Polk County Board of County Commissioners

Meeting Minutes - Final

April 02, 2024 Regular BoCC meeting

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CALL TO ORDER - 9:00 a.m. (BILL BRASWELL, CHAIR)

INVOCATION

Murphy Hanley, Polk County Fire Rescue Chaplain

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (BILL BRASWELL, CHAIR)

CEREMONIAL PROCLAMATIONS

REQUEST FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC/AUDIENCE AND OPPORTUNITY TO BE

HEARD

C.1. Comments.

Minutes: Chris Peterson said it has been several months since he was here asking for

a curative IOA to help their customers complete home improvement projects with

PACE, get their contractors paid, and the assessments on the tax roll. He said there

was litigation between several counties and tax collectors against the FPFA. He said

that a judge ruled that the FPFA had the legal right to originate PACE assessments

statewide. He said they were operating in good faith based on the bond validation and

he said those assessments belong on the tax roll. He said it is time to resolve these

outstanding issues and move forward with a clear set of rules and regulations.

County Attorney Randy Mink will reach out to the Tax Collector.

Mr. Mink said the negotiations will go through their attorney and they would speak to

their attorney. He said he has asked our outside counsel to reach out to Fortify. He

discussed Senate Bill 77 and said it is the PACE Bill that passed. He said they are

waiting to see if the governor signs the bill.

APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA

D.1. Approve Consent Agenda.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

George Lindsey

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

COUNTY COMPTROLLER (STACY M. BUTTERFIELD, CPA)

E.1. Disbursements.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Martha Santiago

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

E.2. Minutes of Regular Board meeting held on March 19, 2024.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Martha Santiago

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

REQUEST FROM ELECTED OFFICIAL and OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY

F.1. Update on the Polk Regional Water Cooperative - Eric DeHaven, P.E., PRWC

Executive Director

Minutes: Eric DeHaven, Executive Director Polk Regional Water Cooperative (PRWC),

showed slides and discussed the restrictions on the Upper Floridian Aquifer. He said

Polk County could need another 32 million gallons per day in 2045 to meet demands.

He gave an overview of the PRWC and discussed the municipal governments involved

and the goals. He discussed the member agreements executed in 2016 and 2022. He

reviewed the Southeast Wellfield Phase 1 and the West Polk Wellfield Phase 1

projects, capital costs and schedules. He discussed a funding summary of the two

projects and said their goal is to maximize the grants. He discussed the PRWC

Business Plan. He thanked the Board for their time. He thanked Commissioner Lindsey

for his dedicated service as Chairman to the PRWC and he said he has provided great

guidance to the group and they appreciate all that he has done.

Commissioner Lindsey said Mr. DeHaven was the right guy for the job and has done a

great job picking up where Ryan started. He said it has been a challenge early on

working with the municipalities and all the angst associated with that. He said it is a

great working team now and everyone is pulling in the same direction. He stated it is a

regional problem with a regional solution and is moving forward.

Upon question, Mr. DeHaven said the PRWC is a small governmental agency. He said

if they were to hire their own operators they might be pulling from the operators for

municipalities in Polk County. He said the operations of working with reverse osmosis

is beyond what is typical for the region. He said they thought it would be good to get the

expertise from someone familiar with reverse osmosis and also not tap on the

resources from operators.

Upon question, Commissioner Lindsey said each municipality is doing a rate study and

he said there will be a time when each municipality will have a different calculation. He

said systems that have little old water and require more new water the average will be

higher for them. He said systems that depend less on new water will have a less rate

impact.

Mr. Beasley said at the April 12th Agenda Review the Board will see a comprehensive

overview of the completed rate study and the adjustments being proposed. He thinks

they will recommend that this is effective October 1.

COUNTY ATTORNEY (RANDY MINK)

G.1. Approve the release of a surety in the amount of $380,375.54 in the form of

Performance Bond No. GM226202 for One College Place. (No fiscal impact)

Minutes: County Attorney Randy Mink discussed the release of surety for One College

Place.

