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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSEOPW OMNI CRA 2009-08-06 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com of Meeting Minutes Thursday, August 6, 2009 1:00 PM This meeting was rescheduled due to the lack of quorum at the July 27, 2009 meeting. City of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 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 August 6, 2009 Present: Commissioner Sanchez, Commissioner Regalado, Chair Spence -Jones and Vice Chair Sarnoff Absent: Commissioner Gonzalez On the 6th day of August 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 Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida. The meeting was called to order by Chair Michelle Spence -Jones at 1: 27 p.m. and was adjourned at 2:00 p.m. Note for the Record: Commissioner Regalado entered the meeting at 1: 42 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: James H. Villacorta, Interim Executive Director, CRA Clarence Woods, Assistant Executive Director, CRA Julie O. Bru, General Counsel, CRA Gail A. Dotson, Assistant General Counsel, CRA William R. Bloom, Special Counsel, CRA Pamela E. Burns, Assistant Clerk of the Board Chair Spence -Jones: All right. We'd like to officially open the Miami CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) meeting. I believe we are missing two Commissioners. I just want the record to reflect that. Madam City Clerk, if you could at least put that information on the record for us now, who's missing today, Commissioner Regalado and Commissioner Gonzalez. I just wanted to make sure the record reflect that. FINANCIALS 1. 09-00819 CRA REPORT FINANCIAL SUMMARY THROUGH MONTH ENDING JUNE 30, 2009 Financial Summary.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Spence -Jones: All right. We're going to move on to item number 1, which is the financial summary. Miguel. Miguel Valentin: Miguel Valentin, CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) financial officer. I'm going to be presenting the combined statement of financial position as of June 30, 2009. For the first item, cash unrestricted, we are disclosing the same amount, 100, 000; and for Omni, 100, 000. For the item number two, reserve for projects and operations, especially the affordable -- the low-income affordable workforce housing project, as of to date, we have budgeted 8,823,171; of this amount, 7,712,683 has been encumbered, and 2,972,999 has been expended, leaving an available balance of 1,110, 488. Just for the record, that amount is going to be increased dramatically in fiscal year 2010, and also, there is no reportable condition to report to the Board. Chair Spence -Jones: Any questions? Commissioner Sanchez: No reported conditions? Nothing -- City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Mr. Valentin: No, sir. Commissioner Sanchez: -- out of the norm that we should be made aware of? Mr. Valentin: Yes. Chair Spence -Jones: Thank you, Miguel. RESOLUTIONS 2. 09-00820 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA"), WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE CRA'S PROPOSED GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AND TAX INCREMENT FUND BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2009 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2010; DIRECTING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF EACH BUDGET TO THE CITY OF MIAMI AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. Legislation.pdf File # 09-00820 Cover Memo August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Vice Chair Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Vice Chair Sarnoff, Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Sanchez Absent: 2 - Commissioner Gonzalez and Commissioner Regalado CRA-R-09-0041 Direction by Chair Spence -Jones to the Interim Executive Director to meet with Vice Chair Sarnoff to address the Vice Chair's concerns regarding the proposed budgets of the Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs). Chair Spence -Jones: We're going to move on to item number 2, which this is in reference to the budgets. I just want to state for the record that this is just a preliminary budget 'cause -- Mr. Executive Director, I just want to be clear that this is a preliminary budget and we'll be bringing this item back in front of the overall board. A lot of this is based upon the County anyway. James Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Yeah. As we do every year, we are required by an internal resolution passed by this Board to submit our budgets in July so that they can be included with the City's CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) in September. However, the County is unable to provide us with a firm number as to what the TIF (Tax Increment Fund) revenues are going to be for the year until September, October. And then actually, the amount that we actually receive in January, they require us to amend our budgets to reflect, even beyond what they estimated, the actual check that we receive. So this budget will be amended in January to reflect the actual amounts received. Because we don't know the City and the County millages and how that will affect the TIF revenues, what we do to be conservative is we use the amount of TIF that was generated the prior year as our starting point for generating these budgets. But we