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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM-94-0556CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM l TO: The Honorable Mayor & Members DATE : L _ 5 1994 FILE of the City Commission sualEcr : Dade Helicopter Jet Services, Inc. FROM : Cesar REFERENCES: City P-e ENCLOSURES: Discussion concerning Dade Helicopter's continued use of the City- n DADE HELICOPTER RrE CE IV ED JET SERVICES, INC. u9£y tfE _qEE " i-al -9 PM OFFICE GF ASS -ET MGMT June 7, 1994 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Mr. Eduardo Rodriguez Director -City of Miami Office of Asset Management & Capital Improvements DuPont Center - Suite 400 300 Biscayne Boulevard Way Miami, Florida 33131 Dear Mr. Rodriguez, I am in receipt of your letter of May 10.1994. It arrived with twenty nine cents postage due even though it was marked hand delivered. Evidently the postman took it,out of the mailbox assuming it was out going mail. You obviously are not in receipt of our letter of May 10, 1994 as we have not received an answer to it. We wiiL bring you up to date. Joans cancer is worse and had to be taken to the hospital last week because of extreme pain. They did considerable testing and she has to return this week for more testing. On Thursday I attended a Tax Evaluation Appeal Hearing at the county, where I and the County both discovered that the City had not furnishes the county with any documentation in so far as the heliport or Dade Helicopter is concerned,therefore the citys lack of co-operation has caused us, at the very least,a substantial delay.The County has graciously granted us ten days in which to respond with additional documentation, which is being delivered this date. This is a matter which must be accomplished in conjunction with the payment of the rent as, if we have to pay another $48,000.00 in taxes every year, it woulc make the operation of the heliport financially not feasible. Our efforts to raise funds are continuing. We have decided that the most economical way to proceed is to sell our house. We have lowered the price$150.000.00. The listing has approximately 120 days to run, within which time the city tax situation will be resolved. If it is not sold, we will place a mortgage on the property. This is certainly a much more expensive way of raising funds. Our preferred option is to sell and to build or buy a smaller home. Placing a mortgage could possibly take an additional 30 to 60 days. Page 1 of 2 94- 556 �5 i i It is impossible, at this time, within ten days to pay the city $64,000.00, further, the city owes us $72,000.00. Also, it is unreasonable to expect Joan, in her present condition, to produce records within a givertime frame when you are well aware of her condition and the fact that she is under the influence of narcotics 24 hours a day. This time frame is not acceptable. I respectfully request my right as a citizen and a taxpayer/registered voter of the City of Miami to address the City of Miami Commission (Please consider this as a request to the City Manager, through you as his agent) as far as this matter is concerned, hopefully establishing an amicable agreement at that time as I certainly would prefer not having to go through the court system. Please give us two weeks notice of the Commission meeting so that we might properly prepare our presentation. If you have any questions, please call me at 305-858-8527. Sincerely, William J. Ter Keurst C.E.O. 94- 556 Page 2 of 2 D-ADE HELICOPTER JET SERVICES, INC. "9fy tfiE 'q'et, March 15, 1994 RECEW EQ AP�TA1. ROVEMENTS Mr. Eduardo Rodriguez Director Office of Asset Management City of Miami 300 Biscayne Boulevard Way, Suite 400 Miami, FL 33131 Dear Eduardo, It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday and we are looking forward to a long productive, friendly relationship as we have had in the past. As you are well aware, Dade Helicopter has been a city tenant for approximately 20 years and is the recipient of numerous commendations, etc. from the City of Miami. During the riots we were flying city police and other personnel over the disturbed areas. Further, we have received numerous awards from civic groups, religious organizations and others. Dade Helicopter has, in fact, operated as the management company at no cost to the city or users o the city heliport. This heliport is used, not >nly by the entire industry, but by every government agency utilizing helicopters. Even the lawns are mowed by Dade Helicopter. Dade Helicopter, thoughout its history, has been an exemplary tenant of the City of Miami. We realize that the current rent is in arrears. This has been caused by several factors. First the reconstruction of MacArthur Causeway and currently the construction of the new bridge, both of which have restricted the view of the facility, also changing the habits of taxi drivers to other causeways due to the traffic backups on MacArthur. These taxies were a major contributor to our revenue. Further factors are the situation regarding tourist crime, homeless people on the island and Hurricane Andrew. Another major factor has been our health. First Joan had cancer. After surgery, due to a medication error, she had a massive brain hemorrhage, followed by my having a massive heart attack resulting in b by passes and a major staff infection causing a recovery periodof well over a year and a half. This was followed by Joans' 94- 556 950 MsrArthl N' rt11. ov--: f1 ^n I nn - Inn r1 A ..