Minutes - Brevard County Board of County Commissioners

Rollcall

Commissioner District 2 Tom Goodson, Commissioner District 3

Kim Adkinson, Commissioner District 4 Rob Feltner, and

Commissioner District 5 Thad Altman

Present:

The Board approved Commissioner Goodson to appear telephonically.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Rob Feltner, District 4

Commissioner Feltner led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

E.1. Resolution proclaiming May 2026 as Older Americans Month - District 5

Chair Altman read aloud, and the Board Adopted Resolution No. 26-037, proclaiming May 2026

as Older Americans Month.

A representative expressed his appreciation for the Resolution and the opportunity to honor two

senior citizens who are still very active; he stated the first was involved in healthcare like

himself, but she also sat in the Commission chairs and did public service for many years and

currently sits on the West Melbourne City Council, her name is Helen Voltz; she was born in

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, moved to Florida the day after she got married in 1968; she and her

husband Norman had celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary in October 2020; and

unfortunately, he passed the following month. He continued to say together they had raised

three boys, two of who have passed away, one from Cystic Fibrosis at the age of 19 and the

other son was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 27; her life has not been easy but she is

tough; the youngest son, Brad, is an engineer married to Brandy and recently celebrated their

10th anniversary; after the death of her first son, Helen went to school to become a Registered

Nurse (RN); after working as a nurse for several years, she became involved in politics and

served on the Palm Bay City Council, and then eight years on the Brevard County Commission;

while serving on the County Commission, she also attended school and received a Bachelor’s

Degree from Barry University and an Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Webster

University; and she is very proud of the fact that she worked and went to school at the same

time to get these accomplishments. He went on to say since retiring in 2009, Helen has been

volunteering with multiple organizations; she is the current president of the Federated

Republican Women in Action in Palm Bay; she also volunteered on multiple campaigns, and

has been the campaign manager for several local, judicial, and congressional candidates; for

12 years she volunteered as a RN at the summer camp for disabled adults and volunteered

one summer with deaf children at Sertoma Camp Endeavor; and she has also taken care of

many seniors in the community on a volunteer basis.

Helen Voltz stated she thinks she has done a lot; she will give all the glory to her Lord and

Savior Jesus Christ for giving her all the energy that she has because without him, she would

not be able to do what she does; and she thanked the Board.

A representative stated it is truly an honor to recognize someone who so perfectly embodies

the spirit of aging without limits; Kelly’s life has been defined by service, strength, and an

unwavering commitment to others; she began her journey in public service as a member of the

United States Air Force and continued that path as a deputy with the Brevard County Sheriff’s

Office; in every role she has shown courage, discipline, and a deep sense of purpose; while

some might look at retirement as a time to slow down, Kelly saw it as an opportunity to do even

more; at 74 years young, Kelly is anything but retired in spirit; she is a constant force for good;

she is deeply involved in her church, serving as a board member and active volunteer, and

lending her leadership to numerous nonprofit organizations across the community; and her

impact has not only broad, but lasting. She went on to say through her work with Habitat for

Humanity, Kelly helped lead the development of the first all-female military members and

retirees build right here in Brevard County; this initiative was so powerful, it was later adopted

nationwide; when United Way Space Coast needed steady, experienced leadership during a

time of transition, Kelly did not hesitate; she stepped forward once again answering the call to

serve as interim president, guiding the organization with the same integrity and dedication that

has defined her entire life; Kelly shows people that purpose does not retire, leadership does not

age out, and service has no limits; she is proof that the impact of a life dedicated to others only

grows stronger with time; and she thanked Kelly for her leadership, service, and for inspiring all

to live and give without limits.

M.E. Kelly stated she will be done in June and looking for a job; she expressed her

appreciation; she went on to say growing old is not an option, but she is never going to grow

up; and it is all Him.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

E.2. Presentation of the 2026 Florida 4-H FPL Public Speaking Winners

Chair Altman stated there is a presentation of the 2026 Florida 4H Florida Power and Light

(FPL) public speaking winners; this is one of his favorite presentations every year by the

County Commission; and he asked for the winners to approach the podium.

A representative of 4H stated they are pleased to have the program showcased this evening,

starring one of their very talented Brevard County students; the 4H Program public speaking is

sponsored by Florida Power and Light; 4H is a youth development program focused on

teaching youth life skills, such as public speaking and critical thinking through participation in

clubs, project work, camps, in-school activities, and much more; the public speaking program

allows students to learn how to formulate a speech meaningful to them, as well as learning how

to deliver it to an audience; this year there were just over 450 participants from seven schools;

the winners in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade competitions competed last week to determine

the County winners; and the winners are fourth and fifth grade, Finley Russell from Indialantic

Elementary School who was unfortunately unable to attend this evening, but tonight the Board

will hear from the sixth grade County winner from St. Theresa Catholic School, McKinley Jones.

McKinley Jones cited her speech.

Chair Altman stated that was fantastic; and it gives people hope for the future.

E.3. Resolution acknowledging May 2026 as Myositis Awareness Month in Brevard

County. - District 4

Chair Altman stated the Board will not hear this one today.

The Board considered adopting a resolution to recognize May 2026 as Myositis Awareness

Month in Brevard County, but took no action.

F.1. Approval, Re: Florida Department of Environmental Protection Petroleum

Restoration Program Contract.

Stel Bailey stated she was going to speak on F.1., the approval of Florida Department of

Environmental Protection (FDEP) because the people already see real world examples of this

at the Titusville Mall in Titusville, Florida, at their redevelopment project; it could bring housing,

business, and economic activity to that area and it has been delayed due to the contamination

that is migrating from a neighboring station; this contamination is tied to past underground fuel

release and is still present in the ground water today; what is important to understand is the

cleanup programs that already exist, that she is talking about; the State has been managing

petroleum contamination site for years, but what is being seen in Titusville suggests there may

be a gap between how these sites are managed in the real world impacts on property owners

and redevelopment; even when a site is technically in a cleanup program, does not always

mean it is resolved in a time frame that works for the community or for the economic

development; projects can sit stalled for years while contamination is just monitored; and that is

what is being seen on this property. She continued by saying if one walks throughout the

parking lot, there are monitoring wells throughout it; his project has been halted, this is why this

grabbed her attention; it is not fully remediated in a way that allows progress; her question and

her hope this evening is that this type of agreement strengthens coordination, accountability,

and urgency; that is helps move sites like this toward actually resolution, not just long-term

monitoring management because when contamination spreads beyond property lines, it affects

people who did not cause it, including developers trying to invest in the communities; and if this

program can help bridge that gap and move cleanups forward in a more effective timeline, then

it could be a real benefit, not just Countywide, but specifically for places like the Titusville Mall.

Chair Altman stated that kind of brings real light to the real problem.

F.2. Approval Re: Disbursement of Educational Impact Fees (District 1-5)

Rick Heffelfinger stated first of all he would like to say something about the young lady that just

spoke; he hopes there is a National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) recruiter in

the audience because that one is a keeper, she did a fine job; Item F.2. drew his attention

because it says that it is about impact fees; there has been discussion about impact fees; this

is of course the School Board, but the School Board has recognized, which he thinks the

County would take some note of, that when people move in, they are impacted; they are paying

for additional schools, additional capabilities, and he thinks it is a good lesson; they are not

afraid to charge the developer that builds a residential and say, “Hey, you got kids, we need to

have some money to pay for the kids.”; he just wanted to say that; and he also wanted to say

$24.2 million collected by the impact fee, is nothing to sneeze at. He added that is just for

Brevard as far as he knows because there are a bunch of charts that he did not go through; but

it says the residential development requires them to pay for impact to school capacity

capability; kudos to the School Board for anticipating the development and they get to pay for

their facilities; and that is just the people that are moving in and all these apartments that are

bringing kids. He continued by saying keep that in mind because he will back up a little later.

F.4. Approval Re: Federal Transit Administration Fiscal Year 2026 Certifications and

Assurances.

Rick Heffelfinger stated what he wanted to say, and the Board is going to love this, this is about

getting the County some Federal money; good job to staff for staying on top of it; $11.2 million

is available if the County meets that and sign up to the agreement; that is not on his tax bill any

longer; and he expressed his appreciation for that.

F.5. Approval of Resolutions and Public Transportation Grant Agreements, Florida

Department of Transportation Public Transit Block Grant Program

Rick Heffelfinger stated good job to staff on the $1.99 million of grant money; he assumes this

is just putting in the paperwork to say the County qualifies; that is another thank you to staff

because that is also not money he has to spend; and that is all he had to say about that.

F.10. Approval of Resolution and Real Estate Contract for Sale of Property in

County-Owned Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville

Rick Heffelfinger stated this is about the sale of a piece of property that is in Space Park owned

by the County, which means owned by the people; he would guess this business was started

with North Brevard Economic Development Zone (NBEDZ); he does not know if they got a tax

abatement, but it is a small business; they put a good position together about what they bring to

the community; they are growing which is good; they wanted to buy the lot; and his question is

does that require a supermajority vote when the County sells a piece of property. He inquired if

he can ask that question and if anybody knows if there was an appraisal done because it looks

like they came in and said they would like to buy the property, or three acres for $195,000; he

stated he knows Elon Musk is probably going to be hunting for property soon; and he inquired if

that is a good enough number for that piece of property, to let them build on it, the three acres.

He noted he thought there had to be an appraisal, they made the offer, and he inquired if the

County countered the offer or is going to counter the offer; and he asked if this is the County

Attorney’s question.

Chair Altman stated whoever would be appropriate that can answer.

Mr. Heffelfinger stated the Board does not have to answer and he understands that, but…

Chair Altman interjected by saying he can get staff to answer that.

Troy Post, Planning and Development Senior Development Coordinator, stated when NBEDZ

was in operation, it would occasionally have a market valuation report done; he thinks the last

one was done in 2022 to give them a gauge as to what real estate prices were going to be; it is

important to recognize that this property is considered an economic incentive; NBEDZ tried to

go after firms that have a significant capital investment that are growing and going to create

jobs; and that is probably the bigger consideration than the price per acre.

Mr. Heffelfinger asked if Mr. Post is saying that the price may be low but it is an economic

incentive to have them build and expand their business.

Mr. Post replied it is because right now the property is owned by the County and it is off the

property tax roll so the County is not getting any money for it; if they are able to induce

somebody to buy it and build a new facility, $3 or $4 million, that goes on the property tax rolls;

the other consideration is that these lots are undeveloped; and they exist, just wooded lots, and

whoever goes in there to buy these lots has extensive site preparation work that has to be

done.

Mr. Heffelfinger stated right and being hooked up to utilities the County makes and they pay

taxes.

Mr. Post replied affirmatively.

Mr. Heffelfinger asked if Mr. Post knows if they have a previous tax abatement from NBEDZ or

is that was through…

Mr. Post replied he is not aware of any tax abatement; and he knows that they currently lease

space in a building now, so this would be their first attempt to own their own property.

Mr. Heffelfinger stated he assumed this was an empty building; and he asked if they are going

to expand it.

Mr. Post explained they are going to expand by building a new building to accommodate their

operation.

Mr. Heffelfinger asked on that new piece of property that they are getting.

Mr. Post responded in the affirmative.

Mr. Heffelfinger stated his only heartburn with that is when there is not an appraisal compared

to what it is being sold for, it is hard to tell how much incentive the County is giving them.

