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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOMNI CRA 2011-03-10 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 10, 2011 2:00 PM or thereafter SPECIAL MEETING Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, Florida OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Marc David Sarnoff, Chairman Francis Suarez, Vice -Chairman Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner Frank Carollo, Commissioner Richard P. Dunn II, Commissioner CRA OFFICE ADDRESS: 49 NW 5th ST, SUITE 100, Miami, FL 33128 Phone: (305) 679-6800, Fax: (305) 679-6835 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 10, 2011 RESOLUTIONS 1. 11-00172 Present: Commissioner Gort, Commissioner Dunn II, Chair Sarnoff, Vice Chair Suarez and Commissioner Carollo On the 10th day of March 2011, the Board of Commissioners of the Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Miami met in special session at Historic Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida. The meeting was called to order by Chair Sarnoff at 4: 48 p.m. and was adjourned at 4: 56 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: Pieter Bockweg, Executive Director, CRA Veronica Xiques, Assistant General Counsel, CRA William R. Bloom, Special Counsel, CRA Priscilla A. Thompson, Clerk of the Board CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA") AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A GRANT, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,143,000, TO THE CITY OF MIAMI TO AID IN ITS MATCHING FUNDS OBLIGATION UNDER THE FLORIDA INLAND NAVIGATION DISTRICT ("FIND") GRANT FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO THE BAYWALKAT MUSEUM PARK; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO DISBURSE FUNDS, AT HIS DISCRETION, ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS OR DIRECTLY TO VENDORS, UPON PRESENTATION OF INVOICES AND SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM OMNI TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10040.920101.883000.0000.00000. File 11-00172 02-28-2011 Cover Memo.pdf File 11-00172 02-28-2011 Financial Form.pdf File 11-00172 02-28-2011 Backup.pdf File 11-00172 02-28-2011 Legislation.pdf File 11-00172 03-10-2011 Cover Memo.pdf File 11-00172 03-10-2011 Legislation (Signed).pdf File 11-00172 02-28-2011 Legislation (Version 2).pdf Motion by Board Member Dunn II, seconded by Board Member Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Gort, Commissioner Dunn II, Chair Sarnoff and Vice Chair Suarez Absent: Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-11-0013 Chair Sarnoff I want to welcome everybody to the -- what is today's date? Pieter Bockweg (Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Tenth. Chair Sarnoff -- Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) of today's meeting -- March 10, 2011. Mr. Director, I believe we have one resolution. City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 8/29/2011 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 10, 2011 Mr. Bockweg: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Before you is a resolution to do a matching grant for a FIND (Florida Inland Navigation District) grant for the construction or extension of the bay walk installation of lighting, benches, trash receptors [sic] and decorative pavers. The total amount of the grant is 2.2 million, and what's before you is a matching grant from the CRA for 1.1. Chair Sarnoff So this would be an opportunity for FIND to match whatever we put in up to the 2.2 million? Mr. Bockweg: That's correct. Chair Sarnoff All right. Madam City Attorney, have you been able to give each Commissioner a copy of your memorandum? Veronica Xiques (Assistant General Counsel): They were delivered and signed for by each Commissioner on Thursday, March 3. Chair Sarnoff Okay. Has each Commissioner had the opportunity to read it? All right. Is there a motion? Commissioner Dunn: So move. Chair Sarnoff Motion by Commissioner Dunn. Is there a second? Vice Chair Suarez: Second for discussion. Chair Sarnoff Second by Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez, you're recognized for the record. Vice Chair Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The last time we broached this subject, we talked about whether or not this was an eligible expenditure of funds by the CRA. And the City Attorney mentioned at that CRA meeting that the global agreement shed light on the intention of the City in terms of whether or not this was going to be a CRA funded project or whether it was a City funded project. I went back and looked at the statute, and I think the statute, when you read it -- and I'll read it -- it's pretty clear. That it says the following projects may not be paid for or financed by increment revenues, and it says the installation, construction, reconstruction, repair, or alteration of any publicly -owned capital improvement or projects if such projects or improvements were scheduled to be installed, constructed, reconstructed, repaired, or altered within three years of the approval of the community redevelopment plan by the governing body, pursuant to a previously -approved public capital improvement or projects schedule or plan of the governing body which approved the community redevelopment plan unless and until such projects or improvements have been removed from such schedule or plan of the governing body and three years have elapsed since such removal or such projects or improvements were identified in such schedule or plan to be funded in whole or in part with funds on deposit within the community redevelopment trust fund. And what I looked at in addition to what the City Attorney had mentioned was that the mere inclusion of the Museum Park in the capital plan -- in a five-year capital plan does not require the presumption that it is being scheduled to be installed constructed, or reconstructed within three years, and I'll explain to you why. It's a five-year capital plan, okay. Because it's merely included in a five-year capital plan, that doesn't mean that it's being scheduled to be installed, constructed or reconstructed within three years, so that's one issue. The secondary issue is that if you look back in the capital plans, which I actually went back and we looked at the capital plans for the last four years, you'll see that in each capital plan the funding level for that project is zero, which shows or demonstrates that the City did -- had not -- it's a $68 million project. So the fact that it's funded at a zero dollar level City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 8/29/2011 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 10, 2011 indicates to me that it's not scheduled to be constructed, if it's a $68 million project, within three years. So, (a) -- number one, its mere inclusion in a five-year capital plan doesn't mean that it's scheduled to be constructed in three years. And (b), the fact that it wasn't funded in that capital plan means that it wasn't contemplated to be constructed in three years. So you wouldn't even get to the second part of the statute, which shows that it has to be removed from that capital plan for three years. The intent of the statute is to make sure that the City doesn't substitute monies that they had already allocated in the capital plan for monies that are later becoming eligible through redevelopment dollars and they're not doing a swap. And since in the capital plan the money allocated was zero, there clearly isn't a swap and it wasn't scheduled to be constructed because -- just because it's in the capital plan -- a five-year capital plan, it could have been contemplated at the fifth year, not within the first three years. So just its mere inclusion in the five-year capital plan doesn't mean that it's scheduled to be built in three years. It could have been built in year five. But in addition to that, in that capital plan and going back, if you go back to the prior capital plans from years prior, it wasn't funded. So you can't even make the -- you can't even make a plausible argument that it was scheduled to be funded within five years because it wasn't allocated any money. I mean, I don't know if the City Attorney sees it differently or if anything I'm saying is incorrect. Ms. Xiques: No, Commissioner. We absolutely agree. The funding sources were always zero. They were -- you can't build something without having the money to build it, which is essentially what we're trying to say. There has been a misstatement that says that what the statute actually says is that the project can't be built until it's been removed from the City's capital budget for three years, and that's not what it says. If there had been a funding source attached to the project that was a City of Miami funding source, that would be the case. But as Commissioner Suarez explained, he is correct because there was no funding source attached; the project was not scheduled to be built. Vice Chair Suarez: And by the way, I thank members of the community that come and are -- and question because, you know, there have been times where we haven't demonstrated a record of doing things in a very, you know, correct manner. And so it's their prerogative and their responsibility to act as a watchdog against this body and against its attorneys, et cetera, et cetera. But -- and that's what caused me to go back and research and read the statute and look at our capital plans to see how the facts were fitting the statute. And I think when you look at the statute and you fit the facts, it's pretty clear that we had not contemplated construction of that within five years. And its mere inclusion in the five-year capital plan doesn't prove that and in the fact that it hasn't been funded also is very, very strong evidence. And you could even say the fact that there was a global agreement is additional evidence that, you know, there was no contemplation for this to be funded within three years. Chair Sarnoff All right. Anyone else wish to be heard? I -- you know, I want to say something to you, Commissioner. The first time I've looked at it that way is by you right now, and I think you're dead right. And I'm usually not swayed by argument. Usually, you go in there with a preconceived notion, and I had my own analysis. I actually think your analysis is dead on, and my hays off to you as a lawyer. So, all right, hearing no further discussion, all in favor, please say Eye." The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Sarnoff Okay, Omni is now closed. City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 8/29/2011