Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutOMNI CRA 2014-03-05 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Wednesday, March 5, 2014 12:00 PM Miami City Hall OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Marc David Sarnoff, Chair Francis Suarez, Vice Chair Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner Frank Carollo, Commissioner Keon Hardemon, Commissioner OMNI & MIDTOWN CRA OFFICE ADDRESS: 1401 N. Miami Avenue, 2nd Floor, Miami 33136 Phone: (305) 679-6868 www.miamicra.com OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 FINANCIALS 1. 14-00195 RESOLUTIONS 2. 14-00196 Present: Chair Sarnoff, Commissioner Gort and Commissioner Hardemon Absent: Vice Chair Suarez and Commissioner Carollo On the 5th day of March 2014, the Board of Commissioners of the OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Miami met in regular session at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida. The meeting was called to order by Chair Sarnoff at 12:07 p.m. and was adjourned at 12:37p.m. ALSO PRESENT: Pieter A. Bockweg, Executive Director, CRA Barnaby L. Min, Assistant General Counsel, CRA Todd B. Hannon, Clerk of the Board CRA REPORT PRESENTATION OF EXTERNAL AUDIT REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013. 14-00195 Cover Memo.pdf 14-00195 Report-OMNI External Audit for FY 2013.pdf PRESENTED Chair Sarnoff. All right, I want to welcome everybody to the Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) March 5, Wednesday meeting at noon. Mr. Director, would you present the financials? Pieter Bockweg (Director Omni Community Redevelopment Agency): Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Before you again, we want to make sure we do the annual audit and present it to you with their findings. Again, I'm happy to report that it was a clean audit. Richie. Richie Tandoc: Good afternoon. Richie Tandoc again, with Sanson, Kline, Jacomino, Tandoc and Gamarra, our partner in charge of the audit of the Omni CRA. Our presentation is the same as that of the Midtown. We have issued an unmodified opinion, which is a clean opinion for the Omni CRA as of September 30, 2013, and the -- we have also issued our report on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) control over financial reporting and on compliance and other matters as well as our management letter for the year ended September 30, 2013, and we noted no material weaknesses, no material non-compliance issues or any significant deficiencies for the year. Chair Sarnoff. All right, any questions? Thank you; appreciate it. Mr. Tandoc: Thank you. CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENTAGENCY ("CRA"), WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE CRA'S PROPOSED AMENDED GENERAL OPERATING BUDGETAND TAX INCREMENT FUND BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2013 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2014; DIRECTING THE City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO TRANSMITA COPY OF EACH BUDGET TO THE CITY OF MIAMI AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. 14-00196 Cover Memo.pdf 14-00196 Legislation.pdf 14-00196 Exhibit 1.pdf Motion by Board Member Hardemon, seconded by Board Member Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Hardemon, Commissioner Gort and Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Carollo and Vice Chair Suarez CRA-R-14-0019 Chair Sarnoff. CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) item number 2, Mr. Director. Pieter Bockweg (Executive Director, Omni Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 2, Mr. Chair, is the annual amended budget for the Omni CRA. I'd like to point out a couple things so that we are aware and I mentioned into your briefings. The contribution from the City was significantly reduced from our anticipated number by about $470, 000, so that is a significant change from what was approved on September 26. The other thing I'd like to mention is that last year, we do have a carryover fund balance from our operating budget of about $169,000, so we were under budget by $169,000, so we carried that over to this year. The reason why I mention that is because, if you recall, on September 26, the estimated budget you approved showed an inner fund transfer of $700, 000 into our operating budget. I have reduced that in the proposed budget before you to $600,000, so that we can allocate more money to projects within the community. There are a couple of line items difference in the general revenue budget; the first one you'll note is on page 3 is the CRA Police. This will be something that will be coming before you in the future -- in the near future -- and what we're looking to do is to create a -- enhance police services in the Omni CRA by use of the City of Miami Police Department. This is a little different than that of the Police Visibility Grant, which is in the budget as you see. Police Visibility Grant is overtime pay. It is based on special projects or special operations that they do within the district. Something that we've been looking into for some time now is enhancing police services on a permanent basis, and so the second line item under the inner fund transfer on that -- for the CRA Police is $825,000. We feel that should be -- suffice to pay for six additional officers. Currently, there are six officers within the CRA District on patrol; and to enhance that and improve the quality of life, we're looking to possibly enhance that by an additional six. This will be coming before you again by way of a grant agreement as well as the City Commission for final approval, but I felt it prudent to put it in the proposed budget already. And the only other item that's of significant change from September 26 is on the very last page; $175,000 for homeless assistance. Homeless is obviously an issue citywide, but obviously, it is, as well, in the slum and blighted area of Omni CRA, so we thought it important to also put some money aside for the homeless issue within the Omni CRA. And those are the significant changes from the September 26 estimated budget that was approved. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Chair Sarnoff Thank you. Any of the Board Members have any questions? Board Member Hardemon: Move to approve. Chair Sarnoff All right, we have a motion. Board Member Gort: Second. Chair Sarnoff. We have a second. All in favor, please say "aye." The Board (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 3. 14-00197 4. 14-00198 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA"), AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CRAAND AD -PRO USA, INC. TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE SERVICES ON CRA OFFICE BUILDING FOR A PERIOD OF ONE (1) YEAR, AT A TOTAL COST NOT TO EXCEED $ 6,000 PER YEAR, WITH THE OPTION TO RENEW FOR THREE(3) ADDITIONAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIODS; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM OMNI CRA'S GENERAL OPERATING FUND, "REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE SERVICES," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10030.920501.546000.0000.00000. 14-00197 Cover Memo.pdf 14-00197 Legislation.pdf 14-00197 Back -Up Documents.pdf Motion by Board Member Gort, seconded by Board Member Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Hardemon, Commissioner Gort and Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Carollo and Vice Chair Suarez CRA-R-14-0020 Chair Sarnoff. Okay, item number 3. H. Bert Gonzalez: Good afternoon, Board, Commissioners. Bert Gonzalez, assistant director. Item number three is here to be -- renewed contract. It's recommended the Board of Commissioners of the Omni Redevelopment -- Community Redevelopment Agency approve and adopt the attached resolution authorizing the execution of a professional service agreement between Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) and Ad -Pro to provide maintenance services on the Omni CRA office building for a period of one year; a total cost of not exceeding $6, 000 annually. This is the annual renewal for the three years remaining of a three-year contract. Chair Sarnoff All right. Board Member Gort: Move it. Chair Sarnoff We have a motion by Commissioner Gort. Board Member Hardemon: Second. Chair Sarnoff Second by Commissioner Hardemon. Any discussion? Hearing no discussion, all in favor, please say "aye." The Board (Collectively): Aye. CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA"), AUTHORIZING THE EXERCISE OF THE SECOND ONE-YEAR City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 RENEWAL OPTION UNDER THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CRA AND HORSEPOWER ELECTRIC, INC. TO PROVIDE STREETLIGHT MAINTENANCE SERVICES ON CRA MAINTAINED STREETLIGHTS, AT A TOTAL COST NOT TO EXCEED $15,000 PER YEAR; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM OMNI TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER CONTRACTURAL SERVICES," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10040.920501.534000.0000.00000. 14-00198 Cover Memo.pdf 14-00198 Legislation.pdf 14-00198 Back -Up Documents.pdf Motion by Board Member Gort, seconded by Board Member Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Hardemon, Commissioner Gort and Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Carollo and Vice Chair Suarez CRA-R-14-0021 Chair Sarnoff. All right, CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) number 4. H. Bert Gonzalez (Assistant Director, Omni Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 4: A resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency, authorizing the exercise of the second one-year renewal option under the agreement with Horsepower Electric for maintenance of certain streetlights, for a total amount not to exceed $15, 000 a year. Chair Sarnoff All right. Board Member Gort: Move it. Chair Sarnoff. We have a motion by Commissioner Gort. Board Member Hardemon: Second. Chair Sarnoff Second by Commissioner Hardemon. Any discussion? Hearing no discussion, all in favor, please say "aye." The Board (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Gonzalez: Thank you, Board. 5. CRA RESOLUTION 14-00199 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA"), WITH ATTACHMENTS, AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE THE LEASE AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH EUE/SCREEN GEMS LTD, INC., FOR THE DESIGN, BUILD -OUT, MANAGEMENT, AND OPERATION OF THE MIAMI ENTERTAINTMENT COMPLEX ("MEC") LOCATED AT 50 NW 14 STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. CRA-R-11-0043 ADOPTED JULY 28, 2011 AND RESOLUTION NO. CRA-R-13-0073 ADOPTED NOVEMBER 20, 2013, WHICH APPROVED REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 13-001; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ANY City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 RELATED AGREEMENTS AND MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING IN FORMS ACCEPTABLE TO THE GENERAL COUNSEL. 