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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSEOPW CRA 2010-06-28 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Monday, June 28, 2010 5:00 PM Frederick Douglass Elementary School 314 N.W. 12th Street Miami, FL 33136 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Richard P. Dunn II, Chairman Francis Suarez, Vice -Chairman Marc David Sarnoff, Commissioner Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner Frank Carollo, Commissioner ************************** CRA OFFICE ADDRESS: 49 NW 5th ST, SUITE 100, Miami, FL 33128 Phone: (305) 679-6800, Fax: (305) 679-6835 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 INVOCATION AND PLEDGE Present: Chair Dunn II, Commissioner Sarnoff, Vice Chair Suarez, Commissioner Carollo and Commissioner Gort FINANCIALS 1. 10-00801 RESOLUTIONS 2. 10-00789 On the 28th day of June 2010, the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Miami met in regular session at Frederick Douglass Elementary School, 314 N.W. 12th Street, Miami, Florida. The meeting was called to order by Chair Dunn at 5:19 p.m. and was adjourned at 6:03 p.m. Note for the Record: Commissioner Gort entered the SEOPW meeting at 5:22 p.m. and Commissioner Carollo entered the SEOPW meeting at 5:33 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: James H. Villacorta, Interim Executive Director, CRA Clarence Woods, Assistant Executive Director, CRA Gail A. Dotson, Assistant General Counsel, CRA William R. Bloom, Special Counsel, CRA Priscilla A. Thompson, City Clerk Pamela L. Latimore, Assistant Clerk of the Board Chair Dunn: Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency meeting to order. I'm going to ask that we would stand and have a moment of silent meditation. Moment of silence and pledge of allegiance delivered. CRA REPORT FINANCIAL SUMMARY THROUGH MONTH ENDING MAY 31, 2010. PRESENTED Chair Dunn: We're going to begin this meeting with item number 1, which is -- which we always start our meetings with our CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) report, our financial summary through month ending May 31, 2010. Miguel Valentin: Good evening, Commissioner Dunn and Commissioners. My name is Miguel Valentin, CRA Financial Officer. I'm going to be presenting the combined statement of financial position as of May 31, 2010 for the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA. The total cash balance that we have is 25, 467, 735. Also, for the affordable workforce housing project, as of to date, we have budgeted 10, 627, 658. This is the amount that we have encumbered. Out of that amount, we have expended 3, 280, 460, leaving an available balance of 3,687,375 unrestricted. Also for the month of May, there is no reportable condition to report to the Board. Chair Dunn: Any questions? CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A GRANT, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $500,000, TO THE CITY OF MIAMI, TO UNDERWRITE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH AN EXPANDED POLICE VISIBILITY PROGRAM WITHIN THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST REDEVELOPMENT AREA; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AT HIS DISCRETION, TO DISBURSE FUNDS 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 SEOPW TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.883000.0000.00000. Motion by Board Member Suarez, seconded by Board Member Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Chair Dunn II, Commissioner Sarnoff and Vice Chair Suarez Abstained: Commissioner Gort Absent: Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-10-0047 James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 2 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency authorizing the issuance of a grant, in an amount not to exceed 500,000 to the City of Miami to underwrite costs associated with an expanded police visibility program within the Southeast Overtown/Park West Redevelopment area; authorizing the executive director, at his discretion, to disburse the funds on a reimbursement basis or directly to vendors upon presentation of satisfactory invoices and documentation. This is -- this item was before the Board at the last meeting and we're seeking to increase the funding from $240, 000 last year to $500, 000 this year. The visibility program is an innovative community policing plan which provides enhanced police services, including increased patrols, special operations, traffic details, club checks, criminal sweeps, prostitution details, and undercover narcotics details within the Overtown Redevelopment area. Chair Dunn: Is there anyone that would like to speak from the public on this item? Seeing none, hearing none, is there a motion? Vice Chair Suarez: So move. Chair Dunn: It's been motioned by -- Commissioner Sarnoff.• Second. Chair Dunn: -- it's been properly motioned and second by Vice Chairman Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff. All in favor, let us hear by saying aye." Commissioner Gort: Sustain. Commissioner Sarnoff.• Aye. Vice Chair Suarez: Aye. Chair Dunn: Aye. City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 3. 10-00790 Chair Dunn: So moved. CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXPEND UP TO $75,000 WITH HOLLAND & KNIGHT, LLP, CRA SPECIAL COUNSEL, FOR LEGAL FEES AND COSTS TO PROVIDE SPECIALIZED LEGAL SERVICES TO THE CRA; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM SEOPW TAX INCREMENT FUND, "PROFESSIONAL SERVICES," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.531010.0000.00000. Motion by Board Member Suarez, seconded by Board Member Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Chair Dunn II, Commissioner Sarnoff, Commissioner Gort and Vice Chair Suarez Absent: Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-10-0048 Chair Dunn: Next item. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 3 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency authorizing the executive director to expend up to $75,000 with Holland & Knight, LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) special counsel, for legal fees and costs, to provide specialized legal services to the CRA. Chair Dunn: Is there anyone who would like -- from the public who'd like to speak on this item? Hearing none, seeing none, any comments from the Commission or is there a motion? Vice Chair Suarez: So moved. Commissioner SarnoffSecond. Chair Dunn: It's been properly motioned again by Vice Chairman Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff. Any discussion? All in favor, let us hear by saying hhye. " The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Dunn: So moved. 