City of Miami
City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 14, 2016
9:00 AM Regular Meeting
City Hall Commission Chambers
City Commission
Tomás Regalado, Mayor Keon Hardemon, Chair Ken Russell, Vice Chair Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner District One Frank Carollo, Commissioner District Three Francis Suarez, Commissioner District Four Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager Victoria Méndez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes July 14, 2016
CONTENTS
PR - PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
AM - APPROVING MINUTES
MV - MAYORAL VETOES
CA - CONSENT AGENDA
PA - PERSONAL APPEARANCES
PH - PUBLIC HEARINGS
SR - SECOND READING ORDINANCES
FR - FIRST READING ORDINANCES
RE - RESOLUTIONS
BC - BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
DI - DISCUSSION ITEMS
PART B
PZ - PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S)
MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' ITEMS
M - MAYOR'S ITEMS
D1 - DISTRICT 1 ITEMS
D2 - DISTRICT 2 ITEMS
D3 - DISTRICT 3 ITEMS
D4 - DISTRICT 4 ITEMS
D5 - DISTRICT 5 ITEMS
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9:00 A.M. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Present: Commissioner Gort, Vice Chair Russell, Commissioner Carollo, Commissioner Suarez and Chair Hardemon On the 14th day of July 2016, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in regular session. The Commission Meeting was called to order by Chair Hardemon at 9:01 a.m., recessed at 11:59 a.m., reconvened at 3:07 p.m., and adjourned at 6:24 p.m.
Note for the Record: Commissioner Carollo entered the Commission chambers at 9:03 a.m. and Commissioner Gort entered the Commission chambers at 9:04 a.m.
ALSO PRESENT:
Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager Victoria Méndez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk
Chair Hardemon: Welcome to the July 14, 2016 meeting of the Miami City Commission in these historic chambers. The members of the City Commission are Wifredo Gort, Frank Carollo, Francis Suarez; Ken Russell, the Vice Chairman; and myself, Keon Hardemon, the Chairman. Also on the dais are Daniel J. Alfonso, the City Manager; Victoria Méndez, our City Attorney; and Todd Hannon, our City Clerk. The meeting will be opened with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance, led by our Mayor. All rise, please.
Invocation and pledge of allegiance delivered.
PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
PR.1 PRESENTATION 16-00966 Honoree Presenter Protocol Item
23 Liberty Square Mayor & Comm. 23 Certificates Family Reunion Hardemon of Appreciation
Office of Management Mayor Regalado Certificate of & Budget Honor
Sandy Dorsainvil Mayor & Salute Comm Suarez
Rosenny Augustine Mayor & Salute Comm Suarez
Camp Shriver Mayor & Proclamation All Commission
First Tee Golf Mayor & Proclamation Association All Commission
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16-00966 Protocol Item.pdf
PRESENTED
1) Mayor Regalado, the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department, and the Sandra DeLucca Development Center presented a proclamation recognizing First Tee Miami-Dade Amateur Golf Association; a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting individuals with disabilities.
2) Mayor Regalado, the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department, and the Sandra DeLucca Development Center presented a proclamation honoring Camp Shirver in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.
3) Mayor Regalado and Chair Hardemon presented a certificate of appreciation to Christine King and the volunteers who participated in the committee that organized the historic Liberty Square Family Reunion; an event that brought former and current members of the first housing project for African-Americans in the Southern United States as part of the “New Deal” under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.
4) Mayor Regalado and Commissioner Suarez saluted and paid tribute to Rosenny Augustine, who currently serves as Community Affairs Liaison in the Office of Commission Chair Keon Hardemon; recognizing her continued work and dedication to the citizens and residents of District 5, in addition to playing an essential role in the designation of the “Little Haiti” neighborhood, as well as for her devoted service to the City of Miami.
5) Mayor Regalado and Commissioner Suarez saluted and paid tribute to Sandy Dorsainvil, who currently serves as Community Affairs Liaison in the Office of Commission Chair Keon Hardemon, for her continued work and dedication to the citizens and residents of District 5, in addition to her invaluable contributions on behalf of the Haitian community in Miami.
6) Mayor Regalado presented a certificate of honor to Christopher Rose and his budget team whose diligent and tireless efforts on the City of Miami's FY2015-2016 Budget resulted in the City receiving the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.
Chair Hardemon: We will now make our presentations and proclamations.
Presentations and Proclamations made.
APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS:
Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Chair Hardemon, to APPROVE PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Chair Hardemon: Mr. Clerk -- well, first, are there any minutes to be approved?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes, sir. I have for Commission consideration and approval the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting minutes from May 26, 2016.
Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve?
Vice Chair Russell: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: Been so moved; seconded by the Chair. Any further discussion? Hearing
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none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
END OF APPROVING MINUTES
MAYORAL VETOES
NO MAYORAL VETOES
Chair Hardemon: And are there any mayoral vetoes?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, there are no mayoral vetoes.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
ORDER OF THE DAY
Chair Hardemon: We will now begin our regular meeting. The City Attorney will state the procedures to be followed during this meeting.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Any person who is a lobbyist, including all paid persons or firms retained by a principal to advocate for a particular decision by the City Commission must register with the City Clerk and comply with related City requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the City Commission. A person may not lobby a City official, board member or staff member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in the City Clerk's Office. Any person making a presentation, formal request or petition to the City Commission concerning real property must make disclosures required by the City Code in writing. A copy of this Code section is available in the City Clerk's Office. The material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the City Clerk's Office and online 24 hours a day at www.miamigov.com. Any person may be heard by the City Commission through the Chair for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the City Commission, unless modified by the Chair. If the proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such later date before the City Commission takes action on such proposition. Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the City Commission for any matter considered at this meeting may need a verbatim record of the item. A video of this meeting may be requested at the Office of Communication or viewed online at www.miamigov.com
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Go ahead.
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Mr. Alfonso: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Commissioners. The Administration is requesting to defer to the October 13 agenda DI.1-3. We're -- DI.1-3, DI.13. We're also requesting to defer PH.4 to the July 29 Commission meeting, which is the next Commission meeting. I was asked to present the withdrawal of Public Appearance 2 and DI.9.
Commissioner Suarez: I'm sorry. What was that?
Mr. Alfonso: PA.2.
Commissioner Suarez: PA.2.
Mr. Alfonso: PA, Personal Appearance 2.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay.
Mr. Alfonso: And DI.9. And also, to defer CA.7 to July 29, and the Mayor, I believe, would like to make some comment about that.
Mayor Tomás Regalado: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir.
Mayor Regalado: Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission, I have asked the Manager to ask you to defer CA.7 until the next meeting, July 29. This is a resolution that we had to -- brought back the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County, and the Florida Department of Transportation. The reason that we had to brought it back -- it was approved by you with the funding and all that several months ago -- is because FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) had kind of withdraw from the Bay Link Project, and now the County is the lead agency. However, yesterday around noon, the Miami Beach City Commission approved a tentative contract with one provider for their part of the bay link, and in their conversation, we understand that either on what they approve or in the -- on the record what was said by the Mayor and other members is that the system -- any other system have to be compatible with the one in Miami Beach if Miami Beach were to start first. So the reason that I'm asking you to defer it to July 29 is for Assistant City Manager Alberto Parjus, who was out of town -- and he's coming back today -- to look into this. Last week, we had a meet and greet with James Wolfe, the new Secretary of Transportation for District 6, and we discussed many issues. Commissioner Russell was there to talk about the signature bridge and the Brickell Bridge, and all these issues that we have, and it was a good meeting. The secretary was very gracious, and he will report back also on the Watson Island issue. But we did touch on the bay link, and what he expressed is that if we were to follow the path of Miami Beach, the City will not get -- will not be able to get federal funding or 50 percent of the funding for State -- from the State; only (UNINTELLIGIBLE) percent. So in order for the Administration to understand a potential impact, I'm asking for the deferral to July 29.
Chair Hardemon: All right.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. It's been properly moved.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Seconded that we defer items DI.13, PH.4, CA.7, and withdraw PA.2 and DI.9. Is there any further discussion on the motion on the floor? Seeing none, all in favor, say
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"aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Later...
Chair Hardemon: All right. So at this time we're going to move into our public hearing portion of our agenda. What I'm going to do right now -- listen very carefully. I'm going to open up the floor for public hearing. So for any item that is on public hearing, items PH.1 through PH.9, this is your time to speak about any item from PH.1 to PH.9. If you're here to speak about an item from PH.1 to PH.9, this would be your time to address the public -- I mean, address the Commission about those items. So I'm going to open up the floor for public hearing for anyone from the public to speak on items PH.1 through PH.9. Sir, please, you're recognized; come to the lectern.
Vice Chair Russell: I think we've found a new time-saving technique.
Chair Hardemon: And, sir, you're recognized. And when you speak, just identify the item that you're here for.
John Snyder: Yes. My name is John Snyder. I live at 3980 Hardy Avenue, and I'd like to speak to PH.5, which is the approval of the re-plat of Battersea Woods. This is a subdivision in my neighborhood, and there have been many subdivisions that we believe are taking place which are not in accordance with the Zoning Code. The intent of the Zoning Code for that area, which is in NCD-3, is that it establishes a protective series of legislative elements to preserve the historic, heavily-landscaped character of Coconut Grove's residential area. It's designed to protect the tree canopy, the green space and the architectural variety. Also, that area was developed or initially developed -- the infrastructure is old. It cannot support intense development. It cannot support a lot of density. This plat, this piece of land was initially a grove. There was a one-family dwelling on it. It was once much larger. They sold pieces off, and the piece that we're talking about now is a 1.01-acre piece. The house was demolished, and they have re-platted it as five lots -- actually, in total, seven lots, because two of them are located just south of this in Coral Gables. So there are going to be seven homes here where there was previously one home. We think this is against the intent of the code, and we'd like you to reject the plat. We know that it's a problem, because eventually, this is probably something that will be decided in a court. And you need to decide whether you're going to be supporting the residents or the developer.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir.
Mr. Snyder: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: How are you doing, sir? You're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: He's just showing (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Chair, would you like discussion on each item as we go --
Chair Hardemon: No, no, let's --
Vice Chair Russell: -- or would you like to knock out all the public first?
Chair Hardemon: Public hearing first, and then we're going to discuss each item when we call each item up, but I just wanted to make sure that we had an opportunity to have -- I'm going to
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explain it to you, because everyone's panicking. I want -- and I eventually will get this -- like I spoke about at the last meeting -- I want to get to a point where we have the public -- a predictable time to come to speak on items, and they're not waiting long periods of time before they make their public comment. So, for instance, the gentleman that just left his public comment, he may not be able to stay until we get to that item to have discussion, because he had made -- he may have things that he needs to do. However, he was able to give an opportunity -- he was able to provide his testimony today before us so that he won't be held here unreasonably long in order to give the same opinion that he would have given if we would have had the same discussion had he given it. So what I'm doing right now is giving everyone an opportunity. If they're here on, for instance, PH.9 that they can make their public comments being heard at the -- close to 11 o'clock hour; and that way, they're not waiting until we come back after recess, because we didn't get the public -- PH.9 to discuss the item. So we will get to discussing the merits of all the decisions. We're not here right now voting on PH.5. We're listening to public hearing on items PH.1 through PH.9. And so when we call PH (Public Hearing) -- when -- and then, obviously, we'll call PH.1. We'll have an opportunity to discuss it as a Commission. If there's no discussion, then we vote on that and then we move forward expeditiously in that fashion.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Just for clarity, so is it all items in the City agenda or is it just PH items right now?
Chair Hardemon: No. Items from PH.1 --
Commissioner Carollo: Just to the PH.9.
Chair Hardemon: -- PH items, correct.
Commissioner Carollo: Understood. And is a member from the audience who wants to speak on any of those items, they could come up and speak on them?
Chair Hardemon: Correct.
Commissioner Carollo: My question is: What if they want to speak on each one of those items? Do they get two minutes plus two minutes plus two minutes?
Chair Hardemon: No. They --
Commissioner Carollo: Or is it just one --?
Chair Hardemon: No. What you get is a reasonable opportunity to be heard, and so that's what they'll have; a reasonable opportunity to be heard. And they list the items that they want to speak on, and they'll make their comments known on that item. So I'll continue on with public hearing. Public hearing from items PH.1 through PH.9.
Renita Holmes: Madam Renita Holmes for Wave of Women and for myself; address, 350 Northwest 4th Street, District 4. In regards to item PH.1, PH.2, PH.3, I will try to make this as reasonably accessible and accommodating to the public to assure that if we're doing on PH.1, 91.05 that there is actually a level of participation. I've yet to hear any professional here -- and particularly myself, as a registered lobbyist -- comment on any item 1 alone in two minutes. So -- and the issue and for public hearing, I protest the fairness on this application of the procedure. The decorum is, of course, and I recognize the Chair. However, I'm concerned about the
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citizens' participation level; again, about the reasonable accommodation, the fairness and participation. And while I understand there is sunshine, this is extensive. I look at some of the ways that these impact us, but then again, I think it behooves you to have these items, because not until this date in my history of study, in my experience as a lobbyist and as a Federal complainant has anyone of very low income, women, women in public housing, education, finance and development -- particularly those disparately in District 5 and District 3 -- have had an adequate time to have prior notice to these items, which are Federal items; thus, impacting the funding. I also speak in regards to PH.9 with the last 37 seconds and others that I have reasonable and very intelligent participation to give is that that modification that the gentleman spoke to in regards to the plat, we do not support, because we do have a right to know, a right to clean water, and a right for the record. And to the State's [sic] Clerk, I am Madam Holmes again, on behalf of the public, on behalf of my own rights, and behalf on the right to know. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
Iris Escarra: Good morning, Commissioner. Iris Escarra, with offices at 333 Southeast 2nd Avenue. I'm here on behalf of PH.6, a plat entitled CVS, on 57th Avenue, and I'm here to answer any questions the board may have after the City's presentation. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any other person that'd like to speak on items PH.1 through PH.9? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing at this time.
Later...
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Now we move into our second reading ordinances. If there's any person from the public that would like to speak on any of the second reading ordinances -- so items SR.1 through SR.4 -- this is your time to do so. If you're here from the public to speak on any item between SR.1 and SR.4, this is your opportunity to do so. This is your opportunity to be heard.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Chairman, I believe SR.1 was noticed for 6 o'clock.
Commissioner Gort: SR.1 (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Chair Hardemon: Oh, I'm sorry.
Ms. Méndez: I mean, if anybody wants to speak on it now, but just know that we might need to --
Chair Hardemon: We're not -- but we're not going to be discussing SR.1 --
Commissioner Suarez: We're going to be here at 6?
Chair Hardemon: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) SR.1.
Mr. Alfonso: SR.1 and PZ.1 are kind of together.
Commissioner Suarez: I think we're here for --
Mr. Alfonso: They're going to be after PZ.1, so I think we break that one up.
Chair Hardemon: That's part of why in the future, it's going to be a little different, so --
Commissioner Suarez: Okay. No, I think you're doing great. I just --
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Chair Hardemon: -- so --
Commissioner Suarez: -- I'm just thinking right now, we're doing really well. We might be -- get out of here (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Another -- it's a new record.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Madam Holmes.
Ms. Holmes: Madam Holmes again. You might be feeling great, but for those of us, again, for the record, on SR.1, I'm always happy -- it recalls the concern in my district, with all due respect for the Chair and my Commissioner, in regards to the suggestions made about such a lovely place. And oddly, a question for the Clerk and to you all to accommodate me with some information so that it could be fair in the zoning and the planning for those of very low income and deeply impacted. Can't help it. I read it through my eyes. When you read the law, you know how you just repeat it by seeing it even if you don't feel it? So about art in public places and how does that apply to the new villages and the new projects, and to Lotus? I have asked that question for the record, but I've been snapped off of the public participation in that, and I have written to someone an email, and I have not had a response through the Chair to the City Manager. And I -- and as least intelligence -- would like to have that information. It's all about greatness and being efficient, and being fair. That's a large space and a big Fichus tree, so you could see why I feel. So my question again, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is how does art in public spaces apply to current recent Planning & Zoning projects that we okayed? Do -- does -- and second, does the Planning & Zoning Board -- have they been educated on the application? Because not only lack of response or a lack of clarity or awareness. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there anyone else from the public that would like to speak on any item between SR.1 and SR.4? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing.
Later...
Chair Hardemon: Okay. We're now moving on to our first reading ordinances. If you're a member of the public that would like to speak on an item that's here for first reading -- these are items FR.1 through FR.4 -- now is your time to do so. So if you're here to speak publicly, to have your reasonable opportunity to be heard on items FR.1 through FR.4, this is your time to do so.
Ms. Holmes: Madam Renita Holmes again for the public. Address, 350 Northwest 4th Street; and also in regards for Wave, registered. In regards to FR.1, I appreciate that we're entertaining bringing procurement for real estate, but then again, for the matter of the record to the Clerk and to the Commission, it's my concern about the participation of very low-income populations and participation of women in these procedures. I'll add that in regards to FR.2, I notice it's a first reading, so there's a package behind; just making sure that there's fairness. There's concern about the disparity in procurement for those that I've described, and awards. Again, for the record, particularly those, if I may say to City Manager, that are federally funded. Again, in FR.2, I haven't had a report. I cannot access a report, so I'm concerned that the sunshine and all those things have not been met. And so how can we continue with a new process when we haven't dealt with the disparity of (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? And may I make a suggestion to help you all? That with the SBE (Small Business Enterprise) with the County measurements are being made. Particularly with pilot programs FR.2 and FR.3, I know that you -- in the prequalification pool, we see a specialized program with the Mayor's office (UNINTELLIGIBLE) employment. I know you're moving towards that. I'm just trying to see the difference between the City and the County when everybody's given the same money for the same projects or given monies to the same project on both levels. For the record, again in protest, FR.4 in regards to Administration
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boards. Particularly when it comes to sports exhibition, I would like to say the rights to citizen participation, inclusion need to be taken a look at. It's all about ethics, and there is a history and a pattern and a trend of how people of very low income -- very, very low income are included or representatives of small business, such as my own, including that category of persons with disability are inhibited by the current process and should not be by those federally funded -- whatever, whatever. You get me? Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any other person? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing for items FR.1 through FR.4.
Later...
Chair Hardemon: Calling the July 14, 2016 meeting back into order. Apparently, we don't have quorum, so we can't take any votes; however, we can have public hearing. So what I'm going to do at -- yes.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Or if there's a discussion item that you all want to knock out --
Chair Hardemon: Only two of us.
Mr. Hannon: -- since we have a --
Chair Hardemon: -- and we're not the discussion item abusers, so --
Mr. Hannon: Got you.
Chair Hardemon: -- we won't have that problem.
Mr. Hannon: Understood.
Chair Hardemon: So what I'll do is I'll call -- at this time, if there is an item that you want to speak about that is from RE.1 through RE.5, I'll open up the floor for public hearing. So this is items RE.1 through RE.5. So RE.1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, if you're here to speak on those items, this is your reasonable opportunity to be heard. Is there anyone here to speak on items RE.1 through RE.5? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing on RE.2 -- RE.1 through RE.5.
Later...
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, you're recognized.
Commissioner Suarez: Can I have a point of order?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: I'd like to make a motion to reconsider CA.7. CA.7 is the MOU (memorandum of understanding) for the PD&E (Project Development and Environment) study for Bay Link. I've gotten subsequent calls from the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) executive director, requesting that it be approved today. Apparently, the Mayor's in agreement with that, and I'll let the Administration speak to that issue.
Mr. Alfonso: Yes, that is correct. The Mayor asked if we could rehear the item. He's willing to let it move forward and understanding that he has 10 days to decide. So he'll get information from parties before then, but he would like to let it go forward, because there's a risk that the --
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Commissioner Suarez: We could lose the funding.
Mr. Alfonso: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) not in place.
Commissioner Carollo: So you're -- so Commissioner Suarez' motion is to reconsider, correct?
Commissioner Suarez: Correct.
Commissioner Carollo: Second that motion.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly --
Mr. Hannon: And, Chair, just bear with me. You may take the vote, but I need to make a comment afterwards.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to reconsider item CA.7.
Commissioner Suarez: Move CA.7.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor, say --
Commissioner Carollo: Hold on; we need --
Chair Hardemon: -- “aye.”
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Commissioner Suarez: Move CA.6.
Mr. Hannon: Just so you know, CA.7 was under the “Order of the Day,” so there was one motion that deferred and withdrew items and so forth. So what you basically just did was reconsidered the Order of the Day so that you could bring back all those items to take out CA.7.
Commissioner Suarez: Yes. So I will defer all those items, except CA.7. That's my motion.
Chair Hardemon: No, not defer.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I defer --
Mr. Hannon: Bear with me.
Commissioner Suarez: -- or withdraw all those items.
Mr. Hannon: Correct. There we go.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Mr. Hannon: Defer and withdraw all the items --
Commissioner Suarez: Withdraw all those items.
Mr. Hannon: -- other than CA.7.
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Commissioner Suarez: What we just reconsidered was the deferral and withdrawal of the “Order of the Day,” so what I am recon -- so what I'm asking now is to defer all those items, except CA.7, correct?
Mr. Hannon: Correct. And the withdrawals.
Commissioner Suarez: Correct. And then we'll do CA.7. Right.
Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Suarez: Is there a second? We're doing it the right way.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded.
Commissioner Carollo: I just want to make sure the City Clerk's okay with it?
Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Commissioner Suarez: Now we can --
Chair Hardemon: It passes.
CONSENT AGENDA
CA.1 RESOLUTION 16-00342 Department of Police A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ACCEPTING THE BID RECEIVED JANUARY 27, 2016, PURSUANT TO INVITATION FOR BID NO. 553380, FROM MOBILE MINI, INC., THE SOLE RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE BIDDER, TO PROVIDE TWO (2) STORAGE CONTAINERS TO BE UTILIZED BY THE CITY OF MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT, IN A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $65,700.00; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PTAEO 40-B70183-05-1426-EQUIPMENT-190001, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS TO THE CONTRACT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, AS MAY BE NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE. 16-00342 Summary Form.pdf 16-00342 Manager's Approval.pdf 16-00342 Bid Tabulation.pdf 16-00342 Corporate Detail.pdf 16-00342 Bid Response.pdf 16-00342 Invitation For Bid.pdf 16-00342 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
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Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0308
CA.2 RESOLUTION 16-00793 Department of Police A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS FROM THE CITY OF MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT LAW ENFORCEMENT TRUST FUND, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $25,000.00, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE PROGRAM, TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE OPERATION OF ITS PROGRAMS; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE CITY OF MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT LAW ENFORCEMENT TRUST FUND, AWARD NO. 1019, PROJECT NO. 19-690002, ACCOUNT CODE NO. 12500.191602.883000.0000; WITH SUCH EXPENDITURES HAVING BEEN APPROVED BY THE CHIEF OF POLICE AS COMPLYING WITH STATE STATUTES AND FEDERAL GUIDELINES. 16-00793 Summary Form.pdf 16-00793 Memo - Chief's Approval.pdf 16-00793 Affidavit.pdf 16-00793 Certificate of Applicant.pdf 16-00793 Memo - Proposed Resolution.pdf 16-00793 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0309
CA.3 RESOLUTION 16-00801 Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ESTABLISHING A Fire-Rescue SPECIAL REVENUE PROJECT FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT, ENTITLED "THE MICHAEL S. GORDON SCHOLARSHIP FUND"; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACCEPT A DONATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $10,000.00, AND RECURRING VARYING REVENUE IN THE FUTURE, FROM THE MIAMI FIRE FIGHTERS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, DONATED BY THE ESTATE OF DR. MICHAEL S. GORDON FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO PAY FOR COURSES REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A PARAMEDICS LICENSE TO BE AWARDED TO SELECTED GRADUATES OF THE CITY OF MIAMI 5000 ROLE MODELS EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES CADET PROGRAM; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF SAID DONATION. 16-00801 Summary Form.pdf 16-00801 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
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Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0310
CA.4 RESOLUTION 16-00820 Department of Solid A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPROVING SIXTEEN Waste (16) SCHOLARSHIPS TO ATTEND AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OR TO OBTAIN A COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $3,000.00 PER SCHOLARSHIP, FOR THE FOLLOWING ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS: JOE SIMMONS, JR., MONICA JOHNSON, JONATHAN J. DUARTE, MARCHAÉ N. GLENN, JAMESE TASHAÉ BROWN, AURELIS DORVIL, SIDNESHA HOLLAND, ANDREW LUIS QUINTANA, KHALIL LEWIS, HEDRICK TOUSSAINT, STEPHANUS NOLTON, GABRIELA ROJAS, RUBERLANDIS QUESADA, JACKLYN JACKSON, ELEAZAR JOHNSON, AND JAMES CHRISTOPHER MUNGIN II; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE, TO DISBURSE EACH SCHOLARSHIP UPON FULFILLMENT BY THE APPLICANT OF THE APPLICABLE PREREQUISITES INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE PRESENTATION OF SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION FROM THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OR VOCATIONAL PROGRAM; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY MANAGER, OR DESIGNEE, AND THE CITY ATTORNEY; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE SPECIAL REVENUE FUND ENTITLED, "SOLID WASTE RECYCLING EDUCATIONAL TRUST FUND", ACCOUNT CODE NO. 13100.212000.489000.0000.00000. 16-00820 Summary Form.pdf 16-00820 Back-Up Documents.pdf 16-00820 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0311
CA.5 RESOLUTION 16-00769 Department of Public A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Works ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING THE FOURTH OPTION TO RENEW THE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI AND THOMAS MAINTENANCE SERVICES, INC. FOR A ONE (1) YEAR PERIOD FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016-2017 IN AN ANNUAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $152,686.14 FOR THE PROJECT ENTITLED "CITY LOTS AND RIGHTS OF WAY LANDSCAPING, M-0082"; ALLOCATING FUNDS FOR THE FOURTH YEAR OPTION TO RENEW FROM ACCOUNT NO. 20-650003 (SPECIAL REVENUE); FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE FOURTH OPTION TO RENEW, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, FOR SAID PURPOSE.
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16-00769 Summary Form.pdf 16-00769 Corporate Detail.pdf 15-00769 Pre-Legislation.pdf 16-00769 Legislation.pdf 16-00769 Exhibit.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0312
CA.6 RESOLUTION 16-00677 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE Attorney DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO PAY TO AND ON BEHALF OF ESTHER GARRIDO, SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY CHAPTER 440, FLORIDA STATUTES, THE TOTAL SUM OF $97,500.00, INCLUDING $100.00 FOR A SEPARATE GENERAL RELEASE, IN FULL SETTLEMENT OF ALL CLAIMS AND DATES OF ACCIDENT ALLEGED AGAINST THE CITY OF MIAMI, ITS OFFICERS, AGENTS AND EMPLOYEES, WITHOUT ADMISSION OF LIABILITY, UPON EXECUTING A SETTLEMENT, HOLD HARMLESS, AND INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT AS WELL AS A GENERAL RELEASE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, ITS PRESENT AND FORMER OFFICERS, AGENTS, AND EMPLOYEES, FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND DEMANDS; ALLOCATING FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $97,400.00 FROM THE INTERNAL SERVICE FUND, INDEX CODE NO. 50001.301001.524000.0000.00000; FURTHER ALLOCATING FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $100.00 FOR THE SEPARATE GENERAL RELEASE FROM THE NON-DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNT NO. 00001.980000.531010.0000.00000. 16-00677 Memo - Office of the City Attorney.pdf 16-00677 Memo - Budget Sign-Off.pdf 16-00677 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0313
CA.7 RESOLUTION 16-00956 Honorable Mayor A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Tomas Regalado ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ("MOU"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, FOR THE BEACH CORRIDOR DIRECT CONNECTION PROJECT; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THE INTENT OF THE MOU.
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16-00956 Legislation.pdf 16-00956 Exhibit A.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0324
Note for the Record: Item CA.7 was deferred to the July 29, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting. ______
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing item CA.7, please see "Order of the Day."
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be RECONSIDERED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing the deferral and reconsideration of item CA.7, please see "Order of the Day."
Commissioner Suarez: Now can we take up CA.7, Mr. Chair? Move CA.7.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Properly moved and seconded.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Clerk --
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion?
Commissioner Suarez: -- for keeping us on point.
Chair Hardemon: If not, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Thank you, Commissioners.
Chair Hardemon: Mr. Clerk, is there anything in regard --
Commissioner Suarez: No. He just wanted to clarify that.
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Chair Hardemon: -- to CA.1 through 6 and 8 and 9 that we need to address?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): State that again, sir.
Chair Hardemon: Any -- is there anything about CA.1 through 6 and 8 and 9 that we need to address or is it --
Mr. Hannon: No, sir. We're good to go.
Chair Hardemon: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that they pass?
Mr. Hannon: We're good to go.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
CA.8 RESOLUTION 16-00958 District 5 - A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DECLARING NO Commissioner Keon OBJECTION AND SUPPORTING THE CODESIGNATION BY THE FLORIDA Hardemon LEGISLATURE, PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 2014-228, DESIGNATING NORTHEAST 73RD STREET FROM NORTHEAST 2ND AVENUE TO NORTHEAST 3RD COURT, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS "REVEREND WILNER MAXI STREET"; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, DISTRICT SIX, FOR SIGN INSTALLATION WITHIN THE NEWLY DESIGNATED ROADWAY. 16-00958 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0314
CA.9 RESOLUTION 16-00865 District 3- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION CODESIGNATING Commissioner Frank SOUTHWEST 15TH AVENUE FROM SOUTHWEST 7TH STREET TO Carollo SOUTHWEST 8TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA AS "AZUCAR AVENUE" AND CLARIFYING EXISTING CODESIGNATIONS; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE HEREIN DESIGNATED OFFICES. 16-00865 Legislation.pdf
This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda.
Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0315
Adopted the Consent Agenda
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Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, including all the preceding items marked as having been adopted on the Consent Agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
END OF CONSENT AGENDA
Chair Hardemon: We have the balance of what is left in the consent agenda. Is there any item that anyone wishes to pull from the consent agenda?
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All right. Motion passes on the consent agenda.
PERSONAL APPEARANCES
PA.1 PRESENTATION 16-00893 District 4- PRESENTATION BY IRENE S. HEGEDUS, ACHA, CHIEF OF MIAMI-DADE Commissioner TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENTS, REGARDING THE MIAMI-DADE Francis Suarez COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS' PLAN FOR WATER TAXIS AND WATER BUSSES. 16-00893 E-Mail - Personal Appearance.pdf
PRESENTED
Chair Hardemon: First personal appearance, PA.1 is --
Commissioner Gort: She's standing outside.
Chair Hardemon: If anyone can hear me, Ms. Irene Hegedus.
Commissioner Gort: Irene.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if I may, while she's being summoned --
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: -- if I can just very briefly provide a little bit of context. A while back, Commissioner Gort had asked me as the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) board member for the City to explore the issue of water taxis in the City of Miami, so it's a process that I've been diligently following up on after his initial request. And Irene is the County's person on this issue, and I wanted her to give us an update on where we were on trying to accomplish that goal. I don't know why no one can get her attention, but -- there she is.
Chair Hardemon: How you doing?
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Irene Hegedus: Good morning. Sorry; I should have been here. My name is Irene Hegedus. I'm Chief of Transportation Enhancement with Miami-Dade County. And I am here to give you an update on our undertakings on water bus and water taxi; anything related to waterborne transportation. Before I start, I really need to make sure that we all understand that there are two very different components. One of them is a waterborne transportation as a commuter service. That's what we call the water bus. And the key on here is that it has a fixed schedule and a fixed route. And then, there's a water taxi component, which the City of Miami is really interested on, and it has --
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Ms. Hegedus: Better, better, better.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you. We need the --
Ms. Hegedus: I thought I was loud.
Chair Hardemon: -- it's because you're tall, so we need those things that the County has that lifts the --
Ms. Hegedus: That lift the phone.
Chair Hardemon: -- microphone up. It's not your fault.
Ms. Hegedus: And the water taxis, which are an on-demand system. There's a lot of studies and a lot of work that has been done since 2003. There's tremendous amount of interest now for waterborne transportation and actually taking place. We have learned -- we have taken a different approach. We're very interested in actually being a successful enterprise, and we have taken a different approach that have taken before. You have studies from the MPO in 2003; you have an RFI (Request for Information) in 2006. Out of three firms actually provided information, one of them dropped, and then the two remaining, the RFI was too loose, and it was impossible to compare apples to apples instead of capital and operational cost. The other thing, too, is that there were a lot of assumptions made on ridership that made the vessels far too large, too expensive; and at the end of the day, no operator can really put something like this into place as a demonstration project. So our approach really has been to be very careful, very specific, very tight, try to see where there is interest; make sure our numbers are low enough so we can actually operate, be flexible; and then, as the system starts getting ridership, then expand the routes. These two -- for our approach, what we have done is trying to minimize the impact not only on cost that is associated with the vessel type. If we want to go -- we have a lot of infrastructure on the water as one of the items. That has to do strictly with the clearances of the bridges. If we cannot clear the bridges and we have to draw them -- I have to open now for the water bus or the water taxi to come through. Then we are creating traffic somewhere else. So any approach that we do, we need to make sure that our routes, if they need to go under a bridge that those vessels clear those bridges. That automatically eliminates needs for 149-passenger vessels. Now, we are thinking about 42 to 52 passengers, which is an extension of the bus commuter service. The other one is looking at points of high ridership -- we know that our waterways is one of our biggest assets -- and which ones along the coast have the highest congestion points, trying to de-congest those; and looking at existing infrastructure where you may have park and rides; you may have already docking facilities; ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, so we eliminate the need for permitting cost associated with constructing and modifying some of these facilities. We need to be as specific as we can on the route. So originally, when MPO started creating this route, they had proposed to -- one of them was from Aventura to downtown Miami, and the other one was from Black Point to downtown Miami. The RFI went from two stops to 18 stops. Any time that you add a stop, you add time to your travel time, and as a commuter service, it doesn't work. It may be great as a tourist
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attraction and maybe someone not coming or being under that tight schedule to get from "A" to "B." So our approach has been to create express routes only to -- small enough that we know it can be manageable and also requires the least amount of vessels for any kind of investment; whether we decide to go and purchase the vessels ourselves, or we end up hiring an operator to actually run the routes. And whatever stops we have, we have them very close to other modes of transportation, so we have been pushing for intermodal. You need to be able to either connect to a Metromover, to vehicles on demand; bicycles, if there is something like this in close proximity; and definitely, trolleys. So we have created right now two routes, and this is, again, for the commuter service. We have created the north/south, which goes from Haulover Park, which is -- we already own. It has capacity for the parking that we require and already has an ADA docking facility that will fit the type of vessel that we're envisioning. And then we are traveling to Sea Isle Marina. We tested two routes; one of them was nine miles; and the other one, it was 11.4 miles. The nine-mile route, which is the most direct and is the one that has the least disruption to the properties along the bay has restrictions in travel speed six months out of the year. At six months out of the year, you're looking at low speed. "Low Speed" is defined as the ability of a boat -- the bow of a boat -- to stay parallel to the waterline. We tested it with the Miami Police Department at four miles an hour. Now, the bigger the boat, the larger the speed. So we tested it on the worst possible condition. We also tested the parallel route that went -- that took more of an eastern direction along all of the Barrier Islands and all of the private residences. In there, you can actually go 35 miles an hour; not recommended, so we tested it at 24 miles an hour. And then it has only one area that slows you down. The issue with that route is that although you can go at higher speed, it also requires more fuel consumption. So we need to make sure that we're sustainable and thinking all the time about cost of operating this; and it will create the most disruption to the properties along the water. So we chose the most direct route with the least impact into fuel consumption and properties along the water. This -- in six months out of the year, when you're traveling at four speed on the worst of circumstances, you looking at 50 minutes ride, which still is shaving 15 minutes from your commute. Six months out of the year where you can actually go to the higher speed, you are looking at 35 minutes ride, which is shaving 40 minutes out of your commute. So you can see a significant impact. Now, the only reason why we're stopping this on Sea Isle Marina is that at this time, we do not know what kind of vessel we're going to be -- the operators are going to be using, so we want to make sure that whatever we have in plan, it is tight. If we can get -- we have been doing a lot of research on vessels. We have actually identified a vessel that will clear -- it's air-conditioned and it will clear the Venetian Bridge. If that is the case, we are willing to modify the route to go to somewhere like Shopping Plaza, but that would be having discussions, obviously, with the City of Miami. Currently, there is a vessel, a fairly large vessel that docks there, and we have been talking to Tim from the Bayfront Trust to see what is the applicability that we have. Now, we also have the east/west route, and we had two potential routes. Again, right now, we're looking north of the Venetian Causeway that is connecting the Purdy Avenue Bridge where the City of Miami Beach is actually adding another dock to it; and then going again to Sea Isle Marina; Sea Isle Marina is because a block away from the Arsht Center Metromover Station and the transfer station for the buses, as well. Now, that route is 10 minutes, and it will maybe cut -- depending on the time of day, it may cut 10 minutes from your ride; it may just cut two minutes from your ride. It's going to be just a matter of --
Commissioner Gort: Convenience.
Ms. Hegedus: -- your preference. The only thing, obviously, is that Miami Beach does not have any parking associated with the landing points, so that relates really on transfer points and connectivity from the trolley system or the local buses. We also explored an east/west route that is much southern. It goes from the Miami Beach Marina through Fisherman Cut -- Fisherman Channel directly into Shopping Plaza; that, again, is 10 minutes. When -- Shopping Plaza is the preferred location, obviously, because it's closer to the Brickell area and it's closer -- it's close to the Metromover and on-demand. You have the circle right in front of Intercontinental that is very beneficial for any kind of mode that we may want to implement. Now, like I said before, we need
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to make sure that we do not -- we have to turn every stone along the way and make sure that this program is successful. So when you start looking at the fares, it's going to be a significant -- as a commuter, if I have to pay $4 or $8 one way, it's not going to happen. These individuals are relying on $2.25, $2.65 a fare. So we have looked at a structure which actually becomes an extension on our bus system, where you're either charging $2.25 or $2.65. Our express routes, like the ones that go in 95, is $2.65. And the idea would be to be able to tie it to the EZ Card Program, and you can have a choice then. You should be -- also be able to track the vehicles, and just have it on our app for trip planning, just as we have been moving towards with everything, all of the other assets. So that in a shell is really the waterborne transportation as a commuter service. Now, we need to talk about the water taxis. Now, the water taxi, we are working, as I mentioned before, in several -- at the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) meeting and in some of the other discussions. We're trying to work on an ordinance and nothing -- not so much as to regulate, but to make sure that the safety is in place. We need to make sure that the safety is in place. We need to make sure that -- this is a highly litigious environment; you are dealing with water and a moving vehicle where -- partly slippery. So you can mitigate some, and that's one of the reasons why we keep the speed at a comfortable speed, and we have talked about using catamarans, slow watch, because they are more stable as when they are in the water. But the ordinance is going to taken [sic] care of by who will be at the landing site with assisting passengers to get in and off of the boats -- of the vessels; what -- other regulations; the licensing, and just make sure we have a safe environment. Now, we have been focusing really in helping with the Miami River. At the beginning, there's a resolution that has many stops along the Miami River, and then you have many more outside the Miami River, within the City. And we went ahead and contacted DERM (Department of Environmental Resource Management) and asked them to pull all of the records and to -- trying to create a report to see what our downfalls -- or what to expect in creating these stops. And at the end of the day, it was pretty encouraging. They are -- you have -- to the east of the Metromover Station, you have already a dock built that is right in front of the Dallas --
Vice Chair Russell: Fort Dallas.
