We're getting ready to start our T. P. Our T. E. U. Meeting and we're going to go around and introduce everyone and we can start with Mr. Delaney. Good afternoon. Build a Laney Mayor's office. Amen. What council researcher? Carla Lopez, Office of General Counsel. Philip Peterson, Counselor's Office. My gay district to good afternoon, Chris Miller, a large group five city council. Jacobi Pittman, chair and district 10. Nick Howell in that large group three. Good afternoon, Tyrone, a clap Murray district nine. Ron Salem, group two at large, just visiting. Well, thank you, Mr. President, for visiting with us today. Would you like to go before our presentation? I'd love to. OK. So I can run back upstairs. Yes, sir. Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the time. I just wanted to, I was at finance this morning, trying to catch as many people as I can in person to just kind of review where we are with the Jaguar process and answer any questions you might have. at 10 a.m. It's from 10 to four scheduled and then we have one Thursday, one to four. We will go through the financial part of the deal and the auditors have presented, have put together a nice presentation for that. I think everyone will be very comfortable with as well as we'll hear from Mike Weinstein and Mark Lamping as well and we have two other components that we'll get through. If we don't finish Thursday we'll go in a Wednesday we'll go into Thursday from 1 to 4 and then next week we'll have three or four more of the various agreements that we'll review and we'll do potentially a couple of more the third week as we go through this process. Now all of this is based on Mary Ann getting a title for the legislation tomorrow morning at 10 and all indications are she will have that and that also a regional meeting that was not on the original chart. And I'm going to get you a revised chart here after a tomorrow morning is a public hearing on the Jaguar legislation on Monday evening June 17th at 5 o'clock. So that is a new addition to the calendar that I gave you several days ago. And we will have a revised calendar and everything based on this title being introduced tomorrow morning going in the newspaper for the public hearing. We will vote on June 25th if all the council questions are answered. If we still have questions as we get close to that, we will move the legislation into July after we get back from break. It's as simple as that. Now, I have spoken to Vice President White, President Designat White. He is very supportive of this process and would like to see this completed in June so he can kind of get a fresh start as he takes over in July. But that depends upon the 19 of us getting all our questions answered. So, Revise Calendar out tomorrow as well as we will have our first meeting tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Any questions that I can answer with that information? I do have one. Are they meeting with each of us or is it a requested meeting? If you, there'll be requested meetings with either either now, keep in mind, that's a great question. Michael Hugg is getting these documents the same time the auditors are getting them. Okay. So he will be here tomorrow and will present his analysis of the agreements as well. It'll be Mark and Mike presenting the auditors and Michael Hogue and then we will have questions and we will go around the Dias five minutes a person and we will go around until everyone gets her questions answered. All right, Mr. President, thank you so much for coming to the EU meeting and I'm sorry. Thank you chair. Do the chair to the president Salem. Do we have the most recent drafts of the agreement? I know there was an initial draft and then there was a subsequent drafts. Do we have the most recent drafts? Yes, that's a great question. We would not start this process. The last agreements that you received and there were three of them in that email are the final agreements. There will not be a change to those agreements unless there is an amendment from the City Council. The agreements we will send out at the end of this week for our discussions next week will be final agreements. We will not move forward until unless we know those agreements are final, the auditors are adamant that they will not review an agreement unless it's finalized. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Any other questions? Saying none. Thank you so much for visiting with us today. And I am very... What was that? I am very... So is that every time I talk? Alright, so we're going to try this again. I am very excited to have one of my colleagues and my longtime friend to come and share with us the initiative that the St. John River Keepers are doing and Lisa, I can't wait to see your presentation. I think it's a little bit out of the box, but I think it's important to know in terms of transportation as far as our waterways are concerned and so I'm going to turn it over to you. Well thank you, Councilwoman Pitman and thank you all committee for allowing me to speak today about my favorite subject, the St. John's River. My name is Lisa Reina and I'm your St. John's Riverkeeper and excited to talk about how decisions made in this very chambers impact our river and how we can work together for a more resilient river which means a more resilient Jacksonville as well as more resilient communities. We are not for profit organization will be celebrating 25 years next year of being in existence and we were founded right here in Jacksonville. Our headquarters at Jacksonville University and we work with not only our dedicated team, our volunteers, our members but also scientists throughout the watershed to fulfill our mission to defend the St. John's River and advocate for its protection. And it's not just the St. John's. It's also all of its tributaries. It's all of its lakes that make up the river, all the land adjacent. It's all connected. And so everything we do will have an impact on the river. And hopefully it's good impacts. Sometimes we have to tackle some more challenging things but we tackle our work by making sure number one that we investigate and research every opportunity. We educate ourselves, our community, our members, our children, we have a full-time kids program with two educators