner Adkinson clarified as long as people have been taxed, yes.

Commissioner Feltner asked if that means 2033.

Commissioner Adkinson stated 2033, yes.

Commissioner Feltner stated he would accept that as a friendly amendment; and asked if

everyone is clear on the motion. He repeated delegate the County Manager, County Attorney,

and Chair Altman to negotiate with the City of Melbourne that all money collected in parking

fees shall be used for the maintenance of the parking garage; the CRA sunsets in 2033; there

will be no differential in parking fees, whether it is overnight stays, Brevard residents, out of

town residents, and City residents; and that the free parking continues until the CRA is sunset

in 2033.

Commissioner Delaney asked if that means eight years of free parking or does that mean 12

years of free parking.

Commissioner Feltner asked when the parking garage construction will begin, he does not

think they are there yet.

Commissioner Adkinson advised maybe then he should say a certain time frame after the

parking garage is completed.

Commissioner Feltner asked how about eight years.

Commissioner Adkinson stated eight is not the same as 50.

Commissioner Delaney stated that is what she was going to say; it was 50 years of free parking

to eight.

Commissioner Feltner stated he understands; he really does get this dilemma; he looks at the

things that the County is saddled with today and does not have the revenue to take care of; and

he does not want to set the City up for failure in taking care of what is not just their asset, but

the County’s as well, the County taxpayers helped pay for that too.

Commissioner Delaney asked how many people from Scottsmoor are going to Eau Gallie, and

answered not many.

Commissioner Feltner commented he cannot answer that; he goes to all kinds of different

places across the State of Florida; he has parked in garages; a garage he parked in recently

has it free for the weekends, but they are charged during the week; he thinks there are some

ways to get there; and something could be brought back to the Board to debate it then.

Commissioner Delaney asked if there is also a stormwater change that is prompting this, is the

City trying to get around some stormwater changes in regards to the construction of this

building.

Commissioner Feltner advised he cannot speak to that specifically, perhaps someone from the

City could speak to that.

Ms. Lamb commented right now the City is trying to accelerate the design portion of it; the

stormwater rules change and that site is almost 100 percent impervious now; they will still have

stormwater treatment; but yes, the City is trying to accelerate the design of that.

Commissioner Delaney stated she personally feels like the County is giving up a lot; it is giving

up stormwater changes, many years of free parking, allowing them to have more money to

construct it; she is not against a parking garage, but she thinks this deal needs to work for all

parties; and it really feels one-sided right now.

Chair Altman commented the Board is not making a final decision here, it is giving some

general guidance; the Board will vote on something; everyone’s input is important; the staff has

some sticky items; the main thing is to get the ball rolling; and he would not be surprised if the

staff would be reporting back in future meetings letting the Board know how things are going.

Commissioner Adkinson stated but agreeing to a motion right now, that is what the staff will use

to go forward.

Chair Altman noted that is true, it gives them some guidelines, but it is not going to be

negotiated right here; he asked the Mayor to put an amendment in this that in the event the

Olde Eau Gallie boundaries de annex and recreates their municipality and separates from

Melbourne, the garage would go with them.

Mayor Alfrey stated he is an Eau Gallie guy; this is something that when one talks about the

stormwater, when one builds something, it is under the current code; that is what the City is

doing right now, keeping it under current code; they are not trying to change anything; they

have been working on this for about five years now; this is something that was worked out with

former Commissioners Zonka and Tobia; and he wants all this money to go towards the

parking garage because it is that important. He noted he hears everybody, and he does not like

paying for parking; he would agree with that; his only issue is how to pay for the maintenance

down the road; and that is it.

Chair Altman stated Melbourne has down a wonderful job on this; and one thing about

stormwater, parking garages are a lot better for stormwater than expansive sprawling parking

lots.

Commissioner Delaney stated in the design there is different materials that could be used now,

and she feels like every day it is becoming…

Mayor Alfrey interjected by saying impervious surfaces; he is a big fan of impervious surfaces

because instead of paving, for example, pavers can be put in; in talking to the developers, that

is something that is stressed in the arts district, that it is like an arts hotel and that they use

those types of surfaces, like bricks that take in the water as opposed to blacktop; and he kind

of sees the evolution of Eau Gallie now, because a lot of that is happening now, and it is

definitely different. He stated he hears everyone on the Board and agrees with everyone in

making sure this gets done correctly; he does know the history and following the former

Commissioners, the City will get there; and he appreciates this Board’s comments, and agrees

with the 2033 sunset. He noted all the money is going to this parking garage; if the City waited

for the new code, it may be an additional $1 million; and when someone builds something, he

or she tries to build it under the current codes, not codes that may come out later.

Chair Altman stated he thinks there are some variables in the paid parking; he knows where

there are pay there are parking attendants and he does not have half the heartburn, like in

Tallahassee, there is always an attendant there; that makes it so much easier; as they get into

the negotiation it can get into the nitty gritty; and the Board wants to hear Commissioner

Feltner’s motion.

Commissioner Feltner stated the Board can try to separate the parking part to just be part of

the negotiation if Chair Altman would like; he sees these as minimums; one, delegate the

County Manager, County Attorney, and Chair Altman to negotiate with the City; all money

collected in the future in parking fees shall be used for the maintenance of the parking garage;

this is not giving the City a revenue stream, they will use the money to take care of the asset

that the County and City jointly built; no differential in parking fees; that is everyone pays the

same in parking fees whether one is visiting Brevard, lives in Brevard, is a City of Melbourne

resident, or whether one is doing business down there; he will take them up on the 2033

deadline, he thinks it is a good thing for the County; that is five years of TIF funding that comes

back to it; he thinks those are good things; and that would be his motion.

