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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSEOPW OMNI CRA 2009-02-23 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Monday, February 23, 2009 5:00 PM ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN THE PEACOCK FOUNDATION, INC, STUDIO 1300 BISCAYNE BLVD. MIAMI, FL. SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Michelle Spence -Jones, Chair Marc David Sarnoff, Vice Chair Angel Gonzalez, Commissioner Joe Sanchez, Commissioner Tomas Regalado, Commissioner CRA OFFICE ADDRESS: 49 NW 5th ST, SUITE 100, Miami, FL 33128 Phone: (305) 679-6800, Fax: (305) 679-6835 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Present: Commissioner Sanchez, Commissioner Regalado and Vice Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Gonzalez and Chair Spence -Jones On the 23rd day of February 2009, the Board of Directors of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for the Southeast Overtown/Park West and Omni Districts of the City of Miami met in regular session at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, in the Peacock Foundation, Inc. Studio, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida. The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Marc David Sarnoff at 5:08 p.m. and was adjourned at 6:42 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: James H. Villacorta, Interim Executive Director, CRA Gail A. Dotson, Assistant General Counsel, CRA William R. Bloom, Special Counsel, CRA Priscilla A. Thompson, Clerk of the Board Pamela E. Burns, Assistant Clerk of the Board FINANCIALS 1. 09-00108 CRA REPORT FINANCIAL SUMMARY THROUGH MONTH ENDING JANUARY 31, 2009. Financial Summary.pdf DISCUSSED Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. I will call the meeting to order. Thank you. And Mr. Director. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 1 is a report by the CRA financial officer regarding the financial summary through the month of January 31. Miguel Valentin (Financial Officer, Community Redevelopment Agency): Good evening, Chairman and Commissioners. On page 1, we have the combined statement of financial position as of January 31, 2009. For Southeast Overtown/Park West, as cash unrestricted the amount hasn't changed; it is 100, 000. And for Omni, it's the same amount, 100, 000. On the other hand, for the affordable workforce housing project, to date we have budgeted 8,410, 608. Of this amount, 7,612,683 has been encumbered and 2,593,126 has been expended, leaving an available balance of 797, 925. Regarding any reportable condition that I need you to -- to make you aware of there is nothing to report to the Board. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Any questions for the financials? That's just a discussion, correct? Commissioner Sanchez: Yeah. Mr. Villacorta: Right. Commissioner Sanchez: No legal action taken. Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. Let the record reflect that for roll call, Commissioner Regalado's here, Commissioner Sarnoff is here, and Commissioner Sanchez is here. RESOLUTIONS 2. 09-00131 CRA RESOLUTION City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA") AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXPEND UP TO $125,000 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 - LEGAL," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.531010.0000.00000. Cover Memo.pdf Financial Form.pdf Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 2 - Commissioner Regalado and Commissioner Sanchez Noes: 1 - Vice Chair Sarnoff Absent: 2 - Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Gonzalez CRA-R-09-0011 Direction by Commissioner Sanchez to the Interim Executive Director to compile a report of the major agreements being handled by the law firm of Holland & Knight for the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) and provide the status of said agreements to the Board. Vice Chair Sarnoff. Item number 2. 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 executive director to expend up to 125,000 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. Commissioner Sanchez: So move. Commissioner Regalado: Second. Vice Chair Sarnoff. I have a question. It's regarding the amount of the fees and the hourly rate. What is the hourly rate? Mr. Villacorta: Two ninety for partners and one seventy-five for associates. Vice Chair Sarnoff. And in these economic times, that's the best they could quote? Mr. Villacorta: That's actually a better rate -- the CRA receives a more favorable rate than the City does. The City, I believe, is paying a blended rate of 350. Vice Chair Sarnoff You know, Jim, let me just say this to you, that many, many law firms in the past month have let go of -- I think the number in Miami's over 500 attorneys in total have been let go. And rates are becoming more and more competitive as opposed to less and less competitive. And what may have been held true six months ago would no longer be true today. And have you tried to look into whether they would consider lowering those rates? Mr. Villacorta: I haven't asked them to lower their rates, no. City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff Would Holland & Knight consider lowering the rate? William Bloom (Special Counsel, Community Redevelopment Agency): No, we would not. Vice Chair Sarnoff Have we competitively bid --? Mr. Bloom: Our rates, at this point, are done at a substantial discount, as Mr. Villacorta is explaining to you. When we've been approached by the City Attorney's Office to do other representation and be a blended rate, whether it be an average rate for partners and associates of 350 an hour, this is substantially below this. The rates that we're working for now are substantially below our regular hour rates, and it's just not possible for us to cut them. Vice Chair Sarnoff.- Okay, so are we looking into an RFP (Request for Proposals) or an RFQ (Request for Qualifications)? Mr. Villacorta: We could do that. This firm has a substantial history with the CRA. And at one point, the City Attorney was going to take this work in-house when it was -- when we went to put -- this is specialized real estate work mainly. When we went to put it out, there was something like 19 boxes of files that had to be reviewed by the counsel that would be bidding on the work, and that was a substantial upfront cost that would have been incurred. Vice Chair Sarnoff Well, you know, I -- Mr. Villacorta: I mean, we can do that if you'd like. Vice Chair Sarnoff -- think it's something we should do. I just don't think we should continue to pay the same rate. And I suspect I asked this question a year ago, they would have said you know, 290 is the best rate we can give you. But it's, you know, February 23, 2009, and we're in a significant recession. Rates are coming down; rates have come down from law firms, and I think it's something we should consider competitively bidding if they're not willing to lower their rates. Now there's a seconder and a motion; I'll call the question, but -- Commissioner Regalado: Just a question, Mr. Chairman. Jim, is this for future work or work that they have done? Mr. Villacorta: It's for future work. Currently, we have the Crosswinds agreement that's being renegotiated. We have the Jazz Village agreement that's being revised, and we have the Dev-con agreement. All of those are three major real estate development projects that we're trying to move forward. I think we would lose time in switching horses, but I understand the concerns. And we're very judicious in -- and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in assigning work under these agreements. We go through the bills very carefully, every line item. Vice Chair Sarnoff- Well, I'm not -- Jim, I'm not suggesting that Holland & Knight, in the least bit, bills inappropriately. So your suggestion that you go through it line by line is not a comment upon the quantity of work or the quality of work that they do. The question is the hourly rate that they bill and whether that's competitive, not with October 2008 rates, but with February 2009 rates. I have no problem with them continuing on the areas that they are working on right now at that rate, but new business should be bid at a lower rate. That's my feelings. Those are my suggestions. Commissioner Regalado: And what would be new business, Jim? I mean, you just said Crosswinds and two other -- Mr. Villacorta: Yeah, the Jazz Village and the Dev-con development -- City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Commissioner Regalado: Right. Mr. Bloom: Plus, the incentive agreement. We are in the Omni Marketplace -- Omni Mall and the Bayview Marketplace. Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. Those items are out of Omni. This is just for Overtown. Omni, we didn't have it -- we still have funding for. Commissioner Regalado: So this is just for -- Mr. Villacorta: Just for projects in Overtown. Commissioner Regalado: -- in Overtown/Park West? Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Pardon me? Commissioner Regalado: Overtown/Park West? Mr. Villacorta: Yes, Overtown/Park West. Just those. Commissioner Sanchez: Call the question. Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. Let's call the question. All those in favor, please say "aye." Commissioner Regalado: Aye. Vice Chair Sarnoff Opposed? No, myself. All right. Item number 3. Mr. Villacorta: Item number -- Commissioner Regalado: Excuse me. Commissioner Sanchez: Before we do that -- Mr. Chairman, can I have the executive director provide to us a history as to those major agreements that this law firm is working on and what's the status of those agreements? Mr. Villacorta: Sure. Commissioner Sanchez: Just a request to make sure that all the board members have that information. Mr. Villacorta: I'll send that around to each of your offices. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you. Commissioner Regalado: Just a question, Madam City Clerk. Priscilla A. Thompson (Clerk of the Board): Yes, sir. Commissioner Regalado: Do you consider this a yes vote? Ms. Thompson: Yes, it is a yes vote. You have three, which is a quorum; you have two in favor of one against. That is a majority of 2-1. 3. 08-01328 CRA RESOLUTION City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AUTHORIZING A GRANT, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,000,000, TO THE CITY OF MIAMI FOR RENOVATION OF GIBSON PARK, AT 401 N.W. 12TH STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AT HIS DISCRETION, TO DISBURSE THE GRANT ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS OR DIRECTLY TO VENDORS, UPON PRESENTATION OF INVOICES AND SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM SEOPW TAX INCREMENT FUND, "CONSTRUCTION IN PROGRESS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.670000.0000.00000. Cover Memo.pdf Financial Form.pdf Backup.pdf Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Vice Chair Sarnoff, Commissioner Regalado and Commissioner Sanchez Absent: 2 - Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Gonzalez CRA-R-09-0012 Direction by Commissioner Regalado to the Interim Executive Director to seek additional funding sources as a substitution for the $5 million Sunshine Loan contribution to the Gibson Park project. Vice Chair Sarnoff. All right. Item number 3. 