will amend these budgets to reflect the actual number once we receive the checks from the City and the County. Chair Spence -Jones: No problem. So we have -- on resolution 2, is there a motion and a second on this item? City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 8/26,2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Commissioner Sanchez: There's a -- I'll make a motion. Chair Spence -Jones: Okay. I have -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Second. Chair Spence -Jones: -- a motion. Commissioner Sanchez: Discussion. Vice Chair Sarnoff Second. Chair Spence -Jones: Okay. Second for discussion. Commissioner Sanchez: Discussion. Despite a tough economic times that we're facing, actually, the TIF actually gained a bit. Mr. Villacorta: We expect, in Omni, that there -- you know, last year, there was a 20 percent increase in TIF in Omni. We expect to see something -- in Overtown. We expect to see something similar this year, perhaps higher than that. But again, until those millages are set and we know -- you know, it's the millage times the appraised value that determines the TIF. Until we know, we're using the conservative number. In Omni, we're expecting it to go up, but not that much, not as much as in Overtown. Commissioner Sanchez: And those TIF dollars come in at the end of the year, so when -- Mr. Villacorta: They come in January -- the City -- the taxing authorities are required to pay the TIF to the redevelopment agencies by January 1 -- Commissioner Sanchez: Right. Mr. Villacorta: -- or they are fined -- or we're entitled to a 5 percent penalty and 1 percent interest for every month that the payment is late. Commissioner Sanchez: So you basically adjust the budget to match it up with the actual TIF that you receive. Mr. Villacorta: With the actual revenues received, which, you know -- again, we're a pay-as-you-go agency. We are not allowed to issue debt or, you know, take on loans or issue bonds without the approval of the County. So what we do is we fund our projects with cash in hand, and once we have the cash, that's when we hire an engineer to do plans and then hire a contractor to start construction. So we don't -- we're not paying for plans that we don't have the money to build the project. We operate very conservatively. I know the Board has asked this question in the past being concerned that perhaps TIF revenues would drop and what effect that would have on current projects. And our response has been because we are pay-as-you-go and don't undertake a project until we have the cash in hand, it wouldn't affect current projects, but a drop in TIF would just prevent us from doing more in the future. However, this year we expect to see an increase, but the exact parameters of that increase we couldn't know at this point. Commissioner Sanchez: You couldn't formulate right now. Mr. Villacorta: No. Commissioner Sanchez: Okay. City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Mr. Villacorta: And we've -- this is something that we encounter every year with the budgets. And the Board will get a chance to amend the budgets to reflect the actual amounts received after January 1 when we receive those payments. Commissioner Sanchez: Okay. Chair Spence -Jones: Commissioner Sanchez, you have any other comments? Commissioner Sanchez: No. That's it. Chair Spence -Jones: Okay. So we had a motion and a second. All in favor? Vice Chair Sarnoff Wait, wait, wait. Can I just -- Chair Spence -Jones: Oh, you had --? Vice Chair Sarnoff -- say one --? Sorry. Chair Spence -Jones: Sure. No problem. Vice Chair Sarnoff : I don't want to be a potted plant. Chair Spence -Jones: No. I -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Jim, I just want to give you a little bit of my concern, and I brought it up last year. It didn't go very far, but I'm going to bring it up again this year. With respect to both agencies and their expenditures, you still continue to demonstrate a great deal in legal fees. And all due respect, they're a lot of lawyers at the CRA. And if you also account for the fact that the City Attorney is probably providing $150, 000 in legal fees to the CRA, between the two agencies, you could be at or above a million dollars a year in legal fees. And I just cannot fathom that it takes that many lawyers to screw a light bulb in. Mr. Villacorta: Well, there's a lot of light over at the CRA, but we use -- Vice Chair Sarnoff I want to -- you know, in these austere times, in these times that people have different expectations, you know, there's two things that come to light with that. You, yourself, are a lawyer. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Vice Chair Sarnoff There're a number of lawyers in your various departments. I have no -- I have the utmost respect for Bill Bloom. You use Holland & Knight's services. You use the services of the City Attorney. And it just seems to me that for an agency to have -- I'm looking at legal, $296, 000 for the -- it looks like Omni -- for the -- Mr. Villacorta: Overtown -- is that --? Vice Chair Sarnoff -- Overtown, and then 600 -- 187,000 for the other one, and then there's something called "Professional Services - Other," 664, 000. I think in these times, you know, people have an expectation that we're watching very carefully what we're doing. And I commented last year I thought that the legal services hourly rate could have been better negotiated based on what was going on with the environment. The environment has deteriorated further. Lawyers are lowering their rates, not raising their rates. And I just question -- maybe it's fun because, you know, I'm a lawyer and I get to kick -- maybe I get professional courtesy City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 from my own and I get to kick at us, but I just think you're over-lawyered. Mr. Villacorta: The two staff attorneys at the CRA are doing more than just legal work, but they are -- every grant that we issue has a contract that goes out. Every relationship we enter into with any vendor has a fairly extensive contract. Every month, if we're lucky, perhaps twice a month, we prepare this agenda and that's done by the lawyers, and there's a lot of legal work that goes into it. I think cutting back on that sort of oversight might be pennywise and pound foolish because when you look at some of the things the CRA -- problems that developed in the '90s, they were due to poorly drafted contracts, poorly drafted development agreements. If you look at, for instance, the Crosswinds agreement, it's probably 300 pages and we're thoroughly protected. When the CRA built Margaret Pace Park, that contractor went bankrupt, but it got built because we were thoroughly protected. We had the performance and payment bonds in place, and the day this person missed his milestone, we called the insurance company, and within two weeks, they were out there finishing that construction job and that's because we had clearly drafted documents and the proper safeguards to protect the agency. The -- Chair Spence -Jones: Let me just say this, Jim. I think that if the Commissioner is making a recommendation -- again, we're not voting on the budget now, but I think that this is something he wants you to consider before we actually physically close out on this budget. So I don't want you to go through each case that's -- Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. Chair Spence -Jones: -- represented. I think that you guys can sit down and go through each individual case or, you know, reason why. Mr. Villacorta: Sure. Chair Spence -Jones: I just -- I don't want to deal with that right now, but I think that you need to just hear what he's saying to at least respond to what he's saying before the next budget comes back in front of us. And I see we have Madam City Attorney standing here as well, so perhaps the two of you guys can put your heads together to figure out how to accommodate what the Commissioner's asking for. I just don't want -- Mr. Villacorta: Sure. Chair Spence -Jones: We have a very long -- I think we may have a very long day today -- Mr. Villacorta: Okay. Chair Spence -Jones: -- so with that being said, I really want to get through the CRA meeting so we could deal with the other business for the City, so please just take his recommendation and please make sure that we do something to address it. Mr. Villacorta: Sure. I'd be happy to meet with the Commissioner and explain -- Chair Spence -Jones: Thank you, Jim. Mr. Villacorta: -- those items. Chair Spence -Jones: All right. We had a motion and a second on that item. Commissioner Sanchez: Call the question. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: All right, that item passes. 3. 09-00821 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA"), WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE CRA'S PROPOSED GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AND TAX INCREMENT FUND BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2009 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2010; DIRECTING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF EACH BUDGET TO THE CITY OF MIAMI AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. Legislation.pdf File # 09-00821 Cover Memo August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Sanchez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Vice Chair Sarnoff, Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Sanchez Absent: 2 - Commissioner Gonzalez and Commissioner Regalado CRA-R-09-0042 Chair Spence -Jones: We're going to move to the Omni number 3 item, Omni -- James Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item num -- Chair Spence -Jones: -- budget. Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. Item number 3 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency, with attachments, approving and adopting the CRA's (Community Redevelopment Agency's) proposed general operating budget and tax increment fund budget for the fiscal year commencing October 1, 2009 and ending September 30, 2010, and directing the executive director to transmit a copy of each budget to the City of Miami and Miami -Dade County. Chair Spence -Jones: All right. Do we have a motion? Vice Chair Sarnoff. So moved. Chair Spence -Jones: We have a motion. Commissioner Sanchez: Second. Chair Spence -Jones: Second. All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: This item passes. 4. 