Commissioner Delaney asked to add a friendly amendment; she asked to add in, in the spirit of

the coming stormwater changes, that the City does everything in its power to use as many Low

Impact Development (LID) construction practices as possible.

Commissioner Feltner stated he would accept that as a friendly amendment; he thinks the City

is amenable to that also; therefore, as much LID practices as possible with a mind towards

dealing with stormwater on site and modern day practices.

Chair Altman stated motion dies for lack of a second; he asked if there is another motion, as

the Board needs to give staff some direction; there needs to be a motion of some sort; and if

not, it will need to be tabled and heard at the next meeting.

Commissioner Adkinson made a motion to table.

Chair Altman stated there needs to be a date certain; and he asked if it can be tabled to the

next zoning meeting or a regular scheduled meeting.

Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager, advised the next regular scheduled meeting is December 2,

and ahead of the zoning meeting.

The Board tabled the City of Melbourne’s request to amend the Interlocal Agreement governing

the Olde Eau Gallie Riverfront CRA to the December 2, 2025, Regular Board meeting at 5:00

p.m.

Result: TABLED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.5. Legislative Intent and Staff Direction, Re: Future funding needs for restoring

health to the Indian River Lagoon, municipal support for the County managing

dedicated funds and public input.

Chair Altman stated this is legislative intent, staff direction for future funding needs for restoring

health to the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) municipal support for the County managing dedicated

funds and public input; he had placed this Item on the Agenda; it spells out general direction he

would like to give to staff; but he would like to start out by pointing out that this is not a decision

to put the half-cent infrastructure sales tax, or whatever portion of the sales tax, the Board

chooses to put on the ballot; it came to his attention that if the Board were to wait until spring to

do these ministerial things that need to be done to offer this to the public to vote, it would be too

late; the Board would not be able to provide the technical support, information, and the data

necessary to make an educated decision, as well as the fact that staff cannot do this without

direction from the Board; it would put staff in the position of looking like they were advocating

for placing it back on the Agenda; and this simply empowers staff to do the due diligence that

needs to be done if it were to consider placing this very successful program back on the ballot

and giving the public an opportunity to vote on it.

Virginia Barker, Natural Resources Management Director, stated this is a citizens request

placed on the Agenda by the District 5 office to start a multi-step process to consider renewing

the Save Our Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL) sales tax; the 2016 referendum was a mandate

from the voters to restore health, prosperity, and resilience to the Lagoon; not just in good

times, but also through bad times, including heavy storms; however, this new program was

harder than starting from zero and accelerating flight speed; in 2016, the Lagoon was in a rapid

downward spiral getting worse each year, from the 2011 super bloom to the 2012 brown tide, to

the 2013 unusual mortality events of dolphins, manatees, and pelicans, to the worst fish kill in

recorded history of the Lagoon; before the County could start making the Lagoon better, it had

to first slow down and reverse the rapid decline that was well underway; at the same time staff

had to build a new program from scratch with good governance, transparency, accountability,

accessibility, and flexibility; the collective wisdom of Commissioners, the Citizen Oversight

Committee (COC), IRL National Estuary Program Committee members, agency, city and

County staff, non-governmental organizations, citizen scientists and volunteers, as well as

countless academic and professional peers have all been integral to the success; Brevard’s

investment in the Lagoon supports recreation, tourism, and real estate; it has helped grow jobs

and retain workforce talent; and the tax has provided an opportunity to advance clean water

technology businesses in Brevard. She went on to say dedicated local funds have made it

possible to plan and implement challenging multi-year capital improvement projects and

effectively compete to secure over $110 million in State and Federal grants to modernize the

County’s infrastructure and attract venture capital; these investments inspire new solutions that

accelerate innovation and advance human expertise in clean water technologies so that the

workforce can lead Florida, and perhaps the US, in scalable solutions, technology transfers,

and be a beacon of local stewardship; since 2016, the County has overcome a global

pandemic, supply chain issues, and skyrocketing inflation to complete 116 community projects

and over 2,200 individual homeowners projects; it has reduced nitrogen pollution by over one

million pounds; the annual value of the entire Lagoon, as the Board has heard earlier this

morning, has grown from an estimated $7.6 billion to nearly four times higher at $28.3 billion;

and for every $1 invested in Lagoon restoration, the latest economic assessment indicates a

$24 return on investment. She continued by saying staff has gone from performance tracking

using monthly grab samples at a few dozen locations to weekly mapping of water quality across

the entire water body using satellite imagery and now they are embarking on a model that will

use artificial intelligence and machine learning to forecast future water quality conditions and

facilitate preemptive response measures; the 2016 downward spiral has been replace by a

strong upward trajectory, evidenced by job growth, wage growth, tourism growth, property

value growth, improved water clarity, better water quality, and encouraging seagrass and

marine life recovery; but they are not done yet. She stated long-term success requires

continued strategic investments dedicated to lowering the impact of development through

implementing updated septic, stormwater, and wastewater regulations, embracing more

Florida-friendly Lagoon loyal lifestyles, all guided by decision science using timely data

collected and analyzed for evidence-based adaptive management; staff has built good

governance structure with intergovernmental collaborations, partnerships with businesses,

NGO’s, academics and students; the COC considers public input monthly; the SOIRL Program

is ready for whatever direction the Board gives today; and staff is in attendance to answer any

questions.