that work in five counties here in Northeast Florida. We advocate, we activate, we negotiate good solutions. And if the science is on our side, and we will litigate if necessary, but we try to avoid that at all cost and try to come to diplomatic solutions. While we're located here in Jacksonville, we do cover the entire St. John's River watershed. It's nearly 8,800 square miles. So we travel more in our car than in our boat. But we work with county commissioners as well as citizens, residents, anglers, commercial fishermen throughout the watershed. Focusing on what we can do to make sure not only are we protecting our local waters, but we're also protecting things upstream. DuVall County is downstream for nearly 300 miles of river, and so things that happen in Orlando, in Melbourne, in all these different communities impact water quality right here. The rivers 300 and 10 miles long, it flows north, and it only drops in elevation 27 feet that journey, and it's a very lazy river so when bad things go into the St. John's unfortunately they stick around for a while. Also want to make note of the red star. The red star is the means the river bottom is actually below sea level 200 miles inland and so when we're talking about sea level rise in Florida, it's not just a coastal problem. It's an inland issue with the St. John's. And so decisions we make right here in Jacksonville can impact our waterways upstream as well, which we'll talk about in a moment. Hurricane Irvo was a wake up call for us all. There was historic flooding that we didn't anticipate. The silver lining of that storm it led to a very robust resiliency conversation with council, with the mayor's office, with the chief resilience officer. So we have a wonderful action plan through resilient jacks. This is flooding on Black Creek. While Black Creek is in Clay County, that flooding impacted us right here in Jacksonville. The Georgia Pacific plant in Putnam County was actually malfunctioning after that storm. We were able to catch that from an airplane ride and work with them to fix that problem sooner than later. But all of these storms impact us here in Duval. While we were spared from Hurricane Ian and Nicole in 2022, our middle basin wasn't that fortunate. This is flooding in Wollacka area. This is flooding near Orlando, Lake Jessup, Astor. They were underwater for months. And that increases pollution in the St. John's River that makes it way downstream. So it's incumbent on us to make sure we're reducing flood risk not only in Duval County, but throughout the entire watershed with good policies towards more resiliency. Because whenever it floods we see more pollution run into our waterways, whether it's urban fertilizer, agriculture fertilizer, failing septic tanks, all of these things increase pollution to the St. John's. And since it is a laid, lazy river and it's tidally influenced this pollution sticks around for a long time and we're seeing areas in our watershed the flood risk is continuing to increase. These are all the areas of high risk in the St. John's River watershed and it reaches all the way down to Indian River County, Brevard County. These areas are low lying and so as waters are rising we're seeing this flood risk which increases pollution impacts and that leads to toxic blue-green algae outbreaks like this one, this one was on doctor's lake and the toxicity levels were more than 300 times safe recreational standards which were really concerned us because I don't know if you can see that little too but there were little kids on that inner tube. So we've been working with the state, we've been working with the health department to make sure when these outbreaks happen, we have warnings out so people don't put their families in harm's way. And most importantly, we stop pollution at its source when we won't see these things happening in our water ways that make our rivers unusable. Another challenge we're continuing to see is saltwater intrusion. As saltwater makes its way further and further up the St. John's River, this saltwater does damage to submerged grasses and wetlands. This intrusion is caused by many things. One is we're overtapping our aquifer specifically in the central Florida area. These springs, our springs which are fed by the aquifer provide 30% of the freshwater and we're seeing a reduction of spring flow due to overuse of the Florida aquifer. And when there's less freshwater in the St. John's River system, there's more saltwater coming in to replace that void. In addition, we are seeing sea level rise across the board. This is the gauge at Mayport. Demons, it's increased about 11 inches over the last century, but that's increasing where we're seeing higher water levels, pushing more saltwater upstream. In addition, as we dredge the St. John's River, creating a super highway for larger cargo ships, it also creates a super highway for the Atlantic Ocean to come further in because when you go deeper and wider, you take out all the roadblocks for the Atlantic Ocean and gives it more tidal force to force the Atlantic Ocean further inland. In fact, since the Cores been deepening and widening the St. John's River for the last hundred years, the tidal range, the tide range is more than doubled. And so this is something we need to address. Not only is it increasing salt water intrusion, the Army Corps predicted that the last dredging that was just conducted will increase water levels is not throughout the entire county. It's not throughout the entire river, but it is in areas like the trout river and re-bought river, which is a very concern because of increased flood risk in those areas. So when we lose have saltwater intrusion, we lose these freshwater grasses and wetlands, and these are the kidneys of the river. We have a no net wetlands loss policy here in Jacksonville but we're continuing to see a dramatic loss of wetlands as well as these submerged grasses which not only are the kidneys they provide important habitat they're the foundation for our commercial and recreational fisheries they provide that bio filtration to filter out the pollution and things that go into the St. John's and they also provide blood protection So as we lose these important natural features of the river there's a real impact