Ms. Hegedus: -- Fort Dallas Park. That is a City of Miami-owned property. It is not a Miami-Dade County dock. We had to confirm that information, because that will require FTA's (Federal Transit Administration) approval, and go through that process. So no FTA approval is required as far as I'm concerned; that's information I have been given, which is great. That dock does need to be upgraded to be ADA. If you know the dock right now, you have to actually go down three long steps. I would like to actually thank Brett Bibeau. He walked with me through all of the sites. We were able to actually document and take photos; and Spencer Crowley, as well, was very instrumental in the development of these different stops. Then you have the MRC (Miami Riverside Center). The MRC does not require any other permit. You already have the dock in there, and you very easily could have a trolley actually serving as a connection point for the water taxies. You are building Lummus Park, so those three locations potentially will have no issues. From that, there is absolutely no other facility or docking facility constructed along the bridge. So DERM's position is that in all of them identified, the location identified, you can actually put one transitory slip. The only one that was different was the one in front of -- or the Lummus Park, which actually -- because it's a historical site, you're allowed 15 docks [sic]; may be convenient, because the developers of the soccer stadium are very interested on that one location; not so much on the pump station, but on the Lummus Park Station of one of the crossing points for people walking right onto the stadium. Now, the thing that it is to be cautious is that on the south side of the river, there is an issue with clearance of water. DERM identified at least three of the stops that need to be evaluated that -- where the water depth is at least three feet, and what you have down is rot; it's not just silt, so that needs to be evaluated. And then, in all of the new, they are requiring a class one permit. So this is as far as where we are with this. I know that for the commuter service, we already have met with the U.S. (United States) Corps of Engineers and with DERM, which means that we don't have permitting. And next week, we're going to be meeting with the U.S. Coastguard. We have the Homeland Security component also
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in Government Cut and what can be done there; and also with the wildlife, so Fish and Wildlife. So as we continue the progress, we'll keep you updated.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. --
Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. And Irene, thank you; and thank you for coming to present to the DDA. I want to let my fellow Commissioners know that we've created a Waterfront Task Force at the Downtown Development Authority, and we're putting budget behind it to help all sorts of waterfront issues; one of them being bay walk, opening up pinch points; but the other being water access, and there's an initiative that's being brought by the DDA to let private boats find a way to dock up to certain places on the river walk. And there, we've hired some representation to help us navigate those waters, if you will. And it -- there could be some synergies here in some of the work that they're doing and some of the work that you're doing already; obviously, for commercial reasons, trying to find docking --
Ms. Hegedus: Absolutely.
Vice Chair Russell: -- points. So I look forward to working together with you on that. I had a question for you about -- not the taxi part, but the initial one, the bus -- what would you like to refer to it as?
Ms. Hegedus: Water bus commuter services.
Vice Chair Russell: The water bus or the commuter service, because if this can realistically alleviate traffic into the downtown core, I guess it's only as strong as its weakest link, right? And if we can look for -- what's the point that would deter people from using it, or where is the difficulty? If people would, coming from the north, go to Haulover and park and take a boat down; if it's comfortable; if the fare is right, and if it's weather-protected, that all seems like you've got in hand. My concern is if the Venetian Causeway is our cutoff point at the moment, that's very far north of the core itself. And even though Sea Isle Marina is probably a very good, protected marina to come into, that one block to the Metromover might be enough to deter people from going, "Okay, this is part of my commute where I'm going to walk down toward Biscayne Boulevard" -- it's a good block. It's a little corner and around by the Arsht Center. Are there other spots on the Metromover if the Venetian Causeway weren't an issue that would be better? And I guess my question is: What is the best Metromover Station that's closest to the water? My guess would be the River Walk Metromover Station?
Commissioner Gort: Shopping Plaza.
Vice Chair Russell: And --
Ms. Hegedus: Shopping Plaza.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: -- is that -- but that -- even that one is the Bayfront -- if -- Shopping Plaza, you've got to walk all the way down that parking lot --
Commissioner Gort: No, no. No.
Vice Chair Russell: -- to get to the Metromover, right?
Mr. Alfonso: The one by Bijan's.
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Commissioner Gort: One block.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah. And -- but was -- let's say it's raining. That one block is impossible for someone wearing a dress or a suit, going to work downtown; whereas maybe River Walk is the closest, where you go right into the elevator that goes up to the Metromover platform and -- is that Fort Dallas? Would that be the closest --?
Ms. Hegedus: That would -- in the river, yes; that would be Fort Dallas.
Vice Chair Russell: I mean, would that be a realistic goal as the bus transit stop for the core --
Ms. Hegedus: So here's --
Vice Chair Russell: -- instead of up north?
Ms. Hegedus: -- so there's a lot of "ifs," and that's why we wanted to try to do -- everything impacts one after the other one.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah.
Ms. Hegedus: That's why we wanted to try the smaller distance in trying to see how it works; and if not, go ahead and expand and modify the service until we get to something that is truly satisfying everybody's needs. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that the water bus is a standard in distance, our headway increases, and then it stops being a water service. So right now, we're looking at a headway of 15 minutes. So if I want to maintain a headway of 15 minutes, but I'm increasing the distance, I need to add a vessel. Any time that I add a vessel, I include the cost, and it's only -- it's not only the vessel cost; it's the operational components; it's the landing sites; it's everything else associated with it; in addition to wildlife, and that's why I want to have -- we're going to have this meeting next week and see -- they want -- Wildlife is looking for something comprehensive coming from everybody. They do not want to see County coming with something, DDA coming with something, the City of Miami coming with something. We need to actually be able to provide one document of what is it that we want to achieve, and for them to evaluate and allow us to move forward with this. But, yes, the -- that would be the most logical one, is to go to that station if the vessels are no issue on clearing the Venetian --
Vice Chair Russell: Right. If they don't clear the Venetian Causeway, would the frequency be once every 15 minutes that we'd be looking at opening the bridge to get into the core or --?
Ms. Hegedus: No, it would be more. You -- sometimes, you have to hold -- you have wait.
Mr. Alfonso: Right. But wouldn't you want to get a vehicle that is able to go under the bus [sic] without --?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, ideally.
Mr. Alfonso: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: But that's a pretty low bridge; but, yeah. You're talking about -- not the Venetian portion by Miami, but further up, there's a higher connection, right? Because --
Ms. Hegedus: No. I'm looking at the one in Miami, because that's the one -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Any time that I -- we deviate, we go away from that channel, that inter-coastal channel.
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Vice Chair Russell: Of course, of course. Thank you. And my final --
Ms. Hegedus: We don't want to have manatees and seagrass issues.
Vice Chair Russell: -- I know Commissioner Suarez would like to speak. My final question is: What participation do you envision the City having? Do you see this being a private vessel that's contracted to the County or the City; or do you see this as an actual County or City transportation vehicle, like?
Ms. Hegedus: At this point, we're thinking that we're going to have to issue an RFP, and trying to get a private operator to run. So we will be in charge, obviously, of the capital costs, but they would be on the operating side. However, we haven't gotten to those numbers yet; that will be very shortly, because we have most of it already worked out. We're doing a lot of research on the vessels, because we don't want to leave it open to -- when we ask for an RFP for anybody to put any vessels; it may be that that operator already has some of this.
Vice Chair Russell: There's definitely some operators already doing this, and I'm wondering if you've worked with them to see what learnings they already have, rather than reinventing the wheel. There's some that run from South Beach to Bayside Marina -- Island Queen is one of them -- that already have what they call a water taxi service, and branded vessels and things like that.
Ms. Hegedus: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
Vice Chair Russell: And they've done the DERM work to get the stops.
Ms. Hegedus: We have been talking to Fort Lauderdale, which already has a trolley working and operating, has been very successful; the ridership has been increasing. So we have been talking to the operator in terms of, you know, how much is subsidized. So they have grants or they have applied for. The City of Fort Lauderdale has a grant of $150,000. They just simply -- once they received that grant, they just move it to the operator. The operator subsidize out of his own pocket about 50 to $70,000 of that; hoping that, eventually, it will become a commuter and not just (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on-demand service. It has eight stops. They are so close together, the stops, that they -- actually, the entire trip is about eight minutes. We're going to test it actually on the 20th. We're going to go up there and meet with them, verify some of the numbers. They were very instrumental in giving us (UNINTELLIGIBLE) hourly rates for the captains and the mates and the mechanics. So you have to keep in mind that any of these vessels -- any of these boats require six times more maintenance than our personal vehicles.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner -- I'm sorry -- Commissioner Gort, then Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Gort: The -- Suarez was first. Go ahead. Well, this is a project that we all have to work together. This is a countywide and we all have to work as a team. One of the thing I'm going to ask Eileen [sic] is -- and I been asking this -- since many other city have provided trolley services, like in the City of Miami, I'd like for you all to look at our trolley service and see how -- that the routes can be changed so that we can connect a lot better to the public transportation on how to connect to the other cities. I gave you the map of the -- what we have right now. And I think that's very important to coordinate the whole thing, and we have to work as a team. That's the County (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Ms. Hegedus: It is very important, and I'm glad that you're actually looking at this. So we'll take a look at it and we'll be back.
Commissioner Gort: What I suggest to this is the people that do own the trolleys, they provide the services in many other cities -- Miami Beach, North Miami and other cities -- somehow that
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could be combined to make it even better, more efficient for everyone.
Ms. Hegedus: One -- absolutely. One of the things actually that we are having a great deal of issues is that trolley systems are typically -- enter all of the schedules and manually developed. And so we have contacted the 34 municipalities. I had to -- have gotten all of the trolleys to incorporate in our apps. So when you have -- if you know the Trip Planner, you are allowed to -- actually from "A" to "B" know exactly -- and we want to make sure that the trolleys are part of that. And the connectivity is going to be critical, so.
Commissioner Gort: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Regalado: Question for -- Mr. Chairman, a question for Irene. I remember that two and a half or maybe three years ago, the operator of the water taxi that it stays in Bayside tried to get a stop in Coconut Grove. His idea at the time was very good in terms of commercially and transportation. He can only go to the marina and Miami Beach and he cannot -- at the time he would -- he wasn't able to do it because of DERM. DERM refused to allow the water taxis because it was considered a commercial vessel. And so the question is: Do you think that DERM, being a County agency, will they be more flexible in allowing all these water stops? And the second question is: If this is a County vessel -- I guess that some of them will be owned by the County, maybe -- do they charge more or can they charge more than the bus service? And if they do, then they will have to be subsidized, and what happen to the commercial water taxis that are being used by tourists?
Commissioner Gort: That's a loaded question.
Mayor Regalado: It was a loaded question. No, no, it's -- no, it's -- I'm curious. I'm curious because --
Commissioner Gort: Yeah.
Mayor Regalado: -- I remember that we did try to help that guy in Bayside, and that's why I don't know if there is a new will to allow this.
Ms. Hegedus: First, I am not familiar with the -- with two and a half years ago at the Coconut Grove stop --
Chair Hardemon: You've got to speak in the mike.
Ms. Hegedus: -- in the Coconut Grove stop. That's something, definitely, that we can take a look at it. We know that DERM has really been very helpful in trying to determine -- do an evaluation of every single stop that we have required, and do an evaluation of what they will require. So I can go ahead and ask them, because I think that there's a series of stops along that side of the coast that we are interested, also, exploring. One of the things that -- why it is so difficult -- you have two items. Zoning administrator had one -- is the zoning designation of some of the marina, and based on the zoning designation, you don't have commercial uses, so you need to tackle that from a zoning perspective. Any commercial vehicle that is in the marina right now was grandfathered in when Miami 21 came into place. There has been discussion actually to changing some of the slips and make it into commercial use, and designating maybe perhaps 200 slips. But the MPO identified Dinner Key Marina as one of the stops, and I can certainly go ahead and ask DERM evaluate that stop, as well. Now, in relation to the fares, at 2.25 or 2.65, we're still subsidizing; the County is still subsidizing the ride. So a typical ride is about four dollars and something cents. So about 50 percent, 40 percent of the ride is already subsidized. From a commuter service, we want to continue to make it as 2.25 or 2.65, based on
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whether it's express service or not express service. What does that do to a water taxi? That is, guys, when you start looking at negotiations with any kind of operators -- like Miami Beach did -- you have to be very careful. One of the things that I can tell you is as a rider, as a commuter, if I have one that cost $20; or like they have it, if I'm a city -- a resident of Miami Beach, it's $10 versus -- and one way only -- and versus $2.25. One of them is not air-conditioned -- the water taxi currently -- and ours will be. Guess which one I'm going to be taking? So we don't want to be able to take away competition, I mean, ours -- and again, this is an on-demand service, and they're going to be open to be able to travel to different locations; not just a specific route. That would be something that needs to be looked at. The fares is going to be your biggest stumbling block on how -- what does it cost for an operator to do this.
Commissioner Suarez: Go ahead, yeah.
Mayor Regalado: The reason, Commissioners and Irene, that I asked is because we have the experience of the Miami International Boat Show. They transported like 70 percent of the passengers. They did charge, but they used like private people, and so I don't know if they can accommodate, because, apparently, it was a success for --
Ms. Hegedus: It was a success, and it was about --
Commissioner Gort: Mike, mike.
Ms. Hegedus: -- it was a success and it was fairly high rate per hour of preparation. I believe it was 2,000-something dollars per hour of operation. Now, in comparing the MPO (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that -- and the information that we have received, back in 2006, the one that was the least expensive was the one who was charging by hours of service instead of the -- also cost of providing the service. So as you move through the process, you're going to find -- Be as tight as possible; that's all I can recommend, and we will be happy to assist you in preparation of any documents.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, I know we have a long agenda, and I don't -- I want to get out of here sometime before the sun goes down.
Chair Hardemon: That would be good.
Commissioner Suarez: That should be our objective. So I just very briefly -- the only reason why I wanted to bring this was because I wanted to follow up on -- and I want you to know that we're continuing to follow up, as the City's MPO board member. And I thought one thing that was significant -- and we're going to be studying it at the MPO -- is that this is now not just a connectivity issue about just connect -- but this could also be a mass transit option.
Commissioner Gort: Sure.
Commissioner Suarez: In other words, if you're saving 40 minutes, potentially, from Aventura to downtown -- and we're studying now Black Point, so we're going to go all the way south, as well -- you're talking about a -- and you can transport a significant amount of people on the buses, you know, on the water buses, as long as you can keep the fares competitive and the headways reasonable, you're talking about a significant potential mass transit option, and that's why I wanted to bring this. So thank you, Irene, for coming. I appreciate it.
Ms. Hegedus: You're welcome.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
PA.2 PRESENTATION
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16-00454 District 2 - PERSONAL APPEARANCE BY WAYNE PATHMAN, CHAIRMAN, AND THE Commissioner Ken MEMBERS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI'S SEA LEVEL RISE COMMITTEE TO Russell DISCUSS THEIR WORK OVER THE PAST SIX (6) MONTHS.
16-00454 E-Mail - Personal Appearance.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be RECONSIDERED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing the withdrawal and reconsideration of item PA.2, please see "Order of the Day."
PA.3 PRESENTATION 16-00962 District 4- PERSONAL APPEARANCE BY RALPH ROSADO REGARDING FITZONE, A Commissioner PROMISING CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGY. Francis Suarez 16-00962 E-Mail -Personal Appearance Item.pdf
PRESENTED
(PA.3) RESOLUTION 16-00962a A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT THE FITNESS IMPROVEMENT TRAINING ZONE PROGRAM WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY"), FOR A PERIOD OF ONE (1) YEAR; UTILIZING SHOTSPOTTER AND ANY OTHER CRIME DATA RESOURCE TO IDENTIFY A "HOT SPOT" AREA WHERE ACTIVATION WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH OF RESIDENTS LIVING IN THE AREA; CONSULTING THE CITY'S PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR, CHIEF OF POLICE AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACCEPT ANY AVAILABLE GRANT AWARD OR OTHER FUNDING SOURCES YET TO BE DETERMINED, AND TO EXECUTE ALL OTHER NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN SAID PROGRAM.
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Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0344
Chair Hardemon: Now we have another personal appearance item. Mr. Ralph Rosado.
Commissioner Suarez: And I've asked --
Chair Hardemon: And I ask that we limit it to 10 minutes; is that okay?
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, for sure.
Chair Hardemon: Great. Thank you so much.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Rosado is a resident in my district. He has a crime-fighting initiative that is, in my opinion, an excellent initiative. He has followed the fact that I presented ShotSpotter as a technology-based crime-fighting tool a couple of years ago, and, you know, our homicide rate in that time has dropped -- and obviously, we're midway through the year, so I knock on wood whenever you say something like this -- but it's on pace to drop 38 percent in two years, so that's a significant improvement. And it's not something that we should be resting on our laurels. It's something that we need to continue to build on. And you'll see a presentation that he will show you from East Palo Alto where they were using ShotSpotter data to create fit zones in areas where there's actually high concentrations of gunfire, and they're changing what is happening in that area from a negative activity to an extremely positive activity, where people and kids and adults are focusing on physical fitness rather than violence in channeling their energy. So I'll let him make the presentation, and we will try to keep it condensed.
Ralph Rosado: Good morning, Mayor, Commissioners, Mr. Manager and members of the public. My name is Ralph Rosado, 3340 Southwest 16th Terrace. First of all, I want to thank you for the groundbreaking of Douglas Park last week, which, as you know, is incredibly important to me and to so many people, so thank you for moving forward so quickly on that. As a husband, as a father, as a member of our community, I don't think that anything is more important to me or to any of us than the health and safety of our families, our friends and our neighbors. I also think, and I'm sure you agree that any time the Mayor or the Manager or the Commissioners of New York or L.A. (Los Angeles) or Chicago or any other major city, or small city in the country, when they think, "Hey, we have an issue with safety," or "We have an issue with housing," or transportation, or anything else, I think we all agree that they should be looking at Miami as the national model for how to be ahead of the curve and always being very creative, and coming up with solutions that everybody else can adopt in some form. So what I'm presenting to you today -- I'm hoping that you will make a motion to adopt it, or consider it in some way -- is the implementation of a program that is based out of East Palo Alto, California, but that I think the City can improve upon and make into a national model; and by doing that, address health and safety in this community that we all care about so much. A few years ago, I attended a conference in Denver, which is always leading in so many ways, and it was a conference on addressing urban issues and what creative things cities across the country are doing to tackle all sort of challenges. One of the panels that really stuck out in my mind were some folks from East Palo Alto, which, if you're not familiar with it, it's located about an hour away from San Francisco; it's in Silicon Valley. All of the cities around it, including Palo Alto, where Google is headquartered, and a number of other cities, they're very affluent, they're successful, low crime, high employment and so on. East Palo Alto is the proverbial hole in the doughnut where they have the opposite of that. So it's a city that was actually leading on a number of things that none of us ever wants to lead on. Even though it's a lot smaller than the City of Miami -- it's only about 30,000 residents -- it is, just like us, a majority minority community. It's about two-thirds Hispanic, a little less than a fifth African American, and the
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remainder of the folks there are either Caucasian or Asian; high unemployment; high gang activity; you know, very unsafe neighborhoods; lots of empty parks. They had an obesity epidemic, and people thought maybe that's unrelated. It turns out, of course, it's all related to the rest of this. But worst of all, it was the random gunfire capital of the U.S. (United States), and one of the murder capitals of the U.S. So on a weekly basis, people were just shooting guns up in the air, and who knows where the bullets were landing; in many cases, they were landing on other people. So they decided to take technology -- and this is why I think there's something very promising here, because I do know you've adopted the ShotSpotter technology that they based their program on. What they did is they pulled up that data and they decided to look at that and use other crime data, including assault rates in certain neighborhoods to do several things. They wanted to reduce the rampant violence that was taking place in the city. They wanted to reduce the obesity rates and the high rates of heart disease and diabetes. They wanted to improve relations between residents and the police, which is something that is certainly top of mind to all of us, given the events of the last couple of weeks across the country. And they wanted to make sure to reclaim their public space. So they were spending money on parks, and the parks were empty because people were scared to go to the parks. And in many cases, people were scared just to go outside of their homes and go for a walk, because they thought that something violent would happen to them. So they wanted to reclaim their city. What they did is they pursued a grant -- this was just back in 2012, so the program overall is about four years old -- they got a grant for a little under 100,000 from the California Endowment. California Endowment is very comparable, just coincidentally, very comparable to our Health Foundation --
Commissioner Gort: Ralph, let me interrupt you a minute. What's this "beep" that's going on? I don't know if it's only me that was hearing it.
Unidentified Speaker: The fire alarm that's been going off.
Chair Hardemon: Oh, yeah, the fire alarm.
Commissioner Gort: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: In the Mayor's office.
Commissioner Gort: Sorry. Go ahead.
Mr. Rosado: That's okay.
Commissioner Gort: Are we having a fire or what?
Vice Chair Russell: Only in the Mayor's office.
Commissioner Gort: In the Mayor's.
Commissioner Suarez: Mayor, you better get up there.
Commissioner Gort: I'm sorry to interrupt you, but it was --
Commissioner Suarez: You better check up on that.
Mr. Rosado: Hopefully I didn't set it off in any way.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Can the sergeant-at-arms check, just that everything's okay, please? Thank you.
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Mr. Rosado: So they received a little under 100,000 from the health -- the California Endowment, which is very comparable to the -- our Health Foundation of South Florida; which, coincidentally, has an open grant cycle right now; closing at the end of the month, so the timing on this could be very, very good. And I have been in touch with them, and they have interest in this; so that, by all means, they're open to conversations about funding this. And they created something called fitness improvement training zones, FIT zones. So using the ShotSpotter data and other crime data, they figured that crime wasn't random; it was going to happen as it was happening, in the same places, at about the same times throughout the week. So Tuesdays, between 3 and 5, the corner of "X" and "Y" is kind of dangerous, and it would happen over and over. So they decided that they were going to go ahead and program those areas, those hot spots with police officers to try to make it as safe as possible and get people outdoors. So what they did, first of all, was very, very simple. As you saw from that first image, they had police officers taking kids on bike rides. So this is a city, and there are many neighborhoods in our city that have the same challenge where many kids don't know how to ride a bike, because they've actually never been able to afford a bike. So Google Headquarters donated 100 bicycles, and police officers started taking kids on bike rides in those hot spots; those two parks that were particularly challenged in challenged neighborhoods. They started doing that on a weekly basis. Then they started to add other things because that grew so popular. They started doing volleyball, basketball, a number of other sports activities. They offered Zumba classes; and for senior citizens, they had walking groups. So they would announce that the police officers were leading these things, and people felt safer about participating in sports, going outside, because they had protection, essentially. That grew so successful the number of participants went from about 40 people the first month to over 200 individuals at this point that they started doing a series of things for people that weren't into sports. So they started having the kids that were tagging, you know, the gang members that were tagging fences, they had them start to paint the fences, they had them start to create murals, they started doing litter cleanups, tree plantings; I mean, you name it and they were offering it. And nonprofits started to get involved at this point, and residents started to offer to lead these initiatives. So the police was always at the core of this, but lots of others got involved and were helpful. As you can imagine, we've got Victor Dover here and Frankie Ruiz and Pastor Ben Evans, and they all do lots of wonderful things in the community already. You can imagine Victor and other folks, police officers, et cetera, leading some of those bike rides from those dangerous places; Frankie doing his version of Brickell Run Club from a neighborhood that's not necessarily that much like Brickell; and Ben doing wonderful things, his work being very inclusive as part of this. So unlike East Palo Alto, Miami actually has a lot of the resources necessary to really kick it up a notch. The results of this, as you can see from that article, they got good local press; but eventually, they even got great national press on ABC (American Broadcasting Company), Nightline news, NBC (National Broadcasting Company), et cetera. The police captain was actually hired by the Department of Justice to be the head of all local policing initiatives for the U.S. And more importantly, at the local level, a number of things were tackled. So residents were no longer scared of going outside; residents were no longer scared of engaging with the police; obesity rates dropped; and the most important thing of all, crime dropped in those two hot spots by between 45 and 60 percent using that data and that programming. So I've got a short video here that the City itself prepared.
Note for the Record: An audio-video presentation was made at this time.
Mr. Rosado: So to wrap things up, what I'm proposing is that the City adopt a pilot version of this program using ShotSpotter and crime data that you already have accessible to you; tapping into the many, many community resources available. We have a lot more organizations than they had at their disposal. Within the past week, I've spoken to about 15 groups, including the Miami Foundation, the Health Foundation, Miami-Dade County Public Schools; and 12 nonprofits that either focus on sports, arts, or nutrition in our community. They're like pieces of the puzzle, and I think we can put the puzzle together and benefit the City as a whole. I'm not an acronym whiz by any stretch of the imagination, but I wanted to make sure we had potentially a -- our own
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original name, so if we're the "Magic City," I would encourage you to adopt a pilot program of "The MAGIC Program," which is Miamians are active and athletic; they're generous with their time and talents; they're imaginative and artistic, and they're collaborative across sectors, professions and neighborhoods. I think, together with the adoption of this, we can make Miami safer in a way that's creative without spending a lot of money, because, again, these folks run it for less than 100,000. I think we could probably do that as a pilot program for that amount in an initial year. And to put my money where my mouth is, if you do agree to adopt this, I'd like to donate the first 20 bicycles.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Thank you, Ralph. I appreciate that. First of all, I want to say a couple things. First, I want to publicly commend the Police Chief. He has -- when I first came up with ShotSpotter, he was skeptical, and I appreciated his candor. And I think he has become a believer, you know, and I think some of the results speak for themselves with our -- and obviously -- I knock on wood every time I say this -- because, obviously, we had a good first half of the year in terms of our homicide rate being down 30 percent for the year, and we take a collective big breath. I saw him take a big breath, because you never want to -- and you know that one bad incident could change that or whatever, but I want to thank him for that and for working with me every time I have what I feel is an initiative that's cutting edge and that's trying to build on not only getting the Police Department the tools that it needs to be more effective at doing its job, but implementing programs. And I also want to commend the Chairman, because the Chairman a long time ago -- you know, a couple years ago; it feels like a long time ago -- said something to me that resonated with me. He said, "You know, it can't always be about more police officers. It can't always be about crime. It has to be about the full spectrum." And that's what created the Anti-Poverty Initiative. And, you know, for me, it got me thinking about what are other things that you can use in conjunction with progressive policing equipment and tactics that could reduce not only crime, but as you've mentioned, other societal ills, like childhood obesity, which is a big issue in our community; particularly in our impoverished communities. And so, for me, I'm a fit guy, I like to work out, as you know. You know, to me, when Ralph came to me with this idea, I thought it was, you know, a phenomenal idea, and, you know, he's done the research, he's really done the heavy lifting. I can't take the credit for that or for the idea, for that matter. You know, I just want to help him implement it because I feel that it's something that we should do. And so what -- I'm going to make a motion to pass a resolution asking the Administration to work with my office to either find the grant money or budget the money necessary to implement the pilot program; that is, the FIT Zone Program. That's my motion.
Chair Hardemon: Is there a second to his motion?
Commissioner Carollo: I will second with discussion.
Chair Hardemon: I'll open up discussion at this time. Chief, would you like to say something?
Rodolfo Llanes: Thank you. Rodolfo Llanes, Chief of Police. You know, unfortunately, I haven't done my due diligence on this, and I'd like to talk to my law enforcement partners from East Palo Alto to see how it was done. I mean, in the City, we do -- like Mr. Rosado said, we do a lot of the same things; we just don't organize it the same way. And so, I don't think it would be a huge resource draw from the Police Department. You know, you hear about the Overtown Tornados, and we have a PAL (Police Athletic League) Program, and, you know, we have all these things that we organize, and I just don't think we put it all together and bundle it in a package. So I don't think it'd be overly stressful on our resources. I'd just like to hear from the law enforcement professionals as to what their input and resource deployment was for this program. And that's all, you know, that I need to feel comfortable with it.
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Commissioner Suarez: And Mr. Chair, if I may. I totally agree. You know, that's why the reso for me is, you know, to come back with something to the Commission. I'm also going to reach out, by the way, just like Mr. Rosado is donating 25 bicycles, I'm also going to reach out to equipment companies. I happen to like Cross Fit and Rogue is a big equipment manufacturer, so I'm going to reach out to them and find out if they're willing to donate equipment. But I think the -- that -- what's different -- because, you're right, there are a lot -- some similar programs. There's Up Front, you know, a bunch of youth sports, of course. But I think what's different here goes to something that you have been talking about, which is predictive policing. You've talked about being, you know, intelligent and using the data, and creating a nexus between the data that we obtain and concepts to try to reduce crime further. And you and I both know when you first came onboard, I said, you know, "Chief, I'm never going to be happy until our homicide rate is zero," you know. And so as amazing as this year and a half has been, you know, I'm certainly not going to rest on my laurels. I know you're not going to rest on your laurels. And, obviously, we still have half a year to go, but I think the idea here is to keep building on our successes and use the resources that we have to keep expanding our reach and making more progress.
Mr. Rosado: If I could answer the Chief's concern as well. So the timing for the presentation is that I had the opportunity two weeks ago to fly to East Palo Alto and spend a few days with their Police Department and actually attend some of the activities, ask lots and lots of questions. And they are very, very eager to support this kind of initiative anywhere, including the City of Miami. So, yeah, they're happy to meet with you or come to Miami, of course, and speak; they offered that right away.
Chief Llanes: I'm sure.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: Yeah. I think the idea is excellent, but I think we have a lot of programs in existence right now; it's how to combine it to fit to what they have over there. I think we got a lot of activities to take place. I go through those -- Parks Department also have a lot to do with. And I'm a great believer in being fit. I think the kids got to work out. You got to get them off the couch and get them off the computers, and get them in the street.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman.
Commissioner Gort: But I think Administration's got to come back and see the programs that we already have and compare with what they have, and see how we can improve it.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort, you're recognized --
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: -- I'm sorry; Commissioner Carollo.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Listen, I'm in favor of anything that is going to better our community, help our Police Department, but I think the common theme that everyone's saying is a lot of this is being done already. According to what you're saying, you want to use ShotSpotter. ShotSpotter is in just "X" number of locations in the City of Miami. I don't think there's any in D4, in District 4. But it's just in a few spots in the City of Miami, and if you're saying that we do a FIT zone just in that area, so I'm not really sure with regards to the pilot program exactly where this pilot program would be. And again, I'm all in favor of anything that's going to be positive for the community. I mean, I've worked at it, you know, quite a bit in the last few months, even with some of the people that you have here -- even with Frank Ruiz -- where that same concept, we actually did it in a 5K race, and it wasn't just in Brickell. We
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actually went to Little Havana, Overtown, just blocks where our youth have died in our streets. So it wasn't just, you know, in the nice, pretty zones of the City of Miami. So a lot of this, I think, has been done. And again, I'm in favor of this, but I want to see where is this, you know, FIT zone going to be; and at the same time, I think a lot of this is already being done, so I just don't want to be redundant; or make sure that some of these organizations are already doing it. Like, I know Liberty City and MCI, which you're all familiar with, are doing it, block by block, exactly where some of these issues are happening. So that's the only thing that I wanted to say. And again, I mean, anything that's going to be positive, I'm in favor of.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: Well, first, I want to thank my Commissioner for their support; that's really the most important thing. Obviously, you can't do things that are unique and different and special without, you know, without their support. I think what's different is that these programs are -- athletic programs and things of that nature are in different parts of the City, but this particular idea combines actionable data, predictive policing; you know, it takes it to the next level, if you will. And it's not going to be a one-day thing; it's not a -- you know, it's not a -- this is going to be an all-time thing; in other words, the FIT zone will be available every day for kids to play. And I think that's the way you get results, because at the end of the day, you're only going to get -- you're not going to get a 45 to 60 percent decrease in crime unless there's a concentration of positive activity in the area where there's the highest concentration of negative activity currently. So I think that's the difference, and I think that's what makes it special and unique. You keep building on things. It's great that all these athletic programs exist for the youth, and that's wonderful and that's made things great for our City. Now we're taking it to the next level. We're taking these youth programs, we're combining them with data that we have, we're doing what other cities are doing intelligently, and we're hoping to get better results.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir.
Kevin Kirwin: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Kevin Kirwin, your City of Miami Park & Recreation director. Commissioners -- and Ralph, thank you very much. I mean, that is an excellent presentation. And as Chief Llanes said, I think we could work better together. We have a lot of health and wellness initiatives that are going on now. Every one of our City Park summer camp programs and after-school programs is a fit-to-play program where the kids -- there's a baseline measurement of their health and wellness, and then a post-test base -- measurement of their health and wellness, and that was all benefited from a grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida. We're also applying for that Health Foundation of South Florida grant, the series that's open right now. Another couple of our -- kind of correlating paths we're taking here: Back in my other life, we developed a program called "Bike Safety" with the University of Miami, and it's a curriculum to teach kids how to get healthy and well on a bicycle. Right now we have -- in the next two weeks -- this week and next week -- we have 1,000 kids in our summer camp that are going out to the flex park and learning how to ride bikes, and actually going on a three-mile bike ride around the basin. We're also -- one of our big initiatives is the outdoor fitness centers that you see around the park. Commissioner Gort, I know that you just put one at Juan Pablo Duarte Park. We're looking to put more of those around the City. Commissioner Suarez, the other night when we went to Shenandoah, with the money that we got -- I mean, Ralph, you were there.
Commissioner Suarez: Coca-Cola.
Mr. Kirwin: With the money that we got from Coca-Cola, National Recreation Park Association, there were three classes --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
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Mr. Kirwin: -- of at least 30 adults.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Absolutely.
Mr. Kirwin: I mean, talk about sweating, and they were out in the sun.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. In Douglas, that'll happen, too.
Mr. Kirwin: It was a boot camp, led by a form -- by a veteran --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Mr. Kirwin : -- that was just ter -- you know -- terrific. You know, Chief Llanes, I got to commend his staff and the Police Athletic League. A focused summer camp is being run in Overtown at Williams Park that is just phenomenal, and those kids are getting an experience, plus they're getting that exchange with our partners in the Police Department; and, obviously, the Park & Recreation Department.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if I may?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: I just want to briefly shower also some praise on our Parks director. You know, he's worked -- he's a tireless worker, you know; has leveraged a lot of our assets by getting, you know, grants and with his contacts. And he's just a very responsive, easygoing, hardworking guy, and he's made us all, I think, look better by his work. So thank you, Mr. Manager. Thank you, Kevin; appreciate it.
Mr. Kirwin: Thank you. And just to wrap it up, Ralph, I want to hear more. I mean, I -- as a fellow academic, you know, I want to get together with you and Rudy and I think can get -- you know --
Mr. Rosado: Let's do it.
Mr. Kirwin: -- kind of put this together in a package. I like the data piece, because data sells. I mean, that's the new buzz word and that's -- makes it sustainable --
Mr. Rosado: Yeah.
Mr. Kirwin: -- and that gets the money flowing to us, so thank you very much.
Mr. Alfonso: I think --
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. So is there any further discussion on the motion on the floor?
Mr. Alfonso: Mr. Chair, just quickly.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Mr. Alfonso: If we may amend the resolution to accept the funds so that we don't have to bring it back in another resolution.
Commissioner Suarez: Absolutely, yes. I'll amend the resolution to accept the funds.
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Vice Chair Russell: What is the specific motion?
Commissioner Suarez: The motion is to come back to this Commission with the adoption of the FIT Program, either through grant funding or another funding source yet to be determined; obviously, in consultation with the Parks director and the Chief of Police, and the Manager.
Commissioner Carollo: But could we get a definition of the FIT Program?
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, sure. Go ahead.
Mr. Rosado: So we would be activating different neighborhoods based on -- at least one neighborhood, I should say -- based upon ShotSpotter data and other crime data, because if -- there's additional information that could be taken into consideration -- in collaboration with the Police Department, because I think that's a core component; to activate it at the most vulnerable times in those communities, and to do it for a year in one place. I didn't -- intentionally, I didn't want to come in and say, "Oh, you should do it here," because then, it becomes about a place. And it's not about a specific neighborhood; it's the concept, which I think could work well in a number of places.
Commissioner Carollo: So we're just saying in some place where the ShotSpotters --
Mr. Rosado: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: -- are currently located, we're going to pick either a block or we're going to pick a --
Mr. Rosado: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: A location.
Commissioner Carollo: -- location somewhere there, and we're going to make a park in a FIT zone?
Mr. Rosado: Mm-hmm.
Chair Hardemon: No, that's not what I understood. I understood it to mean a -- you can use SpotShotter information or not, you know. So, obviously, the SpotShotter --
Commissioner Suarez: ShotSpotter.
Chair Hardemon: -- ShotSpotter informa -- ShotSpotters are in my communities --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: And I'm sure there are a plethora of organizations that would want to have discussion about what things they think belong in a place like that. So Police --
Commissioner Suarez: And I would love to encourage them to be a part of it, too.
Chair Hardemon: -- are involved, MCI is involved. I mean, there are a plethora of different other organizations that are involved to ensure children are safe. One thing about parks is that they're active, so we don't have that same issue.
Commissioner Carollo: And that's exactly -- because, I mean, I think we all think the same about our Parks director, and all of our parks are active.
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Chair Hardemon: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: So I think -- and they're in all our neighborhoods.
Chair Hardemon: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: Some neighborhoods have more than other -- some neighborhoods have more parks than others, but with that said, that puts -- now, we're working on that, we're working on that.
Commissioner Suarez: We're working on that.
Commissioner Carollo: But with that said, they're in all of our neighborhoods, and they're active 365 days out of the year. So I think --
Chair Hardemon: For us, you know --
Commissioner Carollo: -- some of those FIT zones should be in our parks.
Chair Hardemon: -- for us, like our FIT zone would have to be on the public right-of-way, on the sidewalk, walking next to the corner store --
Commissioner Carollo: That's why I was asking.
Chair Hardemon: -- on 62nd Street and, you know --
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Chair Hardemon: -- so there's a difference. So I think it just -- but we can still accept this; not necessarily saying that it would be any particular place, but just we can utilize all the information necessary to determine where a place would be that would be appropriate, yes.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. And there -- definitely, the resolution is not to pick a place right now. The resolution is to work with community stakeholders, the ones you've identified and many, many others, to use actionable data to choose locations where we should activate or repurpose public space for park space. I'm glad that our Parks system is as robustly used as it is, and I don't think that any of the data would show that our parks are actually hot spots for gunfire, thankfully.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah, they're not.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: And I'm sure people are saying parks are already FIT zones.
Commissioner Suarez: Right, exactly, exactly, exactly.
Commissioner Carollo: I'd be remised if I don't mention something, and I know in the City of Miami, and maybe in most places, we have short memories. No. Unfortunately, September, October of 2015, just last year, we had two cars pull up next to each other, and about 20 shots fired between them, right next to our park.
Chair Hardemon: No, no, we didn't say that --
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Commissioner Suarez: We could have an incident, of course; yeah, yeah.
Chair Hardemon: -- it's not a high number of incidences --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: -- on the park, so.
Commissioner Suarez: Of course not; right.
Commissioner Carollo: Understood. But I don't want to make it seem like --
Commissioner Suarez: No. I mean, incidents happen, but --
Commissioner Carollo: -- there's -- like there's not issues.
Commissioner Suarez: Right, right.
Commissioner Carollo: And next to that park -- I forgot the exact date and I usually memorize all of them -- but a young man also was killed 20 -- on Christmas Eve or shortly after that, or shortly after Christmas Eve a couple years ago, and that was also by one of our parks in Little Havana. So I don't want to, you know, just say that, "Hey, all these are safe zones," because that's why we're installing different measures to make sure that that doesn't happen again; or at least we could clear up those incidents.
Chair Hardemon: Is there any further discussion on the motion on the floor? Seeing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Commissioner Gort: Now we mentioned an important parks, I'd like to see Curtis Parks [sic] get finished.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
Mr. Rosado: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Gort: Very active park there.
END OF PERSONAL APPEARANCES
PUBLIC HEARING
PH.1 RESOLUTION 16-00817
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Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Community and ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN Economic PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY RESOLUTION NO. 08-0643, ADOPTED Development NOVEMBER 13, 2008, AND SUBSTITUTING IN LIEU THEREOF WITH THE NEW CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN, AS DESCRIBED IN ATTACHMENT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; UPDATING THE DEFINITION OF SUBSTANTIAL AND NON-SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSOLIDATED PLAN AND/OR ANNUAL ACTION PLAN; FURTHER CLARIFYING PUBLIC HEARING REQUIREMENTS AND PUBLIC NOTICE COMMENT PERIOD REQUIREMENTS TO COMPLY WITH THE CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, 24 CFR § 91.105; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 16-00817 Summary Form.pdf 16-00817 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00817 Pre-Legislation.pdf 16-00817 Legislation.pdf 16-00817 Attachment A.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0316
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PH.1, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: Calling PH.1. PH.1, Citizen Participation Plan.
Commissioner Gort: Is that you?