Commissioner Lindsey recused from voting.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Martha Santiago

Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

Lindsey

Recused:

G.2. Approve the release of a warranty and surety in the amount of $243,409.46 in

the form of Maintenance Bond No. GM 204417 for Astonia North. (No fiscal

impact)

Minutes: County Attorney Randy Mink discussed the release of warranty and surety for

Astonia North.

Commissioner Lindsey recused from voting.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Martha Santiago

Rick Wilson

Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

Lindsey

Recused:

COUNTY MANAGER (BILL BEASLEY)

H.1. Approve a ten-year Sponsorship and Host Agreement with RussMatt LLC

beginning in FY 23/24 through FY 32/33. ($2,093,000.00 estimated expense

over ten years)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the ten-year Sponsorship and Host

Agreement with RussMatt LLC, beginning in Fiscal Year 2023/2024. He recommended

approval.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Martha Santiago

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

H.2. Approve the contract with Peace River Center for Personal Development, Inc.

for uncompensated inpatient psychiatric services. (Not to exceed $1,492,262

annually)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the contract with Peace River Center

for Personal Development, Inc., for uncompensated inpatient psychiatric services. He

recommended approval.

Larry Williams, Peace River CEO, said this commission has seen indigent health care

and mental health as an important topic and he appreciates them for that. He said that

they receive state funding of $493. He said the average is 13-14 patients each day that

do not have any funds, insurance, or are under insured that would fall into the category

under indigent health care. He said they are asking through the Citizens Health Care

Oversight Committee and Indigent Health Care Funds to support those being

involuntarily baker acted into their facility. He said they have two inpatient facilities with

50 beds and 13-14 of those are unfunded/underfunded. He said it is $350 per diem per

person.

Upon question, Mr. Williams said just under 3,500 patients a year are baker acted

through their facility. He said there are two other receiving facilities at Lakeland

Regional and BayCare in Winter Haven.

Chair Braswell said that the citizens of the county voted for an indigent care tax that

has allowed us to provide services without feeling a whole lot of pain in the county.

Mr. Williams thanked the Board for their passion for mental illness and indigent health

care. He said the Marchman Act is Tri-County.

Commissioner Santiago said she is glad that the monies they are raising for the

indigent health care is going to the right use. She gave kudos to their program and

what they do. She thanked Joy Johnson for leading the committee that invests money

in our community and the health of our people.

Mr. Williams said everything in these two facilities are a result of a Baker Act. He said

Lakeland has 88 beds for the Baker Act and Peace River has 50, and Winter Haven

has 12. He said they do have walk-ins that come in everyday. He said they have an

APRN or licensed mental health therapist to talk to them and they are baker acted if

they meet the criteria.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Martha Santiago

Rick Wilson

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

H.3. Approve Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Grant

Agreement No. WRP08 with Polk County to co-fund the Lake Lulu Wetland

Restoration Project. (one-time revenue by FDEP in the amount of $375,000 and

$375,000 Polk County match)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the Florida Department of

Environmental Protection Grant Agreement No. WRP08 with Polk County to co-fund

the Lake Lulu Wetland Restoration Project. He recommended approval.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

George Lindsey

Rick Wilson

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

H.4. Approve agreement with Dream Traxx, LLC to design and build a world class

motocross track at Bone Valley ATV Park. ($240,075.00 one-time expense)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the agreement with Dream Traxx,

LLC, to design and build a world class motocross track at Bone Valley ATV Park. He

recommended approval.

Derek Harpe, Parks and Natural Resources, said there is an opportunity for Red Bull

events. He said the company builds everything for Red Bull so the highest level riders

are riding at those facilities. He said one of the top ten training facilities is in north

Florida. He said that this will be a world class facility.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Rick Wilson

Neil Combee

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

H.5. Approve staff to pursue acquisition of the site nominated to the Environmental

Lands Program. Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee

(CLASAC) recommends pursuing acquisition of EL-116-24. (no fiscal impact)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed staff pursing acquisition of the site

nominated to the Environmental Lands Program. He said the Conservation Land

Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee (CLASAC) recommends pursuing acquisition

of EL-116-24.