making us more vulnerable as a community That's why we've been engaged since the very beginning of the resilient Jacksonville conversation and pleased with the action plan that's come out of that report, but implementation is key. And so working together to do things that improve the quality of life here in Jacksonville, as well as the water quality of our river, but also provides these protections for future generations. If like green infrastructure, green infrastructure is a wonderful way that we can actually capture water on site, that we can slow it down and use natural features that make properties, whether it's residential or commercial development, make it more marketable because it has these nice sustainable features, it's gorgeous, but it also protects water quality in times of normal condition and can be designed similar to the immoral trail to help provide flood protection in extreme condition. So green infrastructure is a great opportunity to incentivize and prioritize that will help protect our natural systems and features. We're also looking working with Renew Jacksonville. I've served on the JEEA Integrated Resource Plan last year, along with several colleagues, working towards renewing Jacksonville and focusing on renewable energy. We've advocated for 30% commitment to renewable energy by 2030. We were very pleased to see JEEA adopt that goal in their integrated resource plan. But we need to do more because we can protect and reduce the things that call sea level rise and climate change that will help protect the river. So advocating for 100% renewable by 2050. We start planning now in 2024. We can make that happen. But something more present and right in front of us that we could use your help is the state of Florida needs a sustainable plan to deal with our growing volume of human sewage. South Florida banned the land disposal of sewage sludge. It's the byproduct of tree eating sewage. They banned the disposal on farm land back in 2007. And so now they actually truck their sewage sludge to the headwaters of the St. John's. We found out about this in 2018. They were dumping about 70,000 tons annually in the headwaters of St. John's. We found out about this in 2018. They were dumping about not 70,000 tons annually in the headwaters of St. John's. And this is a good fertilizer for the crops they are mostly cattle farms. Unfortunately, they're putting way too much phosphorus on these lands and it's running off into the headwaters and we're seeing significant phosphorus loads increase in the St. John's River, which is leading to more these blue-green algae toxic outbreaks. In the bad thing too, it's also undermining public investment right here in DuVol, because if we're dealing, if we're cleaning up our pollution here and they're adding more pollution upstream, it's just not equitable in any way, shape, or form, so it's something that needs to be addressed. Conserving water, protecting our springs is something we can all do, we can all reduce our water footprint. I know I've been working with my teenagers to do so, it's sometimes easier said than done. And then projects like the Great Florida Riverway, if we work together with our counties in Northeast Florida to reunite the natural connection of the Aqawaha Silver Springs to the St. Johns. That would go a long way to make our estuary, which is about 100 miles more resilient. It would restore 150 million gallons of fresh water every single day that would help offset some of the saltwater intrusion we're seeing. The water is spring water when it flows freely, so it's clear, it's cooler, it'll help with offset some of the loss of ill grass and pre water quality and also open up migratory fish patterns that would increase both game fish and commercial fisheries in the St. John's River estuary. So we've been working with folks throughout the St. John's River watershed including focusing in Putnam County where the Robman Dam is located to find a solution that would help us reunite these water bottles of water bottles of water bodies. Sorry, excuse me. And then right here in our backyard, one of our focus areas I've been having the pleasure of working with Councilwoman Pitman on is our effort to do resilient re-bought. As one of our focuses over the last two years was really mapping out and understanding where the most vulnerable locations within our watersheds so we could target our limited resources. And right here in our backyard we found that the re-bought river is both most one of the socially vulnerable areas in the St. John's River watershed. It's one of the most risk for rising waters and increased flood risk, as well as legacy pollution issues. And so we've teamed up with Lisk, Daxonville to focus on some of the social vulnerabilities and then working with Lisk in the community to target improving water quality, reducing flood risk, and making sure that the community is uplifted in a way that helps everyone that lives there but also helps these waterways that are part of the system. We've been working through the park system. We have wonderful riverfront parks. If you ever want to see the great network of city of parks right along the Rebought River, please let us know. We do regular boat trips out there to just focus on all of the opportunity, but also some of the challenges like chronic fecal coliform, bacteria pollution, which has been well documented, but we need to better understand sources. Luckily there are investments reducing or phasing out septic tanks, but more needs to be done to reduce that bacteria pollution, addressing flooding problems, looking for housing security, and really focusing also preserving and enhancing and celebrating the cultural heritage in the area which is quite rich and really resounding for an opportunity to work throughout this area's watershed. One of the things we're focused on is really understanding what data exists with the pollution. We see metal pollution in these areas, the bacteria as I mentioned, also nutrient pollution that adds to problems in the St. John's. Looking at historic data but also saying what can we do in a more concentrated way to help complement with the city of Jacksonville's already doing but to provide more data to really determine where these sources of pollution