09-00822 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 8/26,2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA") AUTHORIZING 2145-47 N.W. LLC TO RECEIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE CRA'S EXPENDITURE ON THE INTERIOR BUILD -OUT OF THE COMMERCIAL SPACE AT 1035 N.W. 3RD AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA; 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, "OTHER GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 10050.920101.883000.0000.00000. Legislation.pdf File # 09-00822 Cover Memo August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Sanchez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Vice Chair Sarnoff, Chair Spence -Jones and Commissioner Sanchez Absent: 2 - Commissioner Gonzalez and Commissioner Regalado CRA-R-09-0043 Chair Spence -Jones: We're going to move on to item number 4. James Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 4 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency authorizing 2145 to 47 Northwest LLC (Limited Liability Company) to receive the benefit of the CRA's (Community Redevelopment Agency's) expenditure on the interior build -out of the commercial space at 1035 Northwest 3rd Avenue, Miami, Florida; and authorizing the executive director to execute all documents necessary for said purpose, in a form acceptable to general counsel. Vice Chair Sarnoff. So moved. Commissioner Sanchez: Second. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: All right, this item passes. 5. 09-00851 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, BETWEEN THE CRA AND UDG V, LLC FOR THE JAZZ VILLAGE AT LITTLE BROADWAY PROJECT. File # 09-00851 Cover Memo August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf File # 09-00851 Legislation August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf File # 09-00851 Amendment to Agreement Attachment August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda N Motion by Vice Chair Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Sanchez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 8/26,2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Votes: Ayes: 4 - Vice Chair Sarnoff, Chair Spence -Jones, Commissioner Sanchez and Commissioner Regalado Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gonzalez CRA-R-09-0044 A motion was made by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Vice Chair Sarnoff, and was passed unanimously, with Commissioner Gonzalez absent, to direct the Interim Executive Director to attempt to modifir the lease agreement in a manner that will allow the developer to apply for Florida housing tax credits. Chair Spence -Jones: We move on to item number 5. James Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Item number 5 is a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency, with attachments, authorizing execution of an amendment to the development agreement, in substantially the attached form, between the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) and UDG V LTC (Limited Liability Company) for the Jazz Village at Little Broadway project. Commissioner Sanchez: What's the amendment? Mr. Villacorta: The amendment extends certain timeframes for UDG (Urban Development Group) to perform. They've been attempting to obtain additional funding to leverage the CRA's funds with HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) monies for a senior 202 project and now would like to try for tax credit funding as well. The agreement has very specific deadlines for presentation of plans and permits and obtaining of financing. They're asking for additional time on various deadlines. Commissioner Sanchez: All right. Vice Chair Sarnoff.- Jim, this -- Madam Chair? This project feels like it's been pregnant for about four or five years, and it doesn't seem to want to give birth. IfI recall this project correctly, we were forced to buy some land for this project. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. The original proposal had the developer buying a piece of land and constructing a $6 million parking garage. Due to circumstances with the owner of that property, they needed to sell right away, so we purchased the property and reduced our commitment to the parking garage from 6 million to 5 million to make up for the amount of money we were investing in the land. Vice Chair Sarnoff So now we have our own skin in the game, so to speak, and what's the benefit -- what's the harm in extending it and what's the detriment in saying enough's enough? Mr. Villacorta: The developer has performed a number of -- has met a number of the milestones. We have -- they put the garage portion out for bid. We've obtained design -build plans. We've obtained a firm budget, which was within the amounts allocated by the CRA for that construction. I think, you know, due to the unique economic times, it probably isn't unreasonable to give them some reasonable extension of time to try and accomplish this project. If you were not to do that, we would have to put the project back out for bid. Again, it's a tough time to be seeking to build in this climate, so -- Vice Chair Sarnoff.- And what length of extension are they seeking? Mr. Villacorta: It's various dates. City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Chair Spence -Jones: Can -- while he's looking that up, Commissioner Sarnoff, can we ask our counsel, the counsel that we have, Mr. Bloom, and -- or either our counsel to respond to that? I don't know if -- Gail, have you -- were you working on this or was it Bloom? Bloom. So all of those hours that you put in, could you at least elaborate on it for Commissioner Sarnoff? William Bloom (Special Counsel, Community Redevelopment Agency): I -- Could you repeat the question? Vice Chair Sarnoff My question's pretty -- Mr. Villacorta: What's the length of the extension, I believe. Vice Chair Sarnoff Right. Mr. Bloom: The outside date is being extended from October 1, 2009 is when the developer was supposed to be set to go for the entire project. Now he's being given until April 1, 2010 to move forward with the entire project. Vice Chair Sarnoff.