Mr. Post replied again, the market…

Mr. Heffelfinger interjected by saying he does not want people to lose money because that is

County property; and it would be nice to have a number from an appraisal to know how much of

a deal they are getting.

Mr. Post continued by saying one last comment, he does not want to drag out the meeting, but

again, there is a market evaluation report that had been done as recently as 2022; that would

typically tell staff what price per acre industrial property in going for in the County; and staff

would use that as a gauge when weighing offers with the NBEDZ board.

Chair Altman stated great.

Mr. Heffelfinger pointed out that information was not on here so he did not know how good of a

deal they were getting; it was not listed; and it was only their offer. He commented he is done

now, the Board can vote on Consent unless someone else is going to waste the Board’s time,

or ask some questions.

Chair Altman thanked Mr. Heffelfinger for his questions; he inquired if there were any questions

from the Board of anything to be removed; and he stated he thinks a motion would be in order.

F.1. Approval, Re: Florida Department of Environmental Protection Petroleum

Restoration Program Contract.

The Board approved and authorized the Chair to execute a Contract between Brevard County

and FDEP Protection Petroleum Restoration Program upon approval by Purchasing, Risk

Management, and the County Attorney’s Office; authorized the County Manager to execute

future contract amendments and/or renewals upon approval by Purchasing, Risk Management,

and the County Attorney’s Office; and authorized the local Program Manager to execute annual

task assignments consistent with the contract.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.2. Approval Re: Disbursement of Educational Impact Fees (District 1-5)

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

$4,147,524.50 to the School Board of Brevard County in accordance with the terms of

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

amendments (BCRs) required for implementing these appropriations.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.3. Final Plat and Contract Approval, Re: Atlin Cove at Viera- Phase 1

Developer: The Viera Company District 4

The Board, in accordance with Section 62-2841(i) and Section 62-2844, granted final plat

approval for Atlin Cove at Viera Phase 1 – Developer: The Viera Company, subject to minor

engineering changes as applicable, and developer responsible for obtaining all other necessary

jurisdictional permits; and authorized the Chairman to sign the Final Plat and Contract for Atlin

Cove at Viera – Phase 1.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.4. Approval Re: Federal Transit Administration Fiscal Year 2026 Certifications and

Assurances.

The Board approved and authorized the Chair to sign the FY26 Certifications and Assurances

for Federal Transit Administration Grants; and authorized Transit Services Director to execute

the Certifications and Assurances electronically.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.5. Approval of Resolutions and Public Transportation Grant Agreements, Florida

Department of Transportation Public Transit Block Grant Program

The Board approved the SFY2027 Public Transit Block Grant from FDOT in the amount of

$1,998,604; authorized the Chair to sign authorizing Resolution No. 26-038, authorizing the

Chair to the sign follow-up grant agreement contingent upon County Attorney and Risk

Management approval; authorized Transit Services Director to sign the executed agreement,

and to execute any additional follow-up documentation, resolutions, and amendments

necessary to secure these funds; and authorized the County Manager to execute necessary

budget amendments (BCRs).

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.6. Approval, Re: Resolution and Lease Agreement with the State of Florida Division

of Plant Industry for the Lease of Office Space at UF/Extension Services,

Agriculture Center in Cocoa.

The Board adopted and authorized the Chair to sign Resolution No. 26-039; approved and

authorized the Chair to execute the new Lease Agreement with the State of Florida, Division of

Plant Industry, for the lease of office space at the UF/IFAS Extension Services, Agriculture

Center in Cocoa; and authorized UF/IFAS Extension Services Director to sign any renewals

and amendments not changing the term, price, or use of the leased property.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.7. Certification of Local Option Gas Tax (LOGT) Percentages Allocations

The Board certified the revenue percentage allocations; and authorized the Clerk’s Finance

Department to submit the allocations to the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR).

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.8. Approval, Re: Renewal of Annual Property Insurance Program effective 6/1/2026

The Board authorized the Risk Manager to bind and secure placement of the County’s Property

Insurance coverage as presented and recommended by Arthur J. Gallagher, the County’s

Property Insurance Broker, with an effective date of June 1, 2026, at a cost not to exceed

$3,582,405.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.9. Resolution approving the issuance by Brevard County Housing Finance Authority

of Single-Family Mortgage Revenue Bonds or in the alternative, the issuance of

Mortgage Credit Certificates or in the alternative, the issuance of Multifamily

Revenue Bonds during 2027 through 2029

The Board approved and adopted Resolution No. 26-040, allowing the Authority to apply for an

allocation with the Florida Division of Bond Finance and to allow for the future issuance by the

Authority of Single-Family Mortgage Revenue Bonds, or in the alternative, issuance of

Mortgage Credit Certificates, or in the alternative, issuance of Multifamily Revenue Bonds

during 2027 through 2029.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.10. Approval of Resolution and Real Estate Contract for Sale of Property in

County-Owned Spaceport Commerce Park in Titusville

The Board adopted Resolution No. 26-041, and approved Real Estate Contract permitting the

sale of approximately three (3) acres of land in the County-owned Spaceport Commerce Park

in Titusville for $195,000 (or $65,000 per acre) to DENEC, LLC; and authorized the Chair to

execute all documents in connection thereof.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

F.11. Acknowledgement, Re: Bill Folder

The Board acknowledged receipt of the Bill Folder.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Rob Feltner

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

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

public comment sections.)

Adrienne Vargas stated she lives in the Woods at Crooked Mile in Merritt Island; she is there to

bring awareness about an ongoing Peacock issue affecting multiple homes and

neighborhoods; before she explains any further, she would like to play a 10-second audio clip

of what she is speaking about; unfortunately, this is not a one-time occurrence, it happens

regularly and all night long; the neighborhood currently has 40-50 Peacocks with new chicks

continuing to hatch, so population is actively growing; the HOA has taken steps, including

sending notices asking residents not to feed them, but compliance has been inconsistent, not

only within her community, but also the surrounding areas with an Homeowners Association

(HOA); because of this, the issue continues to expand beyond what any single neighborhood

can manage; residents have followed guidance from the Florida Fish and Wildlife, including

removing food sources using deterrents like sprinklers and trimming trees to prevent roosting;

and unfortunately, these efforts have not been affective. She continued by saying they have

also contacted Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) and the Brevard Sheriff’s Office, but were

told the situation falls outside of their scope for active removal; as a result there is currently no

agency addressing this issue; this has gone beyond a nuisance; residents are dealing with

property damage, sanitation concerns, and safety risks involving traffic and pedestrians; there

is also a significant quality of life impact as families are being awakened as early as 2:00, 3:00,

and 4:00 a.m.; and both adults and children are experiencing ongoing sleep disruption. She

mentioned there are several neighbors here tonight to support her and who are also

experiencing these same issues; because this spans multiple parcels and neighborhoods, it is

not feasible for on HOA or an individual resident to coordinate or fund a solution, like hiring a

wildlife trapper; in 2012 the City of Cocoa Beach addressed a similar issue by hiring a licensed

trapper; she is asking the County to consider a similar approach or help coordinate a solution;

at this point there is no longer just an HOA issue, it is a broader community problem that

requires County level support; and she provided a packet for the Board that includes a petition

with over 30 signatures, resident impact statements, photos documenting what the community

is experiencing, and prior correspondence with the Commissioner’s office and the Brevard

County Sheriff’s Office. She thanked the Board for its consideration and she stated the

residents look forward to the Board’s response.

Commissioner Feltner stated he has a great deal of empathy especially with neighbors and

noise so he is with her; he has some friends in Cape Canaveral and he thinks maybe the

original Peacock herds started there; there is a rumor of two birds that someone got a long time

ago and of course, he thinks it is called a herd, he knows all the challenges; he is curious; and

he asked if she knows what Cape Canaveral has done with the birds, if they have removed

them.

Ms. Vargas replied she thinks they hired the same trapper.

Commissioner Feltner asked someone comes in, traps the bird, then what happens.

Ms. Vargas responded by saying the trapper removes them and she is not sure if they relocate

or what they do with them.

Commissioner Feltner stated he does not pretend to know enough about Peacocks; and he

asked if there is a State habitat or something like that.

Ms. Vargas explained she has called the bird wildlife refuge in North Merritt Island; she has

called the Zoo; she has called a lot of people; and nobody seems to wants to them.

Commissioner Feltner stated he will think about that, he just does not know of any parcel in

Brevard County that has been used before for Peacocks and other birds with the Peacocks;

and there are Scrub Jay sanctuaries and other things like that.

Ms. Vargas commented it is her understanding that it is illegal for the residents to relocate

them.

Commissioner Feltner clarified for homeowners to relocate them.

Ms. Vargas responded affirmatively; and she noted she is not sure what a licensed person can

do.

Commissioner Feltner stated so FWC could do it and a licensed trapper by FWC can do it.

Ms. Vargas stated FWC advised that the Peacocks are domesticated fowl and the Brevard

County Sheriff says they are wildlife.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks that is an important part of the equation, figuring out

where they would go; and that is probably what is hanging her up today.

Ms. Vargas agreed.

Commissioner Feltner noted he can see that; his office will get her information; and he will see

if he can at least find an answer from potentially the State or something like that.

Ms. Vargas expressed her appreciation to Commissioner Feltner.

Chair Altman stated his mom lives in South Merritt Island and they are dangerous when one is

driving down there; they do not seem to pay attention to cars; they just walk right across; he

has had to dodge a few…

Ms. Vargas interjected by saying people slam on their brakes.

Chair Altman continued by saying they are a problem; and he has heard them on the mainland

all the way across the river, that loud.

Ms. Vargas stated she has more audio if anybody wants to listen.

Chair Altman commented they are exotics, they are not native to Florida.

Ms. Vargas responded by saying correct.

Chair Altman stated they are not naturally here; there used to be bobcats on Merritt Island; and

it still has some Coyotes, but the Bobcats would probably have helped take care of that

problem; but he does not think there are many of those any longer.

Ms. Vargas commented that is an option.

Chair Altman noted there used to be Florida Panthers; he has talked to witnesses who have

seen Florida Panthers; one did not worry about the Peacocks then; and he appreciates her

being there, the Board will look into it.

John Requa stated he was here and spoke to the Board on September 3, 2025, at a County

Commission meeting; Commissioner Adkinson made a motion to direct staff to have the rate

consultant to study and authorize the Utility Services Department to explore options regarding

outstanding bond debt; she also agreed and stated in the tattler that the cost of the bond

should be spread over the District, which is all the residents have been asking for; since then

the delivery rate to the meter has gone up $4.22, making the cost $79.48 before usage; a

single occupant, like himself, pays $110 a month for water, which he feels is very expensive;

December 18, 2025, he sent questions to the Director of Brevard County Utility Services,

Edward Fontanin, and a copy to Commissioner Adkinson; and those four questions that he

tried to get answered are: what was the cost of the bond in the beginning which he believes

was years 2000, how much has been collected so far, how much remains to be collected by

2029 when the bond is exhausted, and how much has been spent on bringing the water and

sewer plant up to date, which was part of the arrangement made. He went on to say he

believes the residents have a right to have these questions answered, at the very least; the

issue affects Barefoot Bay, Snug Harbor, and Sebastian lakes; this is thousands of houses,

over 5,000; Brevard County owns the water and sewer plant; the burden of the bond should be

consumed by the entire District; this is the worst deal he has ever heard of in his life, it reaps of

waste, fraud, and abuse; he is hoping this Board will give it some thought and some action as

this is his second time here; and it has only gotten worse. He added it is going to get much

worse; one of the things that provoked him to do this, was when the Director of Brevard County

Utility Services came to the community and when he was asked about the fees for the new

plant was going to be in five years for the $51 million plant, and he had no answer; and that is

wrong.