Chair Altman stated that was very informative and thorough update of the program; and there

are cards, first speaker is Craig Wallace.

Craig Wallace, Chairman of the IRL Coalition, stated they are a leading independent unifying

voice connecting community partners to restore the IRL; their members and partner

organizations strongly support funding for science-based efforts to restore the Brevard County

portion of the IRL; in 2016, they assumed a leadership role in the efforts to pass the one-half

cent sales tax referendum for the SOIRL Project Plan that Ms. Barker just spoke about; this

was approved by a majority of voters in every precinct of the County; the funding for this

program expires in 2026, as the Board is aware; people are seeing some positive results from

this work as Ms. Barker has just documented, but there is a long way to go before there is a full

return of stabilizing seagrass to the Lagoon; they are prepared to launch an effort similar to

what they did in 2016 for the renewal of the sales tax in 2026; and today they would strongly

encourage this Board’s vote on the Agenda Item to initiate the renewal planning process, as

was explained, this is just to get the process started. He continued by saying this request

includes the development of the ballot language, associated ordinance items that the Board will

need before considering the request for approval, hopefully next year; starting this process now

will allow staff time to identify the needs, inform the citizens of the County, about what the

program would look like going forward, receive their input, which is critical, and be ready for the

ballot referendum deadline in August; Brevard’s unique SOIRL program has attracted matching

State and Federal grants; it has just received the brilliance award from the East Coast Florida

Regional Planning Council, a pretty significant award; he is simply asking the Board to please

vote to allow the staff to develop a plan to continue restoration of the IRL which provides much

more than what they had originally anticipated for the annual local impact; and he would be

happy to answer any questions.

Meghan Murphy stated she is a Suntree mom, a nurse, and she lives in a community that is

aging, but has a good brand; she is happy to hear that almost every topic the Board has

discussed today relates to stormwater because she thinks it is one of the number one things

that home owners need to understand; she lives in the central part of the County, and there are

so many issues related to erosion, the trees on the right of ways; the opportunities to control

stormwater and beautify the community, flooding, all of those things impact individual

homeowners, homeowners associations, the County at large, and then all of the economic

development impacts and environmental impacts that the Board is talking about are these high

level pieces the Board is dealing with; but as a homeowner, a mom, somebody who works in

her community to help people understand, they need the Board to continue to stay focused on

the impacts of stormwater, the environmental impacts and financial impacts that it has on every

single person, people’s tax dollars are important, people are paying for all of these things; the

idea that the Board would say it needs to use LID interventions when making a construction

commitment, when it is going to be making community impact decisions, it needs to be

communicated to individual homeowners so that they know about swales in their backyard,

about rain gardens for stormwater mitigation, and then how to achieve those goals when there

is no access to large infrastructure, construction equipment, and those types of things; and

these are the public private partnerships that the people need the Board to continue to focus

on.

Sandra Sullivan stated the number one metric on whether the Lagoon is succeeding in

restoration or not is seagrass; she has been posting about the Fish and Wildlife Conservation

(FWC) seagrass map and it is kind of interesting because there is not a whole lot of seagrass

in Brevard County; looking at some of the surrounding counties and they have seagrass;

Brevard is the only County with a Lagoon tax and it has the worst degradation, the most

manatee deaths, and by far most of the dolphin deaths in the IRL; in 2010, the State made a

legislative change to lay off 1,300 workers, according to MRC, and switch to broadcast spraying

of herbicides; when she looks at the other counties around Brevard, they have stopped

spraying; but Brevard did not, although it did a year ago on the canals in the area. She went on

to say she read a lot of Board of County Commissioner meetings and she wants to go back to

this article in 2016 on legislators proposed tapping sales tax to remove muck; Chair Altman was

a representative then, and along with Debbie Mayfield, both were cited in this article as saying,

“Florida State Statute 212.055, the Infrastructure Surtax does not allow for environmental muck

dredging under the law” and that they were going to change this law; when one looks at the bill

that cited it in the article, it failed in appropriations; it did not fail once, it failed twice; when

looking at the law now, it still does not allow muck dredging; she has been attending the RAB

meetings for Patrick’s Space Force Base, Air Force Base, since 2018, and they did a remedial

investigation study in early 2015 that prompted the idea of the Muck Tax, that is what it was

called; they had a Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) permit to dispose

their AFFF Firefighting to the river; now in scientific studies and even stated by Ms. Barker at

SOIRL meetings, is that longchain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) tend to bind

organic molecules to sediment, especially high organic; the original plan that came out had a

very high percentage of muck dredging, 66 percent, and pollution is not in there even though it

is in the CCMP; and her suggestion is, as an environmental advocate, in 2016 the County really

needed the Lagoon tax, but what she would suggest now is the critical need is infrastructure,

the sewage dumps and the infrastructure pipes that are 60 years old, and I&I is what needs to

be addressed. She commented this is an infrastructure surtax under Florida Statute 212; the

County should focus and change the intent to look at a one-cent sales tax, transportation,

stormwater, sewage, and infrastructure; she thinks that would pass; this will not pass; and

people look at the Lagoon and they think SOIRL is an abysmal failure.