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 a grant, in an amount not to exceed one million dollars, to the City of Miami for renovation of Gibson Park at 401 Northwest 12th Street, Miami, Florida; authorizing the executive director, at his discretion, to disburse the grant on a reimbursement basis or directly to vendors upon presentation of invoices and satisfactory documentation; further authorizing the executive director to execute all documents necessary for said purpose. Commissioner Sanchez: So move. Commissioner Regalado: Second. Vice Chair Sarnoff. I have a couple of questions. Where is the -- CIP (Capital Improvements Program) here? Ola O. Aluko (Director, Capital Improvements Program): Yes. Vice Chair Sarnoff. My understanding is that this is a one -million -dollar grant from CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) for Gibson Park? Mr. Aluko: Ola Aluko, director of CIP, City of Miami. Yes, that is, Commissioner. City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff And my understanding is that its total cost is $5 million? Mr. Aluko: No. Actually -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Six million? Mr. Aluko: -- ifI may, I'll show you the plan of the park. Commissioner Sanchez: I think the question that was asked is what's the total. It's -- the City has already funded five million towards the project; the CRA is funding one million in a grant form. Mr. Aluko: That is correct. For the record, that is correct. The total project cost is estimated at $16 million. However, the project is divided into two. Phase one will -- was funded by the City at $5 million. The additional $1 million will enable us to complete the phase one part of the project. Yes. Vice Chair Sarnoff What is the phase two? Mr. Aluko: Phase two -- well, phase one is the construction of a community center, pool, renovation of the existing football field and renovation of the baseball field. Phase two is the construction of a recreation -- a new recreation sports facility, which is further down the line. Vice Chair Sarnoff And where's your funding source for phase two? Mr. Aluko: There is none identified right now, and that was brought to the community's attention. The community is well aware of it, and I believe, at a meeting back in August, the Mayor also mentioned to the community that phase two has no funding sources. It could be a wish list, but he wanted to make sure that they were aware that there is no funding source for phase two. Vice Chair Sarnoff And your funding source for phase one, for the $5 million from the City, where is that funding source? Mr. Aluko: That is -- that came from the Sunshine State loan, which the City Commission approved, I believe, in July of '08. Vice Chair Sarnoff When do we pay back that loan? Mr. Aluko: The CFO (Chief Financial Officer) will have to respond to that, but it's my understanding once -- Commissioner Regalado: 2013. Mr. Aluko: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. Vice Chair Sarnoff I'm sorry? Commissioner Regalado: 2013. Vice Chair Sarnoff We pay it back in 2013? Commissioner Regalado: Yes. Vice Chair Sarnoff With what funding source? City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Commissioner Regalado: It's -- the way it was presented was a low -interest loan, $37 million, you remember. And that loan has been used to fund several projects. It was included in the Marlins package too. So how do we pay it back? That's the question that they cannot respond properly when I asked in several briefings. But I do know we need to start paying 2013, and it's a low interest rate. Mr. Aluko: Mr. Commissioner, I'm certain that that question was -- well, I'm almost certain, rather, that that question was probably asked in July, when we brought the $25 million before the Board. We can have the Clerk research or we can research ourselves to see if it was answered, and it'll be directed to your attention. Vice Chair Sarnoff No. I'm just curious. I don't remember being told the funding source, whether it was coming from the general fund or where it was coming. Do you remember? Commissioner Sanchez: It's coming from the Sunshine -- Vice Chair Sarnoff No, I know. Commissioner Sanchez: -- not the general fund Mr. Aluko: The payback. Vice Chair Sarnoff I understand -- you're getting a loan. Every person in this room understands you got to pay back a loan. My question is, where do we pay back the loan from? Commissioner Regalado: The general fund Vice Chair Sarnoff So it's a general fund loan? Commissioner Regalado: Yes, absolutely. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. I'm going to call the question. Mr. Aluko: Thank you. Vice Chair Sarnoff All those in favor --? Commissioner Sanchez: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Wait, wait. Vice Chair Sarnok I'm sorry. Are you done? Commissioner Sanchez: This -- the funding that has been allocated comes from the Sunshine. That was approved by the Commission -- Mr. Aluko: That is correct. Commissioner Sanchez: -- $5 million, knowing clearly that we would be short a million dollars coming out of the CRA TIF (Tax Increment Fund) towards this project, correct? Mr. Aluko: Well, correct up to the point where you mentioned CRA dollars. We knew clearly that we would be short. However, at the time we were not aware of where we would get the additional million dollars from. Commissioner Sanchez: My question is, do we know exactly what is the total amount of money City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 that's going to be needed for that project, which is for a park here -- Mr. Aluko: Yes. Commissioner Sanchez: -- in the CRA area? Mr. Aluko: That is correct. The total estimated amount -- and when I say estimated I mean, that's what we budgeted -- Commissioner Sanchez: Right. Mr. Aluko: -- is $16 million. Commissioner Sanchez: Sixteen million dollars. Mr. Aluko: That's correct. Commissioner Sanchez: So basically now the only phase -- the only total amount of funds that you have for this project will be the $5 million from the Sun -- Mr. Aluko: Sunshine State loan Commissioner Sanchez: -- shine loan and the 1 million coming out of the CRA? Mr. Aluko: That is correct. Commissioner Sanchez: Okay. What does that get you? Mr. Aluko: That gets -- it gets us a new community building, a new swimming pool, a renovated football field with bleachers, a renovated baseball field with bleachers, overflow parking, and a renovated vita course in front of Gibson Park. Commissioner Sanchez: Okay. So the only thing in question would be here is the one million dollar coming from the TIF? Mr. Aluko: That's correct. Commissioner Sanchez: Which is -- the park is inside the CRA boundaries. Mr. Aluko: The park is inside -- Commissioner Sanchez: I think we're all park advocates here, to improve not only the park in itself but also uplift the value of the community around the park. Mr. Aluko: That is correct. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you. Vice Chair Sarnoff And Ola, as long as -- I understand a little better now, thanks to Commissioner Sanchez. The extra ten million, where did -- what would that build you? Mr. Aluko: The extra ten million will build right now, as conceptualized, a 20 -- approximately 20,000 square feet recreational center. This consists of a weight room, a dance room, a basketball court. City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff And what is the community center that's going to be built on phase one? Mr. Aluko: A community center will consist of classrooms, arts and crafts, computer lab, obviously, the parks office and any other associated community -related functioned program spaces. Vice Chair Sarnoff So the next ten million is for the -- what'd you call it? Mr. Aluko: Recreational center. Vice Chair Sarnoff Recreational center. Mr. Aluko: Weight room, dance room, studio theater; again, if we can build it within ten million. Vice Chair Sarnoff And I take it we don't have any plans to look at just conceptual ideas? Mr. Aluko: Of the recreation --? Vice Chair Sarnoff Of either phase. Mr. Aluko: Oh, well, there's no need for a conceptual idea for phase one. That is actually going into -- it's under the cone of silence, as I should say. We are under negotiation -- well, we are soliciting a design -build contractor to build phase one. So there's no conceptualization; that's moving forward Phase -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Why are you doing it in terms of a design -build? Mr. Aluko: One, we're taking advantage of the economy right now. Vice Chair Sarnoff Of what? Mr. Aluko: The economy. It's much cheaper. The contractor controls the architect, so the prices in which we'll get from the architect will be much cheaper than us hiring an architect individually and then going out and building it later. So this gives us an opportunity to lock down the price at today's prices. Number two, there are so many variables at this park that we would like to shift the liability over to the contractor, and that's going to be within the contractor's price. So it's very similar -- the contract is going to be tailored very similar to a GMP, guaranteed maximum price. When the contractor gives us a price to build this park, assuming $5.9 million, he will be held to that $5.9 million. It's his, so he negotiates with his architects, his sub -consultants, his subcontractors. Vice Chair Sarnoff Well, I'm a little bit curious now because I have a park that I've been trying to get built for quite some time and I had to do an RFP (Request for Proposals). Why didn't we take advantage of that type of contract, if that was such a good idea, for instance, in Roberto Clemente? Mr. Aluko: That's a much smaller project. Roberto Clemente would not have been appealing at -- first of all, Roberto Clemente was further along than this park. That started roughly two years ago, so the delivery method was a design -bid build, one. And number two, had we gone design -build, it would not have been as appealing to contractors, so we probably wouldn't have got a cost that the contract -- a design -build contractor would have come in for. Vice Chair Sarnoff And how do you decide what contractor gets this price? What type of bids do you get? Or is there a bid process? City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Mr. Aluko: Yes, there is. That's what we're in right now, and I can't say too much about it 'cause we're under the cone of silence. But, basically, we solicit a design -build contract, and what we did was we made a criteria that stipulated that the contractor, who was going to design and build this park, must have park and aquatic experience, and they have to prove to us by showing us previous projects in the last 12 months -- well, 12 to 24 months. So that narrows it down to specialty contractors. And they pretty much know how to build these, and they will tell us what we need to do. That was the same delivery method we used for Grapeland Park. Now I'm not speaking of the remediation of the soils, but just the park itself. And generally, whenever you narrow it down to a specialty contractor, you get better prices. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Thank you. Mr. Aluko: Thank you. You're welcome. Commissioner Regalado: Question, Mr. Chairman. Vice Chair Sarnoff Yeah. Commissioner Regalado: I think that we, as CRA members, are very proud of what the CRA did in Margaret Pace Park. It -- the CRA basically did that park, so I guess that the discussion is not about the CRA's role in that park. It would be about the use of a loan that we have to repay from different sources. So my question is, is there a way that we could find, within the Overtown/Park West CRA, funds in the future, money to substitute part of the Sunshine loan so we can keep that for maybe another rainy day? Because I'm seeing the Administration very happily using the Sunshine loan and $37 million goes up only to $37 million. So, Jim, is there the projections in the Overtown/Park West with the new projects -- are there any funds that could substitute in the near future -- I mean, Ola, this is going to take like -- is it shovel ready, this project? Is it one month, two month, three month? Mr. Aluko: To break ground? Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, to break -- Mr. Aluko: No, no, no. Once we get a contractor on board, hopefully by mid -April or late March, it will take another three to four months to design the project in its entirety, and we expect break -- the groundbreaking to be late fall, around October or November of this year. Commissioner Regalado: So it's not about the loan itself. So we could probably come up with some -- say you come up with half a million dollars more from the funding. There's less -- half a million that we need to use from the Sunshine loan. I mean, money's money. It's the same. So do you --? Mr. Villacorta: I could certainly get with staff and see what funding availability there would be between now and groundbreaking, or between now and 2013, when the Sunshine loan would have to be repaid, or even whether we would have funds to assist with the balance of the park. Commissioner Regalado: Because we could commit the CRA to help in repaying the loan. After all, what is important is that the park gets done and that the loan be paid. And so, I think it's important that you come up, Jim, with some ideas as to -- at least we know a projection of -- to just buffer the loan. Vice Chair Sarnoff Ola, Commissioner Regalado brings up something that kind of reminds me - - the 37 million I thought that we had approved for Sunshine State loans was as a result of the Homeland Security bond phase two not having adequate funding for the projects listed. City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Mr. Aluko: That is correct. Vice Chair Sarnoff Was this project listed as a Homeland Security bond project? Mr. Aluko: Yes. It was one of the top projects. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. All right. Anything further, Commissioner? Commissioner Sanchez: May I -- just on that -- Jim, this is a perfect opportunity for you, as the executive director, really toot your horn on this. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Sanchez: 'Cause I've been here ten years, and the ten years -- ten years ago, we would never be talking about investing this type of money into a state-of-the-art project that's going to benefit a park and benefit a community. Today, we're able to do that, and we're able to do this because of the Sunshine loan. Because the money was not there; this was, as a matter of fact, approved by the voters. It was part of the bond, if I'm not mistaken -- Mr. Aluko: That is correct. Commissioner Sanchez: -- the park, it was approved by the voters on this, and we did not have the money. Therefore, my question to the executive director is, if we -- if -- do we have $5 million in our funding to put towards this park and not use the Sunshine loan? Mr. Villacorta: Not -- Commissioner Sanchez: Yes or no? Mr. Villacorta: -- in this year's budget, no. Commissioner Sanchez: Okay. So I think it's important for you, as the executive director, to take this project, which is a great project, and be it a feather in your cap -- because this is, by far, the best money that we could use. And TIF is not only in revitalization and in housing, but also in our parks. So this is a great project for the CRA and for the City of Miami and for the Overtown community. Mr. Villacorta: Well certainly -- Commissioner Sanchez: I'm not the executive director. You -- Mr. Villacorta: -- work at assisting the City in finding the additional funding. We've worked with the City in the past. As Commissioner Regalado mentioned it was the CRA that rebuilt Margaret Pace Park, provided those funds and oversaw the construction, and the City eventually repaid the CRA for the cost of those improvements. And I'm sure we can work closely with the City to find a way to get this done as well. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Let's call the question. All in favor on resolution number 3, please say "aye." The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. Number 4. Mr. Villacorta: Item number 4 is pulled. City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff. Oh, sorry. You're right. 4. 09-00154 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA") AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL FUNDS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,950,000, FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $3,750,000, TO THE MIAMI WOMAN'S CLUB FOR REPAIRS AND 40-YEAR RECERTIFICATION OF THE BUILDING AT 1737 NORTH BAYSHORE DRIVE, MIAMI, FLORIDA; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AT HIS DISCRETION, TO DISBURSE THE GRANT ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS OR DIRECTLY TO VENDORS, UPON PRESENTATION OF INVOICES AND SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL; FUNDS TO BE ALLOCATED FROM OMNI TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10040.920101.883000.0000.00000. Cover Memo.pdf Financial Form.pdf Legislation.pdf CONTINUED Vice Chair Sarnoff. All right, everybody. Welcome to the February 23, 2009 meeting of the Southeast Overtown/Park West and Omni CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agencies). Just for everybody's purposes, item number 4 will not be heard today, but it will be deferred. So you can mark that on your agenda. 5. 09-00037 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AUTHORIZING A GRANT, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,000,000, TO TRINITY EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL, INC. FOR EXTERIOR REPAIRS AND 40-YEAR RECERTIFICATION OF THE BUILDING AT 464 NE 16TH STREET MIAMI, FLORIDA; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AT HIS DISCRETION, TO DISBURSE THE GRANT ON A REIMBURSEMENT BASIS OR DIRECTLY TO VENDORS, UPON PRESENTATION OF INVOICES AND SATISFACTORY DOCUMENTATION; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY FOR SAID PURPOSE, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM OMNI TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10040.920101.883000.0000.00000. Cover Memo.pdf Financial Form.pdf Backup.pdf Legislation.pdf Cover Memo.pdf City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Motion by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 2 - Commissioner Regalado and Commissioner Sanchez Noes: 1 - Vice Chair Sarnoff Absent: 2 - Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Gonzalez CRA-R-09-0013 James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 5 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency authorizing a grant, in an amount not to exceed one million dollars, to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Inc. for exterior repairs and 40 year recertification of the building at 464 Northeast 16th Street, Miami, Florida; authorizing the executive director, at his discretion, to disburse the grant on a reimbursement basis or directly to vendors upon presentation of invoices and satisfactory documentation; further authorizing the executive director to execute all documents necessary for said purpose. Commissioner Sanchez: So move. Commissioner Regalado: Second. Vice Chair Sarnoff Is there anybody here to present? Mr. Villacorta: I believe we have some -- Commissioner Regalado: Yes, reverend. Mr. Villacorta: -- representatives of the Cathedral. This item was before you and -- Commissioner Sanchez: About a year ago? Mr. Villacorta: In February, I believe. The -- Commissioner Sanchez: About a year ago, February. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. The Board directed us to work with the Cathedral. We've been out to the site. The building is in need of significant structural repairs. William Bloom (Special Counsel, Community Redevelopment Agency): June 2008. Mr. Villacorta: I'm sorry, June 2008. The -- there was a concern amongst some of the residents that the feeding program operated at the Cathedral site was -- could have been run better. We've worked with the Cathedral. They've moved part of their program to another location where there's a better opportunity to provide ancillary services. The officers in the NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) area, the public resource officers have commented to us about how the area's been improved. The Cathedral has undertaken a major portion of these repairs and re -roofed the building, but there's still significant work to be done. It's on the National Register of Historic Places. Julia Tuttle was a member of the congregation. And I've probably now taken away all -- everything they had to say. Vice Chair Sarnoff I have a couple questions. This is a 40 year certification [sic], which, essentially, means that we're going to do what's been -- hasn't been done for 40 years. In the 40 years since you've been there, what real estate have you owned? City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Douglas McCaleb: Doug McCaleb, dean of Trinity Cathedral. Originally, the Cathedral owned the property from 15th Street, the Venetian Causeway, to 19th Street, where the Women's Club is. That property was pretty much all sold off during the 1930's, during the Depression, to pay for the mortgage. Vice Chair Sarnoff And what about the Om -- not the Omni. I guess it's the hotels that are there? Mr. McCaleb: The Plaza Venetia? Vice Chair Sarnoff Yeah, those. But I mean a little bit further south to you, all that property. Mr. McCaleb: The property -- we own the property from 15th Street -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Right. Mr. McCaleb: -- to 16th Street. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. And you're saying that transaction took place in the '30s? Mr. McCaleb: The '30s. Sold all the property -- all the other property so that we only have that one block at this point. Vice Chair Sarnoff So the only -- so in the 1930's is when you sold off that large block that -- the large hotels that are just to your north and front of you? Mr. McCaleb: Right. Yes, sir. Vice Chair Sarnoff And have you sold property since? Mr. McCaleb: The Plaza Venetia, which is on the bay, that was sold in the '60s. Vice Chair Sarnoff Anything you sold in the '80s? Mr. McCaleb: No. Vice Chair Sarnoff No? Okay. And you're a 501(c)(3), which means you don't pay taxes? Mr. McCaleb: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Sarnoff.- Okay. Anybody want to say anything? Do you want to just vote? Mr. Villacorta: Call the question. Commissioner Regalado: I -- you know, CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) helped -- I think, more than two years ago, was it? -- a historic church in Overtown when the roof had issues and then the interior because something collapsed and all that. And of course, there's always the notion, well, you know, church and state, and money, and it's a very thin line, but I think that we need to look at this property as part of the history of downtown Omni area. And it is a spectacular site. It is a place that should be visited by tourists. When you go to European capitals, they have tours of churches; and if you go to the Middle East, you know, that's a big thing. And we -- we're proud to have some churches that have a lot of value to those who really want -- I mean, this is not Madrid or France, but having that kind of church, the Jesuit church, the Catholic cathedral, it's part of the heritage that we have. We have so little history in the City of Miami that I think that is something that we should preserve, and I just believe that if we can City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 help, if we have the way to do it, I think we should do it. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Commissioner Sanchez. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an investment in historic preservation. If you look at the scope and the mission of the CRA, it clearly defines that we can use that money towards that. This is, by far -- and I -- we have a responsibility to make sure that the TIF (Tax Increment Fund) money is utilized in the most appropriate matter [sic], based on the fiduciary responsibility that we hold as board members. But this is a building that has anchored that neighborhood way before the condos came aboard, way before the Omni Mall came aboard. It is a building that is one of our treasures in our city. Just on that alone, I think that this city, in the past, has -- and not to say that we here have been involved in that, but I consider them the sin of the past. When we have lost these great treasures, they can never come back. It's a big difference between seeing something in a book and in a picture than seeing it and feeling it with your own hands. This is a beautiful church that really is well-known throughout the community and well-known through the city. There is an issue that was brought up, and it was the feeding. I do believe that has been resolved, correct? Mr. McCaleb: Yes, Commissioner. Commissioner Sanchez: So -- could you elaborate a little bit on that since we're trying to work with you to not only improve the quality of life in the area, one of them was the feeding program. What have you done with that? Mr. McCaleb: Well, the feeding program has been relocated to the Homeless Assistance Center on North Miami Avenue. And part of our feeding program has been relocated to First United Methodist Church downtown, so they've moved to facilities that can take care of the homeless in a way that we were not able to do in our venue. Commissioner Sanchez: And the other issue that was brought forth here was a discussion about church and state. Let's get this straight. We are giving money -- we're giving a grant for the historic building. We're not giving a grant for any religious activity. We're giving a grant to preserve history in our city. Now, the other issue that I want to talk about is you'll be getting a grant from us for a million dollars. I think the responsibility that we have is to ask you, when you start working on your church, to employ local businesses. Mr. McCaleb: Yes, sir. We intend to. Commissioner Sanchez: And also use every reasonable mean to employ people from the City. You know, these projects that benefit a neighborhood should also benefit the neighbors. Mr. McCaleb: Yes, sir. Commissioner Sanchez: And I would implore with you, based on these tough economic times and you being a church, that, you know -- I had here -- I wrote down we are saving a building. We may not be able to save all the souls, but if we could give people work, I think that's a win -win situation not only preserving the church, but also giving people jobs in these economic times. Mr. McCaleb: Right. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you. Mr. McCaleb: Thank you. City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff Well, I opposed this in the past, and I will admit that reasonable minds could differ. However, in the words that have been used up here, we have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and the citizens of Miami, and I undertake that responsibility with just prudence. If you think about this, you have a church that has never participated in the TIF revenue for the City of Miami. That means they have never paid one tax, and yet, they come here asking for a million dollars because they did not take care of their building for 40 years. And you ask yourself, as stewards of the taxpayers' money, whether we should be reinvesting in a place that simply has not taken its own responsibilities and taken care of its own building for the past 40 years, a tax-exempt entity. So, one million here, one million there, what's a million amongst friends? Well, those millions are going to be very, very hard to find. I sat as an MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) member very recently overseeing some of the Barack Obama bailout money, and there we were, 36 municipalities and the County, fighting over $56 million. That was our total bailout, $56.2 million. I'm not critical of the fact that we got only $56.2 million, but I think it exceeded or under -- I shouldn't say exceeded. It was much under the $2 billion of projects that were submitted. You know, if we're here as a City Commission or if we're here as a CRA, you've got to make tough choices. You got to make the choices between jobs and parks and churches, and that's an easy choice for me to make. It's an easy choice because somebody did not do what they should have done for 40 years, and now they come to this Board and they say, "All I need is one million dollars to get my 40 year certification [sic] so I can have my building remain just as it is." And of course, we buffer it by saying, well, make sure you hire only Miami residents; and we buffer it by saying, well, we're preserving a historic space; and we buffer it by making what I call "ear candy, "so that everybody out there can listen and say, well, they are doing this and they are doing that. But here's the bottom line. The bottom line is, you have a tax-exempt organization coming before the taxpayers asking for your taxes when they have never participated in paying taxes. You then have a person that has an obligation to do general maintenance on their place so that they don't come to you at the end of 40 years and say, my whole building's got to get redone. My whole foundation needs to be fixed. It is just wrong, regardless of church and state, it is wrong of this CRA to allow a tax-exempt entity to come in and ask for money when they have never participated before. And for us to say, oh, you know what? We'll get a couple of City of Miami residents some jobs, or we'll get some job programs here; or maybe, you know what? A pretty building is preserved If this is, in fact, the historic building that it is, then they should go out and raise the funds themselves by getting whatever grants they can raise and by putting themselves back in a position, you know what, through their own membership. If this church is a church with a great many members, then let the members pay for what they didn't prudently do. So I have to vote no against this, and I would implore my other Commissioners to rethink their position. Commissioner Sanchez: Call the question. Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. All those in favor, please say "aye." Commissioner Sanchez: Aye. Commissioner Regalado: Aye. Vice Chair Sarnoff Opposed? No. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you. DISCUSSION ITEMS 6. 09-00164 CRA PRESENTATION PRESENTATION REGARDING MIKADO HOTEL PROJECT. City of Miami Page 1: Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Cover Memo.pdf Backup.pdf MOTION A motion was made by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was passed unanimously, with Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Gonzalez absent, to direct the Interim Executive Director to meet with the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) general counsel and the developer to draft a grant agreement proposal regarding the MIKADO Hotel project. Vice Chair Sarnoff Item number 6. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 6 is a presentation by Florida East Coast Properties regarding its proposed MIKADO Hotel project. Martin Fine: Good evening. I'm proud to be here on -- Commissioner Sanchez: Name. Mr. Fine: My name is Martin Fine, at 701 Brickell Avenue. I'm here with my partner, Mark Aronson, and with Phil Dahan of Florida East Coast Realty. And we're going to try to be brief in making a presentation to you. Basically, this presentation almost says it all, but it doesn't give a lot of background about the project. This is the proposed project that Mr. Tibor Hollo, who, by the way, apologizes for not being here. He went back to Europe, to his home country in Budapest, and we would ask that his letter addressed to you be made a part of the record. Mr. Hollo has been developing in the Omni area since 1968. It is very hard to put a figure on the total amount of development, but he has been involved, in one form or another, with every building in the Omni area that's been built since that time, including the Omni Mall, including the Marriott, including the marina behind the Marriott and many others. It might be of great interest to you to know that the two buildings which he's completed within the last five years, five or six years, they're Opera Towers and Bay Parc Plaza, are presently paying taxes in the amount of approximately $4, 948, 374. There was no request for a TIF (Tax Increment Fund) at that time, probably should have; in hindsight, should have, but didn't. And typical of Mr. Hollo, he tried to do it on his own and tried to finance it and ran into some hard times at the end with that condominium. And so, he's a brave soul, as you know, and here he is saying to you this project is $128 million, and he's proposing to build it with private financing but needs some assistance to make it a reality. This project will consist of a hotel of 252 rooms. It will include 45,000 square feet of Class A office space, and it will include approximately 119 residential units, which may be operated as part of the hotel or leave separately. It's important to point out to you -- and we're doing this in essence of brevity -- this building will be green certified. It will be green certified. It's designed that way. The architect is Bernard Zyscovich. His colleagues are here tonight. Mr. Zyscovich is in Columbia doing some work there on the airport. It seems to me that some of the information here, which we're trying to be very brief Mr. Chairman and members, is -- but very important and very timely. Talk about shovel ready. This project, we are told, and I believe, is shovel ready. And the number of jobs that will be created as a result of this project that will come about directly from this project during the construction period will be approximately 300. The continuing jobs -- as you all know, from all the experience you have, the operation of a hotel takes a lot of people, and there will be approximately 250 people, on an ongoing basis, employed by this hotel. And while it is somewhat difficult to estimate the amount of taxes that will be paid for this proposed property, this new property, to the best of their knowledge, Florida East Coast Realty suggests to you that the amount of taxes is $1,230, 000 per year. Let me just say that I should have probably started off this presentation by thanking Mr. Villacorta for the courtesy he extended to Mr. Hollo and to myself and to Mr. Dahan in terms of working with his office to come before you tonight on a preliminary basis. We're not asking for a City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 final decision tonight because we have learned over the years it's not appropriate to present a final product to a board like yours. We want to say to you, here's what we think we're able to do; here's what we're going to do. By the way, Florida East Coast Realty has paid $87, 000 in an application fee for a building permit. These plans are at the City of Miami for a building permit. So it isn't pie in the sky. And if you'd like, we have Mr. Dahan here. We have the architects here. And I would just say to you this, this is not a piece of land on which Mr. Hollo has an option. Mr. Hollo has owned this property for almost 40 years. He's owned the property for 40 years. And he is the major developer in the Omni area in terms of this type of project, other than the 1800 Club property and the property at 19th Street and Bayshore, across from Margaret Pace Park, which, by the way, we think you've done a beautiful job in renovating. It is very hard to go on and just continue to tell you how great he is. I don't think he's the only developer in town, but I think he's really the only substantial developer in the Omni area. And if there were awards for the amount of taxes you put into a relatively small district, he might be the recipient of that award. And all I can suggest to you is that you ask any questions you have. We'll try to get them answered, whether it's tonight or between now and March 30, when we've asked for an opportunity to appear before your board again. Mr. Hollo will be here, God willing, and will participate. And we'd really like to get to any questions you have, although I'm sure we could go on for a good while. I thank you for affording us this opportunity. Vice Chair Sarnof Commissioner Sanchez. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Fine, always a pleasure to see you, sir. Mr. Fine: Thank you. Commissioner Sanchez: I agree with you in principle that this is, by far -- would be a great project and also boost our local economy as we get the project up and going. I think the appropriate thing for us to do here is to have the executive director and Legal get with you and come back with a fair agreement for a future meeting for us to be able to look at the agreement and then we could base our questions on that agreement. I think -- Mr. Fine: Okay. Commissioner Sanchez: -- the development in itself right now is, I believe, even with this tough economy and you saying that it's going to get done -- Mr. Fine: I'm saying Mr. Hollo says -- ifI say it's going to get done, it won't do you any good. Mr. Hollo says -- Commissioner Sanchez: I know, but Mr. Hollo said -- Mr. Fine: -- it's going to get done -- Commissioner Sanchez: -- it'll get done, he's a man of his word. Mr. Fine: -- he's going to do it. Commissioner Sanchez: And I think it'll be good for the area. And, of course, it's more TIF that we could use to improve the area and make it better. So I would make a motion asking the executive director and Legal to sit down with the developer and his counsel and come back with a fair agreement in a future meeting. I don't know -- I don't want to put any dates on that because there may be some issues that you need to work out, but I think that's the appropriate step to take here, so I would make that motion, Mr. Chair. Vice Chair Sarnoff Is there a second? City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Commissioner Regalado: I will second and discussion. Just the fact that the City of Miami has received a building application is symbolic and is good news because Mr. Hollo and his teams are defying the odds. And just the fact that you're placing the name "Sonesta" on the building is important for the City of Miami. It's more important for the Omni area because having a worldwide trademark coming to downtown Miami and Omni is something that would attract attention from specialized media, real estate, but also will give hope to many in the areas and push investors to follow suit. I have follow the history. Recently, there was a long article about Mr. Hollo -- Mr. Fine: Yes. Commissioner Regalado: -- and it was very interesting. And I have followed the history of Miami and, indeed, he is a pioneer. And the good thing is that when he says it gets done, it gets done. So I just think that we need to be aware of something. If it doesn't get built, we will never get the TIF. So if we are able to work out the right deal and help and encourage, then I think that we have something going in the Omni. And you know, for the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), it would be something that we can claim we did; jumpstart the economy, shovel -ready projects, you know. I think it's something that we should look into, and I'm looking forward to have you back here and explain more. I don't think we need to -- or I don't need to know, but the project is spectacular, but I hope that we can come up to terms. I think it would be the best thing that could happen psychologically for the City of Miami at this moment because then we can announce that, indeed, there is a big job -generating project that will be starting in the City. So I hope, Jim, that you can all work together and we have the figures. If the projections are right, 1.2 in property taxes, then, you know, we should look into the possibility of helping this project with the TIF. So I'm just waiting for the next step. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Vice Chair Sarnoff Oh, Mr. Fine, excellent presentation, but I just want you to know I'm decidedly unconvinced. And like Missouri, I want to be shown why this is a good investment for the taxpayers of the Omni district. I want to see the details because I haven't heard how much TIF you want back. I haven't heard -- Mr. Fine: I'm about to say that. I'm sorry. Vice Chair Sarnoff. I got you. But just so you understand it, I'm a tough guy to figure out what is a public purpose. And I haven't seen a public purpose here yet, but I'm not -- like I said, I'm decidedly unconvinced. All I'm suggesting to you is that it's got to be a good deal for the taxpayers of the Omni district and you got to show me why it's got a public purpose in it. And I don't want to hear about the 200 jobs for the construction. Those are fleeting jobs; they won't last for very long. But if you come back and you show why it's a good investment from a redevelopment agency's standpoint, I'll be all ears. So I will even join in approving the motion, but I want you to know it's -- the devil is in the details, and I want to see the details 'cause I've heard others come before this Board, make presentations, and then it's called put out the white flag and retreat because the numbers they come to us with, it's like looking at the back of their heads heading with the horses in full retreat when we say, `And how many jobs?" Mr. Fine: Let me say this, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your candor, and that gives us a direction in where to go. But one of the things that I neglected to add, by the way, is there's 45,000 square feet of office space here. Under Chapter 163, you, being an attorney, would know that the TIF is meant to make a project possible which otherwise may not have been built. So by law, what you have to do is say, in this case, as Mr. Hollo did in his letter, we're short $16 million out of 128 million, and Mr. Hollo is asking this Board, over a period of years, to finance, in an appropriate manner to the City, that sum of money. Now 16 million sounds like a lot of money, but when you talk about 128 million in this economy, you're talking about, I think, a City of Miami Page 20 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 relatively appropriate and fair sum of money. Let me just say this in terms of the maker of the motion, Mr. Sanchez. This is a very important project, we think, for Mr. Hollo, for the Omni area, for the City. And if it's all right with you, we would like an opportunity to be scheduled on the agenda for March 30 to at least come back and give you a progress report and tell you what we're doing because, frankly -- one of the things we're asking you to do tonight is ask Mr. Villacorta, who we certainly enjoy working with on this relatively short basis. I'm not sure if we can figure out where the monies are in the existing TIF, meaning how much of the TIF is pledged to the County and how much of it goes to the Performing Arts Center and how much of it goes to any other uses you have. And we would work with him and go through this and see how much is available over a period of 20 or 30 years. And while we do not want to commit ourselves to say we don't need it in one lump sum, it is possible that, if you so desire, the money can be paid out over a period of 20 or 30 years to Mr. Hollo, even though he and some of us won't be here to accept it over the last part of that. Cities are forever. Cities stay here forever, and buildings that are built by pioneers in this community, we have a great deal of reverence for them, so we call them historic buildings. But you know, you need to have a lot of reverence for people -- if that's the right word -- respect is a better word, perhaps -- who wager. And I want to give you a little history about wagering. I'd have to find -- try to find some old records, but I -- I'm pretty sure it was about 40 years ago. I represented Mr. Hollo when he bought a piece of land on a street that a lot of people didn't know about in terms of businesses. It's now where many of you go to, every once in a while, Capital Grille to have lunch or dinner. Mr. Hollo built that building, and I had the great pleasure of as I recall, rezoning it for him and representing him in that. And I will tell you the architect of that building was the very famous Morris Lapidus, who did the Fontainebleau. Ted wanted the best in those days. There was only one building on Brickell that had already said they were going to start, and that was American Bankers, which has since been imploded, and now there's a 60-story building going up at 6th and Brickell. Now this man is a pioneer. If you don't think anything else of him, you got to know he's very gutsy. He goes where lots of people won't go. And when you think about it -- and I just want to tell you I've had a good bit of opportunity to observe both TIF districts over the years. Finally, we've gotten some buildings in the Overtown TIF on Biscayne Boulevard, those condos there that hopefully will throw off some income for areas like Overtown and the other side of the track, et cetera. But at the end of the day, there has to be new building, and he is, in effect, saying to the City, in the most respectful way he can, no threats that he won't build it if he doesn't get it -- none of those comments make sense at that point. We're exploring this together 'cause, frankly, I don't know how much of the TIF is available. We've heard that 35 percent is pledged, but I don't know whether that's just the Omni TIF or the Park West TIF or what. Commissioner Sanchez: Well, as the maker of the motion, I'm open for you coming in front of the CRA and giving us updates as to the progress of the negotiation. However, I think it's paramount that before we even discuss this, that there be an agreement between you and the CRA so we could base our decision based -- Mr. Fine: Start -- Commissioner Sanchez: -- on that agreement. Mr. Fine: We would be happy to do it that way. What we're saying is there's no panic here that it needs to be done tomorrow morning; nor is there the ability to wait six or eight or ten months. So we'll do something in between. We will become very properly and ethically aggressive in moving this forward with Mr. Villacorta and his staff Mr. -- Commissioner Sanchez: And this is an opportunity. This is -- Mr. Fine: Yes. Commissioner Sanchez: -- an opportunity for you, as well as it is for us. City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Mr. Fine: It is. Vice Chair Sarnoff And Mr. Fine, you may want to think in terms of instead of the CRA giving you TIF money, you retaining some of the TIF money that you would be generating. Mr. Fine: That's what I thought I said. We'd like to retain that money, except we're not allowed to. Vice Chair Sarnoff Some. Mr. Fine: We have to pay it into the TIF to get it back out. Vice Chair Sarnoff The operative word being "some." Mr. Fine: Some. Vice Chair Sarnoff Right. Mr. Fine: Absolutely. You know, Mr. Hollo learned along time ago, all pigs go to the slaughterhouse. Vice Chair Sarnoff Well, what's the old saying in law? Mr. Fine: And I want to tell you he's not in that category. Vice Chair Sarnoff Right. Pigs make money and hogs get slaughtered. Mr. Fine: Yep, and we're -- Vice Chair Sarnoff There you go. Mr. Fine: -- not in that category. And I could go on and on, but I do want to tell you this. Before he left, he said to me, you know, if I hadn't planned this trip, I'd be there. I said, "You go. We'll take care of it," and his staff and the architects are here. We can start on this concept, Jim, if it's all right with you, tomorrow morning. I'll call you and ask for an appointment because 30 days goes by very fast. And we'll start working and do it, and if you could approve this motion today to go forward -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Well, let's call the question. Commissioner Regalado: Before you -- you know what is to me the most pleasant thing that you just said in all these presentation, that there is no threat of not building if there is no help because the City is used to being threatened if they don't get help. But I think that you have been receive as a project that is really worth looking at it and really worth trying to reach an agreement. Thank you. Mr. Fine: Let me just say this. Sometimes, in my enthusiasm, I may get carried away. I want to say this to you. Mr. Hollo, if he were here, would probably shoot me by this point because he would want to say he can't build it, but he's not here, so I'm going to say he will tell you what he can do and what he can't do. And once, as you say, Mr. Sanchez, we define the amount of the TIF, we'd have a better feel for it. Commissioner Sanchez: Exactly. City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. Commissioner Sanchez: Thank you. Vice Chair Sarnoff Let's call the question. All those in favor, please say "aye." The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Vice Chair Sarnoff All those opposed? Okay. Commissioner Sanchez: All right. Mr. Fine: Thank you very much. 7. 