Dominic Scafetta stated he has already contacted many of the Board members about this

matter; like the other lady he is having difficulty with his phone and he forgot his notes so just

bear with him; he has been unable to find a common sense resolution since this all began on

March 18; he is in the process of building a house for his son at 6900 Shervin Avenue in

Canaveral Groves; it is a dirt road and it is fed by two dirt roads; on March 18 he contacted

Brevard County and requested the next inspection, but they have declined because they said

he needs to pay a $10,000 impact fee; he looked into the impact fee a little bit and about

$4,400 of that is for transportation, which is for road improvements; because it is on a dirt road,

the next day, March 19, he contacted Commissioner Delaney’s office in District 1, on the phone

and by email and explained that he had already been in contact with staff; they are fine staff the

Road and Bridge staff, they are doing the best they can, but they are sorely understaffed and

they do not have enough equipment to maintain all the dirt roads in the County; in October

2024, when he first contacted them, this road is virtually impossible, if there was a fire his

house would have burnt down, so it is a safety issue and a transportation issue; and they had

explained to him that it is every three to four weeks, they are understaffed, and this in no way is

meant to disparage them, they are doing the best they can. He went on to say on March 28, he

received a response from Kristin Lortie, District 1, and this is a quote from her response, which

is very disturbing to him, “Even though the road is not paved, it is still maintained”; but no one

thinks it is maintained to the degree it needs to be; the next thing she said was that the

transportation impact fees support capacity improvements, new sidewalks, road widening, and

intersection improvements, it does not fund staff, equipment, or maintenance; and he

reiterated, he is on a dirt road, that is what is needed, more staff, equipment, or maintenance,

or the road needs to be paved. He continued by saying he knows that is an enormous expense;

his request is simple, he is requesting for the Commissioners to do what the Commissioners

did in 2016 at least for this particular instance, and waive the transportation portion of the

impact fee; it is the only thing that makes logical sense, common sense in this case; he does

not know who to talk to; he has been working to find someone that can resolve this issue for

him and so far he cannot get any resolution.

Chair Altman stated someone will follow up.

Mr. Scafetta stated he knows Commissioner Delaney is gone now so he inquired who he

should work with.

Commissioner Adkinson stated the Board is going to try to make sure it is not difficult.

Mr. Scafetta commented he appreciates that.

Chair Altman commented the Board will definitely make sure they fill that void not having

Commissioner Delaney there because his problem is all throughout the County.

Mr. Scafetta commented he thinks it is a little unique; he understands the impact fees; another

gentleman spoke about the impact fees; of course the County needs impact fees when

developing new properties, but in this case he has been told point blank he is not going to get

the service he needs from the fee he is paying; it is just not common sense, it is nonsensical;

and he knows the Board has the authority to do it because it did it in 2016; but he does not

want to take up any more time.

Chelsey True stated she is a Merritt Island resident speaking in regards to the rezoning

scheduled for May 7 regarding Rangewater and Merritt Bidco; this application has now been

ongoing since November; over the past six months it has gone through multiple continuances

with the explanation that the project is still evolving; at some point, that becomes more than just

process, it becomes signal; a project that is changing after multiple hearings and six months of

review is not a stable or clearly defined proposal; at the last continuance, the applicant

requested additional time to potentially acquire more land, modify the number of units, and

revise site access; however, according to the recent staff report, no update application reflects

those changes and they have not been submitted as of its publication. She went on to say that

reinforces the concern that the plan before the Board is still not fully-developed; the record also

shows that during the same time period, a separate request was submitted under the Live

Local Act; that adds another layer of uncertainty as multiple potential paths are being explored

without a single, clear, finalized plan before the Board; that matters because the Board is being

asked to make a decision that has a long-term impact on infrastructure safety and the

surrounding community; and she also want to briefly address how community input has been

characterized in recent filings submitted on April 24 by Kim Rezanka. She went on to say

residents like herself, who have taken time to write, attend meetings, and speak are not

submitting abstract opinions; they are raising real lived concerns about traffic, flooding, safety,

and how this project fits into their community; these perspectives are an important part of the

record and should be considered alongside technical reports, not dismissed; in recent filings,

the applicant has argued that many of the key concerns, particularly traffic and infrastructure,

are only subject to preliminary review at this stage with more detailed analysis deferred to site

plan, but that is exactly the issue; if the impacts are not fully understood today, then the project

is not ready for approval today; they are also being told that traffic is not a deficiency while at

the same time, mitigation measures and improvements are being offered; and those positions

do not fully align. She continued by saying if improvements are necessary then impacts exists

and those impacts should be clearly understood before approval, not after; there are also open

questions about zoning, site control, and environmental constraints that affect what can

realistically be built on this property; taken together these are not small details, they go directly

to whether this project is clearly defined, feasible, and ready for approval; additionally,

comparisons to other potential uses such as a hospital, do not answer the question in front of

the Board; the question is not what could be built, it is whether the specific proposal is

appropriate, compatible, and ready; at this stage the Board should have a clear, stable, and

fully-supported proposal in front of it; that level of clarity is what allows for a confident and

defensible decision; based on what has been presented over the past six months, that level of

clarity still does not appear to be here; and the question becomes, if it is not fully resolved now,

what confidence is there that it will be resolved later, based on that record she does not believe

this application is ready for approval.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, asked if Ms. True knows that Item is on the Agenda for

Thursday evening.

Ms. True responded she will see him then too.

Natalie Allen stated she wanted to have a light-hearted conversation about civic engagement, it

is Cinco de Mayo after all; there are so many lovely faces here in the audience coming out to

support the community; she had the opportunity to attend one of the Board meetings last month

and Commissioner Feltner actually mentioned there was an art festival going on, so it is just a

beautiful place to be able to hear about events, see the individuals that Brevard County votes

for, and have an opportunity to meet and understand some of the hot topics that are out here;

she as a Brevard resident, is also interested in hearing about ways to get involved in the

community; a funny story, she was out gardening yesterday in her front yard, doing her own

thing, speaking to herself about what she was going to say tonight; as she was practicing her

neighbor whom she had not met after recently moving in, came outside and said Natalie did

you know there is a Brevard Democrats meeting and a Republican meeting as well, and she

should come out on the third Tuesday of the month, and these different dates that she just kept

throwing out; she said to herself, if she was not out here gardening, minding her own business,

and having a friendly conversation she would not have heard about these events, so she said

to her, “Becky, why don’t you just come to one of the Board meetings”; and they made a plan to

start coming to these events together, it is just a simple way to point out to everyone here that

these conversations, like the one she had with Chelsey True and her lovely daughter and son,

right before the meeting started, on zoning. She went on to say these are topics that she would

not know were burning in the community and things that are on the minds of individuals that

might not know how to be engaged; her reason for being here today is just to point out her

passion for engagement; she looks for ways, whether it is online or in-person opportunities like

this, hanging out across the hall and meeting individuals like Dell; it is just a beautiful place to

just see and meet the faces that one could potentially be working with one day; she thanked

the Board for serving in the role, it is very challenging and she is sure each has done it for a

long time; and she would invite the Board members to continue to do what it has been doing,

engage individuals like herself, Natalie Allen, and help people meet who Brevard votes for.

Chair Altman thanked Ms. Allen for being here and engaging; he mentioned she actually picked

a good meeting to attend because there is the Susan B. Connolly, Speak Up Brevard on the

Agenda; and it is dedicated to a lot of public involvement.

Ms. Allen commented it is interesting because when she was walking in this afternoon, she ran

into Chair Altman as well, and she remembers complimenting his Mac Book; it is just funny

because one never knows who he or she will run into; Information Technology (IT)

conversations, Artificial Intelligence (AI) conversations, being able to level up ones

conversational skills as well; and having heard some of the speakers, as young as they are,

standing up here, it is inspirational.

Chair Altman stated public involvement is what makes this all happen.

H.1. Extension of Temporary Moratorium on New Applications of Biosolids to Lands

within Brevard County

Chair Altman called for a public hearing for extension of a temporary moratorium on new

applications of biosolids to lands within Brevard County.

Stel Bailey stated she wanted to talk about this because she had been on this for many years,

as the Board knows, with the Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) contamination; she

wants to thank County staff, first and foremost, and specifically Virginia Barker, Natural

Resources Management Director; if it was not for their work, the County would not be where it

is at today with this moratorium; staff’s continued work is very important to this issue; at its core

this issue is really simple; it is about what is being put on the ground and where it ends up;

biosolids contain nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus; and while that might sound harmless,

when too much of it is spread on the land, it does not just stay there, when it rains, it moves

into the ditches, the canals, the rivers, and ultimately into the water that is relied on every single

day. She went on to say people have already seen what that can lead to, harmful algae

blooms, damaged waterways, and added strain on the drinking water supply; Lake

Washington, which serves about 170,000 people, is directly connected to this conversation; the

data shows something important, in areas with more biosolids application, are seeing higher

levels of pollution in their water and areas with less application are not; this Board has taken a

careful and responsible approach over the years by putting this moratorium in place and

continuing it as it learns more; and that is proactive and exactly what good governance looks

like. She noted it is not rushing, not guessing, but protecting what matters most while it gets it

right, because once water is contaminated, fixing it is far more expensive and far more difficult

than preventing the problem in the first place; this is not about being for or against any industry,

it is about protecting the water, property values, and the quality of life that people in Brevard

County depend on; and she would respectfully ask that the Board continue this moratorium and

continue Ms. Barker’s hard work on this. She thanked the Board and its leadership for putting

the health and safety of residents first.

Chair Altman stated this is good thing it is a moratorium; staff is seeing significant reduction of

the application of biosolids here in Brevard; he looks forward to the day when it gets to zero; he

knows the State has been very active as well; he appreciates Ms. Bailey’s input and he agrees

with her; the staff here is phenomenal; and he appreciates what they are doing.

The Board of County Commissioners, in regular session on May 5, 2026, conducted the public

hearing and adopted Ordinance No. 26-04, authorizing an extension of temporary Countywide

moratorium from the effective date; prohibiting the land application of class B biosolids except

existing permitted activities; providing for exhaustion of administrative remedies; and providing

for severability, repeal of conflicting provisions, resolution of conflicting provisions, area

encompassed, and an effective date.

Result: ADOPTED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

I.1.

Board Discussion and Direction to Staff, Re: Commission District 1 Staffing

Chair Altman stated this Item is Board discussion and direction to staff for Commission District

1 staffing.

Stel Bailey stated she supports Option 1, retaining the current District 1 staff member; this is

really about consistency of service, efficiency, and clear accountability; people in North Brevard

still need help with everyday issues like trash pickup, permits, and knowing where to go for

assistance; she understands there may be a desire to shift these responsibilities to other

Commission Offices or to County staff, but as outlined, that would require deciding who

handles the workload, how it rotates, and how citizen input gets routed back to Commissioners;

that creates unnecessary layers and confusion for residents; routing everything through County

administration also adds steps since Policy issues still have to be sent back to Commission

Offices; similarly, routing everything through the County Manager or County Attorney’s Office

still requires issues of Policy to be sent back to Commission Offices, meaning it adds an extra

step without truly solving the problem; and Option 1 is the most straight forward and

responsible as it keeps a dedicated local point of contact that people have grown to trust and

love, maintains accountability with District 1, avoids shifting workload or expanding

bureaucracy, and importantly, this is a temporary solution just to maintain service until a new

Commissioner is elected and hires their own staff. She when on to say District 1 residents did

not create this vacancy and they should not lose access to a responsive local support because

of it; and she respectfully asks that the Board choose stability and keep that line of

communication open.