Tabitha Biehl, Parks and Natural Resources, showed slides of the site and said it is just

outside the Lake Buffum area. She discussed the characteristics and the scoring of the

site. She said the technical assessment score is 72 and said she has added the

discussion from CLASAC. She said from the previous program Circle B Bar was scored

at 44, SUMICA site was 56 and Lakeland Highlands Scrub was 44 out of 100. She said

the criteria has been changed a little bit.

Mr. Beasley requested that the Board accept or reject the CLASAC recommendation.

Upon question, Ms. Biehl said they have put every nomination in. She said there are

cases if it is green space that is part of a development then they will have

conversations with the land owners.

Commissioner Lindsey said if the previous matrix scored Circle B at 44, then he thinks

the matrix needs to be revisited. He said we are giving participation ribbons to anything

that comes in front of us. He said based on these scorings he would not be inclined to

approve anything less than 70%. He said right now there is little or nothing that is

turned away.

Ms. Biehl said that some of the criteria was modified but there are similarities.

Commissioner Combee said we would have to know what the changes were from the

old to the new.

Ms. Biehl said the categories are not equally rated.

Commissioner Combee said his interest is in public access and recreational

opportunities. He asked if it is too late to make changes.

County Attorney Randy Mink said the criteria is within the ordinance that was approved

by the citizens. He said there are different individuals that are grading these properties

at different levels. He said this Board has the discretion to move forward for acquisition.

Commissioner Wilson said it is early to be changing scoring. He said half of these on

the list that are approved will not go anywhere. He said we are so early into this. He

said he goes out to a lot of these and he knows what happens there. He said we look

at a positive situation for these lands. He said everyone gets so intense on these

numbers and these properties have a long way to go to be acquired by easements or

purchase. He said they got to be the right piece of land.

Commissioner Santiago said looking at the numbers is deceiving. She said when she

sees a 72 out of 100 she sees a D or an F. She said she appreciates the comments

from the discussion because it gives her a clearer picture as to why it is being

recommended.

Commissioner Lindsey said the scoring is out of 118 and not 100 and that pulls the

percentage of the passing grade down. He said part of the deliberation needs to be

considered that you cannot always quantify that if we do not acquire this property or

what. He said un-reclaimed mine land that is land locked he would not put that on our

list. He said there is an or what factor that needs to be taken into consideration on

where we spend our resources.

Chair Braswell said take the numbers off and do like every other recommendation that

we get for every other project and look at whether staff approves it.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Rick Wilson

Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

Lindsey

NAY:

H.6. Approve staff to pursue acquisition of the site nominated to the Environmental

Lands Program. Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee

(CLASAC) recommends pursuing acquisition of EL-117-24. (no fiscal impact)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed staff pursuing acquisition of the site

nominated to the Environmental Lands Program. He said the Conservation Land

Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee (CLASAC) recommends pursuing acquisition

of EL-117-24.

Tabitha Biehl, Parks and Natural Resources, showed slides of the site that is on the

northwest corner of Bartow off of E.F. Griffin Road. She discussed the characteristics

and the scoring of the site. She said the technical assessment score is 64. She said

the CLASAC had several comments.

Commissioner Combee said his initial reaction was that this was not a good idea as a

former mine project. He said after listening to Tabitha and Gaye talk about the

opportunities that can be created between Lake Hancock and south Lakeland. He said

he does not think there are many diamonds left in Polk County that are not in public

ownership. He said the idea is to preserve land, conserve land and to set it aside. He

said his issue is public access and recreational opportunities for people. He said he

believes when people voted for this that is what they had in mind. He said his emphasis

is where we can create public access. He said when a property scores low the price we

are willing to pay would be reflected by that score.

Commissioner Santiago said she would agree with leaving the tag score out and

having the comments from CLASAC. She said the score throws everything off.

Commissioner Wilson said this piece it affects him when the water coming from there

down into Bear Creek and then Peace River and he said that was some of the worse

water coming there. He said that is one thing we may be able to help. He said it might

not score high but there could be a lot of things to work with.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Martha Santiago

Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

Lindsey

NAY:

H.7. Approve staff to pursue acquisition of the site nominated to the Environmental

Lands Program. Conservation Land Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee

(CLASAC) recommends pursuing acquisition of EL-118-24. (no fiscal impact)

Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed staff pursuing acquisition of the site

nominated to the Environmental Lands Program. He said the Conservation Land

Acquisition Selection Advisory Committee (CLASAC) recommends pursuing acquisition

of EL-118-24.

Tabitha Biehl, Parks and Natural Resources, showed slides of the site that is on the

Davenport Lots. She discussed the characteristics and the scoring of the site. She said

the technical assessment score is 88. She said that CLASAC had a lot of comments for

this project.

Commissioner Combee said land sales subdivisions are a curse on this county. He

said he tried to get the county interested in this back in the 90's because there was an

opportunity for them to develop. He said someone was able to put this together and he

thinks it is great. He asked if there would come a time if we would fence it to

incorporate the public's land.

Commissioner Wilson said there will be negotiations with the owners and it depends on

what they want.

Commissioner Combee said we have to secure the tax payers property.

Commissioner Lindsey said for the guy who has the cattle for them to show the lease

and the property covered by the lease.

Chair Braswell said so you are asking how we will secure our property.

Ms. Biehl said these parcels are to secure big chunks and if we do get a large area, if

appropriate, they could take actions to fence at that time.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Rick Wilson

Martha Santiago

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1 (GEORGE LINDSEY)

I.1. Commissioner Lindsey Comments.

Minutes: Commissioner Lindsey had no comments.

COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 2 (RICK WILSON)

J.1. Commissioner Wilson Comments.

Minutes: Commissioner Wilson had no comments.

COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 4 (MARTHA SANTIAGO)

K.1. Commissioner Santiago Comments.

Minutes: Commissioner Santiago said they were able to thank and celebrate many

volunteers for Polk County and she said it was a good celebration for them. She said

they went and attended the Avelo announcement and said it is our new airlines coming

into Lakeland. She said the first destination they announced is for New Haven,

Connecticut. She said we also went to a Polk Parkway opening ceremony. She said we

were at the History Center for the Legacy in Polk County where they recognized the

first woman county commissioner and the first African American county commissioner.

She thanked the Board for the invitations allowing her to be a part of that.

COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 5 (NEIL COMBEE)

L.1. Re-appoint Stephen Kalogridis to serve as a member of the Housing Finance

Authority for the four-year term, March 1, 2024, to February 29, 2028.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

George Lindsey

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

L.2. Commissioner Combee Comments.

Minutes: Commissioner Combee had no comments.

COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 3 (BILL BRASWELL, CHAIR)

M.1. Chair Braswell Comments.

Minutes: Chair Braswell said that the Polk Parkway at Exit 14 is closed. He said the

Turnpike Authority said it would be about 200 cars per hour at peak time. He said

Braddock Road Interchange has opened up and is a big deal for us. He said either

Manatee or Sarasota County has allowed a developer to go in with hundreds of homes

before the roads were finished. He said they have dirt roads, all these new homes and

now the developer has said I am out of here.

Planning and Development Director John Bohde said you could get a building permit

for model homes without all the infrastructure being completed, you would have to put

up a bond. He said we would not issue a CO without the work being complete.

Chair Braswell said a CO was issued because these people are living there. He said

what has happened now is the roads are washing out and who is going to pay for it. He

said obviously it cannot happen here.

Mr. Bohde said they would have a surety or performance bond if the local government

had to go in and finish that.

Commissioner Lindsey said before the platting process goes through staff visits the site

and makes a list of the items that are unfinished. He said between county staff and the

developer's engineer they agree on a value of what is not done and then 20 - 30% is

added to that number. He said some bonds on today's agenda were refunded. He said

you have money in the bank to cover the short fall with a premium added to that.

Chair Braswell said that county was looking at a MSBU on the residents to pay for it.

EXPEDITED HEARINGS PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. 2022-089

Minutes: County Attorney Randy Mink reminded the audience of the procedures for

public hearings and expedited hearings and swore in those who plan to speak.

O.1. Public Hearing (LDCT-2024-2 Townhomes LDC Text Amendment) (First

Reading) to consider the adoption of a County-initiated request to clarify the

approval process and development standards for multi-family townhome

developments. (No Fiscal Impact).

Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal reviewed the proposed text

amendment. He said the language is that all townhomes whether owner or renter will

have the same development standards and processes. He said that this is a first

reading.

Commissioner Lindsey confirmed that you can plat townhomes where the property line

is the shared wall between townhomes.

The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

P.1. Public Hearing (LDCDD-2024-1 / Grenelefe CDD) to consider the adoption of an

applicant-initiated ordinance to establish a new Community Development District

(CDD) the unincorporated area of the county. (No fiscal impact

Minutes: County Attorney Randy Mink said the Board is reviewing a Community

Development District (CDD) and is not reviewing a land use change. He said by

approving a CDD the Board is not approving a development. He said the development

currently in the CDD will carry through the entitlements allowed under land use

regulations. He said the Board's review is governed by statute and is limited to six

items provided. He said the state law governing CDDs states that any matter

concerning permitting or planning of the development is not material or relevant. He

said contrary to what was reported in the media the Board will be voting on the matter

today.

Erik Peterson, Land Development, showed slides and said the CDD is not a change in

land uses, density or intensity. He said the request is for a CDD for 423 detached

residential units and he showed the site location. He said it is for an undeveloped area.

He discussed the water and wastewater connections and said there is enough

capacity. He reviewed the criteria for establishing a CDD. He said this CDD meets the

six state requirements.

Upon question, Mr. Peterson said this site is vested for 5 units per acre. He said in

2008 there was a Comprehensive Plan amendment to expand the utility enclave area

to include this parcel, and a Land Development Code text amendment adopted in

2009, and a Planned Development (PD) that was adopted. He said they are not

building out to the same intensity of the PD they are going less. He said the

entitlements under the previous PD allowed them to have townhouses, they are not

opting for that and he said the current request is for single-family detached lots 50-75

feet wide. He said they do not need to come to the Board for approval to build the 423

homes.

Chair Braswell said there is going to be 423 homes built regardless of what this Board

decides. He said the CDD today is to approve a funding mechanism to do that and if

we do not approve it they will go somewhere else and borrow money.

Upon question, Mr. Peterson said the site plan was approved by the Board in 2009. He

said the residential and mixed used projects once adopted are good for their entirety of

the build out. He said the developer owns more of Grenelefe and has the intent to

develop that further. He said the land uses were not consistent with their petition and

they scaled it back to be consistent. He said a less intensive use can always be scaled

back; he said it is in the Land Development Code under the minor modification criteria.

He said if they want to increase the density or the land area that would prompt it to

come back in for review. He said our standards today are better and they will have to

have open space, sidewalks, recreation amenities, stormwater retention ponds, and the

25 foot setbacks for garages. He said when the infrastructure in the development is

under the CDD then improvements and maintenance fall under the taxpayers that the

CDD funds and not upon the general fund. He said the CDD is close to being a city and

the police powers fall short of that which a city would have. He said the members of the

CDD Board members will be elected.

Chair Braswell said he knows that CDDs are property taxes for the rest of their life.

Commissioner Lindsey said it is a payoff and they have the right to pay it off early. He

said it has a sunset and any CDD language has to be in all caps and bold type on any

contract.

Upon question, Mr. Peterson said the land use has already been approved and will not

come back to the Board unless there is an increase. He said if they wanted to do

multi-family they would have to come in for a land use amendment. He said the

single-family is what was approved.

The Chair opened a public hearing.

Jere Earlywine, representing the applicant, said they have established all six of the

criteria to establish the CDD. He said the project is already approved and moving

forward and the question is whether you have the HOA or the CDD manage this. He

said it allows them to bring forward less expensive infrastructure. He said the residents

can go back, refurbish the stormwater ponds and they can access the tax exempt bond

market. He said it is a much more robust operations and maintenance entity. He said

the CDD collects on the tax roll and he said it is more transparent. He said there are

numerous recordable documents on the CDD. He discussed the benefits of having a

CDD. He said existing residents are not subject to the CDD and it is only within the

boundaries of the CDD.

Upon question, Mr. Earlywine said the HOA does architectural controls for something

like this and he said they would have an HOA and the CDD. He said CDDs have been

able to apply for FEMA funding and can better restore the property. He said if there is

an accident and they get sued, the CDD's liability is capped by sovereign immunity

protection and he said their insurance is better. He said additional taxes could be put

on the residents through the CDD.

Glenn Lawhorn asked for everyone in opposition to stand up. He said CDDs as a whole

are bad. He said it will be $39,000 in fees imposed. He said there is a lot more to this

story than meets the eye. He showed a map of the surrounding areas. He said if they

deny this CDD he believes they will stop them. He said if they are such a good

developer they could finance it. He said the county is on the hook for the roads, water

and sewer.

Mr. Peterson said Grenelefe's water and wastewater is a private system and is under

control as the same company as the developer. He said we are not responsible.

Mr. Mink said that it could go into receivership and it could end up in our hands.

Commissioner Lindsey said if it defaulted the bondholders would step in and take over.

Upon question, Mr. Mink said if they deny this the court would look at which of the six

items it did not meet.

Jeffrey Colburn asked that the Board deny this CDD. He said that the utilities will be

maxed. He discussed traffic congestion. He said by denying this they are causing the

developer to accrue more costs.

Kent Buchannan said 22 other people stand in opposition with them. He discussed

endangered species and said that there may be some out there.

Pablo Llavona said the Grenelefe community goes out of water a lot and has boil water

notices. He said CDDs are never a good thing and people cannot afford them. He

asked them to reconsider. He said their water is Grenelefe utilities.

John Stewart said he is seeing something wrong here. He discussed the sewage plant

and said it is being absorbed in the ground in a basin. He showed pictures and said it is

not maintained.

Michael McConnaghy discussed pumps being down and not meeting capacity. He

discussed traffic and said that the infrastructure is not there.

Mike Lane said he has concerns with the infrastructure. He said he does not know if

there are any plans for the expansion of the water treatment facility. He said another

concern is the traffic volume. He discussed traffic backing up with a round-a-bout. He

said these are two lane roads and asked if they will add road width and traffic lights.

Paul Guertin spoke in opposition. He discussed how traffic will increase. He said the

crime rate and property values will go up. He said other homes are planned to be built

in Grenelefe.

Dennis Lezenski discussed the other homes being built in the area and the traffic. He

said they do have wildlife and most of it is gone and he said they have protected

animals on the golf course. He spoke in opposition.

Tommy Addison confirmed that it is appropriate for him to speak because this did not

come before the Planning Commission. He said his concerns are that there have been

over 300 CDDs going bankrupt in Florida. He said when you go by the sewer plant they

will often have broadcast lime because of an overflow. He said Haines City did a study

on the utilities and he discussed the boil water notices. He referred to the staff report

and said the DEP permit for Grenelefe utilities is a 0.68 million gallons three month

rolling average plant and he said that DEP has it limited to .34 mgd. He said it has not

been maintained in the manner to even handle the load it has already got. He said it

will get worse going forward.

Theresa Soles discussed the traffic and the round-a-bout. She discussed the creek and

said it is home to wildlife.

Jeremy Knowles discussed the staff report on page 3 and said the graph that is used is

old numbers. He said the school facility is over capacity.

Ashley Swanson said this is reminding her of the story of The Lorax. She said the town

being destroyed is what will happen if this is approved. She said for them to realize the

impact this has on the schools, natural resources and emergency responders.

Mr. Earlywine spoke in response to public comments. He said the CDD is better to take

care of infrastructure than an HOA. He said the traffic and wildlife were considered at

the land use hearing. He said they have an updated certified letter of them having

water capacity and he said they are at half of the capacity. He said he does not know of

a CDD declaring bankruptcy and said there is a foreclosure process. He said there is

money set aside in a CDD as reserves and said that helps keep the project going. He

said if there is a default that the Florida Statues make it very clear that the county is

never stuck with CDD assets. He requested approval.

