Polk County Board of County Commissioners  
Meeting Minutes - Final  
April 21, 2026 Regular BoCC meeting  
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CALL TO ORDER - 9:00 a.m. (MARTHA SANTIAGO, CHAIR)  
Rollcall  
Commissioner Rick Wilson  
Commissioner Bill Braswell  
Commissioner Martha Santiago  
Commissioner Michael Scott  
Commissioner Becky Troutman  
Present:  
Absent:  
INVOCATION  
Murphy Hanley, Polk County Fire Rescue Chaplain  
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (MARTHA SANTIAGO, CHAIR)  
A.  
PRESENTATIONS and RECOGNITIONS  
A.1. Employee Recognition  
Minutes: The Board recognized Neal Duncan with Tourism and Sports Marketing,  
Daniel Weible with Information Technology, Henry Bass with Roads and Drainage,  
Dean Hrobar with Fire Rescue, Tommy Peuschell, Jr., with Fire Rescue, and Mary  
Isabel Valdez Gonzalez with Solid Waste for their years of service with the county.  
A.2. Lance Schmidt, Principal and Chris Kessler, Principal with CliftonLarsonAllen,  
LLP, will present the Annual Comprehensive Financial Audit for the fiscal year  
ended September 30, 2025.  
Minutes: Lance Schmidt, Principal with CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, showed slides and  
reviewed the professional services performed and he discussed the financial audits,  
compliance audits, examination and the Florida Management Letter.  
Chris Kessler, Principal with CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP, said all the audits were clean and  
all the opinions were unmodified. He said there are a number of audit reports that they  
prepare and provide that includes the results of their testing. He stated that the  
unmodified opinion is the highest level of opinion which means the financial statements  
are free of material mistakement. He said there was a finding in the single audit related  
to grant reporting that has already been addressed with the Finance Committee. He  
said management has put corrective action in place and moved forward from there. He  
said there were no recommendations or comments in the Management Letter. He said  
it was a successful audit. He thanked everybody at the county that worked so hard to  
help get the audit out.  
Clerk and County Comptroller Stacy Butterfield thanked the county and the  
management team. She said this is a big county that has a lot of financial transactions.  
She said with respect to the grants and the one finding that the county had 116 active  
grants last year. She said that is a lot of grants with over $143 million in expenditures  
and in light if the complexity of this county that is great. She thanked the team for  
already taking the corrective action plan. She thanked the team in the Comptroller's  
office with Tanra-Lee Milson, the Budget and Management office with Christia Johnson  
and the auditor's team.  
County Manager Bill Beasley said it is the men and women who are doing the work day  
in and day out. He said they are making this happen and he cannot say enough about  
how we function in Polk County government. He said that the audit is a testament to  
how well we work and meet the expectations of the citizens we serve.  
Chair Santiago thanked Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Kessler for their presentation. She  
thanked them for the great job they have done this year and all the years they have  
worked with us.  
Commissioner Scott said the audit process takes months and there is a lot of financial  
activity that goes on in the county. He said the professionalism and the continuing  
relationship we have speaks for both sides. He said it takes tons of hours and we are  
very diligent to meet the regulatory requirements to make sure we are doing right by  
the taxpayers.  
B.  
PUBLIC COMMENTS CONCERNING AGENDA ITEMS  
B.1. Comments.  
Minutes: Tom Palmer said it is a great idea to have the Northeast Landfill  
Convenience Center. He said there is illegal dumping in Poinciana and anything they  
can do with that would be a great thing. He said they used to have transfer stations  
back in the day and with it being staffed it will prevent them from creating a new dump  
somewhere. He said he hopes it works well. He said they will be happy to help get the  
word out to publicize it.  
C.  
COUNTY COMPTROLLER (STACY M. BUTTERFIELD, CPA)  
C.1. Disbursements.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Rick Wilson  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
C.2. Minutes of Regular Board meeting held on April 7, 2026.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Rick Wilson  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
D.  
APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA  
D.1. Approve Consent Agenda.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Bill Braswell  
Rick Wilson  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
G.  
COUNTY MANAGER (BILL BEASLEY)  
G.1. Approve construction contract with Rogar Management & Consulting of Florida,  
LLC for the Maine Avenue Sidewalk project ($2,418,685.50 one-time expense)  
Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the construction contract with Rogar  
Management and Consulting of Florida, LLC, for the Maine Avenue sidewalk project.  
He recommended approval.  
Commissioner Braswell said this is a drainage project that lines up as a sidewalk.  