4. CRA RESOLUTION 10-00796 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY("CRA") RATIFYING THE EXERCISE OF THE FIRST ONE (1) YEAR OPTION TERM UNDER THE AGREEMENT WITH SANSON, KLINE, JACOMINO & COMPANY, LLP TO PROVIDE EXTERNAL AUDITING SERVICES TO THE CRA, AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED $33,000, WITH AN City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 5. 10-00787 OPTION TO INCLUDE SINGLE AUDIT SERVICES, IF REQUIRED, FOR AN ADDITIONAL FEE NOT TO EXCEED $7,000 PER YEAR; ALLOCATING FUNDING FROM SEOPW TAX INCREMENT FUND, "ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.532000.0000.00000. Motion by Board Member Gort, seconded by Board Member Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Chair Dunn II, Commissioner Sarnoff, Commissioner Gort and Vice Chair Suarez Absent: Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-1 0-0049 Chair Dunn: Item number 4. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 4 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency ratifying the exercise of the first one-year option under the term of the agreement with Sanson Kline Jacomino & Company, LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) to provide external auditing services to the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) at a cost not to exceed 33,000, with an option to include single audit services, if required, for an additional fee not to exceed $7, 000 per year. Chair Dunn: Is there anyone who would like to speak from the public on this item? Hearing none, seeing none, any discussion from the Commission or is there a motion? Commissioner Gort: Move it. Commissioner Sarnoff: Second. Chair Dunn: Been properly motioned by Commissioner Gort and seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff. Any discussion? Gail A. Dotson (Assistant General Counsel, Community Redevelopment Agency): Chairman, we just received a substitute, but it's a minor change. This is a resolution by the Southeast Overtown/Park West Redevelopment Agency, and if you -- in the first paragraph, it indicated that it was a resolution by Southeast Overtown/Park West and Omni, so it was modified just to include Southeast Overtown/Park West and to delete Omni. Okay? Chair Dunn: I believe Commissioner -- Vice Chairman Suarez, you -- Vice Chair Suarez: No. I -- that was my question as well, what was the substitution about, so I'm satisfied with the explanation. Chair Dunn: Any other discussion from any of the Commissioners? All in favor, let us hear by saying llye. " The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL FUNDING, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $120,000, FORA TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $240,000, TO City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 KEEP MIAMI BEAUTIFUL, INC., FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE SUMMER YOUTH ENVIRONMENTAL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO DISBURSE FUNDS, AT HIS DISCRETION, ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS OR DIRECTLY TO VENDORS, UPON PRESENTATION OF SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL; ALLOCATING FUNDING FROM SEOPW TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.883000.0000.00000. Motion by Board Member Suarez, seconded by Board Member Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Chair Dunn II, Commissioner Sarnoff, Commissioner Gort and Vice Chair Suarez Absent: Commissioner Carollo CRA-R-10-0050 Chair Dunn: Next item, please. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 5 is a resolution of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency authorizing additional funding in an amount not to exceed $120, 000 for a total amount not to exceed $240, 000 to Keep Miami Beautiful, Inc., for the expansion of its Summer Youth Environmental Employment Program; authorizing the executive director to disperse the funds at his discretion on a reimbursement basis or directly to vendors upon presentation of satisfactory documentation; further authorizing the executive director to execute all documents necessary for said purpose. This is an expansion of the summer job program for the youth, which was requested by the Board at the last meeting. Chair Dunn: Is there any comment from the public? Anyone from the public like to comment on this? Hearing none, seeing none -- Vice Chair Suarez: Move it. Commissioner Sarnoff: Second. Chair Dunn: It's been motioned by Vice Chairman Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff. Before we take the vote, I would like to say that I want to thank each of the colleagues here on the Commission [sic] for your support in this endeavor. This is a worthwhile initiative. As you know, we initially requested this support for 80 summer jobs. The response was overwhelming. It was a plethora of about 600 -- Mr. Villacorta: Six hundred. Chair Dunn: -- applicants, which unfortunately -- and I want to put it on record -- we could not fulfill the desire to hire everyone in the community. I wish we could, but we did go as far as we could, budgetarily [sic] speaking. So I want to thank the Commission for your support on this. Commissioner Sarnoff, especially in -- coming from the Omni district. All right. Any other comments? All in favor, let us hear by saying tlye. " The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Dunn: So moved. City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 6. 10-00791 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT WITH DOUG BRUCE AND ASSOCIATES FOR GOVERNMENTAL REPRESENTATION AND LOBBYING SERVICES IN TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, FORATWO-YEAR PERIOD, COMMENCING JULY 1, 2010, IN AN ANNUAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $28,800 PLUS APPROVED EXPENSES NOT TO EXCEED $2,500, FOR A TWO-YEAR TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED $62,600; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL; ALLOCATING FUNDING FROM SEOPW TAX INCREMENT FUND, "PROFESSIONAL SERVICES," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.531000.0000.00000. Motion by Board Member Suarez, seconded by Board Member Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: Chair Dunn II, Commissioner Sarnoff, Commissioner Gort and Vice Chair Suarez Absent: Commissioner Carollo DISCUSSION ITEMS 7. 10-00802 CRA-R-10-0051 Chair Dunn: Next item. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 6 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency authorizing the execution of an agreement with Doug Bruce & Associates for governmental representation and lobbying services in Tallahassee for a two-year period, commencing July 1, 2010, in an annual amount not to exceed $28, 000 plus approved expenses not to exceed $2, 500, for a two-year total not to exceed $62, 600; authorizing the executive director to execute all documents necessary for said purpose in a form acceptable to general counsel. Chair Dunn: Is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on this item? Hearing none, seeing none, what's the pleasure --? Vice Chair Suarez: Move it. Chair Dunn: There's a motion by Vice Chairman Suarez -- Commissioner SarnoffSecond. Chair Dunn: -- seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff. All in favor, let us hear by saying lfye. " The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Dunn: So moved. CRA DISCUSSION City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING PROVIDING SUPPORT TO THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST AND OMNI CRA BOARD CHAIRS AND BOARD MEMBERS. DISCUSSED A motion was made by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, and was passed, with Commissioner Gort voting no, and Commissioner Carollo abstaining, to provide funds from the CRA budget to CRA Board Members' budgets in the amount of $15, 000 per year, and Board Chairs' budgets in the amount of $30, 000 per year, to help offset costs associated with staff time and supplies spent on CRA related business. Chair Dunn: We're now on the discussion items. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Yes. Item number 7 is a discussion item regarding providing support to Southeast Overtown/Park West and Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) board chairs and board members. Their participation in the management and operation of the redevelopment agencies takes quite a bit of staff time. We have regular meetings. Even if it's not their district, they come out and review the projects that we have ongoing in both -- in all three CRAs. And with the budget cutbacks, it's become an issue that we're using staff time, we're using supplies, and it's a recommendation of the director that some compensation -- just like we compensate the Clerk's office -- be made to offset some of these expenses for the district Commissioners who are seeing their budgets reduced. I would suggest that we provide the board members with $15, 000 a year subsidy to offset some of these costs, and the board chairs, $30, 000 a year. If the Board would like to -- someone would like to make a motion, we'll incorporate those expenses into our budget -- our upcoming budget. Chair Dunn: Is there a motion or any comment? First of all, is there anyone from the public would like to comment on this discussion item? Again, hearing none, seeing none, from the Commission, any comments? Commissioner Sarnoff.• Well, I mean -- you know, I'll comment. The CRA is a big part of what you do; it's a big part of what I do and everybody here has an equal vote. You know, I can support this 'cause I think it's a wise idea and I think with a -- as a result of the cutbacks, spending -- probably through the chair, you're spending 20 to 25 percent of your time doing CRA business. That takes up staff time, staff that you no longer have, although you guys came into this on an unusual basis. You actually got used to the low budget. We actually are still cutting our budgets, which is a necessary feature. But if we want to get the business of the CRA done and you want to be knowledgeable about it, you want to participate with the director. It just simply takes time and it takes staff to do that. So I can support this and I hope my other Commissioners can as well. Chair Dunn: Thank you, Commissioner Sarnoff. Any other comments or --? Commissioner Gort: Personally, you know, I'd rather see those funds being used to provide a service to the individual, like we had some people apply for jobs and we're not able to give them to all of them. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 5: 30: 51 these funds distributed to those jobs so they can be placed into the community. I wouldn't want them into my office. That's for sure. Chair Dunn: Any other comments? No? Vice Chair Suarez: No. I mean, I -- Chair Dunn: Commissioner. City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 Vice Chair Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I kind of sympathize with both perspectives. Obviously, as the Chairman mentioned, we've been a little luckier in the sense that we were able to craft our staff within the budgetary constraints that we had. Having said that, you know, the CRA is, in effect, another government, you know, that has, you know, a lot of responsibility, it takes a lot of time and a lot of energy to be educated on these issues, and it makes sense that the City of Miami, in essence, would be compensated for that time and energy and effort that it takes to, in essence, run another government. So to me it doesn't seem to me to be like an inordinate amount of money. You know, we just gave for the jobs program -- you know, we gave a good -- we doubled the funding on that. Chair Dunn: Twenty to forty thousand. Vice Chair Suarez: So I think what you're saying is for the Commission districts -- Mr. Villacorta: And this will be split between the two CRAs, Omni and Overtown. So it really won't have a large impact, but it could have a pretty good effect on the various Commissioners' office. This will make sure that you have the staff there in place to manage the budget that we're speaking about for these two agencies. Chair Dunn: Just also for the record, I do know that my staff spends a tremendous amount of time, I'm sure as your staff Chairman Sarnoff, in the C -- in the Omni district. And it -- whenever we're being stretched to do other -- and we know it's part of the Commission duties, but whenever we're stretched to do other duties outside, it's additional time. Time is money. And also to the fellow Commissioners who may not be the chairs, but just like today -- today would be a normal day off -- well, not a day off but a time where we would not have to be in a meeting that normally these meetings can last up to two hours. I would hope that at the rate that we're going, this would be a pretty quick meeting, but it is time-consuming. And so, I think it would be just a sense of showing some type of expression -- not necessarily an expression, but an opportunity that would be commensurate with the time, and it's not even equivalent to the time that's put in because -- and I do want to commend the CRA staff as well because it's always a never-ending process. So with that being said, is there a motion? Commissioner Sarnoff.• I'll make the motion. Chair Dunn: It's been motioned by Commissioner -- Vice Chair Suarez: Second. Chair Dunn: -- seconded by Vice Chairman Suarez. All in favor, let us hear by saying "aye." Vice Chair Suarez: Aye. Commissioner Sarnoff.• Aye. Chair Dunn: Aye. Commissioner Gort: No. Chair Dunn: Okay. Commissioner Gort: One no. Chair Dunn: Okay. City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 Priscilla A. Thompson (Clerk of the Board): If I might, Chair. I just want to make sure that we have recorded exactly what is entailed in that motion. Would it be the sums as stipulated by the executive director? Chair Dunn: Yes. Ms. Thompson: Thank you. Chair Dunn: You have it -- Ms. Thompson: Yes. Chair Dunn: -- Madam Clerk? Ms. Thompson: Yes. Chair Dunn: Okay. Ms. Thompson: Thank you. 8. CRA DISCUSSION 10-00803 DISCUSSION REGARDING THE OVERTOWN VILLAGE GREEN PROJECT. DISCUSSED Chair Dunn: The next discussion item. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): The next discussion item is a discussion regarding the Overtown Village Green project. This is a proposed project for the old Miami Arena site, which is actually in Park West, at Northwest 1st Avenue. The site has been cleared. The old building has been demolished, and it's been proposed to create a park there, to create a solar power demonstration project. Currently, there's an unlicensed parking lot on the site, and I think Mr. Knoefler, who's proposing this project, would like to speak on it. Chair Dunn: Mr. -- Brad. Brad Knoefler: Yeah. Good afternoon. Brad Knoefler, 697 North Miami Avenue. I'm the president of the Omni/Park West Redevelopment Association. We're the ones that actually put this project together. We've been working on it for about the past year and a half. Everybody knows the mission of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) is to reduce slum and blight. It doesn't -- basically, if you take a look at the two largest areas in the neighborhood of slum and blight, we pretty much have the old Miami Arena site and the FEC (Florida East Coast) corridor, in terms of square footage. We've been working on this project for about a year and a half now, and we're proposing with one sort of fell swoop to eliminate almost half a million square foot [sic] of slum and blight. The logic is more or less to create a public park on a temporary basis as well as have some private sector components into the overall project. This is something that's been going on. Commissioner Sarnoffs talked about visual parks for years. That was part of our inspiration and we had something over on the Brickell side that actually fell through because of insurance reasons. But what we're looking at here is a two-year temporary park. Obviously, that property's too large for that to be used for that purpose. It's going to be developed somehow, some way, but two, three, four, or five years, we would like to see this more or less be something that could actually beautify the neighborhood, City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 create a destination, as opposed to a place to avoid. This is especially important with the several thousand new residents of the area that more or less need this sort of public facility. The overall logic was if the owner of the park -- the parcel, Mr. Straub, would use this -- or allow this to be used as a public facility, he would have to get some sort of compensation or real estate tax reduction. And when we initially started talking about this, it sort of -- the amounts were a little bit too high, in my opinion. I'm a big advocate of not wasting our tax dollars. And basically, we decided to -- rather than make it a purely public facility, try to piecemeal it with a couple of private sector portions. Where we are right now is Mr. Straub has agreed to donate the rocks that are on the site, probably about $40, 000 worth of materials, only for a beautification of the FEC corridor. He doesn't want us to sell it. He doesn't want this to be sold. He could sell this tomorrow. He's actually given us till the end of the month to pass a resolution for the removal of the rocks and spreading them along the tracks, which is part of the overall project. So that's something that we'd like to address in a second. The park would more or less consist of four components. There would be two private sector components and two public sector components. On the public side, we're looking at a community garden/nursery, and I'm going to just let Sam Leer speak for a few minutes about that component, which is a little bit more detailed. We were also looking at providing a public recreation facility, most likely a football field. This is important for the community as well because of the Gibson Park renovation that's going to be going on in the next two years, so there'll be one less public facility, so it actually worked out quite perfectly. On the private sector side, we would be using the facility twice a year for Art Basel and film festival events, and the people would come in and contribute to this as well as a public parking facility on a small portion of that. There's a very, very big need for safe, affordable, secure parking in the neighborhood because of all the illegal parking lots. And the idea is that the nonprofit, the Omni/Park West Redevelopment Association would operate that parking lot to provide safe, secure parking at a reasonable cost, which is a community benefit. And any profits would actually be used to contribute to the overall project and improve the neighborhood. So in order to kind of piecemeal the whole thing, we've come up with the Overtown Village Green project, and we're finalizing some of the details, but we're looking at the CRA to potentially contribute to the portions where the public would have benefit. And of course, the private sector would contribute to bring down the overall cost to the CRA. Right now we're finalizing some details, but in a rough -- just give some rough numbers -- we're looking at approximately $150,000 to build the park, which includes about $20, 000 worth of trees and so on and plants for the nursery. We're also looking at approximately $125, 000 a year to manage the park. Unfortunately, the biggest cost of that is about $80,000 worth of security because it's important to have security for our parks. It doesn't really make sense to do that if we don't have it. And then at the same time, there's a real estate tax reduction or a rent -- and in this case, with the CRA, it's actually the same thing because the real estate taxes go to the CRA, though it would potentially come back to pay rent. It may be easier on a procedural basis to simply pay him rent for the portion as well as -- as opposed to going to the City Commission for special real estate tax reduction, et cetera, et cetera. So we're basically looking at an overall price, probably closer to 750, $800, 000 for two years of operation. Again, that's about $150, 000 to build the park, $125, 000 a year to manage it, including that 80,000 in security, and approximately $350, 000 which would be over the two-year period for the rental of this facility. That's the reduced rate after the private sector has made their contribution. So we just wanted to put the project out there for discussion. I'm going to just turn it over in a second to Sam. But we would request today, if possible, Mr. Chair, if there's any way to get a resolution for the small portion -- of course, the overall park -- you have to remove the rocks before you can do any site work and put sod and grass and things like that. We would potentially -- if we don't have any kind of funding for this smaller portion, just the removal of the rocks, which is $28, 000 of the overall total. Material is free. They're talking about equipment rental and labor. If we don't actually get funding for this by the end of June, we -- Mr. Straub has said that he's going to sell off the rocks. We've been more or less begging him for the past six to nine months to not sell them, please just wait. Just wait. It'll eventually come to CRA agenda. And it would really be a shame for the taxpayer to lose City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 that donation of free materials that could be used to beautify the FEC corridor. Right now we discovered that the amount of materials on the site would go -- allow us to cover the railroad tracks with the lime rock from Biscayne Boulevard all the way up around to Northwest loth Street, okay. The original proposal was up to Northwest 1st Avenue, but upon doing some work on the site, we discovered that we can actually do a little bit more, hence the incremental cost from the original grant request for $25, 000. So there's the overall project, of course, here as a discussion item. If there's any way to pull out this small little piece of it to get the funding today, we would request that just because we would really want to obviously save the taxpayer $40, 000 by accepting that donation. And if we don't past this today, we'll lose that opportunity forever. So I'm going to turn it over -- Chair Dunn: Thank you. Mr. Knoefler: -- to Sam Leer, please. Sam Van Leer: Good evening. My name is Sam Van Leer. I am executive director of Urban Paradise Guild. Our address is 13400 North Miami Ave. We have planned on building a temporary park on the old Miami Arena site. As Brad said, we've been speaking and planning this for about a year and a half. And the variables -- there have been a lot of variables that we've gradually brought together and some very exciting potential for the community. Our portion is designed to create permanent transformation using a temporary park. The idea is to use the site to grow trees for the community, work with kids from the community. The Overtown Optimists Club, by the way, serves 500 kids in their Little League program, and they have asked us to help them with these programs. It would also include urban gardening so individual families could have garden plots and grow their own food, learn how they can actually change their world around themselves and create sustainability for our overall community at the same time. Now the value to the community in the long run, the whole idea is to show people that, yes, the world can change and that they are the agents of change. That is especially aimed at the children. But of course, the Overtown Optimist families are conservatively 1,500 people, and we've been asked to serve them as well. Now the other programming that would be involved is environmental education. This includes eco-art, organic stewardship, recreation out on the bay, fishing programs, and of course, when it comes to the community nursery side, if anyone is not used to working with fresh produce in their kitchen, we would be providing kitchen classes so they could get the most out of their harvest. I think that this is a very exciting opportunity. And I realize that it may be difficult to bring together with -- under the City's current financial problems. However, the wins are substantial. We, of course, are used to working with volunteers, and we're used to leveraging volunteer input to ensure maximum value. Now in our construction budget, the in -kind contribution in terms of labor and materials, which by the way, includes a major contribution in -kind from the City -- the Mayor's committed to as much compost as we could use. We have estimated the in -kind contributions at 33,840 for labor, $241,098 in in -kind labor -- I'm sorry, in -kind labor, yeah. Then for the funded side, 5,500 in labor and 37,800 in materials. So basically, we're looking at about a 14 percent contribution from the CRA and an 86 percent contribution from volunteers and Urban Paradise Guild. For the operations, there's a similar number. The total annual operational cost, including both in -kind and funded, is 612, 000. That's -- then with a projection of perhaps as much as 54,000 in income coming from our various programs going to support them, we're looking at approximately an in -kind contribution of 87 percent and a funding contribution of 12 percent or about $74, 000. The majority of that would go for employees to run the programs, environmental education. Chair Dunn: Thank you. Mr. Van Leer: Thank you. City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 Chair Dunn: Is there anyone from the public -- anyone else from the public would like to speak on this item? Is there anyone else from the public would like --? Yes. Please come forward and state your name, address. Charles Cutler: Good afternoon, honorable Commissioners and our leaders in Overtown. My name is Charles Cutler, 706 Northwest 4th Avenue. I've been living in Overtown now for over 40 years, and one of the biggest problems that we have in this community is a lack of jobs. And what we're seeing now is that opportunities are coming available through a lot of the work that we've actually did because I've sat on the Overtown Oversight Advisory Board and I've watched these different developers, contractors come into our meetings to get the support. And when they submit documents to the federal government and even when they submit documents to you and to the State for funding, they say that there's going to be a level of participation from the community, but then after they get the money and the whole project start to unfold, then we've been deceived again. And I come to you as our leaders to let you know what is actually going on. Now Brad -- now he had a project that he was working on. He came into the community. He said, okay, well, I want to hire some people from Overtown. Those are the type of people that we need right now because we're trying to build an economic infrastructure in Overtown, and we cannot build any type of economic support in Overtown if -- when these projects -- when you vote to approve the projects, when the County vote to approve the projects, then they put in their grants to go to the federal government. They get their tax credit from the State, then they get other funding from the State, then they come in and they get ready to break ground. Then they just leave us out of the total equation when a part of why they got the funding from the beginning was to eliminate slum and blight. But in reality, that is not happening. We need to work too. We got children too. We got to eat too. So my point is -- and I'll be finished -- we need to be able to take advantage of the economic opportunity that's coming in our community and it's not happening, and we need help, please. We need help. We got children that's pouring out of high school every year. We got a high crime rate, and crime is directly related to unemployment. And you know the shape that the economy is in now, so we've got to come up with some type of compromise. I don't have the answer, but I see what's happening in the community. We need to work too. Thank you. Chair Dunn: Thank you. Is there anyone else from the public? Mr. Cutler: Oh, one other comment, Commissioner. With this green project, we need to see what does that mean and where do we fit as a community so that we can participate in all this green stuff that the President is talking about, that the Congress is talking about, that the State is talking about, and even Commissioner Sarnoff, he's brought up some ideas about what they want to do in terms of going green. But my question to you is where do we fit? Chair Dunn: Thank you, Mr. Cutler. Is there anyone else from the public? Yes, sir. Darrick Rudolph: Yes. My name is Darrick Rudolph. I'm a resident of Overtown. I'm also a volunteer, a coach at the Overtown Optimist Club. I -- about the Village Green, I discussed with Brad and Samuel briefly pertaining to the project that's -- they're planning to try to do on the Arena site. The reason why I'm for this project is it's a project that's unique. It's a project that I know now that if anything go down, that you're going to need private and the City or either the County. They're going to have to have some type of partnership. So when they got in depth with the project with me, it gave us a opportunity to where as our program, we don't want it all to be about sports. We want to be about other things also, agriculture, including everything. So it was a -- to see a area to when I grew up in this area, I know lots stay there a long, long time. So when he told us about this temporary plan they want to do over there and I told him what was going on with Gibson Park, and I say that due to the -- our -- the parks that's left for us to practice on, it get real congested, meaning that it's security, meaning that kids can get injured because it's so -- ain't too much space. We have a lot of kids, 450 kids. So he City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 was telling us that in that process of what they're doing, a temporary park, it can be right on point with the construction of Gibson Park to where as we could move a lot of our kids over to that little site right there and utilize that. And with the programs that they already trying to implement, that give our kids an opportunity to learn something different and then it ain't too much on our budget at the Overtown Optimist Club. We just -- each one, you know what I'm saying, look out for each other. So I see it as a win -win, so that's why I would be for this project. Chair Dunn: Thank you, sir. Anyone else from the public? We're going to close this portion of the public hearing. Is there any comment from the Commission or -- for this? Yes, Commissioner Sarnoff. Commissioner Sarnoff.• Mr. Knoefler, I know that you want to move some rocks around, and I've seen what you've done in the past, but let me ask you this question. Have you contacted the FEC, and have you contacted Flagler Development Corporation to get their permission to put rocks on their premises, meaning their land? Mr. Knoefler: Yeah. We have a legal agreement that we've executed with the railroad that was attached to the grant request, was submitted back in February, which gives us permission to do that. It doesn't give us permission to put any kind of landscape or planting materials. It's simply to put the rocks on the railroad tracks. Commissioner Sarnoff.