BOCC Agenda Review

October 8, 2024

The Martin County Board of County Commissioners will take a break from approving Comprehensive Plan amendments at Tuesday’s meeting and will continue what appears to be a permanent “break” from discussing affordable housing despite promises from staff and commissioners to solve the problem of high rent and home prices for low- and moderate-income residents.

 

Among the 13 items buried on the Consent Agenda, which will be approved by a single vote at the beginning of the meeting without public explanation or discussion, are CNST-8 to approve a revised Local Housing Assistance Plan for the Fiscal Years 2023-2026 and CNST-9 to approve an incentive strategies report for the State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP).

 

A public hearing will be held on Agenda Item PH-1 to approve the SHIP annual report for Fiscal Year 2021/2022. The report reflects that the County spent only $83,500.00 to provide purchase assistance for just one home and $22,908.00 to provide rental assistance for just 15 renters between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022. Most of the $646,437.85 in SHIP funds spent during that period was for repairs, renovations, and utility assistance for 20 homeowners.

 

The County’s primary affordable housing program provided assistance to only 36 residents during 2021/2022. It’s not surprising that neither staff nor the commission wish to engage in public discussion of affordable housing program plans and strategies for upcoming fiscal years.

 

Three zoning change applications will be approved in items on the public portion of the Agenda:

 

– Item PHQJ-1 is a request to change zoning on a 3.8-acre parcel east of SE Federal Highway and south of SE Salerno Road from B-1 Business District to GC General Commercial for KSA Equities Holdings, Inc.;

 

– Item PHQJ-2 will change zoning on a 9-acre parcel for the All Saints Cemetery in Jensen Beach from A-2 Agricultural District to PS-2 Public Service District; and

 

– Item PHQJ-3 will change zoning on a 10.97-acre parcel on SE Salerno Road and SE Ault Avenue from A-1A Agricultural District to RE-2A Rural Estate District for the Grace Place, Inc.

 

NOTE: The lame duck commission, which includes retiring Commissioner Harold Jenkins and Commissioner Doug Smith, who was defeated in his re-election bid by voters demanding a change, is scheduled to vote on all of the proposed Evaluation and Appraisal Report amendments to the Comprehensive Plan at the October 22 meeting. Staff and the County’s paid consultant, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, have proposed amendments to every chapter of the Comp Plan, making changes which are unnecessary, ill-advised, and entirely outside the EAR process, which requires periodic updates of local plans to comply with newly enacted state laws. Other amendments which expand and increase development in rural areas were rushed through by sitting Commissioners at the last meeting and have already been transmitted to the state for review. These amendments – and the EAR amendments – will return to the Commission for final adoption after two newly elected commissioners are seated next month.

 

In other items on Tuesday’s short agenda:

 

– Commissioners will approve the Clerk’s warrant reflecting expenditures of $18,166,203.43 in tax dollars between September 9 and September 22, 2024, without disclosing the payees or the purpose of the payments (Consent Agenda Item CNST-2);

 

– Also on the Consent Agenda, Commissioners will approve a $529,700.00 contract to One Call Florida, Inc., for construction of a 727-square foot building including a laundry facility, restrooms, office, utility room, and storage room for the Manatee Pocket Mooring Field upland facility (Agenda Item CNST-1); and

 

– An amendment to extend the lease with Daher Aerospace, Inc., for premises at the Martin County Airport which expires on October 31, 2024, will be approved in Agenda Item DEPT-4.

 

The meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday in Commission Chambers at the Martin County Administration Center. Attend in person, watch on MCTV or livestream the meeting from the County website at http://martin.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=24. 

 

Agenda items may be viewed and downloaded at https://martin.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=35023&GUID=98D7CC54-EF7D-4C4C-8084-1AF34C623D6E

 

E-mail commissioners about matters that interest you at sheard@martin.fl.us, eciampi@martin.fl.us, dsmith@martin.fl.us, hjenkins@martin.fl.us, shetherington@martin.fl.us with copies to the County Administrator and County Attorney at ddonalds@martin.fl.us and swoods@martin.fl.us.