-+n-+ DADS HELICOPTER COPTER JET SERVICES ^ I"' , „9 y tfiE �qEt recurring inoperable cancer. All of this caused a major re- duction in family finances in excess of $500,000.00, so Thank God we are recovered and are anxious to return to work. At our meeting on Monday, we again brought up the point that the city actually owes us in excess of $72,000.00 in prepaid rent, only then were we asked for additional proof in the form of flight records. I really don't know why this took so long, however, we don't have a problem complying. There are over 50,000 pilot daily flight envelopes that will have to be researched. The results of this research will be made available to your. auditors. As I previously told you, 3oans last chemo treatment will be this coming week. This puts her out of business for two weeks, which at that point the research will begin. It would be impossible to accomplish this within the 1 month Laura has written in her notes. However, we will make a.concerted effort to expedite. Our proposal on the current rent is as follows. For the next 6 months we will pay the current rent plus $500.00. This is necessary as a time frame to reestablish revenue. After 6 months we will pay the current rent plus $1,000.00 per month until paid in full. Upon completion of the audit all funds necessary out of the $72,000.00 plus will be applied to any balance and the balance of which can be applied to future rents. We are presently having our house appraised and plan to mortgage the property for operating capital. We will keep you apprised as to our progress. We hope that this solution will meet with your understanding and approval and that our relationship can continue for many more years. Best regard William Ter Keurst C.E.O. CC: Gary M. Houck Assistant Director Finance Department 94- 556 I EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ Director April 15, 1994 of cis 41 G��Y r)f�Af S` T� k C wtiN it'll. �. 4 CESAR H. ODIO City Manager Mr. William TerKeurst Dade Helicopter Jet Services, Inc. 1715 Tigertail Avenue Miami, FL 33133 Dear Mr. TerKeurst: During our meeting on March 14, 1994, you agreed to supply the necessary documentation to support your claims of time used by the City of Miami during the period of 1976 through 1987 so an audit could be conducted for this time period to determine if any amounts were due Dade Helicopter, At the time of our meeting, we requested that such information be provided within thirty days; you and Joan indicated you would need two months to gather all the information. As a compromise, we all agreed since some of the information could be gathered within thirty days, that an auditor could work on those documents while you continue gathering the remaining records. Since the thirty days have now expired, I would like to inquire about the availability of the records or portion thereof so we can commence an audit of the records. Please advise us immediately so we may bring this issue to an end. With respect to your letter of March 15, 1994 proposing .a payment plan for rent due the City, we have forwarded your proposal to the City Manager for acceptance or rejection. We will advise you of his determination as soon as it is available. If you have any questions, please call me at 372-4640. Sincerely, E uardo Rod iguez Director 94- 555 / OFFICE OF ASSET MANAGEMENT & CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Inn FtkrnN,nn Rnnlavarrl 10— e..;— ennn A,,.,,. ri ram, CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Cesar H. Odio City Manager FROM Ed o odriguez, Director O fice f Asset Management and Capi —Improvements PA4 DATC . April 27, 1994 'ski SUBJECT :Dade Helicopter Services, Inc. REFERENCES : ENCLOSURES: v,:", 4 1994 Dade Helicopter Jet Services, Inc. ("Dade Helicopter1°) has been a City tenant for approximately 20 years, The City of Miami initially executed an agreement with Dade Helicopter on September 19, 1975 for helicopter operations at the old heliport site on Watson Island. On October 14, 1980, the City executed a second agreement with Dade Helicopter for use of the old Good Year Blimp site where it still operates today. The initial agreement dated September 19, 1975 provided the City with ten hours of flight time each month with all unused time to be accumulated but not beyond the anniversary date of the agreement. This agreement further provided that at the time the agreement is terminated, "Dade Helicopter, Inc. shall render to the City a full accounting of the manb,)u s of flight time accumulated and not used and manhours of time advanced and a basis of settlement of accounts shall be devised which is mutually acceptable to both parties..." Mr. TerKeurst, C.E.O. for Dade Helicopter, advised this office that this accounting was never done. He has subsequently submitted an accounting for the period of 1975 through 1987, the time period he claims Dade Helicopter operated at the old heliport site. Mr. TerKeurst claims the City owes him $72,220 for this period ($200/hour x hours advanced). The accounting provided by Mr. TerKeurst, however, is insufficient in that it provides no supporting evidence for the hours claimed. This office requested Mr. TerKeurst to provide proof of the hours claimed by April 14, 1994, however, such documents have not yet been received. At the time we receive the documented proof, this office will arrange for an audit to be conducted in order to determine if