Rick Heffelfinger stated near and dear to people’s hearts, he is going to have to agree with Stel

Bailey; he knows she is his opposition now, but he is going to agree with her, unless the Board

is going to have a discussion and tell the people that the Governor is going to pick; he does not

want to waste his time saying he would rather have continuation of staff; he does not know

where the Board is going to come down on it; he is looking for information the Board might

have had; there was discussion in Board Reports about contacting the Governor; he does not

know if the Board has done that; if one of the Board did, it would be nice to hear that; he does

not know if the County Manager did that to try to get some guidance on what he would think;

but he loves the idea of somebody that worked in that office with his previous Commissioner, is

listening to the community because she knows the community; she knows her District; and

nobody else on this list does. He went on to say he hopes that the Board keeps somebody in

there that is a point of contact; he has one small little problem; he asked if staff goes to

briefings that the Board members are given as Commissioners, from the County Manager or if

it is just the Commissioner because this person, Kristen, is not going to be able to vote; and he

stated he wonders if the Board is giving her access for what reason would that be, insider

baseball or does it help her; she can come to these meetings too and help her understand what

is going on in the community; but he does not know what access is given; District 1 is not going

to have anyone that votes, but at least somebody answers the phone; and it is somebody that

the residents are familiar with because she was answering the phone before, or one of the

other people in the office; and he would like to see there be continuity and know that there is

somebody. He mentioned like with the Commission staff, if there is a problem they work with

other staff, and with the County; he thinks that would be a good way to make sure when there

are problems it is at least paid attention to; he is interested to hear what the Board found out

about the Governor would do; it is a short duration, but it is budget season too, and that scares

him; and that is all.

Chair Altman stated the answer is yes, the Board does give her staff access to the briefings;

and another yes, a letter has been sent to the Governor; it is up to each individual; he thinks

the decision was to not take a position as a Board; but each individual has that right as do the

citizens.

Commissioner Feltner stated just for clarity, he did not send a letter to the Governor.

Commissioner Adkinson advised nor did she.

Chair Altman asked if Commissioner Goodson would like to answer that, but he does not have

to.

Commissioner Goodson stated he has one comment; at the last meeting, if he is not mistaken,

Commissioner Delaney made the motion to keep her staff and there was no second so it died

for lack of a second; and he asked if the Board can go back and consider Option 1, or if it starts

on Options 2, 3, and 4.

Chair Altman stated that is a good point; he thinks what was decide at the last meeting was to

wait, the Board did not have to decide it, it would talk about it now; and that is what was

decided. He asked if Commissioner Goodson had anything else.

Commissioner Goodson asked if somebody could go back and check the minutes now to see if

Commissioner Delaney did not have a second on Option 1.

Chair Altman stated staff can check on that but he recalls the Board deciding and he has

thought a lot about it; having time to think about it, he has come to the personal conclusion that

the Board should go with option 1 and allow the staff that is there to work there; they were

working with the elected Commissioner; the Board needs to make sure that District 1 has the

best representation as possible; and he would support Option 1.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she actually has pretty strong feelings about this as well; she

would prefer to have the County Manager put someone in that position who can be there five

days per week, all day to answer the concerns of all the constituents so that no one gets lost; if

there are things that need to come to a Commissioner, he would ask the County Manager to

make sure that, she knows her office is certainly willing to take up a charge if necessary for a

D1 resident; she would prefer to have someone in the office full-time that reports to the County

Manager; and the County Manager to delegate to whatever offices are open to that. She added

that would be her preference.

Commissioner Goodson asked if that is motion.

Commissioner Adkinson replied no, it is just discussion at the moment.

Commissioner Feltner stated just something to point out and be mindful of, if there is an interim

appointment, that is not up to the Board it is up to the Governor, then that person certainly has

the right to appoint and hire their own Commission staff; and just so that is clear for whatever

the Board does today.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she would like to make a motion for the County Manager to

appoint someone to be full time in the D1 staff office; and when necessary to send it to a

Commissioner who is willing to take up the charge for that D1 resident.

The Board discussed and directed the County Manager to appoint an employee immediately to

be in the District 1 office, full-time, to answer concerns of constituents and when necessary to

forward those concerns to other District Commission Offices that will take up charge for that

District 1 resident.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Kim Adkinson

Seconder: Tom Goodson

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

Chair Altman asked if the Board needs a time and date; he noted he knows there was a letter

Kristen Lortie sent related to how long she could stay, or was willing to stay; he would be willing

to honor that; he read the letter; and his staff read it.

Commissioner Adkinson stated County staff must know what that letter said.

Jim Liesenfelt, County Manger, stated the letter said Ms. Lortie offered to stay on until May 31,

to run the office; it is a Board decision; it can be to May 31, it can be run through the end of a

pay period; it can be immediately; and those are a couple of suggestions off the top of his

head.

Commissioner Adkinson stated she thinks they should start with new staff right now; if the

Board is going to do it, it might as well do it right now; let that person get in the seat and get

comfortable; and that is her thought.

Commissioner Goodson stated he agrees with Commissioner Adkinson.

Mr. Liesenfelt stated if that is Board direction he will get working on it tomorrow.

Commissioner Adkinson asked if there needs to be a motion on that or just Board direction.

Mr. Liesenfelt stated no he does not think there needs to be a motion, he has the direction.

J.1. Eastwind Preserve Concurrency Mitigation and Right-of-Way Use Agreement

Clifford Reppenger stated he is an attorney with Whitebird; he represents the applicant on this

Item; with him today he has the Principles of the applicant, Eastwind Acquisition; and he asked

if the County Attorney wants to do a set up or for him to actually speak about it.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, stated he will introduce it briefly it that is the pleasure of

the Board.

Chair Altman stated okay.

Attorney Richardson stated this is a development that is actually within the municipal

boundaries of the City of Melbourne; Melbourne has already approved a multifamily

development here; it is to the west of Wickham Road, roughly in the area of Longleaf

Elementary, between Wickham Road and Windover Farms, roughly; again, they are within the

City of Melbourne; they have approvals from the City, but there are obviously going to be traffic

impacts to Wickham Road; this is just a concurrency mitigation and right-of-way agreement that

is going to provide for the developer to either construct or fund improvements to that segment

of Wickham Road; either improvements right there in the form of a southbound left turn lane

that would primarily just benefit that development, or more likely, the County may apply those

funds, if the developer goes the route of paying funds rather than constructing, to another

nearby project that is going to improve capacity, perhaps extension of the northbound right turn

lane onto Pineda, that is a planned project, or something like that; and this is just an agreement

for the developer to pay $118,454, based on an estimate of project costs and their share of

contribution of the concurrency issue to Wickham there. He noted it will allow them to get a

right-of-way use agreement so that they can do a sewer connection.

Commissioner Feltner asked if the southbound left turn lane on Wickham would essentially be

for those residents coming out to make a u-turn.

Mr. Reppenger replied it actually does not go into the development.

Commissioner Feltner advised he understands that.

Mr. Reppenger continued by saying it is a southbound turn lane that would go eastbound, for

turning east; and it is at that intersection of Preserve Drive.

Commissioner Feltner stated that is what he is saying, it does not turn in…

Mr. Reppenger noted it does not turn into the development.

Commissioner Feltner stated right; his vote would be that the Board take the $118,000 to do

improvements wherever else the County needs to do on Wickham Road.

Attorney Richardson stated he thinks that agreement has the flexibility for that.

Mr. Reppenger stated it allows for that.

Chair Altman advised there is a card.

Rick Heffelfinger stated he realizes the time crunch and will be as fast as he can be; his

problem with this is it identifies in the description that there is a minor street delay as part of this

development; $118 cannot put concrete on his driveway; and this must have been just for

lining.

Chair Altman corrected him saying $118,000.

Mr. Heffelfinger stated yeah the turn lane on Friday Road with him development, $400,000 to

put a turn lane in; this cannot be concrete or asphalt; then the fact that it is going to be diverted

to some other project bothers him because this talks about some traffic delays because of the

entry or the egress into the development; he thinks the people that are impacted by this are

going to be concerned if it is diverted to some other project on Wickham Road; he is surprised

they do not have anybody here from that development in the back; he is sure they were thrilled

that this development was going to happen right in the middle of their little pristine undeveloped

section; and he does not like the fact that it seems low to do any real road improvements. He

went on to say it also says or the County can just move it to some other project on Wickham;

he asked how far away, two miles, one mile; he commented there are not an constraints; also

there is a traffic impact; he loves the idea that the developer is coming forward to say he can

mitigate that if the County lets him have his permit or zoning approval; but if it is just going to

siphon it off, it does not do anything for solving the problem at that intersection, which he thinks

is a turn lane; he thinks the County is going to end up doing some improvements as part of this;

$118,000 barely scratches the surface; the Board can ask Commissioner Goodson, he thinks

he is an asphalt guy; $118,000 does not go far for asphalt today; and that was his only concern

that it seems a little lite considering there is a traffic impact.

The Board approved the proposed Concurrency Mitigation and Right-of-Way Use Agreement;

authorized the Chair to execute the Agreement; and authorized the County Manager to execute

any budget amendments (BCRs) or perform such other administrative actions related to the

Agreement as may be required.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Goodson, Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

J.2. The Susan B. Connolly Speak Up Brevard 2026 - Citizen Efficiency and

Effectiveness Recommendation (CEER) Submissions - Time Certain 6:00 PM

Chair Altman asked the County Manager to provide a quick briefing of where the County is with

this.

Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager, stated staff received 61 Citizen Efficiency and Effectiveness

Recommendations (CEERs) from 44 individuals this year; County staff has spent several

hundred hours thoroughly analyzing and reviewing the written recommendations; per the Home

Rule Charter, staff has made the following recommendations to the Board and it is in the Board

package along with all the CEERs, that the Board accepts with revisions, 17 CEER

recommendations, that is rejects 44 of the recommendations received, and those rejections are

based primarily on the fact that some of the recommendations received were either handled by

staff as service requests, that the recommendations were out of the County jurisdiction, or the

recommendations do not enhance the efficiency or effectiveness of the County government as

required in the County Charter; the staff’s recommendations are presented to the Board in a

manner that allows the Board to pass the recommendations in one motion; if a Commissioner

wishes to discuss an individual CEER it can be pulled for discussion after that vote is taken or

given further direction; and he would like to thank the citizens. He noted staff has put together

pink and blue speaker cards, the blue cards, the citizens who submitted a CEER have five

minutes for their CEER, and then if citizens want to speak on the Item as a regular Agenda

Item, there are pink cards for three minutes; and last but not least he wants to thank staff for

working on it, and especially the citizens that put the recommendations together, as staff did

take it time, took them seriously, and did go through everything, and he appreciates the citizens

for everything they have done.

Chair Altman stated he will begin with the blue cards where individuals have signed up to speak

on behalf of their individual CEER request; and these speakers will be given five minutes.