George Mensah (Director, Community Development): Good morning, Commissioners. PH.1 is a resolution of Miami City Commission amending the Citizens Participation Plan previously approved by Resolution Number 08-0643 and substituting in lieu thereof the new Citizens Participation Plan, as described in the attachment. Basically, the changes made are very minimal. One of them was to add Affirmative Housing Plan as part of the Citizens Participation Plan; and the other was to make sure -- to have a minimum of two public hearings annually to ensure that people would be able to come to all the meetings.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Is there any further discussion on this item from the dais?
Commissioner Suarez: Move it. Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved. Is there a second?
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to accept. Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
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PH.2 RESOLUTION 16-00818 Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Community and ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AN AMENDMENT OF THE COMMERCIAL Economic FAÇADE AND CODE COMPLIANCE PROGRAM POLICIES, TO INCLUDE AN Development INCREASE IN THE LIMIT FOR COMMERCIAL FACADE REPAIRS FROM $10,000.00 TO $20,000.00, AND TO ELIMINATE MATCHING FUND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BUSINESS OWNERS FOR THE COMMERCIAL FAÇADE PROGRAM IN DISTRICT 5, AS SPECIFIED IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 16-00818 Summary Form.pdf 16-00818 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00818 Pre-Legislation.pdf 16-00818 Legislation.pdf 16-00818 Exhibit.pdf
SPONSOR: CHAIRMAN KEON HARDEMON
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0317
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PH.2, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: PH.2.
George Mensah (Director, Community Development): PH.2 is a resolution approving an amendment to the Commercial Façade and Code Compliance Program Policies, specifically for District 5. It is to increase the limit from 10,000 to 20,000, and to eliminate matching funds for businesses.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: And seconded by Commissioner Gort. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
PH.3 RESOLUTION 16-00819
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Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Community and ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") EMPLOYEES' Economic WORKFORCE HOUSING DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AS Development DESCRIBED IN ATTACHMENT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED ("PROGRAM"); AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,000,000.00, FROM THE CITY'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND; ALLOCATING SAID FUNDS TO THE CITY'S DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PROGRAM; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 16-00819 Summary Form.pdf 16-00819 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00819 Pre-Legislation.pdf 16-00819 Legislation.pdf 16-00819 Attachment A.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0318
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PH.3, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: PH.3.
George Mensah (Director, Community Development): PH.3 is a resolution amending the City of Miami Employees' Workforce Housing Down Payment Assistance Program to increase the amount from 35,000 to 40,000; and to authorize $1 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the program.
Commissioner Gort: This is for City of Miami employees?
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Commissioner Carollo: Second. Discussion.
Commissioner Suarez: Discussion. I yield, I yield.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved and seconded. Discussion, Commissioner Carollo.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Mensah, do you have the applications already? Because it's my understanding it's on a first come, first serve, so as soon as some employees -- I mean, I'm sure, you know, they're going to try to take advantage of this. So are the applications ready already?
Mr. Mensah: Yeah. Yes, they are ready, but we can't release it until it's approved by City Commission.
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Commissioner Carollo: Right. So how soon -- because it's my understanding there's -- you did a map -- about 25 spots, right?
Mr. Mensah: At this point, yes, if everybody gets the maximum, but it based on need. So if you don't need all the 40,000, you don't get all the 40,000.
Commissioner Carollo: Understood. So once this passes, how soon and where can they find the applications?
Mr. Mensah: Okay. We -- obviously, we'll make them available online. We will also have copies in our office. Once this passes and it's after 10 days or signed by the Mayor, it will be made available online, and we will ensure that the Communications Department sends to every City employee.
Commissioner Carollo: Right. And I'm just -- I just want it to be a fair process, so, you know, our employees can benefit from this, and it's not, you know, just some chosen employees and so forth.
Mr. Mensah: No, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: I want to make sure that, you know, it's a fair process.
Mr. Mensah: No.
Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chair -- go ahead.
Vice Chair Russell: That's actually a very good point. What is the outreach process to the entire employee base? And secondly, do you have any idea, with the universe of employees that we have that would actually qualify for this?
Mr. Mensah: That's a good point. We haven't done any census to determine because of the fact that we only know employee's salary. You don't know the salary of their spouses, and this is household income, which include their spouses, so it would be very difficult to make that determination.
Vice Chair Russell: Of course.
Mr. Mensah: But in terms of marketing to letting employees know, by the email system and ensuring that personnel representatives post it for those employees that don't have access to emails; that it's posted on their job site. I'm sure that every employee will be aware of it.
Vice Chair Russell: When will the email go out?
Mr. Mensah: The moment it's signed by the Mayor or after the 10 days.
Vice Chair Russell: After the 10 days --
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: -- barring any veto and --
Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. -- just -- thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I'm saying that because it's on a first-come-first serve basis, so I want to make sure it's a fair process where everybody -- You know, what I don't want is employees then that could have applied or applied late or got beaten out because they didn't know about it.
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Vice Chair Russell: They didn't watch the Commission.
Commissioner Carollo: Right, they didn't watch the Commission. I know that it's extremely exciting here, but they didn't watch the Commission; and next thing, they're in the outs and we have, you know, morale going down.
Commissioner Gort: Two things: I believe they can get the list of people that can apply and do a lottery. Assign a number to each of the persons that apply, and then do a lottery. And then not everybody's going to qualify. A lot of people that fill out the application might not qualify, so it doesn't mean that automatically, it's going to do -- But if you can do a lottery, people, I think they'll feel more comfortable.
Vice Chair Russell: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) one of the recommendations.
Mr. Mensah: I just want to reiterate that because of the nature of -- we've run this program before, and traditionally, you know, in my department, because of the Federal funds that we manage, we have to ensure fairness. And so our system is in place to ensure that it's fair. But we also run the homebuyers' program, which people at 80 percent on median income are able to use. So we have a process where every application that comes in is stamped.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay.
Mr. Mensah: And also, don't forget that it's first come, first ready, first served. Some, although come and get the application, they will completely -- they might not be able to get a mortgage. So that is how it goes. So by the end of the day, whoever is ready with a mortgage, a house and everything is the person that gets the funds.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort; Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Gort: What I would like to ensure is that we don't have the same problem we had in 2010. A lot of those individuals might qualify to get a loan. My understanding, the house -- the top price is $400,000.
Mr. Mensah: Up to.
Commissioner Gort: So -- up to 400,000, they get 40,000; they have to finance $360,000.
Mr. Mensah: Yes.
Commissioner Gort: $360,000 mortgage is a big debt. So I want to make sure that once we qualify the individual, we take them to the financial process so they understand what the expenditure are going to be and if they can afford to maintain the house.
Mr. Mensah: Okay. We have -- our process, it ensures that -- they do it the other way around. The flier that we provide gives steps that staff can go through. And one of the first thing we tell everyone is that you have to, first of all, go to -- they are prequalified from a bank. So if you go take the first step and you are not going to get a mortgage, then you don't waste your time on the other processes. So we did accentuate that you go get prequalified at a bank; take into consideration the fact that you qualify for the down payment, and then you come -- you look for a house and you come to see us. So we are the tail end of it. So by the time the person comes and brings the application, and they've already been qualified by a bank, they already have a house, and so we are just -- it just goes smoothly that way.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
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Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez, you're recognized.
Commissioner Suarez: I don't know if we're missing something, but congratulations. This is a wonderful program. And, you know, I think we have an affordable housing and a workforce housing crisis in our County, and it's very difficult, based on the median salary even of a City employee for a City employee to live in the City of Miami. So I commend the Administration for coming up with a program that would allow for City employees to potentially live in the City of Miami. I think there's a huge benefit to that, obviously, living in the City of Miami, but us investing in our own employees and I think it is something that we should have done a long time ago and -- but we're doing it now. And the bottom line is that it's an intelligent decision. I'm sure you'll work out the mechanics of it; that's the least of my worries. And sometimes, there'll be people that are upset because, let me tell you, every single day that goes by, somebody grabs me on the lapel and says, "Hey, I'm on a list for affordable housing," or "Hey, I'm on" -- "is there anything you can do?" And I'm like, "Unfortunately, Commissioners can't do anything."
Commissioner Gort: We get a lot of those.
Commissioner Suarez: Probably fortunately, Commissioners can't do anything about that. But anyhow, I fully support this and I commend the Administration for it.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Mensah, is there a reason a lottery would not work or would not -- would create any unfairness or time lag in the system? I -- it's the first suggestion, I heard of it from Commissioner Gort, and it sounds like it might be a good idea.
Mr. Mensah: We do lotteries for our rental projects where the possibility of somebody qualifying is very, very high. This is very unique. Right now if, let's say, I get for -- let's say I get 100 applications and I do a lottery and take 25. Out of that 25, who -- you know, everybody will be thinking, "Okay, now I'm lucky, I got 25," and then maybe you get only one person that qualifies, based on the income that we talked about and based on their credit, and based on their ability to get a -- to find a house that they like that is within their range. So there are so many variables that is involved in the fact that doing a lottery, yes, it might work, but it would take a very long time to even go through the whole list. Therefore, the method that we use -- and we've used this method everywhere where there's a down payment assistance program -- is to make sure that the person first of all qualifies. So when a person qualifies and if we are very lucky that we get 100 people who are all qualified and present their applications to us and everything, then we will definitely do a lottery. But at this point, I think it's better for them to make sure the get a bank -- they can get a loan from a bank first before they even apply for the funds.
Chair Hardemon: And, you know, this is something that I hope that my employees are considering, because I know I have some employees that find it difficult to find affordable housing in the City of Miami, so they live outside of the City. And I think that, as a City overall, when you look at having employees that live your neighborhoods, you feel that you're giving a service to your neighbor and you're more compassionate in that fashion. And so when you could knock on the door of someone who works for a City department or you can see people dumping trash on the street that you know that you live on, you take those issues, I think, personally and have a higher desire to ensure that your neighborhood is as clean as the city that neighbors us. So, you know, this is something I think is a good thing, and I believe it's a program that people are going to utilize, and so I want to see our people in our communities really take advantage of it, and especially where people who are as -- 140 percent of the urban income get a chance to participate. So I think this is a good thing, and I congratulate the Administration for this idea,
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bringing it forward.
Commissioner Gort: This is a great opportunity to get the squatters out of the -- those houses that the banks are holding, and they can sell it, and later on, nobody wants to buy it, so this would be a great opportunity. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion?
Vice Chair Russell: Last comment.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Manager, I did notice that Mr. Mensah said there hadn't actually been an analysis done of the universe of potential applicants. I'd like to know if we could sit down at some point and take a look at the financial breakdown of the spectrum of pay at the lower end of our City employees.
Mr. Alfonso: We can certainly break down the salaries for you, sir. I think that the issue that he mentioned was --
Commissioner Gort: Disqualify.
Mr. Alfonso: -- that this is a household income --
Vice Chair Russell: I understand.
Mr. Alfonso: -- so we don't know what the spouses earn, so --
Commissioner Gort: Spouse and others.
Mr. Alfonso: -- we can talk to you about what our employee breakdown is.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Mr. Alfonso: That's not a problem.
Chair Hardemon: Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
PH.4 RESOLUTION 16-00828 Department of Police A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), BY A FOUR-FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-92 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, AFTER AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING, RATIFYING, APPROVING AND CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S FINDING OF A SOLE SOURCE; WAIVING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDDING PROCEDURES AND APPROVING THE PROCUREMENT OF THE NC4 STREET SMART APPLICATION SYSTEM, SOFTWARE LICENSES, MANAGED SERVICES, AND MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT FROM NC4 INC., FOR UTILIZATION BY THE CITY OF MIAMI
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POLICE DEPARTMENT ("MPD"), FOR AN INITIAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIOD, WITH THE OPTION TO EXTEND FOR TWO (2) ADDITIONAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIODS; ALLOCATING FUNDS FOR THE FIRST YEAR TERM FROM THE MPD'S GENERAL FUND, ACCOUNT CODE NO. 00001.191501.664000.0000.00000, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE LICENSE AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, AND ANY AMENDMENTS TO SAID AGREEMENT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 16-00828 Summary Form 16-00828 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00828 Memo - Manager's Approval.pdf 16-00828 Memo - Sole Source Finding.pdf 16-00828 Market Research.pdf 16-00828 Corporate Detail.pdf 16-00828 Legislation.pdf 16-00828 Exhibit - Agreement.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: Item PH.4 was deferred to the July 29, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting. ______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be RECONSIDERED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: Item PH.4 was deferred to the July 29, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing the deferral and reconsideration of item PH.4, please see "Order of the Day."
PH.5 RESOLUTION 16-00821 Department of Public A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Works ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING THE PLAT ENTITLED "BATTERSEA WOODS", A REPLAT AND A SUBDIVISION IN THE CITY OF MIAMI OF THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN "ATTACHMENT 1", SUBJECT TO SATISFACTION OF ALL CONDITIONS REQUIRED BY THE PLAT AND STREET COMMITTEE AS SET FORTH IN "EXHIBIT A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, AND THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN SECTION 55-8 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, AND
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ACCEPTING THE DEDICATIONS SHOWN ON THE PLAT; AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE THE PLAT; PROVIDING FOR THE RECORDATION OF THE PLAT IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA. 16-00821 Summary Form.pdf 16-00821 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00821 Legislation.pdf 16-00821 Attachment 1.pdf 16-00821 Exhibit A.pdf 16-00821-Submittal-John Snyder-Letter with Petitions.pdf 16-00821-Submittal-John Snyder-Presentation regarding Battersea Woods.pdf 16-00821-Submittal-Paul Figg-Presentation to City Commission.pdf 16-00821-Submittal-Commissioner Russell-Miami21-Appendix A-Neighborhood Conservation Districts.pdf
Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: Item PH.5 was deferred to the July 29, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PH.5, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: PH.4 was deferred. PH.5.
Eduardo Santamaria: Good morning, Commissioners, Mr. Chair. Ed Santamaria, director of Public Works. PH.5 is a resolution accepting the final plat of Battersea Woods, located along the south side of Battersea Road and along the northwesterly side of Ingraham Highway.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I'd like to thank Mr. Snyder for coming in. This particular plat is in our neighborhood where we live together, actually. As you all know, it's in the NCD (Neighborhood Conservation District), which is an overlay of Miami 21, specifically to protect the character of Coconut Grove, and it's been a lot of heated discussions in community meetings lately that people walk their dogs and they look around and they see the lots split and they see the trees disappearing. They just have a sense or a feeling something's not being done that's supposed to be protected within our NCD. And they keep saying this every time a house goes up for sale, everything -- and, you know, the instinct is to say, "Well, we must be doing everything right, so this must just be a sense or a feeling; we're going through the process." Well, I'd like to say that just because somebody's paranoid doesn't mean they're not right. And Mr. Snyder brought this to us, and we're doing research on this very particular one. And even though I believe our role, I've been told in this particular case is a ministerial role to basically rubber-stamp the end of a process, but I believe that we, as the Commissioners, are also tasked with listening to our constituents when they have a concern and really going through the process of the City to see if the right process was followed; and if it wasn't, we are the last chance to actually take an action to do correctly. There are, I believe, four issues with this particular lot. And if you look at this -- the map on your screen, the lot in question is 4384 on Battersea, at the bottom. One of the issues that the NCD is meant to protect is the character of the neighborhood with regard to lot size. And so, as a habit, we try not to allow anyone to split lots smaller than the character of the surrounding lots; not necessarily to go down to the minimum 5,000 square foot, but let's say if they have other lots around them, we try to keep the character similar. And
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one of the challenges that's been brought is that the actual neighbor across the street is over 30,000 square feet, I believe; and the two houses together sort of make the gateway into Battersea. So there's two very large properties, old homes that are on one of them. The one on this one has already been demolished. And so that would be one argument that the neighbors have made. Number two is that this property was covered with trees. I mean, it was a jungle back there with one house in the middle. It was a -- it was quite a pretty thing to look at, and almost every single one of those trees are gone. So I've requested from our Planning & Zoning Department to get a report on the tree permits that were pulled for that, and I have not yet received that, to make sure that they were all, you know, done properly, with proper mitigation, or if there were sick trees or whatever it was. There's another part of the NCD that says when building homes together on adjacent lots, you can't do identical or very similar-designed homes to give that cookie cutter look. There has to be some varied design. And there's been some -- there's already two or three houses already built on this lot, even though the plats haven't been officialized [sic] by us, and so there is a worry that that's being violated. And finally, the most important of this, us actually splitting the lot here, the platting. There is a very specific item that Mr. Snyder brought up, and that is that under the NCD -- and if I could just read the wording carefully -- it says, "No building sites in existence prior to September 24, 2005 shall be diminished in size except by warrant," and then there's some other phrasing there. And what that means is we can't split a lot without going through a process that gives the neighborhood the chance to appeal this and have a public hearing. That was not given in this case. No warrant was issued. This lot was being -- is given the rights to be split without going through the warrant process. So all of those -- and raised enough questions for me that I believe we should defer this to check the process --
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: -- and make sure this done was correctly [sic], so I would move to defer this.
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to defer this item. Is there a time -- agenda you want to defer it to?
Vice Chair Russell: I believe we can get all the information we need on this within two weeks, so at the 29th.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to defer this item to the July 29 agenda. Any further discussion about that motion on the floor? Seeing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Applause
Chair Hardemon: Thumbs up, that's better.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Do the little wave, like this.
PH.6 RESOLUTION 16-00822 Department of Public A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Works ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING THE PLAT ENTITLED "CVS ON 57TH AVENUE", A REPLAT IN THE CITY OF MIAMI OF THE PROPERTY
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DESCRIBED IN "ATTACHMENT 1", SUBJECT TO SATISFACTION OF ALL CONDITIONS REQUIRED BY THE PLAT AND STREET COMMITTEE AS SET FORTH IN "EXHIBIT A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, AND THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN SECTION 55-8 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, AND ACCEPTING THE DEDICATIONS SHOWN ON THE PLAT; AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE THE PLAT; PROVIDING FOR THE RECORDATION OF THE PLAT IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA. 16-00822 Summary Form.pdf 16-00822 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00822 Legislation.pdf 16-00822 Attachment 1.pdf 16-00822 Exhibit A.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0319
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PH.6, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: PH.6.
Eduardo Santamaria: Once again, good morning, Commissioners, Mr. Chair. Ed Santamaria, director of Public Works. PH.6 is a resolution accepting the final plat of CVS (Consumer Value Stores) on 57th Avenue, located between Southwest 7th Street and South 8th Street, and between Southwest 57th Avenue and approximately 310 feet to the east of Southwest 57th Avenue.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it. Discussion.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved and seconded to accept PH.6.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Discussion.
Commissioner Suarez: Quick, quick discussion. I -- this is a ministerial act in some respects, but I do feel, just like you said, Commissioner, that we do have a role to play in that act. It's not just -- it's not quite that simple; otherwise, we wouldn't be needed in the process. So I think there is a role for the Commission to play. But I want to commend the owner of the lot, who's here, because one of the issues we have on 8th Street is prostitution. We have a variety of things, and actually, some of the renaissance that we're seeing on 8th Street all the way through -- and Mr. Torres is here. He has several properties on 8th Street. That particular one took out of commission an unsavory establishment that was on 8th Street. And so part of the way that we're dealing with the prostitution issue is through good development that is densifying some of our corridors where we're going to have, hopefully, transportation and transit that connects people; and, hopefully, reasonable workforce and affordable housing in that area. So I just wanted to commend him, and I thank him for investing in the district and for taking out that awful site. Thank you.
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Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion --
Commissioner Suarez: Aye.
Chair Hardemon: -- indicate so by saying "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Commissioner Gort: I'm sure there'll be a lot of landscaping and trees and so on.
Commissioner Suarez: Oh, it's going to be beautiful, I'm sure, yeah.
Commissioner Gort: I've seen the process before.
PH.7 RESOLUTION 16-00824 Department of Public A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Works ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING THE PLAT ENTITLED "RIVER LANDING", A REPLAT IN THE CITY OF MIAMI OF THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN "ATTACHMENT 1", SUBJECT TO SATISFACTION OF ALL CONDITIONS REQUIRED BY THE PLAT AND STREET COMMITTEE AS SET FORTH IN "EXHIBIT A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, AND THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN SECTION 55-8 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, AND ACCEPTING THE DEDICATIONS SHOWN ON THE PLAT; AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE THE PLAT; PROVIDING FOR THE RECORDATION OF THE PLAT IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA; AND ACCEPTING A DRAINAGE EASEMENT IN FAVOR OF THE CITY OF MIAMI. 16-00824 Summary Form.pdf 16-00824 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00824 Legislation.pdf 16-00824 Attachment 1.pdf 16-00824 Exhibit A.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0320
Chair Hardemon: PH.7.
Eduardo Santamaria: Again, Mr. Chair and Commissioners, Ed Santamaria, director of Public Works. PH.7 is a resolution accepting the final plat of River Landing, located on the southwesterly side of Northwest North River Drive and Northwest 13th Terrace.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
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Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
PH.8 RESOLUTION 16-00733 Department of Real A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Estate and Asset ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A Management GRANT OF UNDERGROUND EASEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, A FOR-PROFIT FLORIDA CORPORATION, FOR A PERPETUAL, NON-EXCLUSIVE UNDERGROUND EASEMENT OF APPROXIMATELY TEN (10) FEET IN WIDTH BY SIXTY-ONE (61) FEET IN LENGTH OF CITY OF MIAMI-OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1000 MACARTHUR CAUSEWAY, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC UTILITY FACILITIES, WITH FULL RIGHT OF INGRESS THERETO AND EGRESS THEREFROM; FURTHER PROVIDING A REVERTER PROVISION SHOULD THE EASEMENT BE ABANDONED OR DISCONTINUED, WITH THE RIGHT OF IMMEDIATE POSSESSION AND ENTRY. 16-00733 Summary Form.pdf 16-00733 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00733 Legislation.pdf 16-00733 Exhibit.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0321
Chair Hardemon: PH.8.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, I'm excited, bro'. You're moving us.
Chair Hardemon: These the easy ones, though.
Commissioner Suarez: I don't want to get ahead of myself.
Chair Hardemon: The easies. Yes, you're recognized.
Daniel Rotenberg (Director): Morning. PH.8 -- Daniel Rotenberg, Department of Real Estate and Asset Management. PH.8 is a resolution -- it's an FPL (Florida Power & Light) easement on Watson Island for the helipad -- or for the heliport.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved.
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Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: And seconded by Commissioner Gort that we accept this grant -- I mean PH.8. Any further discussion about this item? Seeing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
PH.9 RESOLUTION 16-00954 City Manager's Office A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), BY A FOUR-FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, AFTER AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING, RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS THAT COMPETITIVE NEGOTIATION METHODS AND PROCEDURES ARE NOT PRACTICABLE OR ADVANTAGEOUS PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-86 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED; WAIVING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SAID PROCEDURES, AND APPROVING THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS THAT THE BELAFONTE TACOLCY CENTER, INC., A FLORIDA NOT FOR PROFIT CORPORATION ("TACOLCY"), IS THE MOST QUALIFIED FIRM TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE THE SUMMER READ PROGRAM ("PROGRAM") AT THE CITY OF MIAMI'S ("CITY") BELAFONTE TACOLCY PARK; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY AND TACOLCY, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, TO FUND THE PROGRAM IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $53,000.00, SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS CONTAINED HEREIN, FOR SAID PURPOSES. 16-00954 Summary Form.pdf 16-00954 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00954 Legislation.pdf 16-00954 Exhibit A.pdf 16-00954 Exhibit B.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0322
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PH.9, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: PH.9.
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Commissioners, PH.9 is an item whereby we started a reading program in conjunction with the Tacolcy Belafonte Center, and because we -- there is no RFP (Request for Proposals) process, per se, and because we started the program, we need a four-fifths waiver. This is a summer program that we're running out of the center, and we need your support.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
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Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to accept this item. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: All against? Seeing none, motion passes.
END OF PUBLIC HEARING
SECOND READING ORDINANCES
SR.1 ORDINANCE Second Reading 16-00562 Department of AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, AMENDING CHAPTER Planning and Zoning 62 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "ZONING AND PLANNING", MORE SPECIFICALLY CREATING A NEW ARTICLE XVI ENTITLED "ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM"; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00562 Summary Form SR.pdf 16-00562 Back-Up Documents.pdf 16-00562 Legislation SR v2.pdf 16-00562-Submittal-Planning Department-Letters of Support.pdf 16-00562-Submittal-Maite Alvarez-Letter of Exemption.pdf 16-00562-Submittal-Efren Nunez-Art In Public Places PowerPoint Presentation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Gort Note for the Record: Item SR.1 was deferred to the November 17, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item SR.1, please see "Order of the Day."
SR.2 ORDINANCE Second Reading 16-00735 District 4- AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Commissioner 36 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, Francis Suarez ENTITLED "NOISE", MORE PARTICULARLY BY CREATING SECTION 36-9, ENTITLED, "OFF-STREET FREIGHT AND COMMERCIAL DELIVERY HOURS PILOT PROGRAM"; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00735 Legislation SR V2.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
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Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
13616
Chair Hardemon: SR.1 does have a time certain, 6 p.m. SR.2.
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Commissioner Suarez, you want to talk about SR.2 or you want to --?
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved --
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Commissioner Suarez: Sorry. Thanks.
Chair Hardemon: -- and seconded. Any further discussion on item SR.2?
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Commissioner Gort, for working with me on it. It's a pilot program.
Commissioner Carollo: In D4?
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: Right. Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say "aye."
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair.
Commissioner Suarez: I think it's a -- an ordinance.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item SR.2. Commissioner Gort?
Commissioner Gort: Before I vote on this, my understanding, this is a pilot program and just in certain area.
Commissioner Suarez: Yep.
Commissioner Gort: Am I correct?
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Yes. It is in District 4 --
Commissioner Gort: Described it by (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Unidentified Speaker: Yes.
Ms. Méndez: -- unless otherwise extended or expanded by affirmative vote of the City Commission. So District 4 (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Commissioner Gort: Thank you. Yes.
Mr. Hannon: Vice Chair Russell?
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Carollo?
Commissioner Carollo: Yes.
Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Suarez?
Commissioner Suarez: My residents thank you. Yes.
Mr. Hannon: Chair Hardemon?
Chair Hardemon: For.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on --
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, City Attorney, for working with us on it.
Mr. Hannon: -- second reading, 5-0.
SR.3 ORDINANCE Second Reading 16-00154 Office of the City AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Clerk 2/ARTICLE XI/DIVISION 2/SECTION 2-884 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION/BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS/STANDARDS FOR CREATION AND REVIEW OF BOARDS GENERALLY/MEMBERSHIP ON BOARDS", TO CLARIFY LANGUAGE AS TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT MEMBERS OF CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") BOARDS ARE REQUIRED TO RESIGN FROM A CITY BOARD POSITION UPON SEEKING TO BECOME A CANDIDATE FOR ELECTIVE POLITICAL OFFICE, AND AMENDING CHAPTER 16/SECTION 16-6 OF THE CITY CODE ENTITLED "ELECTIONS/CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS; AFFIDAVIT, AND FORM THEREOF, REQUIRED OF CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OR MAYOR; FINDING CANDIDATE UNQUALIFIED; FAILURE TO SUBMIT AFFIDAVIT; AUTHORIZATION FOR CITY CLERK TO PURSUE JUDICIAL DECLARATION", TO DELETE CERTAIN LANGUAGE RELATING TO CITY BOARD MEMBERS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00154 Memo - City Clerk.pdf 16-00154 Legislation SR/FRv3 (06-09-16).pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
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Chair Hardemon: SR.3.
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Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): SR.3 is an ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending Chapter 2, Article 11, Division 2, Section 2-884 of the City Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended, entitled "Administration/Boards, Committees, Commissions/Standards for Creation or Review of Boards Generally/Membership on Boards," to clarify language as to the requirement that members of the City of Miami boards are required to resign from a City board position upon seeking to become a candidate for elective political office; and amending Chapter 16, Section 16-6 of the City Code entitled "Elections/Candidate Qualifications; Affidavit and Form Thereof, Required of Candidates for Office of Commissioner or Mayor; Finding Candidate Unqualified; Failure to Submit Affidavit; Authorization for City Clerk to Pursue Judicial Declaration," to delete certain language relating to City board members; containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date.
Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve, to accept?
Commissioner Suarez: So moved.
Chair Hardemon: It's been moved --
Vice Chair Russell: Second, with discussion.
Chair Hardemon: -- and seconded. Discussion. You're recognized, Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. And I'm surprised that Grace Solares is not here to discuss, unless -- she did visit my office and had some very good points. One of the things she mentioned up is that -- she brought up a State statute regarding resign to run where the State statute specifically says that board members who are not paid should not have to resign to run, and I've asked the City Attorney to give me an opinion on that.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Yes. I did research based on your questions, and with regard to that, it discussed appointive boards, and those boards are not municipal boards, per se, but they are those -- like South Florida Management District or those type of -- or Broward Health Trust, Jackson Memorial Health Trust; those types of boards that are sometimes appointed by Governor appointments or other types of board appointments that are not necessarily a municipal appointment. If this was meant to be a municipal appointment, board-type situation, like our lower boards, it would have said it, based on the fact that everywhere throughout that same section of the statute, it talks about municipal functions. With that said, though, even if it would have -- even if the State statute would have mentioned municipal boards for some reason, the City has its much loved City Home Rule Charter powers which it could create. Unless specifically preempted, it could create its own rules to address whether there is a resign to run with regard to board members. This is wholly a policy decision, obviously on your part; however, we're just merely codifying the past practice that has been the interpretation of the City, and this was always also in a footnote in the actual section of the Code, and we were just placing it more prominently in the main wording of the Code. But again, this is a policy decision for all of you to consider.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. So we're free to act on this without violating any State statutes or such?
Ms. Méndez: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: I am all about strengthening the boards and the participation on the boards, and giving them a feeling of importance within our system. There has been some suggestion of "what's good for the goose" kind of thing, because electeds, when they resign to run, can be can be reappointed to their positions, but in this case, board members could not; is that correct?
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Ms. Méndez: In this case, board members would be given a provision that they all -- I mean, it would be consistent with our past interpretation, but it would just be more prominently placed in the Code section, which would be that they need to resign their board position before they run for an elective office.
Vice Chair Russell: And it's specifically triggered by the qualification period, or their announcement and fundraising and --
Commissioner Suarez: By that.
Ms. Méndez: There's a few different triggering events, if Todd would like to speak on that.
Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. There are actually a couple. One has to do when a City of Miami board member would file their paperwork to designate a campaign treasurer and a depository.
Vice Chair Russell: That's when they would do it?
Mr. Hannon: So that would be a trigger, yes; or when you qualify would be another trigger, as well.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. And so I would possibly -- I would like to offer a friendly amendment to this that gives us the ability to reappoint those board members once they resign to run if we choose to do so as a Commission, or whatever the process is amongst those boards so that they have the same opportunity that electeds do if they resign to run, but for whatever reason we feel they're either a crucial part of that board or whatever the same reasons are that an elected would continue or be reappointed.
Chair Hardemon: I don't think we're prohibited from it. I know that we've had --
Commissioner Gort: No, I don't.
Chair Hardemon: -- board members that serve on my boards that are members of the Police Department that ran for office outside the City of Miami, and needed to resign, did not resign, and I've reappointed that person when it was brought to my attention. I know there was --
Ms. Méndez: Well, I believe what happened there was they --
Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE.)
Ms. Méndez: -- they did not resign.
Chair Hardemon: They ran.
Ms. Méndez: They ran, they lost, but then they were reappointed.
Chair Hardemon: I understand that, but my position -- what I'm saying is there is nothing --
Ms. Méndez: Right, I understand.
Chair Hardemon: -- that I've read that stops me from appointing someone who has resigned from the seat.
Mr. Hannon: My interpretation of the way the Code currently is, is that once that trigger -- once a board member triggers, you know, the requirement to resign, it's not until after the election that
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they can be reappointed. So whether they --
Chair Hardemon: Is there anything written that says that it is after the election that they can be reappointed, or is it just that --?
Ms. Méndez: Mr. Clerk, what they're asking is that they would like to place a friendly amendment --
Mr. Hannon: Yes.
Ms. Méndez: -- in the Code now --
Mr. Hannon: Yes; that I understand.
Ms. Méndez: -- so that they could reappoint if they so wish, and there's no prohibition against that; we just have to write it into the Code.
Vice Chair Russell: The Chair is saying it's unnecessary.
Chair Hardemon: That's what he said. What I'm --
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: -- that's what the Vice Chairman said.
Commissioner Gort: It's not necessary.
Vice Chair Russell: The Chair is saying it's unnecessary.
Chair Hardemon: What I'm saying is that it may be unnecessary, because I don't believe that there is a prohibition (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Commissioners --
Ms. Méndez: Oh, I see what you're saying; got it.
Chair Hardemon: -- in reappointing someone --
Ms. Méndez: Right. Unfortunately --
Chair Hardemon: -- because all you're saying is that they have to resign. That person resigned.
Commissioner Gort: That's it.
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: So once they resign, because they declared for office, if I decide that I want to appoint that person, what I'm saying is that I don't see any prohibition that I --
Commissioner Gort: Now --
Ms. Méndez: I agree on what you're saying inherently as common sense, but in the -- just in the written language as it is now and as proposed now, arguably, yes; they could be reappointed. But since the triggering effect has occurred, there's no like curative thing for them to be reappointed and not technically have to resign again.
Commissioner Gort: What?
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Ms. Méndez: I know it's counterintuitive, but I think that for you to be able to appoint again, we would need to amend it so that it could be so.
Chair Hardemon: And essentially, what you're having -- and I'll, you know, discuss this out in the open, I think what comes about -- because, for instance, in that situation, they ran for a seat that was outside the City of Miami. But effectively, what could happen, and I think what the Commissioners are trying to keep from happening, and part of the discussion that we should be having is if someone is on a board, that board is a very public board -- say Planning & Zoning Board. And Planning & zoning Board, they deal a lot with developers; they deal a lot with people who have influence within the City of Miami, though, who could potentially have influence within the City of Miami, and they can fundraise heavily. And they say, "Well, you know, I'm decided" -- "I've decided that I want to run for District 2 Commission seat." And when they decide they want to run for the District 2 Commission seat, they start actively fundraising. We know they have to resign. They resign from the office, because you don't want that person using that position to exert influence over the Planning & Zoning Board to affect their run for District 2 seat. You want that seat to be as -- you want the run for the seat to be as objective as possible, if you will. And so, essentially, the person resigns, and I'm -- I couldn't imagine that anyone from this dais would want to appoint someone who is running for the District 2 seat back to the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board so that they can exert undue influence over the seat; that's part of what the conversation comes from. Now, if you consider on the other hand where the Commissioners reappoint someone back to the Commission seat as a Commissioner, that certainly has to do, I would think, more with the efficiency of running the City Commission. I mean, this is someone who is a current Commissioner and who is running for their seat or re-election, and you wouldn't want them running for their re-election and them applying, say, for instance, or appointing their campaign depository two years before their seat for them to have to resign from their seat in order to run. And I think that's part of what we're not discussing that is the undertone of the conversation. You're recognized, Commissioner Russell.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair, thank you for -- I'm surprised that we would go that in-depth to it, because it does speak to the "what's good for the goose" argument that was brought to me, and the exact example used was a District 2 run if you're on a board, and that's why I was surprised Grace wasn't here, because that's what happened to her last year. She was running for District 2 --
Commissioner Suarez: Charter Review.
Vice Chair Russell: -- and she had to resign from the Charter Review. Her personal opinion was that she shouldn't have had to under the existing rule, but she didn't -- she chose not to sue the City at that time.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: But that being said, she's hoping that we clarify the language in the future. And so the example you gave of why we shouldn't appoint someone back to a board could be used directly back on us to say, "Should we be in a position of power when we're raising funds to run for an office?" And so, my opinion is if it's good for us, we should trust the board members to be able to carry out their terms, as well, to conduct the efficiency of their board and get good things done while they're running. If we don't think they should be able to handle that or it creates an undue temptation for them to utilize their power from their seat while they're raising money, I think we should turn that around and look at ourselves, as well. So that's why I'm offering the amendment that we allow board members to be reappointed once they resign to run; and obviously, that's at the discretion of the Commission when we, you know, weigh each one of those board appointments that get -- that do resign.
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Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: Is your concern the dual office holding; is that what your concern is? Or what's your concern? That it's a -- violated of resign to run?
Ms. Méndez: We're simply codifying --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- our past practice --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- in a more prominent section of our Code, because before, this same section was in a footnote on the resign to run for lower boards.
Commissioner Suarez: Got it. But do you --
Ms. Méndez: And --
Commissioner Suarez: -- have an issue with his friendly amendment? Is that --?
Ms. Méndez: No, no, I don't have an issue with the friendly amendment.
Vice Chair Russell: No, the Chair was asking whether it's necessary if it was already inherent within our ability to reappoint.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: The Clerk believes it's not. And so -- and I actually believe that you said, as well that if we want that to be the case, we need to amend it.
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: So that's why --
Commissioner Suarez: Do you --
Ms. Méndez: If you want to be able to reappoint, I think it is best -- I understand exactly what the Chairman's saying, but I just -- I'd rather not leave it to chance --
Commissioner Suarez: Question.
Vice Chair Russell: Clarify.
Ms. Méndez: -- if you want to do it to clarify.
Commissioner Suarez: Question, just a question. Do you -- since it is an atypical situation, do you want it to be a simple majority or like a four-fifths vote, or something like that?
Vice Chair Russell: For which part?
Commissioner Suarez: For the reappointment; in other words, you're reappointing the board member. Or do you -- are you okay with it being just a simple majority? In other words, the person is running for office and they've resigned. And so the question is: Should they -- should
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it be a supermajority or like -- since it's sort of an extraordinary --?
Vice Chair Russell: The very easy answer to that question is a question: What is the majority needed for us to reappoint an elected back to their position?
Commissioner Gort: Three.
Ms. Méndez: Right. I believe it's a simple --
Commissioner Suarez: Three, I think.
Chair Hardemon: I think the number --
Commissioner Suarez: I think it's normal; a simple majority.
Ms. Méndez: It's normal.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah, I think the number of people --
Commissioner Suarez: I think it's a simple majority.
Chair Hardemon: -- it could be as low as two.
Vice Chair Russell: "Is it simple majority?" is what I meant, correct.
Ms. Méndez: Yes, yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Then a simple majority--
Commissioner Suarez: And we have -- like you said, we have a quorum of three, so it could be theoretically two in theory.
Vice Chair Russell: So "simple majority" is the answer?
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Okay.
Chair Hardemon: And I want everyone to understand. When it comes to making changes, especially to how we go about appointing our board members and -- our decisions become -- to appoint board members, you know, I'm seeing that it's becoming increasingly uncomfortable -- well, maybe not -- "uncomfortable" is not the term. I know that I at times have been uncomfortable, but when we -- For instance, we're going to make some board appointments moving forward, and we've been doing things in a way that I think have been respectful to each of our districts in how we go about making our appointments, and it's never been -- besides the time I tried to appoint Steve Kneapler, there's never been a time that I've seen much concern about our board appointments and how we go about making them or the respect that has been given to different districts, and historically, how you've been appointing those different board members. And so, when it comes to this, what I anticipate happening is a very uncomfortable discussion about a board appointment in the future. If someone -- and I'll explain to you why. For instance, in this situation that we're describing with Grace Solares, I can imagine Grace being, say, your appointment, Commissioner Suarez. And Grace saying, "Look, I want to continue to serve on this board."
Commissioner Suarez: "But I want to run in District 2 against" -- right.
Chair Hardemon: But she's running in District 2.
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Commissioner Suarez: That is very -- that would be very uncomfortable.
Chair Hardemon: So that becomes that simple majority discussion that we're saying, "Well, she theoretically has the right to run for that position. We should all respect her right to run for that position." But the person that's appointing her is not the person that she's running against. And so, everyone is going to be looking at the District 2 seat and they're going to say, "Well, she's running against you."
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez is saying, "Hey, it's fine. I want her to serve in this seat" --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: -- "this all mighty powerful seat, and she's going to run against the District 2 seat." And so, these are the things that I think that you have to consider when you start to make these decisions that are -- that seem fair, but I will guarantee you will levy a heavy power from fellow Commissioners, and could potentially be used to really hurt one of our fellow members that are sitting here. That's just something I want you to consider when you start to make these types of changes, giving these authorities and know what it should do.
