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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOMNI CRA 2015-06-25 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, June 25, 2015 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 June 25, 2015 RESOLUTIONS 1. 15-00794 Present: Chair Sarnoff, Vice Chair Suarez, Commissioner Gort and Commissioner Hardemon Absent: Commissioner Carollo On the 25th day of June 2015, 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 12:02 p.m., and was adjourned at 12:15 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: Pieter A. Bockweg, Executive Director, CRA Barnaby L. Min, Assistant General Counsel, CRA Todd B. Hannon, Clerk of the Board CRA RESOLUTION OMNI Community A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI Redevelopment REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENTAGENCY Agency ("CRA"), WITH ATTACHMENTS, AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH 14TH STREET DEVELOPMENT LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("14TH STREET), FOR THE SALE OF THE PARKING LOT LOCATED AT 1441 NORTH MIAMI AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA ("PROPERTY"), WHICH THE CRAACQUIRED FROM THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY"). 15-00794 Cover Memo.pdf 15-00794 Legislation.pdf 15-00794 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Board Member Gort, seconded by Vice -Chair Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Gort, Vice Chair Suarez and Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Hardemon and Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-15-0021 Chair Sarnoff. All right. I want to welcome everybody to the Thursday, June 25, 2015 meeting of the illustrious and honorable Omni Community Redevelopment Agency. Mr. Director and chair emeritus, Pieter Bockweg, you are now recognized. Pieter Bockweg (Executive Director, Omni Community Redevelopment Agency): Thank you, Mr. Chair, for that wonderful introduction. Commissioners, the first item on your agenda is the sale of the parking lot in the rear of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) office, the Firehouse. As part of our mission at the CRA, we obviously look to increase the tax base so that more monies can be reinvested in the community, and this piece of property is -- was requested by the neighboring property owner to use as part of their development. Per State Statute, we noticed and put advertisement in the Miami Herald on June 30. Just to give you a couple background things, we are selling the piece of property for $160 per square foot, which is right in the median of the comps that we had done for the area. We'll be selling the parking lot, and additionally, we'll have 10 parking spaces provided to us in their neighboring development garage at a value of $300, 000, so the total value of the deal is $1.580 million. If at any time the sale -- the property owner sells the property, then the CRA will have the choice of the $300, 000 City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 7/15/2015 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 25, 2015 2. 15-00797 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency cash or the 10 spots going into the new development. And that is the item before you. Chair Sarnoff Any questions? Do I have a motion? Board Member Gort: Move it. Chair Sarnoff. We have a motion by Commissioner Gort; second by Commissioner Suarez. Any discussion? Anyone from the public wishing to be heard? Great job. Lawyers did really good work. 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"), WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING A TWO-YEAR REIMBURSEMENT GRANT IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,875,000.00 ANNUALLY, TO SOUTH FLORIDA REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY ("SFRTA") TO ASSIST WITH THE EXTENSION OF DIRECT TRI-RAIL SERVICE INTO DOWNTOWN MIAMI AND THROUGH THE REDEVELOPMENT AREA; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH SFRTA, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM AND SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO DISBURSE FUNDS, AT HIS DISCRETION, ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS UPON PRESENTATION OF INVOICES AND SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE OMNI INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10040.920501.883000.00000. 15-00797 Cover Memo.pdf 15-00797 Legislation.pdf 15-00797 Exhibit A-SUB.pdf Motion by Vice -Chair Suarez, seconded by Board Member Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Commissioner Hardemon, Commissioner Gort, Vice Chair Suarez and Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-15-0022 Chair Sarnoff. Item 2. Item 2. Pieter Bockweg (Executive Director, Omni Community Redevelopment Agency): Item 2, Commissioner, we are very excited to bring before the Board our agreement with Tri-Rail in support of the Ultimate Development in downtown Miami. As you know -- and it's important to put this on the record -- that as a rule of thumb, the Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) or a CRA does not spend money outside of its boundary. However, there are certain exceptions within State Statute, and a legal opinion has been provided to us to state that, such that legally, we are able to provide to the overall development of Tri-Rail. The total agreement is for the value of $3, 750, 000, which will be distributed in two-year installments. It is in the form of a grant agreement, so we will be reimbursing them for invoices provided to the CRA, as we do with all other grant applications. As part of our negotiations, we focused on mainly two things: One, everybody in the Chapman House will be provided free