Upon question, Mr. Earlywine said the CDD does not have anything to do with the

utilities. He said any development project is going to have utilities.

The Chair closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Combee said up until this meeting he did not have much concern about

the wastewater and sewer. He said he does not like CDDs and they border on

predatory lending practices because there are people who have no idea what they are

getting into. He said that the idea that there is a better instrument than a HOA; he said

HOAs are HOAs and CDDs are CDDs. He said he has gotten more interested in this

package plant. He referred to the 50 year old plant with the issues and said we are

playing with fire here. He said that is not what we are deciding, we are deciding to

approve a CDD. He said the rapid infiltration basin is also a concern and he asked

about the failure of the projects along 17 and 27.

Mr. Beasley said rapid infiltration basins on the ridge seems to be successful in terms

of recharging. He said there are some locations where recharging based on the use of

the basin is not performing the way it should.

Commissioner Combee said it provided only a fraction of the disposal capacity that was

presented/represented. He said if we can do anything to slow it down. He said it is not

a binding site plan, there is no approval needed to change it, and no one needs to

approve what was changed. He said he will vote against it and he does not know if

anyone can answer how much modification will take place before it is changed.

Commissioner Santiago said we need to talk further on how something in 2009 and

was approved 15 years ago. She said we know the project approved in 2009 is going to

move forward. She said she is surprised that in 2009 the density of 423 existed

especially houses 50-60-70 feet apart. She said she agrees with them and she is not

going to approve the CDD. She said it would be harsh for the residents to pay for both

the CDD and HOA. She said within the last six years she has had more calls on

problems with CDDs and HOAs.

Commissioner Lindsey said we have gotten off track and said there is a statutory

requirement to be met with the CDD and it has been met. He said if there were 5 of 6

requirements satisfied we would be obliged to turn it down but once the sixth one is

satisfied we are obliged to move it forward. He said this a ministerial not a discretionary

action. He said the zoning does not have an expiration. He said if it is 433/435 and they

want to make it 200 or 100 that is a taking of a property right and that is not what is

before us today. He said a development order cannot be denied for lack of

transportation capacity but it can be denied for a lack of water and sewer capacity. He

said that is a bridge they will have to cross once they start the site plan and permitting.

He said whatever shape that plant is in is for another agency to determine. He said

they are not borrowing it is taken off the purchase price and he said that the buyer does

not have to satisfy a mortgage at the current rate and instead they are borrowing at tax

free rates. He said the individual can pay it off anytime. He said there are plenty of

protections and statutes regarding CDDs. He said there are disclosures required on the

closing contract and no one is part of the CDD that does not choose to be. He said our

ministerial act is to say yes or no and nothing we have heard today denies any of those

standards have been met.

Commissioner Wilson said he sees where everybody is coming here on everything

going on up there. He said this is about a CDD; he said we got on water plants and

everything and it all comes to play on his mind. He said he will not be supporting a

CDD.

Chair Braswell vacated as Chair to second the motion.

Chair Braswell said if we defeat this all we have done is set the county up for a lawsuit

which we will ultimately lose because the state has made it clear that once the six items

are met the deal is done.

Motion to Approve.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

DENIED

George Lindsey

Bill Braswell

Lindsey, and Braswell

Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

NAY:

Minutes: Commissioner Lindsey asked that the cost of defending this position is

reported back to the Board.

Motion to Deny.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Rick Wilson

Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

Lindsey, and Braswell

NAY:

P.2. Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of a Resolution Allowing for the Installation

of Three Traffic Calming Devices (Speed Humps) on Lichtenwalter Road, Near

Winter Haven. (estimated $15,000.00 one-time expense)

Minutes: Amy Gregory, Traffic Manager, showed slides and discussed the request for

installation of traffic calming devices on Lichtenwalter Road, Near Winter Haven. She

said this meets the requirements of the traffic calming devices. She recommended

approval.

The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

AYE:

APPROVED

Neil Combee

Martha Santiago

Lindsey, Braswell, Combee, Santiago, and Wilson

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Minutes: Meeting adjourned at 11:26 a.m.