are so we can eliminate them to make sure we're making the river team of scientists to identify hot spots where we can collect more data. They really help us understand what solutions are and what we can focus on as far as implementation and investment. And then looking at things like living shorelines and green infrastructure that can help reduce flood risk but also provide that water quality lift. In addition working with the community to understand flooding hotspots, the City of Jacksonville is doing their compound flood model at a very high level. We're working with the community to look at it at the culvert level, look at the neighborhoods, understand where some of the blockages are, so that can complement the compound flood model that's happening county-wide to really demonstrate what we can do in the Rebought River watershed. And so this is what we're hoping to see as more opportunities for everyone to come out and fish and enjoy and celebrate these waterways as opposed to having to dealing with some of the chronic issues. And so I look forward to meeting with each of you to show how this can impact not only the resilient rebalt area but other tributaries that are troubled throughout DuVal County. And then one thing we advocate for everyone is we all ask folks to look at being more river friendly. There are little simple things we can do every day and are every day life to reduce our footprint, whether it's reusing water or reducing our pollution footprint. And this is something we have at the kid level too, where they can take, make little small changes in their daily life at school to make it impact. But with that, I wanted to turn it over to our chairwoman to see if there was any questions that she or any of you have on some of these issues we're working on. And to answer any questions or to, I would love to sign you up on a boat trip trip whether it's on the re-bought river on the St. John's or your favorite tributary in your district. Thank you so much for your time today. Awesome presentation. I do see a question by Councilwoman Clark Murray. Good afternoon. I was just thinking about that boat trip boat trip. I don't know how to mull that over in my brain about the boat trip, but it sounds like it would be both educational and entertaining. So in your mean, you see term data. Do you share that information with JEEA in terms of their septic tank abatement program? Through the chair, well, to the council, yes, ma'am, we do. In fact, we have a team of people investigating a sewage leak right now and goodby's creek. So whenever we see anything, we collect data, we alert the agencies. We try to figure out a quickest solution to offset that. We look at existing data and then determine if there's other information we may need. And so I would love to say we can do it all, but obviously we work very closely with the agencies, the city, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the waterways, as well as JAA. It's really all hands on deck. Thank you for that. Also through the chair, are you currently working with ground works in regards to the McCoy's Creek project? Yes, ma'am. We've been working with ground works since before we actually were on the steering committee to help create groundwork's working with James Richardson and the city and others as well as we serve on their task force. Committee to make sure that we have an opportunity to make the most of the water quality improvements the access and so very excited about the potential of both the McCoy's Creek and Hogan's Creek legs of that project. Thank you. Thank you so much for the presentation. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Councilman Howellin. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Reinerman, thanks for that presentation. And great to see you again. Three quick questions. The first one, it scared me a little bit when he talked about South Florida and the sewage dumping. Are there any government organizations involved in this matter and more importantly, are you seeing specific increase in fecal matter and phosphorus sense? They started doing that, dumping? Yes, so the chair of the councilman, we are working very closely with Florida Department of Environmental Protection for about five years now. Good news is they've made some improvements to the rule, but the bad news is they basically said, well, it's gotta go somewhere. I've asked them all, if it's, the rules good enough for North Florida, it should be good enough for South Florida, but they're not going backwards on South Florida. So we're not there yet. There's been a reduction of some of the sewage sludge application that got down to about 50,000 tons annually but an out creeping back up so we need to do more. We aren't seeing an increase in fecal bacteria, what we're seeing an increase in phosphorus, which in this area of the headwaters it used to be pretty pristine. We didn't see blue-green algae outbreaks. It's covered in green slime as we speak. DEP is working towards it. Blue- Green algae task force is meeting right now. They actually have this on their agenda to deal. The St. John's Water Management District has been tasked to study it. And their findings are exactly what we're finding. But the bigger answer is how do we manage this growing volume of human sewage in the state of Florida? Right now, the statewide plan is not sustainable. And that's really where the policy opportunity is for counties in the state to work collectively together. Great answer, thank you. And the St. John's River Water Management District bill, will they sometimes conflict with and take issue with other water management districts when that kind of thing is happening? Will they take up this charge and fight it or is it mostly a DEP thing? It's, you know, there's, there's come in some gray area. DEP has authorized the St. John's Water Management District to do this study on their behalf. They've funded it, it's happening. There's the conversation. But what I have not seen yet is that one entity, whether it's DEP or anyone else, it's say we're the ones that's gonna figure out this sewage problem. The recent rule making from environmental protection agency with forever chemicals is making it more complicated because biosolids is a source of forever