ridership on the Metrorail or City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 7/15/2015 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 25, 2015 Tri-Rail, I should say; and along with that, we've also negotiated everybody that works in the MEC (Miami Entertainment Complex), so, obviously, the movie studio that we are building and will be completed on -- the TCO (Temporary Certificate of Occupancy), August 28, will have a 50 percent reduction in fare. We thought that was very important, not only for the movie studio, but also being able to connect the other counties as part of Tri-Rail, and having them come down through Tri-Rail instead of the cars increasing our traffic problems and parking. We are, of course, part of all media and publications. And like I said, the monies will be distributed in a two-year grant agreement, not to exceed $3, 750, 000, and that is the item before you, sir. Chair Sarnoff All right. Public hearing, I'm going to open the public hearing. First person that wishes to speak, Mr. Barry Johnson, followed by Joe Pena. Board Member Gort: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Barry Johnson: Is it working now? There we go. Thank you very much, and good afternoon, everyone. My name is Barry Johnson, president, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, 1601 Biscayne Boulevard in the Omni Complex, here talking today in support of the importance of Tri-Rail. We all know transportation is the number one challenge facing our community, and we are not only just a city in Miami or a County, but we're part of a -- the eighth largest region in America. Moving people in and out of the Metro area of Miami is going to be critical to the growth of our community. While there is no silver bullet to solve our transportation woes and the challenges ahead of us, bringing Tri-Rail into downtown certainly is a key puzzle part that will help make the overall job of building a transportation solution possible. It's probably the biggest no-brainer in the history of the earth, but the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce supports that and encourages your support, as well. Thank you very much. Chair Sarnoff Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Pena; after that, Javier Fernandez and Jack Stephens. Joe Pena: Thank you very much. I'm Joe Pena. I'm director of Federal Relations and Special Projects for Miami Dade College. On behalf of our Miami Dade College president, Dr. Eduardo Padron, I would like to express our support for the Tri-Rail extension to the Florida East Coast Railway Corridor and the utilization of Miami Central. Over the past five decades, Miami Dade College has grown into one of the largest employers in South Florida, and the largest institution of higher education in the country, with over 165,000 students. More than half of our students are first in their families to attend college. Well over half -- 69 percent -- work while attending college; 46 percent are below the poverty line. So we know that the cost of life, the cost of education, the cost of transportation; the hassles of traffic congestions is an issue for our students. Our students and our employees live in communities throughout Miami -Dade and Broward Counties, and many spend a significant amount of their day traveling through our campuses. At our downtown Wolfson Campus, over 30,000 students and staff have to battle significant travel congestion as the Business District continues to expand, bringing additional employees and consumers to the area. For us, the addition of direct trains per weekdays from all points north on the existing Tri-Rail System to the all -new Miami Central Station will provide a convenient, less time-consuming, less costly way for our students and staff to travel to our Wolfson -- our downtown Wolfson Campus; certainly, to travel to work, to attend class and for students and others to participate in the many programs, cultural programs that we offer downtown, including the Miami Book Fair International and the Miami International Film Festival. At Miami Dade College, we also well understand the well importance of stretching the dollar. We, as a historically under funded State institution, we understand the value that public private partnerships have and the important role that they can play in addressing community needs in a cost-effective way. We urge you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to expand the Transit Center currently under construction to include Tri-Rail so that the residents and visitors alike, and our Miami Dade college students and employees can reap City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 7/15/2015 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 25, 2015 the benefits years to come. Thank you for your consideration. Chair Sarnoff Thank you. Please extend our wishes to Eduardo Padron. Mr. Pena: Thank you, sir. Mr. Bockweg: Mr. Chair, if I may, real quick, before Javier speaks. In our briefings, I had mentioned there are two slight amendments to the contract, which Javier will also explain. One is a scrivener error; one is an additional Federal requirement. But I don't want to make -- I wanted to make sure that you are aware, so when we vote on the item, it will be as amended, and we've already provided it to the Clerk. Javier Fernandez: Good evening, Mr. Chair and Members of the Commission. Javier Fernandez, with law offices at 150 West Flagler Street. First, thank you for your time, and I'll be very brief. If there are any questions, we're happy to answer them. Without any questions, we'll just move into addressing the two quick changes. If you turn to page 3, it's Sections 6.3 to begin. This is the discounted fares provision. We have to at the end of the introductory sentence add a slight disclaimer, which is it'll be subject to the completion of a fare equity analysis and approval of that analysis by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority Board. And that is simply a study to make sure -- it's a Federal requirement that we are not discriminating or in any way creating barriers to access for transit for low- and moderate -income individuals. The second slight modification is to 6.4. The first sentence reads: "SFRTA (South Florida Regional Transportation Authority) shall operate not less than 26 daily trains." Those are actually weekday trains, and so we need to make that slight modification. Chair Sarnoff One more time. Board Member Gort: Well, wait a minute. What was that again? Chair Sarnoff Yeah; one more time. Mr. Fernandez: Twenty-six daily trains. It's more accurately characterized as 26 weekday trains. That is the level of services; obviously, higher during the week than it is on the weekends, and we just wanted that properly reflected in the agreement. Okay, that's the sum of our comments, and if you have any questions, we're happy to answer them. Thank you. Chair Sarnoff Good. Thank you. And the last speaker that's listed -- and then we'll go to Mr. Cruz -- is Jack Stephens. Jack Stephens: Thank you, Mr. Chair; appreciate this opportunity. I'm here representing, of course, as executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. We've worked long and hard with your executive director in crafting this particular document. We're very excited about it and very pleased. It will go before my board tomorrow, Friday. We're hoping to have the fare analysis done by then; if not, we will have that delegated to Commissioner Abrams, who's been working long and hard on this project. We don't anticipate any problems, whatsoever at this point in time with moving this forward. Once again, as Pieter has asked -- he's pretty much number one out the gate and we're very excited. Any kind of questions or support that you need from me, please let me know. Chair Sarnoff Any questions? All right, thank you, Mr. Stephens. Mr. Stephens: Thank you. Chair Sarnoff Mr. Cruz. City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 7/15/2015 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 25, 2015 Mariano Cruz: Yes. Mariano Cruz, 1227 Northwest 26th Street. I support and I am in favor of everything that's transportation and moving the people, because that's the big problem that we got. But I'm going to say now -- this gave me the opportunity -- my son is a bus driver. He drive buses for all over the East Coast, you know, from Miami to Orlando, Jacksonville, all around, but he cannot pick up in Miami, because he have to have a special license to pick up people in Miami. He pick up people in -- all over -- Fort Lauderdale, there; Jacksonville; all the East Coast; New York. Sometime, he stay two weeks in New York. And he cannot pick up people in Miami because they say he got to have a special license to pick up people in Miami. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Maybe it have to be so; otherwise, I'll be running for Commissioner in Miami or I'll be running in Miami -Dade, and I have the time and the money to do it, and I'm not scared of anybody. Thank you. Chair Sarnoff Thank you. Vice Chair Suarez: So moved. Chair Sarnoff We have a motion by Commissioner Suarez. Board Member Hardemon: Second. Chair Sarnoff Second by Commissioner Hardemon. Any -- Todd B. Hannon (Clerk of the Board): There's still other people waiting to speak. Chair Sarnoff Sony, sorry. Irvans Augustin: Good evening, Commissioner. My name is Irvans Augustin. I'm here representing -- Chair Sarnoff Wait, wait. Pick up the mike, because I couldn't hear you. Mr. Augustin: Is this better? Chair Sarnoff Yes. Mr. Augustin: How are you doing? Good morning. My name is Irvans Augustin. I'm here on behalf of TRAC, Transit Action Committee, and we just want to provide our support for this Amendment Number 2, and we -- it's long overdue, and we hope sincerely that it moves forward. Thank you. Chair Sarnoff All right. Any further dis -- Francine Madera: Just trying to get there. Francine Madera, 1800 North Bayshore Drive. I'm here to speak on supporting Tri-Rail and bringing more transit to downtown Miami. I'm supporting them in every effort for the locals. Thank you. Chair Sarnoff Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience that wants to speak to item number 2, Tri-Rail? Board Member Gort: Do you understand the motion that was made? Chair Sarnoff The motion was to support, right? Vice Chair Suarez: Yes. City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 7/15/2015 OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 25, 2015 ADJOURNMENT Board Member Gort: To support. Chair Sarnoff Right, right. Is there anyone else left? Because I don't want to exclude anyone, and that's the item of business we're on. Hearing none, seeing none, public hearing is now closed; coming back to the Commission. Any discussion? Hearing no discussion, all in favor, please say "aye." The Board (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Hannon: As amended. Chair Sarnoff Thank you. We're in adjournment. Vice Chair Suarez: As amended. Chair Sarnoff As amended. Unidentified Speaker: When do we return from lunch? Mr. Bockweg: Thank you. Unidentified Speaker: Three o'clock. Vice Chair Suarez: I won't be here. Board Member Gort: It's 3 o'clock. Vice Chair Suarez: I won't be here. Board Member Gort: You won't be here. Okay. I might not be here, either. Vice Chair Suarez: Not that you need me. The meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m. City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 7/15/2015