Feb 26 Rivers Coalition Meeting

March 2, 2026
Gil Smart (VoteWater) and Eve Samples (Friends of the Everglades) updated the February 26th Rivers Coalition meeting on how this year’s legislative session in Tallahassee was going as far as environmental issues are concerned. It wasn’t good news. Gil warned us last month: “If last year’s legislative session’s theme was facilitating sprawl, this year’s is sprawl on steroids.” And since the Republican-controlled legislature can pass anything it wants, at this point the only possible changes in the disturbingly-large number of bad bills in the pipeline are tweaks to the bills. With one possible exception. Some North Florida Republican legislators have voiced concerns about the Everglades water management process. South Florida Republicans haven’t yet, but if they notice the desertions they may be persuadable. The bills are HB 701 and SB 1120. Gil’s bottom line: “Right now the worst bills are all the pro-growth bills like ‘Blue Ribbon Projects’; House Bill 299 is on the House floor but Senate Bill 354 still has to clear the Rules Committee this week, and in both cases it would be helpful for people to reach out to our local legislators and tell them to oppose these bills.” The bad news from Tallahassee doesn’t stop there. Florida Forever, the state’s conservation and recreation land acquisition program which is funded by doc stamps, started in 2001 at $300 million/year. Funding was cut to zero during the Great Recession but rebounded to $100 million in 2018-2023 and then came all the way back up to $270 million last year. Alas; this year the Governor requested only $115 million. Even worse, the Senate wants to appropriate just $35 million for Florida Forever. The House’s number: A Big Fat Zero. Meanwhile, Lake Okeechobee hasn’t seen any serious effects from the drought thus far. It’s currently at 12.26 feet, and it would have to drop below 11 feet for 80 days before triggering any real concerns. The main problem with the lake right now Is actually to the west: The Caloosahatchee River needs fresh water, but the low lake level is preventing it from getting enough. At least the drought is giving the St. Lucie Estuary a breather from discharge threats. -- Walter Deemer, LWVMC Rivers Coalition Representative

January Meeting

February 2, 2026
The featured presenter at the January 22nd Rivers Coalition meeting was Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Commander Col. Brandon Bowman. He reported: * The Lake Okeechobee management effort is going well. The lake level is currently a near-ideal 13.01 feet. In addition, following last summer’s Lake Recovery Operation, Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (“sea grass”) now covers 20,000 acres of the lake bottom compared with just 3000 acres beforehand. * All stakeholders but one are having their needs met at the present time: The Caloosahatchee River west of the lake isn’t receiving nearly as much fresh water as it needs. * The biggest threat to the St. Lucie Estuary right now isn’t discharges from Lake Okeechobee; it’s polluted runoff flowing into the headwaters of the North Fork. The Corps has several projects underway to address that issue. * The Everglades restoration effort continues moving forward, albeit at a seemingly-glacial pace. To wit: Col. Bowman was happy to announce that the Everglades Agricultural Area projects would be completed five years ahead of schedule – but that still won’t be until the end of 2029. * The big C-44 Reservoir, just north of the St. Lucie Canal in western Martin County, is a key part of the management plan. The reservoir will store runoff and remove phosphorus before discharging the water. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been able to operate at capacity; there’s a seepage issue at one end, and it can only be filled to ten feet compared with its designed fifteen-foot level. The Corps doesn’t think the reservoir will be able to be filled to capacity until 2032. * Finally, Coalition members expressed a great deal of alarm about the Corps’ Engineering Research and Development Center’s plan to develop treatments to remove peroxide and phosphorus from the water. The concern stems from the ERDC’s need to test those treatments, and they have to do the testing in the St. Lucie Canal. There was widespread fear that this could produce harmful results in our canal and our estuary. On the legislative front, Gil Smart, the Friends of the Everglades monitor of the goings-on in Tallahassee, shook his head: “If last year’s legislative session’s theme was facilitating sprawl, this year’s is sprawl on steroids.” A disturbingly large number of bills have been filed that will allow more and more development projects to be subject only to administrative approval rather than, as now, being required to go through a public review process. If these bills pass they will drastically reduce public input on some very big and impactful development proposals -- and completely eliminate it in some cases. As these and other really bad bills get rammed towards the finish line, you will undoubtably be receiving calls for action from your favorite environmental organization. Keep an eye on your inbox. -- Walter Deemer, LWVMC Rivers Coalition Representative

September 2025

September 28, 2025
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