Rollcall

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:

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Kim Adkinson, District 3

Commissioner Adkinson led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

E.1. Resolution recognizing the retirement of Matt Culver, Boating & Waterways

Program Coordinator for the Natural Resources Management Department, and

his 21 years of service to the citizens of Brevard and the State of Florida. -

District 2

Chairman Feltner led the assembly in singing Happy Birthday to Matt Culver. He read aloud,

and the Board adopted Resolution No. 25-017, recognizing the retirement of Matt Culver.

Matt Culver expressed his appreciation for the Resolution; he stated it has been a pleasure

working for the County; he probably has one of the best jobs in the County; this would not be

possible without everyone in his office assisting him over the years for both in field and

technical support; and he would like to thank his Director and past Directors, the Parks

Department, Public Works, and his wife and son who is not in attendance today.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

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

E.2. Resolution acknowledging March as Irish American Heritage Month in Brevard

County. - District 4

Chairman Feltner read aloud, and the Board adopted Resolution No. 24-018, acknowledging

March as Irish American Heritage Month in Brevard County.

Brian McCann stated the Irish Americans of Brevard County appreciate the Resolution to

celebrate the Irish Americans and declaring March as Irish Heritage Month, it is very important

to them; he hopes to see everybody on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in downtown Melbourne for the

35th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade; and Meg O’Malley’s is having a great festival all three

days, Saturday through Monday.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

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

E.3. Presentation by Mr. Vince Lamb with Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition

Program

Vince Lamb, Indian River Lagoon Coalition Program, stated his objective today is to start a

discussion among the Board concerning the future of Brevard County Environmentally

Endangered Lands (EEL) program; between 1990 and 2009 Brevard County ran a highly

effective conservation land acquisition program that established the current sanctuaries totaling

approximately 28,000 acres; and he inquired if the Board knows that Dr. Duane DeFreese was

the first Executive Director of the EELs program, and that it was his first job after receiving his

Doctorate. He went on to say a County referendum approved in 2004, authorized a maximum

of $55 million in bonds to be used to fund land purchases; this was the second referendum

funding the EELs program; the County Commission then authorized up to $45 million in bonds

and those funds were used to acquire the Thousand Islands of Cocoa Beach, the Ulumay

Wildlife Sanctuary, Boyd and DeChristopher Properties on Merritt Island, Fox Lake Sanctuary,

and the Scottsmoor Flatwoods in North Brevard, plus some smaller properties; and the Great

Recession from 2007-2009 caused Brevard County to suspend conservation land acquisition

due to a weakened condition of County finances. He continued by saying in 2022 Brevard

County voters, with a 70 percent majority, approved the issuance of $50 million in bonds to be

used for more conservation land purchases to be repaid by a small Ad valorem tax over 20

years; some of the Board knows that he has served as Chair of the Political Action Committee

to get the campaign in front of the voters; the 2024 Commission then approved the issuance of

$6 million in bonds, $3 million for Capital Improvements to existing properties and another $3

million for conservation land acquisition; many people would consider the $3 million as being

too small to operate an effective conservation land program; and some of the individual

properties out there now are valued greater than $3 million. He stated Brevard County has not

allowed the EEL program to invite willing sellers to offer up their lands for purchase

consideration for over 15 years; the population has increased more than 100,000 people since

then; no accurate assessment exists regarding the availability of willing sellers who will offer-up

suitable land properties for sale; therefore, the future of this program is in this Board’s hand; he

asked if the Board is interested in re-establishing the conservation lands acquisition program,

willing to increase the bond funding to a larger amount that could enable the program to

operate effectively, provide guidance to the EEL program staff and the Selection and

Management Committee (SMC) regarding how one would like to see the program operate, and

does one have specific recommendations regarding how much the bond amount should be

increased; and as part of this presentation, he has asked Jim Burney, a member of the

Selection and Management Committee, to share his perspective. He commented the success

of the EEL program during that 1990–2009 period can largely be attributed to the role of the

Selection and Management Committee and their efforts.

Jim Burney stated he is a current member of the SMC and a Rockledge resident; he is in

attendance to provide a brief overview of the County’s current acquisition process and SMC’s

position in that process; Brevard County’s current process for acquiring conservation lands

through bond referendum is provided in the Board-approved EEL Land Acquisition Manual, The

LAM, the document is available to each Commissioner, and each Commissioner contains

information on each step of the process; the land process can really be interpreted as seven

steps; the first is submission of a landowner and willing seller application followed by an SMC

parcel valuation and a no-go decision; if it is a go decision then the next step is an independent

appraisal and subsequent contract negotiations, followed by a contract review by the County

Attorney and the Risk Management Land Acquisition Committee; a final SMC vote to move the

contract forward to Board consideration is the next step; and followed by a Board approval or

denial, and then ultimately a closing. He added all-in-all it is a well-defined and proven process

that has been used in the past for acquisitions. He noted focusing back on the SMC, each

committee member is selected by the committee and Board-approved for having strong

ecological land use and or business background, sometimes there is an overlap on each; SMC

has developed a science-based parcel ranking and selection process; this process includes the

use of a property ranking matrix, comprised of weighted, ecological land use, and nutrient

reduction criteria; this is used for sorting properties and to provide a priority target list for

presentation to the Board, and again, a well-defined process that is science-based; once a

parcel is identified for possible acquisition by SMC, a State-approved appraiser is employed to

provide an accurate property value; and subsequent land purchase negotiations are then

conducted by an independent intermediary representing the County, neither the appraisal nor

the negotiations involve direct SMC participation. He added it is only after County legal and

Risk Management approved the purchase contract that SMC re-engages for a vote to move the

Contract forward for approval or not; in closing, his intent today was really to demonstrate a

well-defined proven course of action by the County for acquiring conservation lands and to

reiterate the scientific integrity of the acquisition process; and the SMC advisory group serves

at the direction of the Board, and as always, is available for any questions or concerns. He

added he is sure the Board is already aware of The LAM, but he just wanted to really express

the scientific integrity of the process.

Mr. Lamb noted he has given considerable thought regarding the bonding amount, how to find

the right amount, and there is no easy answer; if the Board does not want any more

conservation lands, then the Board should leave the limit where it stands; if the Board wants to

give the program the opportunity to have a big impact, raise the limit to the $50 million

maximum; if the Board wants to perhaps, stay somewhere in the middle, the choice is clearly

the Board’s; his objective today is to start this discussion; he wants to offer his help going

forward, with any information the Board may need; if the Board Members would like to visit the

EEL properties in their Districts, he would be very happy to arrange a tour with expert guides; in

June or July he would be delighted to show the Board the nesting sea turtles at the Doc Ehrhart

Barrier Island Sanctuary where he has worked as a volunteer for almost 20 years; he has years

of experience working with the Florida Scrub Jays on the EEL program properties and would be

pleased to introduce the Board to these interesting birds; and the future is up to the Board.

Commissioner Delaney thanked Mr. Lamb for all of his time, effort, and energy volunteering;

she stated she knows people are very passionate about the things that they do; and she

appreciates him giving the community his time in this way.

Chairman Feltner stated he thinks the prior Board did not want to go up to the $50 million

knowing that there would be three new Commissioners and things would change; also, not for

nothing, he thinks there is some expectation out there that property values will cool off and

maybe that is a better time, in the future, to buy property, and not necessarily at the highest

historic value; and he thinks some of those things are contributing factors that will certainly be

discussed in the near future.

Commissioner Altman thanked Mr. Lamb; he stated he supports him 100 percent; the answer

to those four questions are all yes; he supports the EEL program and full bonding; he thinks as

far as guidance and how to spend it, when EELs was originally set up, and he was involved in

that, they looked for professional neutral, scientific input, and the guidance would be to keep

doing what it has been doing, and obviously focus on that which is most endangered and would

pay the greatest public benefit; and as far as how much, he supports going to the max. He

continued by saying the max is not that much; he wishes the County was doing more, and

probably should be doing more; but the max is what the people of Brevard County voted on by

over 70 percent, twice or three times because the beach and riverfront could be considered a

typical program. He stated there is probably no other program that has greater support, or the

immediate effect on the future generations of this County; no other program is so critical and if

the County does not save the land now, it is lost forever, there is no way to ever go back; there

is an opportunity with what is left; Brevard County has a booming economy; the parks

contribute greatly to the economy; he has heard corporations that decided to move their

companies and their personnel to Brevard, say that Brevard County environmental and

waterfront land acquisition program is the reason they have come here, because of the natural

environment; and he thinks it is important for the quality of life, economic development, and

future generations. He noted he wholeheartedly supports this and thanked Mr. Lamb again for

being there.

F.1. Assignment of Agreement - The Transit Group, Inc. to Ecological Associates, Inc.

The Board executed and approved the Assignment of Agreement between the Board of County

Commissioners, The Transit Group, Inc. dba Ecological Associates, Inc., assignor, and

Ecological Associates, Inc., Assignee, for Ecological Continuing Consulting Services pursuant

to RFQ 8-24-03.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.2. Approval RE: Disbursement of Educational Impact Fees (Districts 1-5)

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

$4,660,639.47 to the School Board of Brevard County in accordance with the terms of the

Interlocal Agreement; and authorized the Budget Office to execute necessary Budget Change

Requests to implement this disbursement.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.3. Adopt Resolution and Release Performance Bond: Watermark Phase 1 and 2 -

District 1

Developer: Stanley Martin Homes, LLC

The Board executed and adopted Resolution No. 25-019, releasing the Contract and Surety

Performance Bond dated April 9, 2024, for Watermark Phase 1 and 2 – Developer: Stanley

Martin Homes, LLC.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.4. Board Approval: Interlocal Agreement between Brevard County Board of County

Commissioners; Wayne Ivey, Sheriff of Brevard County, Florida; and The City of

Rockledge for Automatic Aid.

The Board approved and authorized the Chairman to execute the Interlocal Agreement

between Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff, and the City of Rockledge for automatic aid; and

authorized the County Manager, or his designee, to approve required amendments, extensions,

or changes.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.5. Board Approval: Interlocal Agreement between Brevard County Board of County

Commissioners; Wayne Ivey, Sheriff of Brevard County, Florida; and The City of

Palm Bay for Automatic Aid.

The Board approved and authorized the Chairman to execute the Interlocal Agreement

between Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff, and the City of Palm Bay for automatic aid; and

authorized the County Manager, or his designee, to approve required amendments, extensions,

or changes.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.6. Appointment(s) / Reappointment(s)

The Board appointed/reappointed Lynn Herndon to Art in Public Places Advisory Committee,

with said term to expire on March 11, 2027; Clifford Barber to Contractor's Licensing Board,

with said term to expire on December 31, 2025; and Charles Roger Hardin to South Parks and

Recreation Advisory Board, with said term to expire on March 11, 2027.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

F.7. Bill Folder

The Board acknowledged receipt of the Bill Folder.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

J.4. Florida’s 37th All Veterans Reunion - The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall®

Chairman Feltner stated this is his Item; he placed it on the Agenda as it has been an important

community event, the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall coming to Brevard County; there has

been a change of guard and the younger guys are taking over; there have been some sharp

increases in park fees; and they are having some trouble with that this year. He continued by

saying people have done some other things to help with the campaign; and this is a grant from

the cultural fund for the Traveling Wall to pay for the park fees.

Commissioner Adkinson asked how the $9,000 is actually going to affect the visitors.

Thomas Guth stated it goes towards paying for the park, the park is reserved for 10 to 12 days,

and it allows all the veterans to come from all over the Country to be at the reunion; they camp

all over the park; it is solely for that event; that is how it has been for the past 37 years; and

being a non-profit it has been increasingly difficult to raise the funds this year, therefore, this

grant would be extremely helpful. He explained the grant that is before the Board will go to pay

for Wickham Park; they are a non-profit organization and they want to keep this event going to

honor the legacy of Vietnam and all the veterans, as this has been put on for the past 36 years;

being new to non-profit, they have gone to a lot of events, craft fairs, pop-up events,

restaurants, and all over the place; they have learned that fundraising is extremely hard,

especially being a new group of people; he talked with Commissioner Feltner and he is hopeful

that this grant will be approved for them; that event is extremely expensive to run, and there

have been a lot of cost cutting processes; they received a huge donation for power equipment

which saves them about $20,000; and this grant would be extremely helpful.

The Board authorized the use of Tourist Development Council (TDC) Cultural Funds in the

amount of $9,334.74 to cover the fees associated with the use of Wickham Park for The

Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall® event beginning Sunday, May 4 through Sunday, May 11,

2025.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Thad Altman

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

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

public comment sections.)