14-00199 Cover Memo.pdf 14-00199 Legislation.pdf 14-00199 Exhibit 1.pdf Motion by Board Member Gort, seconded by Board Member Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Hardemon, Commissioner Gort and Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Carollo and Vice Chair Suarez CRA-R-1 4-0022 Chair Sarnoff Item number 5, Mr. director. Pieter Bockweg (Executive Director, Omni Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 5, Mr. Chair -- and I'm happy to say that it has finally come before you after a long-awaited time -- as you recall, we had the bond issuance that we had to deal with for the port tunnel. And on November of last year, we had approved or authorized me to go ahead and start negotiations with EUE/Screen Gems for the operation, design and build of the movie studio. I'd like to point out a couple things, and I'd like to first start out by thanking Chris Cooney and his team, Aecom; Gus, as well as Christian and Facchina with Jose and Joshua. And I'd like to thank my team, obviously, Barnaby and Bert. All of us was integral in this processing and it is before you. The presentation that I want to make with you and what is before you -- and I want to make sure that we understand and see how the spirit of negotiations of this contract really came about. As you know, I've negotiated many contracts for the City of Miami, and the City of Miami had traditionally always been short-term gain; what is in it on the short-term basis. The contract that is before you that's been negotiated is a long-term partnership. And when I say "long term," the term of the lease is 19 years. So with that in mind, we want to make sure we create a document before you for final approval that showed that long-term commitment and partnership between EUE/Screen Gems and the Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). The reason why it's 19 years, Commissioners, is because the Omni CRA will sunset in the year 2030. So before you, we have the lease agreements where it would be for two sound stages of 15,000 square feet apiece, office space, post production, pre production, et cetera. And it is important to you to see the significance of the economic development that this will create; bear notice, on a yearly basis had an economic impact of about $30 million in the City of Miami. This is two sound stages. This will anticipate to have an economic impact of $60 million per year annually. Two shows will be able to produce in this facility like Burn Notice has. In the terms of the contract, it's a 10-year commitment. That is an economic impact in 10 years of $600 million potentially, which I believe is huge economic development for the CRA and, of course, City of Miami and Miami -Dade County. Before I get into very specifics, Mr. Chair, if you would allow me, I'd like to introduce Chris Cooney, who is the chief operating officer ofEUE/Screen Gems to say a few words, and I would like to ask him up and kind of give you the idea of the importance and the economic impact of what this will ultimately produce. Chair Sarnoff Mr. Cooney, you're recognized for the record. Chris Cooney: Chris Cooney, chief operating officer, EUE/Screen Gems. Thank you, distinguished Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen; thank you, Pieter. We're honored to be here to take on this project with the City in a long-term arrangement. We're a family -owned business, and we're used to doing very long-term deals with our clients, with the community that we work in and create a real partnership, a public private partnership. Recently did this in Atlanta to great success in a very, very distraught area of the city; had a lot of crime, a lot of economic issues, getting no attention. We came into a situation in Atlanta and turned that whole area around; worked with the community, created jobs; 'cause it's about jobs, short-term jobs. When the movie companies come in, what they do, it's like a cloud of economic activity that comes into City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 an area that has the right infrastructure, the right incentives and the right workforce. You also need a good airport, you need good hotels, you need great restaurants. That's an attraction. Talent lives here, as well, but the jobs come from the local community to fill the service part of this industry and maintain a relationship with the client base in California, which is our job. We have these relationships that we've accrued over 35 years. So I think it's a perfect partnership to take an area, the Omni, that I think has seen, you know, a downturn in that one corner that really deserves the kind of TLC (tender loving care) that a long-term operator like ours can bring to it, and that's what you get in EUE/Screen Gems. It's a family -owned company. We're very service -minded. We're on top of everything from the local community to the needs of the actors that come there. And we're very excited about this opportunity. I think it's a trifecta, a win/win/win for everybody involved but it can't be done over three to five years; it's a long-term business that you have to create and nurture and bring along over a period of time where success is found when you have long-term shows that come and stay for years, and they create a home away from home for them. That's where the $30 million per year of economic activity comes with; TV show that stays and creates a home in this area, this Omni District. So we're very excited about that. I just got to credit Barnaby, Pieter and Bert on creating a very tough negotiation. These guys made sure that everything was thought through to protect the City. We had a similar thing with Atlanta, but we had a much more, I'd say, desperate situation in Atlanta than you have here. You've had two and a half years to work something out on this project. It's a long-term process to plan it correctly, to execute it properly, and I credit these gentlemen for doing a fine job; made my job a lot harder, but it's a very close situation to Atlanta, which has now been a big success for our company and big success to the city. To take an area like this that was an afterthought -- it went to sleep for a bunch of years, the property that we have in Atlanta. It's now awakened with Hunger Game shooting there. BET (Black Entertainment Television) set up their own facility within our facility. And here, we see the same thing. It's a property that I think laid fallow for too long, but now will be enlightened by this, and that's what we do, and we're very honored to be here. Chair Sarnoff. Thanks, Mr. Cooney. Any Commissioners have any questions or comments? Board Member Gort: Well, I'd like to have -- not of him, but I'd like to have the -- thank you, sir. Mr. Cooney: Okay. Board Member Gort: I'd like to have the executive director give us the reso of the benefits, the main parts of the contract, and all this has been approved and recommended by our City Attorney. Mr. Bockweg: Yes, sir. I was going to get into that now. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The timing of this agreement and the construction starting in August could not be better. I'm not sure if you're aware; the State is finally moving forward in approving State film credits. There is a House bill that was published, and now a Senate bill that was unanimously approved by the subcommittee and it'll be moving forward to committee. Just to give you an idea about the seriousness and the importance of the tax credits, the House bill is proposed -- I'm not saying it will happen -- but the proposed benefit will be $200 million a year for the next six years. That's $1.2 billion in tax credits for the film industry. Board Member Gort: Six years? Mr. Bockweg: That's proposed; correct, sir. That's $1.2 billion in tax credits for the next year. As you know, this Omni CRA is very active in Tallahassee in ensuring that the interests of the Omni CRA are covered and vested. The tax credits would range from 20 to 30 percent, depending on where you shoot, who you hire, et cetera, et cetera. The Senate bill is not as fruitful as the House bill, and they're proposed between 50 and $100 million a year. So the number runs within that range, and we all know the importance of having the tax incentives City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 attract to the industry. Under the proposed schedule of construction, this facility will be open for operation in August of 2015, so we will actually only lose a year of those tax credits if they are passed this year, which is very, very important. So let me get -- Commissioner Gort, let me get into the specifics of the contract, and I'll start with the first source hiring agreements if you don't mind. There are two first source hiring agreements; one for operations and one for construction. The main business points that we were able to negotiate with EUE/Screen Gems are as follows: They will be required to hold two job workshops during the construction and operation phase of the facility. They are required to have an aspirational goal of hiring 30 percent of the residents in the local community. The reason why 30 percent is important, Commissioners, is if you recall, Commissioner Spence -Jones, District 5's predecessor, had initiated that in the Omni CRA upon her return. We will help facilitate those job hiring requirements by using the City of Miami Workforce Center, Workforce of South Florida, and other job -creating centers within the area. The other thing that we thought was very important is that we are requesting and requiring them to create partnerships with higher education institutions; whether that be Miami Dade College, UM (University of Miami), FIU (Florida International University), or even the Art and Design School within the Omni CRA. We thought this was important 'cause if you recall, part of the concerns was in the industry that all that talent in Miami -Dade County was leaving; they're all leaving Florida, for that matter; not even Miami -Dade County, so we wanted to create an atmosphere where we would require them to create those partnerships so that the students not only would get credits for their internships with the school, but also know that they have the opportunity for employment within the Omni CRA and the industry here, and not leaving the State of Florida. The reason why that's important is because the average annual salary of somebody that works on a set for a movie studio is $72, 000. That's a significant number, particularly in the City of Miami where the average income is far below that. Obviously, the standard auditing requirements are there as part of the first workforce -- first source hiring agreements, but those are the gist of the business requirements that are part of the operation, as well as the construction part of it. One quick note from the construction part: This requirement of hiring 30 percent does overlap into their contractors and subcontractors. Any questions on the first source hiring agreements? The MOU (Memo of Understanding), if I may, Mr. Chair, is the next agreement that is before you. The MOU basically states the obligations and requirements of the landlord and the tenant as part of the construction process and payments of the movie facility. We have a very aggressive schedule and deadline to build the facility. If you recall, the item that was approved last year was for a facility of about ten and a half million dollars. We felt it was prudent to increase that to eleven and a half million dollars, because there are always unforeseens and variables in construction that we did not know, and I think you are all aware of my dislike of change orders and unforeseen, but we wanted to make sure that we were prepared if those things occurred. That is, in essence, the gist of the MOU. It's our requirements and obligations as landlord and tenant for the payment process and construction of the movie studio. The reason why it's an MOU is 'cause we are actually contracting with EUE/Screen Gems. EUE/Screen Gems has a construction contract, obviously, with Facchina, who is their local partner for construction and Aecom, but we don't have a contract with them, 'cause they were never part of the RFP (Request for Proposals) respondent. EUE was the head of that snake, so to speak, so that is why it is an MOU. If you have any questions regarding that, I'll be more than happy or Bert and Barnaby will be more than happy to answer those following questions. Oh, as part -- thank you, Bert -- as part of the construction process and MOU, we felt it was prudent -- excuse me -- to have a owner's rep as part of that construction process to verdy whatever is -- we're getting invoice for is being built, so what will be coming before you in the next month or so is an -- a grant agreement with the City of Miami CIP (Capital Improvements Program) Department so that Robert Fenton, who I'm sure you all are very aware of will be the owner's rep as part of this construction. I have worked with Robert for many years, and I find his work to be impeccable, so we thought it would be prudent to have that security blanket from an owner's rep standpoint. The lease -- and here's the, I guess, gist of it. Again, the lease does encompass the hiring requirements, the partnership requirements, the intern requirements. There are -- first source hiring are exhibits in the lease, so those are carried over into the lease themselves. The specific business terms which we were -- we thought were important and part of City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 the reason why our negotiations were stressful at times is, initially, we started out negotiating a contract, a lease contract that would encompass lease payments with State tax incentives and lease payments without State tax incentives. We found out pretty quickly that that was very cumbersome and there was no means to come to a median there. So ultimately, what we did was we threw out the State tax incentives altogether, so the lease payments are not dependent on them. So currently before you, Commissioners, the proposed contract before you, the terms are as follows: It's a 19-year term contract with the initial commitment of 10 years; a option to renew for the additional nine. The base rent, flat rent is $100,000 a year. Along with the $100,000 a year, we increased -- well, I say -- I shouldn't say "increased" -- but the gross revenue share is 11 percent of the -- whatever revenue is generated from the facility will be 11 percent will go to the CRA, above $750,000, and -- well, let me continue with the rest. There's an annual cap on CPI (Consumer Price Index) of 3 percent. As we all know, that fluctuates depending on the market, but we capped it at 3 percent. EUE will be responsible for -- one of the benefits of this is that the property will be going on the tax roll for the CRA. We have agreed that we would pay the property tax of the facility for 2015; every year thereafter, EUE/Screen Gems will be responsible for the property taxes. This is important, 'cause as you know, part of that property taxes goes to the City of Miami and the County, so that'd be additional revenue, not to mention the increased property values of the facility being built. We've also included an escrow account of $125, 000 for any securities or any changes that may occur. There's a late penalty fee of 5 percent on rent payments. And, of course, which is standard for a government agency, we are requiring a "no discrimination" clause for all hirees [sic]. To kind of put this into perspective, Commissioners, the initial contract that we were negotiating was for a fat rate of $200,000 with a five and a half percent gross revenue share. After doing the numbers from a CRA standpoint, this is a lot more beneficial from a return on investment purely on the revenue side, right -- purely monetary. There are many different kinds of return on investment, but purely on a monetary way, this proposed contract before you is a lot more beneficial, and those numbers were based on their response to the RFP of their anticipated actual annual gross revenue. The initial base rent might be lower, but the overall gross revenue is higher, and we feel that's important, because it'll give vested interest for everybody to do what we can to make it successful. As part of our agreement -- and we will continue to work on that in the sense of we are both committed -- this is not in the agreement, but I'd like to put it on the record -- that we are both, EUE ana of course, the CRA are committed in lobbying and continuing to lobbying the State legislators for continuing the tax credits so that the movie industry will be attracted back to South Florida. That, Commissioners, is the gist of the business terms of the contract. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer any of them. Chair Sarnoff All right, any Commissioners have any questions? Do I have a motion? Board Member Gort: Move it. Chair Sarnoff. We have a motion by Commissioner Gort. Board Member Hardemon: Second. Chair Sarnoff Second by Commissioner Hardemon. Any discussion? Hearing no discussion, all in favor, please say "aye." The Board (Collectively): Aye. Chair Sarnoff Thank you all very much. EUE? Unidentified Speaker: We call them "Screen Gems." Chair Sarnoff Screen Gems. Commissioner Gort was here. I've been here. It's been a very, very long road; very, very long road, but I think it was a fruitful road, and I know Commissioner City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 Gort and now Commissioner Hardemon are -- we're all committed to creating new industries in Miami, something that wasn't here before we became elected officials, so that everybody has an opportunity for a job. You are one of those industries. You happen to be a very labor-intensive industry. You happen to be a pretty well paid industry. That is why Commissioner Gort and I struggled so hard to get this here. It's going to be a great -- for years and years and years -- and we can go back to all the studies in the world that have been done in Miami -Dade County; whether it was Donald Trump that was going to do this, or somebody else was going to do that, and I know there are people that feel it's not the government's role to get involved in this issue. But I actually started at that place in time saying, "It's not government's role." And as I watched every state in the United States come up with tax incentives or tax reasons or financial incentives to get people to create movie opportunities -- that's been going on now for about 10 years. When I was in civil procedure in law school in New Orleans, Mary Landrieu sat to my left and Mitch Landrieu sat to my right; that is Senator Landrieu and now Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, and they are the biggest purveyors of financial incentives for the movie industry, and Louisiana now has a legitimate movie industry. We just have not done enough -- "we, " being this collective body of elected officials in the State of Florida for about 25 years -- to create a South Florida bricks and mortar movie studio. And despite the fact we haven't done that much, we are probably the third or fourth largest movie producer in the United States, and we don't even have the financial incentives of Michigan, of Georgia, or of Louisiana. So a lot of optimism; everybody pats themselves on the back. Right when they sign the contract, Mr. Fenton, your job is to make sure that that contract is fulfilled on a timely basis. I'm going to say it one more time: On a timely basis. This morning, I met with CIP, which is our improvement department here in the City of Miami. I'm sure you all have had these meetings. I'm sure you get the reasons why something can't be done, why something's late, or why something didn't get done. Mr. Fenton, your job is to make sure the job gets done, and I hope you hear this Board clearly. We chose you for a reason. So with that, anybody else want to make a comment? Commissioner Gort, you've been here a long time at this. Board Member Gort: Under budget. Let me tell you, the -- there's a lot of people that realize from 15, 20 years ago how important this industry is; talking about a $60 billion industry, which is a nice, clean environmental industry. We at the Latin Chamber of Commerce have created the film and entertainment industry. Every year, we have seminars. And right now, you have all of Latin America, they want to come here, they want to film here. And you got small producer, which is the people we would like to help, and I think this would be great for them. But at the same time, we show a lot of interest in people that -- from India -- that they want to come, they want to film here. China not only want to do business here, but -- with Latin America -- but they're willing to invest in small films. They're willing to put the money and pay. And, you know, we got a lot of good producers, but a lot of times, they don't have the funds to do so, 'cause it's controlled by certain segment of the industry. We even have Turkey, Spain, so it's not only Latin America, but you have Europe and people looking at Miami. It -- Miami is in the middle of the world right now. And so, hopefully, God willing, I know you're going to be very successful, and it's about time. Thank you. Chair Sarnoff Commissioner Hardemon. Board Member Hardemon: I'm not going to say much. I believe that the Commissioners, I'm sure, over time have expressed all the concerns that we have for what we're bringing to South Florida and the excitement that we share in. And all that I ask is that -- besides what they've said -- you just do good for the surrounding community; do good. This is an opportunity where we've purchased land in an area that needs redevelopment. That's the whole reason that we're sitting here today. If it were not for that community being in the condition that it was, we wouldn't be sitting here today in this fashion. So I ask that you do good for that community. Don't barricade yourselves within those walls that exist in this facility, but reach out within the surrounding community and make it better, okay? Thank you. City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 6/19/2014 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 Chair Sarnoff. And last, but not least, something I don't do very often, I'd like to thank Pieter Bockweg for putting up with me in dealing with this issue; Bert Gonzalez, who have dealt with probably not the nicer side of me on this issue. And Barnaby, thank you for getting the final ball home. And Chris, if you're wondering why it's so tough to deal with these guys, you're dealing with a Dutchman, a Cuban and a Korean. And if you've ever wanted to negotiate against those kind, it's just a tough -- it's a tough row to hoe. Mr. Cooney: I'm from New York, too. Chair Sarnoff There you go. Board Member Gort: He's used to it. Mr. Coney: But I'm very happy to be down in Miami. Chair Sarnoff Thank you all very much. Mr. Coney: I say that with all sincerity. Board Member Gort: Thank you. Move to acjourn. Chair Sarnoff Thank you, Mr. Cooney, thank you. Take care. The meeting adjourned at 12:37 p.m. City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 6/19/2014