Ms. Méndez: If I may, just so that you know, this amendment -- the original amendment that created this in the footnote portion was actually created by the City Commission, because there was certain abuses of board members below when they were running for seats. A Commissioner is always supposed to act and does act with the most decorum, the -- just behaving the way they should when they're being elected to a position. But sometimes, board members below, which don't have that same -- they're not held to the same exact standard -- actually abuse their position and are able to just utilize it.
Chair Hardemon: Because they're not visible. They're not as visible as the members of the Commission. But I asked someone to name a board member on the -- a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. You all say -- I don't know. But certainly, that someone on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee could be running for a District 2 seat and using that authority under in a way that could be abusive.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Suarez: I think, you know, one way that much of this is avoided is that most of the seats, if I'm not mistaken, have residency requirements, if not all of them; in other words, you know, if you're appointing -- some don't, but most of them do; you know what I mean? Like Planning & Zoning, for example, I'm pretty has a residency requirement where you have to reside in the district of the person who's appointing you. So that kind of avoids the whole -- that scenario that you described. So, you know, I -- look, to me, everybody has a different philosophy on what boards can and should contribute, I think. I commend you, actually, for bringing your philosophy and your desire to want to make this a -- you know, sort of a substantive discussion on -- rather than just gloss over it, like we have done for a long period of time. I mean, it's -- I think that's what makes you different, you know; that's what makes your term here different. And so, you know, look, I like struggling with some of these things, because I could get a little "wonkish" when it comes to these things and -- but I see the back and forth that the Chair is describing. So I don't have a problem with it. I don't have a problem with doing it either way, to be honest with you.
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Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Commissioner Gort: Let me give you an example. When I first came back in 2010, I was making an appointment, but I knew one of my colleagues was not going to be very happy with it. We were going to be very uncomfortable, so I did not make the appointment. I think we should make it four-fifths.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: For sure, if we're afraid of uncomfortable situations, we're in the wrong job. There's going to be a lot of awkward moments, and I apologize for the ones that I cause. For us to say, though, that Commissioners are above the citizens with regard to our decorum or our ability to restrain ourselves or resist temptation or not abuse power, without putting any, you know -- well, I will put a specific example to it. I'm the most recent of you to come out of an election, and I will say definitively that I felt the pressure of elected power being used against me and many of the people running in my specific election. And in that particular case, the -- it wasn't an incumbent in power; it was the relative of an incumbent -- but nonetheless, that was felt. And so I reiterate that I believe we should hold ourselves to the same standard that we hold our board members. And if we trust ourselves to sit in our spots during an election, we should trust our board members to sit. And if we don't trust the board members to sit in their spots in an election, we shouldn't trust ourselves, either.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay, I'll accept the friendly amendment; very impassioned, very good.
Chair Hardemon: The friendly amendment has been accepted, so is there any further discussion about the motion that's on the floor that is inclusive of the Commission having the authority to reappoint members to boards in which they've had to resign from to run for office?
Mr. Hannon: And for clarification, with a simple majority.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes.
Mr. Hannon: If there's no further discussion, I can call the roll.
Commissioner Suarez: Please.
Chair Hardemon: Please.
Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item SR.3.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on second reading, as amended, 5-0.
SR.4 ORDINANCE Second Reading 16-00762 City Manager's Office AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 40, ARTICLE IV, DIVISION 3, OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "PERSONNEL/PENSION AND RETIREMENT PLAN/CITY OF MIAMI GENERAL EMPLOYEES' AND
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SANITATION EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT TRUST", MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 40-249, TO ALLOW FOR OPT OUT PROVISIONS WITH REGARD TO THE STAFF OF ELECTED OFFICIALS FROM MANDATORY PARTICIPATION IN EITHER THE CITY'S PENSION PLAN OR THE CITY'S DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00762 Summary Form SR.pdf 16-00762 Legislation FR/SR.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
13617
Chair Hardemon: SR.4.
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): SR.4, Commissioners, is an ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending Chapter 40, Article IV, Division 3 of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended, entitled "Personnel/Pension and Retirement Plan, City of Miami General Employees' and Sanitation Employees' Retirement Trust"; more particularly by amending Section 40-249, to allow for opt-out provisions with regard to the staff of elected officials from mandatory participation in either the City's Pension Plan or the City's Defined Contribution Plan; containing a severability clause and providing for an immediate effective date.
Chair Hardemon: All right.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion from the dais? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, it's --
Chair Hardemon: Oh, I'm sorry; it's an ordinance. I'm sorry.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): It was just read by --
Mr. Hannon: I'm just getting the roll call together.
Ms. Méndez: Oh, I'm sorry.
Chair Hardemon: So we are ready. I thought I heard something. Roll call vote.
Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item SR.4.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on second reading, 5-0.
END OF SECOND READING ORDINANCES
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FIRST READING ORDINANCES
FR.1 ORDINANCE First Reading 16-00827 District 4- AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Commissioner 18/ARTICLE III/SECTION 18-104(B) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, Francis Suarez FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), ENTITLED "FINANCE/CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE/RESOLUTION OF PROTESTED SOLICITATIONS AND AWARDS/AUTHORITY TO RESOLVE PROTESTS", TO ESTABLISH A PROCESS FOR THE ADJUDICATION OF BID PROTESTS BY A HEARING OFFICER; SETTING FORTH HEARING OFFICER APPOINTMENTS AND DUTIES, HEARING DATE SCHEDULING, AND HEARING PROCEDURES; FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER 18/ARTICLE V/SECTION 18-176.3 OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED "FINANCE/SALE OR LEASE OF CITY'S REAL PROPERTY/PROCEDURES FOR RESOLUTION OF PROTESTED UDP'S AND AWARDS", TO PROVIDE THAT PROTESTED SOLICITATIONS AND AWARDS BE ADJUDICATED PURSUANT TO THE PROCESS CREATED IN SECTION 18-104(B) OF THE CITY CODE; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00827 Legislation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item FR.1, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: FR.1.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, FR.1 is a resolution that I'm sponsoring. We just are in the midst of a fairly complicated and sophisticated procurement, and one of the things that we've seen as this process has unfolded that there's two aspects to it. One is, you know, the public policy decisions that we, as a political body have and the rights that we have under our Code. And the other one is a highly technical, highly legal bid protest process, which we hope and should want it to be apolitical and has to be apolitical because it's a legal process. Unfortunately, we -- some of which are lawyers, some of which are not lawyers, some of which express problems with lawyers or issues with lawyers, and I don't blame you, actually. I don't blame any of you.
Commissioner Gort: Too many lawyers makes it --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. There's only two now, but, you know, I get it, you know. And I think, from my perspective, the idea behind this ordinance is to create a process by which the legal parts of a procurement debate and protest are handled by a legal process outside of the City Commission. It creates for a much more clean process, an apolitical process, and it's a good government reform that I think is something that we should do. And I think we would have benefited from it if we could have had that in the current procurement that is -- you know, that was protested and that is still ongoing. So I move the item.
Commissioner Gort: Second. And the reason I'm seconding is because, I have to tell you, I
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always say it at the beginning of the meetings. When we have a new lease -- and the business that I'm in, I have to participate in a lot of RFPs (Requests for Proposals) and I see a lot of this. It's -- always end up in court, so the final decision is going to be the court.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion?
Vice Chair Russell: Can we get a time machine and introduce this about six months ago?
Commissioner Suarez: Let me tell you, it would have made our life a lot easier; I could tell you that much.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a few issues that I want to make sure that -- see if we could somehow, you know, flush out. Who would appoint this person? Because if the Manager is the one who would appoint this person, would it automatically then --?
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Well, we have --
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): We have assistance --
Ms. Méndez: -- a pool -- I'm sorry.
Mr. Alfonso: I'm sorry, go ahead.
Ms. Méndez: We have a pool of special masters that work for the City for Solid Waste hearings, for the traffic light cameras, for the Code Enforcement hearings. So it would just be, you know, the normal rotation of that; next one up.
Commissioner Carollo: So it would be a special master?
Ms. Méndez: It -- the -- right. It's an attorney with at least from -- when we send out the -- we do like a solicitation every few years, and we ask for usually attorneys with more than five to 10 years' experience.
Chair Hardemon: In this case, it's 10 years of experience in the area of civil law.
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: So those -- we send out those solicitations. People apply, we put them in the pool, and then the pool has come before you to approve, and it would just be the normal rotation of those.
Commissioner Suarez: You know, can I jump in? Because I -- this is a good point. Both -- you may have the same point. I think there's two things, even with this, even though it's my legislation, there may be some refinements that could make it better. One is I think we should have a separate pool, not the same pool that has -- for example, that's handling, you know, traffic enforcement cases.
Ms. Méndez: Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: Right? And I also think that it should be at least a former judge; someone who has served as a judge.
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Ms. Méndez: Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay?
Ms. Méndez: We could do a new solicitation.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Ms. Méndez: And basically, it's like a request for letters of interest --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- and we send it out and all the --
Commissioner Suarez: And then it's on a rotation basis --
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: -- so that it's not like, oh, the -- you know, we're putting somebody or -- you know what I'm saying? -- like the concern that you had.
Commissioner Carollo: That's exactly my concern, Commissioner Suarez. And, listen, I've always said here that I've always welcomed the debates on my items --
Commissioner Suarez: Sure.
Commissioner Carollo: -- on your items and --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: -- I've always -- think that once we vet out the items, we actually make --
Commissioner Suarez: Better policy.
Commissioner Carollo: -- stronger, better legislation and that -- and I -- Listen, for a very long time -- and I think in most governments, we find -- we try to see how we could take the procurement process away from the elected officials. So I get it. I just want to make sure that, you know, okay, if it's not the Commissioners, then who?
Commissioner Suarez: Understood.
Commissioner Carollo: And how do we make that process as fair as possible?
Commissioner Suarez: Sure.
Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. What would be the criteria of conflict of interest that they would be vetted for to make sure that there isn't one? Because if you look at the universe of attorneys in town and bidders in town, there's a lot of relationships. How do we vet that?
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: Before we --
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Ms. Méndez: That is --
Chair Hardemon: -- get to that -- because the conflict of interest is a very interesting thing when it comes to judges, because when it comes to a judge, most attorneys have had some experience with the judge. Most attorneys have given dollars, for instance, to judges to run for races; much like people who come before the City Commission and it comes out to a different legal standard when you're talking about judges and conflicts of interest, because judges -- literally someone in the party has to allege that the judge should recuse himself from represent -- from hearing that matter, and the recusal process is a much different process than a conflict of interest process. And I -- what's -- I think it would be funny is -- you know, when you talk about conflicts of interest, many a times, it is perceived conflicts and the appearance of impropriety, if you will. And when you get into the whole -- judge recusing himself, they take that standard -- it's not such a small standard, if you will. You really have to allege that something is going to really affect the judge's decision. I'll let you respond and then also --
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. My concern is not that the judge would act unfairly. My concern is that one of the bid protestors could use a relationship to further an appeal to say that judge, you know, had some relationship here or that -- whoever the special master was had some relationship with one of the bidders or the winner or the loser, or whatever. I just want to understand --
Commissioner Suarez: (UNINTELLIGIBLE.)
Vice Chair Russell: -- what that vetting process is for recusal or conflict or whatever, so that we can be assured that when the process is done, we -- nobody can punch holes in it.
Ms. Méndez: So first of all --
Commissioner Gort: They're always going to punch hole.
Vice Chair Russell: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- attorneys are held to a higher level of standing, especially a former judge, if that is the new amendment that we'll add to this; that it will be a former judge that would be one to listen to these and respond to the solicitation. But, one, the Florida Bar regulates conflicts of interest. Normally, former judges also act as retired judges, the JQC (Judicial Qualifications Commission) or the JNC (Judicial Nominating Commission) still would vet some type of conflict like that. Also, the parties themselves would self-police and bring that up, just like Chairman Hardemon mentioned. And finally, we can put in the PSA (Public Service Agreement), which is the service agreement that they are to sign, specifically state that any -- the issues with regard to conflicts, which I just mentioned at least three bodies that would have to -- you know -- that could do some serious violations if something like that were to happen.
Chair Hardemon: Say someone was to get into -- get us in a situation where we're looking at relationships, simple relationships as a conflict, because of that matter. You'd have to get someone from Texarkana, Texas to be over this --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: -- board, because the fact of the matter is the relationships between people in the City of Miami go back many, many, many years.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
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Chair Hardemon: As see it, as Commissioner, I need someone -- and I learned that back story -- I'm like, "Oh, okay." So, you know, there's -- because there's so many relationships that go back and that we should all be considerate of, but that are not necessarily things that someone would have to recuse himself from a case for. Yes, sir.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. And the thing is, what are you comparing it to? I mean, compared to this body? I mean, and the alleged conflicts that people allege about this body?
Chair Hardemon: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: So it's -- what's the better process? What's the better procedure? You know, I think it's indisputable that the better process and procedure is to have someone -- and the competency, because you have to understand, I mean, we have three binders like this. We've got three binders like this in this case, full of legal bid protests, responses to bid protests, outside the bid protest thing, you know, a -- We've had just so much information.
Chair Hardemon: And I think, certainly, what it would do, it will stop the -- a lot of things that are happening before us that --
Commissioner Suarez: Of course.
Chair Hardemon: -- the judge would just absolutely not have --
Commissioner Suarez: Of course. It's a legal process. We handle the political act -- the public policy ramifications; in other words, you know, do we keep something? Do we not keep it? Or whatever, things like that. So those things are within our purview and within our codified rights. What we're talking about here is procurement reform and taking out of a political body something that is not really within its competency, and what I would suggest as a refinement even to the qualifications is if we can first get potentially a former appellate judge, if that's possible; in other words, go to first a -- former appellate judges; then former State Court judges. And the reason why is, appellate judges are appointed, they're not elected, and they're merit-retained. And there's probably -- if the concern is maybe campaign contributions or whatever, there is a more likely possibility that a -- that an Appellate Court judge would be much further removed from ever having had received a campaign contribution or anything of that nature. And --
Chair Hardemon: But they may be more politically intertwined, though; someone that's been appointed by someone else.
Commissioner Suarez: Well, they're probably going to be more expensive; not only that, but they'll probably be more expensive, too, because, you know, honestly, a -- an appellate -- you know, a judge that has Appellate Court experience will charge more per hour than a judge that does not. I don't think when we're doing, for example, a $100 million procurement that we're necessarily wanting to go on the cheap, you know, in terms of having a hearing officer that's going to hear something like this, and we've invested multiple hours on this process, but --
Ms. Méndez: But we have a -- I believe that the standard ones we have are like 150 an hour; that's what we -- so they're --
Commissioner Suarez: Sure.
Chair Hardemon: Make it less judges (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Ms. Méndez: -- I mean -- right.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
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Ms. Méndez: Maybe less people will apply, but they -- you know, you'd be surprised at all the --
Commissioner Suarez: Former judges that -- okay. I would say that there should be a -- not a -- I guess the word is "a preference" for an appellate -- former appellate judge.
Ms. Méndez: Okay. And -- but in the actual legislation, though, instead of "for a minimum of ten years' experience in the area of civil law," we're going to say with -- "a good standing with the Florida Bar and former experience as a judge."
Commissioner Suarez: Correct, right; and then, with a preference for Appellate Court judges; however you want to --
Ms. Méndez: Right. But do you want that in the legislation, the Appellate Court judge preference?
Commissioner Suarez: I would, because --
Ms. Méndez: Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: -- you know, because that might drive a little bit of the cost, but it's about quality, and I think at the end of the day here, what we're trying to do is get the most experienced, the most qualified person that will do a -- you know, that will look at all these procurement matters from a legal perspective in the cleanest way possible.
Vice Chair Russell: I think it's good.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? There was a motion, there was a second. I'm assuming everyone will accept those friendly amendments. Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: Let me ask a question.
Commissioner Suarez: As amended.
Commissioner Gort: The process will be similar to the process that took in front of us.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Gort: In other words, the Administration will have an opportunity to come up and testify and the reason why they don't believe the protest should be taken.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Gort: Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: So the decisions that we would make as a political body, political decisions.
Commissioner Gort: That's be made by (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Vice Chair Russell: Sure.
Commissioner Suarez: You know, do we keep a RFP? Do we throw it out? For public policy
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reasons, but not -- we don't get into the legal aspect of it, like we had to do in this case.
Commissioner Gort: Right. Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: And it could not be appealed to us. It would go to --
Commissioner Suarez: Correct.
Commissioner Gort: The appeal is to the court.
Commissioner Suarez: Right; to the Court.
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: But it's a legal process; takes it out of the political process totally.
Commissioner Gort: Yeah. That's great.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say --
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, it's an ordinance.
Chair Hardemon: Right, it's an ordinance. Sorry.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item FR.1.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 5-0.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
FR.2 ORDINANCE First Reading 16-00730 District 5 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Commissioner Keon 10/ARTICLE I/SECTION 10-4, OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, Hardemon FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "BUILDINGS/IN GENERAL/BUILDING PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE," MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 10-4, TO INCLUDE AN AUTOMATIC DEFERRAL OF THE SOLID WASTE SURCHARGE TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS FUNDED BY A COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY; CONTAINING A REPEALER PROVISION, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00730 Legislation.pdf
Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item FR.2, please see "Order of the Day."
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Chair Hardemon: I'll call FR.2.
Commissioner Gort: FR.2.
Vice Chair Russell: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: And seconded by Commissioner Carollo. Is there any further discussion on FR.2? Hearing none, Madam City Attorney.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item FR.2.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, 5-0.
FR.3 ORDINANCE First Reading 16-00834 Department of AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Procurement ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING CHAPTER 18/ARTICLE III OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "FINANCE/CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT ORDINANCE", MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 18-89, ENTITLED "CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS OR IMPROVEMENTS", TO ADD A NEW SECTION FOR THE USE OF A PREQUALIFICATION POOL OF CONTRACTORS FOR CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, AS A COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDDING METHODOLOGY; APPROVING A PILOT PROGRAM FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PREQUALIFICATION POOL OF CONTRACTORS FOR CITY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, AS SPECIFIED IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, FOR A PERIOD OF TWO (2) YEARS; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO MAKE ANY AMENDMENTS NECESSARY TO THE PILOT PROGRAM AS DEEMED IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND A SUNSET PROVISION. 16-00834 Summary Form.pdf 16-00834 Legislation.pdf 16-00834 Exhibit.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item FR.3, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: All right. At this time, what I'll do -- I know we're three minutes shy. I don't
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know if there's any discussion about item FR.3.
Commissioner Gort: FR.3.
Commissioner Suarez: I don't have any discussion on FR.3.
Chair Hardemon: If there's any discussion? Then I'll call FR.3.
Annie Perez: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Annie Perez, director of Procurement. FR.3 is an ordinance amending 18-89 of our Code, which is Public Works and Improvement contracts; adding for a methodology of a prequalification pool, and also approving a two-year pilot program for a prequalification pool of construction contractors.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved.
Commissioner Gort: I asked for this about two years ago, and it's going to be able to expedite some of the contracts that we have, just like the same thing we do with the cars, the body shops, like. We have -- I think it's -- be five qualified body shops. And every time the City needs to fix something, they'll bring the five people in, they'll put a bid in, and the lowest bid is the one that's taken; and these are prequalified by us.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion on the item? Hearing none, Madam City Attorney.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Manager.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item FR.3.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, 4-0.
Chair Hardemon: I'll have the meeting in recess until we return from lunch at 3 o'clock.
Commissioner Gort: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: Okay? This meeting is in recess.
FR.4 ORDINANCE Second Reading 16-00975 District 2 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Commissioner Ken 2/ARTICLE XI/DIVISION 6/SECTION 2-1013 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF Russell MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION/BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS/SPORTS AND EXHIBITION AUTHORITY/GOVERNING BODY," TO MODIFY THE COMPOSITION OF THE MIAMI SPORTS AND EXHIBITION AUTHORITY; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00975 Legislation.pdf
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Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item FR.4, please see "Order of the Day."
Chair Hardemon: FR.4.
Vice Chair Russell: SR.4, correct?
Chair Hardemon: FR.4.
Vice Chair Russell: FR.4.
Chair Hardemon: Composition of MSEA (Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority).
Vice Chair Russell: Oh, yes. Thank you.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Chairman, which item are you reading? I apologize.
Chair Hardemon: FR.4.
Ms. Méndez: FR.4.
Chair Hardemon: FR.4.
Commissioner Gort: We passed F4 [sic].
Vice Chair Russell: We --
Chair Hardemon: No, we haven't.
Vice Chair Russell: -- actually didn't. It's -- if I may, Mr. Chair?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: This has been on a discussion item for many, many meetings, and we haven't got -- been able to get that far.
Commissioner Gort: Oh, SR.4 [sic].
Vice Chair Russell: And this had to do with the makeup of the board of MSEA. I know we tackled a lot of the powers of MSEA early on a few months ago, and we never finally wrapped up how many of the Commissioners should serve on the board, and there was discussion about that. It was brought back a few times in different ways. I had originally said zero; some had said five; some had said different, and I thought I would just bring a resolution that suggests two of us would be serving on the MSEA Board, and that is a recommendation that I think would meet in between -- that would allow those who want to serve on the board to serve; yet, it would not build a full slate of three, a majority when something comes in to Commission so that there's still room for discussion at Commission level if something is brought to us afterward. But I'm absolutely open to discussion. I wasn't setting this as the number it needs to be. This is my recommendation.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
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Chair Hardemon: I want to say something really quickly before you go on. Remember, Commission can be as little as three. There's three members, so even having two members is a majority enable -- it enables you to pass a resolution --
Vice Chair Russell: That is true.
Chair Hardemon: -- at the City Commission. I just want you to keep that in mind.
Commissioner Suarez: No. I was going to say that I think most of the boards that we sit on, we're the only member on the board from the City, so I think maybe it makes sense to have one.
Vice Chair Russell: That's where I was originally. I offered an additional, because I know -- I believe there are at least two of us that enjoy serving and are passionate about it, and so I was trying to make some sort of room there, but --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I mean, to me it's not about being passionate about it, per se. I mean, we all have different responsibilities in different boards that we're on. I mean, all of us are on different boards -- a variety of different boards. I don't know that there are any boards that we're on where there's more than one of us on them. Are there any other boards?
Vice Chair Russell: The CRAs (community Redevelopment Agencies).
Commissioner Gort: CRAs.
Commissioner Suarez: Oh, the CRAs we're all on, right. We're all on the CRAs. Like, we are the CRA Board.
Commissioner Gort: Yeah.
Commissioner Suarez: I think that's different. You know what I mean? I mean, we are that board. Now, some would argue that we shouldn't be, but that's a whole 'nother issue. You know, I think all the other -- I mean -- I think one is better than two, because then it, you know -- I don't know. But -- I don't -- again --
Vice Chair Russell: I would agree with you, but I would love to hear from those who serve on MSEA and defer to them honestly, because this is their board.
Commissioner Suarez: I mean, I serve on MSEA, so.
Commissioner Gort: I'm a founding member of MSEA. Then I was out when I was out in 2001. I'm back now, and I'm very active, and I would like to continue to be active. I don't see any problem with having two. That's just --
Commissioner Suarez: I -- I'm on MSEA. I don't have a problem not being on MSEA.
Commissioner Gort: Fine.
Commissioner Suarez: Is what I'm saying.
Commissioner Gort: You've got plenty of stuff to worry about.
Commissioner Suarez: That's what I'm saying. So if you want to be the MSEA board member, I mean, I don't have a problem, unless you want to be one.
Chair Hardemon: I'm on MSEA also.
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Commissioner Suarez: Okay. All right. Now I see where the two came from. You can add -- you add pretty well, Commissioner Russell.
Vice Chair Russell: That was my assumption.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I don't -- I have no problem not being on MSEA. I've done my -- I've bided my time there for a while. And, you know, a lot of the stuff that MSEA does ultimately has to come to the City Commission anyways, so I don't have a problem not being on MSEA, so if -- from that perspective, I'm okay with it being less than what we currently have. To me, one makes sense, but if it's two and both of the Commissioners want to serve, and the City Attorney's okay with that, I'm fine with that, and I'll be the one that -- I'll get off. I'll be the one that gets off.
Vice Chair Russell: Madam City Attorney, any issue with two; any office holding --
Commissioner Suarez: It's all yours, brother.
Vice Chair Russell: -- no problems like that, right?
Commissioner Suarez: What's that?
Ms. Méndez: As long as it's drafted that two will serve; not you'll go when you can or you'll appoint someone else or --
Commissioner Gort: No, I have to serve.
Ms. Méndez: -- you know, it has to be they have to serve as part of their job; that this Commission chose those two Commissioners to go to that MSEA Board, and they always need to go, until, you know, replaced.
Vice Chair Russell: And that's the wording that would avoid any dual-office holding issues.
Ms. Méndez: Right, and that's how we drafted the different selections.
Commissioner Suarez: Madam City Attorney, do I need to resign from the board?
Ms. Méndez: I think that --
Commissioner Gort: Yes, you do. You were an appointment.
Ms. Méndez: -- once this supplants --
Commissioner Suarez: Would that make it easier?
Ms. Méndez: -- and we appoint the two that this Commission --
Commissioner Suarez: That takes care of it.
Ms. Méndez: -- I think it'll --
Commissioner Suarez: That's fine.
Ms. Méndez: -- be self-executing, but maybe Todd'll want something more.
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Commissioner Suarez: "We'll talk," he says.
Vice Chair Russell: In that case, if there's no other opposition, I'll move it as --
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Vice Chair Russell: -- written.
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly --
Commissioner Gort: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Chair Hardemon: -- moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion here?
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item FR.4.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, 5-0.
END OF FIRST READING ORDINANCES
RESOLUTIONS
RE.1 RESOLUTION 16-00932 District 4- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, BY A FOUR-FIFTHS Commissioner (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND Francis Suarez CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S WRITTEN FINDING OF AN EMERGENCY, PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-90 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), AND WAIVING COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDDING PROCEDURES, RETROACTIVELY APPROVING THE SELECTION OF FEDERAL EASTERN INTERNATIONAL, INC., FOR THE PROVISION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER KITS FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT ("MPD"), FOR AN INITIAL PURCHASE OF $295,410.00; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE MPD'S GENERAL FUND ACCOUNT NO. 00001.191501.552100.0000.00000, WITH FUTURE PURCHASES SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED. 16-00932 Memo - Manager's Approval.pdf 16-00932 Quotation.pdf 16-00932 Corporate Detail.pdf 16-00932 Legislation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0338
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Chair Hardemon: I'll call RE.1.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. RE.1 is a resolution to approve an emergency procurement for active shooter kits or heavy-duty body armor for our Police Department. This emergency procurement waiver selects Federal Eastern International, Inc., for the provision of active shooter kits for an initial purchase of $295,410. The funding source is MPD's (Miami Police Department) general fund. It will provide 687 units. And rather than a soft body armor vest which wraps around the entire body and only protects against handgun fire, the active shooter kit is a heavy bulky vest which provides an extra layer of protection against heavy artillery. The police officer will keep it in his or her vehicle and can put it on in 10 seconds when responding to an incident. The vest is worn outside the uniform and includes metal plates that are rifle-ready. The vest identifies the officers as Miami PD (Police Department) and includes multiple pockets: one for extra magazine rounds, one for a trauma kit, one for the radio in order to provide easy access. The trauma kits which allows the officer to aid other officers, if injured, or rescue civilians. It still needs to be ordered. It's not part of this procurement, but hopefully, it'll be part of a subsequent procurement that we can -- that I'd like to sponsor. In the wake of the sad events that unfolded in Orlando; and most recently, the tragic shooting of police officers in Dallas, the need to provide our own police officers with the protection they need and deserve is more critical than ever. As first responders, our brave officers put their own lives on the line to assist and protect civilians threatened by an active shooter. Many times, a single bulletproof vest worn by the police will be insufficient to protect against active shooters who are unexplainably armed with assault rifles and automatic weapons. A vest is clearly insufficient to protect against this kind of gunfire, further endangering the police officers and those he is trying to protect. The active shooter kits will increase the police officer's ability to immediately confront the assailant and, hopefully, decrease the number of potential casualties; thereby, providing for the highest level of protection. Obviously, this is something that our police officers deserve, that our citizens deserve, and in the wake of the Dallas incident where you had officers that were running towards the bullets and the gunfire, it's imperative today that we waive our procurement rules to get this done, because, naturally, I'm sure there's a lot of departments in the United States that are going to be procuring the same exact equipment for their officers, and we want to make sure that our officers are equipped as quickly as possible. You know, it's a -- the things that have happened in this country are a tragedy. We're very blessed and fortunate -- we talked about it a little bit in the first half of the morning -- to have a city where we have not experienced something like this. And hopefully, it's something we will never experience. Unfortunately, it's very hard to guard against, but I again want to commend our Chief. I have seen in the last -- particularly in the last few weeks a tremendous amount of state of readiness in terms of our guys really anticipating events before they happen, following up on leads, following up on rumors, training, preparing. And I think that it's not a coincidence in many ways that these things haven't happened here. I think our community policing rivals any in the country; possibly in the world. And I think our department is very well led, and it is -- you know, our officers are preparing for the possibility of something -- any sort of incident happening. And so, with that, I will move RE.1.
Commissioner Gort: Second. Discussion.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved and seconded. You're recognized for discussion.
Commissioner Gort: If I understand, the funds have already been allocated as part of your budget, so that should not be any problem at all.
Rodolfo Llanes: Rodolfo Llanes, Chief of Police. Yes, sir, it is; the funds are set aside. We just would like to hurry the procurement process along so that we can get the equipment as quickly as possible and get the officers trained through, and get them issued the equipment.
Commissioner Gort: Thank you, Chief.
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Chair Hardemon: Chief, so there's currently no vest that you have that protects against those types of weapons or rounds?
Chief Llanes: Our daily wear soft body armor will not protect you against those kinds of rounds.
Chair Hardemon: No, I understand that, but -- so the Police Department doesn't have -- there's no police officer that has that type of equipment?
Chief Llanes: No, sir.
Chair Hardemon: I thought that -- because I could have sworn that some people had --
Chief Llanes: There are some that wear --
Commissioner Carollo: Swat?
Chief Llanes: -- their soft body armor on the outside when they're in --
Chair Hardemon: And now --
Chief Llanes: -- tactical operations, but only the swat and our specially-trained officers have this level of protection.
Chair Hardemon: So how many vests would this provide us?
Chief Llanes: 687.
Commissioner Suarez: 687.
Chair Hardemon: That's what I thought, the number. It's not quite enough for everyone, but I guess everyone is not on the --
Chief Llanes: Everyone who is in uniform services will receive.
Chair Hardemon: Well --
Chief Llanes: So if you're a detective, you wouldn't have one, but everybody who is in uniform services will have one.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I would be in support of this as long as we are also looking at all the holistic solutions that we need to come up with in order to tackle the potential issues. I mean, we -- we're waiting for something to happen. I mean, city by city is having their experience right now, and we're just hoping and praying it doesn't happen to Miami. Whether it's a citizen or a police officer, the risk is there. And the tensions are so high in the country right now; there's so much going on. To protect our police absolutely is paramount. To give our citizens a sense of community with the police is also paramount. And I've been struggling since I came in. As I'm working on boards and trying to figure things out, I keep looking at the CRB, the Community Relations Board, and going, "Why did we create them and what is their purpose?
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What is their mission? Why is there only three out of the" -- I think 80 percent of the spots are vacant right now. And, in fact, they don't even have enough people on the board right now to create the quorum to appoint the other positions. So they're in a Catch-22 where they actually can't even increase their board, because we don't unilaterally appoint their positions, if I'm not mistaken. And I'm wondering if something like that should be actually -- I was trying to think of how do we either strengthen or reinvigorate or restart, or change the CRB. But then, I started looking instead that we do actually have the CIP (Civilian Investigative Panel) already in place. And I have heard from them that there is an interest in expanding what their role is; not only as an investigative body, but also in bringing policy, ideas, mending community, listening to residents, working with police. And I think that might go a long way towards strengthening the CIP relationship with the police. So I would like to see us also, after we, you know, take this item up -- At another Commission meeting, I'd like to bring something possibly strengthening CIP and, in a way, expanding their responsibilities. And I know we've talked at the Charter Review on their budget issues, but we haven't quite figured out how they'll be funded and by how much, and stuff like that. And I just think it's a holistic view that we come at this, you know, and look at all sides of all the problems. And, you know, with support on that, I'd certainly be in support of also this, of course.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Suarez: I just want to say just one thing: We're definitely not waiting for something like this to happen.
Chair Hardemon: No.
Commissioner Suarez: I could tell -- I could assure you that, you know, some things are out of our control. Somebody getting a gun and doing something, you know, that's not sane, that's not rational, that's not right, it -- there are some -- only a certain amount of things that we can control. But I will assure you -- and I have to commend you, because I know it's happening. I've seen it happening where the department is actively anticipating, you know. And I'll give you an example. Before Donald Trump came, there was reports that some -- and, you know, I don't think I'm speaking out of turn -- there were reports that -- because it's in my district, in Versailles -- that there potentially were things that were going to happen there. And the Police, you know. Department was on top of it, training for it, prepared for it, ready for it. In Wynwood the other day, we had, you know, a peaceful demonstration and -- but yet the Department was -- anticipated it, trained for it, was ready for it, and that's -- I think some of the reasons why things are not happening that are happening in other cities is because we're preparing ourselves for it, and dealing with it very effectively. And I'll go a step further and say cities that have had incidents -- Ferguson being one of them -- chose one of our officers, Major Moss, to be their Chief, and I think that's something we should all be proud of; that, you know, departments across the country that have had issues are looking at our department to get talent from our department to lead their department. I think that speaks volumes about what's happening here.
Vice Chair Russell: Absolutely. If I said "waiting," I misspoke. We are prepared and anticipating any potential outcomes, but the fact that something could come --
Commissioner Suarez: Sure, of course.
Chair Hardemon: Chief, have you all received the funds to update the mobile response unit, the -- you know, you have a better name for it -- but it's where --
Chief Llanes: The forward incident command, yes.
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Chair Hardemon: -- when President Obama came, he was on it.
Chief Llanes: Yes. A forward incident command vehicle. No, we have not. I am trying to find alternate funding sources to try and update that vehicle. The vehicle itself is in decent shape, but the --
Chair Hardemon: The equipment on the inside --
Chief Llanes: -- equipment on the inside is not --
Chair Hardemon: Right.
Chief Llanes: -- it's 10 years old, so we're --
Chair Hardemon: Have you found out what it would take to properly equip it?
Chief Llanes: It -- I've had a number of numbers -- a number of proposals, and they range be -- depending on what we want to get, anywhere between 3 and 500,000 to update it to where it should be. I've also gotten some to just scrap that one and get a brand new one, and that's around 700. So I'm weighing all those and looking at the funding sources to see how I bring that forward.
Chair Hardemon: Make sure you please come see me about it, because that's something I'm interested in. At the end of the day, the bottom line is, is that I don't think that police should be in the position where they impose fear on our constituency, but they certainly need to be protected. So we don't want our police officers to be unprotected when times of terror like this are put upon them. So, I mean, this is a no-brainer. But, you know, we want to also make sure that you have the equipment that you need to combat any potential experience like that, and I think that van -- I mean that --
Chief Llanes: Forward command vehicle.
Chair Hardemon: -- forward command vehicle would be something that you'll probably need to at least get information to the people that you need at the time you need it.
Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Gort: He's first.
Commissioner Carollo: Real quick, Mr. Chairman. Just to verify, I know for a fact that we're not just, you know, waiting for something to happen, because I know that we've been very active in the active shooting training. Recently, a few months back, you had a whole scenario in Marlins Park, and it was a whole-day thing where you had multi-police departments working hand in hand in case anything should happen. You just saw right now that we're going to see if we move into text to 9-1-1; which all this, you know, is part of, you know, getting ready for it if anything could happen. Now, the biggest issue with this is this -- the unexpected. We don't know what could happen or what anyone could think of, so it's getting ready for that. But I could tell you that our Police Department has not been dormant, and the City overall has not been dormant. And when I tell you, as far as active shooting training -- active shooter training -- I know for a fact, this isn't just now. This is -- goes back to even when I was -- I remember I had Marco Perez here for the drones, which is another thing that we did, the anti-drone zone for big events, but it was hard sometimes getting Marco Perez, the Officer Marco Perez, because he was doing active shooter training, and he was actually doing the course for the other officers and
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stuff like that. So I just want to make sure that, you know, the public understands that, you know, we are not dormant with any of these issues. But at the same time, if our police officers -- if our Police Department are requesting resources, I think it's our job to give them those resources.
Commissioner Gort: Chief --
Chief Llanes: If I could say something, I think it's important -- I'm sorry.
Commissioner Gort: Go ahead.
Chief Llanes: That, you know, we are continually actively training. We are one of the few public safety entities in the country who actually train with our Fire Department in order to get rescues. And you all saw the presentation that we did not too long ago. So I want to say that, tactically, we feel comfortable. We're always training and always getting better. We feel comfortable with our level of tactics. We obviously need this equipment to feel safer, and -- when we engage. But the other part, the holistic part that you're talking about, we are actively engaged in the community every day with non-tactical things, and trying to build relationships and get better, better relationships with all of our communities. So I understand the holistic approach that you -- that the Commissioner, you're talking about. It's not just, you know, the tactics and how we're going to act when something gets terrible. We also have to build better relationships with all of our communities so that, you know, we avoid issues like other places in the country.
Commissioner Gort: That was the question I was going to ask you. Have you worked with the CRB before?
Chief Llanes: I have not.
Commissioner Gort: Not. I think this is something -- the CRB has to be renewed again; make sure we get the right members who's missing by appointing members, and it should work very closely with you and the Administration, because my understanding, the CRB's job is whenever they perceive to see a problem, they should deal with it, they should go talk to the community, and I think that's what we should be doing.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Commissioner Gort: Let's find that real soon.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
RE.2 RESOLUTION 16-00927 Downtown A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Development ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF Authority PROCEDURES OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY; PROVIDING FOR THE APPROVAL TO APPLY AS OF JUNE 17, 2016. 16-00927 Memo - Miami Downtown Development Auth.pdf 16-00927 Legislation.pdf 16-00927 Exhibit.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
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Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0340
Chair Hardemon: RE.2.
Alyce Robertson: Hi. Alyce Robertson, executive director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority. What you have in front of you here is a change to the rules of procedures; otherwise known as the bylaws of the DDA (Downtown Development Authority), in order to amend for membership on committees within the DDA to provide that people who are no longer -- who aren't on the board can serve on those committees. Commissioner Russell came into the DDA and has given a breath of life to some of our committees and would like to bring in people who have expertise, people who have special knowledge of some of our areas of our committees, and bring those forward so that they may bring extra ideas and new life to the DDA. And so, I'd ask that you pass this change to our bylaws.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, you're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Yeah. And we also made the change that says that the elected officials on the board have to be of good moral character.
Ms. Robertson: Yes, that's right.
Vice Chair Russell: That was another bylaw change. Before, we didn't have to be, apparently.
Ms. Robertson: Yeah. The elected officials didn't have to have good moral characters, but everybody else did. And we're also cleaning up a little bit about our districts -- our sub-districts to match what's in the 2009 bylaws; part of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) plan.
Vice Chair Russell: But the important one is the one that Alyce mentioned, and that was an important one to me. I've restructured the entire committee that this -- the committee structure within the DDA so that they're tasked to the various goals that we have that we're trying to accomplish with our budget. It's a significant budget, and we want to make sure that we're accomplishing our goals, that we're producing something, and so the committees have to follow those goals. And within those committees, I'm creating a breeding ground for future DDA board members by welcoming non-board members and giving them voting power on the committees. So it's less simply the few board members that will be driving the decisions of the DDA. It's going to be a lot more community involvement and residential involvement, and I think we're going to see some new directions coming out of there as those committees are in place.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. And I have a question. The Part "E," which is -- describes the boards in each sub-district, I was trying to read it to understand, and you know it better than me, because you are active on the board. But Park West was stricken. It says, "Park West and Media/Entertainment Sub-Districts." Park West and Media were stricken. And when I read it in its construct in the paragraph, it seems that Park West would have been a sub-district, and then the Media/Entertainment area would be a sub-district so -- a sub-district. Is it that Park West as an individual sub-district was removed?