Robert Pickert stated he is a resident of Brevard County, lover of the Indian River Lagoon

(IRL), and a lifelong environmental professional and sustainability consultant; he proposed a

soil health moonshot to transform Brevard’s Sandy landscape soils into a sustainable living

filter for the Lagoon; and he would like to leave the Board with three thoughts: embrace the

muck, there are many beneficial uses; embrace biochar as it absorbs water, absorbs nutrients,

and provides a home for beneficial soil microbes, making nutrients bioavailable to plants

without leeching to the groundwater or the Lagoon and degrading organic chemicals; and

embrace the Lagoon as a living system where more effort needs to be focused on enhancing

sustainable natural stabilization and filtration systems. He noted biochar is a natural material

with extremely high surface area similar to activated carbon; it occurs naturally as a byproduct

of forest fires and is a big part of why one sees green shoots and such productive growth after

forest fires; it can also be made from clean sources of wood waste through a process or

conditions known as pyrolysis; he has watched from the sidelines as team Save Our Indian

River Lagoon (SOIRL) has been busy with the herculean task of restoring the Lagoon; two

years ago he was shocked to learn the County had not analyzed any of the dewatered muck

after removing nearly 800,000 cubic yards of muck; and since then SOIRL has arranged to

analyze four samples of dewatered muck from the Grand Canal muck dewatering site, much

more analysis is needed from all of the muck processing sites, but the muck is much lower in

nitrogen, less than one percent, lower in phosphorus, less than .1 percent than he expected,

the samples contain seven percent organic carbon, but he understands it can range from 10 to

30 percent carbon, and minerals such as sulfur, calcium, and magnesium. He went on to say

he has heard SOIRL staff and Citizen Oversight Committee (COC) refer to the muck in public

as “toxic and nothing grows in the muck”; the muck samples did contain arsenic, chromium,

and copper in low concentrations consistent with background soil levels and government

risk-based standards and well below fertilizer guidelines; and he is going to refer to this figure

here. He continued by saying SOIRL staff did arrange for him to take samples of partially

dewatered muck from the Grand Canal Pineda muck dewatering site; that is the photo that one

can see here; he collaborated with Rodney Eaton or Eaton Worms; he mixed 55 percent muck,

40 percent biochar, and five percent compost by weight; Rodney added some worm castings

and observed explosive growth less than one week after adding Rye grass seed to the mix; the

muck would likely serve as good binder to produce fertilizer pellets, but more importantly, it

would serve as galvanizing force for soil health around the IRL; he has proposed a nutrient

loading and leeching study to demonstrate and quantify the expected nutrient prevention

benefits of a muck biochar based soil amendment; and he has proposed a variety of beneficial

uses for the muck, including an example of how the biochar muck, worm casting, seaweed

extract fertilizer and soil amendment could provide a sustainable source of SOIRL funding; the

SOIRL COC dismissed the idea in a so-called white paper that was full of incomplete,

inaccurate, and misleading statements; and was more of a whitewash to dismiss the idea. He

stated these are essentially the same staff comments provided in the response to his CEER

recommendation; the original SOIRL Ordinance states the purpose of SOIRL funds is to

“finance infrastructure for capital projects to reduce primary sources of pollution, including

excess fertilizer and natural stabilization and filtration systems”; the SOIRL COC specifically

has a responsibility not only to allow, but to foster development and implementation of tools and

techniques for restoration of the Lagoon, and to identify and develop long-term funding

sources; he is not familiar with any single other idea proposed by anyone else to provide a

non-tax source of SOIRL funding; he has a sailboat at his neighbor’s house across the street at

Indian Harbor Beach; that canal was dredged 20 years ago and has since been re-fertilized and

silted in; in order to protect the investment in canal dredging, he has proposed a soil health pilot

project for the Indian Harbor Beach/Satellite Beach dredging project; and there is a lot of detail

in the slide, obviously one cannot see it here, but it is included in the handout material. He went

on to say the project includes remote sensing and precision nutrient mapping to identify

nutrient-rich sources, material processing, distribution, and application to 120 acres, monitoring

including baseline and post application years two, five, and 10; the project is expected to

prevent 430 pounds of nitrogen, 40 pounds of phosphorus for 10 years, 4,300 pounds Nitrogen

and 400 pounds phosphorus, and a removal efficiency of 279 per pound; the stone the builders

have rejected has become the cornerstone; and he encourages the County Commission to

embrace the muck biochar and a Lagoon as living system for a sustainable approach to a

resilient Lagoon, and implement the road map provided in the soil health moonshot

recommendation and soil health pilot project proposed for the Indian Harbor Beach/Satellite

Beach dredging project. He noted he just saw the comments, and he has not seen them before

he came in; he would make one more comment; the CEER that he provided did have a money

saving suggestion and that was to reduce garbage pickup up to one day per week since the

County has long since included recyclables elsewhere and yard waste elsewhere; and he was

suggesting to use that money for…

Chair Altman inquired if Mr. Pickert knows the number to that.

Mr. Pickert replied he thinks it is 2026045.

Chair Altman stated there is not a separate card for that.

Mr. Pickert advised he signed up when he came in.

Chair Altman stated he would allow another five minutes for that.

Mr. Pickert stated that is great and he would be happy to talk with any of them about that; he

presented his comments; he just found out today, and did not realize staff comments were

available; and he went through them, they are the same comments that are in the whitepaper

that he responded to previously, and he has made comments to the Board.

Chair Altman asked which CEER.

Mr. Pickert stated he is talking about the soil health moonshot.

Chair Altman stated that was the one he just presented on.

Mr. Pickert commented that is correct, he does not have another topic.

Commissioner Feltner stated he says there are many uses for muck; and he asked him to tell

the Board briefly some of those uses.

Mr. Pickert responded by saying, in his mind he was thinking, and again biochar can help with

reducing the leeching, for example it could be used as a low permeability material for a

stormwater settling pond, then at the effluent of that pond, there could be treatment with

biochar as one; the County has used Bold and Gold, but that includes shredded tires; shredded

tires have a highly toxic chemical in them, the tire rubber that erodes from the tires driving on

the road, and the reason why one has to buy new tires is because the tire wears out and all that

stuff washes down in the runoff; on people are finding 6PPD quinone is the name of the

chemical; but it is as highly toxic as Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). He noted

these are ubiquitous contaminants that are being found in the environment; that would be one;

he is trying to think of strictly just the muck…

Commissioner Feltner asked if the County gave it away for free and someone could come take

it, it is located on a parcel, and here is 100,000 cubic yards of it tomorrow, what would be the

appeal or the commercial use.

Mr. Pickert stated this whole thing started with him meeting a SOIRL staff member at a party

two years ago and she said they did not know what to do or a way to use the muck; that is

where he started this whole thing on soil health and said it could be used as a soil amendment

if the biochar and other things were added; that is his best recommendation for what to do with

the muck; and again, if there was a large stormwater settling pond, and it needed to be lined

with low permeability materials, he would say use the muck, but it would need to be treated with

probably fine biochar or something that could help stabilize that muck and could help reduce

the leeching of any nutrients that are in there to the groundwater.

Commissioner Feltner asked how to make biochar efficiently; he noted he knows it is a huge

gasifier or something like that; they are going to be talking about vegetative waste going

forward and how to process that; that is its own process; and maybe it is him or someone else,

but if they got that for free and take it all, then turn it into biochar, can that be done.

Mr. Pickert stated it can be done but not economically just like that; there is a cost to it; and if

there is an endues for the material and the County was in with both feet and committed to the

project, one could find private sector partners that would be willing to work with the County, he

thinks.

Commissioner Feltner stated this is his last question; he asked if they were to take all of the

County’s vegetative waste in a year and convert it to biochar, just say there was a use found for

it and there is a market for it; and what does he think that would cost.

Mr. Pickert stated he does not know what the pass-through volume is on that; his role with

Wakefield Biochar, he is actually transitioning to another job, but his role with them has been

environmental health and safety compliance at the facility in Valdosta, Georgia, and looking at

their EHS programs at the Mills where they work; the mills take timbers and shave off the bark

and the trimmings, put it in their boilers, and pull it out before it becomes fully ash, and that is

the source of the char material; the plant is in the process of putting in a takachar system which

is a smaller system typically used for developing countries out in the field and that kind of thing;

they are producing their own, but they have not produced their own at a large scale; it is all

sourced from the pulp and paper industry basically, in South Georgia and North Florida; and as

far as having somebody come in and say yes, they are excited to take this woody waste, there

is still a lot of cost associated with that.

Commissioner Feltner stated he understands, that is what he was trying to get his head

around; and he knows Mr. Pickert is an engineer, so he took advantage and asked the

question.

Mr. Pickert stated if it is already being sized, chipping it up, that gets it a significant amount of

the way there; a big part of the cost would be the land and the improvements, and all that; if

there is land associated with the landfills, or there is some other synergy there, then there is

already a reduction in the heavy lifting in terms of cost and capital cost of getting it started; and

if that was cost-shared with SOIRL, which again it is a capital project for the improvement of the

Lagoon, now it is actually sharing that cost between the County carrying the full load and the

SOIRL program.

Commissioner Feltner stated the County is going to be picking up the vegetative material well

into the future; he was wondering, at that point they have it at the new landfill; maybe they will

place it in a huge pile and it is going to compost; if they let it do it long enough it will compost;

but what would it take to turn it into biochar.

Mr. Pickert stated the County would probably have to buy a pyrolysis unit and send it through

basically a pyrolysis unit, burn it, capture the gas, recover and use those gases.

Commissioner Feltner stated a sin gas; and asked if that would be part of the cycle.

Mr. Pickert responded affirmatively. He stated the County would use that energy in the process

or the excess energy would be available for whatever other purposes, co-located activities that

they would want to have there.

Chair Altman asked which ones Mr. Kennelly is going to speak on; and he was assuming that

maybe some of his were rejected, but some were accepted.

Tom Kennelly stated three were accepted; one he will not speak about because he agrees with

the rejection, and two that got rejected by the staff that he would like to talk about.

Chair Altman stated Okay.