Michael Bramson stated the most recent announcement of the closure of the Rockledge

Hospital is devastating news for the Board, the firefighter paramedics, and the community; he

understands that there are many policies, politics, and financial components in the decision to

close the Rockledge Medical Facility; in spite of these factors, private or otherwise, they are all

partners in finding ways to deal with this catastrophic decision; but it is not as simple as just

driving to another hospital, critical services for heart attacks, cardiac arrest, strokes, and

trauma will be delayed when seconds and minutes count; the public safety servants understand

that not all rescues are going to be successful; and not being able to save a life is a traumatic

event. He continued by saying healthcare providers train religiously in order to provide the best

skilled service during these events where seconds and minutes count, and hope for the best

outcome; they cannot look forward to the obvious impacts this hospital’s closure will have to the

community; diversion or moving to another hospital, especially during an Emergency Medical

Service (EMS) or a 9-1-1 call, will increase the workload of those facilities, of the hospitals, of

the destinations, and will increase the transport time; according to Google, it is about 20

minutes; it will increase the volume at the hospitals; and it will increase the amount of time one

spends waiting at the hospitals. He went on to say it will increase the wall times and the delay

of the availability of ambulances to go back in service for the next call waiting; it will increase

response times; this is truly a degradation of services for public safety and medical services;

and it is going to become a vicious cycle. He noted the related solution found in interviews and

news articles are over two years away and it will take an aligned group effort to derive a plan to

maintain the services to the citizens, visitors, and taxpayers of Brevard County, and the cities

within; the Firefighter’s Union stands ready to assist in this crisis; and please feel free to reach

out with any questions.

George Mikitarian, President and CEO of Parrish Medical Center, stated he is in attendance to

express his concerns regarding the sudden announcement of the closing of the Rockledge

Hospital; he understands that there are many people in the community working on this issue;

he appreciates having just a few minutes to express his concern from the Parrish Medical

Center perspective; the Board has heard one concern prior to him speaking and there are

countless other concerns in the community; he knows the Board is aware of them; to start,

never in his 41 years in healthcare has he witnessed such a careless disregard for the health of

a community by a fellow healthcare provider; and this immediate issue must be addressed for

the betterment of that community and the collective community. He continued by saying his

other concern focuses around the consequences that this hospital closing will have on his

organization’s ability to fulfill its mission of caring for the community of North Brevard; there will

certainly be negative impacts upon all hospitals, all urgent care centers, physician offices, local,

County, and governments as well; with little or no concern, Orlando Health’s actions have now

created significant service, community, and financial problems for the remainder of them; and

in generalities, the consequences to Parrish Medical Center in North Brevard could be

categorized in three areas. He went on to say service impacts, there will certainly be a negative

impact on patient wait times in his Emergency Department as volumes will increase; there will

be significant wait times for all County and Titusville emergency vehicles to get back on the

road, thus delaying their response times for all citizens; all patients will be traveling longer

distances which can certainly complicate their clinical condition by the time he or she arrives in

emergency departments; as the emergency department wait times increase, this will have a

trickle down impact on all other departments within the organization; all departments that

service and support the emergency department, such as Radiology, Laboratory, and countless

others; and they can only accommodate so many additional patients with the resources that

they have.

Chairman Feltner stated he would like to yield more time to Mr. Mikitarian.

Mr. Mikitarian continued on by saying the negative effects to these departments will then affect

the ability to care for patients on patient floors, as these patients will end up staying longer;

there is certainly a broad community impact; the North Brevard community will certainly see

longer wait times in its emergency department; there are of course, urgent care centers and

physician offices that can expand their office times, but there needs to be time to plan; and of

course, there is a great negative impact economically as the Rockledge Hospital interacts with

many local businesses. He stated thirdly, there is a financial impact; more than likely in the

aggregate, Parrish Medical Center, as the County’s only public hospital, will bear the brunt of

serving the lower income members of the Rockledge community; the mal distribution of this

financial burden could negatively affect Parrish Medical Center to the tune of tens of millions of

dollars just in a single year; as an example, Parrish Medical Center currently already on an

annual basis, absorbs almost $30 million in uncompensated care; the Rockledge Hospital is

roughly the same size and provides the same level of uncompensated care; he asked where

this uncompensated care will now go; and he advised they can only increase their staffing and

space so much. He added an expansion of staff and expansion of the limited possibilities they

have in space could cost them an additional $5 million to $15 million per year; and his ask, in

general, and not of the Board specifically, but hopefully to all the influencers in the community,

is that there should be an immediate review of this hospital closure by State authorities. He

noted it is unfathomable that a hospital is allowed to close without State review of the

consequences of such a closure and their review must require a contingency plan be put in

place for the community; they like to seek financial support from Orlando Health and locally

from the Space Coast Health Foundation should the burden for solutions be placed upon the

existing service organizations and government entities; money from both of them could be

allocated based upon some equation related to volumes, payer mix, and reimbursement; and in

addition, Orlando Health and the Space Coast Health Foundation should contribute the monies

necessary for the City of Rockledge and Brevard County Fire Rescue to enhance the 9-1-1

system for the rapid response and or transport of patients, when required. He commented

these commitments should be on a three-year basis given the extensive work that must be

done to make sure that the community continues to receive the healthcare it so needs; it was

not long ago when people considered healthcare providers to be heroes; now this organization

comes into this community, into the County, and in an instance insults these people by basically

casting them off as disposable assets; these are healthcare heroes that are providing a service

to that community; and he hopes everyone that has the ability to affect this decision in a

positive way will certainly do that.

Commissioner Goodson stated he heard about the cost Parrish Medical Center is going to

incur, but he wants to talk about the profits that will be gained by more people; and he asked if

there will be none.

Mr. Mikitarian advised there will only be an incremental value off the books in terms of covering

the overhead; but based upon their analysis of the market, and the expense that they would

have to incur, they would never recoup the monies required of them to provide the additional

services.

Commissioner Altman asked if that is because of the social demographic of who they would be

serving.

Mr. Mikitarian stated as an example, his organization in a good year, as the County’s only

public hospital, the bottom line may be $3 million; with the number of emergency department

patients that he expects to receive, it would result in about a $4 million loss; some of those

emergency department patients get admitted, on average about 13 percent, given the statistics

from Rockledge and their own statistics it is pretty consistent, and that 13 percent translates

into a revenue; however, that revenue does not offset the treatment of the 87 percent of the

folks that would come to the emergency department, more than half of which do not have

insurance.

Sandra Sullivan stated she runs a group called Wavesaction; she posted about Rockledge

Hospital closing; she thinks it is her top performing post of all time; that should put the concern

in public perspective of just how much the community is concerned about that; and she thinks

there is an obligation by this hospital to do this in a better way. She went on to say she wanted

to talk about the budget today; she is very appreciative of the very comprehensive budget

presentations that are being done and the transparency and accountability to the public; it is a

huge improvement looking at two years ago when that budget workshop was completed; this

year there are three meetings in very great detail; it is a concern that previous Commissioners

have kicked this can down the road to a point of a crisis; she just wants to put this in

perspective, the budget is approximately $2.5 billion and the transportation deficit and

maintenance is $2.5 billion, the same number; and clearly this can being kicked down the road

has placed the County in a very difficult position. She continued by saying for the firefighters in

2021, they were given a 33 percent increase that was supposed to close that wage gap; that

did not happen because in 2022 the cost of growth was $620,000; in last year’s budget it was

$30 million; in January it was $48 million; in the most recent magistrate meeting it was $68

million in the next couple of years; and that number is going to go up. She stated this County is

facing a huge crisis; she wants to thank the Board for going out to Request for Proposal (RFP)

and looking at the impact fee analysis because quite honestly this Board is going to need to

take money from a lot of different sources, including space; she was very happy to see it

opening up that conversation; and she wants to thank the Board for the communication on the

budget workshop and the impact fee, at least going out to RFP and looking at the numbers.

She noted the County is going to need impact fees and to tax space; if it puts all of the burden

on the people, just assume another 33 percent increase, then this is the most expensive in the

State for fire assessment; she also hopes this Board will move the Emergency Medical

Services (EMS) assessment per the Attorney General Opinion (AGO) to below the line; and

those are just some of the things. She reiterated that she is appreciative of all the effort this

Board is putting forth.

Peter Moolhuizen stated he represents the Brevard Renaissance Fair; he wanted to thank

Commissioner Feltner for what he did; he explained he met with Commissioner Feltner about

14 months ago for the first time, under a stressful situation for both of them; they came to an

agreement down the road and worked something out with former Commissioner Pritchett,

Mayor Paul Alfrey, and former Commissioner Tobia; they found a piece of land that nobody

wanted or nobody used, and had no use for; he said he would love to do a Renaissance Fair

there and that they would make it work for them and try to do some other events there; and

they have just completed the second event there this past weekend, the Strawberry Festival,

where they saw roughly 15,000 people visit the site. He mentioned over the last two months

there have been tens of thousands of Brevard residents come out to the site and enjoy

themselves; people from all over the State came; they took up the challenge in October and

built a huge castle; everybody saw it and it became internationally famous because of the wrap

that was placed on it; it was recognized by Lowe’s and other companies all over the world;

people had fun with it; and that is what it is there for. He noted he wanted to provide some

numbers; this year there were five international entertainers there, groups from all over the

world, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, and Canada that provided entertainment that people

normally do not see in this area; they also had their education day, the largest one ever; there

were 3,000 children there this year that came to learn about the middle ages, about the

Renaissance period, the different musical instruments, and all the different things involved with

that; he has never seen attendance like he saw this year where the children were just poured

around the different stages to listen to former educators talk about the Renaissance period;

and that is really what it is all about, to ignite their minds, to excite them and make them want to

learn. He stated there was also a group there called Equestrian Chaos, a non-profit that works

with kids that have disabilities and things; they performed every weekend; they are trick riders

and do a great job; they actually left New Orleans parades and things to come to Brevard

County because they enjoy it so much here; during the week they entertain kids that had

handicaps that came out there and got a chance to meet and ride the horses, and learn

different things; they are scheduled to be back next year; and they told him up front that they

want to be back next year if the fair will have them. He noted they have some other events that

they are going to try to do this year, some unique things to Brevard that have not been done

here before; the park is big place and it was set up to handle large events; and he wanted to

thank the Board for the opportunity and all of his people thank the Board as well.

Commissioner Delaney stated she is pretty speechless about the entire situation; she has to

appreciate Mr. Mikitarian for coming here and sharing the struggles that North Brevard will have

with this; Port St. John, Canaveral Groves, and North Cocoa, all of those places get brought to

Rockledge Hospital when they are having an emergency; from what she has been told from

emergency professionals and different hospitals is basically they cannot handle the increase,

there is just not enough beds; and not only are the emergency services going to be held up

with longer transport times, but the hospitals that would be picking up the slack do not have the

ability to handle this increase. She noted she tried contacting Orlando Health and they were not

receptive at all, not willing to come to the table, not willing to look at solutions, and hopefully

Commissioner Feltner will have better news; she tried reaching out to Space Coast Health

Foundation who has about $54 million sitting in their foundation; their entire mission is to work

to enhance health and wellness in Brevard County, focusing on the same areas, basically

around Rockledge Hospital; again, their mission is access to health and wellness services,

advocacy for health and wellness, and also medical services; her ask to Orlando Health was if

they reached out to Space Coast Health Foundation for help; she understands that the building

is in quite disrepair, but one would think this foundations mission would go right along with

keeping this building together for the next couple years until Orlando Health is able to build a

new facility; and she was hoping to get Board support, the City of Rockledge put together a

Resolution strongly encouraging Orlando Health to postpone its proposed closure of the

Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital for the health and safety of the community. She continued

by saying while she understands they are a private business and they have to look at their

bottom line, they are also in the business of helping people heal and all of that; they claim they

could not do the proper inspections prior to purchasing, but she does not know how that is

possible; even on their own website it says Rockledge Hospital is profitable, therefore, even in

poor condition it is still profitable; she feels like this is a decision being made without any care

or concern for the community; and she feels like the Board has to figure out a way to get them

to the table to try and find a solution that will work for everybody.

Chairman Feltner advised he spoke with Representative Sirois last evening and he said he is

working on something; it is legislative session; he asked questions like if there are problems

with ACA that maybe he could work on, that makes it easier for him, and he just suggested that

he is trying very hard to work on something that they would be receptive to and he asked that

the Board hold on; he asked about the issue of a resolution or a letter, if it was next week the

Board could have taken something like that up, but Representative Sirois suggested that if

each office was so inclined it could send a letter; and one letter from the Board has one chance

to be opened, but five letters from five Commissioners have five chances to be opened. He

commented he will leave it like that today, if the Commissioners are so inclined; he will make a

commitment to do one today; and he wants the Board to know that the legislator for that

District is very concerned and is doing what he can in Tallahassee to try and find an answer, or

at least postpone it.

Commissioner Goodson remarked he would like Chief Voltaire to come up. He asked Chief

Voltaire if he has the numbers on travel time; and he knows he heard the Firefighters Union,

but he is asking him, from Rockledge to the closest hospital, Viera.

Chief Patrick Voltaire, Fire Rescue Director, stated it is Viera or it might go to Cape Canaveral;

and it might go to Merritt Island, or Cocoa Beach, or Parrish.

Commissioner Goodson asked if the travel time is depending on the time of day.

Chief Voltaire replied that is a big factor, and it is probably upwards of 15 to 20 minutes; and

that all depends on where one is coming from obviously; and if the call happened right in front

of the Orlando Health, Rockledge Hospital, on a good day, it is probably going to be 20 minutes

in any direction.

Commissioner Goodson asked how many ambulance calls to hospitals they made last year.

Chief Voltaire replied about 55,000 transports.

Commissioner Goodson inquired how many people died.

Chief Voltaire stated he does not have that number.