• Interesting. I met with Flagler Development today, and they're completely -- they have no knowledge of -- Mr. Knoefler: Right. Commissioner Sarnoff.• -- any agreements between you and them. And yet -- Mr. Knoefler: We don't have an agreement with Flagler Development. Flagler Development's the real estate arm of FEC -- Commissioner Sarnoff.• Correct. Those -- Mr. Knoefler: -- Railways. Commissioner Sarnoff.• -- are the people you need to get the permission from. Mr. Knoefler: We deal with FEC Railways, LLC (Limited Liability Company), and they're the operator of the rail and the actual agreement is with them and Mike Bagley (phonetic) in the real estate department. Commissioner Sarnoff.• And with that said, FEC just came to the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) at the last meeting, and the FEC is going after a TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recover)) grant of a little over $600 million and that's with the intention of using the FEC not only for freight but equally for passenger. That would require them to expand and change the rail itself. So if they are on the verge of getting a TIGER grant and changing the rail itself, wouldn't we be spending money on something that would be an extremely temporary situation? Mr. Knoefler: Well, as you know, we met with the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the railway last year, Commissioner. They were applying for the TIGER grant last year. They didn't do it. This has been something that's ongoing, the discussion about activating the lines for the port, commuter rail. We're talking about an instant solution here. We're talking about accepting a City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 $40, 000 donation of materials and $28, 000. You know, that's obviously up to you to justify whether that's beneficial even if it's for a year or two, three, four years. The bottom line is the FEC corridor is completely overgrown with weeds. The Hollywood -- city of Hollywood CRA actually did a wonderful beautification project and they maintain their right-of-way, which is why when you go up to Hollywood, it's a completely different situation than the City of Miami. So I personally think that that's a very, very good use of our tax dollars. We're talking about nearly half a million square feet. And you know, again, something is going to happen there. There's going to be a commuter rail. There's going to be things dug up, but at the same time, one of the problems that's been going the past ten years in my neighborhood at least is we never do anything because something may happen; there might be a baseball stadium, there might be a convention center, there might be this, there might be that. And in the meantime, we have thousands of people living here that are affected by this dilapidated neighborhood everyday so let's -- Commissioner Sarnoff: But let me ask you this question because you come to this Commission and -- I'm sorry, this CRA Board, and you provide to us sort of like a menu option. Well, we can spread some rocks here, followed by we can plant a community garden, followed by we can put some large building on this particular place, this Straub -- Mr. Straub's -- previously, I guess it's the Miami Arena. Then we can put this huge structure on there for, I guess it's Art Basel, and then we can keep that permanent for a couple of years, and gentlemen, this is what we'd like to do and this is all going to cost you $850, 000. Now I know that I probably could not support a statement as broad as that 'cause I have never drilled down, never seen a document, never saw a budget, never saw who's being paid, who's volunteering, what the executive director's going to make, what the assistant executive director is going to make, what the cell phone allowances are; the things that I usually do see. And I understand you want to spurn us to action, but wouldn't you be better suited by coming to us with a package that says I've met with Mike Bagley (phonetic). Here's his agreement for me to have this for two years. Flagler Development will not require a contract. Here's his agreement stating that, followed by an agreement that this is exactly what Mr. Straub has agreed to do. And you know, unfortunately Mr. Straub, I guess you know, has recently been indicted by the federal government. Well, that may be a problem for you. So I don't know and I want to speak for the Vice Chair. He must be sitting there scratching his head and some way he's saying $850, 000 and I haven't seen a document. I mean, people want to work with you, but they need to see what they're getting in return. Mr. Knoefler: Oh, of course. I mean, it's called a grant request. We didn't submit a grant request because this was not put on the agenda. It was obviously something that's a little bit complicated, but the whole point of the discussion item is to get a sense of whether the Board feels that we should actually go through and put a formal grant request -- I've done a lot of them before, so I know how they work. There was a grant request formally submitted February 3 with the legal documents from FEC Railways LEC [sic] with a budget and so on. So that's something that we're trying -- Commissioner Sarnoff: And that's for the rocks going -- Mr. Knoefler: Exactly, yeah. And like I said, that's the -- part of the overall project, but there's a timing issue where we either accept that donation or not by the end of the month, and that's why it's been pulled out slightly. But of course, I mean, you know, we wouldn't come with -- asking for any kind of resolution except if there was those type of legal documents. And if you should give us the direction to go ahead with this, then we'll put together something much more formal. Chair Dunn: Any other Commissioners? I want to reiterate what Commissioner Sarnoff said. You know, I -- on the surface, I was intrigued by this project. I believe it can do some good. I'll City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 publicly state that, but we do need something more substantive. And there's some uncertainties about the logistics, the legalities of it, the feasibility of it in terms of the budget because I remember initially when we had our discussion it was a very low cost and today, you know, I'm hearing that it might be as much as 750, 000, $800, 000. So I believe what we're saying to you -- and this is why we wanted -- so you could get a feel of where we're standing on this CRB -- CRA Board, pardon me, is that we need something more concise, more substantive. You -- and to kind of give us an idea -- and something that would fit within the legal ramifications of what we're trying to do. I do like the project. I think it can -- but we need to know some things, and I would ask you to come back with that or submit it to our CRA. And I'm going to ask if Mr. Villacorta also would comment on that and see if we can work with him on it. Go right ahead. Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. Staff met with Mr. Knoefler, Alan Morley from the Mayor's office, Sam Van Leer, and Chelsa Arscott, Pat Santangelo, Derek Cole, and Mark Spanioli on June 9. And we explained to him the documents that we would need to see to try and move this forward. Nothing's been submitted yet. The -- we requested a survey of the property, the permits issued for the parking lot that's been constructed there. Currently, you know, they'd need a well permit. They'd need certificates of use, schematic site plans. We spoke to Ernest Burkeen in Parks. He said there is no issue as far as rebuilding Gibson Park. They've made accommodations to have the people that are using the playgrounds there use other park facilities. The -- we -- a year ago, we spent quite a bit of time with pretty much every City department and the City Manager and with FEC on the phone trying to find out about this grant application that was submitted in February, which was mainly the bikeway. And FEC was not supportive of that in the end. They have never put a bikeway along a live track. That's - - they -- that just isn't done. So this later -- this latest iteration that came to us on June, we haven't received a full package. We were told that the rent would be -- while it was stated to be nominal, it was going to be $250, 000 a year. Mr. Straub owes over $400, 000 in taxes. This property is in litigation with the County. And as you heard, Mr. Straub was just indicted for unlawful discharge of fill. We've had contractors look at what's on the site. They say that rock would need to be further crushed. They would prefer to bring in their own fresh fill if they were going to put this along the railroad tracks. And now FEC has issues with that as well. So this - - while it's a great project -- and I'd remind the Board that you've also committed $2 million a year to the property just across the street from Mr. Knoefler's building, Camillus House, to moving them. That's 20 percent of the CRA budget is going into Park West. And to say that nothing's been done there isn't true. Mr. Knoefler's companies and his tenants have been the recipient of $150, 000 in grant funding from the CRA. Mr. Knoefler's company received $65, 000 to finish out his office building. His tenant received another 65,000 to build out the club space, Grand Central, and we spent $20, 000 lighting up the railroad tracks behind his building at his request. So I think we're making the effort and it's not always portrayed as such. Mr. Knoefler: If I could -- Chair Dunn: Mr. Nobbler [sic], not to go into a long debate. I think -- Mr. Knoefler: Yeah. Just one more comment. Chair Dunn: Yeah, just -- but I want you to understand. I think you hear what we're saying, the sentiment. I'll give you 30 seconds to wrap it up. Mr. Knoefler: That's fine, yeah. Commissioner Gort: You need documentation. Mr. Knoefler: I understand and we'll work forward -- move forward with more finalized budgets and legal documents. But what we do have on the table today is a legal document with the FEC City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 9. 10-00810 ADJOURNMENT railway. This is the same procedure -- last year I spent $20, 000 of my own money, executed the same exact legal agreement with FEC Railways to do that, which gave us legal permission to do so. Last year the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) spent I don't know how much beautifying a section of the railroad and they used the exact same legal agreement that we are using. And I believe that Mr. Spanioli could testify to that. So independently of the overall project, what we do have is a legal agreement with the railway, a donation of $40, 000 of materials, and a request for $28, 000 of equipment rental and labor to spread those along the seven blocks. So that's really something that could be acted upon today if you so choose. Chair Dunn: Thank you. We're going to -- we got to get more information. Thank you. CRA DISCUSSION DISCUSSION REGARDING THE CRA'S AGREEMENT WITH CREATIVE IDEAS ADVERTISING, INC. FOR MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICES. CONTINUED Chair Dunn: All right. We're going to item number 9, discussion number -- item 9. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): That was going to be -- Chair Dunn: We're going -- Mr. Villacorta: -- withdrawn. Chair Dunn: Yes, going to be withdrawn. The proper terminology, to be deferred -- no, withdrawn? Priscilla A. Thompson (Clerk of the Board): If you're not going to bring it back on any further agenda, it will be withdrawn. Chair Dunn: Nope. We plan to bring it back -- Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. We plan to bring it back. Chair Dunn: -- at the next meeting. So that's -- Ms. Thompson: So you're continuing. Chair Dunn: -- deferred -- continued. Ms. Thompson: You're continuing -- Chair Dunn: Okay. Ms. Thompson: -- it to your next meeting. Chair Dunn: All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk. A motion was made by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff, and was City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 6/22/2011 SEOPW Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes June 28, 2010 passed unanimously, to adjourn today's SEOPW CRA Meeting. Chair Dunn: Is there a motion on the Southeast Overtown/Park West agenda to adjourn this meeting? Vice Chair Suarez: So move. Commissioner Sarnoff: Second. Chair Dunn: Been properly motioned by Vice Chair Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff. All in favor, let us hear by saying "aye." The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Dunn: All right. City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 6/22/2011