Mr. Kennelly stated one can see on the monitor, he has presented this before, he is just going

to recap just a little bit; the flooding on Indian River Drive, if one can see the top of that, they

are under water just about every October; he put a chart in the middle to say they know the

water levels in the Indian River Lagoon and they know they should take an action; one can see

on the chart the little red circle; and on the bottom one, he wants the excess water to go out

through Port Canaveral. He noted he does not expect the locks to be open for seven days, he

wants a more methodical approach where the locks are open and closed to meet that criteria of

keeping them this close to flooding, so there is not a lot of volume of water going out through

the Port; what he would really like to ask the Commission to do is to take the next step and do

a study on this; what staff has said is this is out of their jurisdiction; and he would just like to

remind the Board that this County has agreements with all kinds of bodies, and that they are in

the business of cooperating with other jurisdictions, it is what they do so well. He went on to say

it is already cooperating with St. Johns, Army Corp of Engineers, Florida Department of

Environmental Protection (FDEP), and others; he does not really think the classification of out

of jurisdiction is appropriate and he would really like to stipulate that the County does out of

jurisdiction all the time; and lastly, with Speak up Brevard there has to be some economic

value, and what this would avoid is catastrophic problems when the flooding gets too bad and it

costs the County a lot of money. He went on to say, given if this is done right, it should be

minimal cost to have somebody like in Emergency Management look at the chart and say, “Yep

we are getting the flooding level, let’s call over to the locks and open them up for a couple of

hours” and “close them back down, we’re in good shape”; he is expecting seven days like what

happened with Hurricane Faye and the negative ramifications thereof; that is what he really

wanted to talk about; the staff recommended against it on out of jurisdiction, the County does

out of jurisdiction all the time, so not relevant; and number two, there is no cost savings, he is

saying this is going to save some catastrophic costs down the road. He mentioned he heard,

and he does not know if it is true, but somebody said the raise in the drive costs is half a billion

dollars; the County is not going to spend half a billion dollars to raise the road, but it could open

the locks, if that is more reasonable; number two, the second Item he wanted to talk about, and

it is really minor on the list, but if the Board does not mind he wants to get it off his chest; he

was in front of his house on Indian River Drive and it looks like a third world road, it has been

patched so many times; it is going to get fixed once SOIRL comes through so he is not really

complaining about the fact it is never going to get fixed, it is; he contends that the County

needs another hot patch truck; there is a lot of cold patch on the road and some hot patch; one

can drive down the road and see the hot patch is there forever, it is a high-quality job; looking

at the cold patch one say, “this is coming up, and making another call because it is peeling at

the edges; there has been so much cold patch on this road that he does not even know what is

under there any longer; and what he wanted to propose to the County is to buy another asphalt

truck, but then it involves his thinking to say if the asphalt truck, which those folks who patched

the road told him, that it is down in the south part of the County and they could not bring it up

here for one job. He continued by saying that makes sense; maybe the County can hire out

some patch jobs when the existing truck is not available; Public Works needs to have a better

response than putting cold patch down on some really bad portions of the road; that is the

bottom line for CEER number 2; and he asked if there are any questions. He commented just

open the locks for him and let a little water out.

Commissioner Feltner asked if Mr. Kennelly has spoken with the Port about opening the locks.

Mr. Kennelly replied he has not spoken with the Port because he thinks he needs the influence

of who he thinks are his advocates, which would be the County, to do that.

Commissioner Feltner advised they have an elected Board, the Port Commission, and he could

talk to a Port Commissioner.

Mr. Kennelly stated yes he can; as a matter of fact, one of them may be running for District 1;

and he thought he would start here because he thinks it is more of a problem for the County, it

is not a problem for the Port that his road is being flooded.

Commissioner Feltner noted he cannot disagree with him, but this has come up many times

over the years, long before he was a County Commissioner and the Board does not have the

ability to tell the Port to do this; it would be nice if they agreed, if that is what the Board thinks

should happen; and if he is working on this problem, he thinks talking with a Port Commissioner

and then possibly with the Port Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and that staff, in the alternative

he could talk with the State legislator, they vote on their budget and other things that have to do

with seaports.

Mr. Kennelly stated he came here first; he thinks it is going to his representatives first; he

realizes that he does vote on the Port; in the justification he noted the taxpayers in District 1

and probably a few others, but not all of Brevard County, are on the hook financially for the

Port; if the Port does not make money, the residents get taxed; he is thinking the Port should

be able to give back to the residents; and that give back might be to agree to help the residents

out during the flooding situations; there might be a chance of some dredging to be required;

and he does not really know where to go with this, but to come here to his elected

representatives and start here.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks the next step and he is sitting there with a former

legislator, and one on the phone, is that he meet with the legislator because it could be the

subject of a future bill; and he does not think he was wrong to come to the Board first.

Mr. Kennelly stated maybe he could get a commitment rather than reject this outright, is to just

form a committee and see how it can get to a yes on Brevard County’s side.

Commissioner Feltner reiterated he thinks Mr. Kennelly should see about talking with a

legislator first; and he noted the legislative session will start over again with committee weeks

probably in September in the even years, so this Summer is the time to have a discussion with

the legislator.

Mr. Kennelly stated he would have to figure out what his ask would be of them, is it money or

commitment.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks what could be said is how about opening the locks when

flooding occurs; and he could put conditions and work through that with a legislator.

Mr. Kennelly stated he could try that, but he thinks they might say the same thing that staff

said, this being out of their jurisdiction and more in the Port and the County; but he will give it a

try.

Commissioner Feltner advised a legislator will not say it is out of their jurisdiction as the Port

was ultimately, created by the State.

Mr. Kennelly replied all right.

Chair Altman stated he thinks also the Army Corps of Engineers would have a great deal of

authority over them; he would personally look into the jurisdiction issues; he understands it is

an intriguing idea and a lot of people inquired about it over the years, but they actually did that

at one time; they opened the gates, more for inflow and water quality, but what happened was

the current was so strong it caused a lot of sand to fill in; and it literally made the locks fail.

Mr. Kennelly stated that is correct; it happened after Hurricane Faye because they opened the

doors for seven days which sounds okay; his proposal in this was, say Emergency

Management measures the level of the Lagoon and when the high tides or the low tides, say

the high tide is lower than the Lagoon, that is going to cause a slower flow out, so it is more of

a methodical engineered approach rather than opening the flood gates; but the Chair is

absolutely right, after Hurricane Faye, it caused a big problem for the Port.

Chair Altman stated that was an interesting idea; he agrees with Commissioner Feltner about

the legislative delegation; and he thinks the water management district would be…

Someone from the audience asked if they have much say in this.

Chair Altman noted they do in terms of a lot of issues with the Lagoon, they are responsible;

and he would think they could give some good information as well.

Michael Myjak stated he talked to the Board a year ago February, and received a standing

ovation; he told the Board about all the friendly neighbors that do not necessarily get to vote,

some are charismatic like redfish, and some are not, like the Benthic Macroinvertebrates; he

came last month and talked about why the County needs a Spaceport Authority and why he

thinks the County Commission is the best place for the people to go, because the cities are not

going to be able to do it; it is going to take some body like the County; the reason for that has

to do with all these kinds of things that are coming, driving change in the area; and the County

is looking at huge numbers needing housing and workers meaning concurrency items,

stormwater, sanitary sewer, roads, schools, and everything else that comes along with all that

expansion. He inquired if the Board knows who is planning for that, and advised it is nobody; he

reiterated it is coming, just like in the 1950’s when people did not know how to make

stormwater work, people just dug ditches; he commented that is what people are doing out

there right now, just digging ditches because that is how they know how to get the water away

from their rooftops and into where they want it to go; he presented this briefly last time to give

the Board some raw, rough ideas, but he does not know that this does a very good job of

making the impact as strong as it needs to be; he started with this one last time about the

amount of deluge water that is being used; this is what has been permitted and it is just a

couple of them; the Starship is up there with 120 launches planned, and they use 1.1 million

gallons per launch; Falcon 9 uses 700,000 and the New Glenn uses half a million; to add it all

up that is 227 million gallons; and he asked who has identified the raw water resource for that

water, replying nobody. He went on to say to put it in another perspective, they just decided to

build a satellite processing facility out there; it is a million-square foot building, of rooftop;

rooftops are impervious by design, 95 percent impervious, better than parking lots which are

like 85 to 90 percent because they puddle, pond, and evaporate; but not roofs they are straight

down, so where does the water go, one can guess, the nearest receiving water body is the

Indian River Lagoon; one million square feet is 10 Walmarts, not one, not two, not five, but 10,

in one space, with no concern for stormwater, runoff, or anything else that they need; and all of

the concurrency issues are not being taken care of. He stated he thinks the County is in a

unique position to bring this into fruition; the Board cannot lead it, National Aeronautical Space

Administration (NASA) maybe could, but he does not think they want to; Space Florida was

supposed to be the hope, but they only have management control of a small area of Kennedy

Space Center (KSC), everybody else goes directly to NASA to figure out their leasing like the

satellite plant; NASA is not in the business of planning; they do not even want to be in the

business of property ownership; but the tsunami is on its way here; the County can stand up an

interim committee made up of the stakeholders that are involved out there and they can in turn

set up and stand up a permanent Space Force Task Force; it is a two-step process; the people

that are on the interim task force set up the rules, guidance, and the governance, and the rest

follow along when they adopt it; he reiterated it is a two-step process; he noted he has done it

before twice; he has done it with the International Standards Organization, the Simulation

Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO), and he did part of something very similar to

that when he was working with Homeland Security, as a principal architect on the Emergency

Operations Centers and he has to take disparaged people from all across the country, put them

together and make them interoperate; and this Board needs to do that here because if it does

not, it will be sacrificing the Space Center, the Space Coast, the environment, and quality of

life. He noted it is up to the Board, it is in its hands; people can help it pull this together, but it is

going to take more than just talk because it really needs to form a coalition that will take charge

of the County’s resources; there is very limited water; he talked with the Board last time about

the water; the pipelines going to Orange County is just not large enough; the County is just now

starting to look at how much water Cocoa is providing and how much Cape Canaveral is

providing to the Space Center; these are two numbers that the County should want to start

tracking over the last few years and the years going forward to see exactly how fast the County

is growing; the Board sees the Gigabay going up already across the bay, it appears to be

bigger than the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB); again, it is another huge building putting out

a huge amount of stormwater, and nobody is watching it; if the Board has any questions or

would like to discuss it more the Indian River Lagoon Roundtable would be happy to come and

talk with any of them; and he reiterated he is Michael Myjak with the Indian River Lagoon

Roundtable.

Morris Richardson, County Attorney, advised the Board that he just received a message that

Commissioner Goodson is not feeling well and he is off the call from this point on.

Commissioner Goodson has exited the call at 6:53 p.m.

Thomas Perez stated he applauds the Board naming the Speak Up Brevard program after

Susan B. Connelly; he was fortunate enough to meet and work with Susan and attest to how

well deserved it is to name this program after her; he appreciates the opportunity to share

some ideas with the Board; he also speaks on behalf of the Titusville Garden Club, in which he

is a member, and four other garden clubs in Brevard County as well as all the citizens that have

used this fine mulch that he is going to be speaking about; over the years, Brevard County has

dispatched people’s yard waste into huge piles of chipped up logs, limbs, and branches; the

yard waste that is chipped up and called mulch simply is not; the stuff that comes out of the

grinder is very coarse and unsuitable for gardening; and this product contains small logs and

limbs that make it through the single-pass process, rendering the resulting material too coarse

for most circumstances. He continued by saying a byproduct called the fines was previously

produced by the County but became unavailable in the fall of 2022; this product was effectively

utilized by gardeners and citizens Countywide to tend their gardens and yards; to produce the

fines, the coarse material needs to be run through the grinding process a second time using a

finer screen to further reduce the material to one inch; but another way the coarse material

produced from the first grind will take years to breakdown and become useful to the soil as an

amenity, whereas the fines can be put into service directly into the landscaping project and

used to produce compost; for the gardeners, the process of composting the fines takes a few

months; it requires some maintenance, turning over the piles, watering, and things like that;

and the final product is a real good compost that can be used in one’s garden. He noted at the

garden club they make use of the fines; they offer plants grown at the club to County residents

at considerable discounts and provide plants and participate in planting projects with the City of

Titusville; they also donate vegetables produced from the gardens they tend to the food pantry

in Titusville; the fines are a very usable and sustainable byproduct from the County’s yard

waste, cleanup operations, and residents want it; furthermore, it recycles some of the material

that otherwise, is landfill fodder; the background history of the fines provided by the County

staff tells one that it was previously enabled by a third-party purchaser; the fines were produced

in a large quantity that exceeded purchasers ability to use it all; this over supply allowed for the

excess to be provided to the residents at no cost; the third-party purchaser discontinued the

purchase in 2018 and therefore there was no funding available for the County to continue

making the smaller fines; and the County said it only needs the larger four-inch fines for its own

use, so there is no need for the additional processing that would add to the cost. He went on to

say the amount of fine materials used by County residents was very small apparently, in

comparison to the amount produced by the Contract; residents making use of the fines typically

came to facilities prepared to load containers in the trunk of their cars or pickup trucks, and

occasionally small trailers; the small amount used by residents is illustrated by the time span

from when the contract ended in 2018 and when the fines were no longer available in 2022,

almost four years; he would propose the County resume the production of the fines and make

them available to the residents of Brevard County; gardeners and homeowners across the

County appreciate the value of this high quality organic material; making fines available again

would support healthier yards, reduce disposal needs, and demonstrate the County’s

commitment to sustainable practices; the amount of fines that would supply County residents,

as he said, is small in comparison to what was produced previously; he expects that the

additional grind to produce this small amount of material would be limited to maybe a few days

per year if that and not place an onerous request on the County; and its availability would be

well received by County residents. He continued on by saying if the cost of producing this small

amount is an issue, residents could purchase the fines from the County at what the County

calculates is production cost; he is talking about a very small amount in comparison to what

was produced by this contractor that used it to burn as fuel; he suspects just a couple of days

of production to do that second run would produce more than enough material for probably a

year considering the way it was used; with the contract that was trailer trucks constantly going

through and getting the stuff; there was a lot produced and this would just be a small cost; and

if it is an issue, it can be passed down to the people who use it.