Commissioner Goodson commented he would if he was having a batting average. He asked if

he can get the Board that information.

Chief Voltaire responded affirmatively.

Commissioner Goodson noted he would be curious to know that; and then he would like to

know from Chief Voltaire’s expertise, if traveling further, they are always running a bigger risk.

Chief Voltaire responded again in the affirmative.

Commissioner Goodson asked if 60 percent of his calls go to Wuesthoff.

Chief Voltaire answered by saying he would not say 60 percent, he does not have a breakdown

of the whole County, but 15 percent.

Commissioner Goodson inquired if 15 percent is what he heard.

Chief Voltaire replied yes, the County Manager has that number.

Frank Abbate, County Manager, explained he saw a number of 8,000, so out of 50 something it

would be 15 percent.

Commissioner Goodson stated he would guess other people want to go to other hospitals; and

he asked when people are picked up if they can request where to be taken.

Chief Voltaire replied they can unless they meet a trauma alert criteria, or a stroke, they would

have to take them to a specific hospital that treats for that specific ailment; otherwise, their

policy is to take a patient anywhere they want to go in Brevard County.

Commissioner Goodson inquired if someone has to go to a special emergency room where

would that be.

Chief Voltaire explained if that person met trauma alert criteria, he or she would be placed in a

helicopter, if available, and be taken to Holmes Regional in Melbourne.

Commissioner Goodson asked what kind of injuries go to Wuesthoff.

Chief Voltaire remarked pretty much anything besides that, cardiac events, broken limbs, all

other emergencies, trauma alerts are the big one and they have to go to Holmes.

Commissioner Delaney asked if it is not just about the travel time but also about the wait time

for the ambulances and that they will be out of service.

Chief Voltaire stated certainly, in the winter time those always escalate for them because the

population is a little bit of a flux in Brevard County; wait times are always an issues for them;

the Medical Director Group have been working and producing statistics every week to watch

those travel times and share them with the hospital staff to try to stay on that; when the new

group came in that was a very big focus for Dr. Antevy, getting the crews back out into the

streets as fast as they can; Mr. Mikitarian made a great point of how it all kind of flows back to

EMS; and when they are holding for hospital beds, that pushes back to Emergency Rooms

(ER), which then pushes back to the 9-1-1 system.

Commissioner Delaney stated the Chief mentioned that Rockledge Hospital takes emergencies

like heart attacks and strokes.

Chief Voltaire replied, yes.

Commissioner Delaney stated it is not just boo boos, it is pretty serious things; and they talked

about the 15 percent emergencies but those are just the emergencies coming from the

ambulances.

Chief Voltaire responded that is correct.

Commissioner Delaney inquired if that includes one of the other ambulance companies if they

brought people to them.

Chief Voltaire explained those are inner facilities, BCFR are the only ones that do 9-1-1

transport.

Commissioner Delaney stated and it does not count if people drive themselves to the ER.

Chief Voltaire advised he would not have those numbers.

Commissioner Delaney noted 15 percent does not sound like a whole lot, but when everything

is added together it is quite a lot.

Commissioner Goodson mentioned what he is concerned about is the Board is going to start

mandating, governing over private entities; he knows it is a hospital and he is very concerned,

but he asked if the Board is going to start that, because he does not know if the Board has the

authority to do that; however, if sending a letter makes someone excited he thinks that is great.

He continued by saying they bought the hospital, whether they checked it or not, it is theirs; he

knows Rockledge talked about they thought they owned the land, but he thinks they decided

they did not own the land, and that is neither here nor there; he inquired if they are going to

build a new hospital in central Brevard; he commented he does not honestly know; he would

suggest everyone be prepared for whatever Orlando Health thinks is the best to make money,

just like Mr. Mikitarian does, and just like anybody else does because people cannot just have a

hospital at their wishes just because they want it; he reiterated they bought it and they will

decide what to do with it; and he does not like it any better than the next, but it is fact.

Chairman Feltner stated he is not wrong in his thinking that it is a business owned by someone

else; he thinks the sudden nature of its closing is what is giving everybody concern; he received

a phone call from an Orlando Health person, it was very brief, and he suggested that they call

the other Commissioners, but it was said that it would cost more money to renovate it than it

would to level it and build a new hospital in its place; and that is what they said was their

situation. He went on to say with that said, and he does not know if it is true or not, but he has

no reason to dispute that, if they could delay because other things are coming on line, the

Health First Facility on Merritt Island, and some of those other things, he thinks that would

probably help; he thinks that is all the community is looking for; and that is only his two cents.

Commissioner Goodson stated he totally agrees with Chairman Feltner, and understands it;

and Andy Gardner called him and he asked if that is who called Chairman Feltner.

Chairman Feltner advised it was Michelle Stren.

Commissioner Goodson reiterated it was Andy Gardner who called him; he stated time will tell

their intentions; however, everything Chairman Feltner said is true and he agrees with him.

Commissioner Altman stated he would like to thank Mr. Mikitarian for coming in this public

forum and being a voice for healthcare and speaking out; he thinks he is the only person from

the industry that has actually come to this chamber to speak; it is pretty amazing that a hospital

literally closes without even appearing before the County Commission, the largest local

government entity; this was predicted; all of his children were born at that hospital, his wife was

born there, his grandfather-in-law helped found this hospital in Rockledge, Wuesthoff; it was a

grant from a family that gave money; this hospital runs deep in the community and is a part of

the historic community; it has been a part of his wife’s family, who helped start the hospital; and

they have been recognized as part of the founding members in the hospital, one can still see

the plaque. He went on to say something that has such a deep, historic significance in

providing such a deep need; he expressed his appreciation to Michael Bramson for showing up

for the firefighters; he noted the Board probably does need to deliberate and talk about this,

look at what options, if any, there are; it was predicted; a number of years ago there were a lot

of lengthy, very expensive lawsuits between the healthcare providers at the time, fighting over

certificates of needs, expansion, and delivery of service; it was predicted if some new hospitals

were built, Wuesthoff would have to close because there are only so many services that can be

absorbed in a community, or so many hospitals; he saw it coming when the State of Florida

chose not to expand Medicaid, a huge mistake, and cost the taxpayers of Florida probably

close to $100 billion now; and that had a real impact on the safety net for the hospitals who are

literally the first line healthcare providers who receive the brunt of all those uninsured patients.

He mentioned the Board has not been sensitive to the need of the safety net hospitals, they

have been a voice in the wilderness warning and this is a result of that; this is what happens;

he hopes the Board continues to talk about it and get with some of the professionals in the

community to give some input as far as what options the Board has, what can be done, and

how it can respond; Orlando Health is a private company and the Board cannot mandate them;

there are four public hospitals, not-for-profits; and he asked if there is something to that can be

done as a community, because he does believe this hospital is important and very much a part

of the who the community is. He added he knows there is a new facility being built on Merritt

Island by Health First; the Board probably ought to hear from them as to what that will do in

terms of first responders, emergency medicine, healthcare, emergency rooms, and what

services are going to be provided there.

Chairman Feltner advised that is still a couple of years away.

Commissioner Altman inquired what can be done in the meantime; he noted those are the

options that need to be looked at; he is all for it; and he is glad to be having this discussion if

there is a need for a workshop or some presentations to have some technical input and

respond in some way. He commented he wholeheartedly supports this Board engaging.

Commissioner Goodson asked the Chief what Fire Rescue is doing to address this pending

problem.

Chief Voltaire advised he has the EMS Operations Chief, Orlando Dominguez, with him; and he

knows the broad details, but Chief Dominguez can speak well to what he has been doing in

meeting with the local stakeholders to work through the process.

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

public comment sections.)

Chief Dominguez stated all of Fire Rescue echoes the Board’s concerns; they were given a

little over 30 days to come up with a game plan; as the Board knows, April 7 is the day that

Orlando Health has informed they will shut down as it pertains to EMS delivery service, and

Fire Rescue will no longer be able to transport patients to that facility; they have had to move

very quickly; with this challenge, they are extremely proud of their community partners, they

have come together with some other stakeholders to formulate a plan and that is what they

have done; and for example, the week of March 24 they will start trialing some additional units

working with Coastal Health System, who have been one of their biggest partners, and have

agreed to help mitigate some of the excess calls that they are expecting to receive. He

continued by saying working with the Medical Director Group, they have agreed to give some

latitude on which patients, and one of the things the first responders routinely encounter is

having to respond to an incident and realizing that the caller does not really need an emergent

transport and that is a significant amount of the calls they receive, from someone with a

scratchy eye from a contact lens, or a bump in the knee, and so forth; if they could hone in on

that, reach out to the community, and have a system in place that can address that specific sub

group, then it will certainly be advantageous; the way they are going to do that is Coastal

Health System has agreed to provide some assistance with those lower acuity calls; and that is

what they are looking at. He noted if Coastal Health System can assist in transporting those

lower acuity calls, it allows the advanced life support EMTs and Paramedics to respond to the

more critical calls, then that is a win; they have also restarted working with the Health

Department and Emergency Management; something else that takes place on a routine basis

is having personnel respond to skilled nursing facilities or assisted living facilities when once

again, they do not need to be there; working with those partners and notifying the skilled

nursing facility that now more than ever, they really need to contact the system that is in place,

which is Coastal Health Systems, and that will free up his personnel; the greatest concern,

working with the State as well, is that once Rockledge Regional, Orlando Health, is gone then

not only is that area vacant as far as the emergency department, but the transport times are

going to double; in addition to that, once they get to the facility there are chances that they will

be overwhelmed, personnel will be holding the wall with these patients waiting to transfer them

to the Emergency Department staff; and it is a trickle-down effect that really has hit them from

left field and they are trying to do it as best as they possibly can. He noted in addition to that,

they have been in contact with a variety of other stakeholders within the community that are

also willing to pitch in and help; they have been in contact with the State since he received the

call that they were closing and the State has also said if they are needed at any time to let them

know and they can offer some additional units or what is called part of a disaster management

team where they can come down; they have been having hospital meetings and he did ask

some of the hospitals if they would, perhaps during mass casualty incidents, if they can set up

tents in the emergency department which is really for the first responders; what really cripples

them is responding to lower acuity calls because they are transporting somebody that does not

need it, meanwhile, there could be a pediatric drowning or somebody having a heart attack,

and the unit is committed, the travel time which will now double, then getting to the hospital and

waiting anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes, sometimes over an hour, to offload these patients;

therefore, these are units that are out of service and not available to respond to 9-1-1 calls; and

the community partners and their medical partners have responded unbelievably so everybody

is coming to the table, meeting on a regular basis to see who can do what, and how quickly this

can be ramped up.

Commissioner Goodson asked as far as unloading of patients, would that also occur now on a

full moon or on the weekends.

Chief Dominguez stated they experience that every day.

Commissioner Goodson asked if they can deny transportation if they pull up and the patient

has a scratch on his forehead and he is told to go to a walk-in; and he insisted on an

ambulance.

Chief Dominguez stated that is an excellent question; he explained one of the things, working

with the Medical Director Group, they are trying to think a little outside of the box, they will be

testing, along with their partners from Coastal Health Systems, is if Brevard County Fire

Rescue arrives on a scene and they notice that the patient may just have bump on the head or

a sliced finger, they do not need an emergent transport, they will talk to the victim/patient and if

they are in agreement, Coastal will be on scene within maybe 20 or 30 minutes to pick them up

and take them where they want to go; that will free up the ALS unit; they are working with some

of the urgent care facilities in the area; the only thing is urgent care is not really considered a

free-standing emergency department so it constrains where they can transport to; everybody

understands this is an all-hands-on-deck, and everybody has come to the table; but the

Commissioner is correct.

Commissioner Goodson inquired if mid-April, or the last week of April, he could come back to

the Board and let it know how this is going.

Chief Dominguez replied absolutely.

Commissioner Goodson stated he would like to hear that, and he asked Chief Dominguez to

please plan on that.

Commissioner Delaney asked what the process is going to be as Chief Dominguez had

mentioned before that Coastal is going to come for some of these emergency situations, will

County employees be dispatched first and then Coastal will show up, or is Coastal going to

show up first in some situations.

Chief Dominguez advised right now this initial trial that will be taking place prior to April 7, is the

units will be dispatched as normal, personnel will respond, once they get on scene and what

they are planning is they will then make a determination if this is a critical patient or one that

does not require an emergent transport; by the way, to inform the Board, this is a very similar

plan that is used during hurricanes; it has been used over a year in the pandemic, which is

basically a treat release, and is now being called a treat and transfer; their goal is not to leave

anybody behind; if the patient does not require an emergency transport then, he met yesterday

with Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) communications center and they will notify Coastal

and Coastal will be dispatched; Coastal has agreed to dedicate units to these specific areas

such as Merritt Island, Cocoa, and Rockledge to be readily available at the request of

personnel.

Commissioner Delaney asked about Port St. John and Canaveral Groves.

Chief Dominguez stated the goal is to start expanding, but he feels that the epicenter, ground

zero, is going to be that Cocoa, Rockledge area, and Merritt Island; the goal is to expand; they

met with some of their municipal partners yesterday to enter into those conversations because

it is a collaboration; and as the Board knows in the municipal areas, First Responders are

basically city firefighters, so it would take a collaboration between them and the County on how

to make this most efficient.