Jenni Lamb, City Manager of Melbourne, stated the City of Melbourne has been an active

partner in many SOIRL projects; it works very closely with the County’s Natural Resources

team and Ms. Barker; it has been a long standing priority of the Melbourne City Council to

support programs to fund, manage, protect, and restore the Lagoon, and contributing waters;

and all she really wanted to say today is the City is supportive of any type of program, and if it

is for this program, they are in support of it.

Chair Altman commented it has been great having the City as a partner in that program; what

staff is looking for is approval from the Board to proceed; he knows different things were

mentioned and that is what he wants to look at; he does not want to pigeon hole the staff in any

direction, the Board wants to solicit public input; this is an effort, a planning process; they are

not placing something solid on the Agenda, it is beginning that process; and he asked if there is

any discussion.

Commissioner Feltner stated he has an amendment if it would be considered and then maybe

the Board could discuss the Item further.

Chair Altman commented the Board can discuss it and if there are some amendments that is

fine too; and he asked if Commissioner Feltner wanted to talk about his amendment now.

Commissioner Feltner stated in his opinion he thinks it would be easier to go to the amendment

first if the Board would indulge him.

Chair Altman agreed.

Commissioner Feltner stated he likes the idea of two workshops; there are a lot of meetings in

this part of the County; he is proposing two evening workshops in January; one to be at

Titusville City Council Chambers, and he has already checked with the City; then a second one

at Palm Bay Council Chambers; in Titusville they could do between January 5 and January 9,

Monday to Friday; he does not think anyone wants to do Friday, but that is available to Board if

it were to take it; in Palm Bay the premium date would be Monday, January 12, but he has

other dates; he thinks a 5:00 pm to time certain of walking out at 9:00 pm would work; it would

give the public the opportunity to come and speak; the Board can talk to each other; and it

could start with a presentation. He went on to say in number four in the Agenda packet where it

says solicit input to be considered, this is his amendment specifically to that Item.

Chair Altman stated he thinks that is a good amendment, he would accept that.

Commissioner Delaney stated it would be better for her schedule if the Board could do January

5 or 6, rather than the end of the week, but she can make whatever work.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks for the purpose of the cities that the Board give them

something; they use those chambers for different events; this is what he got from them

yesterday; and just as a guy who used to book the space, he thinks the Board needs to let

them know and let staff know.

Commissioner Adkinson stated January 12 is okay.

Commissioner Delaney agreed.

Commissioner Feltner advised that January 12 would be in Palm Bay if the rest of the Board is

open to that; Titusville it could do anywhere from January 5 to January 9; and he heard January

5 or 6 from Commissioner Delaney and those days are okay for him as well.

Commissioner Adkinson stated January 5.

Chair Altman stated Monday is usually good for him.

Commissioner Feltner asked if the Chair would like for him to restate the amendment, and then

it can be back on the Item.

Chair Altman responded affirmatively.

Commissioner Feltner stated the amendment is the Board have a workshop in Titusville City

Council Chambers on January 5, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. and have a second one in Palm Bay,

Monday January 12, at 5:00 p.m. with a 9:00 p.m. time certain to leave, for the cities staff and

closing up; and that is his amendment.

Chair Altman stated that amendment is accepted in the general motion that he will make.

Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager, stated to make sure he understands, the Board of County

Commissioners’ is hosting a workshop with all five members in public session, like what is done

in the Florida Room.

Commissioner Feltner confirmed that is the same idea; he is trying to be sensitive, and he

thinks it needs to go North County and South County, as there are a lot of meetings in this

facility here.

Chair Altman stated he thinks it is superb; when he was first elected in the 80’s, the Board was

a traveling road show; and it was a good thing, but not to that extent.

Commissioner Feltner mentioned that is why judges were circuit judges, because they used to

ride the circuit.

Chair Altman stated he learns something every day.

Commissioner Delaney stated when she talked to staff about this in her briefing, she thinks this

is great going forward to decide how the Board wants to move forward, and all the public input,

and she thanked Commissioner Feltner for proposing those workshops; a concern she has is

after the considerable amount of flooding that has been experienced this year, there is

somewhere around $400 million in the SOIRL plan that is earmarked to be spent on certain

projects and whatnot; she just wants to put it out there to the Board to see if there is any

consideration to maybe look at that and see how far along projects are; she certainly would not

want to waste money, as far as if a project is almost permitted, then just finish it and make sure

that process is solidified; it could be a shovel-ready project possibly for appropriations that the

Board could go and fight for; but she thinks it is really clear in her mind, and for her residents

that she has spoken to, that the Board needs to make some changes and it needed to start

yesterday; between the state of the sewage plants, the stormwater situation, and what not, and

while she understands a boat is moving in a direction, the Board can change that at any point

to focus on the real infrastructure needs that the County has right now, today; and there is this

pot of money that is just sitting there.

Commissioner Feltner stated he has asked about stormwater projects in the north end of the

County, and he thinks there is opportunity also, and money sitting there, as he had a short

discussion with Ms. Barker, that is there but is not designed; he thinks these two things can

come together pretty nicely, which is stormwater and keeping nutrients out of the Lagoon,

because keeping runoff from going into the Lagoon; one of the things that happen in some of

these older areas that were built before 1985, really is that there is no stormwater retention; he

thinks there is some opportunity and he would certainly explore that with Commissioner

Delaney; and he thinks that can be done.

Commissioner Delaney stated she appreciates that support.