Mr. Beasley said on the eastern end of this sidewalk is where the drainage swales  
exist.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Rick Wilson  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
G.2. Approve agreement with Carollo Engineers, Inc. to provide Part 2 engineering  
services (Conceptual Design) for the East Regional Wastewater Treatment  
Facility (ERWWTF). ($976,382.54 one-time expense)  
Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the agreement with Carollo  
Engineers, Inc., providing Part 2 engineering services for the East Regional  
Wastewater Treatment Facility. He recommended approval.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Rick Wilson  
Bill Braswell  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
G.3. Approve Northeast Landfill Customer Convenience Center (NELF-CCC) Pilot  
Project and adopt a Resolution establishing the NELF-CCC disposal rates  
Minutes: County Manager Bill Beasley discussed the Northeast Landfill Customer  
Convenience Center (NELF-CCC) pilot project and Resolution establishing the  
NELF-CCC disposal rates. He said that payments will be debit or credit card with no  
cash payments. He stated no commercial entities will be allowed to utilize this facility.  
He said the hours of operation will be open Monday thru Friday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  
and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. He recommended approval.  
Upon question, Waste and Resources Director Brian Cogswell said the pilot is going to  
be for the customer to empty it into a 40 yard rolloff can. He said the material cannot  
stay on site and has to go back to the landfill. He said they will have customer service  
staff or scale staff accepting payments, a spotter to make sure there is no prohibited  
wastes being disposed of, and an equipment operator that can push the material into  
the can. He said the reoccurring expenses is the rolloff truck, the skid steer, and the  
staff expenses. He confirmed that will be the reoccurring cost after the first year. He  
said this is temporary and if they were to do this long term they would need permitting  
and a permanent structure. He reviewed what the costs increases would be per vehicle  
type if they were to break even for the cost.  
Commissioner Scott said we are encouraging use of this service instead of illegal  
dumping. He said sending out Code Enforcement and other resources to pick up  
illegally dumped loads we are subsidizing this to make this a pilot and when you look at  
the assets we have to deploy for debris it is likely more than what we are subsidizing.  
He said this is a net benefit and for the residents to take advantage of this.  
Chair Santiago said this is good news and we have had lots of illegal dumping. She  
said it has taken months to get to this point and she has heard many complaints. She  
said this is a one-year pilot program and she hopes people will utilize this. She asked  
for data on how this is utilized. She said for this to be successful we need good  
publicity.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
APPROVED  
Rick Wilson  
Bill Braswell  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
Absent:  
H.  
I.  
COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1 (BECKY TROUTMAN)  
H.1. Commissioner Troutman Comments.  
Minutes: Commissioner Troutman was not present.  
COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 2 (RICK WILSON)  
I.1.  
Commissioner Wilson Comments.  
Minutes: Commissioner Wilson had no comments.  
J.  
K.  
COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 3 (BILL BRASWELL)  
J.1. Commissioner Braswell Comments.  
Minutes: Commissioner Braswell had no comments.  
COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 5 (MICHAEL SCOTT)  
K.1. Commissioner Scott Comments.  
Minutes: Commissioner Scott said following up on Animal Control, the Ledger  
published an article today and he approaches things with a solutions mind, what are  
the problems, what are the solutions, and is it all facts. He stated for the Ledger to  
publish that they called and texted him and he did not contact them back; he said Paul  
called two hours before he tried to publish and he was in the middle of an important  
meeting. He said he appreciates communication and what our team does but for a  
reporter to falsely state stuff about him is disappointing. He said we are trying to do the  
best we can for the county to be forthcoming with information and to do our job and you  
have a reporter that wants to get clicks and likes stating false stuff not only about him  
but there is also stuff in that article that is factually incorrect. He said it is a disservice  
and we all have different ways to solving problems.  
L.  
COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 4 (MARTHA SANTIAGO, CHAIR)  
L.1. Chair Santiago Comments.  
Minutes: Chair Santiago said we completed Sun 'n Fun this week and it lasted six and  
seven days. She said thousands and thousands of people were there.  
Commissioner Braswell said it was 200,000 people. He said the night air show was the  
best he has ever seen and he has been to 100 air shows.  
Chair Santiago said it was very enjoyable.  
N.  
EXPEDITED HEARINGS PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. 2022-089  
Minutes: County Attorney Randy Mink reminded the audience for the procedures for  
public hearings and expedited public hearings. He swore in those who plan to speak.  
N.1 PUBLIC HEARING (LDCPAL 2026-1 OC Text) (Transmittal Hearing) to consider  
the adoption of a Large-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment text  
amendment to modify the characteristics, location criteria and development  
criteria for the Office Center (OC) Future Land Use designation. (No Fiscal  
Impact)  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed text  
amendment. He said that this is a transmittal hearing. He said that the Planning  
Commission and staff recommends approval.  
Upon question, Mr. Ziskal said all of the buffering requirements would still apply. He  
said this would allow us to consider any land use change when it is adjacent to another  
commercial district.  