Commissioner Delaney advised Port St. John and Canaveral Groves do not have municipal

partners.

Chief Dominguez stated he is referring to Melbourne, Palm Bay.

Commissioner Delaney advised North Brevard is going to be affected by this and Titusville

already goes to Parrish Medical Center; Port St. John, Canaveral Groves, North Cocoa would

go to Rockledge; the north end of the County already has the lowest amount of transport units;

and she asked what happens when the transport units are in Scottsmoor and there is

somebody in North Cocoa who needs transport.

Chief Dominguez stated fortunately for them there is an agreement with the City of Titusville

and when the units are busy at a hospital or they have to transport from Titusville and it is a

trauma alert, they have to ground transport, so that puts units from Titusville heading to

Melbourne; working together with Titusville they have agreed that if the County’s units are

committed, they will step up; and that is what he is hoping for. He reiterated at least in the north

end if it comes to Titusville, they have a good partner up there that can certainly support this

initiative as well.

Commissioner Delaney asked if that includes Port St. John and Canaveral Groves; and she

mentioned she hates being so specific but a lot of people love to skip over the Port St. John

and Canaveral Groves area and jump right to Titusville.

Chief Dominguez stated in Port St. John they have stations 26 and 29; eventually, the goal is to

expand, however, they are looking at areas that have a higher call volume; whatever goes on in

Port St. John, those units will be readily available; and when talking about Cocoa, Rockledge,

or Merritt island those are heavy volume areas that they anticipate will be out of pocket for a

significant amount of time.

Commissioner Delaney asked if station 29 gets dispatched to the Port sometimes.

Chief Dominguez stated he is not 100 percent sure that they would go that far; that is one of

the advantages; and as the Board knows, they have no boundaries, they go wherever they are

told.

Commissioner Delaney stated from what she understands, that happens on a relatively regular

basis; she is really concerned about this; she does not want north Brevard to be forgotten or

missed; and that is her biggest concern.

Chief Voltaire stated to add to what Chief Dominguez has said, he thinks the addition of those

Coastal units in the central area is to make a valiant effort to keep Rescue 26 and Rescue 29 in

service; that is the goal; and with that said also the regional system, they see some crazy

things some times. He shared that they might have a rescue from Melbourne, they have a

rescue in Melbourne that is one of their biggest units, but if need be and it needs to go to the

north end of the County they will send that; that is the advantage of the regional system here in

Brevard County; it can flux up and down the County if need be; it is definitely going to take the

Operations Chiefs to be on their tippy-toes watching the operation go down when this happens,

but that is why they are there to make sure everything runs as efficiently and as safely as

possible.

Commissioner Delaney commented she really appreciates him; she understands how hard they

all work, and they do an incredible job; but when someone is having a heart attack, an

ambulance coming from Melbourne to Canaveral Groves or Port St. John is not going to work.

Chief Voltaire stated he agrees, he is not advocating for that; those units are moved up well

before the emergency; he did not say a rescue responding from Melbourne to Titusville; the

dispatchers have warnings when there is a low volume in the area and they move units

accordingly; that is part of the program that is built in that the Sheriff’s Office did to keep

coverage in all areas of the County, with that regional system; he did not mean they are

responding from Melbourne to a heart attack; that is not the goal; and they are all in this

together just trying to maneuver and with the resources that they still have, and still do the very

best they can for Brevard County.

Chairman Feltner pointed out that Chief Dominguez and Chief Voltaire had no notice this was

happening today; and he thanked them for helping the Board out.

Commissioner Altman stated the County has the annual budget; the Board approves the

budget with the first responders, fire, ambulance service, and rely on hospitals to provide

emergency room access; the County’s whole safety net system is based on that; one could

probably argue that there will be people who die as a result of closing this Emergency Room;

and he asked the County Attorney, Morris Richardson, if the hospital has any legal right to give

the Board proper notice prior to just shutting the doors. He noted April 7 is not much notice; and

he asked is there any legal recourse to require them to at least provide the services that are so

important for public safety and health, and if they are going to close them to give some sort of

ample reasonable notice.

Attorney Richardson noted he thinks it is reasonable to request that, although he is not aware

of any requirement that they provide a specific amount of notice in advance of that; as far as

recourse, he thinks that the best and most effective options are in Tallahassee right now; he

thinks they are contacting the legislators to try to get something done there; and that is

probably the best avenue. He advised he will look into any alternative avenues he may have.

Chairman Feltner stated they are working on it, they are trying to find something.

J.1. Direction Re: County Property Located at 2605 Flake Road, Titusville and

Termination of Lease Agreement with Furever Home Animal Rescue, Inc. -

District 1

Marc Bernath, Public Works Director, stated this is a termination of a lease that the Board has

with Furever Home Animal Rescue; due to unfortunate circumstances, the County received a

Notice of Violation from the City of Titusville for how it was operating; it is in a pretty blighted

condition at this point; what staff wants the Board to do is to accept the termination, but also

provide staff direction on how to move forward with this property; and staff has provided five

different options which he can go into as the Board requests. He added he understands there

are two different organizations in attendance today that might want to speak on leasing the

property.

Sarah Skywind stated she is from the Brevard Barkhouse and they do have interest in this

building; the Barkhouse is a non-profit and they span from Melbourne up to Titusville; there is

no question that this building is needed for Brevard County for relief from the overflow from the

other shelters, as well as getting surrenders, rescues, and animals that need rehabilitation off

of the streets; she knows that the main focus right now is what to do with this building, if it is

even salvageable by the looks of it; she knows this building well; she has all of the literature on

it from all of the pictures that were taken; and it does not scare her. She went on to say she

knows a dollar amount is looked at; she looks at it as projects and smaller projects make things

happen to get success; working with Skip and Glenn to get there and Mr. Richardson’s team at

some point is working on a lease that is beneficial to everyone; the most important thing is the

safety of the animals in that shelter; she has worked with the Fire Department as well with their

guidance to meet all the Fire Codes; she thinks the first thing is the roof is needed, and then

everything inside needs to be worked on; there are plenty of people in the community who want

to chip in, they are chomping at the bit to get involved; there is expertise across the board from

contractors, fire sprinklers, plumbers, roofers, all of these people can be tapped into and are

requesting to help on this project; and that spans from Melbourne all the way up to Titusville,

even out to Kissimmee, and from big box places to smaller businesses in the community to

help. She noted she is just asking for a chance to take on this responsibility, it is definitely

needed in the community; and she will not let the County down.

Commissioner Goodson stated he thinks Mr. Bernath’s estimate was $100,000 needed to

either clean, disinfect, replace interior services, and furnishings, and to paint the new inside

facility giving it some sort of order; and he asked if that is correct.

Mr. Bernath responded in the affirmative.

Commissioner Goodson stated Ms. Skywind would have to prove to the County she could find

$100,000 to $200,000; and he asked Mr. Bernath if that is correct, before he would agree to

lease it.

Mr. Bernath noted that is obviously a decision for the Board, but he would recommend some

sort of business plan which would include financials, loans, and or licensed contractors that the

County understands can actually achieve it; he heard a series of small projects, but this is

something that the City of Titusville has issued a Notice of Violation on against the County; and

the County would need to get their participation and understand how to get to opening the

doors.

Commissioner Goodson asked how long the notice from the City is good for.

Mr. Bernath stated the County Attorney may be able to answer that more directly because they

discussed it with his staff; Public Works indicated that this would be on the Agenda at this

Board meeting and that staff would get to them; they requested that all actions be completed

by March 4; obviously, that is not going to happen, so he would need to provide a plan, whether

it is with a tenant or not, of what the County is going to do; and the County needs them to buy

into that.

Commissioner Goodson asked the County Attorney to address that issue with Titusville.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, stated his office has been in discussions with Titusville

City Attorney’s Office, but it has not been him directly; he is not sure off the top of his head,

what timeline was given, he just knows that Titusville represented that they would be happy to

work with the County; they were more concerned when there was a tenant; they understand the

County is going to work on this; and Titusville will work with the Board, but he will get more

information on that.

Commissioner Goodson asked if Ms. Skywind had to look at that building, how long it would

take her to work on those small projects.

Ms. Skywind advised they would have to go step-by-step; if cleaning was the first concern, she

would like to have an outline of that because it is in a gray area; but the housekeeping portion

would take about a month.

Commissioner Goodson advised that is cleaning, painting, decorating and everything; and he

asked if she said one month.

Ms. Skywind responded yes.

Commissioner Goodson asked if she is going to be able to provide the finances that the County

knows she will need to move forward and get it done; and does she have financial

documentation that she has the money.

Ms. Skywind asked if he is talking just money amounts or supplies because that is two different

things, she can get supplies without the dollar amount.

Commissioner Goodson stated he would assume she is talking about the beginning to the end.

Ms. Skywind advised she was.

Commissioner Goodson went on to say he would assume she is talking about from the

beginning to the end which is work, money, supplies, paint, and everything; and he would

assume that is what the Board is going to want to see.

Ms. Skywind replied yes, she believes so.

Commissioner Delaney asked Ms. Skywind to tell the Board a little bit about her experience and

some of the other things that she has done; and she noted from what she understands, Ms.

Skywind has helped get donations, and things like that in the past.

Ms. Skywind commented she has in the past set up in Tractor Supply and other facilities for

adoption days which have been 95 to 100 percent success rate; she has not had any animals

come back; they do training and rehabilitation, decompression for the dogs so that they are

ready to go into a house setting; that is something else that she has planned for that facility, not

really keeping it set up as a shelter because those are more like holding cells and it is really not

their idea of babying these animals; they want the animals in more of a halfway house setting;

but she will get into that at a different time. She added as far as raising funds, they are able to

set up at various locations from Melbourne to Titusville for raising funds for their missions.

Commissioner Adkinson asked how many non-profits have an interest in this because,

obviously, the Board is not just considering this one and it would probably have to be the same

lease agreement for anyone.

Mr. Bernath advised his office was contacted by two different organizations; and he believes

the other one intended to be in attendance.

Chairman Feltner advised he has another card for Mr. Lange.

Commissioner Delaney stated this is not a question for the speaker, but one of the things she

thinks is important is that the Board come up some type of fair process as it moves through

this.

Richard Lange stated Ms. Skywind said a lot of what he was going to say; Brevard County

Rescue definitely needs a rescue entity, there really just are not enough for as many dogs that

come and go; he started doing rescue with Greyhound Pets of America back in 1990; he is a

dog trainer and has been training dogs and showing dogs for many years; his passion is the

dogs; as Ms. Skywind mentioned, his idea is the same, go in and make this place more of a

hotel than a jail cell; and he has a team already put together, a contractor who has already

agreed to replace the roof, he has already spoken to Code Enforcement of Brevard County and

Ms. Webster the Attorney, Skip Bell with the County, and Sheriff Wayne Ivey because he

originally pulled the Humane Society out of this facility because of its ill condition and moved

them to Melbourne. He commented he knows the building has been going downhill; when

Furever actually started in this process of needing assistance to clean this place up, he went in

and helped pressure wash just three weeks before they closed down; he pressure washed all

of the back kennels, painted them, put a lot of time into helping start cleanup, but the things

that needed to be done just kept building up and she finally through the towel in, is his

understanding; he has had an interest in this and has said to his wife he would like to go in

there and really change the place up, clean it up, and make it something for the County; and

one of the big things he wants to do is, he has a veterinarian and a veterinary assistant on his

staff already, that he wants to do a no-cost clinic out of this facility. He went on to say he wants

to clean up the facility inside, outside, and the grounds; he wants to offer a lot of things to the

County, as far as no-cost vaccines for the elderly, low-cost vaccines; there is plenty of room in

this building; he knows there is talk of possibly condemning the building; he is not going to do

that to the 1880 building in downtown Titusville, everything is salvageable when it is brick and

mortar, which this is; once he replaces the roof, he will have the electrical gone through; and he

has already had the Fire Department in there. He noted he has a two-page report on everything

the Fire Department stated needs to be repaired; he has heard estimates up to $380,000, and

he analyzed those costs; he actually has the building broken down into rooms, soliciting each

room to community members, as far as small and large businesses where they can pick a room

and whether they supply the cost and materials or whatever to redo it; he has that all laid out;

he reiterated he has a contractor that is going to do the roof pro-bono; and he knows this

comes down to who gets it, but this is something the County needs, so please consider at least

giving himself a six to 12-month lease, with the option of staff coming in and looking at it to see

if it passes inspection of the County’s Fire Code, then give him another 10-year lease.

Commissioner Delaney asked Mr. Lange to provide the Board with a little bit of his experience.

Mr. Lange noted he started with Greyhound Pets of America in Cocoa, Florida; he got on the

board and did treasury work; he actually went into the tracks and pulled the dogs out and

placed them in homes; he started training with Bobby Mutter, who trained K9’s for Brevard

County Sheriff’s Department; he spent a lot of time showing dogs in obedience, he started out

in confirmation and showing, but that was political, so he did the obedience training; he has

been doing this a long time; the Lange’s Relic K9 Rescue is that one, this rescue is new and

started June 1, 2024; he is licensed and insured and has everything he needs for that, for the

foundation of this; and he has worked with other rescues and placing dogs for many years. He

mentioned he did large dog rescue out of Tampa for many years helping them move dogs

because they get the dogs into the bigger facilities and these massive dogs are harder to place,

and actually euthanize a lot of those; and now he does protection work, agility, and board

training.