Chair Altman asked if there is any other discussion; he mentioned he knows that it has been

brought to his attention that some have advocated, including the St. John’s Basin, in this overall

Lagoon, and he thinks that is worth looking at as well because without a healthy St. John’s

Basin, there probably would never be a healthy Lagoon; those two systems are so intricately

tied; he uses the example of the Everglades and Florida Bay, the State is losing that floodplain,

it has lost so much of it that needs to be restored and that is another reason the County is

seeing some of the flooding; and it also has significant water quality impact. He noted he would

not be adverse, at least having the Board consider that; this is what this is about, engaging the

public and looking at other issues and this gives the public time to do that; if the Board were to

wait they would not have time to do it; and that is the intent.

Commissioner Delaney asked if the Board could direct staff to look at the possibility on a 1

percent tax and to include transportation, as a whole package, so it could address all of the

infrastructure needs.

Commissioner Adkinson commented she likes to keep things separate and simple; she would

not be opposed to hearing that on its own; but sticking it with this would not be her preferred

way of going forward.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks the ballot language is not an emergency, it certainly

helps to get it worked out soon; the Board could certainly take that issue up specifically after

the workshops; that would be an opportunity for the Board to discuss together as a group over

two evenings with the public; and then it could get the ballot language where it wants it.

Chair Altman stated the Board wants to listen to the public and it does not know what may

come out of those public hearings.

The Board approved legislative intent and permission to advertise an ordinance for a voter

referendum to renew the one-half cent infrastructure sales tax for the Save Our Indian River

Lagoon (SOIRL) Program to return to the Board for a public hearing in April or May; directed

staff to work with municipalities to amend the existing sales tax use and distribution Interlocal

Agreement to extend its terms, subject to voter approval of the sales tax renewal; directed staff

to work with municipalities and the community on a project plan that identifies the most

cost-effective pollution reduction opportunities and unfunded needs for restoring health to the

IRL ecosystem, to be implemented with funds raised or leveraged by extension of the sales tax,

if renewed by the voters; approved soliciting public input to be considered during development

of the ordinance, ballot language, and SOIRL Project Plan; directed staff to develop ballot

language for the November 2026 General Election; approved the scheduling of a Board

Workshop on Monday, January 5, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., at the City of Titusville

Council Chambers; and approved the scheduling of a Board Workshop on Monday, January

12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., at the City of Palm Bay Council Chambers.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.6. Permission to use current Chair’s signature plates.

Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager, advised the Board this item is for the plates as the Board

changes the Chairman; and that helps the Clerk so she can pay all the bills for the County.

The Board granted permission for the Finance Department to continue to use the current

Chair’s signature plates for the signing of Payroll or Accounts Payable checks until a new

signature plate can be obtained with the new Chair’s signature.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.3. Appointments of the North Brevard County Hospital District Board Members

Commissioner Delaney stated she does not mean to jump in front of everybody but this is

something that she feels really passionate about, it is something she campaigned on, and it is

something she was elected to advocate on behalf of; she had a conversation with Mr. Mikitarian

and, of course, he had mentioned to her that there were two people that he would like to see on

this board and those just so happened to be the two people who won the tallies; she is sure the

other Board members have had those reach outs as well, not just from him, but from a

particular lobbyist; she asked how the other Board members came to his or her choices, was it

simply that these were the people who they wanted, did they go through the resumes and said

these are the people who would do the best job, bring some diversity, bring some new and

fresh ideas, because she would like to speak on behalf of a couple people whom she was

hoping to have on this board; one of them was Christopher Childs; as he explained, his job for

many years was going into hospitals, working with the staff, working with the boards and

leadership of these hospitals; this is a person who has made thousands of dollars providing

these services and he is here volunteering to do this job for free, that he could get paid many

dollars to do this as a job; and as a public hospital who does not assess a millage at this point,

that again, the millage would be assessed on her residents in North Brevard. She continued by

saying she feels like somebody who is skilled and has the experience in the Information

Technology, (IT) world would bring much value to this board, somebody who understands how

to look into the systems and processes of a hospital and save $1 million, that to her is a

no-brainer; she would think that a public hospital would want that type of expertise on their

board; the other person she was hoping for was Kyle Mack who has fire rescue background;

the thing about that is that is a vital role that is missing from the hospital board, someone who

has the experience of wall times, as some would call it, and the role that Emergency Medical

Services (EMS) has on the hospitals; she thinks those two voices, experiences would be pivotal

to make this board more successful, to get better processes, and at the end of the day, have

better outcomes for the patients of this hospital; another thing she had mentioned in her

conversations that she had had with people about this is that there are people who are

awesome with their people skills and do a great job raising money for the foundation of Parrish

Hospital; it is a different set of skills to run a hospital, make the policies and procedures that

goes into that, one is more analytical, and they are different roles; she is not saying that one is

better than the other, it is just where can one's skills and attributes be used that fit best; not

everybody who serves on a board is great at raising money or vice versa; and she is extremely

concerned, it would be like Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager, going out and campaigning for a

Commissioner, it would be the same situation, and she feels like it is inappropriate, not what

should happen because the Board of Directors is who hires and fires the Chief Executive

Officer (CEO), just like how this Board hires and fires the County Manager. She stated there

are rules against that and she cannot imagine this Board being okay with the County Manager

going out and campaigning for candidates; and with that being said, she really feels like her

constituency deserves a reasoning as to why the people who were chosen got chosen.

Chair Altman stated he can respond to that, but to put this in the proper posture, the Board

needs a motion and a vote.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, responded affirmatively.

Chair Altman stated first would be a motion on the ballot that was filled out; he does not think

anyone has to justify why he or she voted; he trusts everyone on this Board to do the right thing

and he thinks the motives are right; he respects everyone’s judgment; he can say from his point

of view, what was important to him was continuity, consistency and stability, and that is why he

voted for the incumbents; there have been some really tough things happen, Brevard has lost

an entire hospital; they have had to restructure the way the County provides emergency

services to adjust for that; there are a lot of healthcare challenges and he thinks it is time for

continuity and stability; his experience with this hospital has been extremely positive; and that is

why he supports it. He commented he can say he thinks it is a wonderful facility; and that is

why he voted the way he did.

Commissioner Delaney asked if he received a message from a particular lobbyist.

Chair Altman stated he reached out to a number of people, as he tries not to make these

decisions in a void.

Commissioner Delaney stated she thinks it is fair for her constituency to hear from the Board; a

lot of times she says these things and she just gets looked at with silence; it is not right; this is

her constituents’ hospital in District 1; she understands that people from all over the County use

it, but the majority of people that this hospital serves is District 1; and District 1 people will be

the ones paying for it if the leadership decides to impose a millage at some point. She went on

to say it is not right for the public to be met with silence.

Chair Altman stated there needs to be a motion.

Commissioner Delaney stated she would like to make a motion to appoint Kyle Mack and

Christopher Childs to the North Brevard Hospital District.

Chair Altman stated motion dies for lack of a second; and he asked if there is a motion on the

slate of appointments that the Board voted on.

Commissioner Goodson stated he would like to make a motion to nominate Melissa Lugo and

Billy Fitzgerald.

Attorney Richardson asked if he could get some clarification to Commissioner Goodson’s

motion; Melissa Lugo applied for seat four and Billy Fitzgerald applied for seat eight; and he

asked if the motion would be to appoint Mr. Fitzgerald to seat eight and Ms. Lugo to seat four.

Commissioner Goodson responded affirmatively.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she would second the motion.

Commissioner Delaney stated she must reiterate again that this is the first time in 10 years that

the District 1 Commissioner has not had his or her say or input in this process; that is just as

many years as she looked back, she would gamble to say it is every year since its existence

that the District 1 Commissioner appointed who he or she saw fit; this is based off of two years

of campaigning, knocking on 15,000 doors, speaking to even so many more people than that,

and the input from the community is that they wanted her because they want something

different going on; they want some new voices going on at this hospital; and she wants to make

it really clear, by the other four Board members going against District 1 and their wishes, that is

what is being done right now, the entire community of District 1, and they made that perfectly

clear when they elected her. She noted this is uncalled for; it is not the way it should be;

Commissioner Adkinson and Chair Altman got to decide on Melbourne-Tillman board; she

personally does not have a level of trust because of the silence that she has been met with on

this Board; and she does not have a level of trust to know that this Board could even tell her

one thing about these other applicants.

Commissioner Adkinson stated that every single one of the Curriculum Vitae (CVs) that she

has in front of her has been highlighted with notes by herself; and she decided to pick the

people she picked because of the research that she did, mostly using their CVs.

Commissioner Delaney stated she is sorry but she is not buying that; she does not mean

disrespect by saying that but it is just very clear that the Board was told who was wanted on

this board and obviously those two people won; she thinks it is imperative that the public knows

that this happened; and all she can say is vote wisely.

The Board approved appointments of Melissa E. Lugo and Billie Fitzgerald to member seats

four (4) and eight (8) of the North Brevard County Hospital District Board, for a four-year term

beginning January 1, 2026.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

Nay: Delaney

PUBLIC COMMENTS (Individuals may not speak under both the first and second

public comment sections.)

Shane Murphy stated he is in attendance because a child from his community, a 16-year old

citizen named Mohammed Ibrahim of Palm Bay, Florida, has been unjustly imprisoned abroad

for nearly nine months; his family and his friends live in this County and it has a responsibility to

stand with the residents when their children are in danger; in February of this year, while

visiting relatives in the West Bank, over 25 heavily armed Israeli soldiers entered his family’s

home at 3:00 a.m., tied his hands and blind-folded him, and took him from his bed; he was

15-years old; and since then, Mohammed has been held in Israeli military prison, the same

system that was extensively documented for severe abuses, torture, and routine violations of

international law. He went on to say for nine months Mohammed’s parents have not been

allowed a single phone call with their son; he has lost more than 25 percent of his body weight,

developed scabies due to this condition, and has been denied adequate food and medical care;

these are not abstract allegations, they are documented facts reported by human rights

organizations, national news outlets, and members of Congress who have already sounded the

alarm; Mohammed turned 16-years old inside of a prison alone, and that should never happen

to any American child and certainly not the one who comes from this County; right now Federal

interventions have been slow and insufficient, despite public statements acknowledging that

Mohammed should never have been arrested; the State department has not secured his

release, hearings continue to be delayed, and Mohammed’s health continued to decline; and

every day that passes is another day that this child’s life is put at risk. He continued saying this

is not a foreign policy debate, it is a local family in crisis; a Florida teenager, one of Brevard

County’s own residents is being starved, mistreated, and denied process; this County has the

moral duty to stand with his family and help bring their son home alive; today he is asking the

Board to take two concrete steps, issue a formal County resolution calling for the immediate

release and safe return of Mohammed Ibrahim, affirming that Brevard County stands with all of

its residents, including Palestinian–American families who deserve equal protections under US

law; two, send a joint letter from this Board to the White House, the State Department, and the

congressional delegation urging urgent intervention before it is too late; and as elected leaders

this Board has the authority to stand with a local family who is suffering and say clearly that no

child from this County will be abandoned. He mentioned no American child should be abused

abroad and Mohammed must come home; and he would urge this Board to act urgently,

decisively, and publicly as his life depends on it.

Sandra Sullivan stated the Board talked about maybe redirecting some of the Lagoon tax to

storm water; in 2010, the seagrass meadows were just as good as 1943; in 2010 the County

started spraying herbicides; there have been multiple seagrass planting projects including the

one right here, costing case studies talking about a $5 million project in central IRL; there have

been multiple projects at Samson Island in Satellite Beach; guess what, sea grass does not

grow there, it keeps dying; and why, because salinity is too low. She continued by saying

recently, as everyone knows, there is a new project being built right now in Satellite Beach,

they eradicated the wetlands, made the retention ponds small, and the developer said he or

she was going to improve the storm water on this site; and when she dug into it with Florida

Department of Transportation (FDOT), guess where the stormwater was put, into the Banana

River, and that is what is going on. She commented she is going to call the Lagoon tax, “We

got mucked”; in the Lagoon Plan as it is, there is over $1 billion in muck projects; going back to

the article dated December 1, 2015, Mayfield told the Indian River Lagoon Council on Friday,

during the regular monthly meeting, “it is actually a current program that can be used for

infrastructure, we are just going to add mucking to what the tax can be used for”; unfortunately,

the changes to that legislation, Florida Statute 212.055, failed; it gets much worse; there was a

$49 million muck project for Eau Gallie; this project was originally $27 million for Eau Gallie

north and south and is currently budgeted in there for $165 million; and why, because there is

some real estate deal going on with Sarno lands according to Melbourne Council minutes. She

stated the County is pumping muck 8.1 miles; this is about to be approved and entered into a

contract; she is asking the Board to bring this to an Agenda Item because the Board rejected

the $49 million and Natural Resources Management went out and rebid it on the Board request,

reduced the muck by two-thirds, took out the interstitial cleanout, and then wrote the bid to say,

it would add these things back in as change orders; then it gets worse, a couple meetings ago,

the Board approved piggybacking contracts, and Satellite Beach is 13 miles away; it is written

into the grants by Brevard County, the intention is to piggyback on this ridiculous Eau Gallie

project; the Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Project, what is that going to be $75 or $80 million

more; it is talking about pumping muck 13 miles to Palm Bay; and she asked why, because of

some real estate deal going on. She noted she thinks there is a large legal issue here that this

muck dredging is not even legal; and in the Lagoon plan there is a $250 million NASA Banana

River project to muck which is not yet funded; this muck dredging for the PFAS contamination

should be paid by the federal government; and the County needs to change the shift to

infrastructure, to sewage, stormwater, to roads, and key issues.

Richard Veber stated he is there to support the people speaking on behalf of, and the family of,

Mohammed Ibrahim; he hopes the Board will follow through on that resolution; he is a native

born US citizen and he has resided in Palm Bay; he thinks he was visiting family in the West

Bank when he was apprehended; he is not getting any justice there; he is being imprisoned in a

very bad place; he is not getting any due process; and everyone needs to get him home. He

continued by saying, he would appreciate it if the Board would make an effort to sign the

resolution; Representative Mike Haridopolos is doing nothing and has ostracized the family of

the victim, who is a 16-year old child; and this is unconscionable. He mentioned he would like to

go over a few things on the resolution; the Board needs to speak out against the inhumane

detention of this child that should be back here; he should not be in a prison in Israel without

any justice and no due process; there has been reports of soldiers beating Mohammed

resulting in visible injuries, not to mention the scabies which was already spoken about and the

weight loss; and he asked the Board to do what it can.

Marcus Smith stated he is City Council Member for the City of Melbourne; he wants to highlight

the important role of Community Redevelopment Agency (CRAs) have played across Brevard

County; as Chair Altman had stated eloquently earlier, CRAs have proven themselves time and

time again; when looking at downtown Melbourne, the Eau Gallie Arts District, Babcock

Business District, effectively known as Melbourne Midtown, Cocoa Village, Rockledge and

Merritt Island, the pattern is the same, when people invest intentionally in a defined area,

upgrade infrastructure, support small business growth, and create public private partnership

opportunities property values rise, blight decreases, private investment follows, it creates safer

streets, stronger businesses, and real community pride just like the parking garage discussed

earlier in Eau Gallie Art District (EGAD); CRAs can serve as powerful catalyst for development

and Melbourne’s downtown CRA is a prime example; and since its inception, the tax base has

grown more than six-fold. He went on to say those tax increment dollars have funded

streetscapes, safety projects, façade programs, public amenities, and help spark major private

investments like Hotel Mel B, the Highline Apartments, and numerous local businesses; that

area looks and feels alive today because a live vision was sustained place-based investment;

here is the reality people cannot ignore, success has not reached every neighborhood; there

are still pockets of Brevard County where the challenges are clear, but the tools of

redevelopment have not been applied; South Melbourne is one of those places; this is an area

steeped in history, full of potential, positioned between downtown Melbourne and the beautiful

Florida Tech campus, yet it carries aging commercial strips, deteriorating properties, and

stubborn pockets of blight that sit just outside of CRA boundaries; this corridor is rich with

opportunities located next to one of the strongest educational and economic anchors; but it has

not benefited from the focused reinvestment that CRAs provide; and sometimes a little

momentum is all it takes to turn a struggling corridor into a thriving one; given the shift in

legislative conditions, creating new CRAs may not be the easiest and most viable solutions

moving forward; but it can use the CRA playbook in non-CRA areas, including target small

business and façade improvement grants; zoning tools like integrated commercial edge district

to promote mixed use redevelopment, strategic infrastructure upgrades, and short-term Code

enforcement and beautification blisses; blight does not respect boundary lines, opportunity is

not limited to areas with CRA designation, and if the County wants a stronger, more balanced,

competitive County, it must bring proven redevelopment strategies to neighborhoods that need

them the most; and he would invite the Board to explore a framework that applies lessons

learned from the most successful CRAs to south Melbourne and other overlooked corridors. He

commented a little momentum paired with intentional focus turns today’s neglected areas into

tomorrow’s engines of revenue and growth and community pride; and he thanked the Board for

its time and leadership.

Chair Altman asked how far south the present Melbourne CRA goes as a southern boundary.

Mr. Smith stated it stops at University and runs along US1, then goes up by the American

Legion, and turns off and goes back downtown; it is leaving off a major corridor of University up

to Florida Technology, Florida Avenue, and some of those other areas where businesses could

be developed; and there is no incentive for businesses in those areas.

Commissioner Feltner asked if the American Legion Post is within the CRA.

Mr. Smith advised it is, but one of the things he just proposed at a recent City Council is a

business incentive grant because the American Legion and other organizations like that, a

façade program does not necessarily help because one has to have money, then be

reimbursed; if it could look at ways to incentivize activity that is a slightly different way of

looking at using some of those funds; the American Legion has been stuck because of not

having the upfront resources to do the façade program; and then the façade program is just for

the outside, but as people can see being on the inside there are things people can do

operationally where funds can be used in other ways.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thought the inside was nice.

Mr. Smith advised that is because they had put a lot of work and elbow grease into it.

L.2. Morris Richardson, County Attorney

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, stated he has no report other than to remind the Board of

an executive attorney client session flowing this meeting, and that the Chair has an

announcement to make after reports in that regard.

L.3. Katie Delaney, Commissioner District 1

Katie Delaney stated she was able to host her first town hall meeting; she intended to do this a

lot sooner, but time did not allow it in her first year; it went very well and was well attended; she

wants to thank the community that came out for it; she used the Brevard Room in Titusville

which is a really great space; one of the things that has been really important to her was getting

the meetings more attended; one of the things she highlighted was why to speak at a meeting,

how to speak, what to do when one gets to the meeting, because for people who never come, it

is a lot to do, and they do not know what to do; she brought that education to the meeting and it

was a really great time; and she is saying all of that to segway into notifying the community that

it lost an amazing lady recently, Susan Connelly. She went on to say Ms. Connolly was lovingly

called the Speak Up Brevard Ambassador; she always says Ms. Connolly was the angel she

never knew she needed; she popped into her life unexpectedly; there was nobody that is as

warm, sweet, and kind as Susan; she will be greatly missed; she has such a beautiful way of

advocating on behalf of her community, not just in the County but in Palm Bay; she was kind

and sweet even when she disagreed with what was going on; and she deeply cared about this

community and everybody in it; she will be greatly missed; and she just wanted to recognize

Ms. Connolly today.

Chair Altman asked the Board to stand in a moment of silence for Ms. Connolly, as she was a

wonderful person.

L.5. Kim Adkinson, Commissioner District 3

Commissioner Adkinson stated she is going to echo everything that Commissioner Delaney just

said, but also add a few things; Ms. Connolly was a joy to speak with; as passionate as she

was about many things, she listened; that was the thing about Ms. Connolly, she listened, she

digested, then she would come back with a solution or at least and idea for people to think

about; she cherishes that; people can come to her with all the problems in the world, but Susan

came with answers and some really important ideas; she was not just looking out for District 3

and Palm Bay where she lived, she was looking out for everybody in Brevard County; and in

her opinion, Ms. Connolly was a phenomenal example of how residents can effectively engage.

Chair Altman stated he would echo those comments; she will be sorely missed, she was one of

the ladies who made this worthwhile to work with.

L.6. Thad Altman, Commissioner District 5

Chair Altman read, “As authorized by Section 286.0118, Florida Statutes, the Brevard County

Board of County Commissioners will now commence an attorney client session discussing

litigation strategy and settlement negotiations in the case of Watersmark Development

Enterprises, LLC, versus Brevard County, Florida, case number 05-2014-CA-041947. Attending

the attorney-client session will be the County Commissioners, the County Manager, the County

Attorney, litigation counsel Scott Dale, and a court reporter. The attorney client session will be

held in the County Manager’s Office room on the third floor of this building. The estimated

length of the session is one hour or less. I will now entertain a motion to temporarily adjourn

and reconvene in the County Commission Office.”

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Katie Delaney

Ayes: Delaney, Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

** Executive Session at 9:00 a.m. and immediately following Agenda Section L., Board

Reports, the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners will meet for the purpose of

discussing settlement negotiations and/or strategy related to litigation in the case of Waters

Mark Development v. Brevard County, Case Number 05-2014-CA-041947-XXXX-XX.

Adjourn

Upon consensus of the Board, the meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m.

ATTEST: