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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRA-R-08-0036 Backup• miomID DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY May 9, 2008 James H. Villacorta, Executive Director Southeast Overtown/Parkwest & Omni Community Redevelopment Agencies 49 NW 5th Street, Suite 100 Miami, FL 33128 Re: Request for Funding Assistance for Ambassadors and DET Programs Dear Jim, I am writing to request funding assistance from the Southeast Overtown/Parkwest and Omni Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA's) for two important programs currently funded exclusively by the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA). I believe that these programs are beneficial to the CRA's and should be considered by your Board at the next available opportunity. The Ambassadors Program provides hospitality and safety personnel at street level to assist residents, businesses and tourists. Currently the program is staffed with a team of six (6) uniformed personnel who walk the streets of the central business district daily from 8:30am-6:30pm Monday through Friday and 8:30am-4:30pm on weekends. The Ambassadors utilize four forms to report their daily activities: • Daily Activity Report — Summarizes general activities throughout the day • Incident Report — Details incidents and actions taken to resolve • Business Contact Sheet — Itemizes each businesses visited • Enhancement Form — Reports issues to be addressed by other agencies These reports and the street level presence of the Ambassadors allow the DDA to better understand and resolve the daily issues affecting Downtowners. In addition, and as a compliment to this program, the DDA currently funds a Downtown Enhancement Team (DET). The DET team also serves the central business district with the same daily hours but is focused on the physicals environment of downtown. The DET team cleans litter, removes graffiti, maintains landscaping and beautifies as needed. MIAMI DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 20C S. Biscayne Bou4evard,Suite 2929 Wachovia Financial Center Miami, Florida 33131 Phone: 305-579-6575 I Fax:305-371-2423 We www.miamidda.cam James H. Villacorta, Executive Director Southeast Overtown/Parkwest & Omni Community Redevelopment Agencies Page 2 The DDA has committed a significant portion of our programming budget to these programs and is pleased with the return on our investment that we are seeing. We believe it will be beneficial to expand these programs into the northern portion of downtown to provide assistance to the tourists and visitors making the Omni/Park West areas popular nightlife destinations. It is our hope that by partnering with the CRA's, we can add four (4) Ambassadors and for (4) DET personnel to patrol and clean the areas around the Omni hotels, the Miami International University of Art & Design, the Park West clubs, the outlying streets near the Performing Arts Center and the I-395 Expressway ramp. The days and hours for the Ambassadors would vary in order to best align with activities in the area. It is anticipated that the Ambassadors would primarily work from 7:30pm to midnight, but we would want to jointly evaluate the effectiveness of this schedule and modify as needed. The DET personnel would work a fixed schedule from 8:30am to 2:30pm Monday through Saturday. The direct cost to fund these programs is $155,000. Attached you will find a scope of services summary for each program. Thank you very much for your consideration and I hope we can present this exciting opportunity to your Board in the near future. Sine ly, Alyc€ M. Robertson Interim Executive Director cc: Clarence Woods, Assistant Director, CRA Jessica Pacheco, Staff Counsel, CRA Mark Spanioli, Director, Capital Improvements, Development & Services, DDA MIAMI DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 200 S. Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 2929 Wachovia Financial Center Miami, Florida 33131 Phone. 305-579-6675 Web: www.miamidda.com Fax: 305-371-2423 • • • SCOPE OF SERVICES SUMMARY Program Area: Service Delivery Project: Downtown Enhancement Team — CRA funded additional manpower to cover the media/entertainment district Estimate: $ 55,000 Schedule: 6/01/08 — 6/30/09 Scope /Major Tasks: Provide downtown clean team maintenance crew Based on Board Oversight Committee input, the DDA is proposing to work with the CRA by increasing the current DDA funded budget of $330,000 by an additional $55,000 to fund the Downtown Enhancement Team services in the media/entertainment district area around the PAC, 1-395 and the surrounding area with a 6-day a week part-time crew of 4 additional team members dedicated to this area. This program shall provide litter clean-up, trash pick-up and graffiti removal activities surrounding the PAC and the surrounding blocks of the PAC including under and around the I-395 expressway on and off ramps.