- And let me ask you this. When April 1, 2010 approaches and he asks for another six-month extension, what's your response going to be? Mr. Villacorta: It would depend on the reason he's asking. The adult housing subsidy, the HUD 202, they haven't released -- they haven't opened the date for proposals to be submitted. One of the new avenues he's exploring is trying to get tax credits. That opening date for proposals has already occurred and the deadline, I think, is August 20. Chair Spence -Jones: August 20. Mr. Villacorta: So it's not entirely his fault, since it was always contemplated that the 202 housing would be applied for. It's just the federal government hasn't opened that bidding process at -- Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Mr. Villacorta: -- this point. Commissioner Sanchez: And may I just elaborate a little bit on that? Chair Spence -Jones: Sure. Commissioner Sanchez: I think that was the key response that the Commissioner was looking for because given the economic times that we're dealing with and to get financing on these 202 projects -- you know, the economy isn't doing that well. You don't see people out there going up nowadays in construction. The company that's doing this is a very respectable company. It's Codec. Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Commissioner Sanchez: They have done tremendous jobs throughout the City to provide affordable housing and affordable rental for our community, so this is -- it's a long process now. There are a lot of delays, and you know, financing is getting hard to get, and I think it was important for you to say that a lot of these things depend on the federal government and their deadlines to meet as the tax dollars and things that are coming down, and that's why I am in favor of this extension to get this done. I know it's taking a long time, but I think that we have City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 more invested time and efforts in this. To back away now would be detrimental to the CRA and the City and the people that are going to be receiving affordable rental. Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. I mean, this is, again, a very complicated agreement with a lot of milestones that have to be met before we ever turn over land. The land that the CRA owned that it was contributing was transferred to the CRA from the City of Miami. It came with a reverter. HUD had a problem with that reverter. We had to come back to the City and get that released. The federal government hasn't opened the time for bidding. It's -- I mean, these are the kind of technical things that the CRA is dealing with. And I mean, at this point, I don't think it's unreasonable. We are very firm with all of our vendors, and I'm sure UDG can tell you, you know, we -- if you write something into an agreement, we will haunt you for -- Commissioner Sanchez: All right. Mr. Villacorta: -- whatever we were entitled to. Commissioner Sanchez: Call the question. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? Commissioner Sanchez: Aye. Vice Chair Sarnoff.. Aye. Pamela E. Burns (Assistant Clerk of the Board, : I'm sorry. Madam Chair, we don't have a motion on that item yet. Vice Chair Sarnoff Sec -- Chair Spence -Jones: Do we have a motion? Vice Chair Sarnoff -- so moved. Commissioner Sanchez: Second. Chair Spence -Jones: We have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: All right, this item passes. Oh, I'm sorry. Albert Milo: Before you do that -- Chair Spence -Jones: You can go 'head [sic] and -- Mr. Milo: Albert Milo, from Urban -- Chair Spence -Jones: -- put your comments on the record. Mr. Milo: -- Development Group. Chair Spence -Jones: And it's two of you, right, on this project? Two -- Mr. Villacorta: Codec. City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Mr. Milo: (INAUDIBLE) nonprofit partner, Phil Bacon, from Collin Center. Commissioner, the answer to your question is it's been a while, but we're at the mercy of the funding programs. This amendment allows us to bring in a very qualified nonprofit partner to reapply for the HUD 202 program. We got caught up on two technicalities last year. We're waiting for the federal government to release it to give it another shot. To be honest with you, what's going to happen in a few months, if we don't get this done, it's dead. Vice Chair Sarnoff Okay. Mr. Milo: I mean, I'm not here to, you know, sugarcoat it in any other way. That's the reality. The challenge that we do have is we have an application for Florida housing tax credits that opened on July 21 and it's closing on August 20. And part of what I wanted the Board to also approve is the ability to give the authority to the law -- to the CRA and Holland & Knight and the City Attorneys Office to work through, in the next two weeks, a document that is sufficient to provide site control and allow us to apply for tax credits -- Florida housing tax credits. If we cannot do that in the next two weeks, we're -- you know, the project is going to be in