Attorney Richardson stated he just received a note from his office that in regards to the City of

Titusville, that the new report date to Titusville is June 9, and that the County has agreed to

provide updates during that time.

Commissioner Adkinson stated because they have all been talking about budget, and there are

clearly some shortfalls, if they were to demolish the building and sell the land how much would

it cost to demolish it and how much is the County likely to benefit.

Mr. Bernath noted the estimated demolition cost is a rough cost at this point, at $90,000; and

staff believes that the property value is $135,000.

Commissioner Delaney asked if there are any requirements to demolish the property if the

Board decides to sell the land or can the building just be condemned.

Mr. Bernath noted there is not; staff can certainly surplus it whether or not there are any takers

is obviously another question; the building is in disrepair; to highlight it, it is not just a good

cleaning; staff included the $100,000 on top of just getting it Code-compliant because the smell

of urine and other things are just impregnated in the floor and walls; he does not know that

there is enough bleach out there, he really thinks it needs to be ripped out; the wiring also

needs to be done; there needs to be a new sprinkler system; the HVC needs to be redone; the

roof needs to be redone; and he thinks that either of these two, if they can demonstrate that

they have the wherewithal and the resources, that is obviously up to the Board, but he wants to

make sure everyone understands going into it, that it is a significant amount of work to just

open the doors.

Commissioner Delaney commented she just wanted to say this is definitely a need for the

community in North Brevard, to have more shelters; if there is a way that would be amazing;

but her wonder about the demolition was if demolishing the building would make the price of

the land go down; and she asked what the net would be if the building was demolished versus

not demolished.

Mr. Bernath stated staff can look into that further; the building is in disrepair; there is a pretty

sizable shed that looks as if it could fall over with some wind; it could potentially improve the

value, but he does not think it would be substantial; and he would have to look further into that.

Chairman Feltner stated typically, when there is a structure like that, one is far better off to

demolish it before selling the property because if someone else is buying it, he or she has to

deal with that problem; that is his brief understanding; and also if the County continues to hold

on to it while selling it, the County will continue to incur Code violations with the City.

Attorney Richardson advised, potentially.

Commissioner Delaney stated she has one more question; maybe this is not the right time and

maybe it should be brought up at another meeting; in regards to if the Board goes the route of

somebody taking this building over and doing the renovations, she inquired if that goes out for

Request for Proposal (RFP), if it comes with a process to make the decision on who gets the

building; and she was wondering about that.

Chairman Feltner asked the County Attorney to help with that question.

Attorney Richardson stated he thinks it is up to the Board’s pleasure really; there are any

number of ways the Board can elect to proceed; there are options in the report if the Board

decided that it wanted to put it out for any rescue organizations; the Board could do an RFP

and outline what it would be looking for in an organization, as far as what their requirements

would be to bring that facility up to operating standards, therefore, the RFP could be an option;

but there is a variety of options in the staff report.

Commissioner Goodson asked would the best way to do this be to let staff put down and agree

on what they wish to agree to get out of it, what they wish to see done to it, how it is funded,

then bring that to the Board for a decision; he stated then it could put it out or change it a little

bit because he does not know what the Commissioners are looking for; and he inquired if the

Board would want staff to do that.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she thinks that is the point of what staff is asking; they have

provided several options; and for her right now, having spoken with staff and all the other

people she has spoken with, she thinks the idea of leasing it to a nonprofit, with the

understanding that the Board has some sort of commitment from them that says they can meet

all of the requirements that are needed for it to be a safe place, and having a good, solid

understanding of what the Board is going to do with all of the current violations it has, is how

she feels about staff’s question on what the Board wants to do with this right now.

Chairman Feltner asked if he could clarify something; maybe it is the pleasure of the Board that

it is able to determine which of these two groups has the greatest capacity to bring the building

up to the standard that is needed; and this is in District 1, so he will defer to Commissioner

Delaney, somewhat.

Commissioner Delaney stated the biggest thing for her is she really feels like a fair process is

necessary because there are two great people here who love animals and want to do the right

thing; she thinks having a clear process to go through would be really helpful; and maybe

something that could be included in the lease is, maybe if the Sheriff is willing to help the Board

with this, but before any animals come into the facility, that he, or his team, would be willing to

look at it to make sure that it is something that is up to the standard that he sees fit for animals

to live in.

Chairman Feltner commented maybe Commissioner Delaney could work on this and possibly

bring it up at the April 8, 2025, Board meeting.

Commissioner Delaney commented that is awesome.

Chairman Feltner advised it has not been resolved today, but it will come back to the Board.

Frank Abbate, County Manager, asked if the Board is asking staff to put together an RFP, with

some proposed selection criteria to include the capacity for them to be able to show they are

doing the work, et cetera; he noted staff will put together a proposed committee that can

review, maybe even someone from the Sheriff’s Office, the proposals that are submitted; and

they will try to do it very promptly so the Board can get moving on it so it can stay in good heed

with the City of Titusville.

Chairman Feltner responded by saying okay.

Mr. Abbate stated staff will do that and try to get it back to the Board at the next Board meeting

to look at the RFP and decide if that is how the Board wants to move forward.

Chairman Feltner remarked that sounds good to him.

The Board discussed the termination of lease agreement with Furever Home Animal Rescue,

Inc. and some options pertaining to the County Property located at 2605 Flake Road, TItusville,

but took no action.

*The Board recessed at 10:50 a.m. and reconvened at 11:00 a.m.

I.1.

Approval; RE: Final ranking and appointment of EEL Selection and Management

Committee (SMC) Members - All Districts.

Ian Golden, Parks and Recreation Director, stated on December 17, the Board approved staff

to go out and advertise for the membership of the Science Selection and Management

Committee for Environmentally Endangered Lands (EELs), this item is bringing that back to the

Board; it was advertised for two weeks and staff followed the processes in the Land Acquisition

Manual; the Committees met, reviewed, and ranked the science applicants, brought to the

Board, the business applicants that are not ranked through that process; what it has before it is

a ranking sheet for the science members; he is requesting that Board actually rank those; then

the top seven would then be appointed, if that is the Board’s wish; and the top two on the

business sheet, then the eighth and the third for each respective committee would be

appointed as alternates. He continued by saying staff would take those rankings and after the

Board Members score them, he or she would read it into the record; staff will then calculate it,

tally it, and bring it back to ask the Board to make a motion to approve the uncontested

nominees; and if there is a contested or tie he would ask the Board to break that tie and make

another motion.

Chairman Feltner stated there are some cards and he thinks some of them are potential

applicants; he would like to go to the speaker cards first; and then the Board can work on its

ranking sheets.

Craig Wallace, Indian River Lagoon Coalition, stated he would like to speak on a couple of

things; he congratulated the Board on a very well-done workshop last week; he thinks there

were a lot of good ideas that came across; one of the things he wanted to reiterate is there was

a number of speakers that spoke about Low Impact Development (LID), of course the best LID

is no development, but that is not practical for this area that is growing rapidly; he thinks if the

County works towards looking at ways to identify areas that it wants to preserve, and he is

going to speak specifically about EELs Program here, that is an opportunity the Board has to

select areas within the County that are particularly sensitive to things that might impact the

Lagoon; that was brought up in the last iteration of the approval of the EELs Program; and he

thinks it is important to look at areas that are perhaps low-lying areas that might not be the best

developed areas as potential opportunities. He added there are a lot, especially in the north

County, that may help in keeping some of the stormwater outflow from developed areas out of

the Lagoon, to preserve these swamp lands. He noted these are some good opportunities; and

the Board should be thinking about the people who have knowledge of these properties, as

they look at the new board members being brought in for this committee.

Commissioner Goodson asked in new developments today, if there are wetlands, are the

developers saving those wetlands, as far as trying to not develop them and keeping their own

greenway.

Mr. Wallace explained there is no requirement for that, that he is aware of. He mentioned if it

cost more to develop a wetland then people are probably not going to want to do that as top

priority; he thinks this leads the County down the path that these are areas that are good for the

Lagoon and the environment to preserve, but not automatically preserve; and he thinks having

the County look at some specific areas that could be the most helpful, would be beneficial.

Commissioner Goodson asked once a wetland is purchased by EELs, does it come totally off

the tax roll.

Mr. Abbate confirmed it does.

Commissioner Goodson stated EELs owns 28,000 acres now; and he asked if there is a

number that Mr. Wallace would finally be happy with.

Mr. Wallace asked in terms of acres.

Commissioner Goodson stated yes; and he asked how much would make him happy.

Mr. Wallace pointed out it is not the amount of acres as it is where the acres are located.

Commissioner Goodson asked if Mr. Wallace would agree that the EELs Program, as far as

use of land to the public, is not all that great; and he noted Mr. Wallace professes to having

trails, walking, hiking, and horseback riding.

Mr. Wallace stated those are all parts of the things that they preserve.

Commissioner Goodson inquired if hunting is not allowed.

Mr. Wallace commented that is correct.

Commissioner Goodson asked why.

Mr. Wallace pointed out he does not know that.

Commissioner Goodson stated the Board could talk about that especially in the wet areas; he

understands there is feral hog hunting though; and he asked if Mr. Wallace is aware of that.

Mr. Wallace replied no, he is not.

Commissioner Goodson stated he was interested in that because EELs provides a guide that

walks with this person; a person almost has to get fingerprinted to kill a hog, but that is okay;

then he found out it is the trappers that EELs employ that can hunt and not the public; he finds

that totally interesting; but that is okay.

Chairman Feltner stated he thinks Commissioner Goodson’s question about nuisance animals

is very interesting because an important part of wildlife management is hunters who keep

nuisance animals to a minimum.

Wayne Burden stated he would like to thank each of the Board members for offering him the

opportunity to speak and a special thanks to Commissioner Delaney for inviting him to

introduce himself; he has applied for one of the open business positions on the EEL Selection

and Management Committee (SMC); he decided to show up in person today to put a face with

the application and to explain why he believes he would be an asset to the SMC committee; he

and his wife are long time Brevard County residents and walk in the County parks on a daily

basis; they are both very passionate about protecting the ecosystems and sustain and support

the wildlife and plant populations; he is an Air Force Reserves retired officer with 22 years of

service; while in the Service, he served in a number of critical supervisory and management

roles; he retired as an Air Force Hospital Administrator with experience in hospital information

systems and facility management; while on active duty, he completed an Associates of Applied

Science Degree, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Management; and after transferring into the

Air Force Reserve from active duty, he worked Federal Civil Service and earned a Master’s in

Management Degree and a Master’s in Public Administration. He noted in Federal Civil Service

he worked as an Information Technology specialist and manager in six different agencies,

including one year at the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve for the National Parks

Service and six years for the Ecological Services Field Office of the US Fish and Wildlife

Service in Vero Beach, Florida; he mentions these two agencies in particular as while he

worked at both as their senior IT Specialist and Network Administrator, he interacted daily with

over 100 senior endangered species, biologists, hydrologists, contaminant specialists, and land

management specialists; he attended many of the same briefings and symposiums that they

attended, but in an IT support role; he was on the senior advisory committee to the Fish and

Wildlife State supervisor; and he learned about the many important environmental issues facing

the endangered species of Florida. He stated he also learned about different land and habitat

requirements; he was introduced into this Endangered Species Act of 1973 and its subsequent

updates; in his position he maintained a close working relationship with his counterparts at the

US Army Corp of Engineers, St. John’s River Water Management District, Florida Fish and

Wildlife Commission, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, and Cape Canaveral National Seashore

and Pelican Wildlife Refuge; he mentions these two positions at length as he feels his

experience and knowledge he gleaned from them would be a benefit to the SMC in his role as

a business consultant; he is already quite familiar with many of the environmental issues faced

by endangered habitat and endangered species on the Space and Treasure Coasts of Florida;

he speaks the language and understands the reasoning behind many decisions a committee

such as this have to make and have made in the past; and lastly, he read through the 122-page

Land Use Manual, which he will have to reread because it is pretty long. He thanked the Board

for its time and attention; and he stated with Board approval, he looks forward to serving

Brevard County on the SMC.

Commissioner Delaney commented he let her secret out; she had her office contact all of the

submitters because she wanted to hear from the people; and she thanked Mr. Burden for being

there.