Chair Altman asked when the County was producing the fines, did he ever use or acquire them.

Mr. Perez replied yes.

Chair Altman asked what he used them for.

Mr. Perez replied gardening, amendment to the soil; when he first moved here he was in Mims

and he had a small farm with horses; he needed to help that pasture and that was the way he

did it; and when he took things to the facility he would bring back some compost.

Chair Altman stated he knows the County used to provide this value material; he knows this

particular CEER was denied and the staff recommendation was like many of them,

recommended because it does not enhance the effectiveness or efficiency of County

government as required by Home Rule Charter; it does not mean that it is not a good idea if the

County is producing a valuable product and recycling biological materials; and he asked if the

Board chose to do that regardless of what this says, it can still do that as it is a viable product, it

is recycling, there is an environmental benefit.

Mr. Liesenfelt responded by saying yes, of course, if the Board directs it, staff would do that;

just to point out there is extra cost to the Solid Waste Department, it is in the definition with the

recommendations.

Chair Altman stated the CEER is very limiting and it is only if it enhances the effectiveness or

efficiency, or saves money.

Mr. Liesenfelt responded affirmatively.

Chair Altman stated that does not mean it could be a great idea and save the consumers

money because…

Mr. Perez stated it is a win-win for everybody, the County also giving the citizens something

that they need and they appreciate for very little cost.

Commissioner Adkinson stated it is something that any Commissioner could come up with; and

a Commissioner could bring it as an Agenda Item.

Mr. Liesenfelt stated he does not want to be disrespectful, but if he remembers staff discussion,

it was not very little cost, he thinks it was over $100,000 for the program.

Mr. Perez stated he imagines that was to produce quantities under the old system and if staff

determined the amount being used by citizens, he cannot imagine that being an issue.

Chair Altman stated he thinks it has some value and perhaps the Board will look at it as it

moves forward; he appreciates Mr. Perez bringing it up; he thinks the CEERS, not just meet the

County Charter and the money side, but is it a good idea, does it help the environment, and

does it do good things; and he thinks it is interesting.

Terri Fulton stated she is there to speak about the Law Enforcement encrypting the traffic; if

anyone does not know what that means, it is listening to police, fire, and anybody else on there;

she has six items to explain about that; one, the law enforcement agency’s excuse for

encryption; two, what open and close transmission does; three, what encryption does to the

listeners; four, what she wonders; five, recommendations; and six, she cannot even read it. She

went on to say one, the excuse, and she wants the Board to listen to this really close, Sheriff

Ivey said he wants to encrypt and he did; he said criminals could listen and evade capture, so

could apparently means that after all these years, no ‘coulds’ came about, and it really makes

her mad; and she has listened to scanners over 45 years and she has not heard a thing of the

sort. She went on to say open and close transmission is two, close transmission, full encryption

undermines public trust and it hinders accountability that is major, and reduces situational

awareness for residents; encryption creates an information vacuum eroding the sense of

community connection to law enforcement; open transmission, law enforcement and fire

departments has access to public records for decades; open radio channels allows citizens

firsthand about emergencies, enabling them to avoid dangerous areas, prepare for disruption,

or even assist in a crisis; open transmission promotes accountability, real time public oversight

discourages misconduct, that is what she is worried about, and ensure police action aligns with

community, the people’s expectations; listeners help catch suspects, spot wildfires, even save

First Responders’ lives; then agencies flipped the switch to encryption, that two-way

accountability goes dark; three, what encryptions does for the listeners, listening is very

personal and they use the scanners to stay informed about neighborhood incidences like

burglaries, fires, and accidents which affects people’s daily lives; the Board might not think

about that; and being a single female, with two more girls there, need to know why there were

10 police cars running around in her neighborhood and they had no way to find out. She went

on to say the smoke was so thick when she walked out her door, it scared the heck out of her

because it is so dry; if she had been listening to her radio, which she would have been, she

would have known what was going on; she was so afraid she called the police and they did not

know either; when there was an open transmission, police were looking by helicopter, for a

person on a bike; they gave a description and low and behold he was two doors down, hiding

under a tree; and she called it in to the police department. She mentioned on a trip to the store

she avoided a wreck; it backed up traffic for six lanes, two ways and four on another; it closed

the whole intersection down at Babcock and U.S. 1; there is no telling how many minutes or

hours that saved her; what she wonders is why the secrecy, is it to cover up misconduct; she

suspects that is a lot of it especially since he said criminals could monitor, but they had not in

all these years; and she has some recommendations, but decided not to give them to the

Board. She noted the citizens need and deserve this traffic, she has thoroughly explained why;

and he asked the Board to please help her.

Chair Altman asked how many communities do not encrypt now; and if there are others.

Ms. Fulton replied she does not know how many more; she started seeing them fall off the

radio; but there are still a lot on there and she is surprised of the ones that are still on there are

on there because it is the worst part of towns, not in Florida; but across the nation.

Elizabeth Baker stated her recommendation was to address the litter issues in unincorporated

areas and requesting a proactive Waste Management planning provision for brick and mortar

commercial properties and multi-family residential properties with shared waste systems,

including apartments, condominiums, and Homeowners Association (HOA) or Condominium

Owners Association (COA) managed communities; have an additional one page Waste

Management plan that could be incorporated into existing permit reviews, site plan approvals,

or inspection processes; the recommendation that she received back was to accept with

revisions, as Brevard County will continue to maintain regulatory provisions addressing solid

waste storage, litter prevention, and development review through chapters 62 and 94 of the

County Code as well as solid waste concurrency requirements; her idea is simple when it

comes to the legality of things; and she can see that staff took their time to really look into how

they could incorporate something like this. She commented she thinks what happened was a

simple idea got covered in some bureaucracy; really what she is asking for here is very simple;

just that with a business tax receipt or any kind of acknowledgement that someone is in

business, doing business, housing people, that they simply have one form that says yes, they

know where to place their waste, how to handle it, there is a dumpster on site, the dumpster

has covers, and they know the trash days; something very simple because that waste

ultimately, from those properties and all waste comes from where the humans are, the stores,

the restaurants, where people live, where people recreate, and there are tons of visitors that

come here using single-use plastics at an even larger rate than people who live here; this can

be made very simple and her argument here is that if things were efficient, she would not be

here and Keep Brevard Beautiful would not exist; this County has issues with garbage that

ends up in the stormwater ditches clogging things up, and creates accidents; in 2017, in just

three months’ time there was a study done on Florida highways, and there was over 42 tons of

trash removed from Florida Highways in just three months; there are millions of visitors coming

here and approximately 600,000 residents and she thinks the County can work on this and do

some prevention; people have to start being held accountable; the County has great rules; and

this is not about expanding regulations, it is not about placing more departments in or more

staff, it is really making sure that the laws that the County already have are easy to enforce and

that they get enforced; she drives through unincorporated areas of Brevard County all the time;

and if one drives past just about any strip mall location, any area where there are multiple

businesses, and he or she looks at the dumpster, she can promise he or she will find garbage

all over the place. She noted the County can find a way to prevent some of that; she really

believes that a lot of that has to do with education; the recommendations that came back to her

really addressed like new development site plan and review requirements; what she is talking

about is the new small business that just opens up in the strip mall; they do not need a huge

site plan, there is no new development happening; she wants that business to be accountable

and know that they have to take care of their waste too; she reiterated that she thinks this can

be simpler than adding a whole bunch more staff, and more taxes, that is not needed; and she

thinks it can be really simple.

Chair Altman stated he was presently reading some of the staff input on this; and that was the

last blue card.

Commissioner Adkinson stated there is one comment card on the Item that the Board needs to

hear prior to voting.

Rick Heffelfinger stated he wanted to come down here because he liked a lot of these, but he

did not write one this year; what he saw happen this year happened the previous year; what the

community is bringing to the Board are good ideas and it is already suspect when it says on the

chart, does this reduce costs; a lot of this would probably cost something, but what is being

said is, as a citizen for example, if one is suggesting that the County could take some of the

trash and keep it out of the landfill, he thinks that is why the County recycles in the first place;

that is what he was told, the County recycles, saves the landfill, and the County does not have

to build a new one sooner; that is the only reason, it is not trying to save the earth, they are

trying to save the landfill; he hates to tell the Board that; everything that goes into that recycling

bin, does not go into the landfill; and he asked why the Board would discourage that. He went

on to ask if staff did a cost analysis or did they say, “This could be tons of stuff that doesn’t go

into the landfill, maybe this person has a good idea”; one thing he does is walk the street; there

are people who clean up the street, Keep Brevard Beautiful; they will provide little grabby things

and the bags for nothing; he asked does the Board know what they do with it, and replied they

sort it by recyclables and place it in one’s own garbage; and guess what, Waste Management

just got a little bit of stuff that should have been in that bin to begin with. He continued by

saying he does not know, but the County has a Waste Management Contract with the

incorporated, the cities have their own; the cities are still complying with recycling; he thinks

most of their recycling probably goes to Waste Management because they are the only ones

that have a decent recycling plant; he realizes it is done because it is incentivized from the

State, he believes was the original reason, that if the County recycles, the big government

smiles at it, so it has to keep that program; but it is a good program and keeps that stuff out of

the landfill. He stated there is…just because the County would say, “well, we’d have to write a

procedure, and maybe have to put…”; he does not understand why there is not a recycling bin

at the beach; he does not think a lot of them do; it is like, “Dude we recycle here,” instead it is

letting the tourist throw all this crap into one; it is going right into the landfill because they are

emptying that can right into the landfill; he asked if it would be so hard to put another can there,

Waste Management will not like it, or whoever the collector is because now they have more

recycling to pick up; but the County has a Contract that says what they are supposed to do to

pick up that stuff. He went on to say he has no problem taking it off of his street and putting it in

that bin because that is a good citizen; Keep Brevard Beautiful can help with that; a lot of

people do not even know those programs are there; a little more advertising; the County plugs

the heck out of the recycling program, but the only one benefiting from that is Waste

Management because that is what they do; that is a closed system but the County plugs the

heck out of it and it does it for good reason; it stays out of the landfill and the residents all pay

for it; he reiterated he thought there was a lot of good ideas; and just because they do not save

money, if they benefit the citizens and possibly have costs, the Board should spend a little more

time instead of kicking it back to them to come with a closed system. He noted the gentleman

with the biochar, he is one man and looking to this Board to say this could benefit everybody;

he does not know why SOIRL does not weigh in on some of the water issues; keeping that

fresh water out of the Lagoon is a good idea; and he thinks that there was not enough thought

put into some really good ideas, and that SOIRL should have embraced some of them.