a little bit of a dilemma, as far as the application process. I don't think that's covered in this specific amendment. So that's something I want to proffer to see if you can add that to allow in the next two weeks to work with the Law Department to clarifir that issue for site control. Chair Spence -Jones: I'm going to ask our legal folks over -- we got a lot of -- four lawyers. Mr. Villacorta: Yeah. Mr. Bloom: To clarify what Mr. Milo is -- Vice Chair Sarnoff I got a light bulb. Wait a minute. Mr. Bloom: -- suggesting is that for him to have site control, he has to have a lease that's subject only to getting the approval for the tax credits. And our development agreement right now is inconsistent with that. It requires him to be ready to go, to break ground on the entire project, building one and the parking garage. And so we're going to evaluate, if the Board approves this, restructuring the transaction so he'll be able to qualifir for this cycle of the tax credits. Mr. Milo: We're sort of in a catch-22. Get financing and we close, but we can't get financing unless we demonstrate to Florida Housing that we have an executed site control document, so definitely catch-22 there. Vice Chair Sarnoff And how do we resolve -- And I apologize. I'm very much under the weather. How, Mr. Bloom, do we breach that gap? Mr. Bloom: Well, I think that's what we have to evaluate because for the tax credits, he needs the site control. From the CRA's perspective, he has to be ready to go for not only building two, which is about 75 units, but also the first building and the parking garage, which would serve this project and the neighborhood. So we have to be able to try to work with his tax credit counsel to protect the CRA; at the same time, allow the developer to move forward to try to get the tax credits. Vice Chair Sarnoff And that would not require any further resolution of this Board? Mr. Bloom: You would have to give broad authority to the executive director to enter into a lease on terms and conditions acceptable to the executive director, consistent with the development agreement. That also was conditioned on the other two buildings moving forward Vice Chair Sarnoff And that lease would provide him site control, and in the event he did not City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 get the funding as requested, it would revert -- Mr. Bloom: It would terminate. Vice Chair Sarnoff Thank you. Mr. Milo: It will become null. Chair Spence -Jones: Okay. I just want to -- okay, thank -- any other questions or comments? I just have one in closing. I do know -- and I just want to let my fellow colleagues know that during my trip a few months ago back to D.C. with the Obama Administration, I know that one of their keen interests, especially their individual that's over this particular program, 202, has a special interest in the Overtown area. As you know, we do not have a lot of202s. That's the very, very low-income housing for seniors in the heart of Overtown. I think we only have one, and we really need it because what some call affordable housing, a lot of times our seniors just can't even afford that affordable housing as well, that -- the number or the dollar amount that's attached to that. So I think it's extremely important for us to exhaust every avenue to assist those, you know, seniors that truly need help. So with that being said, we're going to move on to -- thank you -- Mr. Villacorta: Do you want to --? Mr. Milo: (INAUDIBLE) second reso. Chair Spence -Jones: All right. So we're going to go 'head [sic] and go on to item number -- huh? Mr. Villacorta: Do you want to issue a direction to the director to attempt to modify the lease in a manner that would allow the applicant to apply for tax -- Florida housing tax credit funds? Chair Spence -Jones: Yes. We'd like to direct you to do just that. Commissioner Sanchez: Well, it's -- I think you're going to need a motion. Mr. Villacorta: I do need a motion. Commissioner Sanchez: I would make the motion. Chair Spence -Jones: I have a motion. Vice Chair Sarnoff.- What is the motion? Mr. Villacorta: Directing the executive director to attempt to modify the lease in a manner that will allow the developer to apply for Florida tax credit -- Chair Spence -Jones: Tax credit. Vice Chair Sarnoff And in the event he does not get them? Chair Spence -Jones: Then it comes back. Mr. Villacorta: The -- Chair Spence -Jones: He loses. City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Mr. Villacorta: -- lease would terminate. Chair Spence -Jones: It comes back. Vice Chair Sarnoff. I'll second the motion. Chair Spence -Jones: All right. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: All right, this item passes. Mr. Villacorta: Thank you. Mr. Milo: Thank you. Chair Spence -Jones: All right. 6. 09-00850 CRA RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE 1983 INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH THE CITY OF MIAMI AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. File # 09-00850 Cover Memo August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf File # 09-00850 Legislation August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Meeting.pdf File # 09-00850 Amendment to Interlocal Attachment August 6, 2009 SEOPW & Omni Agenda Me Motion by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Vice Chair Sarnoff, that this matter be CONTINUED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Vice Chair Sarnoff, Chair Spence -Jones, Commissioner Sanchez and Commissioner Regalado Absent: 1 - Commissioner Gonzalez Direction by Chair Spence -Jones to the Interim Executive Director to create a process to educate the community and communicate the status of the bonding process and expansion of Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) boundaries to keep the community informed. Chair Spence -Jones: We have one more item on the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), and I'm going to ask for my fellow Commissioners -- I would really like to defer this item. And the only reason -- in the spirit of cooperation, I do know that the Mayor, the Manager, and the County Commissioner and all staff has been working to address these issues, and I think that we're already there, butt do want to further flush out -- really have no big need or rush to do it before September anyway. The County's not meeting in the month of August. So I would ask for my fellow colleagues to wait until September to do that. But I -- Commissioner Sanchez: Motion to defer the item. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? Vice Chair Sarnoff. Second. Chair Spence -Jones: Do we have a second? City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 8/26,2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Vice Chair Sarnoff Second. Chair Spence -Jones: Okay. All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: I do want to put, however, a comment. I'd like to make a comment to staff on this issue. Madam City Attorney, I know that we've -- our office has been working closely with your office, as well as the CRA on this item. I would like to at least make sure that I put on the record that it's extremely important that we continue what we've started over the last four years in the heart of Overtown, and that is really making sure that transparency is extremely important in any projects or anything that's happening in the heart of Overtown and the heart of any part of our CRAs because we want to send that message loud and clear. We cannot mobilize people, get them empowered and get them involved; you know, have the Overtown Community Oversight Board participate in week -after -week meetings and then make decisions that the whole community does not know about. So I'm going to ask Larry -- I'm not sure where Larry is. Some -- he should be here somewhere. I know that we're going to begin to work on pulling the paperwork together regarding the bond issuance, and regardless, we cannot issue any bonds without the County's support anyway. It has to still go in front of the County. Is that correct, Jim? James Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): Yes. The CRA may not issue any form of debt or -- without County approval. Chair Spence -Jones: So it's not like we're doing one thing before the other. I just think that it's extremely important that at least the community -- I know for a fact, over the last three or four years, we made it a big initiative that the Mayor and all of the board members, that we wanted to set aside at least $30 million to accommodate or at least put affordable housing -- Mr. Villacorta: Housing. Chair Spence -Jones: -- and to upgrade existing housing in the Overtown area first. Now we have the opportunity to utilize dollars to do some of these things. We need to keep our commitment. And I do know that part of this vetting included Town Park. Town Park was one of the number -one reasons why we went for the expansion. So before we make any decisions about programs, about projects, about anything, I think that it's extremely important that we have the criteria put in place, and I wanted to just -- to have a quick comment to my CFO (Chief Financial Officer) that has been working very hard with pulling the whole packages together regarding all of this and working hand in hand with the County, and I wanted to say thank you for you guys getting that done. But I do -- would like, Larry, for you guys to at least begin putting -- pulling the necessary numbers or information together so that we can prepare to go in front of the County with the understanding that we know that these items must be addressed first before we can issue the bonds. I understand that, but I want to make sure staff -- and Jim, I want to make sure you guys are comfortable with this -- that we do have some sort of process in the community that educates them and communicates to them, you know, what is happening with this process. I do not want to do anything blindsided. We worked too hard in the heart of Overtown and too hard in other parts of the district to now just wipe that away. That's not how we do business. I don't want to start doing business like that. We're going to always make sure that the people are informed about what's happening. So I would like for you to at least work on the numbers and staff to begin working on that criteria and have it -- and become an open process so if there are projects that need to happen or take place, then at least it's been vetted out properly. Larry Spring: Larry Spring, chief financial officer, City of Miami. Commissioner, we have -- City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 our bond team has already talked about this issuance already. As you know, we've been working kind of piece by piece bringing