09-00166 CRA DISCUSSION DISCUSSION REGARDING CLEANUP OF FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY RIGHT-OF-WAY. Cover Memo.pdf Backup. pdf DISCUSSED Direction by Vice Chair Sarnoff to the Interim Executive Director to identify the funding abilities available to assist Brad Knoefler with the clean-up of the Florida East Coast Railway right-of-way. Vice Chair Sarnoff- Item number 7. Commissioner Sanchez: The two remaining items do not require a vote, so I'm going to excuse myself. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Vice Chair Sarnoff Thank you, Commissioner. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 7 is a discussion regarding the cleanup of the Florida East Coast Railway right-of-way. We have Brad Knoefler here to speak to you about that. Brad Knoefler: Hello. Commissioner Regalado: Does this requires -- Jim, does this requires a vote? Vice Chair Sarnoff No. Mr. Villacorta: No, no. Vice Chair Sarnoff I think it's a -- just a presentation. Mr. Villacorta: It's just a discussion -- Commissioner Regalado: Oh, okay. Mr. Villacorta: -- at this point. Mr. Knoefler: How are you? Brad Knoefler, 697 North Miami Avenue. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the owner of the building located at the same address, basically, a two-story City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 warehouse across from the old arena that's being torn down. This is a 1920s warehouse we've restored. Basically, got a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) back in September, and we now have a fully functioning office building at this address with probably 25 to 30 people working in the building. The reason I'm here tonight is I wanted to talk to you about the railroad tracks. As anyone who lives or works in the neighborhood knows, the railroad tracks are a continual problem, basically, a scar running through our neighborhood. They're not kept up; full of trash, homeless, poorly illuminated at night. It's a very, very big problem. My property backs up on the railroad tracks, and the office building entrance is only about 20 feet from the tracks. So you can imagine, with the law firms and so on that we have working in there, people in suits, professional outfits, having to cross the tracks to go to the federal courthouse, it's more or less a pretty big problem. So what did we decide to do about it? Well, first thing you obviously do is call the railway, which we did, and we got them to, more or less, trim, like they do every six months. But it's an ongoing thing that's been going on for years and years and years. And the position of the railway is pretty simple; that this railway has not been used since 2005. They have no revenue. They're going to do the very, very minimum they can to maintain it by -- that they have to do by law. Any kind of beautification is going to be at the City's or municipality's expense, something like what happened in the city of Hollywood, where they signed a beautification and maintenance agreement and landscaped it and so on. So what I decided to do in that kind of situation -- well, I wanted to, more or less, do something to sort of make the area safer, protect my tenants. And we have secured permission from the railway to clean up the area right behind our property, signed legal agreements for liability and so on. And we went back there with a Bobcat, basically ripped everything out, vegetation, loading docks. Put down weed mat, put about six inches of gravel on top of it, with the whole idea is that we're going to do this once and for all and it's never going to -- nothing will ever grow there again. So, basically, when you look at the before and after pictures you have in your package, you can see some pretty incredible differences, and we're very, very happy. You know, there's nobody living back there anymore. It's pretty much a little bit safer area than it was a couple of months ago. So the reason that I'm here in a larger sense is, of course, any time you're fixing up a neighborhood, whenever you frx up something, the things that look really, really bad look even worse. And basically, we had sort of a no-man's-land at the edge of the property, which goes into the three or four blocks, which the railroad employees have told me are probably the worst three or four blocks on the entire railway. So what we've decided to do, just to try to see if we could facilitate something, is we've been working with the railway for a couple of weeks. We have secured a legal agreement from them to do the same thing we did behind my property for the entire four -block area of the south part of the railway, which is going basically from the Freedom Tower, Bicentennial or Biscayne Boulevard, all the way to Northwest 1st Avenue. And what we would ideally like to see going on -- we sort of see this as maybe a multiphase project or something that could just -- there's some issues with bicycle paths, pedestrian paths that we would like to potentially see on this as well. Of course, any of that has to do with legal agreements, liability. That's something that'll have to be negotiated, obviously, with the City Attorney. But what we're trying to do here is to come up with a sort of preliminary design for the park. We're calling it a park. It could be a visual park or a park with access, depending on the legal agreements. And what I'd just like to do is to have the designer on our team, Vince Filigenzi, just present very quickly sort of our preliminary design about the railway park, we're calling it. Vice Chair Sarnoff Go ahead. Vincent Filigenzi: Thank you very much, Brad. Again, my name is Vincent Filigenzi. I have a degree in landscape architecture and urban planning. Basically -- Brad touched on it -- we're looking to improve site lines, create more of a public safety and welfare, coming through with an inexpensive solution with creating this lime rock base. Again, it creates a nice, clean atmosphere, less inorganics. What we have now is we're trying to introduce a bike path, which will essentially connect Biscayne back up through Northwest 1st Avenue. And also on this railway, we have an area that can potentially become this -- a park setting, but at this point, City of Miami Page 24 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 we're not promoting any congregation, more of a corridor base, more of a visual park. We're trying to introduce a ground cover to replace lawn, which will be a wild peanut, which is used throughout the City. Again, this is low -- it's a drought tolerant. It decreases maintenance. So, more or less, that's what we're trying to do, just create an area or a mockup that can be repeated and set up guidelines that can be repeated down the railway. Mr. Knoefler: Just quickly to let you know where we are with the project. We've already secured the agreement from the FEC to do the entire cleanup and the park. We are in the process of finalizing some agreements with them regarding the bike path, which, obviously, is a little bit more complicated. So what we hope to do is, over the next couple of weeks, to finalize the design, come up with a final budget number, and potentially come back to the March meeting with a detailed proposition for this park. One other thing just to highlight, the nice thing, for better or worse, this is a private property and I don't believe that the City has jurisdiction. There's no permits required. More or less, what the railroad says goes, so it can be done very, very quickly. It could probably -- this project -- we could have a four -block park probably done in three to four weeks from the time that this was signed off on, so -- Commissioner Regalado: How is the lighting? Mr. Knoefler: The lighting's very, very bad. One of the things that we wanted to propose as well is this FPL (Florida Power & Light) outdoor lighting program; $24 a month, you have a 400-watt beam streetlight basically shining on the properly. And we have about 15 of those, and potentially, a little bit more just to keep the area very, very well lit up. That's one of the big problems right now is there's no lighting back there at all. It's really sort of a black hole when you go back there at night, very scary. Commissioner Regalado: It -- because -- I mean, not having lights, it will defeat the whole purpose and -- Mr. Knoefler: Exactly. Commissioner Regalado: -- but I thought that we pay $8 per public light on the pole, and you already -- Mr. Knoefler: That's just -- Commissioner Regalado: -- but you contracted because -- you, as a business, contracted? Mr. Knoefler: No. There's different -- there's a streetlight program -- Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, yeah, I know. Mr. Knoefler: -- and there's the outdoor light, which is for private property. Commissioner Regalado: I know. Mr. Knoefler: Okay. That's why there's different prices. Commissioner Regalado: So -- no, no. I understand. Mr. Knoefler: Okay. Commissioner Regalado: I have one in my house -- Mr. Knoefler: Okay. City of Miami Page 25 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Commissioner Regalado: -- so I know. But what I'm saying is, it's -- if you contract, as a private property owner, FPL, they will charge you $24 and then you pay the electricity. However, the City pays $8. So the question is, this is not a public right-of-way, but it will be. If we were to establish bike path and, you know, pedestrian -- Mr. Villacorta: Walkways. Commissioner Regalado: -- transient -- it would be -- even if it's a FCC [sicJ property, it would be public. So my question is, can we go through the route of FPL and maybe -- because what is going to happen is that, you know, some people will want to do it; some people won't want to do it. And if we go through the route of FPL, then we can have an organized and uniform lighting in the area. So I think that we should -- and you know who -- Jim, David Hernandez, from Public -- Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Regalado: -- Works, as you know, he work with you. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Regalado: And he would be the liaison with him and Mr. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at FPL. And I think -- because, Mr. Chairman, I just think that this -- and I was thinking about you when he started saying -- and I was going to say, well, can you go north? Can you go south? But if we were to do this -- and you already did something -- we need lighting. Lighting is the only way because you don't want to come in the morning to your place and find all graffiti and, you know, they have burn some of the area or destroy. So lighting is paramount here. Mr. Knoefler: No, I agree. That was a part of our original idea, and you know, it really is a minimal, minimal expense. I mean, if you put 15 or 20 lights for 5 or $6, 000, you can light an entire four -block area. That's such a great cost benefit for the CRA, just amazing. So definitely a great idea. Mr. Villacorta: And actually, we've already met with David Hernandez out at the site, and we can explore with him whether these lights are eligible to be included in the City's lighting contract. Vice Chair Sarnoff And Commissioner, I -- so you know, I actually went out there on a Saturday and met these guys, got to see -- it's Brad, isn't it? -- Brad Knoefler's building, which is worth seeing, by the way. If you've ever been to Chicago and New York, it looks like you're in Chicago or New York. You wouldn't think this exists in Miami. But we did walk the entire length of this corridor. This corridor is a huge scar on Miami. This corridor is no-man's-land, and it is absolutely filled with homeless. I think we saw no less than 16 to 20 homeless that day, not that they were doing anything bad, but most of the litter was being created by them. As we walked it, you can see this unique opportunity for a park or park -like setting. You saw immediately the potential for rollerblading, for skateboarding, for riding your bike, from -- and what it does is it joins communities. It allows access to Biscayne Boulevard all the way to very far west -- I forgot the name of the street where it really lets out right by that triangle. Mr. Villacorta: Northwest 1st. Vice Chair Sarnoff -- Northwest 1st Street. It marries the neighborhood together. And it would provide a great opportunity for exercise and just open space, open green space. But the one thing I did notice when I was walking there was not to spend a little bit of money, but to do it right and allow yourself to get the proper fencing around there. And if you notice some of the City of Miami Page 26 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 fencing, it's all cyclone fencing. If you were to take away the fencing and create sort of a bowl -- we talked about that -- where you would create a concrete wall that kind of bowls up, number one, it would do a couple of things. It would not allow the homeless to sleep on it, which they have a propensity to do on the loading docks. They've been successful at taking down a number of the loading docks. But it will equally create a very nouveau or very new -looking city park or open space, and one I suggest and I think would be used by the downtown residents. And the one thing we should start getting this city ready for is the new kind of downtown resident that's going to come to Miami. And I suspect we're about to become a very youthful downtown city 'cause I suspect you're going to see a bunch of kids and college -- maybe even kids going to college or ones just right out of college really finding it an interesting place to live downtown and wanting to live downtown. Probably a lot of Brad's friends would probably like that. If anybody gets a chance to see his place, it is truly a unique place. His particular -- I guess it's a rental facility; it's not a condo, but it's very, very interesting. So what I -- I know we don't have a quorum, but I'd like the director to do is try to figure out and ask Brad -- I'm not saying going a hundred percent grade A, but hitting a solid B on this would really be worth doing. I mean, we're probably talking out the better part of a linear ten acres, probably. It is that large. It is that much of an interesting part of the City. It is a recapturing of green space that we don't have right now. It is open space that it's not going to really cost us anything in terms of acquisition. It's going to go right into a triangle, which is going to allow him -- he came up with a great idea, which was to try to get an old, antique railcar -- Mr. Knoefler: Locomotive. Vice Chair Sarnoff Right. Mr. Knoefler: Yeah, from the FEC or one of the railway museums. Vice Chair Sarnoff -- right out there, and maybe from there we can continue to build a little bit of a park -like feature. But I think that, Jim, you should look into ways of seeing what our funding abilities are. And I just think this -- you think about this -- you start out really right by the American Airlines Arena and/or the Freedom Tower, and you end up right in a park. And it is -- these warehouses that are right there -- and I don't know what better to call them -- or distribution centers or whatever they were called I don't think they're going to become high-rises. What I think they're going to do is go into a reuse -type situation, where you're going to see lofts and you're going to see complete open -space -type units as we become more and more urban downtown. So I was -- you know, I was very enthusiastic to see this because the potential is really there. So I suggest you go for the B, maybe not the A, but come back with a very good urban design, something we can look at and something you can work with Jim with. Mr. Knoefler: Let me just make one more point about the fact that this is actually being used as a de facto sort of public pathway right now. If you go up there after a Heat game, you have hundreds and hundreds of people walking down the middle of the tracks. I mean, it's not used for train traffic, but there's obviously safety reasons and so on. A well marked pathway and so on would obviously have some safety and liability issues -- benefits as well, so -- Commissioner Regalado: I was going to ask you precisely that because it directs -- connects directly to American Airlines Arena. And is there any parking around -- parking lots that would be like two or there blocks from the arena? Mr. Knoefler: Every single property around me is a parking lot. Commissioner Regalado: So here's the thing. The Chairman just ask you for a B. I'm telling you, why don't you go for the gold? Because let me -- if the people that attend American Airlines Arena could have a place that we -- that they can walk -- and if they have to park two or three blocks -- but if they have a decent place with light and nice to walk, they would because most of City of Miami Page 27 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 the time the weather is good. There is no -- that much rainy days, so I would think that we should go to the Miami Heat and say, guys, you know, why don't you help us sponsor this path? It is important for you. It is -- actually, it is important for them more than even you because people do use that, you just said, in order to get away from the -- Mr. Knoefler: To walk to the Metrorail, which is on Northwest 1st Avenue. Commissioner Regalado: Exactly. So I think that we should get involved and with the folks with the Arena and the Miami Heat and -- you know, the Arena is not only the Miami Heat -- the Arena -- their main business is concerts, and there is a lot of young crowds that attend the Arena, and these people would probably rather park on a cheaper parking lot, two or three blocks, if they have the way not to be jumping over weeds and people sleeping on the curbs and all that. So I just think that maybe comprehensive -- maybe you, being in this Board, in the Performing Arts, you can reach out to -- Vice Chair Sarnoff And you know what, I'll do that. As a matter of fact, the vice president of the Miami Heat is Eric Woolworth. He's a close, personal friend I'll leave you his number. I will call him myself. I think Commissioner Regalado brings up a good point. We had talked about it. Let's get some participation from some of the parking lots that are adjacent to the actual corridor, and I -- and maybe we can call together a gold standard. This would be a real win for the Heat, or the Arena, if you will. I think this would be a great way of allowing people to filter out that walk and walk in a nice, protected and environmentally -sensitive area when they depart the arena. I'll give you his number, and I will equally speak to Eric as well. Mr. Knoefler: Thank you very much for your time. Vice Chair Sarnoff Thank you. Commissioner Regalado: But remember, no lights, no good. Mr. Villacorta: Actually, we've -- we're planning on holding the next CRA meeting at this building to show you what's been done in the area. And the CRA participated with a facade grant towards the renovation of that building. Commissioner Regalado: And you will make the people attending and the board members to walk -- park and walk through the pathway? Vice Chair Sarnoff And everybody will be impressed, everybody; from his building, to what he's done, to what can be done. It's truly an impressive -- you don't think you're in the City of Miami. 8. 09-00168 CRA DISCUSSION DISCUSSION REGARDING JUNKANOO FESTIVAL AT GIBSON PARK. Cover Memo.pdf DISCUSSED Direction by Vice Chair Sarnoff to the Interim Executive Director to meet with Sidney Ferguson to draft a grant agreement proposal regarding the Junkanoo Festival at Gibson Park, to be brought back at the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) meeting currently scheduled for March 30, 2009. Vice Chair Sarnoff All right. Number 8. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 8 is a discussion regarding a Junkanoo Festival in this coming April at Gibson Park, City of Miami Page 28 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 and we have Mr. Sidney Ferguson who's put this festival on. This will be the third year that he's had it. Sidney Ferguson: Good evening. My name Mr. Sidney Ferguson. I am the founder of Miami Junkanoo Festival. The Junaknoo Festival is a celebration of Bahamian culture in the historic Overtown on Gibson Park. This is our third year and it has been successful. The Junkanoo Festival is a family event with live entertainment from the Bahamas and South Florida. This festival is not just a Bahamian celebration. It is a celebration of Overtown. My budget is 42,000, so I'm asking the Board for at least 10,000 to help sponsor this historical event that would put Overtown back on the map as a tourist destination. Mr. Villacorta: I guess, since we lack a quorum, you could direct me to work with him and see if we can't bring a grant agreement back. Vice Chair Sarnoff That's fine. Mr. Villacorta: Okay. Vice Chair Sarnoff I mean, we don't have a quorum to do anything. Mr. Villacorta: Right. Vice Chair Sarnoff. We're an inept board. We can't do anything. Commissioner Regalado: When is the festival? Mr. Ferguson: April 18. Commissioner Regalado: Oh, you got time. Vice Chair Sarnoff Sid -- yeah. Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. So we could work with Mr. Ferguson and bring a proposed grant agreement back at some level of sponsorship in March. Vice Chair Sarnoff. Okay. Good enough? Mr. Ferguson: Good. Thank you. Vice Chair Sarnoff. Thank you. 9. 09-00169 CRA DISCUSSION UPDATE REGARDING ANNUAL PAYMENT TO COUNTY IN SUPPORT OF THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER. Cover Memo.pdf DISCUSSED Vice Chair Sarnoff Number 9. James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 9 is an update regarding the annual payment to the County in support of the Performing Arts Center, and it was just to advise the Board that we will be making a payment of 6.4 million to Miami -Dade County in support of the Performing Arts Center on March 31 per our (INAUDIBLE) agreement. City of Miami Page 29 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Commissioner Regalado: Do we need a vote? Mr. Villacorta: No. No vote is necessary. Vice Chair Sarnoff We couldn't vote. Mr. Villacorta: Just to let you know where the money's going. Commissioner Regalado: One to one. But I'd like to ask you something. What is this money for? Mr. Villacorta: It's being used to pay down the bonds that were used to construct the building. Commissioner Regalado: Construction bonds? Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Regalado: Well, if you look at a statement that the Chairperson Ricky Arriola made in Miami Today, he said that thanks to the -- Ms. Arsht donation, the center was able to pay 18 -- the $18 million in construction bonds that they had pending. So when I read that, I said it make sense because they -- I thought that they were going to use that for an endowment, but apparently, they decided that they do not want to pay interest and save the money and pay -- and they did pay the bond. So it got me thinking, if they paid the bonds, what is this money for. Mr. Villacorta: I'm not familiar with his statement. I'm sure there's a number of bonds out there that are (INAUDIBLE). Commissioner Regalado: Well, I believe the press. Mr. Villacorta: Okay. I'm not saying I don't believe. I'm just not familiar with -- Commissioner Regalado: I believe the press. I'm just saying to you -- Mr. Villacorta: Okay. Commissioner Regalado: Okay. I just think -- and you know, this is a binding contract and all that, so I would not even think of opposing or anything. I just think that we should know because if they do pay already the construction bond, maybe they want to use that for other thing. And also, to understand when is the other part of the deal going to be implemented, which is the extension of the life of the CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agencies), the extension of the boundaries. Mr. Villacorta: The CRAs are in the process of finalizing the finding of necessity studies that allow for the expansion of the boundaries that determine whether there's slum and blight in the areas that they're seeking to expand the CRAs into. Those studies, as we spoke about at the last meeting, should be finished in the next couple weeks. They will be presented to the City, and then they'll start the process of being presented to the City Commission, to the County Commission, and the County would then delegate the authority to create a redevelopment plan for the expanded areas. But you'll start seeing that in March. Commissioner Regalado: Is the expansion to include Jungle Gardens? Mr. Villacorta: Right now it's proposed to go out to Watson Island and at least -- City of Miami Page 30 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Commissioner Regalado: Both sides? Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Regalado: Even the yacht clubs? Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Regalado: I'm just saying because sooner or later Jungle Gardens will come asking for a bailout. Vice Chair Sarnoff Sooner. Commissioner Regalado: Sooner? Okay. But I suspect it. I'm telling you, I suspect it. And I'm just saying, you know, we're fighting here against the clock; and so I just want to know if the County really wants to do this, in terms of the expansion and in terms of the -- because if there is a bailout coming, it would probably -- you know, it would be very easy for somebody to say, Mr. Manager, find the money, but it would come from not other people's money, but our money. So I'm just saying we need to understand if this is going to fly because if there are issues, then the City will take the brunt and we have the CRA to do this and other things. Mr. Villacorta: Well, both of those finding of necessity studies, the one for Omni and the one for Overtown/Park West, will be presented to the City Commission, and the Commissioners will have the opportunity at that time to alter -- Commissioner Regalado: Yeah, but -- Mr. Villacorta: -- the boundaries. Commissioner Regalado: -- it will not be our decision. It would be the County's decision. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. The County would have to approve any expansion of the boundaries, yes. Commissioner Regalado: And is the deal of Crosswinds still intertangled [sic] with the --? Mr. Villacorta: The Crosswinds project is being renegotiated to change it from an ownership project to a rental project. There's some new investors that were willing to come in and do that. Whether we'll be able to reach an agreement with them remains to be seen. The blocks that Crosswinds was going to go on are still in litigation with the County. Commissioner Regalado: Okay. Vice Chair Sarnoff When was the last time, Jim, that you got involved, directly or indirectly, with the expansion of the CRAs? Mr. Villacorta: We met with the chief financial officer on Friday to review the finding of necessity study -- the drafts of the finding of necessity studies. Vice Chair Sarnoff And you're confident that that included Watson Island? Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Commissioner Regalado: But if I remember well, it was Chairman -- Vice Chairman Sarnoff City of Miami Page 31 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 who was supposed to be involved in that negotiations, right? I remember -- Vice Chair Sarnoff The expansion? Commissioner Regalado: Yeah. I remember -- you remember that the Board asked him to -- Vice Chair Sarnoff CRA Board? Commissioner Regalado: Yeah. Yeah, the CRA Board. Vice Chair Sarnoff Jim, you haven't been meeting with me. Mr. Villacorta: Well, we've been working diligently -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Am I supposed to look for you? Mr. Villacorta: -- on the finding of necessity -- Commissioner Regalado: Oh, okay. Mr. Villacorta: As we get close to this final draft, we'll certainly -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Mr. Villacorta: -- bring it to you. Vice Chair Sarnoff I just -- I think Commissioner Regalado's right. I think there was some -- Commissioner Regalado: Oh, yeah. Vice Chair Sarnoff -- involvement -- Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Vice Chair Sarnoff -- that I was supposed to have. Commissioner Regalado: Somebody's saying that I'm too old for this, but I still have a memory. Vice Chair Sarnoff You are too old for this. All right. We don't have a quorum, so we can't actually say motion to adjourn, so thanks, everybody, for coming today. Priscilla A. Thompson (Clerk of the Board): You can just adjourn the meeting. You don't have to -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Then hereby adjourned. Ms. Thompson: Thank you. Vice Chair Sarnoff Wait a minute. I always wanted to do this. NON -AGENDA ITEMS NA.1 09-00210 CRA DISCUSSION BRIEF DISCUSSION BY ANTHONY CUTLER REGARDING HIS ISSUES City of Miami Page 32 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 AND CONCERNS WITH THE CRA (COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY). DISCUSSED Direction by Vice Chair Sarnoff to the Interim Executive Director to meet with Anthony Cutler to crystallize his issues regarding the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) and place an item on the next CRA agenda, currently scheduled for March 30, 2009. Anthony Cutler: Commissioner Sarnoff, the public don't get a chance to speak? Vice Chair Sarnoff What issue? Is there an issue? Mr. Cutler: Well, yes, it is a issue, and it concerns me -- this what I'm saying, the public don't get a chance to speak on the things that y'all just ruled on, and if you had any input that was in the best interest of the community, whether it influence your decision -- Vice Chair Sarnoff What issue do you want to speak on? Priscilla A. Thompson (Clerk of the Board): I'm sorry, Chair. Can we have a name? Vice Chair Sarnoff Yeah. Can he [sic] have your name and address? Mr. Cutler: Yes. My name is Anthony Cutler. I reside at 706 Northwest 4th Avenue. And -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Which agendaed item did you want to speak on? Mr. Cutler: Well, actually, I would -- this whole agenda concerns me because what we're being -- doing. We -- my brother, he runs the Veterans Employment Transitional Service, and we've been trying -- we've been coming to these meetings trying to get a relationship with the developers, contractors, even with these boards, to be included because you got people that's on fixed income and low income. We trying to give these people livable wages so we can stamp out poverty in the community. We can't do it by ourself [sic]. Right now, the only funds that we actually got from the City was $25,000, and that's not enough money for any organization to function on. We're using our own money at this particular time. And just like today -- now I had to go in there today by myself, which it was okay because my heart is in helping people, especially with employment because that's what we do. Vice Chair Sarnoff Mr. Cutler, I'm going to ask you one more time. What issue on the agenda do you want to speak on? And if you don't have something on the agenda, I'll designate the director to meet with you and put an agenda item on it. Mr. Cutler: Okay. That'll be fine. And -- but it was one other thing that I did want to address, Mr. Sarnoff, was the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) projects. Vice Chair Sarnoff What agenda item, sir? Mr. Cutler: It's the whole project, the CRA itself. Vice Chair Sarnoff.- Well, that -- Mr. Cutler: It's full -- Vice Chair Sarnoff -- we're not going to talk about the CRA in general. If you want to -- if you want, I'll designate the director to meet with you and put an agenda item so that the issues can be crystallized so that the Commissioners, who I know study their agendas before they get here, City of Miami Page 33 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 can find out and use their due diligence to learn whatever your issue is. But to just get up here and talk about the CRA and voice your displeasure is, number one, not a good use of anyone's time because we don't know exactly what you're talking about. Number two, it's better to meet with the director or his designee, create an agenda item for you so that the Commissioners then, before they get here, can be briefed on what the issue is. Mr. Cutler: Okay. And you just -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Is that fair? Mr. Cutler: Yeah, that is fair. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Mr. Cutler: But you just said within -- you didn't know what item or what I was going to say in reference to the community. Because, see, the community need to have a voice in this meeting regardless of what's on the agenda or what's being said. We want to be heard. Vice Chair Sarnoff Well -- Mr. Cutler: And we -- Vice Chair Sarnoff -- I think what you want to be heard on is an agenda that you want to bring before us. Mr. Cutler: Right. Vice Chair Sarnoff I got no problem with that. Mr. Cutler: Okay, so -- Vice Chair Sarnoff And I'll designate the director -- I'm sure Commissioner Regalado will, as well -- to meet with you and bring whatever issue you want to bring -- if it's a jobs package, if it's a library, if it's a park, whatever issue you have. Mr. Cutler: Inclusion. That's it. Just inclusion. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. That sounds to me sort of like a job -- sort of like what the County does with their community packages, where they create a certain amount of small business development. Is that what you're thinking of? Mr. Cutler: Well, not really, because of the different project that just was displayed here. I mean, these making impact decisions -- we don't want to be -- Vice Chair Sarnoff We've approved -- Mr. Cutler: Hold on, Commissioner. Vice Chair Sarnoff Let me just say this to you, Mr. Cutler. There's been no project voted on. Mr. Cutler: I understand that. Yes, it -- well, yes, it has. Vice Chair Sarnoff There's been no project -- Mr. Cutler: With the guy who did the -- City of Miami Page 34 Printed on 3/18/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes February 23, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff The big sign? Mr. Cutler: Right. Vice Chair Sarnoff No. Trust me -- Mr. Cutler: The hotel wasn't -- you didn't vote on that? Vice Chair Sarnoff No. No vote on that. Mr. Cutler: Okay. Vice Chair Sarnoff It's premature. I know what you're going to ask for. You're going to ask for small business participation. And if we're going to spend CRA dollars -- and I say a big "ii ' -- then you better damn well believe there's going to be community participation 'cause that's the only public purpose I can come up with on that project. Mr. Cutler: And I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Vice Chair Sarnoff But all I'm saying is if you have other issues you want to address, don't hesitate to meet the director and put it on the agenda. Mr. Cutler: That's Jim? James H. Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Yeah. Vice Chair Sarnoff That's Jim Villacorta. And if he's not been good to you, you let us know. Mr. Cutler: And I will. Mr. Villacorta: But I have been. City of Miami Page 35 Printed on 3/18/2009