chemicals and there are some drinking water sources downstream. So we all know all the agencies have met we need to do something, but no one has the strategy and we're growing it a thousand people per day. We're having more volume of sewage, not less. So if you have ideas or any smart people around it, the chief scientist of the state is taking it on trying to figure it out. But it's something we've got to get under, we got to better understand sooner than later. Thank you and if you don't mind, Madam Chair, second question. You said you had three, right? And I'm going longer than I anticipated. The deepening of the harbor, salinity was a risk. Are we actually measuring and seeing increases in salinity's upstream, like maybe NASJX, Drs Lake, and that kind of thing? Yes, sir. The good news is we've had a little bit of several years of wet weather, so it's seem to buffer the salinity, but if you look at the long-term trends over 20 years, it is upticking. And we're seeing a loss of yield grass, even in the areas where the land that property was purchased to protect these submerged grasses, the grasses are gone. And so we need to do more and better understand. Another thing we anticipated at some what, but the model didn't go as far upstream as it should have is with since the bottom of the river is below sea level when there's a nor Easter and there's a lot more stacking of water further upstream and those higher water levels are actually preventing sunlight from getting down to these important grasses. So there's some other unintended consequences but there's very productive conversations going on with the Army Corps and Jack's poor and figuring out what we can do to offset some of the impacts moving forward. Great, and then last question, I think it's a good news story, but I know that oyster beds are back, right? And that's despite increasing phosphorus or increasing salinity. Why is that happening? And is it a good trend? increasing phosphorus or increasing salinity. Why is that happening and is it a good trend and is it likely to continue? Yeah, I mean, I probably had to follow exactly what the good, I mean, exactly why it's happening, but obviously they are coming back, which is good. We're actually looking on the Rebot River to do some oyster farming and doing some different unique oyster farming along the Rebot River and other tributaries because they help filter out pollution as well. And so we are seeing opportunity. Is it a combination of salinity? Is it a combination of different things? You know, that's something I'll have you happy to follow up with the exact answer after consulting some of our colleagues. That would be great. And that's all I had. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, I had a few more questions. I wanted to know if there were any regulations when fees are involved that we can enforce as we see the contamination even more so in our rivers. Have we seen an increase in our rivers have we seen an increase in that? You know, there are definitely tools we can use to help keep different pollution sources in compliance. And so we are doing that with industrial storm water, working with our partners, making sure that the rules are followed. And when that happens, there are fees that go into correcting the problem. And so, and that's really what you want. You want the money to be reinvested and focusing correct of the problem. There are some issues with nutrient pollution violations as well as other issues that can uptick based on a storm. And that's one of our really concerns from a resiliency perspective. With Hurricane Matthew, JEEA had a very high level of sewage spill, sanitary sewer overflows. They came back through and they started reinforcing their lift stations using backup power, which helped dramatically reduce. But that's just Duval County. We have to remember, just in Lake Monroe several months ago, there was a 20 million gallon sewage spill by the local utility there in Delan. And so we're working with the central office of DEP to make sure we get that utility in compliance sooner than later. And that's a slow going process. You know, part of it is it's very expensive to bring these older wastewater treatment facilities into compliance. And sometimes there are legal efforts right now. The debate is over the consent letter to make sure it's protective enough. And so when you're downstream in a 310 mile river, there's a lot of things happening before the waters reach DuVal. And then when you have historic neighborhoods like we have in Jacksonville, on some of the tributaries, there's a lot of old infrastructure. J.A. starting looking and improving some of the older pipes, but there's a lot more to go. And that's where that additional data comes in. And also accounting for rising waters because that can infiltrate some of these, the infrastructure that makes some of the issues we haven't quite caught up on getting them worse. So hope I answered your question. You did. You did. And I just would like to tell my colleagues if you have not gone on the boat trip. It is the most educational trip I could ever think of. I live on the north side and when you see residential from the water, you know, also for recreational activity for families, I had not really seen that because I had never been on the boat and from an educational standpoint to have JU involved in the process and risk and to also clean up some of the areas that you all are doing. And for me, this is definitely a priority and an urgency. So we'd like to invite you back probably in a few months to see where you are and if there are also some grant opportunities that our city of Jacksonville can apply for because when we know better we do better. And so I have been seeing the work you've done from afar and I've been very, very impressed with it. So again, if there's anything or any other things that I can do to help out to bring attention to some of the issues that we are, some of the acute and chronic issues, be happy to do that. Seeing no other questions, thank you so much for sharing. I saw everybody paying attention out there and the audience as well. Your presentation was very, very good. So thank you so much Lisa. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Alrighty. Well colleagues, on to our agenda today, item number one, 2020, 0, 3, 2, 5. I have a motion and a second on the amendment, Mr. Peterson. Thank you for joining us today. Absolutely, thank you. Through the chair to the committee, the amendment does a number of things to attach a revised agreement. First, we'll clarify the termination provisions of UF, and then the city's payment obligations as it relates to those termination provisions. You might recall last time this was deferred because that was a item that was being worked out. OGC, EPB and UF were able to clarify that and it's more protection for the city. Incluses non-discrimination provisions that are required by ordinance code includes audit rights language of the city as it relates to these expenses and then makes other technical corrections as it relates to definitions and terms as requested by ODC. And then lastly, correct some descriptors errors within the legislation. Thank you so much, Mr. Richardson. I just love for you to come up and tell us what this means and give us a little overview. Thank you through the Chair. James Richardson with the Environmental Protection Board is tough to follow Lisa. This bill is to authorize funding from the Environmental Protection Trust Fund in an amount of 200,000 to produce a vulnerability assessment of residential septic systems in Duval County. A couple of key points about it. The fund is comprised of fines and penalties. It's not general fund revenue, and it has very specific uses defined in the ordinance code of which this type of study is one of the allowable uses. This is not a remediation effort. It will not replace or impact the existing septic dissuor prioritization matrix that's currently in effect. It is not redundant funding. This assessment is being done to help assess the vulnerability of septic systems within the county as it relates to rising ground water tables, sea level rise and impacts from future flooding events. This is information that was not necessarily available used during the prioritization process. The existing matrix was done covering 35 neighbourhoods within the city of Jacksonville approximately around 23,000 septic tanks. This effort is countywide. It is inclusive of the beaches in Baldwin, estimated 65 to 70,000 septic tanks. A key output will be clean data that is better identifying septic systems within the county. This information will also be used to help satisfy county-wide requirement that DEP has related to septic systems within 200 meters of a water body and assessing their vulnerability and need for enhanced nutrient removal systems. Finally, utilizing couple of things, utilizing the compound flooding modeling that's currently underway in the office of resilience, this study will be used to better anticipate water quality impacts and help that office to plan future resilience efforts. Final point is this vulnerability assessment will positively position the city for better funding. There are a number of funding opportunities being made available to municipalities in Florida around resilience. Vulnerability assessments are a key requirement of that. facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and facilities and accepted to sewer conversion projects that are currently on the books and contemplated. That's good news. Thank you so much for sharing that. And Councilwoman Clark Murray, you have a question? Thank you chair. Actually, I do not have a question. I want to offer an amendment to the amendment at this time if I am in the proper posture. I'll make sure. So, in we go. Well, I think I need a second. Thank you. Okay. Second has been put and moved in second for the amendment to the amendment. Mr. Perry looks like she has a question, chair. Do the chair. I just want to. So through the chair to Council Member Clerk Murray. So you are amending the amendment that's currently on the floor. Did you want Mr. Foppelst to state your amendment or do you want to state it on the record? I will state it in them through the through the chair to Miss LaPare. I will state it in them.. Stupapolis, she will expound. Essentially, the applicant, they're asking for $50,000 of front. I want to reduce that amount to $20,000. And then the remaining $30,000 will be spread amongst those other payments for the total $200,000. amongst those other payments for the total 200,000. And then if my colleagues need any other additional information, Mr. Fopolis will once again explain. Let me ask a question to Mr. Richardson. Am I in proper order to do that? To ask him a question about the amendment that is being proposed for payment. Can you expound on that or do you need what you currently have? Through the chair, I guess the question was asked at a previous committee meeting. We have consulted, we have no issue with the amendment as proposed by the Councilwoman. Ideally, we would like to see the legislation move forward as it is, but we have no aversion to the amendment if it passes. Okay. So if, and I hope I'm in proper order again, if he's request or requesting for the funding to stay as is, I know that they have been able to do the work that they need to do based on what it is. So I want to make sure that I do this in proper order that we'd have to vote on the amendment. Could you put me in the right order, please? Happy to do so through the Chair to the Committee. So what has been proposed is an amendment to the underlying technical amendment from the Council auditor's office. So the question before you right now that you would be voting on is whether or not to approve council member Clark Murray's amendment which would change the payment terms. So if you're in agreement with that amendment you would vote yes. If you would disagree with that amendment and wish to allow the payment terms to remain as they were included in the bill as filed as Mr. Richardson was their preference, then you would vote no on the amendment to the amendment. If that's, if the amendment to the amendment passes, then you would go back to the original amendment, which was the auditor's technical corrections that are marked in your agenda. And you would take up a vote on that as amended. If it doesn't pass, then you just revert back to that original amendment. So what you would do right now, Ms. Chair, is