together doing preliminary runs. At this point, what we will do is go ahead and get everybody fully engaged, bond counsel, everybody, begin our process. As you've just stated, we will not be able to take it all the way until this matter has been brought to completion, but we can go ahead and get all of the bond documents together. We can start getting the preliminary offering statement, all those things together, do capacity runs, do all of those things and be ready to literally go pull the trigger at the next -- the following meeting after everything's been cleared up. So we will get that done for you. Chair Spence -Jones: Thank you, Larry. And once again, I just want to make sure -- like, for instance, Town Park has been one of the groups of folks that we know that's -- Mr. Villacorta: Yes. Chair Spence -Jones: -- over 400 units that these people have been waiting for God knows how long for support with housing. So, I mean, if nothing else, we got to support the people that are living there now first before we could talk about bringing in new people. So I think that all of this stuff -- and they've been vetted out already, you know. They've been through this process for the last three years. So I just want to just defer this so that we could work through it and not have any confusion. But I just wanted to officially put that on the record and thank my colleagues for deferring this item. We are officially closing out on the agenda now, but I -- Pamela E. Burns (Assistant Clerk of the Board : Madam Chair, excuse me. You're deferring this item until what date? Chair Spence -Jones: To the next CRA meeting in September. Ms. Burns: And that date would be September 28. Is that correct? Chair Spence -Jones: Yes. And it may -- Ms. Burns: Thank you. Chair Spence -Jones: -- come before then, but right now, September 28. Ms. Burns: Thank you. Chair Spence -Jones: Okay, no problem. Commissioner Sanchez: Need a vote. Chair Spence -Jones: We did already. All in -- Do I have a motion? Commissioner Sanchez: Yes. You have a motion. Commissioner Sarnoff Yeah, you do have that. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: All right, the item passes. NON -AGENDA ITEMS City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 NA.1 09-00864 CRA DISCUSSION DISCUSSION REGARDING THE SALE OF PRODUCE FROM LANDSCAPE INSTITUTE. MOTION A motion was made by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was passed unanimously, with Commissioner Gonzalez absent, to direct the Interim Executive Director to purchase refrigeration equipment and fencing to secure the property maintained by Landscape Institute for cultivation of produce. Chair Spence -Jones: I would like to mention, in closing, though -- I would like to direct the executive director regarding this issue. As you know -- I'm sure you know we've supported the collard green patch that's in the heart of Overtown on 3rd Avenue and been hiring people from the standpoint of training them in the area of landscaping, and the project has been going great over the last two years. It's been going so great that now we have Winn -Dixie very much interested in purchasing our collard greens right off 3rd Avenue for one of their stores, which I think is great, and they'll be called organic collard greens. So we're very excited about that opportunity. The president of Winn -Dixie actually did a tour of the actual site. And I would like to at least direct the City -- executive director to at least work along with Winn -Dixie and Dr. Dunn to figure out what we need to do to refrigerate, you know, now that we have these orders coming in. James Villacorta (Interim Executive Director, Community Redevelopment Agency): The -- yeah. Winn -Dixie has expressed an interest in buying the produce that's being produced by our landscape training institute. However, for them to take advantage of that offer, they need to buy some refrigeration equipment and some fencing to secure the property. The approximate cost to the CRA would be $10, 000. If the Board would allow me, I can begin working on that and bring the expense back to the Board at the next meeting for ratification. If there was -- a motion would be appropriate. Chair Spence -Jones: Do we have a motion on that? Commissioner Sanchez: So move. Commissioner Regalado: Second. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Chair Spence -Jones: All right. Mr. Villacorta: Thank you. Chair Spence -Jones: This item off cially passes, and this meeting has officially closed. Commissioner Sanchez: All right. So you need a motion to acjourn the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) meeting. Chair Spence -Jones: I have a -- could I get a motion to adjourn? Vice Chair Sarnoff So move. City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 8/26/2009 SEOPW and OMNI Community Redevelopment Agencies Meeting Minutes August 6, 2009 Motion to Adjourn Commissioner Sanchez: There's a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Regalado: Second. Chair Spence -Jones: All in favor? The Commissioners (Collectively): Aye. Commissioner Sanchez: All right, so the CRA has been officially adjourned. A motion was made by Vice Chair Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Regalado, and was passed unanimously, with Commissioner Gonzalez absent, to adjourn today's meeting. City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 8/26/2009