Jim Burney stated he is there to introduce himself as a third-generation Floridian, born and

raised in Sanford; he is a Brevard County resident and lives in Rockledge; he is a University of

Central Florida (UCF) graduate in biological sciences with a Bachelor’s in 1987 and a Master’s

in 1995; he is a certified professional wetlands scientist and a vegetation management

business owner; and he is currently an EELs SMC member. He went on to say as such, he

states his interest in continuing services to the SMC and to express his gratitude to the Board

for its continuing support of the EELs Program; the experience set that he brings to the table

encompasses a 41-year background in environmental services starting with protected wildlife

and ecological community-level field studies; and these projects were in Brevard County

including Scrub Jay surveys and habitat mapping for Suntree and Viera before they were such,

Cape Canaveral wastewater load allocation determinations, and Titusville Blue Heron wetland

site evaluation and environmental permitting, construction management and operations. He

went on to say his skillset also includes 23 years as Aquatic Vegetation Control, Inc. as

President and owner, following the death of the company founder, his father, in 2002, a

vegetation management contractor for the Federal level all the way down through the

municipalities for invasive species control, flood management, Florida Power and Light (FPL)

power line vegetation management, and construction for the commercial land and residential

sections; as such, he has had the opportunity to meet Commissioner Goodson and

Commissioner Altman with the ABC group, the ones running around in Tallahassee with the

white helmets back in the day; as such, with responsibilities of overseeing the company, he had

the administrative, financial, logistical, and operational aspects for land and waterway

management programs for clients ranging from the Federal to municipalities; as he mentioned,

they are a 122-person company who field about 300 people a day; and he has been in

business 39 years. He noted to date, cumulatively, they have probably treated well over one

million acres in Florida as far as invasive species, upland, and water management; and lastly,

his participation has been on environmental organization boards and committees since 1998.

He commented he was the chairman three times for the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council which

is now the Florida Invasive Species Council, as well as the Invasive Plant Management

Association President for a few terms; he thanked the Board for the opportunity; and he

commented if reinstated, he looks forward to evaluating Brevard’s critically important

conservation parcels for the environment as well as the people.

Commissioner Goodson asked if there is a correct way, or if Mr. Burney could provide County

staff with the correct way to kill Brazilian Pepper Trees.

Mr. Burney stated absolutely, there is a perfect recipe for that, unfortunately, it is expensive

because one does not want to kill it in place because then there is a standing mass; and if one

takes it down to root, there is a herbicide mix that is very effective on that.

Commissioner Goodson asked if it is legal to buy it.

Mr. Burney responded in the affirmative. He advised the active ingredient is triclopyr and that is

sold at Home Depot as Weed Be Gone.

Commissioner Goodson asked if one would have to get to the roots.

Mr. Burney advised just the stump, it can be treated in place; and it just leaves a mess that

something else is going to grow on it if it is left in place.

Chairman Feltner stated he always thought a bucket was placed over the stump.

Mr. Burney commented he thinks it will just lift the bucket.

Chairman Feltner stated he has not had very good luck with it himself.

Mr. Burney noted it responds to the herbicides, it is just the decision to treat it or not, one has to

have a follow-up plan because if he or she takes it down, there has to be a restoration plan

because something else is going to grow there.

Commissioner Goodson asked Mr. Burney to tell him what other invasive species he does not

like.

Mr. Burney advised his business is in Palm Beach County so they work from the Keys up

through Indian River County and some in Brevard County as well; they have worked at the

Wildlife Refuge and whatnot through their Federal Contracts with the National Parks Service

and the Florida Fish and Wildlife; Lygodium is far and above, the old world climbing fern, it is

probably far and above, the worst thing one can imagine because it does not need disturbance

and it can grow wherever; it changes fire ecology and out-competes anything that is out there;

and it is probably the worst of the worst.

Susan Christman stated she is an applicant for the EEL SMC, as a business applicant; she

wanted to thank Commissioner Delaney for her staff contacting her and asking her to come

out; she asked that the Board refer to its ranking sheet because the Board will see under the

qualifications for business applicants, hers is kind of light; she was hoping to just speak to her

qualifications and maybe he or she could fill it in; she has a Bachelor’s degree from the

University of Florida (UF) travel and tourism, she had an outside concentration in mass

communication; she earned a Master of Business Administration from Rollins College and

focused on finance and management; she went into commercial real estate and appraisal in

Brevard County 20 years ago; she has completed thousands of appraisals; she has worked all

over the State of Florida; and at one time she was licensed in 13 states in the United States.

She remarked her practice includes all commercial property types, retail, office, industrial,

residential, hospitality, institutional, special purpose, and vacant land; in 2021, she earned the

Member of Appraisal Institute (MAI) designation which is the highest qualification that one can

achieve as an appraiser; she wanted to point out that if one looks at the EEL Acquisition

Manual in Chapter 5, Section 4.D., he or she will see that the MAI appraisals are required as

part of the process; she thinks it would be advantageous to have someone that is an MAI on

the Committee; sometimes MAI appraisers, like herself, are engaged to interpret MAI

appraisals for other people, as it is sort of its own language; and she is a fan of conservation

and she is actually trying to expand her career to support and further conservation, so she

thinks she would be a valuable member of the committee. She commented it would be an

honor to serve. She stated she had not really thought about the Rockledge Hospital situation in

depth until she heard all of the speakers, but in her appraisal practice she has witnessed

development of these freestanding emergency rooms around Florida; she did a quick search

and she sees that Orlando Health has them; what a freestanding Emergency Room is…

Chairman Feltner stated there is a final Public Comment section and she is welcome to speak

on that, because that would be the proper place for it.

Ms. Christman stated she does not know if she is going to stick around because she needs to

get to work; and she thanked him for the consideration.

Commissioner Delaney asked Ms. Christman to email her about what she was going to say

about Orlando Health, she bets the entire Board would love to hear it.

Chairman Feltner advised it is not that the Board does not want to hear her.

She commented she understands.

Ken Snyder stated he is an SMC applicant; one of the primary reasons he showed up, first he

was invited, but his resume, like the previous speaker, is heavy; he did not complete his

Master’s degree and it was shown on the ranking sheet as he had done that; his background,

he is retired from the St. John’s River Water Management District (SJRWMD); he was the Field

Program Supervisor for what was at the time, the largest wetlands restoration project in the

world, which was the upper basin project, which has now been replaced by another project; and

when he saw the ad in the Florida TODAY, he thought that it looked like an effort for him to

give back, as he is retired, but works part time. He added he would love to get back, he knows

the County and the issues; he understands how ecology works; he has hired a fair number of

environmental professionals and he remembers one time when he had hired the guy and on his

resume, and he is usually used to seeing people with degrees, his job was a cowboy; he had

never seen anything like that so he interviewed him, hired him, and it was the best hire he ever

did; and he just wanted to say that for the cowboys.

Maryann Civil stated she is also in attendance because Commissioner Delaney’s office

contacted her and she had put in an application; she has been a member of the SMC for the

past two years; as her resume indicates, she came to Brevard County in 1987 to attend Florida

Institute of Technology (FIT) for her graduate study in Oceanography and Geoscience, and she

received her Master’s Degree in that; since that time she worked for 30-plus years all over the

State of Florida, especially Brevard County, doing soil and groundwater work; she has done

hundreds of environmental site assessments, not only throughout Brevard County, but the

State of Florida; and she worked as a professional Geologist licensed through the State,

throughout her career. She continued by saying she retired three-plus years ago and since that

time she has tried to volunteer quite a bit, even during her professional career; she volunteered

with the Marine Resources Council of East Central Florida; she has been a water quality

monitor for them for over 20 years; she has also worked with the City of Palm Bay on

numerous environmental projects for the City, as a volunteer with Friends of Turkey Creek, and

then the Turkey Creek Advocates; one the their special projects that was completed two years

ago, they had worked with Randy Fine and he was able to get them $150,000 of State money

to complete a feasibility study of the Turkey Creek Watershed; they got together with the City

and their consultants and developed a plan that was approved by the City two years ago; and

she is very proud to say the City is currently working on the goals that were identified in that

study. She noted she has long been a volunteer and she really looks forward to keeping her

volunteer commitment with the SMC; she thinks the EELs Program is tremendous in that three

times the citizens of Brevard County have approved, through taxing themselves, to support this

Program; and she hopes the Board will do the same. She added that Mike Knight, EEL

Program Manager, and his staff, does a tremendous job with the Program.

Sandra Racicot stated Commissioner Delaney’s office called her as well and she appreciates

the invitation; she is graduate of UF with a journalism major and a minor in environmental

science; she is a career paralegal specializing in the areas of corporate law, mergers and

acquisitions, commercial and residential real estate transactions, and she received her Florida

Real Estate Sales License back in 1989, which remains active; her interest in serving as a

volunteer for the EEL SMC stems from her desire to serve the community specifically with

respect to environmental concerns; she previously lived in Melbourne from 2008 to 2011 and

has had the honor and privilege to serve as a volunteer member of the City of Melbourne’s

Affordable Housing Committee for a two-year term; and prior to relocating to Melbourne, she

served as a volunteer business analyst with the Florida Atlantic University’s College of

Business, Small Business Development Center in Boca Raton assisting new entrepreneurs with

business development. She went on to say she finds service as a volunteer extremely gratifying

and rewarding; and she thanks the Board for its consideration.

Mr. Golden stated if there is no discussion, the Board Members can score on the two ranking

sheets.

Chairman Feltner asked if on the ranking sheets he or she has to circle something for each

person.

Mr. Golden affirmed and advised three being the highest ranking choice and one being the

lowest.

Chairman Feltner asked if it is the same on the business one.

Mr. Golden again confirmed it is; he stated following that, per the County Attorney’s Office, the

Board Members will each read their scores into the record; and he will then take the ranking

sheets, tally them and come back with the results further in the meeting.

Chairman Feltner advised the Board to take three minutes and finish up their ranking sheets.

*The Board recessed at 11:28 a.m. and reconvened at 11:30 a.m.

Chairman Feltner asked the Clerk to call the roll in the order that it is done in to keep things

organized.

Commissioner Delaney stated she knows this board is a little different, kind of like Save Our

Indian River Lagoon (SOIRL), and she asked if there is anything that requires the

Commissioners to go down to these amounts of people or can there be more alternates; she

stated she is just so troubled with this because there are such incredibly qualified people who

have applied for this and she would hate to lose any of their expertise.

Chairman Feltner stated he thinks Commissioner Delaney’s question is for the people who do

not make the top seven or the top two, could they be alternates.

Commissioner Delaney noted that is correct.

Mr. Golden explained the Land Acquisition Manual has the process that is followed; it is a

Board-approved process; the membership of this board is also Board-approved, therefore,

once the Board has scored and there are scores for everyone, if it wants to do something

different with a motion on the number of alternates, or any of those things, it is at the Board’s

discretion.

Chairman Feltner asked if that is practical.

Mr. Golden stated if the Board is going to make more alternates, that would be fine, but when a

board starts getting larger with actual members there becomes the issues of potentially running

into quorum, and managing a group that large.

Chairman Feltner stated he sees that, but it is less of a problem with alternates because life

goes on and sometimes people cannot show up for a meeting.

Mr. Golden responded affirmatively.

Chairman Feltner asked if there is any staff objection to that idea, as there are already

alternates.

Mr. Golden advised currently there is one alternate for the science category and one alternate

for business and that was what the Agenda was written to for what the current set up is; but

again, it is the Board’s discretion.

Chairman Feltner noted he thinks the Board could entertain that once it goes through and sees

how this shakes out; he does not think it is a bad idea with more participation; and he asked the

Clerk to call the roll for the science first and then the business.

Commissioner Delaney stated Paul Schmalzer, 3, Katherine Becker, 3, James Burney, 3,

Maryann Civil, 2, John Shepherd, 3, Kenneth Snyder, 3, Christopher O’Hara, 2, Lisa Toland, 3,

Jennifer White, 3, Jennifer Thompson, 2, Jeff Eble, 3, Olen Burden, 3, Susan Christman, 2,

Jason Miller, 3, Tara Miller, 2, and Sandra Racicot, 3.

Commissioner Goodson stated Paul, 3, Karen, 3, James, 3, Maryann, 3, John, 3, Kenneth, 3,

Christopher, 3, Lisa, 2, Jennifer, 2, Jennifer Thompson, 2, and Jeff, 2; and business side Olen,

3, Susan, 1, Jason, 3, Tara, 2, and Sandra, 2.

Commissioner Adkinson stated Paul, 3, Kathryn, 3, James, 3, Maryann, 1, John, 3, Kenneth, 3,

Christopher, 3, Lisa, 1, Jennifer, 1, Jennifer, 1, Jeff, 3, Wayne Olen, 3, Susan, 1, Jason, 1,

Tara, 3, and Sandra, 1.

Commissioner Altman stated he does not know if he has ever seen so many qualified

candidates so this is not a reflection of who is better or not, he just had to pick somebody;

Becker, 3, Burney, 3, Shepherd, 3, O’Hara, 3, Toland, 3, Thompson, 3, Eble, 3; and then

business he has Miller, 3, and Miller, 3, Jason and Tara.

Mr. Golden advised Commissioner Altman that he needs a score for everyone.

Commissioner Altman stated he gave them all threes, the ones that he ranked.

Mr. Golden inquired for those that he did not read.

Commissioner Altman asked if he needs a score for all of them.

Mr. Golden responded affirmatively.

Commissioner Altman advised then he will give the others, all ones.

Chairman Feltner stated on the science he gave Paul, 1, Kathryn, 3, James, 1, Maryann, 2,

John Shepherd, 1, Kenneth, 2, Christopher, 3, Lisa, 2, Jennifer White, 3, Jennifer Thompson,

2, Jeff Ebel, 3; and on the business he gave Wayne Burden, 1, Susan, 2, Jason Miller, 3, Tara

Miller, 1, and Sandra Racicot, 2. He advised the Board is going to pass the ranking sheets

down and Mr. Golden is going to work on that while the Board goes to a couple other issues;

and then it will come back.