The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Bill Braswell  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
N.2. PUBLIC HEARING (LDCT-2026-2 Office Center Consistency) (First Reading) to  
consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land Development Code to  
clarify development parameters of the Office Center (OC) district to implement  
policies in the Comprehensive Plan. No Fiscal Impact.  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed text  
amendment. He said that this is a first reading. He said that the Planning Commission  
and staff recommends approval.  
Upon question, Mr. Ziskal said this amendment is looking at the allowable uses and not  
the development standards. He said that we do address parking standards in another  
section of the Land Development Code. He said if they do not have the correct ratio  
they can research and identify where changes could be made to parking requirements.  
Commissioner Scott said allowing these to be near residential he would fear that  
happens and people are parking in other peoples' yards. He said to make sure that is  
adequate.  
The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.  
N.3. PUBLIC HEARING (LDCPAS-2025-37 Hwy 17 92 LCC CPA) (Adoption Hearing)  
to consider the adoption of a Small-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment to  
change the Future Land Use designation on ±1.32 acres from  
Leisure/Recreation (LR) to Linear Commercial Corridor in the Urban Growth  
Area (UGA). (No Fiscal Impact)  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed land use  
amendment. He said that the Planning Commission and staff recommends approval.  
The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Bill Braswell  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
N.4. PUBLIC HEARING (LDCPAS-2025-38 Toho Marigold INST/NAC CPA)  
(Adoption Hearing) to consider the adoption of a Small-Scale Comprehensive  
Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use designation on ±12.5 acres  
from Development of Regional Impact (DRI) to Institutional (INST), and  
Neighborhood Activity Center (NAC) in the Utility Enclave Area (UEA). (No  
Fiscal Impact)  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed land use  
amendment. He said that the Planning Commission and staff recommends approval.  
Upon question, Mr. Ziskal said they could look at areas that are in the DRI that have no  
land use assigned. He said we can be proactive and figure out what we want it to be  
and go through that process. He said we could lead that discussion and efforts.  
The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Bill Braswell  
Rick Wilson  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
N.5. PUBLIC HEARING (LDCT-2025-28 Flex Space & Retail Plazas) (Adoption  
Hearing) to consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land  
Development Code to add standards for Flex Space and Retail Plazas. (No  
Fiscal Impact)  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed text  
amendment. He said that the Planning Commission and staff recommends approval.  
Upon question, Mr. Ziskal said any applications submitted prior to today's adoption  
would follow the code as it was when they applied.  
The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
APPROVED  
Michael Scott  
Rick Wilson  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
AYE:  
Absent:  
N.6. PUBLIC HEARING (LDCT-2025-29 Storage Yards) (Adoption Hearing) to  
consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land Development Code to  
add storage yards as a new land use activity in the Industrial (IND) districts. (No  
Fiscal Impact)  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed text  
amendment. He said that the Planning Commission and staff recommend approval.  
The Chair opened a public hearing; no one spoke.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Rick Wilson  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
N.7. PUBLIC HEARING (LDCT-2025-30 Administrative Plat Approval) (Adoption  
Hearing) to consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land  
Development Code to change the procedure of approving subdivision plats from  
the Board of County Commissioners to the Land Development Director in  
accordance changes to the Florida Statutes. No Fiscal Impact.  
Minutes: Land Development Director Ben Ziskal discussed the proposed text  
amendment. He said this is implementing the requirement that the legislature passed  
that plat approvals must be handled through an administrative approval process and  
not through a public hearing and not through an elected body. He said the Board  
adopted a resolution and we have been practicing that but it has not been codified until  
this point. He said this will provide that the Land Development Director is the signature  
authority for plats and in the absence of the Land Development Director the Office of  
Planning and Development Director, or and Assistant or Deputy County Manager would  
have the signature authority. He said they are recommending to increase the minimum  
construction costs for a performance bond or performance surety for roads and  
drainage projects. He recommended increasing the threshold from $10,000 to $20,000  
for performance items and to $100,000 for maintenance items. He said that the  
Planning Commission and staff recommends approval.  
Upon question, Mr. Ziskal said the last legislative session said that plats are no longer  
required to come before an elected body for approval and it must be an administrative  
process. He said the final signature authority was the Chairman and state law says we  
are no longer allowed to do that. He said it must be an entirely administrative process  
and elected officials are no longer the signature authority. He said plats are no longer  
on the consent agenda, they are in the Accela system, staff reviews based on criteria  
and provides a letter back to the applicant.  
The Chair opened a public hearing.  
James Abercrombie said it is unconstitutional for all this garbage with the three minute  
crap. He said the state is delegating the authority to upstairs. He said they are making  
the rules and taking them out of the equation. He we should be suing the state and we  
should be handling the day to day stuff. He said this is a charter government. He said  
the attorneys should be out of the building and not be involved in any decision.  
The Chair closed the public hearing.  
RESULT:  
MOVER:  
SECONDER:  
AYE:  
APPROVED  
Bill Braswell  
Michael Scott  
Wilson, Braswell, Santiago, and Scott  
Troutman  
Absent:  
P.  
REQUEST FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC/AUDIENCE AND OPPORTUNITY TO BE  
HEARD  
Comments.  
Minutes: Kay Borque said she is sharing a packet on the kennel stats and some  
educational materials. She thanked the Animal Control team and the animal rescue  
organizations for their work. She said there are opportunities to partner with community  
members and a volunteer program is one of those areas. She said there is a meeting  
on animal shelter reform at Southeastern University tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. and people  
can Zoom in if they want. She said they are willing and able to partner with them for a  
positive change.  
Tom Palmer said he wants to talk about data centers. He said there is nothing in our  
Land Development Code that addresses these. He said for transparency to include  
data centers to decide the land use matrix or whether it should be a PD, Level 3 or  
Level 4. He said to address some of the issues that have come up about who the client  
will be, water use and power use. He said it is something we need to get ahead of and  
you cannot do something after the fact.  
County Attorney Randy Mink said he looked into the issue that was brought up with  
Animal Control. He said Section 433 is applied to unaltered cats. He stated that other  
sections of the code, such as 430, allows Animal Control to impound any animal that is  
at large. He said that section allows them to impound cats that are a public health and  
safety concern or a nuisance. He said there are times when Animal Control does not  
realize if it is altered or unaltered. He said there are other sections of the code that  
allows them to impound cats. He said the question was raised about what a citizen  
should do if they are closed and they should call the non-emergency line at the  
Sheriff's office and they will arrange for the animal to be picked up. He said under the  
ordinance it does say it has to be done humanely. He said if they believe an animal has  
been treated unhumanely it should be turned over to Animal Control and let them  
investigate.  
Commissioner Braswell said he was expecting a group here today. He said this is  
especially for the lady from Seminole County who keeps coming in and talking about  
$50,000. He said several years ago the Bully Project came to us, they came to each  
individual commissioner, and we sat down and we listened. He said they had  
suggested solutions and good ideas. He said he had several meetings with them and  
eventually TLC Petsnips came up with the idea for a $50,000 a year voucher program  
for animal sterilization. He said the idea behind it was the people who could not afford  
sterilization they would be able to afford it. He said TLC Petsnips was doing discounted  
sterilizations for the county and they could use the voucher towards the bill. He said he  
heard rumors of the scandal that was going on where all the staff quit. He said it was  
probably money being stolen and someone was recently arrested for what was  
happening back then. He said this Board is never going to touch anything TLC  
Petsnips brings forward. He said we are not going to put taxpayer money into an  
organization that cannot control the money it gets. He said the $20 million came about  
when the director of the Human Society or the SPCA in Duval County claimed she  
could bring a big check to redo our animal control. He said they did a couple of video  
conference calls with the Icahn family. He said he knows who Carl Icahn is and he is a  
piece of crap. He discussed how Carl Icahn bought stock, controlled, bankrupted, and  
stole employee pension funds. He said basically what would happen is they would give  
the county $20 million and take control of the county employees, the assets, everything  
related to animal control would be run by them and paid for by us. He said he wanted  
to put those two issues in context. He said your group comes every meeting and there  
is $20 million someone is offering why not pursue that. He said that does not seem to  
be what is in the cards here it is about being on TV. He said anytime Vicky Quintanilla  
or Maria Barrero have a opportunity to notify the press and be on TV or file ethics  
complaints. He said Ms. Quintanilla's allegation is he led a conspiracy to protect Grady  
Judd's career. He said anyone that knows Grady Judd probably does not know him and  
he does not need to protect Grady Judd's career. He said when he blocks them on  
FaceBook it drives them crazy and he has to block them because he cannot put  
pictures of his grandkids on FaceBook anymore because their group puts such vulgar  
profane nonsense. He said they are FaceBook warriors running their mouths. He asked  
why would you sterilize an animal with something wrong with it and PETA agrees with  
the ethical treatment and that TNR is not an ethical way of dealing with animals. He  
said you would need 80-90% participation with the animals. He discussed state  
statutes and animals being released needs to be authorized by the FWC. He said  
technically you are breaking the law. He said he is here for two and a half years and he  
cannot be elected again and he will do anything he can to make sure they do not get  
anything and not a dime of county money. He said they have gone about this the wrong  
way, they are looking for show and getting on PGTV. He will advocate that his fellow  
commissioners do the same.  
Meeting adjourned 10:16 a.m.