just call for a verbal vote on the Clark Murray amendment to the amendment. And once you've done that, I can help make sure you're in the proper posture for the next step. Okay. So I'd like to call a verbal vote on the amendment by Councilwoman Clark Murray. All in favor say aye. Those opposed? Opposed. Madam Chair, that means that the amendment to the amendment has passed. So what you now have in front of you is the amendment to the bill which includes the Clark Murray amendment So what you would be voting on now is the total amendment which would include the Clark Murray amendment for the payment terms as well as the items that Mr Peterson outlined that are marked in your agenda So now you can take a verbal vote on that and if that passes then you can go on a motion to the bill as amended Okay, so I'd like to make an emotion can I get a motion on the help me out with this. So if you want to take a motion on the amendment as amended and get a second then you can do can I get a second and now you can take a verbal vote on that amendment as amended, Ms. Pittman. I'd like to take a verbal vote on the amendment as amended. All in favor, say aye. Those opposed? So, Ms. Chair, now it would be appropriate to call for a motion on the bill as amended. And that's all they need to ask for is that would be the motion and then you need a second And then you can go to the ballot vote so long as you don't have any further discussion. Okay. I like to pose and a minute for The amendment Move the bill. Okay. I need a second Okay, all in favor Okay, if you are, would please cast your vote. Four yeas, one name. I'm going to move to the floor. Four years one name. It's been approved. For the amendment. I'm getting all this amendment and all that mixed up. Thank you, Madam Chair. So what the committee has approved is the bill. They've approved the bill as amended, which the amendment includes both the Clark Murray portion which was the payment terms that are going to change as well as the council auditor's technical amendments. So all of that was included in the amendment bill is approved as amended. Okay. Thank you all. Councilwoman Clark Murray. Thank you, Chair. I do want to explain my actions? The goal with the amendment is to get a, through the chair, is to make it a somewhat better bill. My concern is always the financial aspect, although these things are coming from not the general fund, but from those fees. I could not have said it any better than the representative for the Riverkeeper said. She said, reinvest to correct the problem. These are fines that should be reinvested to correct the problem. We know where the septic tanks are. We know where the issues are. We need to take those funds and reinvest them to correct the problem. And I will continue to hold that stance. Thank you, Chair. Well, thank you for explaining and I, you know, I'd always like to get input from the staff who is running the program and I'm sorry that Mr. Richardson we weren't able to keep your money the way it was but hopefully we'll be able to work it out where you can still do your work as well as what you're trying to do Miss Crock-Murray. Okay we will go to our next bill item number two 2024 zero three six four Have a motion in a second on the bill any discussion seeing none open the ballot You must be just here that okay Councilman Cotmer Thank you chair. Is there anyone here to speak to the bill? Thank you, Mr. Randolph. We're coming forward. Good afternoon. Ed Randolph OED. Through the Chair. Councillor Cot Murray. Through the chair to Mr. Randolph, I read the information in regards to this bill and one of my concerns is it's also septic tank related. What I want to be reassured before I vote is as to whether or not this fund that they're being moved to if it's going to if those dollars will remain for septic tank removal or septic tank whatever the issue may be or are they going to be combined with other funds so that they can be access for other can it could be appropriated for some other need. Through the chair to Councilman Clark MurrayMerry, no. These dollars will specifically be utilized for either septic tank improvements or J.A. sewer connections. Thank you. That's my question, Chair. Thank you. Say no other questions or discussion open the ballot and record your vote please. 5A zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2024 3 6 4. Item number 3 has been deferred 2024 0 3 6 5 due to a public hearing for 618, 24 item number four, 2024, 0369. I have a motion and a second on the bill. Any discussion? Just a long just come on up here. I hate for you to just sit out there not come and participate with us today. So if you can give us a little information about this bill please. Yes ma'am, Steve Long Public Works, through the chair to the committee. Thank you for having me today. This bill is asking to deappropriate a grant that we had with DOT to construct sidewalks on a portion of Cedar Point Road. Basically, DOT gave us a grant and we went through and we did a design, DOT paid for the design. And when we went and put the job out for construction out to bid, the pricing came in almost double what the grant amount was. So the project wasn't awarded and the project was the bids were rejected. The grant has expired so we're now deappropriating the grant. One of the things that I didn't say earlier this morning, and I did say we still look to build this sidewalk when we do the Cedar Point Roadway Project. One of the things I did not say this morning in Director Sickler reminded me is during her discussions with FDOT, one is we asked if we could extend the grant and they indicated they couldn't. We asked if we could potentially use it on a different project and unfortunately we could not. But they did indicate that we would be able to work with them to see about reocquiring another grant for the construction of that sidewalk when we go forward with the project in the upcoming couple of years. Okay. Thank you so much. Yes, ma'am. I have a one question by Councilman Haaland. Thank you, Madam Chair. I was just gonna ask Mr. Long. I saw you sneak out in the beginning of the meeting. Was it you who stopped the construction so we could proceed to this meeting? I went out and do some quick investigation. Yes sir. Thank you for that. Appreciate it. It didn't go on notice. I saw you slip quietly away. Yes sir. Thank you. Councillor Mange. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Long. Through the chair, Mr. Long. Do we have a value of what this grant was, the amount? Yes, sir. The grant itself. I apologize, I had this remarked and made a different copy. The grant itself was for $761,250. And when the Beds came in, they came in over budget by $726,000. So it was almost double the amount. And so that was why just the prices were sky high. And one of the questions I was asked earlier this morning was about the pricing. This grant is from a period immediately after COVID. And so pricing at that point was relatively low, it's sort of like when we came out of that, the 2008 downturn in like the 12, 13 type of timeframe. The pricing was very low. And then we saw what's happened in the last two and three years where the inflationary factors on the construction side have been incredibly high. So it escalated much much more than the grant ever anticipated. Thank you, Mr. Long. Did this include any city match, funding? No, sir. There was a component. There was two components of this. One was for the design, which DOT paid directly. And then they had a component in there that actually paid for time the city spent on the project. And so our time that we spent managing that design was paid for, and that was through a separate portion of this and then there was a grant construction component which this is the construction component. Was this a sidewalk how far down the cedar point was it going? This was filling in some gaps basically from New Berlin down towards Bonny Road towards I think that new subdivision four or five years old tide view I think that new subdivision, four or five years old, tied view on the south side of the road. Is there any way we could have done half of the fill in the gaps and still was there a requirement for us to use to do a certain amount or just could we have used that money and fixed some of the sidewalks? This was not fixed sidewalks. This was not the fixed sidewalls. This was just for new construction. New sidewalls. But the answer to that question is, I don't have that with me. Was that a potential? It may have been, but once the bids were rejected because of the incredibly high pricing, we were at the end of the grand time frame, so the grant had expired. OK. It's just very disheartening to see that money the grant time frame so the grant had expired. Okay. It's just very disheartening to see that money right here and now it slips through our fingers and it's gone. I would have liked to be able to explore some options to make it work, but if we're out of time and it's it's exp's, I guess, we don't really have any choice. And one other thing is keep in mind is we reconstruct Cedar Point Road. One of the things is the timing on this was just a little bit odd. To build a new sidewalk, then to go in a couple of years later and reconstruct a roadway. You had that very real potential that a lot of this sidewalk would have been damaged torn out, then had to be reconstructed again. And so by only doing it one time with one project, I understand what you're saying about the grant funding, but it actually makes more sense to just build it once. Well, we'll gladly take of you. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other discussions or questions, open the ballot and record your vote, please. 5-8-0, nice. By your actions you have approved 2020-40369. The other legislation, item number five, 2024-041-7 is on second, 202435, 2020 436, 2020 440439, 2020 4404451. This concludes our agenda items. We have one card. Oh, Mr. Noony. John Noony, Mr. John Noony. What is all it is? Come on. Well, I am John. And make sure, make sure, Mr. Noony, you stay on the agenda item. Okay, because we love looking. Friends the day. Okay. can we start the clock over? Okay, start the clock over for and please all right stick on to the agenda. All right. I will do My name is John philanthropic resiliency newty. Ocho Trasinko says basket road My name in address is also in fly with emotion picture industry. Okay. Yes, I wanted to address agenda item one and item number two. And I was, you know, just paraphrasing. And, you know, under the advice of council, noony, you loser, you need to embrace the environmental experts. So that is why don't ask any questions on a gen item one and two and just hit the green button on 2020 4-0-325 and 2020 4-0-364. But let me just start with the first one. You know, that's $200,000 in fund balance from the Environmental Protection Fund to the University of Florida Center for Coastal Solutions through the UF Board of Trustees to conduct a septic tank vulnerability assessment project for single family residential septic systems in DuVol County. Okay, I don't know how many are on the Board of Trustees, but let me just say, you know, you got UNF, JU, and look at this next one. This next one on 364, an Ed Randolph, you know, with the, and you know Todd Rubin, Tanya, I love those guys, but here's another one, $200,000. And this is called the septic tank program. Now, this is going to be with oversight of the septic tank program and grant process by public works and OED. Now, I'm wearing my niece, this was short. This lady has gain, I'm telling you, you know, she does, you know, you know, ride the jet skis and she's on Pottsburg Creek. But the point is this is public works and they also are involved with septic tanks. I mean, the septic tank, I mean, we are going to be the septic tank capital. And let me just remind you all, I've got two septic tanks and I'm next to a female house. It is the biggest story in the state. I mean, visit Newton. I mean, we had every box and then some down to 20 some seconds. Resilient Jacksonville. You open up to page six. And here we are, Jacksonville today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. Today. Bring your fishing pole. And in addition, I'm in this four times. Public access. Thank you, Mr. Nooney. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for listening. And let's go on a boat ride together. Or better yet, a kayak. This guy, I got a two-seater. Mr. Nooney,. All right this concludes our agenda. Thank you. you you you you