Ms. Robertson: Yeah. Back in 2009 -- this is actually a cleanup of our bylaws on that level --
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they went from 2000 -- there were four districts of the DDA that included one that's Park West. And a lot of people don't know that as a geographic area, so we took a piece of it and included it in the Entertainment District, which is the Arsht and the activities around there, which include the clubs that are on 11th Street, and then moved the rest of it into the Central Business District. So there are three sub-areas of the DDA now.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. So is there a part of the Park West District or Sub-District that is not included?
Ms. Robertson: It -- no. Our district -- the actual geography didn't change; just the names on it.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Ms. Robertson: Those committee positions are open now, so I'll say it on TV so that people who might be interested can hear it.
Commissioner Carollo: What are the committee positions?
Ms. Robertson: Arts and entertainment, business and marketing, urban design -- urban place-making, transportation, connectivity -- I'm still learning the names here, and I'm missing one, and it's --
Vice Chair Russell: You got arts and entertainment, transit, urban place-making --
Ms. Robertson: Business development and marketing.
Vice Chair Russell: -- there's a quality of life.
Ms. Robertson: Quality of life, yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: And that's the services; everything from homeless issues to local business assistance and things like that.
Ms. Robertson: And I can say at the quality of life meeting last week, we had a number of -- we had the most crowded room ever, so it is working to get people interested in participating in it, so.
Chair Hardemon: And how would people apply to be a part of the --?
Ms. Robertson: It's -- we're in the application process right now.
Vice Chair Russell: And where -- how would they apply? Who would they send an email to or --?
Ms. Robertson: They would send it to Karry Maravilla, but the information is on our website, so if people are interested -- or you can call me personally.
Vice Chair Russell: And the website is?
Ms. Robertson: wwwmiamidda.com [sic].
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Alyce.
Ms. Robertson: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
RE.3 RESOLUTION 16-00826 Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENTS, Management and RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF SOLID WASTE SERVICES, FACILITIES Budget AND PROGRAMS IN THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA; DESCRIBING THE METHOD OF ASSESSING SOLID WASTE COSTS AGAINST PROPERTY LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI; DIRECTING THE PREPARATION OF AN ASSESSMENT ROLL; AUTHORIZING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 6, 2016, OR ANY OTHER DATE BEFORE SEPTEMBER 19, 2016, WHICH IS (A) SET BY THE CITY COMMISSION AND (B) PUBLICLY NOTICED, AND DIRECTING THE PROVISION OF NOTICE THEREOF; FURTHER AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO DETERMINE THE APPLICABLE NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR THE ASSESSMENT ROLL ON OR BEFORE THE LATEST POSSIBLE DATE BEFORE SUBMISSION OF SUCH REQUIRED INFORMATION TO THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER FOR THE ESTIMATED SOLID WASTE ASSESSMENT RATE SCHEDULE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00826 Summary Form.pdf 16-00826 Notice to the Public.pdf 16-00826 Back-Up from Law Dept.pdf 16-00826 Pre-Legislation.pdf 16-00826 Legislation.pdf 16-00826 Appendix A.pdf 16-00826 Appendix B.pdf 16-00826 Appendix C.pdf 16-00826 Appendix D.pdf 16-00826 Appendix E.pdf 16-00826 Appendix F.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Russell and Suarez
R-16-0323
Chair Hardemon: Oh, we have quorum. So at this time, since we have quorum, I'll call RE.3. Item RE.3. RE.3.
Christopher Rose (Director): Good afternoon, Commissioners. Chris Rose, Office of Management and Budget. RE.3 is the resolution that sets the special assessment for solid waste for the City's solid waste collections, $380 per year; the same amount this year as is proposed for next year. Be happy to take any questions you have.
Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve RE.3?
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Commissioner Gort: Same charge as always, right?
Mr. Rose: Yes, sir.
Commissioner Gort: No increase at all?
Mr. Rose: Not increasing --
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion on RE.3? Hearing none, all in favor, indicate so by saying "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Mr. Rose: Thank you, Commissioners.
RE.4 RESOLUTION 16-00945 District 4- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING GOVERNOR Commissioner RICK SCOTT AND THE MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO Francis Suarez STUDY POTENTIAL LEGISLATION TO CREATE A PRESUMPTIVE LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH BENEFIT, INCLUDING THE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS' BENEFITS PROGRAM, THAT COVERS FIREFIGHTERS AND PARAMEDICS WHO DIE FROM OR ARE DISABLED BY CERTAIN CANCERS IDENTIFIED THROUGH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A CERTIFIED COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT AND THE MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE. 16-00945 legislation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0341
Chair Hardemon: RE.4. Is that --?
Commissioner Gort: Who's the Commish?
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): This is sponsored by Commissioner Suarez.
Chair Hardemon: I'm sure he's watching television, so maybe we can -- Chief, you want to introduce it?
Maurice Kemp: Yes. Maurice Kemp, Fire Chief. RE.4, as per your direction, is a resolution of the Miami City Commission, urging Governor Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Legislature to study the potential legislation and create a presumptive line of duty death benefit for firefighters that covers firefighters and paramedics who die from or are disabled by certain
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types of cancer.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. I know this is time for discussion. Madam City Attorney, did you have any opinions about the resolution that you think we should consider?
Ms. Méndez: Just that this -- if this is similar to the Heart Bill that's a presumptive idea in the Legislature, this will increase liability to the City.
Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, you're recognized.
Commissioner Gort: Question: My understanding we did a lot of research in the type of cancer that's being caused by the chemics [sic] and the elements that exist when a fire takes place, and you're saying that this will be to that type of cancer. In other words, you -- in the bill, you're going to specify what type of cancers will that be.
Chief Kemp: That is correct. Madam City Attorney is correct; it would increase liability, but the key is it will be based on research, and it will be certain types of cancer that are linked to the prevalence of firefighter cancer.
Commissioner Gort: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chief. Has it been shown that there's a higher rate of cancer amongst firefighters than there is amongst the general public?
Chief Kemp: Yes. There are multiple studies that indicate with certain types of cancer, there's a significant difference in the general public and firefighters.
Vice Chair Russell: So, personally, I'm obviously convinced that this will end up covering some people with cancer who did not necessarily get their cancer from working in the line of duty with fire, but to me, I would rather err on that side than err on putting the onus on the person who gets cancer to prove that they got it from working on the force, and that burden is much harder, I think, and I think the liability we would assume any additional costs we would have; and at the end of the day, we would be taking care of our own and taking a burden off of them, and so I'm in support of this.
Chair Hardemon: Chief, can you describe today what happens when a police officer -- I'm sorry -- when a firefighter has cancer and then he tries to prove that the cancer was work-related. What is that process like?
Chief Kemp: It would be very difficult, and I don't know of any firefighters who have been able to prove that their cancer has been job-related. As Madam City Attorney indicated, there's a heart/lung bill for police and firefighters where certain cardiac conditions are assumed to be job-related. You do a base line physical when you come on the job. If your heart is good, there's an assumption or presumption that it's work-related, but there's no such bill when it comes to
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cancer. Throughout the country, state after state after state, they're adopting these bills. Even internationally, these bills are being adopted, because the science is irrefutable.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: That's what I -- Well, my understanding is at this time, we have a process that when a new employee comes in will have a check -- the test?
Ms. Méndez: For -- what we've done with the Heart Bill issue is in order to make sure that the City isn't acquiring liability that it did not cause, what we do now (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is that there are -- it used to be, I believe, EKGs (electrocardiograms) that were done just -- which was just a snapshot in time, and now we do the more expensive electrocardiogram or just a different type of test that will give more of an idea of when an officer comes in, what their state is, their heart condition is at the time; and just in case, if something develops in the future, it could lessen our liability in the future. I don't know if there's something along those lines for the cancer situation, but obviously, limiting the types of cancer will be a little better for the City liability-wise.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
Commissioner Gort: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: All right. I mean, understandably so. This is a resolution that's urging Governor Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Legislature to study potential legislation. And we know that our --
Commissioner Suarez: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: -- great Commissioner from the Fourth District has a lot of passion about this issue, so I just want to give him an opportunity to say some final words, because it's been moved and it's been seconded, and it's for consideration to vote.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the support of my colleagues on this issue. I think the Chief made a very powerful presentation, along with Mr. Delgado, regarding the correlation between the incidents of cancer and particularly certain kinds of cancer in our Fire -- Department of Firefighters. And I think it's important for us to sort of put our money where our mouth is and not only by the equipment necessary, you know, in terms of our stations, which I think we've already done, but also understand that in -- you know, in law enforcement, there's a presumption that if you get heart disease because of the nature of the job that you do that there's a link between that disease and your job. And I think the evidence is very compelling that there is a strong linkage between certain kinds of cancer and the exposure to these chemicals that our firefighters are experiencing throughout their career. And so I think it's fitting and appropriate, if you will -- use that word a lot "fitting and appropriate" -- to urge the Legislature and the Governor to create this -- an equivalent presumption. It's the right thing to do. It's a quality of life issue for our officers. It's not -- you know, we're not only here talking about pay. We talk a lot about quality of life in terms of wanting to have new stations, and I know the Chief has always been pushing for that; wanting to have state-of-the-art equipment, obviously, equipping our stations with the equipment necessary to make sure that these chemicals are dissipating from our uniforms and in the appropriate fashion, but I think the evidence is so compelling that it's hard to not presume, and again, it's a presumption. It doesn't mean that it can't be rebutted, but it is -- you know, when you have a 400 percent variation, you know, that is indicative of a presumption, if I've ever seen one, mathematically. So again, it doesn't necessarily mean that in every case, there's a clear causation, but I think the right thing to do is to support those that understand that there is clear science that demonstrates that there is a connection. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
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Chair Hardemon: You want to make a few words in honor of the presentation?
Freddy Delgado: Yeah. I'd like to, first of all, thank you for hearing us out; and thank you, Commissioner, to make this resolution and to bring it up in front of the whole Commission. I want to say that the scope of the coverage is limited. Like the Chief said, you first have to have a baseline, you know, checkup. So in other words, if you have cancer before this bill passes, you won't be covered. And there's also limitations. You have to have five years on the job is the way the bill's going to be read. And it's four types of cancers. That 40 -- sorry -- 36 other states already have presumptive. We're one of 14 states that don't have it, major states. We're one of -- the only major state that doesn't have the coverage. So it's limited in scope as to what type of cancers, and there's a base line that you have to pass a test that you don't have cancer prior, and there's a minimum amount of years that you have to be on the job before you're even covered. And right now -- I mean, I'm not an expert in the City's healthcare coverage and workmen's comp, but right now, the only part that we actually pay out of our pocket is the -- in other words, the other liability the City would have would be the deductible that we pay out of our pocket, you know, the maximum deductible. You already cover our workman's comp, or the health insurance covers it already.
Chair Hardemon: Can you state your name for the record, also?
Mr. Delgado: Oh, Freddy Delgado, representing Local 587, 2980 Northwest South River Drive.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any further discussion?
Chief Kemp: Mr. Chairman, if I could make two points before we vote. And first of all, like Freddy, I really appreciate the support of the Commission and the Administration. This is something that's very important. But the points I want to make is, to dovetail on what the Commissioner said, you can refute a claim. We've had heart/lung claims that were disallowed, because it was determined by the Law Department that it didn't fit the bill, and you can refute a claim. And the other thing, I said, we had no firefighters who were covered with cancer being an on-the-job exposure, but if you look nationally at the World Trade Center experience, that was a microcosm of somebody's career crammed into maybe a two-, three-week period, and many of those firefighters and police officers who worked that rubble pile developed cancer, and it was covered by the Federal Government. So if you compress their careers, you can see there is a correlation, because these guys got cancer. And once again, I appreciate the support, and I'll stop now rather than snatch defeat --
Commissioner Gort: Go ahead, Chief. You're ahead, Chief. You're ahead.
Chair Hardemon: Smart man. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Mr. Delgado: Thank you very much.
RE.5 RESOLUTION 16-00972 District 3- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION SUPPORTING A STUDY Commissioner Frank FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TEXT-TO-911 TECHNOLOGY SERVICES Carollo FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINTS, AS A SAFE AND PRACTICABLE ADDITIONAL OPTION, TO ASSIST RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES, AND VISITORS WHO ARE IN AN EMERGENCY.
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16-00972 Legislation.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0339
Chair Hardemon: RE.5.
Commissioner Carollo: Give me a second, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, RE.5 is something that I am bringing to the Commission. In essence, what I'm looking at is, once again, public safety; and at the same time, if we're going to be in technological edge of all municipalities and counties, I think we need to act that way. And what I am requesting is for our management to look into the possibility of having 9-1-1 texting. So, in other words, if you're in a situation like you were in Orlando, you don't have to necessarily call 9-1-1. You could actually text 9-1-1 and let them know your issue. Some areas, you could already do that; and not only do that, but you could actually send photos and send small videos. And I think we need to go to that technology so that if we have any issues, you know, we could actually text 9-1-1. So I will move RE.5 and request that, number one, that our call centers or our dispatchers obtain the technology. And I know we need to see what the cost is, but I think whatever the cost is, we need to go to this technology; and then number two, request from the U.S. (United States) wireless carriers to deliver the emergency option to us.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved. Is there a second?
Vice Chair Russell: Second. Discussion.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I think this is an amazing idea. I'd never heard of it, that the technology exists. Do we know of other cities who have tried it out and --?
Commissioner Carollo: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I believe 11 percent of all the dispatch centers -- and they're called PSAPs (Public Safety Access Point) -- do have it. So it is operating already in other areas in the United States and actually here in Florida, also, but we do not have it right now, and I think we need to go to that technology.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none.
Commissioner Suarez: I think it's a great idea.
Chair Hardemon: RE.5.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: All in support of RE.5, indicate so by saying "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chairman, if I may? Possibly -- I know in the past, we would like to put like a timetable. Is there a specific time you could --?
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Nzerie Ihekwaba (Chief of Operations/Assistant City Manager): Can we have it in 90 days?
Commissioner Carollo: The only thing is I kind of want to make it before the budget hearing in September so I -- because I really want to see where we are with it. It's not something that I don't think is unreasonable to have it by September so we could have it for the budget meeting, because I want to make sure that, you know, if it's possible to have this technology that we do have it, because I think that's what the residents deserve in the City of Miami.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Can we come in with a preliminary report by the budget meeting and have an update later?
Commissioner Carollo: Sure. And if you have something beforehand, you know, please reach out to us; so, yes.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you.
END OF RESOLUTIONS
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
BC.1 RESOLUTION 16-00470 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COUNCIL FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Marcelo Holzinger Mayor Tomás Regalado
Howard Miller Mayor Tomás Regalado
16-00470 Arts CCMemo.pdf 16-00470 Arts Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Russell and Suarez
R-16-0325
Chair Hardemon: Any Boards and Committees?
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.1, Arts & Entertainment Council: Mayor Regalado will be reappointing Marcelo Holzinger and Howard Miller.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
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Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: It passes.
BC.2 RESOLUTION 16-00261 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE AUDIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.3 RESOLUTION 16-00898 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Nathan Kurland Vice Chair Ken Russell
16-00898 Bayfront CCMemo.pdf 16-00898 Bayfront Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Russell and Suarez
R-16-0326
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.3, Bayfront Park Management Trust: Vice Chair Russell will be reappointing Nathan Kurland.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Properly moved and seconded. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
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Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.4 RESOLUTION 16-00899 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Marta Etcheverry Commissioner Frank Carollo
16-00899 Beautification CCMemo.pdf 16-00899 Beautification Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0327
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.4, City of Miami Beautification Committee: Commissioner Carollo will be appointing Martha [sic] Etcheverry.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.5 RESOLUTION 14-00967 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION CONFIRMING THE Clerk APPOINTMENT OF A CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE CIVILIAN INVESTIGATIVE PANEL FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Anthony L. Robbins Civilian Investigative Panel
14-00967 CIP CCMemo.pdf 14-00967 CIP Current_Board_Members.pdf 14-00967 CIP Memo and Resumes.pdf
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Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0328
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.5, Civilian Investigative Panel: Mayor Regalado will be appointing Anthony Robbins.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.6 RESOLUTION 16-00900 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Francis Suarez
Commission-At-Large (Alternate Member)
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.7 RESOLUTION 16-00901 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE COMMERCIAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Keon Hardemon Commission-At-Large
16-00901 CSWMAC CCMemo.pdf 16-00901 CSWMAC Current_Board_Members.pdf
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Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0329
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.7, Commercial Solid Waste Management Advisory Committee: There's one at-large appointment to be made. Chair Hardemon is requesting to be reappointed.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Second.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.8 RESOLUTION 16-00598 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Tomás Regalado
Vice Chair Ken Russell
16-00598 CRB Memos and Resumes.pdf
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.9 RESOLUTION 16-00902 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Tomás Regalado
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Frank Carollo
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Commissioner Frank Carollo
Commissioner Francis Suarez
Commissioner Francis Suarez
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.10 RESOLUTION 16-00600 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Vice Chair Ken Russell
City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso (Ex-Officio Non Voting Member) City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso (Ex-Officio Non Voting Youth Member)
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.11 RESOLUTION 16-00474 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN Clerk INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Chair Keon Hardemon
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Frank Carollo
Commissioner Frank Carollo
Commissioner Francis Suarez
IAFF
FOP
City of Miami Page 96 Printed on 8/17/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 14, 2016
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.12 RESOLUTION 16-00599 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Jose M. Fernandez City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso
16-00599 Finance CCMemo.pdf 16-00599 Finance Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0330
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.12, Finance Committee.
Commissioner Gort: Wait. Excuse me. Let me stop you there for a minute. We had BC.8, which is the Community Relation [sic] Board. I have two appointments, but I'm going to make sure -- I'm going to get the right person and that -- because that's going to become a very important -- the Community Relation [sic] Board in working with the police, so we need to look at the people we need to put in there, okay? So I'd like to bring it back next Commission meeting.
Ms. Ewan: We'll work with your office and the City Attorney's Office --
Commissioner Gort: Thank you.
Ms. Ewan: -- to make sure we get it.
Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Gort -- Mr. Chair?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: When we did an outreach for board appointments, I have 10 applications that came in for CRB (Community Relations Board), and I don't -- you know, I don't know these people necessarily, so I'm glad to share the resumes with the Clerk, if any of you are interested --
Commissioner Gort: Sure.
Vice Chair Russell: -- in interviewing any of them or considering them.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
Ms. Ewan: Shall I continue?
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Chair Hardemon: Yes, please.
Commissioner Gort: Yes. Sorry.
Ms. Ewan: Not a problem. BC.12, Finance Committee: City Manager Alfonso will be reappointing Jose Fernandez.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.13 RESOLUTION 16-00904 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE LIBERTY CITY COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION TRUST FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Tyrone L. Coverson Chair Keon Hardemon (unexpired term ending November 20, 2016)
16-00904 Liberty City CCMemo.pdf 16-00904 Liberty City Current_Board_Members.pdf 16-00904 Liberty City Application.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0331
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.13, Liberty City Community Revitalization Trust: Chair Hardemon will be appointing T. L. Coverson.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
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BC.14 RESOLUTION 16-00268 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE MAYOR'S INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Silvio Frank Pupo-Casco Vice Chair Ken Russell
16-00268 MIC CCMemo.pdf 16-00268 MIC Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0332
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.14, Mayors International Council: Vice Chair Russell will be appointing Silvio Frank Pupo-Casco.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.15 RESOLUTION 16-00601 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE MIAMI SPORTS AND EXHIBITION AUTHORITY FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Chair Keon Hardemon
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Frank Carollo
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NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.16 RESOLUTION 16-00758 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
J. Rafael Montalvo City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso
Irvans Augustin City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso
16-00758 PRAB CCMemo.pdf 16-00758 PRAB Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0333
A motion was made by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, and was passed unanimously with Commissioner Suarez absent, to appoint J. Rafael Montalvo as a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, further waiving the residency requirements of Section 2-884(a) by a four/fifths (4/5ths) vote of the members of the City Commission, as it relates to J. Rafael Montalvo as a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.16, Parks & Recreation Advisory Board: City Manager Alfonso will be appointing Irvans Augustin and J. Rafael Montalvo. Mr. Montalvo requires a four-fifth residency waiver. Additionally, the Manager will be reappointing Michael Rosenberg. He requires a four-fifths attendance waiver.
Commissioner Gort: I understand we passed an ordinance or resolution that anybody that had waiver for not going to the meetings automatically will be out.
Vice Chair Russell: Or it goes to their board to decide. Was that right? Can I get a clarification?
Chair Hardemon: I -- the board has an opportunity to waive any unexcused --
Ms. Ewan: Right.
Chair Hardemon: -- absence.
Ms. Ewan: These absences were prior to the ordinance being adopted, so this would be Mr. Montalvo first and only waiver of his attendance. So if he has any attendance issues after this and it's not waived, he will not be reappointed to the board.
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Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry. I thought that name you mentioned was the waiver for --
Ms. Ewan: I'm sorry; Mr. Rosenberg.
Vice Chair Russell: Rosenberg.
Ms. Ewan: Excuse me. Correct.
Chair Hardemon: Right. So when it gets here, we can only waive it once.
Ms. Ewan: Once.
Chair Hardemon: That's this --
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): I don't see a preclusion with sending it to the board, even though the absences -- it's whether they consider -- the way -- the standard that was -- is whether that board considers that those were excusable absences.
Chair Hardemon: But this situation -- that person is seeking a reappointment, and so they need the reappointment along with the attendance waiver, if I understand it correctly, not just an attendance waiver. If they needed an attendance waiver, the board could handle that. This is a reappointment.
Vice Chair Russell: Which should come -- should one come before the other?
Chair Hardemon: I don't think it has to. It can happen both at the same time.
Vice Chair Russell: My idea with the attendance waiver, Mr. Chair, was that having the boards help deal with it, they know that person's activity on the board; they know their reasons for being absent; they know their contributions; we might not necessarily --
Chair Hardemon: True.
Vice Chair Russell: -- and so they may give us a recommendation: “We really want to keep this person,” or they may vote to say, "Can we find someone new?"
Chair Hardemon: So is the person still serving on the board?
Ms. Ewan: Yes.
Chair Hardemon: Then we can send --
Ms. Ewan: Correct.
Chair Hardemon: -- the attendance waiver back to the board. They can determine the attendance waiver and then we can hear the appointment, and then it wouldn't require an attendance waiver.
Ms. Méndez: Right, but apparently, they also need a reappointment, too --
Ms. Ewan: That's correct.
Ms. Méndez: -- because they've been there --
Ms. Ewan: Right. Their term has expired. They continue serving unless they're reappointed to
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the board or someone else is reappointed. We can hold off in his appoint -- reappointment, send absences back to the board, and then once we get a response, we can bring it back for a reappointment.
Vice Chair Russell: Which board is it?
Ms. Ewan: This is the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board.
Vice Chair Russell: You know, I imagine he's good, and I imagine they want him, but --
Commissioner Gort: Better wait for other Commissioner. I'm not going to vote for him.
Vice Chair Russell: For which? For --
Commissioner Gort: For this one.
Ms. Méndez: Right. So let's just send it back and clean up the -- that portion --
Ms. Ewan: Absolutely.
Ms. Méndez: -- the absence portion, and then we'll bring it back to the Commission for the big decision.
Chair Hardemon: So then you have one person that --
Ms. Ewan: So we have the Manager appointing a new member, Irvans Augustin, and J. Rafael Montalvo. Those are two new members. Mr. Montalvo will require a four-fifth residency waiver.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Is there a motion to accept them?
Commissioner Gort: I'll move.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, motion passes.
BC.17 RESOLUTION 16-00959 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE PATRICIA AND PHILLIP FROST MUSEUM OF SCIENCE BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell
16-00959 Frost Museum CCMemo.pdf 16-00959 Frost Museum By-Laws.pdf
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Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0334
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.17, Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science Board of Trustees: Vice Chair Ken Russell will be appointed as the City Commissioner representing the Commission district embracing the Museum.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: Any --
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Chair Hardemon: -- been properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, motion passes.
BC.18 RESOLUTION 16-00903 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TRUST FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Seth Gordon Commission-At-Large
16-00903 PACT CCMemo.pdf 16-00903 PACT Resume.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0335
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.18, Performing Arts Center Trust: There is one at-large appointment to be made. Vice Chair Russell would like to appoint Seth Gordon.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Vice Chair Russell: Second.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. City of Miami Page 103 Printed on 8/17/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 14, 2016
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.19 RESOLUTION 16-00604 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Wifredo (Willy) Gort
16-00604 PZAB Application.pdf
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.20 RESOLUTION 16-00960 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE SEA LEVEL RISE COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
James Murley Mayor Tomás Regalado
Rachel Silverstein Vice Chair Ken Russell
David Martin Commission-At-Large
Jane Gilbert Commission-At-Large
16-00960 Sea Level Rise CCMemo.pdf 16-00960 Sea Level Rise Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0336
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.20, Sea Level Rise Committee: Mayor Regalado will be appointing James Murley; Vice Chair Russell will be appointing Rachel Silverstein; and there are two at-large vacancies: Vice Chair Russell would be appointing David Martin and Jane Gilbert.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
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Chair Hardemon: How many people on the Sea Level Rise Committee?
Vice Chair Russell: That is open for discussion, if you'd like to.
Ms. Ewan: There are nine members.
Vice Chair Russell: We got the additional members after we created the social justice seat, and then the board agreed to put an additional two.
Ms. Ewan: That is correct. There are the social justice, and there are two additional at-large vacancies on the board.
Chair Hardemon: So who's the social justice seat?
Ms. Ewan: That is currently vacant.
Chair Hardemon: That one's currently vacant.
Ms. Ewan: Yes.
Chair Hardemon: And the two at-large, where are they from, and what --
Ms. Ewan: General categories.
Chair Hardemon: -- area do they represent?
Vice Chair Russell: The -- one of the at-larges is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Ms. Ewan: Is a structural engineer, correct.
Vice Chair Russell: And so one of these today is filling the developer seat.
Ms. Ewan: The structural engineer; and then Jane Gilbert is just a citizen, general category.
Vice Chair Russell: No, the -- I believe the developer seat is David Martin --
Ms. Ewan: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: -- at large.
Chair Hardemon: So what seats are left to be filled on that committee, totally?
Ms. Ewan: It will be the social justice.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. All right, I heard a mover. I'm assuming the Vice Chairman's the second.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Hearing none, all say “aye.”
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
BC.21 RESOLUTION
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16-00759 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE SENIOR CITIZENS' ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY:
Sonia Suarez Commissioner Frank Carollo
16-00759 Senior Citizens Committee CCMemo.pdf 16-00759 Senior Citizens Current_Board_Members.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez
R-16-0337
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.21, Senior Citizens Advisory Board: Commissioner Carollo will be appointing Sonia Suarez.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
BC.22 RESOLUTION 16-00271 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD (UDRB) FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Chair Keon Hardemon
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Wifredo (Willy) Gort
Commissioner Frank Carollo
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Commissioner Frank Carollo
Commissioner Francis Suarez
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.23 RESOLUTION 16-00608 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK TRUST FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Tomás Regalado
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
NO ACTION TAKEN
BC.24 RESOLUTION 16-00961 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE WATERFRONT ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY:
Mayor Tomás Regalado
Chair Keon Hardemon
Chair Keon Hardemon
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Vice Chair Ken Russell
Commissioner Frank Carollo
NO ACTION TAKEN
END OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
DISCUSSION ITEMS
DI.1 DISCUSSION ITEM
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16-00803 City Commission STATUS REPORT ON HIRING POLICE OFFICERS.
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: Chief, DI.1, status of hiring police officers.
Rodolfo Llanes: Rodolfo Llanes, Chief of Police. I am extremely proud to report that we're eight above our TO (Table of Organization) right now. We're over a hundred percent filled. We are beginning to process 1,469 new applicants that will have their physical agility test this weekend. Directed by you, the Manager has authorized for us to over-hire for our impending retirements, and so I think we're right where we need to be, and we're going in the right direction. So I'm very proud of my staff for all the hard work they've done. I'm open to any questions.
Commissioner Suarez: Just one very quick question, Chief. There -- just to make sure that I understand what you're saying. We budgeted for "X" number of positions. Are you saying that all those positions right now are currently filled, or is there some sort of small vacancy?
Chief Llanes: No. We're eight above our TO right now.
Commissioner Suarez: Wow.
Chief Llanes: So we have a hundred percent full, and we're overstaffed by eight.
Commissioner Suarez: Awesome. So we are literally slightly above what we budgeted for --
Chief Llanes: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: -- in terms of positions? Fantastic. Good for you.
Chief Llanes: I think that's the only place that anybody would say that “that's fantastic” that you're spending more money than you actually have.
Chair Hardemon: Right.
Chief Llanes: Outstanding.
Chair Hardemon: You're over budget.
Chief Llanes: Thank you. Appreciate it.
Chair Hardemon: I'm sure you'll find some savings --
Commissioner Suarez: Fantastic.
Chair Hardemon: -- in there, somewhere in there.
Commissioner Suarez: He's like -- he's going, “No, no.” He's going, “That's not fantastic. I'm not cool with that.” Sorry, Fernando.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, Chief.
Chief Llanes: Oops. I didn't see you there, sir. I apologize.
DI.2 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00802
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District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MIAMI BAY Commissioner WALK. Francis Suarez 16-00802 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: So we have an option. As you know that we've gone through our regular agenda, except for our discussion items. Are there any discussion items that we want to consider before we move into the PZ (Planning & Zoning) items? We still have time. So if you want to move through the PZ -- for instance, let's do DI.1. Let's just call it, DI.1. Discussion of hiring police officers.
Nzeribe Ihekwaba (Assistant City Manager/Chief of Operations): Mr. Chair?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Can we go to the next one while awaiting for the Police Chief?
Chair Hardemon: That is fine.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Thanks.
Chair Hardemon: You know what they say about police officers, right? Everybody knows this song. Some people are smiling. They know where I'm going. DI.2. Vice Chair Russell: DI.2.
Chair Hardemon: Discussion: The First (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Presbyterian Church of Miami Bay Walk.
Vice Chair Russell: That is brought by Commissioner Suarez, I believe, but it's in my district, and I could speak to it, but let's -- I'd rather wait for him so he can have input.
Chair Hardemon: DI.3. Status of Beautification Committee board member appointments.
Vice Chair Russell: Also Commissioner Suarez, I believe.
Chair Hardemon: All right, Commissioner Suarez, we're on DI.2, if you will.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. We had -- Commissioner Russell and I had a discussion item on the Bay Walk from the church; and he identified, along with the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) -- I think Alyce was here at some point, if she's not still here -- nine pinch points that are preventing the Bay Walk from being completed along the Biscayne Bay, so you know, we're working together to work on a program whereby we can get it done quicker and find a way that, hopefully, the City can be reimbursed; or some kind of financial vehicle can be created whereby the City can take over, do the Bay Walk; and whoever owns the property, at some point will pay the City back with interest. So I just wanted to discuss that. I mean, some of these have been on here for a while, and so they're a little bit stale, but I appreciate it, Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Commissioner Suarez: Number 3 is --
Chair Hardemon: You want to speak on DI.3?
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Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I'm sorry. My apologies.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. And I very much appreciate Commissioner Suarez' input on this. Our sunshine meeting was very productive, and the DDA is incredibly passionate about this, and the Water Front Task Force of actually finding a way to speed up opening up of these pinch points on the River Walk and the Bay Walk, which we may otherwise be waiting for years before someone redevelops and triggers the need, so we need to agree, from a policy perspective, as we move forward. If we open these up early, or we ask or force the property owners to open them up early, what are we asking them to do and how do we get there? And I believe we're being offered an easement pretty soon from this Presbyterian -- the City Attorney's Office has drafted it. It looks like they may be in agreement. We're going to meet with them. And then I've already met with the City Manager's Office to understand who's going to maintain these, because otherwise -- the property owner would normally maintain it if they trigger the Bay Walk renovation, and they would have to do all the upkeep and everything, but in this case, we will (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Suarez: And there's a reason why: Because they're not likely to redevelop that property, so they're not likely to trigger that Bay Walk provision, so that's why, you know, it will be imperative on us to take on that process so that we can get the Bay Walk moving along one of that -- one of the critical pinch points.
Commissioner Gort: We also pick up the liability.
Vice Chair Russell: We do.
Commissioner Suarez: That's how every public parcel is in the City.
Commissioner Gort: It's good thing for DDA.
Vice Chair Russell: They're treating it just like a sidewalk --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, of course.
Vice Chair Russell: -- if I'm understanding correctly. We're accepting an easement and we're maintaining it and -- so that the policy question is, what happens with the cost of -- that we incur in doing so? With the Presbyterian Bay Walk, we're going to incur significant costs in the actual building of the Bay Walk. Do we expect to recover that back? And in their case, they're not planning to do any redevelopment any time soon.
Commissioner Suarez: That's the issue.
Vice Chair Russell: They're not planning to sell any time soon, so they're not actually inclined to help us with this, and I think it's very generous of them that they've offered this easement. And so we're looking to see how and -- we can finalize this easement, and whether or not we could or should expect money back from this particular one from a not-for-profit agency that owns this property.
Commissioner Suarez: Exactly. And just to be clear, like there's -- they're unlikely to just demolish it and do something with it, so but for that easement, we wouldn't have a continuous Bay Walk; so that's why it makes sense for us, in consideration of their easement, to put some skin in the game our self [sic], and that's why I think, you know -- that's one of the pinch points that I think is not solvable through the other means that we talked about in the sunshine meeting, which would be like for us to build it and then have the property owner reimburse us with interest.
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Mr. Ihekwaba: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Mr. Ihekwaba: The Administration would like to place on the record that the City -- if the City were to do the construction and also the maintenance of this Bay Walk, whenever the ownership or title changes in future, the City should be entitled to a reimbursement of the construction costs, if it changes to a private hands or nonprofit organi -- any for-profit organization.
Vice Chair Russell: We could add that as a covenant then.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Yeah, have it as part of the process.
Vice Chair Russell: It is in there --
Commissioner Suarez: That makes sense.
Vice Chair Russell: -- as it stands. Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: That makes sense.
Chair Hardemon: All right. Thank you very much.
DI.3 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00829 District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE STATUS OF BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE Commissioner BOARD MEMBER APPOINTMENTS. Francis Suarez 16-00829 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.3.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, DI.3 was -- simply, we created the Beautification Committee, and I wanted to make sure that it was fully staffed and had the board composed. Is it -- we have a quorum yet?
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): They do have a quorum. There's only one vacancy left.
Commissioner Suarez: Awesome.
Mr. Hannon: So they're --
Commissioner Suarez: Have they met yet?
Mr. Hannon: That I do not know. No, they have not met at this --
Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Do you guys know when they're going to meet or --? You're not waiting for them to be fully composed to --?
Mr. Hannon: They're ready to go. I'll defer to the City Manager.
Nzeribe Ihekwaba (Assistant City Manager/Chief of Operations): The City's liaison person to this committee is the deputy director of Public Works, so it will be liaison with the Clerk's Office
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to schedule their next inaugural meeting as soon as possible.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you.
DI.4 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00557 District 3- DISCUSSION REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE COMMISSION'S REQUEST Commissioner Frank FOR THE MARLINS BALLPARK TICKET POLICY DIRECTIVE FROM THE Carollo MARCH 11TH COMMISSION MEETING. 16-00557 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.4.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. DI.4 is an item that I brought to the Commission, directing the Administration to give us a policy with -- regarding to the tickets; more specific, the ones from Marlins Park, and I think they have provided that. So unless there's any questions or anyone has any issues, I think we could move forward.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
DI.5 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00331 Department of DISCUSSION REGARDING THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR AN ADVANCED Information INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI BY USING Technology FIBER-OPTIC CAPABILITIES.
16-00331 - Backup Document.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.5.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, DI.5 is an item regarding fiber-optic capabilities in the City. We brought this item a couple of times, particularly with respect to Google Fiber. And we have gotten a report from our Chief Information Officer that's attached. I understand that Google has acquired a LASMA (phonetic) provider in the City of Miami recently, and so we're hopeful that maybe that will urge them or spur them to get in the game and compete with the other vendors that are providing similar technology. I think we have AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph) in the house somewhere. There's Mr. AT&T right there, who is Mr. Dominguez, who I know is already providing high-speed gigabyte processing bandwidth for our businesses. So I just want to make sure that the City, from an infrastructure perspective, is doing everything they can to have the very best infrastructure for our businesses.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
DI.6 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00388 City Commission DISCUSSION REGARDING PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE MIAMI SPORTS AND EXHIBITION AUTHORITY (MSEA) ORDINANCE.
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16-00388 Back-Up from Law Dept.pdf
Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Chair Hardemon: DI.6. That will be --
Vice Chair Russell: I move that we withdraw that.
Chair Hardemon: This item's withdrawn.
Chair Hardemon: DI.7.
Vice Chair Russell: I think we need a -- we need --
Commissioner Suarez: DI.7 is --
Vice Chair Russell: -- to vote on it as a Commission, though, because it's a Commission item; because I had tried to withdraw it myself, but I didn't bring it, so I couldn't.
Chair Hardemon: Is there any objection --
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: -- to motion to withdraw?
Commissioner Carollo: Second to withdraw.
Chair Hardemon: Hearing none, motion passes.
DI.7 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00245 District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING INCLUSION AND/OR IMPLEMENTATION OF Commissioner GREEN SPACE IN WATSON ISLAND MASTER PLAN. Francis Suarez
16-00245 E-Mail - Discussion Item 04-14-16.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.7.
Commissioner Suarez: DI.7 is a discussion item regarding green space in the Watson Island Master Plan. You know, obviously, Watson Island is -- feels like sometimes it's a little bit cursed insofar as, you know, we haven't seen that island for many, many, many years be activated to the point where -- it was supposed to be activated at different points, and so my -- the reason why I brought this is because there's been a lot of talk throughout those years of what kind of public space would be available. I mean, were we going to lease out, essentially, the whole island? And what kind of public space would be available to be an amenity to whatever commercial activity was on there? And I think, obviously, we've talked at times about the zoning of the Chalks, and obviously, there's a lot of robust debate about Flagstone. So, you know, my -- the reason why I put this on there was just simply to ask the Administration to look at -- you know, to the extent that there's available land left in Watson Island, that it be dedicated for public purposes so that it can be complementary to whatever commercial uses are on there.
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Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I'm sorry.
Commissioner Gort: There's a lot of land east of the --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Gort: -- existing --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Gort: -- Chalks facility.
Commissioner Suarez: Yep.
Commissioner Gort: Plenty of land there to be developed.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: The Ichimura Gardens, obviously, are on Watson Island.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: And there is something I'd like to learn and understand, though. I believe there's a potential new leaseholder at Parrot Jungle Island, and they've been discussing the Ichimura Gardens in some sense or another. But I haven't met them yet, and I'm not sure what is the status of that lease, but I believe that they've made some intention to assist with the redevelopment of those gardens. I haven't -- I don't know yet.
Commissioner Gort: I have to tell you, at one time the Japanese Garden [sic], one of the best places you go to take pictures. It's beautiful, and I'd like to see it back.
Vice Chair Russell: It will be again.
Daniel Rotenberg: Good afternoon. Daniel Rotenberg, director, Department of Real Estate & Asset Management.
Commissioner Gort: Can't hear you.
Mr. Rotenberg: I can't hear me, all right.
Commissioner Gort: Now I can.
Mr. Rotenberg: Daniel Rotenberg, Department of Real Estate & Asset Management. You're talking to the Japanese Garden [sic] that's next to Jungle Island. At one point and time, Jungle Island, from the first agreement on, was actually supposed to be handling and taking care of that garden. Through subsequent amendments to the lease, they were relieved of that obligation. There is another -- there's possibly another entity coming into that property, and part of the discussions are that they will be taking care of that garden. Right now the Parks Department is taking care of it.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Please.
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Vice Chair Russell: How is it that the lease would --? Is someone buying the lease out? Are they subleasing? Or what's happening exactly?
Mr. Rotenberg: They would be buying the leasehold interest.
Vice Chair Russell: And what would the process for that be? Would that come to Commission or referendum or --?
Mr. Rotenberg: It would be coming to Commission. It's part of the lease -- if it ever would change hands, it would have to come before the Commission, correct.
Vice Chair Russell: So it would be a new lease altogether?
Mr. Rotenberg: No, no. They would be assuming the current leasehold, but that -- the assumption itself would have to be -- come -- would have to come before the Commission for approval.
Vice Chair Russell: But it would not trigger 29B in the Charter, which would take it to a referendum?
Mr. Rotenberg: I don't believe so.
Vice Chair Russell: Madam City Attorney, the question is: If Jungle Island's lease is being assumed by somebody else but we're not creating a new lease, would that trigger the 29B Article in the Charter with regard to sending it to referendum as to what we would do with that lease?
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): I believe this -- if I remember correctly, did this already go to referendum at one point? Yes.
Mr. Rotenberg: Yes.
Ms. Méndez: Correct.
Commissioner Gort: Yes.
Ms. Méndez: Okay. So there was an assignment provision. We researched that issue before there was any assignment, and there's no change in the lease; it's just an assignment. So that was allowed pursuant to the actual contract, so it does not -- if they were extending or wanting more out of this lease, then it would definitely trigger the 29B, but since it's just a plain assignment, it's not triggering it.
Commissioner Gort: But my understanding is, part of the approval of the Commission, we can request certain things.
Mr. Rotenberg: That is correct.
Commissioner Gort: We can make some changes and some amendments. Because I really like to see a Japanese Garden [sic] there. It was a beautiful place.
Mr. Rotenberg: There are definitely discussions along those lines.
Commissioner Gort: I used to teach photography and we would go there all the time.
Mr. Rotenberg: Yes, sir.
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Vice Chair Russell: Have they offered to take over the maintenance or the redevelopment of the Japanese Gardens? Have you heard about that or no?
Mr. Rotenberg: We have had discussions with them, and they have offered, yes.
Vice Chair Russell: I don't have anything else about green space on Watson Island. Anything else on green space?
Chair Hardemon: Seeing none, thank you very much.
DI.8 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00304 District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING UPDATE ON MINDS AND MACHINES CITY OF Commissioner MIAMI REVENUE. Francis Suarez 16-00304 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 16-00304 Back-Up Document.pdf DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.8.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. DI.8, I just wanted to bring to the Commission's attention, we did a deal a few years ago with a company called “Minds and Machines,” which was a partnership where we put no money down, took no risk, and the City of Miami made 50 percent of the revenue from licensing the name “Miami” -- “Dot Miami,” to be specific, as a domain name. And I just wanted to report to the Commission that since we did that, our revenue from that deal has exceeded $160,000. I don't know if you have the -- to-the-date revenue from that, Mr. Burns.
Kevin Burns: Kevin Burns, director of Information Technology. I do not have the to-date; I have the -- through April, which is the figures that we have.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, the 161. I think at the -- you know, obviously, we started off very fast, and it naturally will sort of plateau, but the February to April differential was 40, so we could be close to 200,000 in revenue already, so I just wanted to highlight that for the Commission.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
Vice Chair Russell: I've got one.
Chair Hardemon: Weren't (UNINTELLIGIBLE) --
Commissioner Suarez: You do? Awesome.
Chair Hardemon: Well, the Commissioners -- was there some type of reservation for --
Mr. Burns: Yes, Commissioner.
Chair Hardemon: -- names for the Commissioners?
Mr. Burns: All the Commissioners, by your district, were reserved; that's correct.
Chair Hardemon: Can you send us -- send some information about that so we know?
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Mr. Burns: Yes, I can.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
Mr. Burns: Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: Okay.
Vice Chair Russell: How was the deal structured? Who is the -- who are the parties in the deal, and how do we generate revenue?
Commissioner Suarez: So it was a procurement, and companies were allowed to bid on what percentage they would give the City of the revenue that they generated. They had an upfront cost, which was $250,000, to get the -- what they call the “I can application"; in other words, to apply for Dot Miami to be certified as a domain name. There was a window where they opened domain names. Before, it used to be only “dot com” or “dot edu” or “dot co.” There was a very limited amount of domain names, but they opened it up to a broader group of cities: New York; you know, dot nyc, dot co, you know, et cetera. And so they had to bear the risk of that $250,000 upfront investment; plus, they have to market it, because if you don't market it, you know, no one's going to know that it exists. And so they had to bear all the marketing costs, which could be three, four, five times that amount of money of the initial licensing fee, and then we get 50 percent of the revenue. We split it -- we're an equal partner. We put no money, and we have no risk.
Vice Chair Russell: Good deal.
DI.9 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00237 District 2 - DISCUSSION REGARDING STATE OF CONTAMINATED CITY PARKS. Commissioner Ken Russell 16-00237 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be RECONSIDERED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing the withdrawal and reconsideration of item DI.9, please see "Order of the Day."
DI.10 DISCUSSION ITEM
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16-00330 District 4- STATUS REPORT REGARDING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH TROLLEY Commissioner SERVICE EXPANSION. Francis Suarez 16-00330 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf
DEFERRED
Note for the Record: The City Commission, via unanimous consent of the members present on the dais (present: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Suarez), deferred Item DI.10 to the September 8, 2016 Regular Commission Meeting.
Chair Hardemon: DI.10.
Commissioner Suarez: DI.10 is an item regarding trolley expansion. Our trolley system has been incredibly successful. However, I think our residents and us as Commissioners, we've -- not only have we looked at the possibility of expanding to capture the entire City, which is -- I think needed two more expansions: the Upper Eastside, and I think we need Flagami, which is the western part. In other words, the north and the west is the only part that, right now, is not connected by the trolley system, and also making some modifications to the already existing routes; some maybe have too much of headway, something that we talked about in one of our sunshine meetings where, you know, the buses were going so slow because they didn't have enough passengers, and so the headways maybe were a little too aggressive on some and some other modifications that needed to be made, some areas. Collaborating with Coral Gables was a big issue, and also just making modifications to the routes so that they're better connected to our already existing transportation infrastructure. I haven't gotten that report from the Administration, so I'd like to know when we're going to get that report. And I'll be honest with you. It's kind of --
Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman?
Commissioner Suarez: -- unfair, because we haven't done discussion items --
Nzeribe Ihekwaba (Assistant City Manager): Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: -- for a lot of Commission meetings, so it's kind of a little bit atypical that we are actually now doing them; and I commend the Chairman, because if it wasn't for the Chairman's initiative, we wouldn't be as far along on the agenda at 4:30 in the afternoon. But I'm willing to defer it --
Mr. Ihekwaba: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: -- if you need me to defer it. If you need a little more time, I'll defer it to the next Commission meeting.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Yeah. Mr. Commissioner, I will ask that you defer this item maybe for 60 days so that we can work on this report.
Commissioner Suarez: This was a 30- to 90-day report. In other words, I asked for this 30, 90 days ago. Plus, we didn't take it up exactly at the first time it was calendared on the agenda. We've been deferring this over and over and over and over and over again.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Commissioner, 30 days is going to throw us into August, which is your break.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay, but hear what I'm saying. We did a discussion item where we talked about trolley expansion. I asked you to provide us a report in 60 to 90 days. The Clerk
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put it back on our agenda in 60 to 90 days, and we've deferred it multiple times since then. So to ask for another 60 days -- I'm really hoping that we can do it maybe the first meeting of September. How 'bout that?
Mr. Ihekwaba: That sounds great.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Ihekwaba: And in the interim, we'll follow up with you and your office about modalities for the report.
Commissioner Suarez: Please.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Okay.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: Let me add a little bit of it. We discussed this this morning. I think we need to coordinate this with Miami-Dade County. Our staff should be -- get together with their staff and see how we can better connect not only throughout the City, but through all the public transportation where we can connect the people. Because when the downtown People Mover and when the Rapid Transit was created, the -- there was supposed to be some feeding system, and that never existed. Maybe they trade -- the trolley can start taking that position, where they can take the people to the right places so they can take public transportation. So we need to coordinate that with the County and with the other cities, they have it. Like you're trying to coordinate it with the Coral Gables.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Commissioner Gort: And we have it north, we have it east, and I think we should all coordinate all of them together to make it more efficient for the count -- not only for the City, but for the whole County.
Commissioner Suarez: A hundred percent agreement, Commissioner.
Commissioner Gort: Got that?
Chair Hardemon: Without objection, motion to defer DI.10 is passed.
DI.11 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00522 District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING MIAMI-DADE COUNTY RENTS. Commissioner Francis Suarez 16-00522 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.11.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. DI.11 is an article that I just wanted to share with you as Commissioners. Obviously, it was written on April 12, 2016, by the Miami Herald. And we've seen a lot of articles like this that talk about rents across Miami-Dade and Broward skyrocketing. The average South Florida resident spends 43.8 percent of income on rents in the late 2015 compared to 28.5 percent before the housing bubble. So I just -- it's just something
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that I wanted to bring to your attention. It says, “Miami/Metro area is the third least affordable in the U.S. (United States) for renters."
DI.12 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00559 District 2 - DISCUSSION REGARDING NIGHTLY BED AVAILABILITY FOR HOMELESS Commissioner Ken RESIDENTS. Russell 16-00559 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 16-00559 Back-Up Documents.pdf DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.12.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes. We'd asked for monthly reports on the availability of beds for homeless, and we had been receiving those reports, but I wanted the Administration to vocalize that at Commission so it's on the public record.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if I may?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: I would just -- I went to the first Homeless Trust meeting, since I was -- since I appointed myself to the board, and I did mention that I wanted my Commissioners -- I can designate, and I know both of you have expressed an interest, so I want to be able to designate one of the two of you -- well, one of you, and then the other one to attend the next two, if that's something that you're interested in, so you can have your specific voices and concerns heard in the Homeless Trust, okay? So if you guys are interested, I -- do you want me to just pick one or the other? Do you want me to coordinate with your offices or --?
Chair Hardemon: Coordinate with the offices.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay. As long as it's -- Madam Attorney, it's okay for me to coordinate?
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): That's what I'm checking, so if you could pass it? If you're going to take a vote or something, could you pass that item versus a designee verse --? That's all I have to check on.
Chair Hardemon: There's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Suarez: No, no. I know you can designate. That I know; that the Homeless Trust board members can designate someone on their behalf; that I'm positive. The question is scheduling it. Is that any problem for us to communicate with their office to schedule which person I designate first?
Chair Hardemon: It doesn't take a vote. We're not --
Ms. Méndez: I'm sorry.
Chair Hardemon: -- voting on this item, whatsoever.
Commissioner Suarez: It's not a vote.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah.
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Ms. Méndez: All right.
Chair Hardemon: It's just like I'll go on a day, and he'll go on the next day.
Commissioner Suarez: You think it is what? You want to step up, Mr. Book? You're the executive director.
Commissioner Gort: It's open to the public.
Ronald Book: I will, if I could. For the record, Ron Book, 18851 Northeast 29th Avenue, Aventura; in my capacity as chairman of the Homeless Trust. I would simply caution you, because I got cautioned at the end of the last meeting by the County Attorney as related to my conversations with Jay Solowsky, who sits in the Manager's place over the Surfside piece of things that you heard, and they strongly suggested we not communicate in that regard. When you want someone to serve, you can simply say you're not available, and you can send a memo to your colleagues, and they can sign up with you, and then you simply notify our staff that they want to serve in your place, and that's it.
Commissioner Suarez: Perfect.
Mr. Book: But if you do it upfront, then you're creating a potential sunshine problem.
Chair Hardemon: Mr. Book, do you vote on the board? I'm not sure.
Mr. Book: I do.
Chair Hardemon: You do vote? Okay. That makes sense then.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, he knows.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah, that's why --
Commissioner Suarez: Okay, thank you.
Chair Hardemon: -- the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Suarez: It's good that you're here.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair?
Commissioner Gort: It is.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Mr. Book: If I could, Mr. Chairman. One of the things that went into the original ordinance, and it's one of the unique places in County government that allows it, is we allow --
Commissioner Suarez: That's awesome.
Mr. Book: -- a proxy system, but they've got to be designated, and it's designated in writing, and they come and you get full voting powers in that member's place.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
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Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman.
Vice Chair Russell: I just wanted to take this moment, since we're speaking about homeless beds and availability, to digress a little bit in that we may have a severe homeless need coming actually from my district in the very near future. A lot of evictions are about to happen, and some of them -- because our Unsafe Structures Board are deeming buildings to be uninhabitable. A lot of these buildings are for sale. And if we're not careful, we may be an unwitting partner in displacing many, many people who could become homeless. And so, this whole week has been spent scrambling and meeting with all the various parties in the neighborhood, trying to find those options for rapid rehousing. HANDS [sic] (Housing Assistance Network of Dade) has made themselves available. The initial risk is a demolition slated for August 1, in which approximately 45 people may become homeless. I believe six of them have applied for HAND, but we are desperately seeking units available at an affordable rate somewhere in the City where we can help relocate folks. And I'll simply take this moment to bring up the fact that we've also identified a hole in our system which gets us to this place with slumlords, and that is that we do not have a mechanism in the City to regulate the minimum standards of living within some of these housings. Now, in condo situations, the State regulates, but in these types of situations, this is -- this, for example, is a 28-unit --
Commissioner Suarez: Building.
Vice Chair Russell: -- small apartment building with rents, and we do Code enforcement for the façade and the grass and the garbage out front and whatever, but apparently, at the County level, it is regulated whether or not the internal living conditions -- you know, open sewage and things like that -- are being handled, and it's not being done there. We can have the ability to regulate that, but according to the City Attorney, we need to request jurisdiction from the County, so I've reached out to Commissioner Suarez, who is the overlapping County Commissioner for my area, and he's going to work with me on that. Once we have that right, I really believe we need to empower our -- whether it's our Building Department, or whatever, to go in upon complaint; not at the last minute to say, "We need to knock it down, because it's" -- "had demolition by neglect," but to manage and cite these locations to make sure they're giving the minimum standard living conditions. Right now it's just up to the residents to find their rights to sue the landlord, and they don't necessarily have the funds or the wherewithal to know their rights to do that and access to attorneys and such, and the conditions are horrible. I'm having a community meeting at 3:30 tomorrow at the Southwind Apartments on Grand and Hibiscus in the West Grove, and all community members are there, because it's all hands on deck right now. We have a potential homeless situation there, and it's the first domino along Grand Avenue of several that may come soon if, you know, we don't either find methods to bring these back up to speed or rapid relocation.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, and I just -- you know, I think that's important. I'm glad that they're here to hear that. But I want to also commend Mr. Book and Ms. Mallett for the decisions that they made in anticipation of potentially a crisis that maybe they didn't even know was going to happen, which was the defunding from the Federal Government of a significant amount of funding for the Homeless Trust. And thanks to their good stewardship over the years for which they took criticism and heat, we had the funds to fill the gap for this upcoming budget year, and allow us to sort of bridge the gap and tell our partners to sharpen their pencils and to find ways to conform with what the Federal Government's requests are. And I just, now that they're here, wanted to take a moment to thank them for that.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
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DI.13 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00093 Department of NET PRESENTATION BY NEIGHBORHOOD ENHANCEMENT TEAM (NET) Administration ADMINISTRATION.
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: Item DI.13 was deferred to the October 13, 2016 Regular Commission Meeting. ______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be RECONSIDERED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
______
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: Item DI.13 was deferred to the October 13, 2016 Regular Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing the withdrawal and reconsideration of item DI.13, please see "Order of the Day."
DI.14 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00825 Department of QUARTERLY UPDATE OF NON-REIMBURSABLE GRANT Finance EXPENDITURES FOR THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2015. 16-00825 Summary Form.pdf 16-00825 Memo - Unreimbursed Grant Expenditures.pdf 16-00825 Back-Up From Law Dept.pdf DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: Going to move on now. DI.14.
Commissioner Suarez: That's Finance.
Jose Fernandez (Director): Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jose Fernandez with the Department of Finance. DI.14 is the quarterly update of non-reimbursable grant expenditures; that we've made our assessment for the period ending September 30, 2015, and I'm happy to report there were -- we didn't have any non-reimbursable expenditures for this period.
Chair Hardemon: All right. Thank you very much.
Commissioner Gort: Thank you.
DI.15 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00944
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District 4- A DISCUSSION OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY'S PROPOSED MANDATORY Commissioner WORKFORCE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, AND THE OPTION Francis Suarez FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI TO OPT OUT OF THE MANDATORY PROGRAM WITHIN 90 DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE COUNTY ORDINANCE.
16-00944 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 16-00944 Back-Up Documents.pdf DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.15.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, DI.15 is related to a Miami-Dade County proposed mandated Workforce Housing Program, and it's interesting in the context of DI.11 that talks about the crisis in affordable and workforce housing in our community. We -- I, as your member on the Dade League of Cities and the League of Cities president, have been closely monitoring this legislation because of its impact on our cities. Obviously, I think -- and I told the sponsor, Commissioner Jordan at the County, that the City, out of the 34 cities, is a city that wants to encourage workforce housing. We want to do everything we can. Having said that, we feel that we're -- we have been on the cutting edge, and we'll continue to be on the cutting edge as a government to try to promote workforce housing. As the League of Cities' president, I have a little bit of a different role, which is to protect other cities that may have a harder time complying with this workforce housing component. So I just wanted to bring it to your attention; put it on your radar screen, but as the -- you know, as the process unfolds, we will definitely keep you updated. And, certainly, we are working as hard as we can to promote workforce housing in the City.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
DI.16 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00971 District 3- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE ENFORCEMENT OF CODE VIOLATIONS Commissioner Frank AGAINST REPEAT OFFENDERS. Carollo DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: Moving on, DI.16.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. DI.16 is a discussion item regarding the enforcement of Code violators against repeat offenders. If you recall, in the last Commission meeting, we had a personal appearance by Mr. Guillermo de la Paz, which was really frustrated regarding repeat Code offenders, and I asked the City Attorney to look into this, and bring back recommendations with regards to what we can do with regards to some of these repeat offenders.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Thank you, Commissioner. Basically, the items that had to do in the Charles Avenue area that Mr. Del la Paz had brought up were mostly handled through the ticketing process, which is a one-time citation, probably 150 or $250 or ticket warnings. In order to -- and then they comply. They quickly comply, but unfortunately, it has to be the resources of the Code Enforcement officer that goes out, cites them, after the grass has been high for a little bit, because of our rainy season, et cetera, and how things -- how grasses grow so quickly here. In order to try and ramp up enforcement with regard to that, one of the options
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could be that all these cases, whether or not they comply or not -- because they seem to comply right after they're cited and the ticket's paid -- they need to go to the actual Code Enforcement Board so that even though they have complied, they could be cited seven days' fine, one month's fine, whatever the Board feels will actually deter this continual action. Because what happens is that they're -- you know, they're willing to let the grass sit for a $250 violation, if it takes about three weeks or a month for somebody to go out and then you cut the grass, you know, every six weeks versus every two weeks and going out continually before the violation occurs. So that is one way that can obviously bring back a quick turnaround, scheduling all of these cases for Code Enforcement Board or Special Master; but for per diem fines, whether or not they have complied or not, which is perfectly in the purview of the Code Enforcement inspectors, especially if they've had tickets in the past, because it's -- they're not repeat offenders, pursuant to statute that you get the higher fines sometimes, but since they comply, however, they are recidivists in some point because they've -- you know, they know the system. You get a ticket; they'll get to it when they get to it, as such. The other thing, obviously, is what Commissioner Suarez had suggested. In some of these properties, there's like 11 violations and 12 violations, so those we can take to an actual hearing before a judge in order to make it -- you know, if the Code Enforcement solution doesn't work of higher, stiffer fines, then we can obviously enjoin them for them to understand the severity of the action. So those are the two issues. With regard to repeat offenders, pursuant to Florida Statute 162 and Chapter 2 of our Code, there's also the higher fine in that when they come back before the Board, the Board can give them a $500 per day violation versus a 150 or a 250, because they have been found in violation before, whether it's through ticketing or the Board. So those are some of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) instead of a ticketing solution and compliance, it could be a stiffer penalty with regard to more per diem fines, even though they eventually comply, but the Board can say, "Listen, we've been at this for a while with regard to ticketing and just strict tickets; we need, you know, more compliance from you. You need to go out every day" -- "every week or every two weeks because of the situation that you have with regard to the properties." So those are some of the different spins that you could take with regard to these properties in particular.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner --
Commissioner Carollo: So -- a continuation.
Chair Hardemon: Please, and then Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Carollo: So Madam City Attorney, are you recommending that, let's say for the de la Paz case, that we need to take that to Code Enforcement, and who takes that to Code Enforcement? Is that our Code Enforcement officer or our Code Enforcement Department takes it to the Code Enforcement Board, or -- is that what you're saying?
Ms. Méndez: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: So for that case, you --
Ms. Méndez: Right. For these cases, which were -- there were about 23 properties that were cited.
Vice Chair Russell: He sent me three more this week.
Ms. Méndez: I'm sorry?
Vice Chair Russell: He sent me three more this week.
Ms. Méndez: The more, the merrier.
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Commissioner Carollo: And that's what I'm saying.
Vice Chair Russell: They were cited.
Commissioner Carollo: Because it's a continuous event that's occurring, and I don't know if someone's beating the system or not, playing the system, but what you're saying is the next step would be for our Code Enforcement Department to take it to Code Enforcement Board, correct?
Ms. Méndez: Right; versus the continual tickets, it's better to get per diem fines on these properties so that the property owners understand that this is -- that the City means business with regard to this area.
Commissioner Carollo: And then after the Code Enforcement Board, if that is not working, the next step would be taking it to court?
Ms. Méndez: Right, an injunction.
Commissioner Carollo: And let me ask you something. With repeat offenders that the City has taken to court, what usually is the result? And the reason why I'm asking is because I specifically remember one case where a company owns about nine buildings and has racked up a whole bunch of fines and critical high-priority violations that impact the safety of the residents. I believe the City has taken it to court, but I still don't know the -- what has resulted from that, and I'm thinking of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) case, if you remember.
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: And that's like a repeat offender that has really no -- disregarded completely, you know, our residents' well-being, so --
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: And where the City has actually taken it to court, where are we with that?
Ms. Méndez: Well, in that particular situation, we were able to -- because of the concern that Commissioner -- Chairman Hardemon had with those particular properties, we've actually taken those to court. We got a receiver in those properties. The owners are not collecting rent anymore. The receiver is collecting rent in order to fix the properties so that the persons are not displaced prematurely and that they're able to stay in their homes, so we were creative in getting that result. A lot of the -- some of the violations have been cured. Obviously, it takes a while. You have accumulate some monies in order to be able to make the fixes necessary, but that is how we've been able to, you know, somewhat ameliorate that situation. It's not a perfect situation, but at least it keeps people in their homes, and we're trying to remedy the safety of those properties. In other -- that one is a very complicated one. In other more clear-cut, you know, demolitions -- Commissioner Gort gets a little frustrated with the court process, because he knows that it takes a little longer, but at the end of the day --
Chair Gort: Three years.
Ms. Méndez: -- we do get certain -- within, you know, six months' time, at least the properties are either demolished or the, you know, persons who were doing illegal mechanical repairs were out of the property, so those are the type of things that a judge can help us, you know, resolve quicker. Obviously, you know, it takes a little bit of time with, you know, serving the people, filing, and getting your court dates, so it might take six months, around when it's in court; but Commissioner Suarez can also tell you, you know, he's had several hoarders in his neck of the
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woods, that we've been able to resolve and clean up those properties and -- but that's, you know, the next step right after the Code Enforcement Board has already been involved in the process.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay. So with regards to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) case, you're saying that there's a receivership in place, placed by the courts, and that the monies that are being collected are going to remedy the issues in the buildings?
Ms. Méndez: Right, in the properties.
Commissioner Carollo: And then with de la Paz, Mr. Assistant City Manager, are we going to then direct Code Enforcement to start taking those cases to the Code Enforcement Board and see if we can remedy the issues that continue to happen?
Nzeribe Ihekwaba (Assistant City Manager/Chief of Operations): Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I'm a little bit confused, because -- Madam City Attorney, I'm a little bit confused, because my understanding is when somebody's in violation of the Code and Code Enforcement goes out there, they issue a notice of violation, correct?
Ms. Méndez: There's two different --
Commissioner Suarez: And they have --
Ms. Méndez: -- processes, and that's what I was trying to explain last time. There is the ticketing process, which is a one-time --
Commissioner Suarez: Citation.
Ms. Méndez: -- citation, and then that one is just one time, you know, $250; a thousand dollars --
Commissioner Suarez: But that's not a --
Ms. Méndez: -- if it's a tree issue.
Commissioner Suarez: -- notice of violation; that's a citation.
Ms. Méndez: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: When the notice of violation ones that you're discussing, those are per diem Code Enforcement cases that rack up daily fines.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: So usually, the Code Enforcement process starts out with the ticketing process;
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give them a ticket warning letter, and they comply. You don't need to give a ticket.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: Then you give a ticket. They don't comply --
Commissioner Suarez: Don't use the word “ticket” --
Ms. Méndez: I'm sorry?
Commissioner Suarez: -- because I don't think that document is called a “ticket,” is it? Or is it call --?
Ms. Méndez: Well, I mean, I'm just --
Commissioner Suarez: Cita -- that you --
Ms. Méndez: It's a citation.
Commissioner Suarez: It's throwing me off.
Ms. Méndez: Right. It's a citation process --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- but we -- it's citation process --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- citation/ticket.
Commissioner Suarez: Okay.
Ms. Méndez: Either -- interchangeable, or the per diem notice of violation/summons to appear Code Enforcement daily fine process.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: So it's two different --
Commissioner Suarez: They can be -- the Code can be enforced in either or both ways.
Ms. Méndez: Right. You could do one, the other, both.
Commissioner Suarez: And you're saying it's better to go with the notice of violation?
Ms. Méndez: Right, in order to rack up the daily fines; that really, you know, gets the attention of a violator, obviously; if you're getting per diem fines versus getting a one-time ticket.
Commissioner Suarez: But doesn't the notice of violation have a certain compliance period?
Ms. Méndez: It does. So sometimes you have -- if you comply within the notice of violation portion --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
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Ms. Méndez: -- you don't necessarily get a summons --
Commissioner Suarez: That's the problem.
Ms. Méndez: -- to go to the Code Enforcement Board. However --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- when you see a situation like this, that it's --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Ms. Méndez: -- a little bit of a game --
Vice Chair Russell: Gaming of the system.
Ms. Méndez: -- then you just take it -- even if they comply, you could take it to the Code Enforcement Board. We don't normally do it that way --
Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) different levels.
Ms. Méndez: -- because you achieve compliance, and that's technically what you want to do, achieve compliance, but once there's a little bit of a disconnect with the way that the persons are, you know -- they're absorbing the $250 ticket without a problem, then you know you need to take it to the next level.
Commissioner Suarez: I'm still a little confused, but I mean, it's not really a big deal. I'm not going to make a big issue of it.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: For -- I'd just like to understand, then, are we creating a process, or is Mr. Gutierrez simply, at his discretion, looking at these cases that have been elevated because attention's been brought to them, like Mr. De la Paz situation? What I think Mr. De la Paz was trying to get to us was to change our process; not just help him around his house. And is there a way we can create a trigger that when someone is a three-time offender, for example, that it then elevates the system automatically; that Eli doesn't have to be watching on a daily basis and counting how many violations; that there's a process for elevating it to that next status? Is there something we could create for that?
Ms. Méndez: Well, within -- I mean, internally -- I mean --
Commissioner Gort: They're working (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Ms. Méndez: -- there are a lot of Code Enforcement cases obviously in the City. This is a very big city. So it's just basically prioritizing, you know, the things that get a little --
Vice Chair Russell: But that's what the neighbor's trying to avoid, because he's had to be a squeaky wheel and do so much diligence on his own as -- you know, whether he's right or wrong in certain cases, and they -- a resident shouldn't have to get to that point for us to crack down on someone who is a repeat offender. So I'm trying to find a system.
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Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes, you're recognized, and then Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And that's exactly what I was hoping we could accomplish when we last had the meeting here with the City Attorney, where she explained to me that right now it's at the discretion of the director of Code Enforcement. So that's why I asked the Administration, "Would you now be looking into the de la Paz case to be bringing it to the Code Enforcement Board?" Now, besides that, I wouldn't mind bringing back some type of -- you know, working with the City Attorney, some type of legislation that after "X" number of time of the same thing, you automatically elevate it to the next level, which you bring it to the board. And then the last case that I mentioned was the other extreme where we had to take it to court, because they're just habitual offenders that are not going to do anything. So that could be where we actually, you know, with the City Attorney's help, bring back some type of ordinance where we, after "X" number of times, just bring it to the next level where it is mandated for the Code Enforcement Department to bring it to the Code Enforcement Board.
Ms. Méndez: And it doesn't need to be to the level of an ordinance. It could be a directive, like for instance, when we had -- there was a time that we had a huge unsafe structure issue, and the Commission made a directive that for the next six months, you know, the Administration really needed to hamper [sic] down on the issue with unsafe structures, so it -- you know, it can be in a form of a resolution as well. It doesn't have to be that formal. You know, after three tickets, it definitely needs to be elevated to, you know, the Code Enforcement Board on a -- you know, right away. That type of -- just a policy that the Commission feels is necessary.
Commissioner Carollo: Understood. And I don't know if we then draft a resolution, you know, it's the will of this Commission; I will want to then. But my intent is to be able to have residents feel not that they have to come here to this board and be -- air out their frustration because the system is just not working.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: Let me tell you what my frustration is. You all know about the squatters; how long it take to get squatters out of the house. I had a problem just around the block from my house where we had -- somebody had a body shop in their back yard. Took us two years to go through the process, to go to court; and these people, they know the law better than we do. The owner ordered now from the Court that they cannot do anything. Well, yesterday I happens to be going by; there's a car that's been in a crash right parked outside, which is something that I have to send to them, so the guy's in violation of the Code. I mean, I've been working with the Administration. We're working couple of things to try to expedite it. There's changes that have to be made within the law. There's changes that have to be made with the ordinance. There changes have to be made with the documentation when people get a CU (Certificate of Use) or tax credit. We need to work -- we're working on those documents right now, because we need to expedite the process. The process now takes too long, and that's a problem. And these people, they know it. They know the law. We all know about all the illegal cafeteria taking places in all these places, small cafeterias; and then when it comes to weekend, they become a bar, a sports bar. And this is something, we're working on it, but we have to expedite it, and we got to work -- we working very close with the Law Department, with Code Enforcement, and hopefully, we can come up with some -- But the thing I really believe is the follow-up. The biggest problem you have: You have a violator. They give him a ticket, citation, whatever you give him. There's a cost to doing business. They'll continue to do it, unless we have -- this is why Code Enforcement, the NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) Office has got to work as a team. They got to work together, along with the policemen, to make sure they do their follow-up, because that's what sometimes we lack.
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Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Seeing no further discussion on this item, move on to item, DI.17.
Vice Chair Russell: There was clear direction then for them to create a system; three strikes, elevate the status?
Commissioner Carollo: Work -- if the City Attorney could work with my office so we could bring something back to this Commission --
Commissioner Gort: Yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: -- where something like three strikes and it forces the City Code Enforcement Department to bring it automatically to the Code Enforcement Board.
Chair Hardemon: DI.17? That's what you're here for? Or you're on the previous item? 17, correct?
Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): No, I -- the item on the Code compliance.
Commissioner Carollo: That was all for DI.16. Are we in DI.17 now?
Mr. Alfonso: Well, I just want to -- the Code compliance issue, we're going to have to do Code revision. So are you sponsoring the item for Code revision? I just want to make sure.
Commissioner Carollo: Sure. I mean, whatever --
Mr. Alfonso: Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: -- we spoke about right now, yeah. I don't have a problem.
Chair Hardemon: Save a lot of time with that.
DI.17 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00973 District 3- FOLLOW UP REGARDING DISCUSSION OF THE RECENTLY ADDED Commissioner Frank CLASSIFICATION(S) TO AFSCME LOCAL 1907 WHICH RAISES Carollo INDEPENDENCE ISSUES RESULTING IN NONPERFORMANCE OF GENERALLY ACCEPTED GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS (GAGAS).
16-00973 E-Mail - Discussion Item07-29-16.pdf
DEFERRED
Note for the Record: The City Commission, via unanimous consent of the members present on the dais (present: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Suarez), deferred Item DI.17 to the July 29, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting.
Chair Hardemon: DI.17.
Commissioner Carollo: DI.17. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. DI.17 is regarding the added classification of 1907 in an issue we're having with our Independent Auditor. In the last meeting, we discussed -- and apparently, all parties were supposed to meet; however, that meeting was canceled, and it's now going to be postponed for July 21. So I will just defer this item until the next Commission meeting to allow for them to be able to meet and discuss with the City Attorney's Office, and I believe it's the head of the General Employees organization.
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Chair Hardemon: If there's no objection, motion passes.
DI.18 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00974 District 3- FOLLOW UP REGARDING DISCUSSION ON ELDERLY RESIDENTS IN THE Commissioner Frank CITY OF MIAMI LOSING THEIR MEALS DUE TO CUTS IN STATE FUNDING Carollo AND PROVIDING FOR A POSSIBLE RESOLUTION TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE.
16-00974 E-Mail - Discussion Item 07-29-16.pdf 16-00974-Submittal-Commissioner Carollo-Letter to Ramon Perez Dorrbecker.pdf 16-00974-Submittal-Commissioner Carollo-Letter from Alliance for Aging.pdf DEFERRED
Note for the Record: The City Commission, via unanimous consent of the members present on the dais (present: Hardemon, Russell, Gort, Carollo, Suarez), deferred Item DI.18 to the July 29, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting.
Chair Hardemon: DI.18.
Commissioner Carollo: DI.18. DI.18 is a discussion regarding the elderly residents in the City of Miami potentially losing their meals due to cuts in State funding. Now, there was a lot of talk about this, and I actually wanted to reach out to Commissioner Gort and I didn't, because -- and the reason I say that is because there was two senior centers in the City of Miami that it concern, and we had brief discussion in one of the Commission meetings; one was in Commissioner Russell's district, which was UTD (Urban Transit Development), and the other one was in Commissioner Gort's district. As most of you know, Little Havana Activity Center, their flagship office is actually in District 3, in the district that I represent. And I actually contacted them to see exactly what was the issue, what was the cutting and funding and so forth. I received a letter from them regarding UTD, saying that there will not be any cuts in funding; it will maintain as it is right now, as it currently is. And with the Palermo, I heard a lot of discussion regarding different elected officials. I know Commissioner Suarez, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, Rebecca Sosa. There was a lot of discussion with regards to, “Hey, we'll pony up, and we will allocate 'X' amount of dollars.” However, I could tell you, on July 1, I con -- and the reason why July 1 is because that was the date that it was going to be the last date that these meals were going to be provided. On July 1, I contacted Mr. Dorbecker (phonetic) in Little Havana Activity Center, and I said, “Are we good? Is everything squared away? Do you have the funding?” He says, “No. As of right now, I'm discontinuing the meals, and the employees to go to Palermo.” And I said, “Whoa, wait a second. No, no, no, no, no. Tell me what you need.” So what I don't want is that these meals are discontinued. So I want to make sure that there's a -- because I know what will happen. If they're discontinued, within a couple of weeks, we're all going to -- we're not going to let this happen in the City of Miami. We're all going to come forward and make sure the funding is there. However, you're still going to have a break in services for "X" number of days; not to mention, in all fairness, these elderly individuals are going to be extremely nervous; may not have meals for a few days, and the employees. So I asked him what needed to be done in order to make sure that the meals would not be discontinued for any amount -- for any period of time. And he said, “If you provide me a letter saying that you will either fund it or find funding for it or so forth, I would then call up and make sure that we continue serving the meals and the employees will continue going.” So I sent him a letter say, "Hey, listen, if” -- “from what you have told me” -- and I could provide the letter, and I'll put it for the record -- “from what you have told me, you are going to discontinue the meal services, starting July 5.” And the reason why it was July 1, once again, that was the end of the day. We were going into the long holiday, July 4 holiday; and July 5, he was already saying, “That's it; there's not going to be anymore
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meals. I'm discontinuing it. I'm, you know, cutting it off.” So I didn't want there to be a break in service, so I sent him a letter saying that, "I will try to see if we could come up with different funding sources. Last" -- well, "Worst-case scenario, I will dip into the ant-poverty funds from District 3 in order to make it happen." He said, “Okay.” And he gave the direction for the meals to continue. So I'm bringing it to this Commission to see -- first of all, speaking to Ms. Artega [sic], I reached out to Senator Diaz de la Portilla, and I spoke to him in length. He told me that he spoke to different State agencies regarding, you know, providing some type of service or the meals or taking the meals to the elderlies, but I could tell you, speaking to Mr. Dorbecker -- and we continue to follow up -- he has gotten nothing saying, “Yes, you could continue the meals, because here's the funding.” Therefore, we're at the stage where my biggest concern is, I don't want any break in service. I don't want the seniors to be -- continue to be concerned about, you know, the services being discontinued. So I wanted to bring it to this Commission so we could discuss, see if -- I could tell you already, the amount, instead of $70,000, it's more 60 -- it's more in the amount of $60,000, so I don't know if the State is going to pay for it or if the State's going to handle it. I need something in writing or something, you know, that we are -- there's a consensus where the Little Havana Activity Center says, “Yes, we'll continue the meals because of State” -- “this State department or that State department is allocating it or is funding it”; or if not, for us to, you know, participate. Like I said, I just did not feel right when I contacted Mr. Dorbecker and clearly told me, “No. You know, I've heard a lot of talk about the money being there, but we have nothing in writing, and therefore, we're discontinuing the services.”
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Ms. Arteaga, before you comment, Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, and maybe to the point that she's going to make and to the point that the Commissioner made. I -- as he said, you know, I was one of the persons contacted by a lot of these elderly residents that were very concerned early on that there would be a discontinuation of services, starting July 1. I also reached out to State officials and was assured that the funding would not, in fact, be discontinued on July 1. And as Commissioner Carollo did, I also had pledged antipoverty funds to meet or make up as much of the gap as possible or as needed or as I could afford. And so, you know, my understanding is that those services have not been discontinued, but have, in fact, been continued by the State.
Commissioner Carollo: If I may?
Commissioner Suarez: Sure.
Commissioner Carollo: They have not been discontinued, but it's my understanding that they have not been discontinued because I made the pledge in writing to Mr. Dorbecker that to continue, and I would either find the fundings [sic], or I will use antipoverty fundings [sic], and bring it to this Commission in order to make sure that the funding to continue those meals will be there. If not, if not, it's my understanding from our conversation, July 1, that the meals would have been discontinued.
Commissioner Suarez: So I don't mean to contradict you, but I was told by State legislators that the meals --
Commissioner Carollo: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: -- were going to be continued and would not be discontinued. There may be not perfect communication between what's going on with the State and Little Havana, and I don't want to -- I don't -- I personally don't want to delve too much into that issue, but I was assured by State Representative Jose Felix Diaz, by State Representative Bryan Avila, by a variety of State Representatives that the meals would not be discontinued at all, and that it would not be -- it would not require any funding from us. So I just -- certainly want to make sure that that's true and that that's verifiable, and I think that's a good --
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Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) month.
Commissioner Suarez: -- perspective and good point, because you're -- you know, you make a good point. The point is, look, anyone can tell you -- and we all rely on each other, and we have good relationships with our colleagues at the State --
Commissioner Carollo: Exactly.
Commissioner Suarez: -- but there's -- one thing is to have someone tell you something; it's another thing to have a letter that says it in writing and it's a written commitment.
Commissioner Carollo: Exactly.
Commissioner Suarez: And so I agree with that a hundred percent. So that's -- yeah.
Commissioner Carollo: And that's why I'm bringing it to here, and the -- and I put it there with a possible resolution to address the issue. And when I spoke about "resolution," I didn't mean a resolution as solving the issue. I mean a resolution as a resolution that we put before the Commission when we pass a resolution. However, I didn't want to go as far as putting the dollar amounts, because there's a discrepancy on whether there's money there or there's not. I could tell you this: The person who was in charge, who says, “Yes, the meals continue or the meals don't continue” and who's managing that operation, clearly told me, “Listen, I'm discontinuing the meals because I don't have anything in writing saying, 'yes, here's the funding to continue those services.'”
Commissioner Suarez: And --
Commissioner Carollo: And that's where I'm bringing it to your attention, where I think the prudent thing will be to inquire and make sure from --
Commissioner Suarez: Agreed.
Commissioner Carollo: -- all the stakeholders to see if the money is there, and if not, where's the money coming from. If not, I am ready to act, as I'm sure --
Commissioner Suarez: And is the State taking over that function? I don't know. You know what I mean.
Commissioner Carollo: It could be, but --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: -- what my priority is --
Commissioner Suarez: Is the residents, of course.
Commissioner Carollo: -- that -- the residents --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: -- so their meals do not stop, and that's why I sent the letter. So, you know, I don't mind deferring this and bringing it back in the next Commission meeting so it gives us, you know, a couple of weeks to see exactly --
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Chair Hardemon: Can we give Ms. Arteaga an opportunity to respond --
Commissioner Carollo: Sure.
Chair Hardemon: -- since she's the liaison?
Diana Arteaga (Senior Advisor to the City Manager): Diana Arteaga, Government Relations for the City of Miami. Thank you for, you know, making this, you know, a prominent issue a couple weeks ago when it was brought up in the City Commission. At that moment, I started contacting, obviously, our legislators on a State level to see exactly what was going on, and I think a lot of the confusion might have gone on because people were talking to each other between meetings and things hadn't been a hundred percent resolved at that point. I can assure you, we've spoken to the Department of Elder Affairs. I've spoken to Senator Diaz de la Portilla, Representatives Bryan Avila, who have also confirmed that they've reached out to several of you and assured you that the meals are not being lost, and the intermediary that's going to be providing those meals is the Alliance for Aging, and the Alliance for Aging is going to be receiving the funds needed to provide those meals directly from the State, from the Department of Elderly Affairs. So I hope that provides a little bit of clarification. Again, you know, if you have any additional questions, I'd be happy to reach out to them again.
Commissioner Carollo: Yes. I want to make sure -- and if we could get some of this in writing, and we could make sure that Little Havana Activity Center also -- provide some type of letter saying, “Okay, we have the funding. We're not going to” --
Ms. Arteaga: The Alliance for Aging is providing it.
Chair Hardemon: The Alliance for Aging.
Commissioner Carollo: Right, right.
Chair Hardemon: And I believe that's what he said --
Vice Chair Russell: For what period of time?
Chair Hardemon: -- the last time he came here.
Commissioner Carollo: Understood, but has anyone told Little Havana Activity Center that?
Ms. Arteaga: Yes, yes. They actually have met this week with the Department of Elderly Affairs. They've been visiting their sites, so they know. They're very aware.
Commissioner Carollo: But visiting their sites to fund them or visiting them -- their sites for --? Because I've been in --
Ms. Arteaga: To meet with the personnel --
Commissioner Carollo: -- conversation with --
Ms. Arteaga: -- but they're very aware. They've been involved in these conversations with the Senators and with the Representatives. So, perhaps, at the moment that you spoke with them, that was still up in the air and in flux, but they're aware.
Commissioner Carollo: This morning? This afternoon? So I mean, it's not like this was a week ago. We've been in constant contact with them.
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Ms. Arteaga: If you'd like something in writing, we could get something in writing from the Department of Elderly Affairs. I can certainly do that for you.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, and that's what I'm hoping for; and make sure that Mr. Dorbecker and Little Havana Activity Center also is aware of that --
Ms. Arteaga: Sure.
Commissioner Carollo: -- and says, “Fine.” And I know we spoke about this briefly during our briefing, and you -- I thought you were going to provide me their numbers. You provided me Senator Diaz de la Portilla's number, which I called, but --
Ms. Arteaga: It's my understanding that Representative Avila may have tried to reach out to you last night before he shipped out to active duty, so --
Commissioner Carollo: Either way. My -- you know, my thing is -- I don't know if it's Diaz de la Portilla; I don't know if it's, you know, Representative Avila. You know, I appreciate all the work that they've done. My thing is, okay, how do we get it in writing that the issue is solved and it doesn't take City funding? If not -- if it does take City funding, we need to know about it also so that then we could either partner up or see what needs to be done. But at least I'm at ease that I know for a fact that the meals have not been discontinued and the elderlies -- you know, the residents feel that they're at ease.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman and then --
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: For what period of time will this interim be funded? Is this until the next year; at which point, the State will take it up again as a line item or --?
Ms. Arteaga: It's my understanding that this is for the next fiscal year, so the fiscal year for the State started July 1.
Vice Chair Russell: Good. And if I could follow up with a comment. As the Commissioner in this district and having visited with these residents over and over again -- and I spent Fourth of July with them on a very nice day, where they are overjoyed and very thankful with all of the attention that they got on this. This is the definition of “Commissioners without borders,” in the sense that here we got various Commissioners from different districts taking care of the elderly of our City and not caring which district they live in, and everybody activated; everybody got on the phones, on planes, and made things happen and followed up and made sure, and the residents felt that, and they were so thankful, and they do have an assurance that it was paid for. They may not know where it's coming from, whether the assurance came through you to their office that it was going to be funded somehow by us before the actual funding from the State came through. I read in the Herald, Commissioner Suarez, your pledge as well, and I just say "thank you."
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you.
Commissioner Carollo: And my thing is, okay, so the will was there. I know the will was there, but let's now -- and --
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Vice Chair Russell: Cross the "T's"; dot the "I's"; get it in writing.
Commissioner Carollo: Right, exactly.
Vice Chair Russell: And you're absolutely right.
Commissioner Carollo: And make sure we know exactly --
Vice Chair Russell: You're absolutely right.
Commissioner Carollo: -- what we have.
Commissioner Suarez: I think what we need -- Mr. Chair, if I may? I think what we need is a letter from -- I guess it's Alliance for Aging, that specifies that they have taken over this responsibility and clarifies what Little Havana's role is in the process.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. And maybe something from Little Havana Activity Center saying, “Yes, we are aware of the Alliance for Aging taking over this, and we” --
Commissioner Suarez: Acknowledge that --
Commissioner Carollo: -- acknowledge that” --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: -- “we are not cutting the services.”
Commissioner Suarez: Providing -- right, providing the services.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. So that is what we're looking for, so --
Vice Chair Russell: As a final “thank you,” I just wanted to mention when there was a risk of loss -- or a gap there, one of the local providers stepped up, called Rancho Luna, and they were ready to provide meals at least for the first few weeks, and then they were on hold and ready to provide more, and they were on call and available. So there was never a risk that they were going to go on that day and not have food.
Commissioner Carollo: Right, that break of service.
Vice Chair Russell: And that's the community coming together as well. So I thank them, and I thank everyone for coming together on this.
Commissioner Carollo: And if possible, I am going to -- I don't know. Mr. City Clerk, defer this or bring it back in the next meeting just as a follow-up to make sure that those letters have received, and we all know exactly that all the "T's" are crossed and the "I's" dotted.
Chair Hardemon: I mean, if there isn't any objection to your motion for deferral, it passes.
Commissioner Carollo: Okay.
Commissioner Suarez: Fine.
Chair Hardemon: All right, so we'll defer --
Commissioner Carollo: So I will defer this to the next Commission meeting as a follow-up.
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Chair Hardemon: All right. We're going to move now into our Planning & Zoning meetings. City Attorney.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: You have something?
Commissioner Gort: As of two minutes ago, Little Havana has not received any notice. I just talked to them.
Vice Chair Russell: They have not received?
Commissioner Gort: No.
Vice Chair Russell: So they're not sure that there's funding.
Commissioner Suarez: Something's not happening in terms of communication, and I think that's a problem.
Commissioner Gort: The only assurance they got is the letter from Commissioner Carollo, so that's --
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, and that's exactly my point, Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: I want to help. If it comes to that, we'll all help you.
Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, and I know we will. I know we will. But in the meantime, I don't want that break in service. And not only that, the break in service and that uncertainty that the residents don't know what's going to happen.
Commissioner Suarez: And the parties need to communicate with each other.
Commissioner Carollo: Exactly.
Commissioner Suarez: You know what I mean? I mean, there has to be communication.
Commissioner Carollo: So that's why --
Commissioner Suarez: How else do you do this?
Commissioner Carollo: -- I was bringing it here where --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Commissioner Carollo: -- all is not okay yet. We need to make sure we solve this issue.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
END OF DISCUSSION ITEMS
PART B: PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS
Chair Hardemon: Yes, sir.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chair. PZ (Planning & Zoning) items
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shall proceed according to Section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Before any PZ item is heard, all those wishing to speak must be sworn in by the City Clerk. Please note, Commissioners have been briefed by City staff and the City Attorney on items on the agenda today. The members of the City Commission shall disclose any ex parte communications to remove the presumption of prejudice, pursuant to Florida Statute Section 286.0115 and Section 7.1.4.5 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Staff will briefly present each item to be heard. For applications requiring City Commission approval, the applicant will then present its application request to the City Commission. If the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation and no one from the public wishes to speak for or against the item, the City Commission may proceed to its deliberation and decision. The applicant may also waive the right to an evidentiary hearing on the record. For appeals, the appellant will present its appeal to City Commission, followed by the appellee. Staff will be allowed to make any recommendations they may have, and the public may speak as stated before. The order of presentation shall be as described in the City Code and Miami 21 Code. Members of the public will be permitted to speak through the Chair for not more than two minutes each, unless modified by the Chair. The City of Miami requires that anyone requesting action by the City Commission must disclose before the hearing anything provided to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objections to requested action, pursuant to City Code Section 2-8. Any documents offered to the City Commissioners that have not been provided seven days before the meeting as part of the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the City Commission's discretion. If any Commissioner thinks that documents supplied to the Commission less than seven days before merit a continuance, the item may be continued by the City Commission. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Everyone, please listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you to do. I'm going to open -- well, first -- before we do that, let me let the City Clerk explain his part in all of this.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Thank you, Chair. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you will be speaking on any of tonight's Planning & Zoning items, may I please have you stand and raise your right hand?
The City Clerk administered the oath required under City Code Section 62-1 to those persons giving testimony on zoning issues.
Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair.
Chair Hardemon: All right, thank you very much. I'm going to open up the public hearing for the Part "B" Planning & Zoning items.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Particularly because one item is scheduled for 6 o'clock, I'm going to open it up for PZ items 2, PZ.3, PZ.4, PZ.5, and PZ.6. And so this will be your opportunity to speak on all of the items from PZ.2 to PZ.6. So if there are any of you here that want to speak on any of the items from PZ.2 to PZ.6, this is your opportunity to speak on that item. This is not the time where the people who are parties to the items present, but I will call each item up separately so you'll have an opportunity to present. But if you're here to speak publicly on item PZ.2 to PZ.6, this is your opportunity to come and speak, and then also identify the item that you're here to speak about. Yes, Commissioner.
Commissioner Suarez: Before doing that, would you entertain a motion to defer PZ.1, or is that something that --?
Chair Hardemon: That's -- I mean, I will take that motion. That's fine.
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Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's -- I know it's a time certain at 6. Have we done --? I mean, we would just have to notify them at 6 o'clock, though.
Commissioner Suarez: I mean, is it okay? I mean, do you expect anyone coming at 6? Is that what --? I mean, I don't know what the expectation is.
Mr. Min: It is a time certain for 6 o'clock. If you want to continue it now or defer it now, that's fine; we would just make the announcement at 6, which I'm hoping we won't be here, but I'm sure we will be.
Commissioner Suarez: Go ahead.
Francisco Garcia: No, I'll simply -- Francisco Garcia, Planning & Zoning director. I'll simply mention for the record that we are expecting a number of individuals. We were advised that a number of individuals would be coming. What I'm happy to do, if the Commission takes action now, is to do my best to advise them that the item may be continued.
Commissioner Suarez: That's fine. I mean, it's up to you, Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: I mean, I don't have a problem doing it now. It's not going to change the fact of the matter that you're not ready to hear --
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: -- or the item's not ready, so it will be deferred. So all I ask is that you include SR.--
Mr. Min: 1.
Chair Hardemon: -- 1 with the PZ.1, because both of those items --
Commissioner Suarez: Move SR.1 and PZ.1 to first meeting of November.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Is there any discussion about that?
Commissioner Gort: What was the motion again?
Commissioner Suarez: To the first meeting of November.
Commissioner Gort: PZ.1?
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, PZ.1 and SR.1.
Commissioner Gort: With 6 o'clock certain. Okay.
Commissioner Carollo: Companion items.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: The only discussion I have about it is that I just hope that this isn't one of those things where -- if we remember in the Design District where we had some legislation that
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was coming on about the parking spaces, where there was almost like a rush to apply to ensure that there was no vesting, if you will. There was vesting in the parking waivers so they didn't have to pay any of those fees. Because I like art in my district.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Chair Hardemon: My district has benefited greatly from having art in it, and so that's the only issue that I have, is the date in which they were doing it.
Commissioner Suarez: Second meeting of October?
Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that?
Commissioner Carollo: Two weeks doesn't --
Commissioner Suarez: I mean, I don't know. What do you --
Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Suarez: I mean, I think there are significant concerns expressed by a lot of people, and it's going to take time. We have the budget; we have no meeting in August, so we're -- that puts us in October, so do you want it --?
Chair Hardemon: And the two weeks is not much of a difference, but I'll take -- I'll just take what you give in the first one, if there's no objection from anyone.
Commissioner Suarez: First meeting in November.
Chair Hardemon: All right.
Mr. Hannon: And --
Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) special.
Mr. Min: Just to be clear, I think there's only one meeting in November.
Mr. Hannon: That's correct. It'll be November --
Commissioner Suarez: Only meeting in November; my apologies.
Mr. Hannon: -- 17.
Commissioner Suarez: Yes.
Chair Hardemon: All right. All in favor, say "aye."
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. Deferral. Now, as I explained earlier, I'm opening up the public hearing for items PZ.2 to PZ.6.
Iris Escarra: Good afternoon, Chairman.
Commissioner Suarez: Public hearings, not --
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Ms. Escarra: Correct. I just want -- if I -- you would indulge me, if I could let -- I have a lot of supporters that are here, so I can explain to them that I would like for them to come up now, because they may not know exactly that it's now their turn.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. I tried to explain it, you know, very plainly, but --
Ms. Escarra: And I'm also going to translate it into Spanish, if that's all right with you?
Chair Hardemon: You're not going to be able to do it. I'm sure we have a translator who speaks Spanish that will help during our translation.
Commissioner Carollo: Chair, I don't believe we have quorum.
Chair Hardemon: I mean, it's public hearing, so we're not voting on a item right now.
Commissioner Carollo: Is the City Clerk okay with it?
Chair Hardemon: Yeah, we can hear public comment without quorum.
Ms. Escarra: Okay. For those persons that are here on PZ.6, which is the rezoning that's occurring by the Melo Group, which is on 14th and 2nd Avenue, if you could please get up and stand up now to show your support; and those that are speaking, if you would please come to the podium now and speak on behalf of this item, as this is the public hearing component of our item, and I will be presenting later on when it's our turn.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah. But understand, everyone, if you're here to speak on any item between PZ.2 and PZ.6, please approach the lectern to speak at this time.
Ms. Escarra: Thank you. So the speakers --
Chair Hardemon: You all may have a seat.
Ms. Escarra: -- come forward, please.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Mr. Garcia: Likewise, Mr. Chair, it may be appropriate to translate the message you've just provided to Spanish and Creole, ideally.
Chair Hardemon (as translated by official Spanish interpreter Cristina Ruiz): Please. I'll give the message, and I just need the translator. I will make the comment, and she will translate for me. Are you nervous?
Unidentified Speaker: Oh, yeah, a little bit.
Chair Hardemon (as translated by official Spanish interpreter Cristina Ruiz): Okay. All right, we ready? We're opening up public hearing for items PZ.2, PZ.3, PZ.4, PZ.5, and PZ.6. If you are here to speak on any of those items, now is the time to approach the lectern to speak. This is your opportunity to speak for public hearing on those items. Thank you very much. "Muchas grácias." You're recognized, sir.
Ernest Morales: Yes. Hello. My name is Ernest Morales. I live 245 Northeast 14th Street. That's a couple blocks from the proposed location for the project's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) station.
Chair Hardemon: What item are you speaking about?
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Mr. Morales: PZ.2.
Chair Hardemon: PZ.2.
Mr. Morales: -- CR.6 [sic].
Chair Hardemon: PZ.6 or PZ.2?
Mr. Morales: No, PZ.2.
Chair Hardemon: PZ.2. Got it.
Mr. Morales: PZ.2, yes. So mainly, what I want to say is that I'm a neighbor. I live --
Chair Hardemon: PZ.6.
Mr. Morales: -- in the building Melody Tower. I'm a young professional. I graduated from the University of Miami about three years ago. I used to live in Kendall. I used to commute actually for about an hour and 30 minutes in the morning; an hour and 30 minutes in the afternoon till I actually had the chance to move into downtown Miami. Now I literally walk to my job, so that's pretty good. What I want to say, mainly, is that a building such as these, a full rental building, like the one I live in, which is called Melody Tower, couple blocks away, actually gives me and my peers, many of my friends the benefit to leave Kendall, to leave Homestead and actually be able to move into downtown Miami; take advantage of the traffic, the actually infrastructure that we have in downtown Miami with the trolleys, the Metromovers to be able to enjoy downtown Miami. We have the museums a couple blocks away. We can walk all over the place. I don't like driving; I rather walk. So a building such of these, you know, gives me the opportunity, because it's not that expensive, so I can actually afford it. Most of the other buildings in downtown Miami are mainly for -- they're bought and done by people who come from the exterior, and they're made, actually, for people who are not locals. Locals cannot actually buy a condo that's $800,000. If I look at the prices at the Marquis right across my building, my relative actually, they rent at the Marquis. For a two/two, they pay around $3,500. I paid $1,800. I mean, there's a huge difference. So I think for the area, it will be great. Right now, the area is pretty much dead. So it will bring commerce; it will bring people to the area, which I think it needs it. And there's also the Metromover stations right on that -- on the lot. At night right now, I wouldn't dare to actually walk into that Metromover station; it's extremely dark. It's -- I mean, I wouldn't dare. With a 710-unit, lights, commerce, I could be moving and taking, you know, that station. And so, that's one of the few things I wanted to say. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Yes, ma'am, you're recognized.
Elizabeth Regalado: Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission. My name is Liz Regalado.
Chair Hardemon: Continue. Sir?
Ms. Regalado: And I'm here to speak on behalf of Lotus Village. In support of Lotus Village, I am in my capacity as chair of SAVE, Inc., which is Saving American Values for Everyone, your local LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) advocacy organization. And I'd like to talk to you a little bit about what our priority as a local LGBT advocacy organization is in terms -- as it relates to youth who are experiencing homelessness. HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) has always required local communities to include youth in their point and time counts, but many communities struggle, including this one, to locate those youth who are experiencing homelessness, because they don't hang out or congregate in the traditional areas
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that other homeless individuals do. The youth count in 2013 in our nation and in 2015 through our continuum of cares, ID'd (identified) over 46,000 parenting an unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness, and it is suspected that that's an undercount, an underrepresentation of the youth. While there remains a lot of things that we must learn about the types of housing and programs and interventions that are most effective in ending youth homelessness, there are a few things that we do know. Approximately 40 percent of youth experiencing homelessness are LGBT youth. We know that HUD requires and looks to communities for programs that allow all youth to have access to inclusive, nondiscriminatory shelter and housing, including youth who are transgender and gender nonconforming. They also look to programs where all youth should have access to low barrier housing where their participation is not determined -- or terminated for failure to participate in services that are age appropriate or because they don't want to follow the appropriate rules.
Chair Hardemon: Ma'am, your time has expired just --
Ms. Regalado: Thank you. I just wanted to say we need the beds. We need Lotus Village. They're a loyal, very wonderful partner, and I hope that we have your support. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you so much. Whomever -- yes.
Mercedes Egana: I'm here to speak to PZ.6.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Can you state your name and address?
Ms. Egana: Yeah. My name is Mercedes Egana. I live in Melody Tower, as well, but I have a different situation than the previous speaker. I am a mother of two, so it's not easy for me to find a place to live with, you know, two kids and to have a bigger space. I don't need like a one bed-room apartment, a studio, but I do need to live also near work and near my kids' school. So I think that this type of building, I don't understand why it's being complicated, like they have to come to a public hearing; maybe that's correct, but why it's complicated for them to develop if it's what we need in that area. If these are the people that cannot afford to live in Brickell because it's too expensive, but we are -- we can afford to live in a nicer space, and we can afford -- I can't afford to live in a -- I need a two-bedroom, at least, apartment or bigger, but I don't want to go and live far -- so far away, because it's complicated to being a working mom and picking up the kids from school and all that organization. So I think this is the type of buildings that we need on that area. But at the same time, I am here because I live now in -- like near that area, and it's true about the Metrorail and that -- I also think that the Metrorail is for very few people, because you have to live around like a super lit area; no worry. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) other people work so close. And so I live before on the other building of Melo, that it was 25 Mirage, and that one is, I think, more related to what is happening to this square station building, because it's in that area that is not so nice, but it's becoming nicer, so I think that it's even better to take into consideration that they are using an area that is not nice at all, and they are making it a much better neighborhood; and for people like me, it's a wonderful place, so that neighborhood can become better, and we can walk to places, like walk to -- when I live in 25 Mirage, I can walk to have a dinner in a nice place, but that's because developments are there. Because if developments were not there, I cannot walk through that area. And I --
Chair Hardemon: Thank you.
Ms. Egana: -- like to walk to Wynwood, but it's not that all the blocks are nice, but little by little, people are taking a chance to build in that area where there's not anything there, so you have to --
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Ma'am --
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Ms. Egana. -- take a risk to build there.
Chair Hardemon: -- your time to speak has expired. Thank you so very much for coming.
Ms. Egana: Sorry. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: No, no problem. Yes. Anyone next? Yes, sir.
Peter Mekras: Peter Mekras. I live at 755 University Drive in Coral Gables, third generation in Miami-Dade County. I just wanted to speak on PZ number 6, speak specifically to the fact that this change will not in any way impact the amount of density that is there and the infrastructure that's required to support the building. It's more to enable this developer to build a project on mass transit that should alleviate congestion so that they can build higher-quality units that can support families and workforce rather than creating smaller micro-units that really probably cater more to people who are moving down here from other places, rather than the local workforce and families that exist here, and I think special consideration should be given simply because it's adjacent to the Metromover stop, and that's the only reason I believe it should be exempted.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. Yes, ma'am.
Gilda Ferradaz: Good evening, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity. My name is Gilda Ferradaz. I am the deputy regional managing director with the Department of Children and Families, here for Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. The Department of Children and Families has been partnering with Lotus House for many years. As you know, we receive calls on a daily basis of families that are struggling, families at risk, children that are being abused or neglected. Not all the calls that we get are abuse calls; some of the calls we get are neglect calls. This is where some of these homeless individuals come in. Our first priority when we get a call is to try to keep families together and not have to remove children and put children in foster care. Through our partnership with Lotus House, we've been able to achieve that in many cases, where the children are not at risk. And we really value them as a partner in being able to keep our families together and building up the families and keeping the families stronger so that they can be productive citizens. So I thank you for your support of this item.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. For all the speakers that are to come, when you come up, the first thing I would like for you to say is which item you're here to speak about, so say that item number and then your name and your address. Next. Yes, ma'am.
Annie Neasman: PZ.5. Annie Neasman, 5607 Northwest 27th Avenue, Miami, Florida. I'm here speaking in support of Lotus House. Lotus House -- and I'm also the president and CEO (chief executive officer) of the Jessie Trice Community Health Center. Lotus House has been a partner with Jessie Trice and I can say maybe an informal partner since the beginning of Lotus House. Many of the graduates -- and I think a lot of you know that Jessie Trice does treat women who have substance abuse problems -- and they have found a home, many of them, at Lotus House. Not only have they found a home; they've gone on, many of them, to be employees and very productive citizens of this community. So the expansion of what Lotus House is doing will bring even greater progress to the women and children of this community. I think you know that there's not a lot of places that take families, especially women with children, and this will just extend that ability even more. And we're looking forward to partnering even more of Lotus House in doing the health care that is being proposed at that particular center. I don't have to tell you if you don't have your health, you don't have anything, and these are some of our most vulnerable citizens who really need total comprehensive primary care, meaning all of the prevention; and many of the individuals there already have chronic diseases and other diseases that really need attention on a daily basis, so this will allow that to happen at the new facilities which are being proposed. So I just ask that you consider this item and endorsing the proposal which is before
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you today. Thank you very much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, ma'am. Sir.
Ronald Moran: Good afternoon, Chairman and Commissioners. I'm here for PZ.6. I'm here today to show --
Chair Hardemon: State your name and address for the record, too.
Mr. Moran: Ronald Moran, and I've worked in the Midtown area, so I'm here to support. I'm here today to show (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at the -- Edgewater community had tremendously changed over the past 12 years due to the investments of the Melo Organization. At a -- once been known that this area has been dangerous and scared for families and people to live (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for that time can change. This area now is a place where families and people are able to live without fear. It's a place next to downtown, the Metromover, and Art Museum and art exhibits. It's a beautiful place to live, compared to the past. With the Melo Organization's dedication and hard work brings a new chance for the middle class of Miami to enjoy and embrace the urban city environment. By changing the space zoning within area will be -- will help families and people to enjoy Miami's famous night life, unique experiences, and have the ocean several minutes away from their house. By having the Metrorail -- mover down the street creates huge benefits for workers and students by -- it's helping the environment, saving their gas, and avoiding traffic, which we all know Miami traffic can be tough. These large projects have -- also help more than 200 workers create stability for them and their families, which we all know can be hard. In all, by allowing the Melo group to create what has known to improve the community will give the community a brighter future for the people living in the Edgewater community. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir.
Victoria Mallette: Hi, Commissioners. Vicky Mallette, executive director of Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. I'm here to speak on item PZ.5. Just want to say that Lotus House is one of our providers, and they are just a tremendous asset to our continuum of care. Their leadership is more than just a group of directors and operators. These are people who really care about the clients that come through their doors. And I can tell you, some of our most serious cases of women, women and children go to Lotus House because we know they get very specialized, intense care that they need to see themselves through to self-sufficiency. And I also want to speak to the larger issue of families in our community finding themselves homeless. We're spending over a million dollars a year putting families in properties outside of our shelters, because we cannot afford or we don't have places to put them. In the last three months, we've had over 75 families enter our system, so we really need to find not only places for them to go in the short term, but find long-term solutions for these families so they can successfully exit with rents that they can afford in this community. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you so very much. Sir.
Ivan Moran: Hello. I'm here for the PZ.6 project. My name is Ivan Moran. 25 years ago, when I was driving a taxicab, working for the Super Yellow, I pick up two young teenagers at the only hotel that was located at the 15th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. Right in front of the property that we are proposing to change, these two teenager pull a gun and I was rob. I'm lucky that I'm' still alive. Around that neighborhood, during the night, we have three kind of person that walk around: police officer, drug dealers or user, and prostitute. We have the same problem 25 years ago -- Oh, I mean, 20 years ago along Biscayne Boulevard, from 36th Street to 14th Street. There was some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) construction company, especially a Melo group, that took the risk, had the vision to invest in all these property, and what we have tonight up to today are the families all over the world that are enjoying the beauty of the Boulevard. We have two
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champion in here. I think I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) already left. They beat -- they defeat the poverty back in their country. So, today, I'm asking you to make all these changes so we can keep improving the City of Miami. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. How you're doing, sir?
Stephen Johnson: Chairman, Commissioners, PZ.5. Stephen Under Johnson, 170 Northeast 159th Street, president of Hundred Black Men of South Florida, speaking today to reiterate support you've heard from our organization before for the Lotus House project. Lotus House has been a partner of the One Hundred Black Men of South Florida for many years; not only in us participating for the benefit of its residents, but its residents and its programs teaching compassion to our mentees as they volunteer at the Lotus House, which, to us, is as important in helping to raise boys into men and moving all of our agendas forward in society. So I won't say -- take up any more of the time. I appreciate that the item has gotten this far, and we just reiterate our support for the item. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. You're recognized, sir.
Javier Aguilar: Hi. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Commissioner. I'm here for PZ.6.
Chair Hardemon: PZ.6.
Mr. Aguilar: Okay. And I want to talk about --
Chari Hardemon: State your name and address for the record, too.
Mr. Aguilar: I'm sorry. Javier Aguilar. I've been in the neighborhood for the last 30 years, and I live in the area. So for me, today is very important that you guys take in consideration and vote in positive way to change that zoning, because I know where the empty lot is. And how can you do something better with empty lot, and what other people in bad things do with empty lot? Let's try this time to do something to be positive and do something better for the neighborhood. I have an empty lot close to my house, and what they has is basically, you know, people do bad thing in that lot. I always be approach with Mr. Carollo, because he's part of my Commission [sic], and he knows that we talk very well and very friendly and try to change the neighborhood. We tried to pass so many different way to try to see it, "pero" we always got the same problem. We has a lot of, you know, bureaucracy, a lot of things that don't go well, and our neighborhoods no change. So let's the opportunity the people has, you know, possibility to change to do a change. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. Sir, you're recognized.
Ramon Franca: Good evening. My name is Ramon Franca. I'm representing Budget Hardware at 1644 Northeast 2nd Avenue. I'm speaking for -- on behalf of PZ.6. We've been in the neighborhood for 29 years now. I opened the store 29 years ago, when the area was at probably the bottom; it couldn't have been any worse. And the area has been changing and changing, and one of the contributing factors has been the Melo gentleman. They've taken chances where I took a chance, and it's paid off for them, and they're still taking chances, especially on this property on 14th Street. And I think it would be beneficial to the neighborhood for them to be able to build at the height that they require, and I really think that it would be good to bring in more working-class people into the neighborhood. Thank you very much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. Is there any other person that would like to speak on public hearing items 2 through 6, PZ.2 through 6? PZ.5?
Allyson Warren: Yes, sir. Good evening. Allyson Warren, 650 Northeast 82 Terrace. On behalf
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of the Commission on the Status of Women, who voted unanimously a while back to support this project, I can't pull out my official women's card, because I gave them away and nobody wanted to give them back, but this is still the only and best place for women and their children. It's the only safe place. We know that there's going to be development going up in the vicinity; there has to be. You know it; it's your district. But there still needs to be a place that's not living in a car, living under a box someplace and praying that nobody's going to see you. This is a good, safe place for medical attention, for preparation to go into something like Carr Four Supportive Housing, which would be the next step up, where ladies can get their lives where they want them to be, and there just isn't another place that I'm aware of that does all of that. So hopefully in this last round you're going to continue to support the project. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Sir, you're recognized.
Miguel Soliman: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. Miguel Soliman, 1436 Southwest 6th Street. I'm here to speak in support of PZ.5. I believe it's an excellent organization run by Constance, and they do one thing that we're all speaking of very often, unfortunately, and it's part of our city: to take care of our most needy, and Lotus House does that, does that for our city, for us, for all of us. And I strongly support Lotus House, and I urge you to please support Lotus House. Thank you very much.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any other person? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing on items PZ.2 through PZ.6.
PZ.1 ORDINANCE Second Reading 16-00315zt AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING THE MIAMI 21 CODE, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("MIAMI 21 CODE"), BY AMENDING ARTICLE 1, ENTITLED "DEFINITIONS", MORE SPECIFICALLY TO ADD SECTION 1.5 ENTITLED, "DEFINITIONS OF ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM"; AND ARTICLE 3, ENTITLED "GENERAL TO ALL ZONES", MORE SPECIFICALLY TO ADD SECTION 3.16 ENTITLED "PUBLIC ART REQUIREMENTS"; AND ADDING A NEW ARTICLE 11, ENTITLED "ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM"; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00315zt 07-14-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 16-00315zt PZAB Reso & Letters of Support.pdf 16-00315zt Legislation (v3).pdf 16-00315zt-Submittal-Efren Nunez-Art In Public Places PowerPoint Presentation.pdf
APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami.
FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on March 16, 2016, by a vote of 8-0.
PURPOSE: This will amend the zoning ordinance by specifically adding language related to the Art in Public Places Program.
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote.
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Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Gort Note for the Record: Item PZ.1 was deferred to the November 17, 2016 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting.
PZ.2 ORDINANCE First Reading 16-00653zc AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION FROM T6-8-O, "URBAN CORE TRANSECT ZONE OPEN", TO T6-12-O, "URBAN CORE TRANSECT ZONE OPEN", FOR THE PROPERTIES BOUNDED BY NORTHWEST 15TH STREET ROAD AND NORTHWEST 14TH STREET TO THE NORTH; NORTHWEST NORTH RIVER DRIVE TO THE SOUTH; NORTHWEST 14TH AVENUE TO THE EAST; AND NORTHWEST 15TH AVENUE AND NORTHWEST 17TH AVENUE TO THE WEST, MIAMI, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00653zc 07-29-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 16-00653zc Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 16-00653zc Legislation (v2).pdf 16-00653zc Exhibit.pdf
LOCATION: Approximately bounded by NW 15th Street Road and NW 14th Street to the North; NW North River Drive to the South; NW 14th Avenue to the East; and NW 15th Avenue and NW 17th Avenue to the West. [Commissioner Wifredo "Willy" Gort - District 1]
APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami.
FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on May 18, 2016, by a vote of 7-0.
PURPOSE: This will change selected properties in the area from T6-8-O "Urban Core Transect Zone Open" to T6-12-O "Urban Core Transect Zone Open".
Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Russell Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PZ.2, please see "The following item(s) shall not be considered before 2:00 PM."
Chair Hardemon: I'll call item PZ.2. PZ.2, rezoning of the Civic Center.
Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Yes, sir. Thank you. Item PZ.2 is before you as a first reading zoning change. I say a zoning change because the land use designation is
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already in place. And the change is for a set of properties, roughly around Northwest 14th Street to the north, Northwest South River Drive to the south, Northwest 14th Avenue to the east, and Northwest 15th Avenue and Northwest 17th Avenue to the west. This is an area immediately to the west of the Health District, and the proposed change is from T6-8-O to T6-12-O. The applicant, as you know, is the City of Miami itself. And the reason we are doing this is we anticipate that the development that will take place in this area is going to supplement nicely the development that has already happened and is continuing to happen in a very nice space over at the Health District by providing additional residential capacity and also services that complement those provided in the Health District. For those reasons and because, of course, they comply with all the technical requirements, we are recommending approval, as did the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board unanimously. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any discussion on the item from the --?
Commissioner Gort: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved. Is there a second?
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Commissioner Suarez: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Properly moved and seconded.
Commissioner Gort: Let me -- discussion.
Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: This is creating the Veteran Village, which is so important. It's going to be hopefully 300 units building, with 60 percent market rate rentals and 40 percent affordable housing with support of disabled veterans, homeless, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) becoming homeless student veterans; hotels, cafeteria, conference room, fitness center, pool, retail spaces, medical complex for treatment and research of the veterans.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by Deputy City Attorney Barnaby Min.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item PZ.2.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, 4-0.
Chair Hardemon: Something like that, right?
PZ.3 ORDINANCE First Reading 16-00719lu AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10544, AS AMENDED, THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP OF THE MIAMI COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN, PURSUANT TO SMALL SCALE AMENDMENT PROCEDURES SUBJECT TO SECTION 163.3187, FLORIDA STATUTES, BY CHANGING THE FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF THE ACREAGE City of Miami Page 150 Printed on 8/17/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes July 14, 2016
DESCRIBED HEREIN OF REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 144 NORTHEAST 5TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA, FROM "MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL, PUBLIC FACILITIES, TRANSPORTATION, AND UTILITIES" TO "CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT"; MAKING FINDINGS; DIRECTING TRANSMITTALS TO AFFECTED AGENCIES; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 16-00719lu 07-29-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 16-00719lu Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 16-00719lu Legislation (v3).pdf 16-00719lu Exhibit.pdf
LOCATION: Approximately 144 NE 5 St [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2]
APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of City of Miami
FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. See companion File ID 16-00719zc. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on July 6, 2016, by a vote of 7-1.
PURPOSE: This will change the Future Land Use designation of the affected area from "Major Institutional, Public Facilities, Transportation, and Utilities" to "Central Business District".
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Russell Chair Hardemon: PZ.3.
Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Thank you, sir. Items PZ.3 and PZ.4 are companion items. They are respectively the land use change and rezoning for a property at approximately 144 Northeast 5th Street. The proposed change is from CI -- its present designation, which is civic institutional -- to T6-80-O, which is urban core transect zone open, which is the zoning of the land elsewhere abutting the subject property, other than, of course, CI. This is before you on first reading, and it is an application brought to you by the City of Miami. The land in question is the land where fire station number one presently exists, and it is the City's intent to make this land available through the appropriate processes for purchase or possible to any development with other institutions. We are recommending approval, as did the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
Commissioner Suarez: Move it. Discussion.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Mr. Chairman, I believe there are substitutions of both PZ.3 and PZ.4 based on what occurred at PZAB (Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board).
Commissioner Suarez: As modified. As modified.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and second, as modified. Is there any further
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discussion by [sic] the item? Seeing none, all in favor --
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by Deputy City Attorney Barnaby Min.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item PZ.3.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 4-0.
PZ.4 ORDINANCE First Reading 16-00719zc AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION FROM CI, "CIVIC INSTITUTIONAL", TO T6-80-O, "URBAN CORE TRANSECT ZONE - OPEN", FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 144 NORTHEAST 5 STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
16-00719zc 07-29-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 16-00719zc Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 16-00719zc Legislation (v3).pdf 16-00719zc Exhibit.pdf
LOCATION: Approximately 144 NE 5 St [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2].
APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of City of Miami.
FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. See companion File ID 16-00719lu. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on July 6, 2016, by a vote of 6-1.
PURPOSE: This will change the above mentioned property from "CI" Civic Institutional to "T6-80-O" Urban Core Transect Zone - Open. This item has a companion item for FLUM amendment.
Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For minutes referencing item PZ.4, please see item PZ.3.
Chair Hardemon: PZ.4.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved. Is there a second?
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Commissioner Gort: Second.
Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion on the item? Hearing none, City Attorney.
The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by Deputy City Attorney Barnaby Min.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item PZ.4.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 5-0.
PZ.5 RESOLUTION 16-00635x A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), BY A FOUR-FIFTHS (4/5THS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, APPROVING AN EXCEPTION, WITH CONDITIONS, PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 4, TABLE 3, ARTICLE 5, SECTION 5.5.1(I), AND ARTICLE 7, SECTION 7.1.2.6 OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, THE MIAMI 21 CODE, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, TO ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF A RESCUE MISSION WITH 140 DORMITORY ROOMS, A CHILD CARE FACILITY FOR A MAXIMUM OF 72 CHILDREN, AND A HEALTH CLINIC AND TO ALLOW A LOT SIZE OF APPROXIMATELY 57,707 SQ. FT. WHERE A MAXIMUM OF 40,000 SQ. FT. IS PERMITTED ON A GROUP OF PARCELS ZONED CIVIC INSTITUTIONAL ("CI") TRANSECT ZONE; APPROVING THREE (3) ASSOCIATED WAIVERS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 5, SECTIONS 5.5.1(F), 5.5.1(G), AND 5.5.1(H) AND ARTICLE 7, SECTION 7.1.2.5, TO ALLOW FOR A GROUND LEVEL DOMINANT SETBACK TO PERMIT THE PLACEMENT OF A FENCE ALONG THE EASTERN FRONTAGE TO SETBACK THREE (3) FEET WHERE TEN (10) FEET IS REQUIRED, A WAIVER FROM BUILDING DISPOSITION REQUIREMENT FOR FREQUENT DOORS, WINDOWS AND PEDESTRIAN ENTRANCE AND A WAIVER FROM BUILDING DISPOSITION REQUIRING SITES WITH 340 FEET OR MORE OF FRONTAGE TO PROVIDE A CROSS-BLOCK PASSAGE FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 220 AND 226 NORTHWEST 16TH STREET, 1514 AND 1540 NORTHWEST 2ND AVENUE, 211, 217, 229, 230, AND 237 NORTHWEST 15TH STREET, AND 1507 AND 1515 NORTHWEST 3RD AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA. 16-00635x 07-14-16 CC Fact Sheet.pdf 16-00635x Analysis & Maps.pdf 16-00635x Application & Supporting Docs.pdf 16-00635x Legislation (v2).pdf 16-00635x Exhibit A-SUB.pdf 16-00635x-Submittal-Lotus House-Graph Charts.pdf 16-00635x-Submittal-Lotus House-Petitions.pdf 16-00635x-Submittal-Planning Director-PZAB Resolution PZAB-R-16-039.pdf 16-00635x-Submittal-Lotus House-Letters of Support.pdf
LOCATION: Approximately 217 NW 15 Street [Commissioner Keon Hardemon - District 5].
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APPLICANT(S): A. Vicky Leiva, Esquire, on behalf of Lotus Endowment Fund.
FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval with conditions. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Scheduled to be heard on the evening of July 6, 2016.
PURPOSE: To allow the development and expansion of a Rescue Mission, Childcare Facility and Health Clinic and increasing the maximum lot size square footage from 40,000 sq. ft. to 57,707 sq. ft.
Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
R-16-0343
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PZ.5, please see "The following item(s) shall not be considered before 2:00 PM."
Chair Hardemon: I believe I was on --
Commissioner Carollo: PZ.5.
Chair Hardemon: PZ.5.
Commissioner Suarez: Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: As far as the presenters for PZ.5, I'm assuming you have a short presentation for everyone to see. If you will, can you keep the presentation to 10 minutes?
Vicky Leyva: Oh, absolutely, and perhaps even faster.
Chair Hardemon: That'd be best.
Ms. Leyva: What I would ask is the project architect, Mr. Robert Behar, to show you what it is that we're going to be building for Lotus House.
Chair Hardemon: And just also let us know exactly what it is that you're asking for so that --
Ms. Leyva: Yes.
Chair Hardemon: -- everyone in TV (television) land, as well as those who are sitting here, understands exactly what this process is about.
Ms. Leyva: Today we are asking for an exception from the City Commission. This is a section of the City Code that specifically requires that any development or expansion of a rescue mission or shelter be brought before the City Commission and be approved by a four-fifth vote. Part -- what a exception is, is actually a use that is permitted by Code, but which, by application, the City has the opportunity to review said use and place any conditions that it wishes. This exception comes to you with eight conditions from the staff and a recommendation of approval with conditions. It went to the PZAB (Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board) last week, where the PZAB gave unanimous approval, and in the process, removed two of the conditions. The two conditions are
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condition number 2 and 4. They deal with a ficus tree that is on the property that cannot remain on the property and will be fully mitigated pursuant to law. It cannot remain because it's right smack where the dormitories would be. I would ask Mr. Behar to come forward and share with you the building, and you will understand a little bit more about what is going to happen.
Robert Behar: Thank you, Vicky. Good evening. For the record, Robert Behar, Behar Font & Partner. Mr. Chair, Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. I want to take this opportunity to thank Constance and Marty for giving us the opportunity to be part of this incredible projects. As I stated before, in all my years as an architect, a member of the UDRB (Urban Development & Review Board) Board for the City of Miami, a Planning & Zoning member of the City of Coral Gables, I have never been associated or involved with a project that is so important and so essential to a community such as this project, and that's the primary reason that we're so proud to be part of this project. I will go through the design of the project, and you see, I will demonstrate to you why we placed each of the function where we did, because it's a incredible reason and consideration to do that. There are four components -- major components to this project. There's a Walmart Center, clinic; there's a day care; there's the administrative support area; and then what I probably consider the most important -- I call it the residential unit -- those are the dormitories. It is our intent to create a home environment in this facility. I will start with the ground floor and the main entrance. We have located the main entrance in the center of the building for various reasons. One is to incorporate the trees, the mature trees that are there; and two, for the fundamental security and safety of our users, residents. Okay. The second one is the clinic. We have put it right in front of 3rd Avenue, fronting the commercial. The day care, we placed in the back to secure it. And then all the other functions to the back to take advantage of the site. I will --
Commissioner Suarez: Move it.
Mr. Behar: -- cut my presentation short, because I was told to make it quick.
Commissioner Suarez: Move the item.
Mr. Behar: This is it.
Ms. Leyva: Mr. Chairman --
Chair Hardemon: That was a great presentation.
Commissioner Suarez: Wonderful. Move the item.
Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Gort: That's the best one you ever done.
Ms. Leyva: Mr. Chairman --
Chair Hardemon: Deborah, did you tell him to do that?
Ms. Leyva: We would respectfully request that you support our request for this rescue mission, and that you approve, with conditions, except for conditions number 2 and 4. Thank you.
Commissioner Suarez: Yes.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved. Is there a second?
Commissioner Suarez: Yes, with conditions.
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Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): For clarification, there has been a substitution, because it did go to PZAB, so the PZAB vote is reflected in the legislation. However, the legislation does not reflect any conditions, so if there are going to be any conditions, they need to be stated on the record so the legislation could be modified accordingly.
Chair Hardemon: Please. Francisco.
Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Yes. So first to address the question at hand, the applicants made mention of the fact of the eight -- I stand corrected -- seven conditions set forth by the Planning & Zoning Department, the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board rejected, so to speak, two. The applicant mentioned correctly that these were conditions number 2 and number 4, which pertain to the mitigation of a significant specimen that exists on site. To that end, I will say that, clearly, retaining the specimen where it is presently located would be a significant hindrance. We're sympathetic to that, because it would basically make development of the site very difficult. However, what I would like to put on the record is that we have received significant interest expressed by some developers in the area to study the potential removal and relocation of that specimen to their site; particularly, Miami World Center would. And so what I would like to do is to ask the Commission to consider us working with the applicants to at least explore that option. It would be a shame to lose a mature specimen if we can actually preserve it. Of course, this might very well be at the expense of the other parties. That's one note I wanted to put for the record, for your consideration. The other one is this: As pertains to parking, there was a variance requested for and granted by the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board that reduced the amount of parking they would have to provide on site significantly. To that end, I would like to bring your attention to condition number 5, and especially recommend that condition number 5 be incorporated to your motion today, which limits some of the uses on site and requires that the aggregate of those uses does not rise to the level that would require more than 18 staff members to park on site. I'll read the condition verbatim for your consideration. It says, as follows: “As a condition of approval, the applicant shall agree not to have a child mix that requires more than 18 staff members and at no time shall exceed 72 children.” That is the best we can do to ensure that the -- any potential adverse impact of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) parking on the site might affect the adjacent area. So our recommendation, in summary, is that the approval be subject to conditions 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
Ms. Leyva: You missed 8. It's on the next page.
Mr. Garcia: My apologies. And 8, as set forth on the record. Thank you very much.
Commissioner Suarez: As amended.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort.
Commissioner Gort: My understanding, the problem is the parking.
Mr. Garcia: I'm sorry, sir?
Commissioner Gort: My understanding, the problem is the parking requirements.
Mr. Garcia: That has been a concern of ours, yes, but again, they've satisfied that concern --
Commissioner Gort: They've satisfied that.
Mr. Garcia: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) variance. Yes, sir.
Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? No? All right, hearing none --
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Commissioner Suarez: It's an ordinance.
Chair Hardemon: It's an exception. I guess this one, we'll take a vote. All in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying, “aye.”
The Commission (Collectively): Aye.
Chair Hardemon: Motion passes.
Ms. Leyva: Thank you.
PZ.6 ORDINANCE First Reading 14-00054zc AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION FROM "T6-24-O" URBAN CORE ZONE-OPEN TO "T6-24B-O" URBAN CORE ZONE-OPEN, FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 1410, 1420, 1424, AND 1432 NORTHEAST MIAMI PLACE; 1415, 1421, 1425, 1433, AND 1445 NORTHEAST MIAMI COURT; AND 47, 55, AND 67 NORTHEAST 14TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA; FURTHER ACCEPTING A COVENANT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE FORM ATTACHED AS EXHIBIT "B", RESERVING NINETY (90) RESIDENTIAL UNITS AS WORKFORCE HOUSING; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
14-00054zc 07-29-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 14-00054zc Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 14-00054zc Application & Supporting Documents.pdf 14-00054zc Legislation (v4).pdf 14-00054zc Exhibit.pdf 14-00054zc Exhibit B - SUB.pdf 14-00054zc-Submittal-Iris Escarra-Housing Income Limits Chart.pdf
LOCATION: Approximately 1410, 1420, 1424, and 1432 NE Miami Place; 1415, 1421, 1425, 1433, and 1445 NE Miami Court; and 47, 55, and 67 NE 14th Street [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2]
APPLICANT(S): Iris Escarra, Esquire, on behalf of 14th Plaza Corporation
FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended denial of the request to change to "T6-36A-O". PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Motion to approve with conditions failed, by a vote of 3-5, on March 5, 2014; therefore, constituting a recommendation of denial.
PURPOSE: This will change the above properties from "T6-24-O" to "T6-24B-O". Item includes a covenant.
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Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon
Note for the Record: For public hearing comments referencing item PZ.6, please see "The following item(s) shall not be considered before 2:00 PM."
Commissioner Suarez: Move PZ.6.
Commissioner Carollo: Second.
Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to --
Applause.
Commissioner Gort: That's it. We don't have anything else.
Chair Hardemon: Okay, everyone, I'd like to bring back decorum. Decorum, please. I'd like to -- decorum, please. I want to be sure that we made the announcement. Item -- there were two items that were continued -- or deferred, rather; item PZ.1 and item SR.1. So if you are here for those items -- I know there was a 6 o'clock time certain. I just want to make the announcement. Item PZ.1, which is the Art in Public Places Program, was deferred to -- what date was that, Mr. Clerk?
Commissioner Suarez: The November 17 meeting.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): November 17.
Chair Hardemon: November 17 meeting. So if you're here for item PZ.1 and SR.1, the Art in Public Places Program, pieces of resolutions or ordinances, those items will continue to the November 17 meeting, okay? And right now we do have a motion and a second for item PZ.6. So is there any discussion on that?
Commissioner Suarez: Just quickly.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: I think there's -- they're proffering a covenant, if I'm not mistaken. And I just want to say -- commend the Melo family, who's here. You know, they're one of the few developers in our city that is doing workforce housing without being mandated to do it, without any sort of legislative intervention, if you will, you know.
Iris Escarra: Financial incentive.
Commissioner Suarez: Or incentives, right. And their rents are $1.80. They get 98 percent of their units rented before day one. And you know, we have to encourage and help people that are doing -- supplying the kind of product that our residents sorely need. And every, you know, piece of legislation and discussion that we've had today just exemplifies the drastic need that there is, and they've produced a unique product because of the way that they do things, where their, you know, building permit to CO (certificate of occupancy) in 16 months -- I mean, things that are just unheard of in the construction industry -- at a beautiful, yet reasonable cost. And also including Art in Public Places voluntarily, without mandation [sic] and, you know -- so to me, it's just something that I wanted to put on the record, because we should commend the people that do things right.
Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry.
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Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Carollo: First of all, I want to make a Jennings disclosure. I recently spoke to Martin, Carlos, and Jose Luis Melo regarding this project. And with that said, I echo what Commissioner Suarez said. I mean, this is a developer that's actually supplying, you know, workforce housing, and it's not through a mandate. It's -- that's what they're doing. I mean, this particular property is right next to the Metromover. I mean, this is what it's about; you know, being able to construct workforce housing next to public transportation. I mean, I think this is exactly what we should be looking at. This is smart growth for our city.
Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. Obviously, this is in District 2, and it's also in the Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). This is just on the edge of Overtown, and as everybody's mentioned, it's right on the Metromover. The opportunities here are tremendous for this to be a new point of entrance into our downtown core, where people can use the transit. And what's important for us to do here is to really prioritize affordability, and I know that they do that to an extent, inherently, in their projects at the workforce level. But being on the very edge of Overtown here, we do have significant needs deeper than the level of workforce housing. And I just want to make sure that the community is not passed over in this process. I wish I had more of a Jennings disclosure, because I really would like to have talked more with them. The first I actually heard of this upzoning or this request was at the Melody ribbon cutting, where Carlos pulled me aside, and he said, "You know, 24B or 36, let's just move forward. Let's get something done." And so I started doing the research with my Planning & Zoning director, and really, I saw that there was a new zoning application of T6-24-B that was basically created at the request of this Commission for this area to really incentivize the right type of development that we're looking for, and it seems that they have the appetite to do it. The reason we're looking back at T6-36 now, which is -- which allows much more for them without actually requiring any further buy in to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund or to do anything on site or by covenant is more for time it seems, because it seems they were amenable to T6-24-B. I would have really liked to see this be the initial kickoff of T6-24-B in the area; and if Francisco could speak to the benefits of doing it that way versus 36, I want to have that sit down --
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Vice Chair Russell: -- because what you're offering and what you're doing is going to be so good and can be so good. But we simply have a -- we don't want to create a precedent at 36, where the rest of the development in that area will expect 36, without creating the benefits that we need for this area more than anywhere. And so I just want to see that we're doing it right, and I'm worried by rushing it to -- we're offering 36 without enough of a covenant or without giving 24B a chance, which might have been the right move here.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair.
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I propose 20 -- I was the proponent of 24B; and I proposed it, which was a multiplier increase from the regular 24 so that they could get the
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density under that zoning category and bonuses, you know, therefrom. I think we passed that -- what? -- a year ago, maybe even longer than a year ago? And did --
Commissioner Carollo: Nothing.
Commissioner Suarez: -- and did nothing.
Commissioner Carollo: Nothing's happened.
Commissioner Suarez: So --
Commissioner Carollo: And that's the problem.
Commissioner Suarez: -- that's -- and that's the issue. So the issue is --
Vice Chair Russell: Who did nothing?
Commissioner Suarez: Well --
Vice Chair Russell: No project came along to use it?
Commissioner Suarez: No, it's not about using it.
Commissioner Carollo: No.
Commissioner Suarez: We created the category.
Commissioner Carollo: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: Then you have to rezone the area. So either the district Commissioner -- oftentimes, it's the district Commissioner with the Planning Department, or the Planning Department that will come and say, “We want to rezone an area.” For example, I sincerely doubt that they'll rezone an area in my district or in Commissioner Carollo's district without coming to us and saying, “Hey, we want to rezone.” The point is we created the category. We created the vehicle. Just like with this T3 thing that we're talking about, we're creating a vehicle to hopefully solve a problem, and it just -- nothing happened. So I'm with you; I think we should do the T-24B, but I don't think it should come at the expense of someone's who's ready to do a project; shovel ready, plans approved, building permit in the hopper, financing ready. You know, it's not their fault that we didn't move for the last year.
Vice Chair Russell: I would disagree. And I would point to Iris a little bit that I've been in here for six, seven months now, and in this last few weeks is the first that I've heard of this. And if 24B was an option for them that they were interested in, I'm surprised I didn't hear about it months ago as, “Hey, we got this project we want down the line.” I feel like this is being rushed at the last second and saying, “Let's just do 36B [sic] so we can get rolling, because we're ready.” Where I wish, you know, knowing -- I mean, we couldn't have just started this process a few weeks ago. I wish to have been involved in it --
Ms. Escarra: If I may, I can explain. In January of 2014, we filed an application --
Commissioner Suarez: 2014.
Ms. Escarra: -- in accordance with the City's successional chart. At that point, if you had a T6-24 site, you could only rezone to either T6-36A or to CI. Those are your two options. So this application, if you look on the agenda, it's been deferred several times. What we did is we
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alerted this community that the zoning FLR (floor lot ratio) for this area was inconsistent, so we've been deferred all this time. The City created a T6-24B; it was codified last year in March --
Vice Chair Russell: Deferred or withdrawn? Because I haven't seen it on our agenda.
Ms. Escarra: It's been deferred as --
Commissioner Suarez: Deferred indefinitely, I think, right?
Ms. Escarra: It was deferred in March, and it was deferred previous times before. I have the agenda.
Commissioner Carollo: It's here in your -- in --
Vice Chair Russell: Sure.
Commissioner Suarez: In the backup.
Commissioner Carollo: In the backup.
Chair Hardemon: The last deferral that we have is March 24, 2016. It was indefinitely deferred at that time; which of course, means that there's not a date --
Vice Chair Russell: When was the last one?
Chair Hardemon: -- to come back. Before that, it was December 2015.
Commissioner Suarez: By the way, I think -- yeah, I think I know what you want to say.
Vice Chair Russell: March 2000 (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Suarez: Let our Planning director jump in, because I think what he wants to say -- my suspicion is -- part of it is, I think he wants to talk about the covenant. I think he also wants to talk about the covenant, and I think he wants to talk about 24B, but --
Chair Hardemon: Mr. Garcia.
Commissioner Suarez: He's like chomping at the bit.
Chair Hardemon: You're recognized.
Mr. Garcia: Yes. Very -- thank you very much, sir. Very briefly, because I think this will address everyone's wishes and concerns at the same time. In working with the Commissioners' offices and in working with the applicants, what I think is being presented to you, as we speak, is a proffer by way of a covenant from the applicants that essentially addresses exactly what your concerns are, which is as follows: Our recommendation -- because on the record for T6-36 stands as denial, as was the recommendation of the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board. Our recommendation today is that you please consider a rezoning of the subject property to T6-24-B-O. I emphasize the zoning designation exists. It is in the books. What it doesn't do yet is provide a workforce housing program, as the Commission had originally requested. It is that component of it that has been in the works for some time. That said, what this covenant does is it proposes a building, the configuration of which conforms to the regulations of T6-24-B-O and accomplishes the intent --
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Commissioner Suarez: Right.
Mr. Garcia: -- as set forth by the City Commission to provide workforce housing on site, by committing that a certain amount of square footage -- and I'll read it into the record briefly; although, it's under covenant that you are considering presently: That a certain amount of square footage -- and I believe that would be 141,000 -- please correct me.
Ms. Escarra: Correct.
Mr. Garcia: I'm saying it from memory. -- 141,000 square feet and/or 96 units -- they should come at about the same ratio -- 96 workforce housing units be provided on site, subject to the same covenants that we typically accept for 30 years and then two extensions of 10 years, and that then accomplishes two objectives: One, this will not be a T6-36 zoning, which is disparate with what's around it. It will instead be T6-24B, the first T6-24B property; and two, and perhaps most importantly, it will also accomplish the intent of the Commission, which was to provide workforce housing on site. That's the proffer that you're considering presently, and I'm happy to report that we would recommend approval of it.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, and that's why I move --
Ms. Escarra: If I --
Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez.
Commissioner Suarez: And that's why --
Ms. Escarra: And if I can add into the record --
Commissioner Suarez: Go ahead.
Ms. Escarra: -- that the covenant was being proffered today as being presented to you; and the City Attorney's Office, if they could please review it between first scene second reading.
Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): I also need to clarify, Section 62-21 of the City Code states a covenant cannot be considered by the City Commission until you get prior approval by the Planning Department, as well as City Attorney's Office. The first time we're seeing the covenant is today. It's not been reviewed. You have no recommendation as far as it's legal sufficiency, nor if it meets all the criteria. Am I understanding that the ordinance, you're proposing to amend it to T6-24B or it remains at T6-36A, which is what the application for the zoning is?
Commissioner Suarez: Can we do --
Ms. Escarra: Correct.
Commissioner Suarez: This is a first reading, though. Can we just pass it on first, then you can --?
Vice Chair Russell: It would change the 36 -- from 36 to 24B on second reading, though? That's a significant change, isn't it?
Mr. Min: It's a lesser change, so it's -- it meets a legal sufficiency.
Commissioner Suarez: Right.
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Mr. Garcia: Right.
Commissioner Suarez: Exactly.
Mr. Garcia: And so I'll say it in two steps, perhaps, to clarify -- I hope to clarify -- to address the concerns. On the one hand, our recommendation today would be that you not approve a T6-36 proposal that is before you; rather, that you approve a T6-24B zoning for the site on first reading. And on the second hand, what you're hearing from the applicant is that to address the concerns regarding workforce housing, they are proffering a series of self-imposed conditions which I'm describing to you align very well with the intent of the City Commission in passing the T6-24B category in the first place, which in my mind leads me to be very comfortable in recommending your approval of that application --
Commissioner Suarez: Is that what you want?
Ms. Escarra: Yeah.
Mr. Garcia: -- subject to that covenant being worked out clearly with the City Attorney's Office and Planning & Zoning Department between now and second reading.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I think we're all on the same page. It seems like that's what you're --
Ms. Escarra: Correct.
Commissioner Suarez: You're okay with that?
Ms. Escarra: We are okay with that.
Commissioner Suarez: That's fine. So I will --
Ms. Escarra: We proffered the covenant.
Vice Chair Russell: You're okay with 24B today?
Ms. Escarra: I'm okay with 24B today. If I could have applied for 24B in January 2014, it didn't exist. It got codified later in time in March of 2015.
Commissioner Suarez: So, I'll amend my motion to reflect that.
Mr. Min: Just to clarify. Ms. Escarra, do you want to amend your application to T6-24B, or do you want the City Commission to deny your application of T6-36 but approve a T6-24B?
Ms. Escarra: No. I want them --
Commissioner Carollo: No.
Ms. Escarra: Very careful. I would accept the recommendation of the Planning Department for a lesser designation than the requested of T6-36A; T6-24B, since it is a lesser designation, can be considered by this board --
Commissioner Suarez: Yes.
Ms. Escarra: -- and approved.
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Commissioner Suarez: We can approve a lesser designation within our notice provisions.
Mr. Min: Yes.
Ms. Escarra: Correct.
Chair Hardemon: Correct.
Commissioner Suarez: So that's my motion.
Commissioner Carollo: Seconder accepts.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. And I just want to say that, you know -- I want to make sure that I say this properly for the Planning director's benefit. You know, even though we do create a subcategory, like T6-24B, as you're saying, you were still developing a lot of the meat and bones that go behind it so that it can be a workforce work horse for us, and so that takes time. But the market doesn't work that way. You know what I mean? The market keeps going. And they just finished a project that we were all at, and now they're ready to start another project; and as some of the Commissioners said, you know, this is a transit-oriented development. For our transit system to be successful, we need to densify the transit nodes. And so, you know, I just don't -- I don't want someone who's ready to go when it looks like the cyc -- our real estate cycle is nearing its end, if you will; and I could tell you as a real estate lawyer that large commercial banks are holding back financing. You don't want to lose a project because you don't legislate on time. Trust me; you don't want to do that. Trust me.
Vice Chair Russell: Yes, but procrastination on one side doesn't create an emergency on the other side.
Commissioner Suarez: But it's not.
Vice Chair Russell: I've been here, and I've been waiting.
Commissioner Suarez: But it's not.
Vice Chair Russell: And Iris, I'm your district Commissioner for this area; I'm happy to talk to you.
Ms. Escarra: Right.
Vice Chair Russell: And I love the projects that I've seen, that they've produced in the past, so I'm ready to work with you.
Ms. Escarra: Okay, great.
Commissioner Suarez: Get his number.
Ms. Escarra: Thank you.
Commissioner Suarez: Get his cell phone number.
Ms. Escarra: I have -- honestly, this area has been waiting for this T6-24B --
Vice Chair Russell: It's going to be amazing.
Board Member Escarra. I understand the workforce hasn't -- but they are dying to come in here.
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And this is your doughnut. This is like -- could be really, really big because you're so close to everything. If you think of the School Board, it's the only section in the City -- and even some places of the County -- where you have the transportation and you don't have the density. Everybody's trying to get the transportation extended. It's sitting right here waiting. They're dying to use it. We're ready to use it. So thank you.
Commissioner Carollo: And that that was my point. That was exactly my point.
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah.
Chair Hardemon: Seeing no further discussion --
Mr. Min: It's: "An ordinance of the Miami City Commission, with attachments, amending the Zoning Atlas of ordinance number 13114, as amended, by changing" --
Commissioner Suarez: Call the guy, man. Goodness.
Ms. Escarra: I don't know what you're asking for, but okay.
Commissioner Suarez: Call the guy. Goodness gracious.
Mr. Min: -- “by changing” --
Chair Hardemon: Continue with the ordinance.
Commissioner Suarez: We're going to lose a project if you don't call this guy. Call him.
Mr. Min: -- "by changing the zoning classification from T6-24-O, urban core zone-open, to T6-24B-0, urban core zone-open, for the properties located at approximately 1410, 1420, 1424 and 1432 Northeast Miami Place; 1415, 1421, 1425, 1433 and 1444" [sic] "Northeast Miami Court; and 4755 and 67 Northeast 14th Street, Miami, Florida; making findings; containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date." It's as amended.
Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item PZ.6.
A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above.
Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 5-0.
Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if I may?
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Suarez: I'd like to --
Ms. Escarra: Thank you very much.
Commissioner Suarez: -- commend the Chairman for the way he ran the meeting today; got us out of here at --
Chair Hardemon: Well, help me to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Carollo: 6:30.
Commissioner Suarez: -- 6:24.
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Commissioner Carollo: Wow.
Commissioner Suarez: My Chairman. This is like, uh, manna from heaven.
Vice Chair Russell: This is sunlight, not moonlight.
Commissioner Suarez: Manna from heaven.
Chair Hardemon: You know (UNINTELLIGIBLE), though.
Commissioner Carollo: Let it --
Commissioner Suarez: Manna from heaven.
Commissioner Carollo: -- repeat itself. Let it repeat itself.
Chair Hardemon: You're welcome, sir.
Commissioner Suarez: Good luck, guys. Congrats.
Chair Hardemon: Meeting's adjourned.
Vice Chair Russell: Congratulations.
END OF PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS
MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' ITEMS CITYWIDE
HONORABLE MAYOR TOMAS REGALADO
END OF CITYWIDE ITEMS DISTRICT 1
COMMISSIONER WIFREDO (WILLY) GORT
END OF DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 2
VICE CHAIR KEN RUSSELL
END OF DISTRICT 2 DISTRICT 3
COMMISSIONER FRANK CAROLLO
END OF DISTRICT 3 DISTRICT 4
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COMMISSIONER FRANCIS SUAREZ
END OF DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 5
CHAIR KEON HARDEMON
END OF DISTRICT 5
NON-AGENDA ITEM(S)
NA.1 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-01051 CHAIR HARDEMON RECOGNIZED REPRESENTATIVE DAPHNE D. CAMPBELL, FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 108, IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS. DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: Before we move forward, I'd like to -- I'd like for us to pause to recognize our State Representative, Ms. Daphne Campbell, who -- she was just sitting down.
Commissioner Suarez: She was right there a second ago.
Chair Hardemon: Yes. She moves rather quickly.
Commissioner Suarez: She's not going to be happy about not being here.
Chair Hardemon: Right. All right. So we're going to move on -- oh, here she is; here, she's coming. I know Ms. -- State Rep. Daphne Campbell was here --
Commissioner Suarez: Here she is.
Chair Hardemon: -- because of an item that we've already passed.
Commissioner Suarez: There she is.
Chair Hardemon: The Reverend William Maxie Street, but we just want to --
Representative Daphne Campbell: (INAUDIBLE.)
Chair Hardemon: -- Sure, please. You can say something.
Representative Campbell: Thank you, Chairman. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and the council. I'm here just to say thank you to all of you for passing this resolution. I been working on this for six years in Tallahassee to recognize the legacy and the work Pastor William Maxi has done in the community. And as you all know, most of you, we shared together the district, District 108. I know Commissioner Suarez, Chairman Hardemon; I believe, Commissioner Gort, we shared District 108 together; and Pastor Maxi, for the work he has done for past 43 years as a pastor, minister for our community, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And let's continue to work together and let's do good work for the betterment of our constituents. May God bless each one of you; may God bless the work you do, and may God bless United States of America. Thank you. Thank you.
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Chair Hardemon: Thank you so much.
Commissioner Gort: Thank you.
NA.2 RESOLUTION 16-01010 Office of the City Clerk A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE HISTORIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION BOARD FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN.
APPOINTEE/CATEGORY: NOMINATED BY:
Arva Moore-Parks Vice Chair Ken Russell
DISCUSSED
Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): I do have one non-agenda item for the Historic & Environmental Preservation Board. Vice Chair Ken Russell will be appointing Arva Moore Parks to the citizen category.
Commissioner Carollo: Move it.
Chair Hardemon: Now, I have an objection to that one. I have an objection to that one. As I understand, is that seat the seat that my former appointment vacated?
Ms. Ewan: Timothy Barber was the former member that you had in that citizen category; that is currently vacant.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. And the reason -- my objection is two-fold. Traditionally, when we have appointments -- Mr. Vice Chair, when we have appointments that we place into these seats, we give each Commissioner the leeway to replace his appointment with someone else, if that appointment -- or if that seat becomes vacant. This is one of those appointments that we've had a representative from District 5, really, that was representing the committee on that board. Without that person -- I couldn't tell you positively we don't have anyone from District 5, but I know at least that seat that I know has been held by District 5 would not be held by District 5 appointee. Moreover -- so that's my first objection to it. My second objection is that, inherently, I have an issue -- and I stated this before. If -- we have a Historic & Environmental Preservation Board where we have individuals on a board who are, in fact, preservationists. And the reason I say that is because that board should be an unbiased board. It should be a board that has -- it should be a board that when a citizen comes because their house is being considered for preservation and you have the government saying that, "No, we want to declare it historic," two very opposite sides that -- or if the person objects to it, that they come to a board and each presents their case, and someone who is unbiased says, "We believe that it should be declared historic or noncontributing and we should” -- “we believe that it” -- “or we should believe that it should be declared contributing.” And so, when you have someone on the board who was a preservationist, who believes that this is -- it should be declared historic most of the time or someone who's -- who leans towards that way, you create an unbiased board, and I'll give you an example. In law, if you pick a jury, you may have police officers who can serve on juries; you
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may not. But if you are a prosecutor or if you are a public defender of that nature, most likely you will be stricken from being on that criminal panel. Why? Because --
Vice Chair Russell: The bias.
Chair Hardemon: -- they believe that there are certain biases that are inherent in the decision-making. And so, I think that when you come to a board like that, you want to have people who are unbiased, you want to have people who are impartial. So like I said, my objection is two-fold. But I will tell you this: Even with that objection, if a member on this board wanted to put someone on the board who was a preservationist, I would not object to your decision making. It's not -- my objection to it is not something that I would use to keep you from putting the person that you want on the board, but it is something that I would choose not to put on the board, because it is what I personally believe. And so what I'm asking is that I have the opportunity to place someone in Mr. Barber's seat that I believe is from not only the district, but who is also unbiased when it comes to handling those types of issues.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Mr. Chair, if I could? So, on the two issues you raised, on the issue of tradition within our board of appointing and -- I'd like to understand that further, because I certainly do want to respect that. The -- there are still remaining seats available to be appointed, correct? But you're saying that because the category of that board member was the one that your district had appointed before that you'd like to maintain that category of appointee; is that correct?
Chair Hardemon: Right. I believe that -- it's an easier thing for me in my district, considering my constituency, to have someone serve on that board than it is to meet those other categories that are there on that board. So because that category was already filled with someone from my board [sic], I would like an opportunity to fill that seat.
Vice Chair Russell: And I'd absolutely respect that. What are the categories that are available?
Ms. Ewan: Licensed real estate broker is the category that you currently have vacant. And Commission -- Chair Hardemon also has a landscape architect --
Vice Chair Russell: So --
Ms. Ewan: -- in addition to a citizen category.
Vice Chair Russell: -- well, let's say, shy of this one that has been proposed but not yet voted on, there are three available seats.
Ms. Ewan: Right. There is --
Vice Chair Russell: One is a citizen that can be from any background.
Ms. Ewan: Correct.
Vice Chair Russell: One must be a real estate or a li -- real estate agent of some sort, and one must be a landscape architect of some sort.
Ms. Ewan: That's correct.
Vice Chair Russell: Is that correct?
Ms. Ewan: Right.
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Vice Chair Russell: I do understand where you're coming from, and I don't think -- and someone had mentioned it to me as I was making this appointment. Because -- and I just didn't fully understand, because I didn't see within the rules how one category is assigned to one Commissioner. It doesn't say, “District 5 must appoint,” but I understand the tradition of what you're mentioning, and I will respect that.
Chair Hardemon: And I'll give you an example. For instance -- and I'll call on you, Commissioner Gort. The -- what is it? Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum Board of Trustees that we just appointed you to. I don't believe that there's a requirement that it's the District 2 Commissioner.
Ms. Ewan: There are three seats on that. One of the seats requires the District 2 Commissioner, and then there are two at-large for any Commissioner to appoint.
Chair Hardemon: Okay. Then that wouldn't be a good example. It will probably be an example probably with our CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agencies), you know. Someone else can be the Chairman of the Omni CRA.
Vice Chair Russell: Technically, yes.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah, technically. But certainly, none of the Commissioners would want that responsibility when we know that as the Commissioner of that district, you're intimately involved with the issues that are affecting that area, and so that's part of the unstated rules, I guess, if you will. But, please, and then I'll call on Commissioner Gort.
Vice Chair Russell: I understand that. So I'd like to address your -- the other part of your suggestion. I actually do respectfully disagree with that. I believe on the boards, it's important to have a balance of people who may be pro or against a certain position so that they can have the healthy arguments needed to get to a consensus. I don't think everybody should be at the vanilla non-bias of not having a strong opinion either way. I think it -- especially on a Historic Environmental Preservation Board, you need people who certainly care very much about preservations, and they probably are biased, and they probably do lean toward preservation, but you, of course, want to have the balance there. And to me, I mean, when I think of, you know, historical documenting of Miami and knowing the stories of here and what's important in our history, I think of Arva Parks, and I was very excited to put her on the board, but there will be other seats coming available. In fact, one of -- my other appointment, I believe his term is coming up soon, and I'll have another opportunity to make that suggestion. So I withdraw that -- my nomination.
Chair Hardemon: And I appreciate that. And I -- if you will, I will tell you this: Historic preservation of properties is important. No matter where I go, I pay more attention to the homes that are in a neighborhoods in Miami, and you start to see a pattern; no matter if you're on the west side or on the east side, you see this pattern of how we lived in Miami. And I just want everyone, people in the audience and also us on the dais, to understand that any time someone comes before a board, I want to ensure they have a fair hearing, and I believe that the only way that you can have a fair hearing is by having individuals on those boards who are unbiased . “Unbiased” means that they come in where they don't have an opinion about a matter one way or the other. It's the person that you will want to sit on your jury to make a decision about whether or not you've broken the law or you're guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That person may have had some experience in law enforcement, but does not believe that a police officer's always right. That person may be someone who's had some experience in real estate or, let's say, preservation, but doesn't believe that -- but really, truly doesn't believe that just because you're in a preservation district, you should be contributing. And so, it's important because when people present their argument, all we need are competent people to understand what the arguments are to make a decision one way or the other, and that walk away from us saying that
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“I made the right decision,” not necessarily someone who can -- who will advocate on the dais for something. When you advocate for something, it's because it's what you believe from the facts that you've heard. And I think that having someone on that board who, if you approach that board, you know is counted against you is problematic, and it's the same reason why you strike people off of a jury. You exercise preemptory strikes, because you want people who come and decide your fate and, you know, how you -- what procedure you go there when you have a home, and you're making changes to that home is important. And that person who's on that board, to me, should be impartial, but -- and I know, Commissioner Gort, you wanted to say something; I'm going to let you talk.
Commissioner Gort: Well, we need to understand, we have a very diversified city. I believe we are one of the most diversified city in the nation. And you don't want charge the board just with certain individuals. I mean, we had an example this morning with a -- one of the Commissioners decided to change the delivering trucks to certain times for his district; it works out real good, but in my district, it doesn't work, because in my district, the produce market begins to work at 2 o'clock in the morning, so I'll be closing -- and this is the things we need to analyze. That's why we need people -- diversified the boards that needs to be -- these are diversified as our city is, and that's another thing. And by the way, Arva Park [sic] is a great person. She really knows her history. If you have -- want to ask any question, what happen to Miami, you call her.
Chair Hardemon: And as a matter of fact, that's why I didn't -- at this time, is why I didn't proffer a name, because I did not want anyone to believe that I wanted to appoint this person over Arva Parks. I wanted it to be a discussion about what I felt about the issue at hand and not who she is, her work -- I mean, she probably could be hired as an expert for someone who is trying to get a housing as a contributing structure.
Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Gort. For sure, when you're designating homes possibly against somebody's will, you want as unbiased of almost what you would call a jury or a judge in this case, because this is somebody's property rights, and we're finding the importance of historic designation, you know, has to be strong enough to trump those rights and say that we want to protect this building at all costs, so you don't want a biased board. But I'm also looking at the new Arts in Public Places that we're trying to put in place, and I know there's been a lot of back and forth on that. And one of the things we're trying to do within that -- or at least that I had recommended was that we take some of the budget that is actually already designated in Arts in Public Places to go towards actually facilitating the restoration of historic structures; could be private; could be public, but historic structures, and I was hoping that the Historic Environmental Preservation Board could be part of taking on that task of helping allocate those funds, as they are the specialists who have designated the homes and buildings around the City; that they can now -- and I think they'd be very excited about being able to actually be a part of allocating the funds that now regenerate and revitalize those, and you definitely want specialists and passionate advocates who understand the specific buildings and understand things and that's another reason I was bringing Arva, but --
Chair Hardemon: No, no. That makes sense. At the end of the day, the reason that you have that diversification on that committee is because you want it -- you want those decisions to be made from different points of views, where you have realtors, you have some other individuals that are -- don't need to go through, but I appreciate, you know, what you did. And I guess we could continue on with the Boards and Committees.
Ms. Ewan: That concludes the Boards and Committees. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
NA.3 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-01052
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DISCUSSION BY THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION REGARDING THE STATUS OF RENOVATIONS AT CURTIS PARK. DISCUSSED
Chair Hardemon: DI.10.
Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. DI.10 --
Commissioner Gort: How 'bout DI.9?
Commissioner Suarez: DI.9 was withdrawn, I think.
Chair Hardemon: Yes.
Commissioner Gort: By whom?
Vice Chair Russell: I guess I did. I didn't --
Commissioner Suarez: Commissioner Russell?
Vice Chair Russell: Yep.
Commissioner Suarez: Did you want to talk about it?
Commissioner Gort: Well, I'd like to ask something. I'd like to ask --
Chair Hardemon: DI.9 was withdrawn at the beginning.
Commissioner Suarez: It was withdrawn at the beginning.
Chair Hardemon: Yeah. It was one of the items that was withdrawn by Administration.
Commissioner Gort: I'd like to get a report on the Curtis Park.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah. I was going to say -- actually, when I asked to withdraw it, I thought Douglas Park --
Chair Hardemon: No, no, no, no.
Vice Chair Russell: -- was the last remaining.
Chair Hardemon: I don't -- oh, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Commissioner Gort: No, no. We still have one park.
Vice Chair Russell: Yeah.
Nzeribe Ihekwaba (Chief of Operations/Assistant City Manager): What's --
Vice Chair Russell: Can we pocket it?
Mr. Ihekwaba: -- the question?
Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, we'll figure it out.
Victoria Méndez (City Attorney): Commissioner Gort wants --
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Chair Hardemon: No, DI.9 was withdrawn.
Commissioner Gort: I want to know the status --
Ms. Méndez: Curtis Park.
Commissioner Gort: -- of Curtis Park. We've been working on this for four years now.
Mr. Ihekwaba: Okay.
Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director of Capital Improvements & Transportation. Curtis Park, we have a total of three projects in Curtis Park, which are working independently. One of the projects is a reconstruction of the boat ramp. That project is currently under construction right now. The second one is the pool, which has been designed. We're finalizing the permit; expected to be advertised within the next couple of months. The third is the park itself. Now, in the park itself, we're ready to go into advertisement for a contractor that's going to do those renovations. We are working now with the Procurement Department, finalizing those construction documents. We were waiting on the final approval from DERM (Department of Environmental Resources Management), which we received last week. So that was the only piece that we were missing to go ahead and advertise this one for construction. So we now have the actual CAP (Corrective Action Plan) plan design approved by DERM, and we are working with Procurement, finalizing just the RFP (request for proposals) or the invitation to bid documents, and we expect that to be done probably within the next week or couple weeks. Yeah.
Commissioner Gort: We're ready to go, because summer --
Mr. Rodriguez: We're ready to go.
Commissioner Gort: -- is almost over, and this will be the fourth year that the kids do not have that park. It was -- been very active, and we have a great need for that park in that area.
Mr. Rodriguez: I agree, sir, 100 percent. Yeah.
Commissioner Gort: So I hope you expedite everything.
Mr. Rodriguez: Absolutely, yes. Thank you.
Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much.
END OF NON-AGENDA ITEM(S)
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:24 p,m.
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