Chair Altman advised that was the last card and there are no more blue cards; and he asked if

the Board has anything to add.

Mr. Liesenfelt asked for forgiveness if he is repeating anything, and he stated under the

Charter, County Commission’s final vote and consideration of the recommendation shall occur

no later than 120 days after written receipt, therefore, the Board does have to make a decision

to accept, accept with revisions, or reject the recommendations.

Chair Altman asked what date staff received the written receipt.

Mr. Liesenfelt replied January 31; the 90 days under Policy, for staff to get to the Board, that

was met last week, and the Board would have until the end of May to accept, reject, or accept

with revisions; and the Board can accept them all today and then be done with it.

Chair Altman asked when Mr. Liesenfelt says accept them all today…

Mr. Liesenfelt explained the Board reviews each recommendation; the County Commission

shall vote to either accept each individual recommendation, or reject each individual one; staff

has it set up so the Board can do them all in one single motion if it accepts staff’s

recommendation; and if the Board wants to pull one off for a separate vote or to have it

reconsidered, then the Board can make that as part of the motion.

Chair Altman inquired if the Board accepts the recommendation, does that means it is accept

recommendations with changes, and is he reading that right.

Mr. Liesenfelt advised accept with recommendation means it is an idea that…it could mean a

couple different ways; it is an idea that the County is already doing, they may have more of an

idea in the recommendation than the County can do, it could also be something that the County

has been continuing; an example that he keeps coming up with is somebody had in there for

more bike lanes, and we have accept with recommendations as the County will do bike lanes

where it can, but it might not have space for bike lanes or the money, but it is a good idea to

have more bike lanes; and that would be an idea to accept with recommendations.

Attorney Richardson commented he thinks it is confusing because there are recommendations

on citizen’s recommendations; and therefore, the requested action is that the Board approve

these staff recommendations, but if the Commissioners wish to treat any individual CEER or

CEERs differently that it pull those, just like it would for the Consent Agenda.

Chair Altman stated some of these may have merit but the Board would want to look and

evaluate; and it does not mean that a no is a no forever.

Mr. Liesenfelt stated correct.

Attorney Richardson noted year round a lot of these may not fall into the criteria of the CEER

program, but they might be great ideas for a Commissioner to champion.

Chair Altman stated he appreciates that, there are some good ideas. He asked if the Board

accepts the document, the summary, is it accepting the items where the staff says accept with

revision, that the Board is accepting the recommendation with the revisions of staff.

Mr. Liesenfelt responded affirmatively.

Chair Altman noted there are over 15 of those.

Mr. Liesenfelt advised there are 17 of those.

Commissioner Feltner stated he thinks what the Chair said was what he was going to say

earlier, which is anyone could petition a Commissioner on these items; he knows he has said

that multiple times that some of the stuff he has brought to the Board started with a

conversation in Publix; if there is not more discussion he will make the motion to approve the

staff recommendations.

Commissioner Adkinson advised she will second.

Chair Altman stated as mentioned Commissioner Goodson is not on the phone, so it is just the

three of them; he thinks some of these are wonderful ideas; he will go back and review them

and some that were rejected, it could be that through the budget process or the comp planning

process, through the rate processes, there is a lot of things that the Board could do; he does

not want one to think that his or her feedback is going on deaf ears because there were some

really good ideas; he wants to thank the public that took the time to really evaluate these issues

and come up with these excellent recommendations…

Commissioner Adkinson advised and it took staff hundreds of hours, seriously hundreds of

hours.

Chair Altman reiterated staff took hundreds of hours; a lot of these rejections are just simply

because the Board has no jurisdiction; he would encourage those who come up with these

ideas to really look at other jurisdictions; and also in the legislative delegation process, annual

legislative delegation meetings, some of these would be really good to talk to the delegation

about.

The Board reviewed the CEER recommendations submitted through Speak Up Brevard and

accepted staff’s recommendations with revisions as required under the County Charter.

Result: APPROVED

Mover: Rob Feltner

Seconder: Kim Adkinson

Ayes: Adkinson, Feltner, and Altman

Absent: Goodson

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

public comment sections.)

Rick Heffelfinger stated one of the things he was hoping to see on the Agenda was something

about impact fees; he told the Board it would come back; he inquired if the County has a study

that is sitting out there about updating the impact fees; everybody say yes; he was shocked

when that gentleman came and talked about what he was being hit with an impact fee in the

Canaveral Groves area; the impact fees, he believes, that the County is supposed to be

studying are impact fees that hit guys that are doing big developments, like he talked about the

impact fees, the School Board has a good handle on it; it they are going to put more kids in the

schools then they are going to give them money; when the County has these huge

developments come through and they put a load on the road, more people more services, then

they need to pay their fair share; and he knows the Board does not like to do that because it

encourages building, it loves building, it is revenue and tax base. He continued by saying but

when they exceed the roads, and the Board turns around and says the road has a high

capacity problem now, it is like now it needs to bust the cap; that happened in 2016; he sees a

pattern and this Board is going to repeat it; it has the opportunity not to; this is a new Board, in

2016 none of this Board was sitting here; that Board kicked the can down the road, and that is

what that term is; those impact fees, those people have to start paying their way; the gentleman

that talked about what is going on out there at space, people want space, high paying jobs, but

he asked at what cost; the rest of the people like watching the rockets, but they are not going to

pay an extra $1,000 on his or her tax bill because they made him or her have to deal with their

water, or fixing the Lagoon more because of dumping the cooling water in it; there could be

some good solutions to that stuff, but they should help work with that; people really love the

space business, it is great, it is the center of excellence for shooting stuff into space; but there

is also a geographic reason that they are here in Brevard County; it turns out Elon Musk does

not really like Texas for some reason, maybe he does not get the orbital insertion that he likes;

this is the place so he is coming here whether or not he has to pay or not; he has to come here

so let him pony up; and he does not know if SpaceX is privatized now or it if it just him. He

mentioned he is going to privatize eventually; he is making a boat load of money delivering

satellites; he has a good system; if he is making money he does not see a reason he does not

help the County out, it is helping him out; the County will accommodate him but do not make

the entire population of people that retired here pay for Elon Musk to have fun shooting rockets

here; those impacts fees, he has an impact; he is shedding water on these buildings that is

going right into the Lagoon; he asked if the Lagoon Committee cares that he is doing that; he

commented the County is pumping it out and Elon is pumping it in; something does not wash

there; and that is all he has to say about that. He added there is one more meeting before that

impact fee is overcome by events because the State is coming in to say they cannot be raised

too much; and the Board has the opportunity to break that trend and look like a hero.

L.1. Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager

Jim Liesenfelt, County Manager, stated he has two related Items on one report; he does not

know if the Board is aware but staff had a busy end of the week and weekend, last weekend;

there was a car accident in Viera that caused power problems; there was a lightning problem at

Viera Regional Park; there was another situation at the library; had an HVAC system go down

at the Sarno Complex; he wants to thank the Parks people and especially Facilities, they were

hustling Thursday through Sunday to work on everything; the HVAC system at the Sarno

Complex includes the Sheriff, Tax Collector, Parks and Recreation, and there is another office

in there; staff got him some data but he has not had a chance to look at it, but if he determines

the best way for that is a replacement instead of continuing fixing it, he may be coming back at

the May 19 meeting if there is not enough funding, and actually ask to pull some things out of

reserves; that way staff does not just keeping patching Sarno, it is more of a long term solution

to this; and he wanted the Board to have a heads up on that.

Chair Altman stated that sounds like a good plan.

L.5. Kim Adkinson, Commissioner District 3, Vice-Chair

Commissioner Adkinson stated she had the opportunity to attend two really cool events the

past few weeks; she attended the Archie Carr Turtle Celebration at the Barrier Island Center;

events like this always remind her how special Brevard County is and how important the natural

resources are; she thanked County staff that was there and all of those who attended; she

expressed her appreciation to the donors for the silent auction; she had won a bracelet and

some earrings of seaglass which was really cool; and she also got to attend the swearing in of

the new West Melbourne Police Chief, Michelle DiGiorgio who has been with West Melbourne

Police for 15 years. She went on to say she has full faith that she is going to continue to lead

that department; it was so well attended that she could not even get in the room, she ended up

standing in the hallway; she would also like to take a moment to thank Skip Bell and Doug

Brown for their efforts over the weekend at the Melbourne Beach Library; a wall was vandalized

there and Mr. Brown came out on Sunday and painted over the graffiti; she had actually gone

to the store to buy paint herself, but was told he was on his way out there to do it; the

responsiveness and dedication of County staff really is appreciated by people who are not

here; and they tell her to express their appreciation.

L.6. Rob Feltner, Commissioner District 4

Commissioner Feltner stated one cannot make this up, at Viera Regional Park there was a

transformer that was out at the main concession stand in the middle of the park by the T-ball

field; he appreciates Park staff, as he asked and they got a generator going to power that

building people could use the bathrooms and such; then a transformer was hit out on the road

or somewhere along those lines that knocked out the power for the entire park; it was the one

concession stand building in the middle that had power from the generator; park staff did a

hero’s job of taking care of everyone out there this weekend; he greatly appreciates them; and

he will be bringing them Chick-fil-A this week for breakfast. He went on to say, also the Vietnam

Traveling Wall is in Wickham Park this weekend and this Board has supported the Wall coming

to Brevard the last two years with a grant to pay the park fees; and he hopes everyone will go

out there and visit the Wall and enjoy, it should be a lovely weekend.

L.7. Thad Altman, Commissioner District 5, Chairman

Chair Altman stated he has one item; he knows many have probably read that there was

another tragic drowning in Brevard beaches; he is personally committed to do whatever is

necessary to develop the resources to help support our first responders on the beach, whether

it is through technology or hiring more lifeguards; he knows staff has done a wonderful job in

adjusting pay scale; he understands that it is getting a lot of interest on new recruits and he

really appreciates that; the County has been very proactive and is working to address that

issue; it is so tragic when somebody chooses to come to Brevard County, enjoy the beaches,

and to vacation here, then lose their lives or lose the life of a loved one; it is heartbreaking; and

he understands the actions of the lifeguards were heroic, being able to save one life and

unfortunately they could not save the second. He noted he appreciates the hard work and the

effort they make, how difficult that must be, and how traumatic it is for them; and he hopes as

they go forward, the Board can take whatever necessary actions it can to help those first

responders out there.

Commissioner Feltner stated the Tourist Development Council (TDC) at the last meeting on his

Board Report, he asked the TDC for $25,000 from the money that is being held now, to shore

up the lifeguard program to help with the increases in the pay for this summer; and that was