his request is valid. The second agreement dated October 14, 1980, again provided the City with ten hours of flight time per month with all unused flight time being accumulated from month -to -month but not be,;-.nd the anniversary date. Dade Helicopter is to submit monthly st:_.tements to the City of the hours of flight time due, used, and advanced, if any, and the total number of hours accumulated but not used. On July 27, 1989, however, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 89-723 requiring the City to be paid for all unused flight time each month at the rate of $200 per hour or portion thereof rather than accumulating such unused hours. Ca 94- 556 ! W /Q Cesar H. Odio April 27, 1994 Page 2 Since the adoption of this Resolution, Dade Helicopter has made only sporadic payments. At this time, Dade Helicopter owes approximately $60,000 which is primarily due for the period of January, 1991 through March, 1994. This amount may be adjusted downward upon the submittal of monthly usage reports by Dade Helicopter for the period of May, 1993 through March, 1994. On a couple of occasions, this office has met with Mr. TerKeurst and his wife, Joan, to discuss the outstanding rent due. Mr. TerKeurst has recently submitted a proposal dated March 15, 1994 (copy attached) for repayment of the outstanding rent. His proposal provides for payment of the current rent plus $500jmonth for the next six months. After six months, Dade Helicopter will pay the current rent plus $1,OOOfmonth until paid in full. Upon completion of the audit mentioned above, any funds due Dade Helicopter would be credited towards the outstanding rent due with any balance beyond that to be credited towards future rents. Upon the ,advice of our Law Department, the issue of.the current rent due and the accounting of past records should be kept separate. However, as a point of information, our initial comparison of Mr. TerKeurst's recent accounting and documents already on file indicates that no money will be due Dade Helicopter. Therefore, it could easily take over 4 1/2 years to pay all the outstanding rent due under Dade Helicopter's proposal. We respectfully request your consideration of the attached proposal by Dade Helicopter. This office recommends that the proposal be rejected due to the excessive length of time for payment and the potential redevelopment of Watson Island within this time frame. Please indicate your acceptance or rejection of the proposal below so that we may proceed in resolving this matter. In the event you choose to reject Mr. TerKeurst's proposal, this office will request immediate repayment of the outstanding rent. If Dade Helicopter is unable to pay, it would be recommended that the City investigate the possibility of relocating the Police Department's Aviation Division to this site. There are numerous benefits to such a move including quicker response time to calls for service, cost savings by eliminating trailer rental at Tamiami Airport, and increased police protection for life and property at Watson Island. ACCEPT: BI REJECT: cc: Christina Cuervo Chief of Staff 94- 556 Enclosure EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ Director May 10, 1994 of GAS \ �4`, '3 lCO,p Gv�ss�r r�i CESAR H. ODIO City Manager CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUEST Mr. William TerKeurst Dade Helicopter Jet Services, Inc. 1715 Tigertail Avenue Miami, FL 33133 Dear Mr. TerKeurst: This letter serves to inform you that the City Manager has rejected your proposal of March 15, 1994 regarding method of payment of back rent. Therefore, it is requested that you remit complete payment in the amount of $64,135.30 within ten (10) days of receipt of this notice. Failure to pay this amount could result in termination of your agreement with the City. In addition, we have not received a response to our letter of April. 15, 1994 concerning the documentation required in order to complete an audit of the time used by the City for the period of 1976 through 1987. As you requested, the City is willing to have a complete accounting for this period, pursuant to the terms of the agreement dated September 19,, 1975 between the City and Dade Helicopter, including all hours used by the City, hours not used and hours advanced so that a settlement of accounts can be devised which is mutually acceptable to both parties. Please contact this office immediately as to the status of the availability of this information. If you have any questions, please call me at 372-4640. Sincerely, JA 1 uardo Ro iguez COPY OF LETTER qdi R Director RECEIVED BY: 94- 556 Print Name Date DADS HELICOPTER JET SERVICES, INC. May 10, 1994 RECEIVED ' �, MAY � � P�3 � • �-' OFFICE OF A55 i�1i CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Mr. Eduardo Rodriguez Director - City of Miami Office of Asset Management & Capital Improvements DePont Center - Suite 400 300 Biscayne Blvd. Way Miami, FI.orida 33131 Dear Mr. Rodriguez, You are correct on the meeting of March 14, 1994. We did agree to supply documentation, although -not within a given time period. At that time we were under the misconception that Joans Cancer was finished. She has since broken her cervical bone that had been deteriorated by cancer. The cancer, even though it is not worse, is posing a threat to orthopedic surgery which is required. Joan cannot sit for any period of time and is under the influence of narcotics to control the pain. At the time of our meeting, we suggested we would try to start gathering.information. As you can see by the previous paragraph, that has been an impossible goal. The city was aware of this situation at least six months prior to our meeting, during which time we could not get a response. During that period it would have been much easier to comply with the record request. I will personally do my very best to search these records myself as available time presents itself. Also, please let us know as soon as possible as to the city managers decision, as I certainly would like to begin payments that would bring this entire situation to an amicable end. I an sorry I was so late in responding as Joan has been in and out of the hospital. If you have any questions, please call me at 858-8527, Sincerely, William Ter Keurst C.E.O. 94- 556 /3 950 MacArthur Causeway • Miami, FL 33132 0 (305) 374-3737 I TTtv rrf ffllamt , EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ Director ` June 20, 1994 CERTIFIED MAIL AND REGULAR U.S. MAIL CESAR H. ODIO City Manager Mr. William TerKeurst Dade Helicopter Jet Services 1715 Tigertail Avenue Miami, FL 33133 Dear Mr. TerKeurst: We are in receipt of your letter of June 7, 1994. If the post office did in fact charge you the postage they claim was due even though the letter was hand delivered, we will be happy to reimburse you the $ .29 the next time we meet. After not receiving acknowledgment that you received our certified letter, we chose to hand deliver a copy of it. We called to confirm your receipt of this but unfortunately, we did not receive a return call to the messages we left on your machine. As mentioned in our telephone conversation on June 10, 1994, this office did not receive a Tax Evaluation Appeal Bearing Notice from the County since we were not the appellant nor did you advise us of the hearing date. While the City chose not to appeal your tax bill, if requested, we will assist you in providing information to the County. If you wish us to attend your next hearing, please advise us of the date and we will attend. Regarding the rents due, please understand that the City could not accept your payment plan as mentioned in our letter of May 10, 1994 since it would take approximately 4 1/2 years to pay the rents due. The City is hopeful that within the next 2 to 3 years of relocating the heliport east of its present site and building a new mega -yacht facility with ancillary uses in the existing heliport area. In addition, you previously agreed back in September, 1993 and in March, 1994 to commence paying at minimum your current rent so the back rents would not continue accruing. As acknowledged by you in our telephone conversation, this has not been done although you did agree to commence paying in July, 1994. 94- 556 �`� Mr. TerKeurst June 20, 1994 Page 7. With respect to the $72,000 you claim is owed to Dade Helicopter, as you will recall we asked that you produce the appropriate records indicating the City's usage so an audit could be performed to determine if in fact any amounts are due. During our March 14,.1994 meeting, you expressed no objection to the compromise that you would pull as many of the records as possible within 30 days of said meeting and an auditor would commence the audit as you continued to pull the remaining records. I am sorry to hear that Joan's illness has gotten worse and she has been unable to pull the records. In your letter of May 10, 1994, you indicated that you would personally attempt to gather these records; however, during our phone conversation you said you had not done such. Please advise us of your intent on producing these records and the expected time of completion so we can settle this matter fairly and equitably. Another issue which was raised during our meeting of March 14, 1994 was that you would provide this office with the appropriate records for the hours used by the City from January, 1993 to the present, in accordance with your use agreement, in order to determine exactly the amount of rent due. We have still not received such documents and hereby request the submission of same by July 12, 1994. In order to avoid contention in the future over the hours used by the City, you are hereby directed to only conduct flights for the City upon receipt of the attached form, approved by the City Manager, and that a copy of such form accompany all future monthly reports. As you requested, your letter of June 7, 1994 has been forwarded to the Agenda Office for placement of a personal appearance on the next available regular Commission agenda. We will contact you as soon as we confirm its placement on an agenda. If we can be of assistance, please call me at 372-4640. Sincerely, ar� ri z Director 94- '556 1� Miami op wow onvfa >F P. 0. BOX 330708 CESAR H. 0010 'f < MIAMI, FLORIDA 33233-0708 CITY MANAGER y�� Co, AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF FLIGHT TIME AT DADE HELICOPTER JET SERVICES ON WATSON ISLAND Date: Purpose of flight: Anticipated flight time: APPROVED: Cesar H. Odio, City Manager DENIED: Cesar H. Odio, City Manager (Note: Flight dates and times to be coordinated with Dade Helicopter) THIS PORTION TO BE COMPLETED BY DADE HELICOPTER JET SERVICES' INC. Date of flight: Actual flight time: Type of Helicopter: On behalf of Dade Helicopter Jet Services, Inc.,'I certify that the above information is true and correct: By: Print Name Acknowledgment by City representative: Print Name 9 4 - �5n