I.2.

Approval, Re: Each Commissioner can appropriate up to $20,000 for two TDC

events.

Chairman Feltner stated he asked on the cultural events if they could come back; he knows

some of the Board may have some other things that they have chosen in the meantime, but

this is what has made it to the Agenda; if the Board Members have other things that were not

submitted before the Agenda came out then he or she can simply put it on the next Agenda;

and it will be discussed as a group then, because the Board needs to put things on the Agenda

that it is voting for. He went on to say based on that, there are a total of four items on there

today; and he asked if there are any questions.

Commissioner Delaney stated she apologizes for that as she misunderstood.

Chairman Feltner stated it is okay, he will give as many chances as possible on this; the Board

will take it up on the next Agenda; there are no cards, and he asked is there any discussion;

and he mentioned there is the Melbourne Art Festival, $15,000, Native Rhythms Festival,

$5,000, Green Gables, $10,000, and Field Manor, $10,000. He noted he would like to give

Commissioner Altman credit for picking something outside of his own District.

Commissioner Altman stated it is all one County and it is an amazing place and he knows they

are trying to preserve a big part of Merritt Island.

Chairman Feltner noted that is why he placed the Traveling Wall on there today, he knew the

Board would all feel like that and he appreciates it.

Commissioner Altman stated he appreciates Chairman Feltner for his leadership and bringing

this up at the last meeting.

The Board approved each Commissioner appropriating up to $20,000 for two TDC events

consisting of $15,000 for the Melbourne Art Festival and $5,000 for Native Rhythms Festival as

requested by Commissioner Feltner; and approved $10,000 for Green Gables and $10,000 for

Field Manor, as requested by Commissioner Altman.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Tom Goodson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

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

J.2. Approval of Resolution and Real Estate Contract for Sale of Property in

County-Owned Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville

Troy Post, Executive Director of North Brevard Economic Development Zone (NBEDZ), stated

this is a recommendation from the NBEDZ board for the County to sell a piece of property that

is in Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville; NBEDZ is the official agent for the County in the

development of lots in the park; the purchaser is a company called Olympia LED; they

manufacture electronic reader board signs; they are a small growing business; and this part of

their economic diversification strategy to try and attract firms that are not necessarily wedded to

the aerospace industry. He noted they had actually come before the Board for approval to enter

into a real estate contract back in 2023; they had purchased a four-acre lot; when they started

working with their civil engineer and were looking into doing the site plan for the park, they

realized they needed some additional acreage in order to comply with the City of Titusville’s

Code requirement for stormwater retention on site; the City also has a tree ordinance that

required a certain ratio of the lot to be covered with a tree canopy; with the building layout they

needed, they were requesting an additional three acres of land; they came before the NBEDZ

board with an offer of $41,000 an acre which was rejected; and they came back, negotiated,

and are bringing forth this contract to the Board, which is $50,000 per acre for the three acres.

Commissioner Delaney stated one of the questions that she received from the community was

they felt like that was a low price for the property, but she explained to them that this property is

not really accessible, it is mostly wetlands; and she asked if Mr. Post could speak to that.

Mr. Post stated these lots are undeveloped, a natural, wooded area; this particular three acres

is actually located behind the four acres that the company already acquired; there is no road

access therefore being a contributing factor; there are some wetlands on the site that has

noted on the site plan that they will have to work around, in addition to building the new

stormwater retention pond; NBEDZ does a market analysis every three to four years and they

are set to do that again this summer, but they look at what the value is of the lots in comparison

with other industrial lots in Central Brevard; and they are slowly inching up the price per acre,

but mindful that these are lots that pose a lot of development challenges.

The Board adopted Resolution No. 25-020; approved the Contract for Sale and Purchase,

permitting the sale of approximately three acres of industrial land in the County-owned

Spaceport Commerce Park, Titusville for $150,000 (or $50,000 per acre) to the company

known as Olympian LED Displays, Inc.; and authorized the Chairman to execute all documents

in connection thereof.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Thad Altman

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

J.3. Letters to Brevard County Property Appraiser and Brevard County Tax Collector

RE: Taxation of Private Entities operating in the Space Industry on Federally

Owned Lands

Commissioner Adkinson stated her understanding was she was elected to listen to the

residents’ concerns, to find answers and solutions to their questions and their problems, and to

make decisions on behalf of the residents after she found all that out; she has heard from

residents who come to these meetings and those who do not, and they want to know if Brevard

County’s partners in space pay what they are supposed to pay; she cannot answer that; her job

then is to find out who can; and she is asking for the Board to approve a letter to go to the Tax

Collector and the Property Appraiser because they are the experts and can provide the

accurate answer. She went on to say she thinks one letter coming from the Board, rather than

five, will be helpful to their office, so they are only answering one; with the idea of clarity,

transparency, and expertise, this question can be put to bed; therefore, she is asking the Board

to approve the letter.

Sandra Sullivan stated this is one of the issues she has brought forward and she has done

considerable research on this; from everything she has read, and this document was actually

provided to her by the Property Appraiser, the leased Federal lands, it is the option of the local

entity to collect taxes when leased to private entities; there are two separate laws, one for

military Department of Defense (DOD) lands and one that are not DOD; 60 percent of property

in Brevard County is government-owned land; she is not quite sure what the Federal portion of

that is, but it is pretty significant; now, moving into a lot of entities here privately; and the

appeals court said the Military Leasing Act, the Federal statute that authorizes US military to

lease surplus lands to private entities says the interest in the lessee of the property lease under

the Statute may be taxed by State and local governments. She went on to say taxation in

Federal areas, which is the document she is holding up, there is much case law that the local

jurisdiction has the right to collect tax, accordingly, States and local government may generally

impose non-discrimination taxes on Federal contractors and lessees, on a Federally-owned

property; holding leases and uses of Federal land for profit was not immune from tax; when

looking at the State Statutes, there is a State law, similar to the basis of the Federal

government, which is to not create an unfair business environment, and in essence that is what

is being created; Brevard County has the Economic Development Commission (EDC) tax

abatement now that gives them tax exemptions on the land values, so one is really looking at

the improved land value in terms of this for many of these entities; Space Florida tax exemption

says real property and tangible personal property owned by the Federal government or Space

Florida and used for defense and space exploration purposes, which are put to use and support

therein, shall be deemed to perform an essential national governmental purpose and shall be

exempt; however, when one reads the Federal law on government purpose, it is only exempt

for income tax not property tax. She mentioned this, and it states, owned by lessee, is used in

this Chapter, does not include the personal property, buildings, or other real property

improvement used, blah, blah, blah; the point is, just like the EDC tax exempts the land, so

does Space Florida but not the improvements; just to wrap it up, her suggestion is not to go to

the Constitutional Officers, who are wonderful, but to do an Attorney General (AG) legal opinion

because Brevard County has huge fiscal problems going forward; and if this is a taxable

income that could be brought in, it would be certainly fair for the two richest men in the world.

Commissioner Goodson asked the County Attorney, Morris Richardson, if he had a tax receipt

that showed $6 million of revenue to the County from…

Attorney Richardson interjected by saying Blue Origin.

Commissioner Goodson asked if that was on their buildings.

Attorney Richardson stated yes, it is on their tangible personal property, which the County

Commission does set millage rates and impose the tax on those facilities, but it is the Property

Appraiser who both assesses the property values and also determines whether there are any

applicable exemptions that exempt them from paying that tax.

Commissioner Goodson stated he is all for this letter as long as it goes through the County

Attorney because he does not want to get it screwed up with defense land, meaning Patrick Air

Force Station; he wanted to say mainly in the NBEDZ tax area in Merritt Island, he does not

think it can go after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), that is Federal;

and that being said, there are only two people, if he is not mistaken, and that would be SpaceX

and Blue Origin.

Attorney Richardson stated he does not know what other private tenants are up there.

Chairman Feltner stated if being technical about this, he thinks NASA or the Space Force are

immune from taxation.

Commissioner Goodson stated correct, he totally agrees with that statement; that is where he

does not want to get it confused; he would ask for this answer one time and have it be put to

bed just like the Commissioner wants; then it is over, unless she wants to go Federal; and he

asked if the State can change something.

Attorney Richardson stated he does not think there is any question that those private tangible

personal property and leasehold interest of private lessees can be taxed; the question is how

are they assessed; and then there are exemptions that apply, so that might exempt them from

the payment of the tax if they are applicable.

Commissioner Goodson commented he hopes to find this out and put it to bed one time.

Commissioner Delaney asked if Commissioner Adkinson reached out to the Property Appraiser

or the Tax Collector before bringing it to the Board.

Commissioner Adkinson replied no.

Commissioner Altman stated he is going to vote against the letter; he really despises taxes in

general, but he really despises tangible personal property; being a business owner and having

worked in business, this is probably the most burdensome, irritating, bureaucratic tax; he has

heard some businesses say they would rather write a check and do away with the tax because

it takes so much time and effort to inventory all of those personal property holdings; he also

thinks there should not be any tax on things related to space; he thinks space is so difficult,

unique, and special; it is something people in Florida, especially in Brevard County, pride

themselves on; California taxes their space industry; and another thing about the space

industry, it is such a multiplier. He noted it is so expensive and requires so much training that

the economic benefit of providing for a launch company, a satellite manufacturing company, a

scientific research company, when bringing those industries, the payback is immense; he could

go on and on; when someone calls for fire protection or ambulance protection at Kennedy

Space Center (KSC), it is KSC that responds so they are not impacting those services like

other areas; and he does not feel good about it and is going to vote against it. He commented

he would like to see the Board go in the other direction; he likes what the Governor is doing in

looking to do away with property taxes; the State is taxing the American dream and personal

private property; he thinks that is one of the very worst taxes to have; and he could support it if

the letter was reaching out to figure out how to charge for less taxes on space-related

businesses or at KSC.

Commissioner Adkinson stated just to make sure everyone is clear, she is not commenting on

whether or not they should pay or how much they should pay, what she is commenting on is

the transparency so that people understand what they are paying, so if later on down the line

the Board wants to make sure that everyone is comfortable, because people want them to stay

as space partners; and she wants it to be very clear that she is not commenting on if they

should or how much they should, this is just a letter for transparency so everyone is very clear

what the case actually is.

Commissioner Altman mentioned he respects that and for Commissioner Adkinson to not take

it personally, it is just a personal thing to him, but he understands where she is coming from.

Commissioner Delaney commented she has had some of these questions in the past as well

and she has gone to the Property Appraiser and Tax Collector to ask them; out of respect for

them and their offices, she would rather the Board Members to go to them directly and talk to

them about it; at that point it could be appropriate for them to bring forward a presentation or

something if they are willing, which she is sure they would be; she learned pretty early on when

the Board asked her to do the same thing, to circle back with staff, then come back to the

Board once that was done; the Constitutional Officers are not the Board’s staff they are duly

elected just like the Board; and she just feels like they deserve the respect of a conversation

first.

Commissioner Adkinson replied that is exactly what she is doing because one letter from the

Board to answer these questions is much more respectful of their time than all of the Board

Members, or residents reaching out; and that was her reasoning for requesting just one letter to

respond to.

Chairman Feltner stated he does not think the Board needs to do the letters; he spoke with the

Property Appraiser over the weekend; as people know, he worked in that office for a long time;

Dana Blickley, Property Appraiser, is happy to speak with Commissioner Adkinson, and those

are her words; the Commissioner is welcomed to call her; he would also suggest that Ms.

Blickley is going to come to the Board to present her budget within the next two months, and if

that is a question she would want in a workshop, he thinks that is appropriate and she could

ask that then; she will have a couple opportunities, one, calling her and two asking that in a

workshop; and that is his view of it. He asked if Commissioner Adkinson wants to do a motion.

Commissioner Adkinson replied she does not think it is necessary.

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

public comment sections.)

Susan Christman stated in her perspective she is witnessing a lot of these free-standing

emergency rooms being built around the State of Florida; she was brainstorming here while

listening to the discussion and thought maybe that could be a possible solution in Rockledge

because these free-standing Emergency Rooms are 20,000 to 30,000 square feet and usually

constructed on commercial outparcels; and this would be an alternative to a site where one

might place a Wawa or fast food restaurant. She noted on the Orlando Health website they list

free-standing Emergency Rooms in Leesburg, Clermont, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Orlando, and

Davenport; their competitor who also has presence here, Advent Health, she knows they have

locations in Waterford Lakes, several in Orlando, Millenia, and Disney World; maybe it would

be advantageous to entertain a discussion about placing a free-standing Emergency Room in

Rockledge because it appears that they get constructed much faster than a typical hospital on

a much smaller site; and then it would not have all of the other services provided that are going

to affect their bottom line; and she just wanted to throw that out there.

Commissioner Delaney asked if the free-standing Emergency Rooms are capable of stabilizing

a patient from a heart attack or a stroke to get them to a hospital.

Ms. Christman advised she is not an EMT, but if one looked on Orlando Health, they do have a

description of the services provided in the free-standing Emergency Rooms and it does talk

about heart attacks.

Commissioner Delaney thanked Ms. Christman for that. She asked if Chief Patrick Voltaire,

Fire Rescue Director, or Chief Orlando Dominguez, EMS Operations Chief, knows if those

Emergency Rooms have the capability of stabilizing a patient to get them to a hospital.

Chief Dominguez stated the answer is yes they do have the capability of stabilizing them,

however, many of them end up transporting the patient to what he calls the mothership; and

they can certainly stabilize them and then ship them out to their larger facility.

Commissioner Delaney stated she knows the hospital at large needs some major renovations,

but Rockledge Hospital has things like a helicopter pad and she would think to renovate a

smaller space within that hospital would be more possible; that fact that they have the heli-pad,

even if they cannot treat the patients from A to Z, maybe they could at least triage the patient

and get them in a helicopter; and she does not know if that would be possible.

Chief Dominguez advised the greatest priority is being able to transport those critical patients to

the closest facility, so this is going to hurt.

I.1.

Approval; RE: Final ranking and appointment of EEL Selection and Management

Committee (SMC) Members - All Districts.

Mr. Golden advised he did end up with a tie in both categories; he is requesting the Board

consideration for the uncontested science applicants; he will then take the Board through the

process for breaking the tie, appointing the final member, and have a discussion regarding the

alternates; and then go through the same process with the business category.

Chairman Feltner asked for him to walk the Board through it step-by-step.

Mr. Golden advised the highest rank on science, Christopher O’Hara and Jeff Eble with 14

points, Kathryn Becker and James Burney had 13, John Shepherd had 13, Kenneth Snyder

had 12, and then there was a tie at 11, so he would ask the Board for a motion to appoint the

first six as members, if that is the Board’s desire.

The Board appointed Christopher O’Hara, Jeff Eble, Kathryn Becker, James Burney, John

Shepherd, Kenneth Snyder as the science members to the EEL SMC.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

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

Mr. Golden stated Paul Schmalzer and Lisa Toland both had 11 points and he would ask for a

motion to appoint one of them and then appoint the other as an alternate, or appoint the rest as

alternates, as the Board wishes.

Commissioner Delaney asked Mr. Golden to repeat the second person.

Mr. Golden repeated it was Paul Schmalzer and Lisa Toland; and he noted if the Board does

appoint Mr. Schmalzer, it would require a Supermajority.

The Board appointed Paul Schmalzer as the seventh science member to the EEL SMC.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

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

Mr. Golden remarked normally, if there was just one alternate, he would ask the Board to

appoint Lisa Toland as that alternate since she was the next highest ranked, but the Board

wanted to have some discussion regarding what to do with alternates.

Commissioner Delaney commented if there is Board support, she would love to make a motion

to appoint the rest of the candidates as alternate members.

Chairman Feltner asked how many alternates that would give him.

Mr. Golden responded with four.

Chairman Feltner asked if that is on the business one.

Mr. Golden pointed out that is for the science category.

Chairman Feltner asked how many members for science.

Mr. Golden replied there will be seven members and four alternates on the science category.

Chairman Feltner asked if the alternates only vote when the regular member is not there; and if

there are any concerns by staff with something like that.

Commissioner Goodson mentioned if there are four alternates and one person who was

elected to be on the board was not in attendance, he asked which of the four would vote.

Mr. Golden advised typically, it would be based on the rankings from today and who was in

attendance.

The Board appointed Maryann Civil, Lisa Toland, Jennifer White, and Jennifer Thompson to the

EEL SMC, as alternates, for the science category.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Thad Altman

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

Mr. Golden stated Jason Miller had the highest score at 13; and he would ask the Board if it is

willing to appoint him as the member and then talk about the tie.

The Board appointed Jason Miller to the EEL SMC, as a business member.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Thad Altman

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

Mr. Golden advised there was a tie at 11 points between Olen Burden and Tara Miller; and he

would ask the Board to make a determination or motion to choose one of those.

The Board appointed Olen W. Burden to the EEL SMC, as the second business member.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Katie Delaney

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

Mr. Golden noted there are three remaining, Tara Miller had 11, Sandra Racicot had nine, and

Susan Christman had seven; it is the Board’s discretion, normally staff would reach down to

Ms. Miller as the alternate; but based on the Board’s discussion, it is back to the Board for

discussion.

Chairman Feltner asked those three people could be alternates for a board that has four

members.

Mr. Golden advised the Board has a total of nine members.

The Board appointed Tara Miller, Sandra Racicot, and Susan Christman to the EEL SMC, as

alternates, for the business category.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Katie Delaney

Seconder: Thad Altman

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

L.7. Rob Feltner, Commissioner District 4, Chairman

Chairman Feltner stated before going into Board Reports there is something in regards to the

process on County Manager selection and how this Board will go forward; this is more of an

informational packet for the Board; he thinks it will be discussed in a future meeting; this is how

the Boards have proceeded in the past; the Board Members can be thinking about this and

probably discuss it at the next meeting on how it wants to proceed; and he asked if there are

any questions on what was just handed out. He asked if Frank Abbate, County Manager, has

any words of advice for the Board.

Mr. Abbate stated depending on how the Board would like to proceed, if it wants to go out for a

national search, the Board did that in 2017; he took the opportunity to have Human Resources

put together the timeline of what was utilized back then; just so the Board has an idea, it can

see it was about a six-month process starting out with an Request For Proposal (RFP); he has

attached separately that RFP for the Commissioners to look through and see what was in the

RFP, if the selection criteria is appropriate at this point from the Board’s perspective, and staff

can work on that if the Board chooses to go that route to select a consultant who would do the

executive recruiting; as part of that, what happened in 2017, was the Board appointed the

Human Resources Director, the County Attorney, and one person from the Board, as the

Screening and Selection Committee; and if he recalls correctly, he believes they brought two

back to the Board for consideration and then it selected the consultant, with the consultant

moving forward. He noted that process included the consultant meeting with each

Commissioner separately and then also having an open house for citizens to speak to the

consultant recruiter about what they wanted to see in a County Manager; that is the process

that was followed last time; if the Board chooses to do a national search that is something it

may want to look at or modify as the Board sees appropriate; and staff just wanted to get this in

front of the Board for it to consider what it wants to do.

Commissioner Delaney thanked Mr. Abbate for putting that together for the Board; she stated

she knows that going out for a national search is something she thinks is very important; she

wants to make sure that when the Board gets the applicants that it searches far and wide for

the largest, most qualified group of applicants; and she thinks that is a great idea.

Commissioner Goodson stated what is going to be interesting about this is if it ends up with

somebody out of California that someone is impressed with, that may be exciting, but one

might want to stay within Florida where the applicants may have more understanding of

everything from climate to tourism, space, and everything else that the Board depends on;

those are issues that he is sure the Board will address as time goes on; he inquired what it is

going to cost for a national study and a Statewide study, he thinks that is something that has to

be looked at; he commented everything is fine and this will pass; and the Board will either look

like really intelligent people, or the comic books.

Chairman Feltner stated he has come to value his relationship with Mr. Abbate; something he

has really come to appreciate in the two-plus years on this Board, is the historical knowledge of

all County staff, the many people who help him in all of his decisions before this Board; it is his

early opinion that someone should have some historical knowledge of this County; he thinks

bringing someone in that has never even been to Brevard County would be setting that person

up for failure; that is strictly his opinion; and he will see how this goes. He added this

constitutes as his Board Report.

Commissioner Altman asked if the Board is voting on anything right now.

Chairman Feltner advised this is just information for the Board.

Commissioner Altman stated so there is time to think about whether to do a national search or

promote from within.

Chairman Feltner commented he wants the Board to ponder this over the next couple of weeks.

Commissioner Altman expressed his appreciation.

L.3. Katie Delaney, Commissioner District 1

Commissioner Delaney stated she wanted to provide a little update on some of things she has

been up to in District 1; they had their first Canvassing Board meeting, shout out to Supervisor

of Elections, Tim Bobanic, and all of the people who work for him; it was really interesting

watching the logic and accuracy, a test of the voting machines; she got to see first-hand the

difference between the machines; the new machines that are going to be coming and the

current ones; it was made very clear that those are needed; and of course all of the tests and

stuff that came out, came out great with no issues. She noted the Board was all there, but their

first Speak Up Brevard Workshop, people are stopping her on the street, emails, phone calls,

and people being so appreciative of that workshop; and she expressed her appreciation to the

Board for its support in that. She commented she hopes this can be done again for the public;

there was a full room of citizens and it was a great time; it was so positive; the energy in that

room was incredible; it was really great to see the community come together with great ideas

and solutions; and she hopes to be able to do that again. She went on to say she had a tour of

the Warbird Museum and the people there just blow her away; it is run, for the most part, by

volunteers, even the people who restore the airplanes, the sheet metal mechanics; these are

highly skilled people that are volunteering their time doing these things; and she thinks that is

incredible. She continued by saying she toured the Waste Management Recycling Center and

she is happy to report that they said 80 percent of the material they get in that center they are

able to recycle; that statistic to her was incredible; she was a skeptic of how much stuff that

goes in the yellow top can actually gets reused; and she was happy to hear that 80 percent of it

did.

Chairman Feltner asked if they told her what the most valuable thing is.

Commissioner Delaney stated aluminum cans of course.

Chairman Feltner advised it is the yellow kitty litter box, they have one company that buys those

specifically; he was surprised by that; and they set those aside.

Commissioner Delaney noted she also went to the 39th annual Junior Achievement Business

Hall of Fame Gala; that was incredible; just to highlight some of the students in Brevard County

and the business partners that take the time out of their day to mentor these kids, they do an

amazing and beautiful thing for the community; she also had the opportunity to go to a couple

of the opening day ceremonies for little league; Mims Little League actually let her throw out the

first pitch and gave her a little souvenir which was special; and a shout out to the little leagues

out there, they do an incredible job for the kids in Brevard County, and they help to shape the

future. She stated it was talked about at the workshop, the public participation, and one of the

things she wanted to bring up is at the top of the organization, and the whole reason this Board

is here, is for the citizens; she feels really passionate that in the Board’s workshops, if people

cannot speak for every item, that people be able to speak before and after the Board starts and

finishes, only because, for instance, at the last budget workshop, there was only one speaker

and they had to sit through hours of presentations to be able to speak to the Board; and she

really feels like the Board could let people say their peace and that way they could get on with

their day if they so choose. She stated the other thing with budget workshops, she really feels

like while it is the Board’s opportunity to hear from the staff in this, she feels it is also the

Board’s opportunity to hear from the citizens, their concerns, ideas, and what they want to see

prioritized; and the more that the Board can get citizen participation, she feels like the more it

can bring the government and the people together to get to a place where everybody is happy.

She mentioned the Board already spoke about this but she pointed out that Rockledge Hospital

received 8,432 patients last year, transported by Brevard County Fire Rescue (BCFR)

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) alone; there are quite a bit of people just being transported

by Brevard County Services; that is averaging one emergent ambulance arrival per hour, per

Brevard County’s Chief Medical Officer; that is pretty serious; there are 3,177 pediatric patients,

mostly young children, 503 OB cases, 246 documented stroke patients, and 100 ST-Elevation

Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) heart attacks, which is major heart attack cases requiring

immediate catheterization; it is also the second highest volume of STEMI patients Countywide;

and she noted she did not know if Chief Dominguez wanted to chime in on any of this with the

percentages.

Chief Orlando Dominguez, EMS Operations Chief, stated according to the State, basically,

every time a paramedic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) writes a report it goes into this

big data bank; what the State has conveyed to them is once they pull all of that data, it is

anywhere between 15 and 20 percent of the total call volume; at the end of the day, they are

looking at 8,000 calls and it is a significant impact; their primary initiative is to make sure that

they have the necessary resources that are available to meet the needs of the community, and

come April 7, that is the day; and there is no going back.

Commissioner Delaney stated she did not know what would be possible, but she really feels

like the Board needs to get to the table with Orlando Health somehow with BCFR leadership,

and pull together the Foundation, and even invite Representative Tyler Sirois, or someone from

his office since he is in the middle of session; and she has a really hard time sitting back and

watching this unfold without doing everything in the Board’s power.

Chairman Feltner stated he thinks the State Representative is working on it; he was very clear

on that; he wants to prevent it too; he is doing what he can in Tallahassee; there are limits on

what he can do here or what the Board can do here; but he is doing what he can up there.

Commissioner Delaney stated she does not know if there is anything more this Board can do to

bring everybody to the table and talk about possible solutions; while she respects that

Representative Sirois is working on this, she spoke with him yesterday, and she did not receive

any clear answers; and for someone who lives in this community that is going to be affected

she feels like there really…

Chairman Feltner interjected by saying during legislative session there is opportunity and a time

for things; he thinks Representative Sirois is working with staff to try to figure out what can be

done and when the opportunity presents itself; and he asked that Commissioner Delaney give

Representative Sirois a chance, he does not want this either.

Commissioner Delaney replied ok, thank you.

L.5. Kim Adkinson, Commissioner District 3

Commissioner Adkinson advised she received an email from the United Way and it looks as

over $60,000 was raised; she thanked staff for giving of its time and resources for the United

Way; and the letter from the United Way thanked all of the Directors and specifically, Frank

Abbate, County Manager, and Jim Leisenfelt, Assistant County Manager.

Adjourn

Upon consensus of the Board, the meeting adjourned at 12:28 p.m.

ATTEST: