Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2014-10-23 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, October 23, 2014 9:00 AM PLANNING AND ZONING City Hall Commission Chambers City Commission Tomas Regalado, Mayor Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Chair Keon Hardemon, Vice Chair Marc David Sarnoff, Commissioner District Two Frank Carollo, Commissioner District Three Francis Suarez, Commissioner District Four Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager Victoria Mendez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 CONTENTS PR - PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS AM - APPROVING MINUTES MV - MAYORAL VETOES PH - PUBLIC HEARINGS SR - SECOND READING ORDINANCES FR - FIRST READING ORDINANCE RE - RESOLUTIONS BC - BOARDS AND COMMITTEES BU - BUDGET DI - DISCUSSION ITEMS PART B PZ - PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM(S) MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' ITEMS M - MAYOR'S ITEMS D1 - DISTRICT 1 ITEMS D2 - DISTRICT 2 ITEMS D3 - DISTRICT 3 ITEMS D4 - DISTRICT 4 ITEMS D5 - DISTRICT 5 ITEMS City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 9:00 A.M. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Present: Chair Gort, Commissioner Sarnoff, Commissioner Carollo, Commissioner Suarez and Vice Chair Hardemon On the 23rd day of October 2014, the City Commission of the City of Miami, Florida, met at its regular meeting place in City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, in regular session. The Commission Meeting was called to order by Chair Gort at 9:02 a.m., recessed at 12: 27 p.m., reconvened at 3: 23 p. m., and adjourned at 5:02 p. m. Note for the Record: Vice Chair Hardemon entered the Commission chambers at 9:04 a.m., Commissioner Sarnoff entered the Commission chambers at 9:06 a.m., Commissioner Suarez entered the Commission chambers at 9:15 a.m., and Commissioner Carollo entered the Commission chambers at 9:32 a.m. ToddB. Hannon (City Clerk): Nine a.m., sir. Chair Gort: Nine a.m., okay. Welcome to the City of Miami Commission meeting of October 23, 1914 [sic] at the historic chambers. The members of the Commission are Marc Sarnoff, Vice Chairman Keon Hardemon, and myself, Wifredo Gort, along with Commissioner Carollo and Commissioner Suarez. On the dais also is the -- Alfonso -- Daniel Alfonso, the City Manager; Victoria Mendez, City Attorney; and Todd Hannon, City Clerk. At this moment, we'll have a prayer by myself and the pledge of allegiance by Todd. Thank you. Invocation and pledge of allegiance delivered. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS 14-01086 PRESENTATION Honoree Keep the City of Miami Clean Day Cyber Security Awareness Month Henry Torre World Stroke Day PRESENTED Presenter Mayor and Commissioners Mayor and Commissioners Mayor Mayor Protocol Item Proclamation Proclamation Certificate of Appreciation Proclamation 1. Mayor Regalado and the Miami City Commission presented a Proclamation proclaiming the 28th of October 2014 as Keep Miami Clean Day; whereas Keep Miami Clean Day is a new annual campaign to call attention to to the need of maintaining the beauty and character of our City through clean-up efforts; furthermore encouraging businesses and residents to participate in a community effort to Keep Miami Clean in order to create a more presentable appearance of our city to our community, visitors and tourists. 2. Chair Gort and Mayor Regalado presented a Proclamation proclaiming the month of October City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 2014 as Cyber Security Awareness Month; recognizing that the City of Miami has a vital role in identing, protecting, and responding to cyber threats that may have significant impact to our individuals and collective security and privacy. 3. Mayor Regalado and the Miami City Commission presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Henry Torre, former Director of the Department of Real Estate and Asset Management; further recognizing his service and dedication to the City of Miami and applauded his outstanding skills and knowledge in bringing to fruition many important projects that benefited the citizens of the City of Miami. 4. Mayor Regalado and the Miami City Commission presented a Proclamation proclaiming Wednesday, October 29th, 2014 as World Stroke Day; paying tribute to the American Stroke Association's Together to End Stroke campaign which helps people recognize the warning signs to having a stroke. Chair Gort: At this time, Mr. Mayor, I'm going to recognize you. You have several proclamations. Presentations made. APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS: Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, to APPROVE PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Carollo and Suarez Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, to APPROVE PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Carollo and Suarez MAYORAL VETOES END OF APPROVING MINUTES Chair Gort: Okay, we have quorum. My understanding is we have minutes to be approved? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes, sir. Chair, I have for Commission consideration and approval the Miami City Commission meeting minutes from September 11 and September 23, 2014. Commissioner Sarnoff So moved. Chair Gort: Been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff. Is there a second? Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Commiss -- second by Vice Chairman Hardemon. Any discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. NO MAYORAL VETOES Chair Gort: Mr. Manager. City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 ORDER OF THE DAY Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Yes, Chair. Chair Gort: Sorry. Let me -- Mr. Clerk, do we have any vetoes -- Mayor's vetoes? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, there are no mayoral vetoes. Chair Gort: Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. As soon as we have two other Commissioners, we'll have a quorum and we'll get it going. Mr. Manager, do you have any announcements? Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Mr. Chair, we were -- we need to request that brownfield designation item PH.2, we want to inform you that it will be withdrawn, although, officially, we cannot withdraw it until 6 p.m., because it was advertised for that time. Chair Gort: What? PH.2? Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): The -- we're going to hear -- we could hear the withdrawal at 6 p.m. It's not necessarily that we have to per statute or anything. It's been the custom of this body to listen to these items at the time, even though it could be withdrawn. Thank you. Mr. Alfonso: Okay. RE.9, the Glass House lease agreement will be deferred to 11/20, as noted on the agenda; and the discussion item D12, I am requesting that we defer it to November 20 for the presentation. Chair Gort: Okay, thank you. Vice Chairman's here; one more. We have several presentations that we'd like to make, but I'd like to have some more Commissioners present. Ms. Mendez: Chairman, would you like me to read any -- the statement in the meantime or wait? Chair Gort: Go right ahead. Ms. Mendez: Any person who is a lobbyist must register with the City Clerk before appearing before the City Commission. A copy of the Code section about lobbyists is available in the City Clerk's Office. The material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the City Clerk's Office and online 24 hours a day at wwwmiamigov. com [sic]. Any person may be heard by the Commission through the Chair for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the City Commission, unless modified by the Chair. If the proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such later date before the City Commission takes action on such proposition. Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the City Commission for any matter considered at this meeting may need a verbatim record of the item. A video of this meeting may be requested at the Office of Communications or viewed online at wwwmiamigov.com [sic]. No cell phones or other noise -making devices are permitted in Commission chambers. Please silence those devices now. No clapping, applauding, heckling, or verbal outbursts in support or opposition to a speaker or his other remarks shall be permitted. Any person making offensive remarks or who becomes unruly in the Commission chambers will be barred from further attending Commission meetings and may be subject to arrest. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the Commission chambers. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids and services for this meeting may notifir the City Clerk. The lunch recess will begin at the conclusion of deliberation of the agenda item being considered at noon. The meeting will end at the conclusion of deliberation of the agenda item considered at 10 p.m. or at the conclusion of the regularly scheduled agenda, whichever occurs first. Please note, Commissioners have generally been briefed by City staff and the City Attorney on items on the agenda today. The Administration has already announced which items are being withdrawn or City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 deferred. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Later... Chair Gort: Mr. Manager. Mr. Alfonso: Morning, Mr. Chairman. We have public hearing items. Chair Gort: Do you have the -- Mr. Alfonso: Of the items to be deferred and whatnot? Chair Gort: -- items to be deferred? Mr. Alfonso: Okay. My apologies, sir. Right now we have RE.9, Glass House lease agreement item. We've requested that on the agenda to be deferred to November 20. And we have the discussion item .2, which is the operation of Safe Club presentation by the Administration; we'd like to defer that to November 20 as well. There is a public hearing Number 2, brownfield designation, was set to be heard this after -- this evening at 6 p.m. When it comes time, we would like to withdraw that item. Chair Gort: Okay. Thank you, sir. Is any other Commissioner would like to withdraw any item or --? Commissioner Sarnoff Could I just hear the first one that was going to be deferred? I didn't hear that. Vice Chair Hardemon: Repeat the deferrals, all of them, for me. Mr. Alfonso: Okay. Commissioners, the items to be deferred are RE.9, which is the Glass House lease agreement; we're requesting that item to be deferred to November 20. And discussion item .2, DI.2, Operation Safe Club; we'd like to have presentation deferred to November 20. Chair Gort: Okay. Do I have a motion? Vice Chair Hardemon: So moved. Chair Gort: It's been moved by Vice Chairman Hardemon. Is there a second? Commissioner Sarnoff Second Chair Gort: Second by Commissioner Sarnoff. Any discussion? All in favor, state it by saying e. The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 9:00 A.M. PH.1 14-00958 Department of Community and Economic Development PUBLIC HEARINGS RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPROVING A REQUEST TO SATISFY A MORTGAGE IN THE AMOUNT OF THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($300,000.00) IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDS, TO LITTLE HAVANAACTIVITIES AND NUTRITION CENTER OF DADE COUNTY, INC.; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 14-00958 Summary Form.pdf 14-00958 Notice to the Public.pdf 14-00958 Pre-Legislation.pdf 14-00958 Legislation.pdf SPONSOR: COMMISSIONER FRANCIS SUAREZ Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-14-0416 Chair Gort: PH.1. Alfredo Duran: Good morning. Alfredo Duran, deputy director of the Department of Community and Economic Development. PH.1 is a resolution that approves a request to satisfy a mortgage, in the amount of $300, 000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, to Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Center of Dade County, Inc.; authorizing the City Manager to execute the necessary documents in the form acceptable to the City Attorney. Chair Gort: Thankyou. It's a public hearing, so I'll open the public hearings. Anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Mariano Cruz: Me, just to make it public. That's all right by (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mariano Cruz, 1227 Northwest 26th Street. I work at the Little Havana Activity Center in the '70s when it was on 12th Avenue, and they do a really good job. Personal information, and I learn with the best with Villaverde and Josefina Carbonell. Just so you know, that's the novelist. And they did -- they really do a good job there, and I am happy that they going -- that there will be money going to -- for services. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thankyou. Is anyone else in the public would like to address this issue? Vice Chair Hardemon: That's -- is that Santa? Santa? Chair Gort: By the way, I think it's a great organization. It's not only providing service in Little Havana; it's also providing service to 15 different centers throughout Miami -Dade County, because the job well done. And I'm very proud of one of the founding members, so you've done a good job. Thank you. City ofMiami Page 7 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Sarnoff Second. Chair Gort: Moved by Commissioner Carollo. Is there a second? Commissioner Sarnoff Second. Chair Gort: Second by Commissioner Sarnoff. Commissioner Suarez: Discussion. Chair Gort: Discussion. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I want to thank Ramon for all the work that he's done in the City of Miami. When they came to me with this issue, I thought it was a no-brainer, to be frank. I am not sure -- I guess things happen in city government where sometimes things don't move at the pace that we would hope for them to move, but it's clear to me that you are not only doubling down on your commitment to this community, but in effect, you are quintupling or tintupling [sic] down by building this facility to the magnitude that you're building, and you have never sat on your laurels. You have always tried to expand in the services that you provide to this city and this community. I remember, recently, when we went and you showed me the health care center that you had opened. And so your vision and your determination is constant, and it's an honor for me to sponsor this item. It's a very small token of our appreciation as a city for your legacy and the work that you've done and the work that you're going to continue to do, because I can see the vibrance in you right now as you sit in the front row anxious to get started on the next part of the journey. So again, it is an honor for me to be able to shepherd this public hearing item all the way through, and I thank the district Commissioner for his motion, and I obviously support the item. Thank you. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: You're recognized. Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Everybody who knows me knows that I am fiscally conservative; I'm always looking at the numbers, seeing what -- holding that fiduciary duty to the City and being a certified public accountant, everybody knows that I'm always really sharpening the pencils when it comes to finances, and in this case, I can tell you, we are -- and I say "we," because I believe that it will be passed unanimously. I know I'm supporting it. But we are, in essence, experiencing the history of an organization that I remember going there when I was a little kid, back to Josefina Carbonell, which was mentioned, and so forth. And realistically, if you want to know the type of service that it provided to the residents of the City of Miami -- and I know they've expanded to other areas -- all you have to do is go by the center. So I believe that the amount of work, and not just the amount of work; the amount of people they employ, because you also employ a lot of people that live in the area, which is very noticeable, people that maybe ordinarily wouldn't have a job; and they do it with care, because they like that type of work of working with the elderlies, and not everybody is fit to work with the elderlies. So I think, once again, when you see how many years they have been working with the elderly, providing the type of services that is needed, and not only that, not easily received, I think that this is a very good gesture on the part of the City of Miami, so I will be supporting it. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Anyone else? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 6:00 P.M. PH.2 14-01018 Department of Capital Improvement Programs/Transportat ion Commissioner Suarez: Congratulations. Chair Gort: SR.1. You're recognized. Ramon Perez Doribecker: Good morning, Mr. Mayor and dear Commissioners. My name is Ramon Perez Doribecker. I'm the president and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Little Havana Activity Center. I really appreciate the kind words with which you have referred not only to myself but for the job that we have been performing in the City of Miami and in the County for the last 42 years. We've done it with pride. We've done it with love and professionalism. And it is true, it is true; the people that go there on a daily basis, they feel that's their second home. Every time we close down, they don't want us to close down. They want us to stay open, because they want to continue receiving the friendly service and the quality service that they receive over there. So in the name of myself, the board of directors, and all of the residents and participants of our center, I really appreciate it from deep in my heart. And I thank you very much. God bless you. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you for the work you all do. Mr. Doribecker: Thank you. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), DESIGNATING THE PROPERTIES LOCATEDAT3900 THOMAS AVENUE, AND 4000 GRAND AVENUE, AS BROWNFIELD SITES WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION AND PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTES SECTION 376.80, ET. SEQ., WITH OTHER CONDITIONS AS STATED HEREIN. 14-01018 Summary Form.pdf 14-01018 Notice to the Public.pdf 14-01018 Memo - Designation Findings.pdf 14-01018 Legislation.pdf 14-01018 Exhibit 1.pdf 14-01018 Exhibit 2.pdf 14-01018 Exhibit 3.pdf 14-01018 Exhibit 4.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez Vice Chair Hardemon: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Hardemon: In regards to the brownfield discussion, I was having a conversation with Madam City Attorney and our City Clerk, and we were discussing whether or not we can, in fact, defer or withdraw or make any substantive motion on an item such as that before a time certain City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 -- it is a time certain that is set. And part of the discussion led us to Mason's Rules of Order. With the Mason's Rules of Order, it talks about custom. And of course, our custom has been that if you put an item on for 6 o'clock, then it gives people an opportunity to be heard at that time, a time certain in which action can be made on the item at that time, but there are a couple of things that I thought about that differed from the way that necessarily we do a custom or that would not hurt the City, the people, our residents, such as a withdrawal, or such as a continuance and such. So by that, I'm saying this: It is my opinion that -- the items that mostly that we've been doing our time certains on especially are PZ (Planning & Zoning) items. We know that we don't hear them until after -- what is it? -- after 2 o'clock. Chair Gort: Right. Vice Chair Hardemon: No action is normally taken on those items until after 2 o'clock, even considering motions. Chair Gort: Right. Vice Chair Hardemon: However, on our -- it is my belief that these are not PZ items. This is the brownfield discussion. So even though we set it for 6 o'clock, I believe we that have the luxury of actually continuing or withdrawing an item before that time, and it's not in the face of it actually being heard at, say, a time certain at 6 o'clock, because, one, we're not making any substantive motion -- substantive changes to the actual resolution or such. So it's my position -- I would love to hear the Commission and Madam City Attorney on the record, their position about whether or not we can, in fact, withdraw an item that is set at a time certain period at 6 o'clock. Chair Gort: We -- my understanding is -- and I'll let the attorney speak on that -- we not do the withdrawal, but we can announce and let the people know. And I think you have a point there; not only did we announce it, put it outside and put it on the TV (television) here, but should also be maybe a little note and whoever is watching our program, that the -- that item is going to be deferred. Ms. Mendez: There is nothing per statute or anything that prohibits this Commission from voting on the withdrawal now; there is nothing. You can vote on the withdrawal now, because it is the City Administration that is withdrawing the item. It's not something that's being deferred or something that has an action; it's being withdrawn. The purpose of the time certain was, per Florida Statute, in order to do a designation, you would need to do the time certain. It has been the custom of this Commission, but Commissioner Hardemon does express a distinction. When it's PZ items and such that have an applicant and have someone, obviously we wait until some time. So it is really the will of this Commission, if they want to wait till 6 p.m. or not or deal with it now and then send an e-mail (electronic) to the homeowners associations, put it on the little subtitles and Channel 77 and such. But there is nothing prohibiting the Commission from taking that action now. It's just based on custom with regard to PZ items that we've done so, because those are the ones that really get the time certains. Chair Gort: Right, I understand, but at the same time, somehow, we should be able to inform the individuals that were hoping though, that they were coming to see at the meeting, so the suggestion is -- I know we put it outside. I know we put it on the television here, but also maybe we should put it on the channel. Ms. Mendez: Right, Channel 77. Chair Gort: Broadcast it, yes. Anything else, Commissioner? Vice Chair Hardemon: And maybe you can also contact our -- the neighborhood association presidents, the homeowner association presidents. That may be a good thing also. City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: In other words, the -- we'd like to see Administration take steps to advise the individual, the homeowner association or whatever the neighborhood is, that we have the list of all those. You can have someone call and let them know, besides all the other things we're doing, okay? Mr. Alfonso: Noted, Commissioner. Chair Gort: Thankyou. Vice Chair Hardemon: And -- Chair Gort: So you approve this yet? Vice Chair Hardemon: So I'll move to withdraw it. Chair Gort: It's been moved to withdraw. Commissioner Sarnoff. Second Chair Gort: Along with the RE.9, DI2, okay? You have it on the list? Mr. Hannon: Excuse me. Just for clarification, we have already taken care of RE.9 and DI2. We now have a separate motion for PH.2 to be withdrawn from the agenda with a motion being by Vice Chair Hardemon. Chair Gort: Do we have the motion and passed it? Mr. Hannon: Um-hm. Chair Gort: We did? Mr. Hannon: For items RE. 9 and DI 2, those are good to go. We're now doing a separate motion for PH.2. Chair Gort: Okay. There's a motion. Is there a second? Commissioner Sarnoff. Second. Chair Gort: Okay. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying i ye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Gort: Thankyou. END OF PUBLIC HEARINGS SECOND READING ORDINANCES SR.1 ORDINANCE Second Reading 14-00383 City Manager's Office AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING CHAPTER 62/ARTICLE XIII/DIVISION 5 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "PLANNING AND ZONING/PLANNING AND ZONING APPROVAL FOR City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 TEMPORARY USES AND OCCUPANCIES; PERMIT REQUIRED/MURALS", MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING THE MURAL REGULATIONS BY INCORPORATING THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT FOR CUSTOMARY LAND USE FOR MURALS, AS DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, TO INCLUDE PROCEDURES TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF THE MURAL PROGRAM IN THE CITY OF MIAMI; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 14-00383 Summary Form SR.pdf 14-00383 Pre -Legislation FR/SR.pdf 14-00383 Legislation SR.pdf 14-00383 Exhibit A SR.pdf 14-00383 Exhibit B SR.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Carollo and Suarez 13486 Chair Gort: SR.1. Alice Bravo (Chief of Infrastructure): Good morning. SR.1. Alice Bravo, Deputy City Manager. SR.1 is amendment to Chapter 62, Article 7 of the City of Miami Code of Ordinances, basically, to incorporate what was approved earlier by the Commission through agreement, a three party agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. And basically, this allows our Code to conform to that agreement that was passed about a year ago, incorporating distance requirements between billboards and murals. And this will allow to -- our program to go forward and conform us with the Highway Beautification Act. And we are proposing one amendment. There is language throughout the Code making a specific reference to Miami 21, which we are striking, because it's the references to Chapter 62 that are pertinent. Chair Gort: Thankyou. Now we'll open to public hearing. Is anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Mariano Cruz: Mariano Cruz, 1227 26th Street. I am for all these murals, because the other day I check in Little Santa Domingo; what's going on, the murals. And my wife -- I talk to Mr. David Harris, the owner of Live and Let Live Drugstore, and he told me, he like to see a mural in his property. He say, "Well, talk to our people and we will have a mural there. You'll have something." He say he's willing to pay. And I know he always contribute. He been there -- I think that's the only pharmacy left in there on 17th and 36th, and still there, and it's good. It will be good. I like to be able to go -- when Igo down Highway 27, I step -- stop in all those little cities, like Sebring and the other, and you could see the mural, even with the cows mooing right there, and they good. That's good. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. I want you to know the -- our office is in conversation with the drugstore. Mr. Cruz: Right. They taking care of yeah. Chair Gort: Thankyou. Yes, sir, you're recognized. Nathan Kurland: Nathan Kurland, 3132 Day Avenue, member -- board member of Scenic City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Florida; board member, Scenic Miami. Commissioners, members of the audience, does the name Pablov ring a bell? Because here we are, once again, at this discussion about visual pollution that adorns our beautiful City. We've had this discussion before. One of you will laud the fact that we only have 45 billboards on walls. One of you will talk about the money that we get for having these billboards on walls. And one of you will talk about how you and your family love billboards on walls. We keep and continue to have the same discussion. We have different views. At this point, most of us on Scenic Florida and Scenic Miami believe that until we have a new City Commission dedicated to the beauty of our City, we're going to continue to have this. So instead of having the same discussion over and over, might I ask you to consider a covenant to this measure, which would be to remove forever the mural that sits on our Miami -Dade MRC (Miami Riverside Center) building? At least let the world know that we care that the vision that we have for our City does not include ads for Heineken Beer, does not include ads for developments in Sunny Isles, and that this is our City building, and at least that should be unadorned. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Anyone else? Close the public hearings. Discussion. Yes. Vice Chair Hardemon: When I read through the -- when I read through SR.1, there's references -- and I had it typed up, and I have it on another sheet of paper that is not before me, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. For people who have been cited for noncompliance from April -- it's about what -- 2005, 2008? Commissioner Sarnoff 'Two thousand eight. Vice Chair Hardemon: 'Two thousand eight. When I read through all of that language -- and it's throughout the entirety of this resolution -- it seems just a tad heavy-handed, in the sense that it gives the person, whoever it may be, or persons, whoever they may be -- it doesn't give them an opportunity to correct their actions, right? So, for instance, say I owned a building; I was cited; and I either came into compliance or I paid the fee, whatever it may be. That person, if he was within that time, would not be allowed to apply for a mural moving forward. And so my idea -- and I hope everyone shares it with me -- is that maybe we can add some type of language, through the help of the City Attorney, that says that if you've been cited and refused to correct the noncompliance or was -- or you were continuously cited for the same item and you refused to correct the noncompliance, then you wouldn't be able to apply, rather than just being cited and then not being able to comply. I just wanted some discussion on it. Commissioner Sarnoff Can I -- Chair Gort: You're recognized. Commissioner Sarnoff First, I'd like to get to Commissioner Keon's issue, because I understand his issue, I somewhat share his issue, but I want to put it in context. So when I took the dais here in 2007, there was a proposed mural ordinance. At the time, we had 71 actual murals up, we had 77 murals once deployed, and the draft mural ordinance that was being drafted by the Administration would have netted the City of Miami $60,000 a year. That would have been the net amount of money we would have received. I took the ordinance knowing that the District 2 Commissioner is one vote; other Commissioners see this entirely different. I saw this as a way of creating a regulatory way of restricting the amount of murals that existed in the City of Miami. At that time we had what was described as 20 settlement murals. That meant they went to Code Enforcement. I don't know if Commissioner Gort remembers this. They went to Code Enforcement and they were paying a fine of 500 -- I believe it was $500 a day, which should show you how valuable a mural is, if they could withstand $500 a day. Those were called the "20 settlement murals." The other 51 were just illegal murals. What we wanted -- what I wanted to do, which this Commission -- not this Commission, but a previous Commission agreed was the best way to restrict the illegal outdoor advertising was just severely regulate it. We then City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 created a mural ordinance that, today, in the entire United States is still not replicated, though the Mayor of Dallas has come here, though the Mayor of Houston has come here to see if they could do something similar, because they equally have murals deployed on their buildings. So one of the things we wanted to do for a little while was to take down every mural. The only way you could get the 50 murals down was to literally say, `If you're in violation on April 20, 2008, you can't even get into the" -- "you can't even have the ability to create a mural." Fast forward: Every mural comes down in the City of Miami completely. The most we've ever deployed -- not 45. The most that's ever been deployed is 25, because scarcity breeds value. If I were to kick this carpet and diamonds were to appear, they wouldn't be valuable; everybody would have one. They're pretty, but they just wouldn't be valuable. So scarcity breeds value. You've created a mural ordinance that is extremely self -regulatory in its -- way it's administered, because we don't even have to be capable here in the City of Miami. The industry, itself, will self -regulate itself. What does that mean? It means that they will actually -- when somebody's not in compliance, they'll call that person out on it; happened last year during Art Basel. Somebody put up a mural and knew that if a notice of violation was issued, they had what was, in fact, or like -- you and I like to say a "de facto" 29-day permit, because you have 30 days to come into compliance. Well, for Art Basel's standpoint -- well, from the standpoint, if you will, Commissioner Hardemon, of Art Basel, to be up for 29 days is a pretty valuable thing. So I share your concern, which is due process, and that is, just because you cite somebody doesn't mean they're necessarily in violation of our ordinances or of our laws. So the question you raised, which is a very good question, "What can I do to not give somebody a de facto 29-day permit?" But how do I get that mural to come down and afford a modicum of due process so that somebody is not wrongfully accused of doing something? I don't particularly happen to have that answer, but I share Commissioner Hardemon's concern, and I hope that is your concern -- what is the due process of just simply issuing a notice of violation? On the other hand, I will say this to you: Unlike most offenses, displaying a mural is readily apparent, whether you're within the district, whether you have the permit, whether you -- I can go on and on. I think you know what I mean by that. So the question is: How do we write in a modicum of due process? Chair Gort: The attorneys -- you have the process. Yes. Ms. Bravo: Well, I'd like to give an additional measure. Through the agreements that we executed with Federal Highway Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation, basically, administration of the Highway Beautification Act, that authority was delegated to the City of Miami in terms of the mural program. So, you know, if the Federal Highway Administration ofFDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) were to find that we are not properly carrying out the requirements of the HBA (Highway Beautification Act), that -- there would be a consequence, "A," voiding of the agreement, and `B, " potential financial penalty to Miami -Dade County or the City of Miami in terms of the amount of federal transportation dollars that are sent here. So given the gravity of the issue, given how important the mural program is, that -- that's another layer of reasoning why we have such strict measures in the Code. Vice Chair Hardemon: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes. Vice Chair Hardemon: So, when we look at where someone has been cited and then now moving forward that they cannot apply, they're two things -- I mean, a few things come to my mind; one, that there's a time period in which they can apply so that -- Ms. Bravo: Well, let me explain the actual process, because -- Vice Chair Hardemon: And then second -- let me say the second thing. Or the second thing is that if they were cited and they did come into compliance -- and I'm -- and again, I'm assuming City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 that "come into compliance" means that -- maybe come into compliance within a certain amount of time or whatever it may be, so that they have an opportunity to participate moving forward. I don't want to give someone who is an egregious -- who breaks our laws egregiously. I don't want to do that. However, I want to give someone who might have been cited an opportunity to come and not continue to break the law, but participate within the law in the future. Ms. Bravo: 'Cause, in essence -- at this time, we have 35 mural permits. After the passing of this ordinance, in about a month, we'll issue the remaining 10 mural permits. We'll put them out for a lottery. So the permits are actually retained by companies, and those companies approach property owners and enter into a lease to place the mural there. So the mural or the permitee is not -- you know, that mural can go on any number of properties, so long as it meets the spacing requirements. So a property owner that places something illegal on their site basically is saying that a mural permit cannot come to that site, so it's a small distinction. Commissioner Sarnoff Is -- can I --? Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): If I -- Commissioner Sarnoff Can I suggest something? Isn't there a way -- do we have the ability -- 'cause I think Commissioner Hardemon would sort of agree with this. Five days in law is considered adequate notice. Is there a way you can issue a notice of violation and bring them in front of a hearing judge within five days? I didn't hear that whisper. Ms. Mendez: I think the -- I -- this is the issue. What happens -- and Commissioner Sarnoff knows it best -- they'll put up a sign; they'll take it down; they're in compliance, and they're done. What we were -- Chair Gort: They'll put it back up. Ms. Mendez: Which then, it would be a game, and then we can't -- Chair Gort: They'll put it back up and -- Ms. Mendez: Right. Chair Gort: -- they'll pay the fine and they'll continue to pay the fine -- Ms. Mendez: Because -- right. Chair Gort: -- because it's profitable. It's the cost of doing business. Ms. Mendez: Correct. So maybe something that could appease everyone is, obviously, these need to be put on a faster track, so this is something that could -- the minute something like this happens, we could just put them through a hearing track a little faster, through like an expedited process, like a -- you know, career criminals that go through a little faster. Well, mural violations can just get funneled in a little faster. That's one option. And the second option, based on the due process issues that -- I believe that Commissioner Hardemon and Commissioner Suarez brought up, maybe we add in the sections -- if they issue -- if they receive a notice of violation, summons to appear, or any ticket for an illegal mural banner, or any type of outside advertising in violation of Chapter 62, just add "and after being found guilty of such violation, " but knowing that you go through an expedited process. You issue a ticket, and a ticket within 10 days would go get appealed. Chair Gort: Look, let me ask you a question. My understanding, this ordinance regulates the places where you can do this -- City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Mendez: It does. Chair Gort: -- so if it's illegally done, there's no way he can -- Ms. Mendez: The thing is that this also precludes -- Chair Gort: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Ms. Mendez: -- properties that are found in violation -- as it's written now, it precludes properties that receive a notice of violation -- Ms. Bravo: For five years. Ms. Mendez: -- for five years from ever being able to have a mural ordinance -- a mural on it. Chair Gort: No, I understand. But this building -- this facade has got to comply with a requirement for the distances and the requirements that we have -- Ms. Mendez: Yes, that's in addition to -- Chair Gort: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) language, 'cause I read the whole thing and it's -- Ms. Mendez: Right, in addition to, but I'm just -- Chair Gort: -- not a restriction to it. Ms. Mendez: Right. Commissioner Sarnoff But -- Chair Gort: What happens here in the past, people were cited, they pay a large amount, but that was the cost of doing business, 'cause they were receiving more revenues than what they're paying for. Vice Chair Hardemon: So -- Commissioner Sarnoff, so your opinion is that in this whole -- in this one aspect, the notice, rather than being found guilty of the violation, is important because it would be the game of putting it up, you had a notice of violation, and then they'll bring it down, and there's a compliance, and if -- and I want to get this checked by our City staff -- if that is done, if it is put up, you receive a violation, and you take it down, are you, in fact, in compliance and you do not have to pay a fee? Ms. Mendez: Based on how the ordinance is drafted right now, anyone that receives a notice of violation, just the notice of the violation, and if they comply by taking it down, it's still -- if you receive a notice of violation, a summons to appear, or a ticket for an illegal mural, banner, sign, you will be precluded from ever having a building -- a sign or participating in the lottery for five years. Vice Chair Hardemon: No, but I understand -- Ms. Mendez: That's how it's drafted. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- I understand how this is drafted. What I'm referring to is in the past. For those people we're identying as a group of people who were cited between 2000 -- from 2008 moving forward -- it was like after 2 -- something 2008, and I'll -- I believe it's April -- City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Sarnoff 'Two thousand eight. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- 20, 2008. So my question is, at that time, if you received a citation, a notice of violation, and you removed the mural and you came into compliance, was there a fee that you have -- that you had to pay? Ms. Bravo: I believe there's a fine associated with the citation. Vice Chair Hardemon: Even if you come into compliance? Ms. Bravo: The -- Ms. Mendez: It depends what they got. If they got a ticket, which is the one-time ticket, they probably paid $1, 000. If they got per diem fines, they could have paid daily. So it depends what you got. If you just got a notice of violation and brought it down -- Commissioner Sarnoff Right. Ms. Mendez: -- no -- nothing happened; you complied. Commissioner Sarnoff Right. Vanessa Acosta (Senior Assistant): Vanessa Acosta, City Manager's Office. The 2008 settlement murals, as I understood, there were actual settlements that came forward, and there were specific fines that may have been larger than the thousand -- Ms. Mendez: Right. That was different. Ms. Acosta: -- at that juncture. I think you're asking about prior to. Ms. Mendez: In 2005 the -- it was a different animal. Before we had the mural ordinance, there were about 15 properties. Until we were drafting the mural ordinance, 15 properties that were paying the per diem fines; they were paying 250 a day, but that was a settlement that happened before we even had the ordinance. Commissioner Sarnoff Right. Ms. Mendez: After the ordinance, we were going through Code Enforcement, but now we're making it a little -- just a little more strict in order to deal with the games. Commissioner Sarnoff I think I understand. I don't know why, but I think I understand your question better than they're expressing it. So if they get a notice -- if a notice of violation goes to somebody exterior of the mural boundary, okay, let's say it's in one of the neighborhoods, and that person then goes -- so they get the notice of violation, which means you have 30 days in which to bring down this mural, okay? That's why I said I think it's a 29-day permit, because what happens is they'll keep it up until the date that they have to bring it down, which is you have 30 days to come into compliance. The answer to your question is, if they received the notice of violation, no, they will not even pay a fine or a penalty, and they will be in compliance because within that 30 days, they will have brought down that mural. So you could have somebody gaming the system and saying, "Well, I'll let you put up a mural here for 29 days. I guarantee you could do it." My question to the City Attorney was a little different, which is, could you give somebody a notice of violation and get them in front of a master within five days? 'Cause five days is the law of civil procedure -- gives you the proper notice under Florida law. I never got a direct answer to that question, because -- City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Mendez: It's 10 days, per statute. Sony. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't answer that. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay. So I'm not comfortable with 10 days, because I'm not comfortable with a 10-day permit. I think this is one of those things, Commissioner Hardemon, that is so readily apparent and it's so policing 'cause -- hear this for a moment. So let's distinguish who the players are in this thing. So you have a nice building and somebody approaches you and says, "How would you like to put a mural up for $60, 000 a month? " probably within the realm of reason; might even be more than that, by the way. And you say, "Well, sure, I'd love to earn $60, 000 a month." And the next thing you want to say is, "But I don't think I'm in the mural boundary, " or `I really don't care," one or the other. Hopefully, you would care and you'd say, "Wait a minute, gentlemen. I'm not within mural boundary and you put this up; should they ever expand the mural boundary, I would be precluded for five years from ever letting you do that." I like that, because what it says to me is you have two eyes looking at this: the building owner and the person putting the mural up. Because the person putting the mural up will be in violation, as will the building owner. So what you have created -- and this is why Florida Department of Transportation has allowed us to be one of the two, I think, in the State of Florida self -policing organizations, because our policing of murals, and now billboards is so profound, and there are so many implications associated therewith. You know, one of the things that the City of Miami just took out, which is -- or Miami 21, I kind of like that. You want to know why I like that? And maybe Commissioner Gort wouldn't like this. But that would require that the building itself, the structure would have to have all of its signage in compliance with 21, which would mean another layer ofself-policing. So now you have a guy that's potentially going to make money putting up a mural, but you have a series of people on the ground floor not in compliance with 21, so what is he going to do? He's going to turn around and say to these guys, "Look, you need to get your signage in compliance with 21 or I cannot put a mural up here." I like that aspect of it, because that was another layer of self -policing. So you know, while I hear that the Administration is offering, very graciously, to take the Miami 21 standard out, I may be asking this Commission to reinsert it in, even though the I know the industry doesn't like it, because the industry doesn't want to have to get that building to be in compliance. Vice Chair Hardemon: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Hardemon: Well, I think we know now that what I was referring to was whether or not someone was taking advantage of a loophole in our system, so I didn't want be heavy-handed on people who were just cited. It's one thing to be cited, and there's another thing to actively take advantage of the loopholes that are within our law. So from what I've heard, the way that it is written or proposed, it will moreover punish those who have been taking advantage of the system with that -- what we call the 29-day -- what you refer to as the 29-day permit. So if it that, then I'm comfortable with the language. If it is not, if it is something that is taking advantage of those who may have been cited and just -- and then came into compliance, which it appears to be from the first reading of it, then I could not support it, okay? So based on my understanding of it now, I'm perfectly fine with the way it's written. Chair Gort: Okay. Any further discussion? Commissioner Sarnoff Are we voting --? Is -- I'll move it. Chair Gort: It's been move by Commissioner Sarnoff. Ms. Acosta: As amended. As amended. Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Sarnoff Well, I'm not -- the mover is not accepting the amendment. Ms. Acosta: There were two parts to the amendment. It was the Miami 21 portion -- Commissioner Sarnoff Right. Ms. Acosta: No. One -- and the level of that is not -- Miami 21 's specifically taken out of Chapter 62 for purposes of billboards, murals, and regulated with -- contained within 62. Bringing in concepts of Miami 21, which flat out state that billboards, murals are not part of that Code, was part of the rationale behind it. Commissioner Sarnoff So you and I met on this, and you were the one promoting the Miami 21 standard, correct? Ms. Acosta: In re -reading it with the City Attorney, we looked at it, and we saw that there were unintended consequences of it that might yield negative results. Commissioner Sarnoff So the -- so that the ans -- so -- wait. Hang on; I'll let you speak. I'm not -- I had no problem with this. I just -- when somebody comes to my office, briefs me, tells me why they're promoting something, you're now in full retreat; correct? Ms. Acosta: I -- in reading it, we saw that there were unintended consequences. Commissioner Sarnoff You're now in full retreat of what you briefed me on, right? Ms. Acosta: Yes. Commissioner Sarnoff That was easy, wasn't it? Painful, but easy. Ms. Acosta: It's not supposed to be painful. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay. So you're now saying the same results would be achieved by removing Miami 21 but maintaining Chapter 62? Ms. Acosta: We will be able to maintain coverage for purposes of violations that are of this particular type. In other words, you put up a mural illegally, you put up a billboard illegally, you will still have the same penalties. But let's say a shop owner on your podium decides to put an ensign or a promotion they're having that week and that happens to not meet all of Miami 21's criteria. You're not punishing an entire building and a property owner for a smaller infraction. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay. But that is exactly what you came to me and said, "Commissioner, we can actually promote a cleaner, more organized city by having the mural operator ensuring the building is in compliance." So you're retreating from that as well? Ms. Acosta: There are other portions of the Code that provide for the building itself being within compliance of the 40-year recer -- of other portions of the City Code as it relates to how the building is upkept, how the building is in compliance with other aspects of our Code. Commissioner Sarnoff It's an answer to a good question, not mine. So I'm going to do it one more time. Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Can I try to answer it, Commissioner? Commissioner Sarnoff No, I want to do this with Vanessa. So you're saying to me, whatever we City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 talked about in briefings, you're now rescinding what you wanted to do, which was to create and promote an entire building signage being in compliance and putting that onus on the mural operator to ensure that it's in compliance? That's a "yes/ no." Ms. Acosta: Yes. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay. And that's because why? Ms. Acosta: The unintended consequences for the rest of the building for minor infractions is -- Commissioner Sarnoff You just think it's too onus. Ms. Acosta: I believe that an entire building may get severely penalized for something that is not necessarily in their control. Chair Gort: Let me ask a question. You talking applying Miami 21 to the whole building? Mr. Alfonso: No. Commissioner, the question is, in Miami 21, my understanding, if somebody, a shop owner has an illegal sign -- Chair Gort: But only addresses signs. Mr. Alfonso: Yeah. That's what we're talking about, the mural signs. Chair Gort: Not the building itself. We're talking about sign. Mr. Alfonso: It's related to signs, but if a shop owner on the ground level is cited, under the way it's written right now, the entire building would then be precluded for the next five years from getting a permit. And you know, I would say that the owner of the mural, or whatever, would be hard on him to control what a shop owner does on the ground level, so that's why we're trying -- we're saying that we should take that out. Commissioner Sarnoff And yet, it would promote an entirely clean city, at least with regard to whoever displays a mural that all the signage in that building would be in compliance. You're just saying the harsh hand of government is not, you know -- But don't you think it's a privilege, Mr. Manager, for an owner -- an entire building to have a mural? Because I think it is a privilege. I could tell you four buildings in downtown that would have gone bankrupt but for a mural, so -- and I could tell you four condo associations that have relieved their condo owners of 20 percent of their monthly or yearly, if you will, condo fees as a result of having a mural. And my question to you is: If this actually has the result of promoting a more compliant city, why not do it that way? Mr. Alfonso: Commissioner, that is one way to do it. Our position in our discussion is that that perhaps is a bit heavy handed. Chair Gort: But let me tell you, the way I look at it, the incentive is there for the property owner to say, "Wait a minute. Look, I'll work with you; let's change the sign. Let's put it up to Code," and so on. Let's make the whole building -- I don't have any problem with that. Mr. Alfonso: Fair enough. Commissioner Sarnoff So my motion is as non -amended. Chair Gort: Wait, wait. Come back again. City of Miami Page20 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Sarnoff. Yeah, I'm not amend -- I'm not accepting the Administration's amendment. Their amendment, Mr. Chair -- Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Sarnoff. -- was to remove Miami 21. Chair Gort: Right, right. No, I understand. Okay. Commissioner Sarnoff. Okay. Chair Gort: So we need a motion with the two amendments; one eliminating one and the other one increasing the amendment to five days. Am I correct? Commissioner Sarnoff. No. I'm -- my motion -- and I want to be clear -- is not as amended, and it is as written. I don't need -- I think it's very apparent whether you're within or without a mural boundary. Chair Gort: There's a motion. Is there a second? Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor -- Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair. Commissioner Sarnoff. It's an ordinance. Chair Gort: Yes. Mr. Hannon: It is an ordinance. Chair Gort: I'm sorry; an ordinance. Okay. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item SR.1. A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on second reading, 3-0. Chair Gort: Thank you. SR.2 ORDINANCE 14-00804 Second Reading Department of Real AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Estate and Asset ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A Management DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT") BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") AND 3170 HOLDINGS, LLC, A FOR PROFIT CORPORATION ("DEVELOPER"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, FORA PRIVATELY -OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3170 SOUTHWEST 22 STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AGREEING TO RENEW AND EXTEND THE PREVIOUSLY APPROVED MAJOR USE SPECIAL PERMIT ("MUSP") FOR City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 "THE BLUE ON CORAL WAY" ("PROJECT") UNDER THE "PILOT PROGRAM FOR DISTRESSED DEVELOPMENT SITES," AND THE DEVELOPER HAS AGREED TO DEVELOP AND LEASE TO THE CITY APPROXIMATELY 11,000 SQUARE FEET WITHIN THE PROJECT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ERECTING A FIRE STATION, FOR A TERM OF ONE HUNDRED (100) YEARS WITH TWO (2) NINETY NINE (99) YEAR EXTENSIONS ATA COST OF $10.00 PER YEAR, A ONE TIME CONTRIBUTION BY THE CITY TO THE DEVELOPER OF $1,000,000.00, AND THE WAIVING OF CERTAIN IMPACT FEES FOR THE PROJECT; WITH ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS MORE PARTICULARLY SET FORTH IN THE ATTACHMENT(S); FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO MAKE NON -SUBSTANTIVE AMENDMENTS TO SUCH AGREEMENT, AS NEEDED, WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS MORE PARTICULARLY SET FORTH IN THE AGREEMENT, SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY THE CITY ATTORNEY. 14-00804 Summary Form SR.pdf 14-00804 MSNA Board Reso FR/SR.pdf 14-00804 Legislation FR/SR.pdf 14-00804 Exhibit - Agreement FR/SR.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez 13488 Chair Gort: SR.2. Daniel Rotenberg (Director, Public Facilities): Daniel Rotenberg, Department of Real Estate & Asset Management. SR.2 is a second reading ordinance of Miami City Commission authorizing the City Manager to execute a development agreement between the City of Miami and 3170 Holdings, LLC (Limited Liability Company), also known as Blue on Coral Way under the Pilot for Distressed Development Sites, where approximately 11,000 square feet is going to be erected for the purpose of a fire station. Commissioner Sarnoff. So move. Chair Gort: Thank you. It's been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff second by Commissioner Carollo. Anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Seeing none, hearing none, close the public hearings. Any comments? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." Commissioner Sarnoff. It's an ordinance. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair -- Chair Gort: It's an ordinance. Commissioner Sarnoff. I think it's an ordinance. Chair Gort: I'm sorry, second reading. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item SR.2. City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on second reading, 4-0. SR.3 ORDINANCE 14-00989 Second Reading Department of Real AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Estate and Asset 38/ARTICLE II OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS Management AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), ENTITLED "PARKS AND RECREATION/USE REGULATIONS", MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 38-69 OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED "ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; INTOXICATED PERSONS" TO ALLOW THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES WITHIN RESTAURANT FACILITIES LOCATED IN CITY OF MIAMI PEACOCK PARK PROPERTY; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 14-00989 Summary Form SR.pdf 14-00989 Legislation FR/SR.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Carollo and Suarez 13487 Chair Gort: SR. 2 and E -- and PS [sic].2 will be heard after 2 o'clock. We go to SR.3. Daniel Rotenberg: Daniel Rotenberg, director of Department of Real Estate & Asset Management. SR.3 is a second reading. An ordinance of Miami Commission amending Section 38-69 of the City Code, allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages within the restaurant facilities located at Miami's Peacock Park. Chair Gort: Okay, thank you. This is a public hearing. Is anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Seeing none, hearing none, close the public hearing. Yes, ma'am. Renita Holmes: Madam Renita Holmes, 350 Northwest 4th Street, representing the Tenant Association -- Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): We don't have a quorum. Ms. Holmes: Beg your pardon? Commissioner Sarnoff. We don't have a quorum. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): He's right outside. We're good. Chair Gort: Yeah, he's here. He's here. Ms. Holmes: He's here. Chair Gort: Go ahead. Ms. Holmes: May I continue? City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: Go ahead. Ms. Holmes: Oh, okay. Sorry. The -- it is just a matter of concern regarding the sale of alcohol in a park, and it was also the concerns of the some of the parents and some of those who have -- frequent the park. It's just the park seems to be coming more of a waterfront; I guess you can say commercial facility, not just a public park. We're beginning to set precedence on a change which exposes children and seniors to a different class and culture of transients, tourists and those who come in the neighborhood. My question is: How do we balance this? And so I would ask you, through the Chair and through our Commissioners, to assure us by questioning the applicant: What assurance do we have that children will not be sold alcohol? What assurance that we have that we have better policing during those times the alcohol is sold so that the children who are enjoying this park and those who are in the neighboring neighborhoods are not going to begin to absorb what has become quite often a lot of drunken folks interacting with at -risk people? Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Would you like to address that? Commissioner Sarnoff Yeah. I know the -- this is part of a package of -- for regard to what's called the Glass House, Mr. Chair, which is part of an RFP (Request for Proposals) that comes to us at the next Commission meeting, and that is to create two opportunities: one, a day -time opportunity of a juice bar and food and beverage, which you'll see at the next Commission meeting a presentation, so that -- and in the evening hours, it goes into a -- well, more of a restaurant -type facility in which mojitos and other things can be served. The revenue from that goes into the other side of the park, which becomes a community center, which has actually just opened up. But Richard Perez, who is on behalf of the RFP winner, I think, probably can say it a little clearer than I can. Richard Perez: Sure. Thank you for the opportunity. Richard Perez, offices at 701 Brickell Avenue, representing Glass House. Chair Gort: Pull the mike up, please. Mr. Perez: Oh, I'm sorry. I always have that problem. Glass House, LLC (Limited Liability Company). And I think to address specifically your concern, the very idea of bringing a restaurant and uses to this park is to put more eyes in this park, to activate the park. And the only sale of alcohol will be in conjunction with the restaurant, so it will be in conjunction with a restaurant that will be licensed. We'll have all the incentives, as you talked about, to make sure that there won't be sale to the alcohol. It's not a package beverage store. The idea is to really create a very attractive -- and you'll see it on your November 20 agenda -- restaurant that is there to serve the community, to address the community, and to really activate this park -- this area of the park so that it -- there's eyes there, it feels more inviting to the public, because there are more people that are enjoying this aspect of the park. Commissioner Sarnoff And Mr. Chair -- Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Commissioner Sarnoff -- just so you know, I will bring -- bringing photographs of this park prior to -- About six months ago to eight months ago, we had refrigerators, stoves, crock pots from homeless people plugging in and living under the overhang of the Glass House, so about 16 people were living homelessly in that particular section. So this puts eyes and ears on a place that really requires eyes and ears; allows parents -- part of what we've done as well, Mr. Chairman, is we've put some swings, some play equipment, and Wi-Fi so that the parents could be there watching their kids, you know, having food, having a smoothie, and in the evenings progressing to having food and having possibly a mojito. City of Miami Page24 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: Okay. Ms. Holmes: IfI may, through the Chair? It's a public -- Chair Gort: Excuse me. I have -- Ms. Holmes: Yes, sir. Chair Gort: Yes, sir, you're recognized. Vice Chair Hardemon: And also -- it should also be noticed that the alcohol is not being sold on the entirety of what is known today as Peacock Park, but there is a small piece of the park that will be allowed to sell alcohol, where the restaurant will be located -- Mr. Perez: Right. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- not in every intimate area of Peacock Park. So it's not -- it doesn't become a park of lawlessness. Chair Gort: It's another part of the other park. Now, my understanding is, if you can go talk to this -- a resolution that was passed before, way before with four different parks where they allowed to sale alcohol. Ms. Holmes: Mr. Chair, if I may? And thank you, Mr. Perez. I have been watching, and I didn't know there are resolutions, but every neighborhood is different. But as a representative there of those who are just simply split by a poverty level or what is quite often perceived as homeless folks who are doing this, a lot of times it's not necessarily homeless folks; it be transients, 'cause it's kind of profiling. But if there is a public place, then everyone should be allowed, irregardless, to utilize the public space. It's just my concerns that not far away, I have boys who are eyes to their neighborhood that sometimes are considered very violent, simply because not always in their profile. I just want to make sure that any increase in revenue, any increase in usage allows for some type of benefit and incentive to those who are even maybe ostracized as a result of their assumed economic status or their assumed homeless status. And I see also -- and I'll close now, Mr. Chair and Commissioners -- a precedence, an opportunity whereas we expand the income and the enjoyment of public places by foreigners, or whomever, to watch out that those who know their neighborhoods can still have the assumed benefits. So maybe I'd like to talk with you later about getting my Hospitality sweet young men assigned to work as interns in some of those restaurants, because the more you get -- and to whom much is given, much absolutely required. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Ms. Holmes: Thank you. Chair Gort: Okay. Commissioner Sarnoff So moved. Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Moved by Commissioner Sarnoff second, Vice Chairman. It's -- The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. City of Miami Page25 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 FR.1 14-01048 Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item SR.3. A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on second reading, 3-0. Mr. Perez: Thank you very much. END OF SECOND READING ORDINANCES FIRST READING ORDINANCE ORDINANCE First Reading District3- AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Commissioner Frank 2/ARTICLE IV/DIVISION 9 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, Carollo AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION/DEPARTMENTS/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT," MORE PARTICULARLY BY UPDATING THE NAME OF THE DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AMENDING SECTION 2-413 ENTITLED "FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT," TO PROVIDE THAT NOTICE BE GIVEN TO RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") AND TO CITY ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS BY DEVELOPERS RECEIVING AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR WORKFORCE HOUSING INCENTIVES, OF THE AVAILABILITY OF AFFORDABLE UNITS IN ORDER TO INFORM ALL OF THE AVAILABILITY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AS MORE PARTICULARLY SET FORTH HEREIN; SETTING FORTH CRITERIA; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 14-01048 Legislation SR.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Noes: 1 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff Chair Gort: FR.1, Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. Chair Gort: First reading. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. FR.1 -- If you give me a second, let me go to my agenda item. FR.1 is an ordinance on first reading, and the intent is for whenever there is some type of subsidy by the City of Miami with regards to affordable housing that the residents of the City of Miami get some type of notice. What I have seen is that although there's been a lot of affordable housing recently in the City of Miami, I'm not so sure that the residents of the City of Miami, the actual residents, know that those units are available. So this will help with regards to them receiving notice and being able to actually have City of Miami residents in those affordable housing units and new buildings that the City of Miami is actually contributing in one way or another to. Chair Gort: Okay. Staff. City of Miami Page26 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Suarez: May I? Chair Gort: Yes, sir, you're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. I completely agree with this legislation. It makes sense, common sense. I know there were some issues on some of the drafting specifics, and we worked with the City Attorney and the Community Development Office, and we thank you for your help on that. I think this is very good -- this is very good. I have a question and a potential expansion; I think it can be done. The way that the legislation is drafted, it says for any affordable housing project that receives -- any project that receives affordable working housing incentives or benefits from the City's departments, instrumentalities, and community redevelopment agencies. There may be -- and so I passed an affordable housing piece of legislation, which was an amendment to Miami 21; in that there are bonuses, there are parking waivers, there are a variety of things, and so I want to make sure that anyone that avails themself of those things also comes under this. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: If I could? It's actually there. It says, "including but not limited to financing, grants, in -kind, or other grants" -- Commissioner Suarez: Or tax waivers, right. Commissioner Carollo: -- "impact fee waivers or deferrals, parking waivers or reductions, " et cetera. Commissioner Suarez: Now -- Commissioner Carollo: So it's there. Commissioner Suarez: -- I still think -- May I? Chair Gort: Yes, go ahead. Commissioner Suarez: I still think there may be an even further expansion, which is there may be someone who builds affordable housing without taking advantage of any of these things in the City of Miami, okay. They might just do the tax credit program of the State and not ask for parking waivers, which I think would be foolish on their part, to be completely frank with you, but -- andl think that they would. I think it's very unlikely at this point, but it's possible. Why? Because it could be outside of a transit -oriented development, so they may not be eligible for the parking reductions. They may not know that the ordinance exists and may not take advantage of it. So if there's a way to just say any affordable housing, any development that is registered as affordable housing that the State must meet this notice requirement as well. Chair Gort: Okay. My understanding -- my question was, I think the attorneys office had some problems, and I think CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) had some problems with this ordinance, because of the federal registrations and the funding. City of Miami Page27 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Mendez: IfI can clarify, because -- Chair Gort: Yes. Ms. Mendez: -- I gave each of you a highlighted version of the little changes that we're going to do for second reading. In the title, instead of saying 'first notice, " it's just going to say "notice." With regard to the first "whereas," we're adding -- based on the fact that some of the residents don't have access to newspapers where these notices are normally published, and that's why they're not getting some of the information -- in the last "whereas," we're going to take out the word "earlier." It's just that they're going to be notified, because they're not notified sometimes if they don't have access to paper, so we're taking out the word l arlier. "With regard to the title in Section 2-414, we're taking out the word first Just so that it's clear that it's notice that's being provided. In the legislative intent section, we're taking out the ht least 60 days prior to commencement of the leasing and their sales process. "We're taking out that portion. And we're also taking out the word firsehgain there. And then lastly, in the last paragraph, 2-415, we're taking out the words ht least 60 days. "So those are the minor changes we're doing so that everything is clear for the record, and then any changes that you might tell us. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Now, let me tell you one of the reasons I'm asking this, 'cause I've seen a lot of the buildings going up in our neighborhoods and within the City of Miami. For example, there's one they just finished on Southwest 5th Avenue and 9th Street. I can assure you that at least 90 percent of the people that live there, they didn't come from the City of Miami, and it's a great need in the City of Miami. So I don't know if there's any federal criterias or guidelines, what might be, but at the same time, the poverty that we have within the City of Miami should be able to qualifir as to do something. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: And that's -- you just hit it right on the head. That's exactly the intent of this ordinance. That's exactly the intent, because we are -- and we are building affordable housing in the City of Miami. However, the residents of the City of Miami are not necessarily the ones who are being able to live there. Andl think the -- due to the Fair Housing Act, the way it was originally written, I said first notice to the City of Miami residents. According to what the Department of Community Development has said, we cannot give first notice. However, I want to make sure that if we cannot give first notice, that we give at least notice, because as you very well know and stipulated, residents from the City of Miami are not necessarily being aware that these affordable housing units are -- Chair Gort: Let me tell you, lately, I received from the County notice of when new buildings going to fill out applications so we can send it to our people. You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I think both of you points are well taken. If our residents don't know, they're not going to apply. If they don't apply, they're not going to have even a chance -- Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Commissioner Suarez: -- which is the purpose of this legislation. I would just say -- I have no problem voting on it on first reading, with the amendments that, you know, with -- as -- you know, with the amendments that's been articulated. I would just say a couple of things for second reading. I would say that any project that receives affordable housing subsidies by the City of Miami Page28 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 State or Federal Government or receives affordable work housing -- in other words, any project that receives has to comply with that notice in the City of Miami. Chair Gort: Okay. Let me recognize Alfredo for a minute. Commissioner Suarez: Let -- we can do that between first and second reading. I'm just giving you an idea. It's just about notice, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will be notice -- it's notice with respect to our residents; not any superior notice, not any special notice, but that if you're going to do a project that receives any sort of funding from any government, you're going to notify the residents of the locality, okay. We can work on it between first and second reading. We don't have to make it part of the first reading, but I just want to shed light on where I'm going with this. Chair Gort: Alfredo, I know you're very smart, sharp man; been working there for a long time. You can come up with the right wording to convince the -- Alfredo Duran (Deputy Director/Community & Economic Development): We shall. We have no issues with the intent of the ordinance. We'll work with the Attorneys Office and the district office and all of you in getting the right word that does not violate any laws . Commissioner Suarez: And the second thing is, Mr. Chair, I'd like to put an -- I'd like to -- sometimes -- we obviously want to follow the law. That's the most important thing. And I think here everyone is listening to the legal advice that we're being given. But we're also lawmakers, which means that we get to make laws, and we also get to influence other lawmakers, so what I would propose is that -- and I'll make this a resolution -- we put on our legislative agenda, Federal and State, that we look at whenever State dollars are given and whenever Federal dollars are given, so long as it's done in a legal fashion, that whatever regulations are in place, that there is a preference given to the locality where those funds are going. I mean, that to me is just common sense. It's common sense. And it's a legislative priority. We are -- we're saying that this is what we think the government should legislate. They obviously have to put it through their -- you know, through their spigot and make sure that they -- Chair Gort: Let me give you a suggestion. You guys -- each one of us will sit down with both the CDBG directors and with the Attorney's Office and we'll try to come up with something, all right, for the second reading, so this is the first reading. Yes, ma'am, you're recognized. Renita Holmes: Madam Holmes, executive director, Women's Association for Public Record. I commend you on this discussion, but if you'll retract a bit, it -- on note -- and thank you, Ms. Mendez, for having discussion with us before in regards to CDBG Federal guidelines, monitoring, and first source locality. I think it's referred to as Section 3, 924.935 of the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations), which says that any project that receives Federal guidelines should be -- it wasn't -- should be given the first priorities according to this: persons in public housing, homeless, disabled veterans, and so on. And Section 3 was never really designed in our policy. It is a compliance policy, and this is an impact policy, so I agree 100 percent. That's my thing. But in the meantime, what I would like to say that it also allows you to comply with community participation; 60 days, fine, but whenever there is Federal funding attached, you'll also find within those congressional acts a description in the guidelines for local government to absorb or address or adopt assuring that they have these increments of local impact. So I would like to speak with you in regards to that, but then again, I commend you. You're further in compliance. And I'd like to say it also gives the compliance with the local boards, like the community advisory boards. A lot of these properties were affordable, and State housing is commingled. It's still under the jurisdiction venue and participation requirements of the community advisory boards, such as the Model City Advisory Boards [sic] and a few other councils. So without being rhetorical about legislation that is absolutely in effect that would bring us up to par, that would have more impact, that would give proper notice to local councils, assure some measuring, monitoring, and effectiveness, then, please, feel free to give me a call or City of Miami Page29 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 please allow me to talk to you further about to that, because that's a concern. Chair Gort: Thank you. Ms. Holmes: Thank you very much, Commissioner Carollo, for taking great notice of that. Chair Gort: Thank you. It's an ordinance. Ms. Holmes: Oh, may I add that it should really just be a general policy and compliance with the Federal government. Save you a lot of litigation work, Ms. Mendez. Ms. Mendez: Thank you, Ms. Holmes. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I mean, if the Chair recognizes me, I'd like to -- Thank you, Mr. Chair. I tried to get this out before, but it didn't work. Just like to put on the next agenda a resolution of the Commission to change our legislative priorities so that we can urge our Legislatures, whether they be State or Federal, to consider making it a priority for the funds that are given for affordable housing projects to remain within the locality or municipality or given some sort of a priority if -- so long as it complies with the law. Ms. Mendez: We'll look into it on our end, and it'll be something for discussion -- Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Ms. Mendez: -- as you -- and Chairman, do I read the ordinance at this time now for a vote? Chair Gort: Do so. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Commissioner Carollo: And I move the ordinance. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Gort: It's been moved and second. Commissioner Suarez: Kind of forgot that. Chair Gort: No further discussion. Roll call. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item FR.1. Commissioner Sarnoff? Commissioner Sarnoff I'm going to vote "no, " and l'd like to express why. The Code Of Federal Registrations is extremely clear of the legislative intent of Congress, and the intent of Congress is very clear that they were to put disabled military veterans and then veterans first priority with regard to how they would get affordable housing. What you're doing today is taking -- is you're actually putting local government ahead of those priorities of Congress. Reasonable minds can differ. I think, if you mod your language substantially, you might come into compliance. There are four Federal cases you're going to need to read and understand regarding that legislative intent. And I swore an oath up here not to violate the law, so the answer is "no." Mr. Hannon: Vice Chair Hardemon? Vice Chair Hardemon: I do have some unreadiness hearing what his explanation was. From City of Miami Page 30 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 when I read this FR.1, I believed that this was just a notice requirement to get notice to the community when there was some affordable -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- housing option. Am I wrong in my interpretation of this? Ms. Mendez: All this is -- and maybe because we had a resolution in the middle of everything. The only thing that this is -- this item doing that I read into the record is giving notice -- Chair Gort: Notice. Ms. Mendez: -- to people in the City of Miami. We amend it based on concerns, any first notice, earlier notice, preference -types issues; none of that is in this legislation. It is a simple notice. Right now they are placed in the newspaper and by -- pursuant to HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) regulations, developers are supposed to announce in the newspaper when they're doing these types of affordable housing or when they're coming online, and this will just provide for them, at the same time that they put it in the newspaper -- Chair Gort: Right. Ms. Mendez: -- to send us over, you know, a copy of that thing or just to advise us that they're doing that, nothing earlier, nothing -- but -- that is in contravention of the federal statutes. Vice Chair Hardemon: All right, so I have no further unreadiness. For. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Suarez? Commissioner Suarez: Yes. And I will say to Commissioner Sarnoffs point, that if you could read the cases that he will obviously share with you, because I don't want him to misunderstand what my potential resolution is going forward, which is that to the extent that there's a priority request from a legislative body, we're asking them to change, to a certain extent, the way that they look at things, but certainly within the framework of particularly protecting veterans and those classes that you articulated So I don't think there's anyone here that would want a veteran to be kind of jumped in the line, per se. Commissioner Sarnoff And that's my only point. Commissioner Suarez: Sure. Commissioner Sarnoff And by the way, a veteran from Miami -- Commissioner Suarez: Even more so. Commissioner Sarnoff -- I completely agree with you. Commissioner Suarez: Right. So `yes; " that's my vote. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Carollo? Commissioner Carollo: Yes, and discussion after the votes. Mr. Hannon: Chair Gort? Chair Gort: Yes. And the resolution, something that they would have to discuss later on, and I'm City of Miami Page 31 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 -- being a veteran myself, I'm all in favor of veterans. I think that they (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they deserve the right, and we can't change that. That's for sure. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 4-1. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And to Commissioner Sarnoffs point, the issue is, Commissioner Sarnoff, a veteran in the City of Miami may not get notice, so not only are we bypassing veterans -- and we're just saying, you know, the intent of the Federal Government is not only are we bypassing veterans within the City of Miami, we're then going the next step and bypassing residents of the City of Miami and actually going to outside -- and all you have to do -- and I know you don't have too many affordable housing in your district. But all you have to do is, realistically, go to these new affordable housing and see where the new residents came from, and you will see that the big need that we have in the City of Miami for affordable housing is not being addressed. Therefore, all I'm saying is, at the very least, give us notice. As -- and according to the Fair Labor Act -- Fair Housing Act, we cannot give notice before anybody else, but at the very least, give notice to all of us prior to -- or not prior to -- at the same time as you're giving notice to everyone else, because we're not receiving notice. So this is not bypassing veterans or any of that. Quite honestly, if it's veterans living in the City of Miami, they should be getting notice too. Commissioner Sarnoff And Commissioner -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Sarnoff Sorry. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Go ahead. Commissioner Sarnoff Is it all right? My only point is oftentimes, I don't agree with Congress. Commissioner Carollo: Understood. Commissioner Sarnoff On this circumstance, I actually do agree with Congress. I think a disabled military veteran should be given priority. I think a veteran should be given priority, that is, obviously, resource challenged. And I'm very much okay with a veteran from the City of Miami on a project that is in the City of Miami getting that prioritization. I'm just suggesting to you in this circumstance, I find myself agreeing with the Federal Government's prioritization of affordable housing dollars. Commissioner Carollo: Understood. But what I'm saying is this ordinance -- Chair Gort: Does not affect that. Commissioner Carollo: -- does not affect that. Because what we're -- in essence, what we're doing is a veteran that lives in the City of Miami is actually -- finally may get notice, so we're actually not taking preference of one or the other. Commissioner Sarnoff Well, I think if it's amended, it could be in compliance, but I don't think it's there yet. Commissioner Carollo: It was. City of Miami Page 32 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Sarnoff. But I agree; it could get there, and that's why That wanted to put it on the record. I may very well be voting for this on second reading. Commissioner Carollo: I got it. Chair Gort: You will. END OF FIRST READING ORDINANCE RESOLUTIONS RE.1 RESOLUTION 14-00893 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE Attorney PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY'S FEES AND COSTS, IN THE AMOUNT OF $41,012.40, TO CARLOS A. MIGOYA, AS REIMBURSEMENT FOR LEGAL FEES IN THE CASES OF CASTRO, ET. AL. V CITY OF MIAMI, ETAL., CASE NO. 14-007987 CA01 AND RODRIGUEZ, ET. AL V. CITY OF MIAMI, CASE NO. 14-7997 CA01; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE NON DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNT NO. 00001.980000.531010.0000.00000. RE.2 14-01001 14-00893 Memo - Office of the City Attorney.pdf 14-00893 Memo - Budget Sign-Off.pdf 14-00893 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-14-0410 Chair Gort: FR.1. Commissioner is not here. RE.1. Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): City Attorney. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): This is a resolution that authorizes the payment of attorney's fees for the cases that were handled by Mr. Migoya -- he had to pay outside counsel fees -- in the amount of -- over 81,000 or $82, 000. We were able to negotiate the amount that the City would have to pay out to $41,012.40. Commissioner Sarnoff. So moved. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Gort: It's been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff second by Commissioner Suarez. Any discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. RESOLUTION City of Miami Page 33 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE Attorney DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO PAY TO AND ON BEHALF OF DAPHNE MERRITT, SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY CHAPTER 440, FLORIDA STATUTES, THE TOTAL SUM OF $90,000.00, IN FULL SETTLEMENT OF ALL CLAIMS AND DATES OF ACCIDENT ALLEGED AGAINST THE CITY OF MIAMI, ITS OFFICERS, AGENTS, AND EMPLOYEES, WITHOUT ADMISSION OF LIABILITY, UPON EXECUTING A SETTLEMENT, HOLD HARMLESS, AND INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT AS WELL AS A GENERAL RELEASE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, ITS PRESENT AND FORMER OFFICERS, AGENTS, AND EMPLOYEES, FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND DEMANDS; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM ACCOUNT NO. 50001.301001.524000.0000.00000. 14-01001 Memo - Office of the City Attorney.pdf 14-01001 Memo - Budget Sign-Off.pdf 14-01001 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez R-14-0411 Chair Gort: Okay, next, RE.3. We took RE.2. Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): No, no. Chair Gort: Oh, RE.2. Sorry. Mr. Alfonso: Madam City Attorney. RE.2 is a resolution for a settlement on behalf of Daphne Merritt, subject to conditions, Florida Statute, for the sum of $90, 000. It is a full settlement of all claims, dates, accidents alleged against the City of Miami. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): And the settlement is 20 -- pretty much 20 cents on the dollar. The total exposure that the City could look at in the future is about upwards of $400, 000 in medical. It's a good resolution for the City. Chair Gort: Okay, do I have a motion? Commissioner Sarnoff. It's RE.2, right? So moved, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: It's been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff second by Commissioner Carollo. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. RE.3 RESOLUTION 14-00987 Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Finance ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 18-111 OF THE CODE City of Miami Page 34 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 OF THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY"), AS AMENDED, FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES FROM PFM ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, UTILIZING THE COMPETITIVELY SOLICITED AND EXISTING CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA ("PALM BEACH GARDENS") REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ("RFP") CONTRACT NO. RFP2014-013FN ("CONTRACT") EFFECTIVE MARCH 6, 2014, FOR AN INITIAL FIVE (5) YEAR PERIOD WITH ONE OPTION TO RENEW FOR AN ADDITIONAL FIVE (5) YEAR PERIOD, AT AN ANNUAL AMOUNT CORRESPONDING WITH THE SIZE OF THE CITY'S PORTFOLIO AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ATTACHED CONTRACT FEE SCHEDULE, SUBJECT TO ANY RENEWALS, EXTENSIONS AND/OR REPLACEMENT CONTRACTS BY PALM BEACH GARDENS, TO BE UTILIZED ON AN AS NEEDED CONTRACTUAL BASIS, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED. 14-00987 Summary Form.pdf 14-00987 Back -Up - Palm Bch Gardens Agmt.pdf 14-00987-Submittal-Back Up Document -City of Miami Investment Policy.pdf 14-00987-Submittal-Back Up Document -Financial Advisor Analysis.pdf 14-00987 Legislation.pdf 14-00987 Exhibit-Agreement.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-1 4-0412 Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): RE.3. Chair Gort: RE.3. Jose Fernandez (Director): Good morning, Commissioners. Jose Fernandez, Department of Finance. RE.3 is a resolution authorizing a PSA (Professional Service Agreement) for -- with PFM for the Financial Investment Advisory and Management Services. We believe, Commissioners, that this -- approving this PSA will allow us to enhance our portfolio. It will allow us to get a better return, minimize our risk, and also shorten our -- the maturity years in which, you know, we currently have, so I think this -- Chair Gort: Can you give us a little history on the -- how they were selected and their performance? Mr. Fernandez: Sure. They're currently our current -- our financial advisors. I mean, we piggyback off a contract with Palm Beach Gardens, which was competitively procured. They were the highest rated firm. They were awarded the contract as a result of that. We worked with our Procurement Department to piggyback off of them. We would like to have them, you know, from a continuity perspective. They've been our financial advisors now for a bit of time. And having them here, you know, like -- as I stated earlier, managing our portfolio rather than just providing us financial advisory services could improve the City's portfolio. Chair Gort: Okay. My understanding, they made some statement that if they had been managing of our funds, they would have duplicated the -- Mr. Alfonso: Yeah. Jose, you want to talk about, if we had applied their -- City of Miami Page 35 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Mr. Fernandez: Yeah. They've actually -- they actually went -- if they applied their concepts to our portfolio over the last 10 years, we would have had a net gain of about $6.5 million. Chair Gort: Okay. Thank you. Question. Motion. Commissioner Sarnoff So move. Chair Gort: It's been moved. Is there a second? Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Second by Vice Chairman Hardemon. Any further discussion? Commissioner Carollo: Yes, Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Normally, I would be wholeheartedly behind this resolution; however, I have some reservations. 171 begin by not too long ago, we had some long discussions here in this dais, and there was a whole discussion spiel with regards to building our management team, our financial team, and when it was requested for us to use outside personnel, it was stated that we shouldn't be using outside personnel because it's additional moneys; we should actually employ the vacancies that we have within our Finance Department, Budget Department, et cetera. So now we're sort of doing an about face. Number two, although the Finance Committee did agree and passed a -- I don't know if you could call it a resolution or not. It wasn't unanimous, so I have concerns why it wouldn't be unanimous. I believe that, you know, something that would appear to be a no-brainer, you would have unanimous approval of the Finance Committee, which we did not. Number three, the comparison on why it's a better financial deal to actually go with outside services as opposed to hiring someone. I don't have the exact numbers or the breakdown, and as you -- most of you know by now, I usually drill a lot more and want a lot more of the breakdown. But it seems to me like you're saying that a finance manager would be approximately $165, 000; that's salary and benefits. I don't have the breakdown for the salary and benefits is. But I'm -- be willing to say that our Budget director wouldn't be making this; our auditor -- our internal auditor isn't making this; our Finance director, I don't think, is making this. So I think this number might be off quite a bit in the comparison. And then last, even if we would approve something like this, five years is a long time. I don't think it should be -- we should be giving a contract for five years. As a matter of fact, I think the majority of the people around here wouldn't even be here for five years. And I'm just saying because just going on the history, the turnover we've had in the City of Miami in the last few years has been quite a bit, so five years is a long time. So I have reservations about passing this for all the reasons that I've mentioned. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Mr. Manager, you're recognized. Mr. Alfonso: Thank you, Commissioners, Mr. Chairman. First, I'm going to say that, while I have absolute trust and confidence in the management team that we put together, particularly in the area of finance, none of us I would consider are qualified to manage a $270 million investment fund. It is -- we don't have Series 7 licenses, we're not professionals. We don't do this on a day-to-day basis. That is why we believe that it is absolutely much better to establish a policy, guidelines, rules under which our finances should be invested, and ask a group of people who manage $90 billion in assets for many other municipalities and that have resources of multiple financial analysts, multiple folks that look at investments on a day-to-day, who constantly track the performance of the Dow Jones industrial average and all the other indexes, and help us manage our funds in a most effective and efficient way. By the way, none of the folks that we mentioned, whether the Budget director or the Finance director or myself included look City of Miami Page 36 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 at these things on a day-to-day basis, on a constant basis. And if we were to hire one person to do that kind of work, it still would only be one person. By bringing in an entire firm and a company that manages, again, a large amount of assets, they have a lot more resources than we could ever afford. So I think this is a good proposal. Chair Gort: Now, my understanding is, when you're making bids on a $90 billion portfolio can accomplish a lot more than when you use a $270 million. That's my understanding of the industry. Yes, sir, you're recognized. Vice Chair Hardemon: I think I may have read something somewhere within our Code that describe that the goal of the City of Miami with our funds is not necessarily to earn a profit or earn -- so when we invest things, to earn a profit, and thus, in our managing of our assets in the past or our funds in the past, there could have been more aggressive earnings in each quarter and in each year, but it's not necessarily something that we're in the business of because we're in the business of just maintaining -- we don't have to keep the money; not necessarily we're out to earn a profit. So here, what you're describing to me is an opportunity to earn more -- go ahead. Mr. Alfonso: Okay. Yes, Commissioner. It's not only an opportunity to earn more, because in the past -- again, remember, we've had people who have done this for us, but that's not their profession. So in implementing what they thought was their best practice, we've locked ourselves into investments that are not appropriate for the City of Miami, because those persons made those decisions. What we would like to do -- the priority is not to make more money; you're right. It is the safety of the funds that is the number -one thing that we watch out for. But what we're trying to do here is say, with the same level of safety, can we earn more money? If that's a possibility, great. We -- or what we're doing with the finance team is also something that you will see probably in the upcoming -- or is it the December or November that we're -- the financial policy? Mr. Fernandez: Probably December. Mr. Alfonso: December, okay. We're also working in that financial policy, the direction that we give to these folks that will invest the money. How do we better manage that? One of the things that we were doing in the past, the financial committee was only composed of people in the Finance Department. We're also including now in the policy that is coming the Budget director, Community Development. We're asking for a member of the Finance Committee to be on that advisory committee. These are the people that are going to oversee how they invest our money. So the primary goal is not to earn more money. It is to be safe. But if there's an opportunity to better manage and better gain the power of aggregation of revenues or asset management, then we believe that that is a far better deal than what we currently are doing. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Sarnoff Well, I don't know about you, Mr. Chair, but life teaches me you get what you pay for, and if you pay for someone that expertise is this particular expertise, you'll get what you pay for. We have never had a person as capable as PFM of managing our assets. And in times, it has shown; in times, it has not shown. Recently, it showed. So one statement about PFM I think you might share this as well -- never before, until PFM, have I understood the City of Miami's finances until they started giving us reports back in 2010, 2011, 2012. So from an experience standpoint -- and I know you go back further than I do -- I never had the understanding of the City of Miami's finances until PFM came on board. So from my experience with them, they are an extremely well -reasoned and well -regarded firm. Having the little bit of work that I've done now with the hedge fund industry, in the financial services industry, they're extremely held in high regard. And if you've been exposed to people who only deal in this type of finance, I don't know how they have eyesight anymore, because they're watching the stocks trade by the minute; they have algorithms that will give them instructions on how stocks trade by the City of Miami Page 37 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 second; and you know, at best, what do we -- what would a City of Miami employee do? Check the stock market every 30, 40 minutes? There are people that check it every 30 or 40 seconds. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And let's also not overlook the fact that a few years back in 2010, '11, '12, somewhere around there, we didn't have a CFO (Chief Financial Officer), we didn't have a Finance director. I mean, there was vacancies all over. I mean, the person that was in charge of actually doing this didn't -- I would say, wasn't really supervised or no one was really supervising them. So we do have a vacancy for that position. And like I said, the numbers that were given as far as what that person would make, I think, for the comparisons now, it's not realistic. I think it's quite high, like I mentioned before. And now we do have a financial team, so it's much different than 2010, 2011, 2012, when we were up here begging for information. I was begging for a CFO and a Finance director. So I don't necessarily believe that -- and I don't think PFM can guarantee us that they're going to do better; that we're going to have X'hmount of a return on our investment. They're not going to guarantee that. Chair Gort: Nobody can. Commissioner Carollo: I'm sorry? Chair Gort: Nobody can. Commissioner Carollo: Right, nobody can. Commissioner Sarnoff But if there is somebody, please send them to me now, because I'd like to Chair Gort: Yeah. (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Carollo: Right. Chair Gort: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Carollo: Right, right. Chair Gort: Where's that guarantee, and let me know. Commissioner Carollo: Understood understood. But it's not like, you know, we hire PFM and now, all of a sudden, you know, everything is rosy. So I think that needs to be clear, because they're not going to agree that, you know, we're going to get X'hmount of return on our investment. At the same time, a five-year contract is a long time. I mean, since they can't guarantee -- I'd like to see at least for the first two years, maybe even three years, what they actually can do, and how, you know, necessarily how it goes. I don't think we should be giving a five-year contract. And by the way, we have been outsourcing quite a bit. I mean, I'm seeing we're outsourcing now. Just a few Commission meetings ago, we outsourced about $250, 000 for other consultants to do -- I don't know what type of testing or analysis. Mr. Alfonso: Yeah. Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry. There is a 30-day cancellation clause in the contract. So, if we're not happy with the performance and we need to have an RFP (Request for Proposals) or whatever, we can move that direction. City of Miami Page 38 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: Okay, thank you. Commissioner Carollo: And that's -- and I'm sorry, the 30-day cancellation is at will? Mr. Alfonso: Yes. Mr. Fernandez: Yes, it is, Commissioner, without cause. Commissioner Carollo: Without cause? Mr. Fernandez: Yes. Chair Gort: You're recognized, Commissioner. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I want to thank the members of the Finance team that came and met with me on this issue. This is an issue that I think you all know that I was very, very sensitive on when we talked about it in last year's budget. The issue that I had was -- I'm not sure that it's been articulated necessarily, but it was an issue of double dipping and not wanting to pay twice for the same services that we were already paying. The issue I had with the prior director and the prior CFO was that we were keeping certain positions that were responsible for these tasks on our budget, and yet, they wanted to allocate in addition to that to an outside consultant to do the very same tasks, and from my perspective, that was double dipping. What I told -- I have no problem with outsourcing. You know, we outsource, like Commissioner just said, on a multitude of different tasks throughout the government. Sometimes it's better to do outsourcing; sometimes it's not, given the circumstances. I have no issue outsourcing in this particular circumstance. What I do have an issue with is keeping the position on the books. And what I've been told and I've been assured is that we will defund that position, which, by the way, Commissioner Sarnoff, I see you shaking your head -- that's two police officers, recurring expense; maybe one. Commissioner Sarnoff I'm with you. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Commissioner Sarnoff I was told the same thing you were. Commissioner Suarez: Okay, one police officer. One and a half police officers, okay. It's a one -- it's one police officer and -- where's Ari? Anyways, it's one and a half police officers. It's one and a half police officers, so -- you know, and that's a recurring expense savings. So you know, I have no problem -- again, I have no problem allocating these funds. What I did have a problem with back then was our director saying, "We need a guy that does this and then we need a consulting, " for whatever reason. That was the issue that I had then. I was very clear about it. Things happened the way they happened going forward, and that's it. So I support this so long as the position is defunded in the budget. Chair Gort: Thank you. Yes, ma'am, you're recognized. Renita Holmes: Thank you. Madam Holmes, the Women's Association Alliance Against Injustice and Violence. Just to notice the record, I agree with you one hundred percent; they're still my concerns, but to reiterate on behalf of the tax paying public, the double dipping or the double cost of -- I don't have a question, but to put it on the record, Mr. Manager, what is the cost-effectiveness and what is the impact? Normally, I'm just so accustomed at the County when somebody wants to spend line item monies on extra help -- for extra help, perhaps minimize a County employee, and I know you have tons of wonderful women down at the Riverside Building that have great accounting and investment in financial advisory qualifications. I've been looking City of Miami Page 39 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 at that quite a bit lately on how many women in this City that have great degrees, don't have positions of directorship or leadership that will qualify for these opportunities . So I believe that there's a in-house source that's not being utilized. And I would like to request -- well, at least get a response on my request for that entire report, and ask that on this item that be done. If that is not done, then what we're saying here, Mr. Chair and Chairperson, Commissioners, is that we don't know what measurements we have to assure that what we're spending is going to get us a cost. If I'm spending a quarter of a million and adding another quarter of a million of contract changes, which the community has not been notified of probably or properly, then now it's costing us a million more just to ensure that we save maybe a quarter of a million. And so when we're making cost-effective decisions and expenditures regarding saving money, perhaps we need to have some monies and some financial predictable factors given not only just as compliance to giving knowledge, but acknowledgment to others and not -- also, just making sure that we haven't passed another job all the way around for employees here. Thank you for hearing what I'm saying. And I thank you in advance, Mr. City Manager, for giving me those factors. Because like I said, as a taxpayer, I don't want an additional contract changes -- oh -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Ms. Holmes: And PFM, do you hire women? Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. In conclusion. Ms. Holmes: Do you hire women? Chair Gort: Thank you. Yes, we do. We got a lot of women who work -- Ms. Holmes: You're PFM? You're representing them? Chair Gort: Thank you. Ms. Holmes: No. I'm asking if the applicant, who's -- Chair Gort: They'll be able to talk to you later. It's not -- Ms. Holmes: Mr. Chair -- Chair Gort: -- an applicant. It's a contract with a firm that's going to be -- it's not one person being contracted. It's a whole firm. They can explain it to you. Ms. Holmes: Mr. Chair, I don't think you understood my question, but you did answer it. You hire women? I have women. My name is Madam Holmes. But my question is as a taxpayer, is this that you selected for this RFP, what are the number of women that you actually hire? Because if you're going to talk about land and investment and I'm paying, I always want to know if -- talk what you walk. You walk what you talk. So that's his choice, you know. I'm not pimping nobody. I just want to know. You are the integrity of who you are. And if you're going to save women money and jobs, then you ought to be doing that for your firm, as well. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Let me see if I can explain it to you one more time. Ms. Holmes: No. I'd like to get it from him. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I love you, too, but -- Chair Gort: It's a firm -- Ms. Holmes: -- it's okay. City of Miami Page 40 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: -- that is being hired. Ms. Holmes: No, I understand that. Chair Gort: Okay. Ms. Holmes: I'm asking if the firm itself -- Chair Gort: Ma'am? Ms. Holmes: -- is qualified and fit. Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Thank you. Ms. Holmes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Manager's (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair Gort: Right. Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Ms. Holmes: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you don't represent them. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. You're welcome. Yes, sir, you're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Let him speak. Commissioner Suarez: Oh, I'm sorry. Chair Gort: Let Javier speak. Commissioner Suarez: Sure. Javier Ortiz: Hi. Sergeant Javier Ortiz, Fraternal Order of Police. I love women. I just wanted to find out by defunding those positions, how much of a salary savings we would have a year. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, we will not have a salary savings, because those supposedly salary savings is going to go to pay PFM. Mr. Ortiz: No, I understand that. But how much is it? How much is it for those positions by them defunding them? Chair Gort: It's not a double dipping. Mr. Fernandez: The last time -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. Mr. Fernandez: -- this position was filled, you know, salary and fringes were about -- City of Miami Page 41 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 approximately $165,000, which is the estimated annual cost of this contract based on a $270 million portfolio. Commissioner Suarez: But let me -- excuse me. Let me be clear. There is a salary savings, because before I brought this issue up in my briefing, there was no mention, nor was there an intent to defund that position. This was going to be above and beyond that -- Mr. Fernandez: No, no. Our intent all along was to eliminate the position and use the dollars for that position -- Commissioner Carollo: Yes. Mr. Fernandez: -- to pay for this. We were never going to go above and beyond our budget. If that's what you understood, then I apologize. Chair Gort: In the past -- what he's talking about is discussing in the past -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. Chair Gort: -- they were going to -- the funding the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they also wanted to bring somebody outside. Mr. Fernandez: No. We were -- our goal was to defund the position, eliminate it completely from the budget, and use those dollars to pay for this particular service. Commissioner Suarez: Look, I'm not going to quibble with you on the details. I trust you. You've never done anything to violate that trust. I'm just telling you, when we were briefed, there was no mention -- until I brought up the history on this item, there was no mention of defunding the position. Once I brought it up and I said, `I will only support this if you defund the position, " then I was assured that the position would be defunded. So no one came to me and said, "By the way, Commissioner, we're defunding the position and we're asking for this money." I'm just telling you how it came to me. So maybe it was told differently to other Commissioners; that happens. Mr. Fernandez: Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Okay. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Now close the public hearings. Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Also, I would like to ask our Budget director -- because I know he was doing the attrition on a different formula, not necessarily by position by position. So I want to make sure that we actually didn't take attrition for this position. You understand what I'm saying, Mr. Manager? Mr. Alfonso: I understand, Commissioner. We didn't -- you know, we took attrition from every department based on their historical attrition. This position would not have been attritioned a hundred percent. In order for them to stay on budget, they are achieving that savings -- because we're not amending their budget for this, so they have to stay within their budget and cost the -- City of Miami Page 42 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 expenses has to be absorbed. Commissioner Carollo: Understood. But the 165 is no longer 165 if we took some attrition for it, because it was actually reduced. Mr. Alfonso: What's the -- Commissioner Carollo: And -- Mr. Alfonso: Okay. The Department of Finance, we applied about a 2 percent attrition, so -- Commissioner Carollo: And when I spoke to the Budget director during the budget hearing, we had long conversations about that, because we were not doing attrition based on positions. We were doing attrition based on his formula -- Mr. Alfonso: Correct. Commissioner Carollo: -- and so forth. So, in all fairness, I think the 165 isn't really there, because we've taken some attrition towards that. Mr. Alfonso: I'm told that the attrition that we applied to the Finance Department was approximately 2 percent, which means, okay, so it's about 3 or $4,000 difference. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Mr. Alfonso: I want to point out, there was a question -- I'm sorry. Commissioner, may I? Mr. Chair, may I? Chair Gort: Yeah. Commissioner Suarez: Of course. Mr. Alfonso: There was a question as to the statement that we made as to whether the contract could or could not be terminated on 30 days. There is a sentence here that clearly states: "The agreement may be terminated by the client at any time on not less than 30 days' written notice to the advisor." There is -- this statement follows another statement that says 'for cause." I want to make sure that we understand that those are two separate statements, and the firm representatives are here. They understand that we can terminate the agreement within 30 days upon written notice. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Could we hear from our City Attorney? Because I just spoke to her about the language that's here, and it appears to me like her interpretation is that we need cause in order to terminate a contract. So, Ms. -- Madam Attorney, can you please --? Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): The way it's drafted here could be perceived a little inarticulate, so we're going to work with PFM to make sure that it is exactly what was mentioned on the record, which is all parties are agreeing that they could terminate -- Commissioner Suarez: Without cause. Mr. Mensah: -- right. City of Miami Page 43 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Suarez: Thirty days' notice -- Ms. Mendez: Right. Commissioner Suarez: -- without cause. Mr. Mensah: But the way that it's drafted, it's right after a "cause " statement, which would -- it could be interpreted to believe that you have to have cause, so I'll just make sure that it is clear. Chair Gort: And our attorneys can bring those things together. Commissioner Suarez: Absolutely. Chair Gort: We have (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Mensah: Well -- yeah, a little clearer than it is. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Suarez: I'll just say -- I want to make a brief digression, and it goes to Commissioner Sarnoffs point, andl think it might have been said before here. The firm has done an excellent job. Sergio and his team have guided us through very difficult times and been always pinpoint accurate. And I feel that we had a great person in Pete Chircut, who was doing these things, and once Pete left, we had a void. So there's a substantively good reason to do this. And that void cost us. There was a major cost. And I don't know if that was articulated before I got up to the -- on the dais, but I think there's a substantively good reason to go with this, in addition to procedurally good reason. Thank you. Vice Chair Hardemon: Mr. Chairman, please. Chair Gort: Yes. Vice Chair Hardemon: Thank you. Before this -- well, from the contract that I see with the City of Palm Beach that we're piggybacking off of, the Article 7 part about termination, it does have a "cause" statement, but it says "material breach." If there's a material breach, then the terms of the contract can be terminated immediately. And then it goes on to say that without -- basically, without any cause. So this agreement may be terminated by the client at any time or not less than 30 days, so at least 30 days' notice that the contract can be terminated without cause, so that's important to me. Why is it important? It's important because one of the things that Commissioner Carollo said was that these contracts, many times, they go beyond the life of even the Commissioners who are sitting here. So even myself as the newest Commissioner, in 10 years I won't be here, not as Commissioner, at least, right? He missed that one. Thank God he did miss it, because he's on the phone. So -- but Commissioner Sarnoff You missed a good one. Vice Chair Hardemon: Yeah, you missed it. Commissioner Suarez: Oh. Vice Chair Hardemon: Oh, You missed it. You missed it. You missed. Commissioner Suarez: Can you replay it for you? Got the minutes; you read them back for me? City of Miami Page 44 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Sony. Vice Chair Hardemon: So -- Commissioner Suarez: It's my wife. My bad. Vice Chair Hardemon: So that takes care of that question that I had about it, because if there was any disagreement about how we should move forward with them, within 30 days' notice, we can terminate the agreement, so I'm comfortable moving forward there. Madam Holmes, I'm glad you're back. I did a look at PFM. The management is a national company, and the first thing I did was look at its staff. And when I look at its staff from the very first page, some of the people in here -- 24 pages of professionals here, but senior managing consultant Emily Abrantes; managing director, Maria Altomare; a senior marketing -- no, I'm sorry -- senior market -- yeah, senior managing consultant, Jennifer Arndt, and that was just on the first page, and it's probably like seven names here. So they do hire women. You're welcome. Chair Gort: They have plenty of them. Commissioner Suarez: I hire women, too, by the way. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: I understand Commissioner -- or the Vice Chair is okay with the language. I want to make sure our City Attorney is okay with the language. Ms. Mendez: I'm just going to add like two words to it, like in addition to this agreement; 'cause usually these things are set out separately. So that there's no confusion, I'll just probably add two words to it. It's not a -- Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Commissioner Carollo: And by the way, Commissioners, listen, I always say discussion is good. This isn't necessarily an issue about PFM, but I always say discussion is good. And I think a lot of the discussion ends up vetting a better ordinance or resolution, as I believe is done in this matter. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. No further discussion? All in favor, state it by saying Bye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): As amended. Commissioner Carollo: As amended. "Aye, " as amended. Chair Gort: Okay. RE.4 RESOLUTION 14-00968 Department of Capital A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Improvement ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,452,661.00, Programs/Transportat FROM MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NE 2ND ion AVE (NE 42 ST TO NE 51 ST) - SEGMENT B3 PROJECT, B-78508; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A JOINT PARTICIPATION City of Miami Page 45 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 14-00968 Summary Form.pdf 14-00968 Legislation.pdf 14-00968 Exhibit - Agreement.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff R-14-0413 Chair Gort: Eleven thirty, two item -- Commissioner Suarez: Can I have a few minutes, Mr. Chair? We're just making sure that we're ready to go on that. If you don't mind giving us a few minutes? Chair Gort: Beg your pardon? Commissioner Suarez: Could -- do you mind if we have a few minutes? Chair Gort: No. Commissioner Suarez: We're not ready yet. We're getting everything teed up. Chair Gort: Okay. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Sorry. Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): RE.4. Chair Gort: RE (Resolution) -- Mr. Alfonso: RE.4. Chair Gort: Go back to -- Mr. Alfonso: RE.4, Commissioner. Chair Gort: -- RE.4. Mark Spanioli: Good morning, Commissioners. Mark Spanioli, director of Capital Improvements & Transportation. RE.4 is a joint participation agreement between the City of Miami and Miami -Dade County. This is for the construction of Northeast 2ndAvenue from 42nd Street to 51st Street. The County's contributing $4,452,000 for this venture or project. Chair Gort: Okay. Is there a motion? Vice Chair Hardemon: I move it. Chair Gort: Moved by Vice Chairman Hardemon. Is there a second? Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: Second by Commissioner Carollo. Discussion. City of Miami Page 46 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Carollo: Yes, Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Go ahead. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. I just want to make sure that when we receive the monies, the timeline to get this started, construction, and actually get the project done. You know, I've, for many times, have mentioned how, you know, usually there's a big lag time from actually commencing projects, and I think this is one that needs to definitely start as soon as possible. Mr. Spanioli: Commissioner, if I may, we actually -- the project is out to bid right now, so the invitation to bid has been advertised. Those bids are due November 19, and it is our plan to start construction in January right after the holidays. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Chair Gort: Okay. Any further discussion? Vice Chair Hardemon: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Hardemon: I just ask that we get it done. Mr. Spanioli: Absolutely. Vice Chair Hardemon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Can I add "as soon as possible"? Vice Chair Hardemon: That's what it means. Chair Gort: We all request that all the time, but one of the things I discussed with the director is why don't you go through the process that it takes and what we can do to eliminate and sort of fast -track some of those projects. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: I have a discussion item on that. Maybe -- Chair Gort: Oh, okay. Commissioner Carollo: We'll get into details with that later. I think -- Chair Gort: Because there's a lot of things that can be done to -- Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Chair Gort: -- be able to expedite a lot of those projects. Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Chair Gort: Okay, all in favor, state it by saying Eye." City of Miami Page 47 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 The Commission (Collectively): Aye. RE.5 RESOLUTION 14-00908 Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Community and ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE ALLOCATION OF POVERTY Economic INITIATIVE PROGRAM FUNDS TOTALING $381,000.00, IN THE AMOUNTS, Development AND TO THE AGENCIES AS SPECIFIED IN EXHIBIT "A," ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, FOR PUBLIC SERVICE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES FOR THE PROGRAM YEAR2014-2015, BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2014, FROM ACCOUNT NO. 14010.910101.882000; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AGREEMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, WITH SAID AGENCIES, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 14-00908 Summary Form.pdf 14-00908 Pre-Legislation.pdf 14-00908 Legislation.pdf 14-00908 Exhibit A.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez R-14-0417 Chair Gort: CDBG (Community Development Block Grant), can we take the allocations? Alfredo Duran (Deputy Director): Yes. Good afternoon. Alfredo Duran, Department of Community Development. RE.5 is a resolution authorizing the allocation of Poverty Initiative Program funds totaling $381, 000 in the amounts and to the agencies as specified in Exhibit "A," attached and incorporated, for activities for the program year 2014 and '15, beginning October 1, 2014; authorizing the City Manager to execute agreements in a form acceptable to the City Attorney. Chair Gort: Okay, this is a public hearing. Anyone would like to address this issue? Constance Collins: I'd like to speak. Chair Gort: Yes, ma'am, you're recognized. Ms. Collins: Yes. Constance Collins, 1514 Northwest 2nd Avenue in Overtown. I'm the director of the Lotus House Women's Shelter. Lotus House has been a labor of love for me for the past 10 years. It really arose out of a recognition that homelessness for women is derived of very gender -specific reasons, and that the solutions for women and their children are also very gender -specific. You know, the fastest growing segment of homeless across our country are single female heads of households with small children, and violence is the leading cause of their homelessness. For solutions to be effective, their needs must be addressed with counseling and support systems that allow them to heal, to reclaim their lives and build a foundation for a new future. And the needs of their children, many of whom are infants, need to be addressed, as well, with things like child therapy, mental health assessments, uniforms for schools, bottles, formula, diapers. I can't even count the number of diapers that we go through at Lotus House on an annual basis. Our operating budget has grown to a little over $2 million a year. We have served over 1,400 women and children since we opened our doors eight and a half years ago, and now City of Miami Page 48 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 house somewhere between 165 and 190 women and children on a daily basis. The amount allocated today is a little less than one percent of our annual budget. We get approximately 45 percent of our funds from the Homeless Trust; the rest we raise privately through charities, foundations, corporations, individuals across our community. It is a daunting task; it is the first thing I think about every night when I go to sleep, and the first thing I think about in the morning. We have over 70,000 meals a year to serve. We have countless areas of individual needs that have to be addressed. You might think that the hardest thing that I have to deal with on a daily basis is hearing the stories of the women who come in our doors and why. You might think it's about hearing about women who have been beaten to within an inch of their lives; choked, stalked, trafficked; who've had to sell themselves in order to buy formula; who've traded their safety to put a roof over the heads of their children. But those are things I can't do anything about, so what I can do something about are solutions, and that's something you can do something about. The hardest thing that we face every day is that we turn women and children away; it's a constant stream on a daily basis right at my door, over 1,000 women and children each year, and that's an understatement. We offer meals, we offer diapers, we offer things that we can to help them, and it doesn't change the result. So some months ago on a late Friday afternoon, I had a young woman pleading, crying, praying at my door, could we find a bed for her, but we were full. She'd been sleeping in the bushes in order to go undetected, as so many women who are homeless try to do. They find alleyways, they find garages, they find abandoned buildings, they sleep in hospital hallways, and laundromats and public restrooms; anything to be invisible and go undetected. But we were full, and so were all the other shelters that Friday afternoon, and so on Sunday morning, that Sunday morning, I awoke to a call from the Roxcy Bolton Rape Crisis Center, all too sadly about her. So that's the hardest thingl have to face every day, and it's the hardest thing any of us should have to face in this great city. We have solutions. We have to commit the resources personally and politically to bring those solutions to those who are most in need. I appreciate that every agency up here is so deserving of resources for what they're doing; I understand that. But if there's anything else that any of you can do, we would appreciate your making a difference. It changes lives, it save lives; that you can know for sure. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Renita Holmes: I apologize, but I want to apologize for the tears that are running down my eyes. My name is Madam Holmes. I'm the executive director of the Women's Association and Alliance Against Injustice and Violence Epidemic. The many times that I've came here that I've been misunderstood about the passion that I have is because this is heartfelt. Where this woman began, I was already out there in the streets, and when we met was when we had the first and the only women's house in the City of Miami where women could take a shower on Biscayne Boulevard; right next was the mental health. For the last 30 years since I came out of public housing, the women that don't make it to Constance are the women that I deal with on a daily basis, and I'm beginning to look like them; however, I know that we can do better, and if I thrive, we can do better. And so I want to apologize or -- nor don't mistake these tears in my eyes for weakness. It is what's necessary to vent because of the frustration when you spend time walking those halls late at night at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and when you've been that woman at the Roxcy Bolton Treatment Center, and when you've been that woman who leaves your home right downtown where I live at, at 350 -- my apartment -- Commissioner, Northwest Lebay (phonetic) Place; when you've asked consistently, and they say how many mats are available at Camillus House for women, and that woman the next day is beaten, and stomped in front of four men who do nothing and watched that happen, this happens every day. IfI was to pull that camera out and show you the women that I take pictures of downtown, 5 p.m. when the 111 Building closes that day; if I was to pull out the receipts with food stamp cards where other women from my community are feeding women, or the barbecues that we have, that camera and that -- the website for the City never catches that we're dealing with is volunteers. If we were to computate [sicJ the work that we do to fill the gaps in services for women who are living in poverty and thriving that are sometime mistaken as prostitutes, sometime mistaken because they're wearing City of Miami Page 49 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 men's clothes, because they can't wash theirs as lesbians, and still, it just continues, because with each one of those women come four children. And so with this, I ask if we are the women who are waiting on affordable housing to be created to deal with a 15 percent deficit; if we are the women with post -traumatic stress disorder that have wounds, and scars, and bullets are -- we are the women who now, who don't want to be in mental health facilities or living alone with other men that possibly have been rapists or ex felons in other facilities, and people don't see that, but we're out there waiting for affordable housing to occur because there's a deficiency. But we are yet still the same women, Commissioners, in closing, that have entitled a government to at least five to $50, 000 apiece, and I see more people getting CDBG, general revenues and funds that go elsewhere. Then maybe we need to address our priorities. That's what I want you to see here, because every day, there is a woman or a young woman or a child that is out there that cannot get into that program, or that we don't have enough program, or that -- my Curley House Food Bank and feed hundreds and thousands, but when I look on the other side of town, we're feeing 100 hot meals, but yet we're still dealing with the same one percent or the old budget that we had. Something's unfair here, so I'm asking you -- I see the budget, I understand the problems have increased, there's more than you even know that are under -reported, and I'm still working without funds as a volunteer, and some of us volunteers aren't going to last long. We're got to work a little harder. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning at the table in the meeting for the antipoverty guideline. There are other arms attached, and folks, and service providers that should count, because they go money already, and I think we could do better by this woman, because every woman that gets turned away can't keep falling through the cracks. Thank you so much. Chair Gort: Thank you. We'll now close the public hearing. Said Martinez: Good afternoon. My name is Said Martinez from -- sorry -- 3902 Northwest 2nd Avenue. I'm here on behalf of De Hostos Senior Center in order to talk to Mr. Hardemon to reconsider the reduced -- to consider the decision to reduce the amount of $10, 000 for De Hostos Senior Center. We provide congregant meal service, social services, homebound meals to the residents of the area. Seventy percent of the residents belongs to -- are residents of the District 5. Please reconsider this, your decision to get more services for our seniors. We are working with them during the 37 years; through the years, our good dedication, with passion, with everything. Thank you for your support, Mr. Chairman, Vice Chairman and Mr. Frank Carollo. Thank you so much. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else? Seeing none, hearing none, close the public hearing. Vice Chair Hardemon: May I, Mr. Chairman? Chair Gort: Yes, sir, you're recognized. Vice Chair Hardemon: Every organization that's listed on this agency list is one that's vital to the services that we provide, the City of Miami. All of us can deliver passionate stories about how one person's affected in a certain situation and then how another person is affected in their situation, and all of them I think we will bring tears to our eyes. The one thing -- and just to address the Sundari Foundation, which is within my district, also, I mean, when the statement is made that we have a $2 million budget, I think that that speaks volumes; that they have enough wherewithal between friends and private resources to get that type of money to move their program forward, and I think that all of us would give, if we had an unlimited budget, would give everyone exactly what they asked for, but we don't. And so we have to make the tough choices of allocating funds in ways that we see best fit to address the needs in our community. So in the decisions that were made, I look at, you know, what we've done. And the last time this came up and we asked for -- and I asked for the continuance on this item, I didn't think that the budget was as inclusive as it should be. Even within my district, there were more opportunities to serve City of Miami Page 50 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 people with the numbers that we had available. So, for instance, when I consider De Hostos Senior Center, which is within my district, I've visited many times, and De Hostos has always been kind, at the funding that's allocated right now, it's listed at 50,751; that would be the third highest in this allocation, only behind 56,000 and 54,000. When I look at the Sundari Foundation, it's listed at $20,000 as a -- money from the City to Sundari, but the Sundari Foundation, they're -- but I'm sure, De Hostos, you don't have a $2 million budget, do you? I'm sure they don't, but the Sundari Foundation is getting $20, 000; 674 -- 20,674. But still, the MEYGA (Multi -Ethnic Youth Group Association) Organization, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese, Centro Mater Childcare Services, Josefa Perez de Castano Kidney Foundation, St. Alban's Day Nursery, Sister and Brothers Forever, Southwest Social Services Programs, the Association for the Development of the Exceptional, all of those organizations are getting less funds than even the Sundari Foundation. We do our best to make the decisions that we make in creating this budget. For instance, we added the MEYGA, Multi -Ethnic Youth Group Association, who didn't get one single dollar, and every single day that they service children living in Liberty Square where all of our people are dying -- they're dying -- and so we thought it to be fitting or I thought it to be fitting to help some dollars go towards an organization that had been zero funded so that the volunteers and the children have the ability to grow up in a community safely, like other people do in their community. We look at -- it's all -- like I said, all of these organizations mean something very close to all of us, and we can only do what we can to support them, but I guarantee you this: Even with a small fee like -- a small amount of contribution like $20,000 for an organization that gets zero funded, you've now gave them the confidence to move forward and do great things just in that year. I've had organizations that got as little as $15,000 that have track and field programs for kids in the inner city, and they were just ecstatic, because now, they were able to get the supplies that they need for the kids to move forward an entire year; that $20, 000 served the entire year. If they had $50, 000, they might be here every single day thanking us. But we don't have the resources to give to everyone, so we can only make the best decisions that we can. And I'm sorry if -- the Sundari Foundation -- $20, 674 is a drop in the bucket. If it's less than one percent of what you're receiving in your operating budget, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we couldn't do more. But I can guarantee you that if that $20, 000 means, say, nothing to you, if it is a drop in the bucket -- and I know it's not, I know it's not -- but there's someone that that $20, 000 is more than they received in the last three years, and they don't have the friends to call on who are from great big law firms, or from other benevolent associations and things of that nature. They're just regular homegrown people from out District 5, and our District 1, and our District 3. They're just normal community folk who just want to do something positive in their community and looks for our government for some assistance. I don't think the government can solve all of our problems, we definitely need the private sector to help us, and I think that the Sundari Foundation, you're one of those organizations that do a great job at getting those resources. De Hostos is amazing. I mean, you serve seniors. That's our most -- some of our most vulnerable populations in the City of Miami. And I think that when you look at the organizations that did get the type of funding that they received, allowed them to serve our seniors, who I believe sometimes suffer in silence. They suffer from poverty, they suffer from poor diets, they suffer from -- we have some seniors that haven't had baths in five years. Why? Because they can't lift their leg across the tub in their bathroom and what they really need is a renovation of their bathroom, so they can just walk into it. I mean, can you imagine? Those are the seniors that they live in isolation. Those are the seniors that are not getting the assistance that they require and even still, I don't think we could do all that we can to help everyone and especially touch those seniors, but we do what we can. And then another budget comes, and then more funds are available, and we do a little bit more, and that's all we can continue to do; do as much as we can to help our problems. But there's no way that we can absolutely solve De Hostos. Earlier, we had FANM (Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Incorporated) here upset about monies; Sundari; all the organizations that want more, we can't oblige everyone, but we can do the best that we can. So I move this in the -- Commissioner Carollo: Second. City of Miami Page 51 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Vice Chair Hardemon: -- spirit of doing the best that we can at the moment with the $381,000 that we have to do this job. Chair Gort: It's moved. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: Second. Let me add there are certain programs that we have that some of us do receive some benefits, and I'm able to help De Hostos, and I'll be able to help you, too, but I won't be able to do it until January, okay? But I've done it, and I will continue to do so. Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to start off by saying, Commissioner Hardemon, these organizations are within your district, and I will respect the District Commissioner's wishes, so if these are your wishes, I will be voting in favor of it. However, I do want to mention that these are general funds dollars, and correct me if I'm wrong, Director Duran or Assistant Director Duran. The way this came about was we -- there was cuts in CDBG funding, and we tried to make all the organizations whole, so we decided to, for lack of better words, dip into our general funds in order to be able to use this funding to make the organizations whole. Now, $20, 000 is a lot of money, so I agree; however, in one year, it seems like you're going to take a dip of $25, 000, and that's -- I'm talking about Sundari Foundation known as Lotus House. So, listen, like I said, I'll respect your wishes, 'cause it's in your district, and I'll vote in favor of it; however, not that the other organizations don't do great work and -- but they do -- they definitely do great work, and all I'm saying is $25, 000 hit in one shot, it's a lot of money. And I -- and maybe -- and De Hostos, yes, I don't think they have a $2 million budget; $10,000 in a year, you know, it may be a lot of money for them. So all I'm saying is the intention originally for this money was to make the organizations whole so they wouldn't have to take a cut, and what's going to happen this year, if we continue and you so desire, I will vote with you, they're going to be taking a $25,000 hit, one organization; the other one, over $10,000. So it's something that -- Vice Chair Hardemon: Mr. Chairman, may I respond? Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Hardemon: First, I don't believe that -- when we initially created the Poverty Initiative dollars, they were intended because we had less funding from CDBG, and then we were to add funding to make them whole. Commissioner Carollo: Right. Vice Chair Hardemon: So when we talk about making them whole, "making them whole" is a relative term. So it's relative to the years that the hit came in, because then thereafter, when we had CDBG funds increased somewhat, these numbers didn't necessarily change to reflect the change in the CDBG; they just became a supplement on top of those things. So, for instance, I know that I was able to give De Hostos dollars. I was able to give the Association for the Development of the Exceptional CDBG dollars. I was able to give FANM dollars. And these are all -- they're all organizations that mean something to this, but I can't even tell you if all of these organizations were on the original list or the original names and the original amounts. So these numbers, I mean, these numbers are definitely fluctuating, and it's not necessarily -- you can't call it a hit. This is not -- these dollars are supplemental to the dollars that we give them for CDBG, and so -- and they are. So the more money we increase in CDBG, the more money that potentially we have to give these organizations dollars. And all I believe is that there should be -- and in the same funding source, we were able to service two additional organizations with that same $381, 000. And where you state, sir, that $20, 000 is a lot, I think for some, it is and for some, it is not. Certainly, $20,000 from an organization that has a $2 million budget, it's not City of Miami Page 52 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 going to shut their doors. You know, we want to at least breathe life into some of the organizations that exist within our community. What I don't want to see within -- at least within my district -- are the organizations that have professional grant writers and professional this and professional that moving forward, getting all of the funding that's available to service people through our community, because there are people -- and I think I said it on the record before, when I look at even the Camillus House, the Camillus House does a lot of functions similar to what Lotus House does, but I can tell you that -- and like I said before -- there are people who live in our community that get less services from -- and they pay taxes -- than people who are homeless and who migrate to our community. So when I look at a woman who lives on 655 Northwest 48th Street and I know that she gets $200 in food stamps every year, and she doesn't have any health care or she has very little, or she has problems getting there, or she's not astute enough to find these resources for herself, and I think about the service that she's getting as a citizen that's been there for 40 years and I compare that to someone who -- maybe -- because everyone has a different story -- who migrates into our community and then has a place, has services, has hospital beds, has food, has everything like that, and I get to see what they're getting as compared to what she's getting, it's not fair, it's not fair. So all I want to do is just ensure that some of the people who live within our communities, who we know have been working in our communities, doing great things within the community have an opportunity to have something -- and they're small organizations -- to move forward. Chair Gort: Okay, thank you. Any further discussion? Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Real quick. And Commissioner Hardemon, don't think that I don't understand what you're trying to do, and I'll go a step further. I may have done some of it myself when I first became a Commissioner, and I looked deep into other organizations and so forth, so I know exactly what you're doing. As far as some of these organizations have changed, maybe it's varied a little, but not that much; I mean, it's been pretty consistent. Been here four, four and a half years. I've seen same organizations; more or less, it's been pretty consistent. It hasn't changed much. And all I'm saying is, listen, I don't know exactly what their overall budget is or not, I didn't get to those details; and, yes, even though this is subsidizing CDBG, doesn't necessarily mean that it is extra in their budget. They probably look at their budget like we all do and say, "Okay, how much money is going to come in as a whole? We should get 'X' amount from the City for this and that; well get 'X' amount from, you know, the private sector, 'X' amount, " and then they look at it, and then I think within a couple weeks, they just reduce the $25,000, so. Vice Chair Hardemon: And I understand that. And one thing I want to say is that with organizations and move -- and this is a -- this could be a -- and this is a discussion that we all have to ask ourselves when we start our organizations and we look for funding, we look for these different funding mechanisms. But every year, your funding isn't necessarily guaranteed. Commissioner Carollo: Mm-hmm. Vice Chair Hardemon: It's not guaranteed, because if it is, if the same organizations are going to get the same amount of funding every single year, then why bring it before the City Commission? Don't fool me into believing that I have some decision -making ability to change the way that my community looks through funding organizations that I think is important if you tell me that eight years ago, this decision was made and so you have to continue making that same decision every single year moving forward. So if I'm sitting down here seven years, if I have another seven years and I see the same organizations getting the same funding, and what about the -- what about other organizations that are doing something positive? City of Miami Page 53 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 RE.6 14-01033 Honorable Mayor Tomas Regalado Commissioner Carollo: Understood. Just remember that come budget time again. Vice Chair Hardemon: It's difficult, it's difficult. Commissioner Carollo: Just remember that come budget time again. Vice Chair Hardemon: I know that it is difficult, and, you know -- Commissioner Carollo: Just -- just -- Chair Gort: Gentlemen let me -- Commissioner Carollo: I think we understand each other. Just remember that during budget time. Chair Gort: Gentlemen, of all the issues that we have in front of us in the City Commission, this is the hardest issues that we have, because there's great needs; there's a lot of needs all over the City of Miami, a lot of people don't realize. And unfortunately, there's not enough funding to do all -- to meet all the needs in the neighborhoods. So we try to match -- like I said, in January, I'm able to help, because some funds that comes into my office that helps a lot of the organizations and give them additional funding. And we have to look at the needs in our districts and that's how we prioritize. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Chair Gort: That's what we're doing. So it's not easy for us, I want you to understand, because we see it every day. But this is the hardest decisions to be made, is the allocation of CDBG funds. Okay, any further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye.' The Commission (Collectively): Aye. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DESIGNATING NORTHEAST 3 STREET FROM NORTHEAST 1 AVENUE TO NORTHEAST 2 AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS "BERLIN WALL WAY"; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE HEREIN DESIGNATED OFFICES. 14-01033 Back -Up - Map.pdf 14-01033 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez R-14-0418 Mayor Tomas Regalado: Chairman. Chair Gort: Mr. Mayor, you're recognized. Mayor Regalado: Thank you very much, Chairman. I'm here to ask for your support on RE.6. Before I read the resolution, which is simple, I think it's important that we make an City of Miami Page 54 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 RE.7 announcement and also an invitation to the residents of the City of Miami; the City Commission that, of course, you will get the formal invitation. November 9 of 2014 is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. There are two events in the Twentieth Century that are important for the history of the world, for the Berlin Wall began the Cold War, and Cuban Missile crisis signify the moment where the two super powers were eye to eye and one blink. Two United States Presidents made statements that are part of the history of the world. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy stood before the Berlin Wall and said that famous phrase `Ich ein Berliner "; `I am too a resident of Berlin." And in 1984, President Ronald Reagan stood before the Berlin Wall and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." So on November 9 of 1989, the Berliners did what the world was hoping that someone did; they just went over the wall, through the wall, and that marked the beginning of the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. It is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And several month ago we were happily surprised that the government of the Republic of Germany have chosen the City of Miami to be the recipient of an original piece of the Berlin Wall. It is a two-tone piece of the original wall with what the Germans wrote that day and the days following the fall of communism in Germany. And we are honored to be the only recipient in the United States to get an original piece of the Berlin Wall. When we had that offering, we partnered with Miami -Dade College, and Miami -Dade College and Dr. Padron were excited to be part of this celebration, and we started the process to install in a permanent way the piece of the Berlin Wall. This has been already planned and it's been done. In the next few days at the plaza between Building Number 1 and Building Number 2 in Wolfson Campus, and what the plaza is called "The Plaza of Democracy," because Miami -Dade College is an inclusive college. It has students from all over the world. And what the message that we want to send is that the people of Miami, a most diverse city, the students will see the piece of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of resilience and the symbol of freedom and democracy. To do this, we went to the public sector and asked for help to install the Berlin Wall in a platform, and we were excited when we saw the response of many people in the public sector that made checks payable to Miami -Dade College. Architect Eladio Candela did the drawings pro bono, because he was the architect that did Wolfson Campus back in the '60s. And there will be an unveiling ceremony November 9 at 1 p.m. at the promenade at the Miami Dade -College on 3rd Street, and we will have a representative of the German Government that are coming to the City of Miami. We will have, of course, media from Germany, and people are invited to this great event that will be held at the Miami -Dade College, the downtown campus, on November 9 of 2014, the day of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and also the day of the Chairman birthday, so I guess, happy birthday on November 9. So it has been requested by the Miami -Dade College and, of course, by the German Government that we designate Northeast 3rd Street, from Northeast 1st Avenue to Northeast 2ndAvenue, Miami, Florida, as "Berlin Wall Way"; directing the City Clerk to transmit a copy of this resolution to the designated offices. And that will be just the area where the piece of the Berlin Wall will be installed. And this is the resolution before you, Chairman and Commissioners. Chair Gort: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioner Sarnoff So moved. Chair Gort: It's been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: Second by Commissioner Carollo. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mayor Regalado: Thank you. RESOLUTION City of Miami Page 55 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 14-01044 District 2- Commissioner Marc David Sarnoff A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), NAMING A CLASSROOM AT ESTHER MAE ARMBRISTER PARK, LOCATED AT 236 GRAND AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS THE "CAROLYN EVANS PAYNE MEMORIAL ROOM AT ESTHER MAE ARMBRISTER PARK", IN HONOR OF THE LATE CAROLYN EVANS PAYNE FOR HER DEDICATION AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION, RECREATION, AND SPORTS; DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE ALL ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE NAMING OF SAID CLASSROOM AT SAID PARK FACILITY. 14-01044 Legislation.pdf 14-01044 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-14-0419 Chair Gort: Okay, we have to go to the time certain, RE (Resolution) -- 11 o'clock. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): RE.7, Chair. Chair Gort: RE.7. Commissioner Sarnoff.. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a request brought by the community, being submitted by Andre Thompson, a resident of the West Grove community, asking that a classroom atArmbrister Park be provided to -- in the name of Carol [sic] Evans Payne, who is a public school teacher in the West Grove. We have letters in our packets of a resolution from the Homeowners and Tenants Association, a support letter from Christ Episcopal Church, a copy of her obituary, and residents' support of I think, about 60 or 70 residents -- it might even be more than that -- supporting this issue. It is in no way or any manner of -- other than naming a particular school room, a room in the building. It doesn't do any difference or create any kind of -- well, let me leave it at that. So I would move this, Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Okay, it's been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff,f second by Vice Chairman Hardemon. Yes, sir. Andre Thompson: I'm Andre Thompson, and I brought this to Commissioner Snannoff [sic]. I hope that you pass this. I mean, she did a lot for the kids in Coconut Grove, and it would mean a lot. And I even brought her daughter here today, and she came from Georgia just to be here for this vote. Chair Gort: Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Vice Chair Hardemon: You have to tell us what part of Georgia you're from, because -- Beverly Payne -Rambo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Vice Chair Hardemon: -- my family is from Cordele, Georgia, the water capital of the -- watermelon capital of the world. Ms. Payne -Rambo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Georgia, 17 miles away from the airport. So my name City of Miami Page 56 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 is Beverly Payne -Rambo. Good morning. I'm honored that Andre took this call to honor my mom. Most people believe that I'm a only child. My sibling was Grand Avenue Park, okay? I've been to more graduations -- kindergarten graduations. She wasn't public school teacher; she was the first African -American Parks & Recreation woman to be hired, and she taught kindergarten at Grand Avenue Park in that room for 35 years. She passed December 3 of last year. So when parents and children talk about what they want to do when they transition, we had this conversation, and she requested that I cremate her, which I did not, and have her ashes sprinkled around the building. So this would be an honor, and I thank you for listening to me. Chair Gort: Thank you. Yes, sir, you're recognized. Jihad Rashid: Jihad S. Rashid, president of Coconut Grove Village West Homeowners & Tenants Association. This matter had been brought to our panel requesting that this individual be honored as such, and the Homeowners and Tenants Association approved. I have that resolution. I'm here to represent their voices in support. Whereas, a request has been put forth to the City of Miami to name the computer room at Esther Mae Armbrister Park, located at 122 Grand Avenue, Miami, Florida, to Carolyn Evans Payne Memorial Center at Esther Mae Armbrister Park; and whereas, the late Carolyn Evans Payne was an upstanding citizen in Miami -Dade County, employed by the City of Miami Parks & Recreation Department for many years and was inspiring to many youth in Coconut Grove; be it hereby resolved that the Coconut Grove Village West Homeowners & Tenants Association concurs with the naming of the computer room at the City of Miami's Esther Mae Armbrister Park be named Carolyn Evans Payne Memorial Center at Esther Mae Armbrister Park; done on this 19th day of August 2014. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Yes, sir, you're recognized. Williams Armbrister: Yes. My name is Williams Armbrister. I reside at 3260 Thomas Avenue, here in Coconut Grove; for three generations, the Armbristers have been here. And I'm not here, as it may be thought, to oppose anything but to make recommendations. If Mrs. Payne is an honorable -- the honorable person that she is being said to be, they should not reach for low -hanging fruit, but honor her in reaching up higher in the tree; name Grand Avenue after Ms. Payne, so Armbrister Park will be located on Payne Avenue. Esther Mae Armbrister, most of you don't know, dedicated her life in this community first with working with the Economic Opportunity Program, Incorporated, which a few of the people in this audience and many in Coconut Grove obtained homeownership because of her work. She spent more time in this community chambers than the Commissioners themselves. When there was an issue involving this community, Esther Mae Armbrister was here. When we -- when she found out that Coconut Grove was going to be destroyed and what we knew it to be from a developer that she worked for, she got busy finding out exactly what was happening in the City of Miami with Coconut Grove. Since the early 1960s until she died she fought and found out what information was available for this community to enhance the living of this community. She won a first place race. And you know, when you're in first place, you don't share your first place prize with anyone. So for Mrs. Payne, I would suggest that it be considered to name the street Grand Avenue after her. Let her earn her first place place in her efforts and what she did in this community. And like I said again, I'm not in opposition, but I'd like you to consider something more than has been asked of you by the Homeowners & Tenants Association, by the vice president and the president, and what might be desired of her youth, her siblings. And so, if they would consider the work that their mother did in this community, put her on her own pedestal; let Grand Avenue be named after her. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Armbrister: You don't share a one place -- first place prize with anyone. Thank you. City of Miami Page 57 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Next. Keith Nelson: Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Keith Nelson, and I'm for naming the classroom under Carolyn Payne. You know, believe it or not, she was one who believed and taught through her life, instilled in all her kids to be the best that you can be, not just for yourself but for your parents and your community. And what she instilled in these kids that I've seen is just unbelievable. I mean, some kids may not ever know what Christmas was if it wasn't for Carolyn Payne. Some kids didn't even know what Easter was if it wasn't for Carolyn Payne. I mean, she gave her all. She gave her best. You know, I think it's a great idea mentioning that naming a road after her. It's all great and good. I remember one time as a youngster, when I was about 15, 16 years old, Ms. Armbrister, she would come in the park, Where's Carolyn? "And those two were like great together. And I'm quite sure that Ms. Armbrister wouldn't have a problem, whatsoever, to name a classroom after Carolyn Payne. I mean, two people who raised -- born and raised in Coconut Grove, whose parents not only just parents, but I mean, trail blazers from the Bahamas, both Bahamas. But I'm for just naming the room after Carolyn Payne. It would be a great honor for her, and I'm quite sure Ms. Armbrister wouldn't have a -- no problem whatsoever. I mean, two young ladies who grew up together in the same community, sharing the same values, learning about the history of the Grove. I mean, what they hold is something that we would never ever have a chance or opportunity to see again. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Next. Richard Curry: Good morning, my Commissioners. Richard Curry, commander in chief of Local American Legion, Post 182, born and raised in Coconut Grove, 3070 Hibiscus Street, and I was born and raised and raised on Grand Avenue Park, which is now Armbrister Park, and ever since I've been going on that park, Ms. Payne has been a part of it. She is like -- I wouldn't say a monument, but she's a statue of that park. And we're not asking for Grand Avenue to be named after her. We just asking for a classroom. This is a lady that worked for the City of Miami, retired from the City of Miami, ran a kindergarten at this daycare at Grand Avenue Park, which is Armbrister Park now, and I feel it's only fitting that you name a classroom after this lady. I thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Anyone else? Faye Pope: Good morning. My name is Faye Pope, and I'm one of those products of Ms. Payne; raised on that park, not only did -- was I raised there; our parents worked and Ms. Payne was like our mother, our grandmothers, and even when we were teenagers, she made sure that we were employed at the very park we grew up. I actually wanted to see the entire park named after Ms. Payne, but since we can't do that, I think it would be a great honor to name the classroom if not Grand Avenue, but something. Even in her passing, we had her repast at that park, and to see all of us come together when we was five, six, and seven years old and we're now well in our 50s, you know, this is a woman that has pretty much raised the majority of the people in Coconut Grove. And I'm just asking that you all name the classroom or something in her honor. Thank y'all very much. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else? Renita Holmes: Madam Holmes again, with the Women's Association Alliance Against Injustice and Violence. And recognizing the day that we had great opportunity to know that -- or to see displayed that, quote/unquote, "real leadership empowers leadership "; that a classroom can be named for many of women and historical women and Bahamians and Cochons that came and built this great city of Coconut Grove. I have witnessed and actually came here today to talk about the Berlin Wall, because I know when we consider the east side of one community, primarily Jewish and Hispanic, I don't know if I want to refer to the Berlin Wall in these days and ages, particularly if you from Overtown, but that item has passed. So I ask a equal opportunity City of Miami Page 58 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 in this item to give and bestow upon a great educator, teacher and leader, perhaps recommend that not only it be a classroom, that it be a street. Lastly, I've watched Coconut Grove change. I've watched my people turn into another culture, and I love diversity, but diversity means nothing without equity. I do believe and I do know the story of Ms. Payne, as I walk this community from time to time, even with you. I think children should play afterwards underneath a teacher's name, not just when the bell rings. I think the bell is sounding for Madam Payne and Armbrister, and I would like to see in the change of the culture, in the district changing, and that, perhaps, we get a little bit more as African American and Cochons and black women. It's my recommendation, Mr. Chair, and to the rest of the Commission, that you extend it far beyond a closed classroom so that everyone can see what a great leader this black woman and this black educator was. Thank you so kindly. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Okay, we'll now close the public hearings. Comment? There's a motion. Is there a second? Discussion. Being none, all in favor, state it by saying aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Commissioner Sarnoff. Thank you, Mr. Chair. RE.8 RESOLUTION 14-01056 District 3- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Commissioner Frank ATTACHMENT(S), ACKNOWLEDGING THE MIAMI-DADE SEA LEVEL RISE Carollo TASK FORCE REPORT AND ENDORSING THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS AS STATED HEREIN; FURTHER MAKING THIS A STATE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY FOR THE CITY OF MIAMI DURING THE 2015 LEGISLATIVE SESSION; AND FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMITA COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE OFFICIALS AS STATED HEREIN. 14-01056 Legislation.pdf 14-01056 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez R-14-0420 Chair Gort: Clerk, what time is it? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, it is 3 o'clock. Chair Gort: Thankyou. Okay, we have quorum, Mr. Manager. Now, my understanding is Commissioner Sarnoff requested that RE.10 be hold for a while -- excuse me. Unidentified Speaker: It's the dust. Chair Gort: Thankyou, thank you. Commissioner Suarez requested that wait for his item, which is the RE (resolution) -- Commissioner Carollo: Can we take RE.8 then? I don't think there's any issue with that. It's just -- City of Miami Page 59 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 RE.9 14-00608 Chair Gort: RE.8, fine, yes. Commissioner Carollo: -- endorsing the Miami -Dade Sea Level Rise Committee report. Chair Gort: Yes. By the way -- if I can get my office to bring me the report, 'cause City of Miami did a report about four years ago on the same issue; it was a pretty good report. I think we should incorporate both. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, and if you give me a second, RE.8 is a resolution endorsing the following recommendations as stated; further making the State legislative priorities for the City of Miami during the 2015 legislative session. At the same time, I want to mention that there was a very good sunshine meeting where Dr. Virginia Walsh came and had a very nice PowerPoint and discussion, and I'm looking forward to maybe in the near future bringing some resolutions with regards to that that was spoken at that meeting. So with that said, I move RE.8. Chair Gort: Okay, it's been moved. Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Second. Discussion? As part of the discussion, I would like to see is incorporate this. A lot of people are not aware the -- of the document that was done by -- the study that was done by the City of Miami. I believe it was about eight years ago, and it has some very good recommendation. We want to make sure we can implement some of the recommendations that we have in there. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. RESOLUTION Department of Real A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S) Estate and Asset ACCEPTING THE CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION APPROVING THE Management FINDINGS OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE THAT THE GLASS HOUSE COCNUT GROVE, LLC ("PROPOSER"), IS THE TOP RANKED PROPOSER FOR THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NO. 12-13-067, LEASE OF CITY -OWNED PROPERTY FOR GARDEN STYLE CAFE/ RESTAURANT USES LOCATED AT 2820 MCFARLANE ROAD, MIAMI, FL 33133; AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A LEASE ("LEASE"), IN THE SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM SUBJECT TO THE REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY, FOR AN INITIAL TERM OF TWENTY FIVE (25) YEARS, WITH TWO ADDITIONAL FIVE (5) YEAR RENEWAL TERMS AND PAYMENT OF A MINIMUM MONTHLY BASE RENT OF $8,333 PLUS PERCENTAGE RENT OF GROSS REVENUES IN THE MINIMUM OF 7.5% OVERA$1,333,333.33 ANNUAL BREAKPOINT WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN THE LEASE. 14-00608 Summary Form.pdf 14-00608 Memo - Manager's Recommendation.pdf 14-00608-Submittal-Commissioner Mark Sarnoff-Peacock Park Homeless Presentation.pdf 14-00608-Submittal-Vincent Celano-Glass House Concept Presentation.pdf 14-00608 Legislation Version 2.pdf 14-00608 Exhibit -Agreement.pdf City of Miami Page 60 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 RE.10 14-00675 Department of Real Estate and Asset Management (RE.10) 14-00675a Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff, that this matter be CONTINUED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Carollo and Suarez Note for the Record: Item RE.9 was continued to the November 20, 2014 Commission Meeting. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A REVOCABLE LICENSE AGREEMENT ("LICENSE"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH MIAMI BAY TRUST, LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, FOR THE USE OF APPROXIMATELY 13,000 SQUARE FEET OF CITY OF MIAMI OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3805 NORTHEAST 6TH AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, FOR THE STORAGE OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT AND STAGING OF A MOBILE CRANE, WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS MORE PARTICULARLY SET FORTH IN THE LICENSE. 14-00675 Summary Form.pdf 14-00675 Legislation.pdf 14-00675 Exhibit A.pdf 14-00675 Exhibit - Agreement.pdf Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez R-14-0423 RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACCEPT FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF TWO MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($2,500,000.00) FROM MIAMI BAY TRUST, LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, AS A PUBLIC BENEFIT, IN CONNECTION WITH A REVOCABLE LICENSE AGREEMENT, PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. 14-0423, ADOPTED OCTOBER 23, 2014, FOR THE TEMPORARY USE AND STORAGE OF EQUIPMENT UPON PALLOT PARK LOCATED AT 3805 NORTHEAST 6 AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORI DA ,SUBJECT TO THE PASSAGE OF A RESOLUTION AT A FUTURE DATE, BY A FOUR -FIFTHS (4/STHS) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE, PURSUANT TO SECTION 18-92 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, AFTER AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING, RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND CONFIRMING THE CITY MANAGER'S FINDING OFASOLE SOURCE TO PERMIT MIAMI BAY TRUST, LLC TO CONSTRUCT A SEAWALL AT PALLOT PARK LESS ANY WALKWAY OR FILL NEEDED FOR SAID PROJECT AT A COST NOT TO EXCEED SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($600,000.00) AND SUBJECT TO THE EXECUTION OF THE City of Miami Page 61 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 ABOVEMENTIONED REVOCABLE LICENSE AGREEMENT. Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez R-14-0421 Chair Gort: RE.10. It's yours, Commissioner Sarnoff. Commissioner Sarnoff Thanks, Mr. Chair. The -- I guess the best way to understand this is just to put it pretty much across the board on the table, so as you all know, you probably get met with and people have ideas they want to do for the park, and then they want to use -- let me go -- rewind. So we get approached by a man who's going to be doing work on the north side of Pallot Park, and we're told that he wants to use 40 feet of the park for staging of some construction. Now, the good part is he's going to do underground parking, which is a good thing for the City of Miami. But the bad part, of course, is you're going to lose 40 feet of the length of a park, Pallot Park. They come to us and they suggest to us that they're going to then redo the park, okay? I'm pretty comfortable with it so far, 'cause I love doing parks. And I don't know about you all, but I usually run almost every park idea by Francisco Garcia; just I think he's a good guy, he's got a good eye, he understands planning. And Francisco Garcia was very critical of what was shown to me. So by my way of thinking, what I did was I said, "Well, bring this back to me once Mr. Garcia is satisfied with what the park's going to look like." That was, I think, about a Commission meeting ago. And somebody said to me, "You know, Francisco has so much work and he may not have enough time to do this. " And I said, "Well, why don't you give him the opportunity, see where you get to." Sort of fast forward; here we are today. Now, I could tell you this: The folks at Pallot Park, based on a promise by the Mayor -- it was a good promise; unfortunately, one he could not fulfill -- wanted to have a seawall put on that park. And if you've ever been to Pallot Park, it's right off of 395. I know I've done two cleanup projects there, and you probably do want to have a seawall. Now, again, kind of -- as you were having your conversation, Commissioner Carollo, about, you know, what are the costs, what are the time frames, we've got a couple seawalls in District 2. I pretty well know or I think I know what the time frames, what the costs are, et cetera. So I checked with CIP (Capital Improvements Program), and they say $2 million. Okay. Commissioner Carollo: How much? Commissioner Sarnoff Two million, of which, as you know, if you hit it right, you could go to FIND (Florida Inland Navigation District). FIND will give you half of the seawall cost. So I have a number in mind. Today, you know, I'm being shown a document which to me, a little bit critically, Francisco Garcia has still not approved or somebody from the Administration hasn't, but they have an alternate way of getting where they want to get to. So I then ask them candidly, "Well, how much money are you going to put in the park?" Took a long time to get that answer. You guys know I don't usually talk like this or do this. And the answer was given to me this afternoon, and it's 2.5 million is what they tell me. And then, of course, I ask, "Well" -- of course, I'm thinking 2 million for the seawall or a million, 'cause you could match that with FIND, leaving you about a million -five for the park. And then I'm told, "Well, no, no, no, Commissioner, 'cause we can do the seawall for $650, 000. " Okay. I'm having lunch, candidly, Commissioner Carollo, with Mark Spanioli, and I said, "Can this seawall be done for $650, 000? " And he says, "Commissioner, without a doubt, it cannot be done for that kind of number; not the seawall we designed and permitted" So the Mayor got it so far that it was designed, it was actually permitted, but we just didn't have the funding source for it. So I'm just putting this all out on the table. In my mind, we have two issues for the park. First issue is, one, somebody wants to use 40 foot of let's say, Commissioner Carollo, 100 foot park; maybe it's a little more than that length. City of Miami Page 62 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Carollo: It's probably longer. Commissioner Sarnoff Like 300 feet? Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay, it's probably -- Iris Escarra: Forty-by-300. Commissioner Sarnoff There you go. Commissioner Sarnoff So 40 feet-by-300 feet. So that is separate -- Commissioner Carollo: By the way, I visit that park quite a bit, so I know exactly where it is. Commissioner Sarnoff So chime in, help out. I don't particularly want to take ownership of this, but I want you to know I've been actively involved in this. So that is going to be used for a year, maybe two years as a construction site. So you're going to lose the -- you're going to lose that part of the park, plus I suspect a little bit of the fringe, as well, for an active use of the park. And that to me is a policy decision of the Commission to make that decision, and I know there could be payment for that, but I always think it's very hard to pay for the use -- the loss of a park. The second item that they bring to us is that they will do the park and the improvements as part of the public benefits part of our code that will allow them to do that. So then my next question to them was, "Well, how much do you" -- 'cause I didn't know this, candidly -- I don't know if you all know this off the top of your head -- but "How much do you get of a public benefit versus how much you have to put in for the park?" So good, great test model, if you will. So they get $5 million worth of public benefit, but they put $2.5 million into a park, which is interesting, because I've never had it put to me quite that way before. So for the developer, it's a good deal, because he's going to spend 2.5 million but get a $5 million benefit from our code, if you will; our code. So there are two issues we have here today -- well, maybe not two issues. So let me just say this: We have the use of a park, of which they're willing to spend "X" dollars. We have an enhancement of a park that they're willing to spend "Y" dollars. I think the "X" dollars, Commissioner Carollo, is 4, 000-something dollars a month. Commissioner Carollo: Fifty thousand a year, more or less. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay, fair enough; some very close number like that. And the "Y" is they're willing to put now -- and by the way, the first time I got this number was today -- $2.5 million into the park. And the 2.5 sounds like a lot of money, except I want to make sure that the seawall gets done correctly, and I think there is a delta between a private person doing a seawall and us doing a seawall, but I don't see that delta being quite a million, four hundred thousand dollars of $2 million. So I had a concern, and I bring that concern to my juridic body here, again, for your suggestions, for your help, for your approval. It would be great to spend $2 million in improvement in a park; that's a lot of money, that's a lot of improvement. If only five, six hundred thousand is used as the seawall, great. But I want to make sure that seawall is at least the competence of what we do in the City of Miami. So I put this on the table; there is where we are with this issue. Chair Gort: Thank you. I can always tell you, anything done by the private sector is a lot less than the public sector, and we all know that, because we have to go through certain requirements, certain criterias [sic] that it makes it a lot more expensive. But there's a lot of difference, though, between 600,000 and 2 million; talking a 1.4 difference. Yes, sir. City of Miami Page 63 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chairman, and I'm dealing with it in a much smaller scale. There is a traffic circle that was approved by the County or the location was approved for a traffic circle, and the City's CIP is estimating 230. I have someone that wants to develop right by there that says -- that has come to me and wants to actually do the traffic circle, and I said, "The price is about 230 is what I was told. " And he said, "Oh, no, no, we could do it much cheaper than that." So you don't know. You never know how much the City, the government, is paying a premium on some of these jobs, so maybe they can't do it cheaper. Now, who would -- I guess it'll be our Building Department that still has to, you know, inspect it and give it the okay, so I think there's some assurance or some security there that they're doing it correctly, because -- you understand what I'm saying? Commissioner Sarnoff Oh, I completely -- I was going to ask the Chair if he would let Mr. Spanioli -- Chair Gort: Now, the question is who is on staff is going to address those issues. Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry, Commissioner -- Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: -- Sarnoff, we also need to see if we could leverage some of those dollars to still get FIND. Commissioner Sarnoff Yeah. I don't think you can but -- Commissioner Carollo: You understanding what I'm saying? For the actual park for improvements. Commissioner Sarnoff Sure. Chair Gort: You're back on. Daniell Alfonso (City Manager): Yes. Well let the engineer address the issue of the strength of the wall, the girth of the wall, the depth of the wall, the sheet pilings, the permitting process, et cetera. Mark Spanioli: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Mark Spanioli, CIP director. The seawall we currently have designed is using concrete precast sheet pile panels along with a new concrete cap. The elevation of the seawall has to be set at 5.0, which is substantially higher than the existing grade there, so that requires some additional grading behind the seawall that wouldn't normally be obvious when you walked up to the base edge. The estimates that we have now are just under 2 million, so I use 2 million as a round number, but we feel comfortable that that is an adequate price for the project. Chair Gort: My question is -- I'm sorry. Commissioner Sarnoff I was going to -- How can I make your seawall their seawall? In other words, let's say Commissioner Carollo is right. They have this guy that has this new kind of concrete, and this new procedure, and he can do it for $650, 000. I know you're probably having a little trouble believing that. What assurance do I have that 650 buys that $2 million City seawall? Iris Escarra: Could I make a point of clarification that may help in your analysis? Chair Gort: Excuse me. I'll recognize you at the time, please. My understanding is what they're City of Miami Page 64 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 going to do is they're going to have to pull a permit to do the seawall. Mr. Spanioli: Any seawall construction would require a permit. Chair Gort: Would have to be a permit. The permit would -- Mr. Spanioli: And the permitting that we have done is not only with the Building Department, but you have the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) and the Corps of Engineers, et cetera. Chair Gort: So in other words, they would have to comply with the same permits that you have to comply yourself. Mr. Spanioli: Absolutely. Chair Gort: Okay. Yes, ma'am, you're recognized. Ms. Escarra: Thank you very much, Commissioner. Iris Escarra, with offices at 333 Avenue of the Americas. I'm here on behalf of the Milton family, who is actually the proponent on this item. When Mr. Milton quoted during lunch, he was looking for what was the cost. The cost of what he got was a linear foot of the seawall for the approximate length of about 2,000 square feet, which came out to be about 350 per linear foot. It's possible that the quote that they have for 2 million includes the fill and all that, which we did not estimate in that 650, 000. So there is a potential difference, and the 2 million is the fill and everything complete. Ours was strictly the seawall quote, which was what he was able to get quickly, so that might count for some of the difference. Commissioner Sarnoff And I would have thought -- 'cause the reason I wanted to maybe not hear this today -- and I worked through this. I don't mind. At some point, somebody should be able to say, "Commissioner, it's a Chevy and theirs is a Chevy," or "Ours is a Cadillac" -- I don't mean to degrade anyone -- "and that's a Volkswagen." You know, I'm just trying to use expressions of quality. So I would have thought that we could have gotten on that page today to say, "Don't worry, Commissioner; the seawall that you're debating is the seawall we're going to build" Ms. Escarra: Right. Well, a seawall is -- there's a standard, a specification -- Mr. Spanioli: Right. Ms. Escarra: -- and if the height is a standard height in the code, there's not really a -- the difference comes in the fill part. We did not quote the level of fill that may have been needed, and I just wanted to clarifir that. Commissioner Sarnoff So that all we're talking about right now is backfill? Ms. Escarra: I believe so, based on what he was describing. Mr. Spanioli: The other item that they may not have priced out is it's required to have riprap on the back side of the seawall, on the water side of the seawall, so that would have to be installed, as well. If you're just taking a linear foot of seawall, you're not taking into consideration the riprap, which is the large boulders that get placed, as well as the upland fill. Ms. Escarra: But I would anticipate that the biggest expense out of the 2 million is the actual concrete wall, and maybe we could coordinate that the FIND money could be used for the fill and for the riprap, and we would commit -- 'cause as part of the 2.5 million commitment that Mr. City of Miami Page 65 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Milton's willing to do, he's willing to do the wall, and maybe we can use the FIND money for the other pieces to conclude. Commissioner Sarnoff But herein lies the problem with the FIND money. Is that all right, Mr. Chair? Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Sarnoff Herein lies the problem with the FIND money: My understanding -- and somebody correct me if I'm wrong -- FIND money can only go to a governmental entity; goes to the City of Miami. So then we would be primarily responsible for building the wall. The building of the wall then falls to Mr. Spanioli, who is going to have a $2 million budget for this wall; could be reduced by, let's say, a million dollars in the event that FIND says, "Well, we'll pay for half that wall," which I think they would, but I want to make sure that -- and in that scenario, you know, it just seems like -- you know, it's one thing to quote a linear square foot of a wall followed by, "Well, we didn't have riprap "; followed by, "We didn't have the backfill "; followed by, "Well, we didn't take into consideration some gradation issues." And it really sounds good to us here, you know, sitting here in this vacuum, 600,000 versus 2 million. And I'm really trying to spread the money as far as I can make it go. Ms. Escarra: Understood. Commissioner Sarnoff All I'm trying to do, 'cause I -- 'cause in our conversations today -- Ms. Escarra: Right. Commissioner Sarnoff -- in addition, I heard that there was a problem with 6th Avenue, as well. Ms. Escarra: Correct. Commissioner Carollo: Welcome to my world. Ms. Escarra: Some of the neighbors expressed that. Commissioner Sarnoff Right. And, you know -- right, unforeseen or not-thought-ofs, or, you know -- I get it. And I just want to spread this as far as possibly it can go. If it ends up we only do what we -- look, I'm okay. If for value, as Commissioner Carollo would say, we get the wall along with -- let's say you end up redoing 6th Avenue drainage -- Ms. Escarra: Right. Commissioner Sarnoff -- let's just use it -- something I understand, and you end up repaving, and you exhaust your money. Ms. Escarra: Right. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay, the bones of a park and not, as you would say, the aesthetics of it, but the bones of the park are in place, and in three years, you know, the next Commissioner, with some other monies, can start building some other things. I want to make sure whatever we do -- sort of like the Gusman Theater. I want to not do the Gusman Theater. And what do I mean by that? I don't want to make it pretty inside and forget, oh, that's right; the walls are falling down, the structural is not there. You know, I'd rather build it from the bottom up and not be the Commissioner of pretty. Ms. Escarra: Right. City of Miami Page 66 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Sarnoff Which means, you know, I didn't think about the structure, but I got it to look aesthetically great, but in three years, it falls apart. That's not -- I think anybody up here doesn't want to do that, I hope. Chair Gort: Mr. Manager, you're recognized. Mr. Alfonso: Yes, Mr. Chairman. Commissioners, thank you. Just thinking a little bit out of the box, but I mean, if the developer feels that they can build that wall for that cost, you can always do a four -fifths waiver, award them the contract for that construction, and they're on the hook for delivering that wall, that length, for the right specifications or whatever for that cost. Vice Chair Hardemon: But I think what they want out of it are the benefits that they get for -- Mr. Alfonso: Right, I understand. Vice Chair Hardemon: So they want those public benefits. Mr. Alfonso: They'll -- they can get the benefits. My point is the Commissioner is concerned about how much of the money, the total 2.5 we can allocate to the park. Chair Gort: Give it to the park. Mr. Alfonso: Well, if they're saying they can build the concrete portion for $600,000, guess what? We can award them on a four -fifths, their 600, they can build it, and if they don't do it for 600 and it cost them 800, well, that becomes their concern, not ours. So that's something that I think on a four -fifths could be worked out. Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chairman -- Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: -- then we could also apply for the FIND grant. Mr. Alfonso: Yes, because we would be -- Commissioner Carollo: Yes. Mr. Alfonso: -- contracting -- Commissioner Carollo: Exactly, so we could then -- Mr. Alfonso: -- somebody to build, but it's us -- Commissioner Sarnoff Oh, I got you, I got you. Mr. Alfonso: -- contracting somebody to build. Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Commissioner Sarnoff I got it. Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Chair Gort: Okay. City of Miami Page 67 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Geoffrey Bash: Mr. Chairman, if you would allow me to make a comment that might be beneficial to where you are in this conversation right now? I mean -- Chair Gort: Yeah. And you are? Mr. Bash: My name is Geoffrey Bash. I live in the neighborhood of Magnolia Park, 448 Northeast 39th Street. And what I'd like to say is it's my understanding from working closely with FIND and Commissioner Crowley is that the City has a plan. They've been working many years on this, and my understanding that that plan is complete, and it's more of a shoreline restoration project that's multifaceted. That's what the community's been asking for, for a decade. It's involves being able to be interactive with the water, and we -- that plan has been a mystery so far. My understanding is the COE (Corps of Engineers) permit is completed, and one other permit, and it's just waiting on the DERM (Department of Environmental Resource Management) permit, and FIND has already given a one-year extension, and the City has not yet signed the extension agreement, and FIND is waiting for that. And I'd hate to lose this opportunity, but if you could keep in mind, please, a shoreline restoration project, that we have this wonderful waterfront park and we want to make it like FIND recommends, a floating dock, and we want to be able to take kayaks out to the water. So it's more than just a seawall, so before the Milton family can say, "We can build this for $300 a square foot," could they see the City's plan that they've been working on, you know, for quite some time? Chair Gort: Thank you for bringing that up. This is the first time -- I don't know if you heard about it before, Commissioner but -- Commissioner Sarnoff I had -- no to that detail, no. I -- the Mayor's been pretty much working on that. Chair Gort: Okay. Commissioner Sarnoff So I'd love to hear where we are on that. Mr. Spanioli: I don't have the physical plan with me, but I can describe it to the best of my ability. Besides for the obvious seawall that we've been discussing, there is a kayak launch at one end of the facility and a meandering -- we call the bay walk or walkway that runs along the edge of the seawall. Chair Gort: That design has been completed? Mr. Spanioli: That design is completed. Chair Gort: It's ready to go? Mr. Spanioli: The only permit outstanding is DERM; all the other permits have been issued. Commissioner Carollo: Estimate cost? Mr. Spanioli: This is the 2 million dollar project. Commissioner Carollo: Okay, so this is why -- Commissioner Sarnoff Yeah, it's more than a seawall. Commissioner Carollo: -- this will pay -- City of Miami Page 68 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Mr. Spanioli: Right. Commissioner Carollo: So in other words, you've been working on that and this will fund the project, so -- Commissioner Sarnoff I think at this point, we're better suited to just take the money, 'cause I think -- I really think what's going on is we're getting 70, 60 percent of what this project is, 'cause the seawall is a percentage of it, but there's some other things along with it, and I think we're just better suited from -- instead of finger pointing thing, to turn around and say, "Look we built seawalls before, we know who we're going to use, we're going to do this meandering thing." I did not know Geoffrey that you had gotten to the levels that you got to with the Mayor, and obviously, there's been some community input in that. I think we should just turn around, take the money, and let us be responsible for it. And I'm not the guy that usually says to do that, 'cause I'm a believer in the private sector and let them do it cheaply, but I don't think we're going to get exactly what we think we're going to get. Chair Gort: I think if the community got involved, we have a plan, they've already been designed, it's been approved. We only waiting for DERM to approve it and we're ready to go, and that's a commitment the City had from before. Mr. Spanioli: That's correct. The only thing that's pending is our construction funding. Chair Gort: Okay. Now you got the construction funding. Okay. Now, the rent, I didn't -- Ms. Escarra: I -- if -- Chair Gort: -- I was not able to go through here. What is the rent they're going to pay, the monthly? Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: Could we listen from -- Ms. Escarra: Right. IfI may, I apologize. Mr. Milton was here all morning, and he had to leave, unfortunately, for the afternoon. I can't necessarily commit that he will pay the money in lieu of doing the work. The problem with the commitment versus doing the work was that initially, when we discussed half the funding for the 2 million dollar project, he was saying, "Okay, if I give them a million dollar, but I find out it really only cost 600, 000, there's a 400,000 loss if the private sector does it." Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay, you've explained -- Ms. Escarra: So he didn't want -- Commissioner Sarnoff -- everything. That statement in and of itself -- Chair Gort: That's it. Commissioner Sarnoff -- says everything you need to. Ms. Escarra: He was trying to save the City the difference in the 400,000 -- City of Miami Page 69 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Sarnoff You know what? I -- Ms. Escarra: -- that the City is -- Commissioner Sarnoff -- lost my temper back there with you. Ms. Escarra: Understood. Commissioner Sarnoff And you know why I lost my temper back there with you? Just because of this: "Because we're going to put 2 million; we're going to put 2.5 million in, Commissioner, but I can't give you that 2.5 million, 'cause I think it's going to be 1.8 million it's only going to cost me. And that $700, 000, amongst gentlemen" -- Ms. Escarra: No, I -- I'm sorry. I don't want to be misunderstood. That's not what I'm saying. Commissioner Sarnoff Then here's what he simply should do: "Commissioner, we are" -- this is what you told me earlier, and I have texts to this effect. Ms. Escarra: Yeah. Commissioner Sarnoff "We are going to give you 2.5" -- "We commit to 2.5 million." Ms. Escarra: Correct. Commissioner Sarnoff Great. We'd be more than glad to take the $2.5 million. I'm prepared to move this and we can go on our own ways; that's what I'm willing to do. Ms. Escarra: IfI may explain just one moment? Commissioner Sarnoff Sure. Ms. Escarra: This morning when we were discussing, the City was saying that they needed half the funding to max -- for it to -- to be able to fund the FIND money, FIND only gives you half and then they match the other half. So they were -- we were discussing, would you give the million so that you can get the other million from the FIND as a match, because they don't fund the whole project; they only -- FIND -- Commissioner Sarnoff That's a loss. Commissioner Carollo: Right. Chair Gort: Defer. Vice Chair Hardemon: They want to save themselves money; that's what this is about. Ms. Escarra: No, no, no, it's not necessary -- they still want to make the 2.5 million in all different park improvements in addition to including the -- Vice Chair Hardemon: Seawall. Ms. Escarra: -- seawall. Vice Chair Hardemon: Right. City of Miami Page70 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Escarra: If they can build the seawall for less money than the 2 million -- Commissioner Carollo: No, no. Ms. Escarra: -- that's being proposed, maybe -- Commissioner Sarnoff No. Ms. Escarra: But it's saving the City money. Commissioner Sarnoff But it -- I don't know, I been up here for almost -- I'm going past eight years, and I know what I'm being told and I know -- and I really respect you, Iris; I really do. But sometimes don't touch something that's dirty, 'cause you can never get clean from it. And the - - it's exactly what Hardemon said. You know, they're trying to save money; they are. Ms. Escarra: But they don't want the credit for the million; they only wanted the credit for what - - the cost of whatever the seawall was. They're not trying to play you or anything the system. They want -- they were thinking that they would be saving the City money by being able to do it more efficiently. Vice Chair Hardemon: So you're saying -- Chair Gort: Wait a minute, wait a minute. What you're saying is the 2.5 is there. If you do it for less, the rest stays with the City? Ms. Escarra: Correct. I only get credit -- we -- I go through an evaluation -- to be able to qualify for the public benefit, CIP (Capital Improvements Program) has to review our budget and approve that that was the actual expense of -- what the truth is. Chair Gort: Mr. Manager, you're recognized. Mr. Alfonso: Okay. Mr. Chair, Igo back to my recommendation. Hand over $2.5 million. We'll contract you to do the seawall. We'll pay you to do the seawall, the $600, 000. You build the $600,000 seawall. We'll build the rest, the meandering walk, and whatever it is that we need to do. If we get the money from FIND, we put that into the park, as well. Commissioner Sarnoff So moved as stated by the Manager. Chair Gort: It's a motion; is there a second? Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: It's been moved and second. Any further discussion? Being none -- Ms. Escarra: IfI -- Chair Gort: -- is this -- Ms. Escarra: -- may, I don't have that authority from my client. A apolo -- I can't. I didn't speak -- Could we table this? He is getting off a plane in an hour. Vice Chair Hardemon: But I -- May I say something for a quick moment? Chair Gort: Yes. City of Miami Page71 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Vice Chair Hardemon: See, at first, I thought I was validating perception. I thought I was looking at, "Well, I'm looking at a company that wants to save themselves money, " right Chair Gort: Right, right. Vice Chair Hardemon: So you very much -- so eloquently did you describe to me how wrong I was; so eloquent did you do that. "You are incorrect. We are trying to save the City money." Oh, okay. So Mr. Chairman says, "Yes, you're trying to save the City money, so we can keep the rest of the money to make whatever else improvement that we want to make, " right? So that's the -- that was the next part. Ms. Escarra: Correct. Vice Chair Hardemon: Which means that, okay, you helped us save us some money, 'cause you built the wall, but because it only cost you $600,000 versus 2.5, now we have a 1.5-something million dollar savings that we can use to do other things at the park. Ms. Escarra: Correct. Vice Chair Hardemon: Okay, correct. Now -- and at the end of the day though, from this statement, you still commit $2.5 million. Ms. Escarra: Correct. Vice Chair Hardemon: So here we are. The motion that just was movea seconded and passed was to -- for you to give us $2.5 million; we send out an RFP (Request for Proposals) -- oh, I'm sorry -- we four -fifths waiver to give you the contract -- Mr. Alfonso: Right. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- you build it for however much it cost you to build it, and -- see, we're going to take the money that we have and do a sea walk [sic] or whatever you want to make with it. So we just described the same thing, but now, you're telling us you don't have the authorization. So -- Ms. Escarra: I'm sorry -- Vice Chair Hardemon: -- either you are or are not going to give $2.5 million to save us money. Ms. Escarra: We are going to give 2.5 million in improvements. And I apologize ifI misunderstood, but there are other improvements for the difference from the 600,000 for the parks; that we have to work on a park plan with Parks. There was a proposal for pathway; there was other proposals for park improvements. Vice Chair Hardemon: Don't worry about that. All you worry -- Chair Gort: Fine. Ms. Escarra: That's fine? Okay. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- about is the 2.5. Ms. Escarra: Because there's a portion of it for seawall and there's a portion of it for park improvements that -- City of Miami Page72 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Mr. Alfonso: Right. Ms. Escarra: -- of commitments that they have made. Vice Chair Hardemon: The seawall is a park -- is the seawall considered technically a part of the park -- Mr. Alfonso: Yeah. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- that the improvement is made on? Chair Gort: Mr. Manager. Mr. Alfonso: Okay. What we're trying to get to here is this: The entire development of the seawall, walkway, backfill, all that stuff has a cost. The portion where the private developer is saying, "We can do it for less" is actually only the concrete wall. Ms. Escarra: Correct. Mr. Alfonso: So what we're saying is, "You're committing $2.5 million. Give the City the $2.5 million. We will contract with you to build only the concrete wall portion for the 600,000 that you say you're willing to build it. We will four -fifths award you that contract to build that concrete. The City retains the other $1.9 million to do all the other work that is required; the meandering walkway, the backfill. We're not requiring you to do that. We will take care of that, and you get your credit"; is that what this Commission understands? Commissioner Sarnoff That was my -- Chair Gort: Yes. Commissioner Sarnoff -- motion. Vice Chair Hardemon: Now, and just as somewhat of an unreadiness in my mind, so they are only building the concrete part of the wall that they describe as $600, 000; not what we know that there needs to be some additional resources or additional items or however you describe that -- Mr. Alfonso: Correct. And we're applying for a FIND grant that will be a million dollars. We use that to do the additional things that have to go on; whether it's the backfill, the walkway, the boat launch -- well, the boat launch is part of the wall, but those kinds of things. Ms. Escarra: IfI can just clarify for the record. So the balance of whatever is non -seawall, we'll be able to sit down, work with Planning and Parks for the rest of the design of the park; whatever is not used of the 2.5 seawall money, the rest will be for park design that we'll work with them on. Commissioner Sarnoff Well, I'd like to think it also includes the meandering walkway and I'd like -- Ms. Escarra: Oh, yeah, 'cause we had one of those in the plan we had, you know, the dog area, park area. Commissioner Sarnoff I -- look, the first time I learned -- I'm a little embarrassed -- was today that the Mayor had gone so far as to create this plan. I didn't know the plan, so I want to help facilitate that plan. City of Miami Page 73 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: Yeah. Commissioner Sarnoff So whatever is left over after that plan will be the park. Ms. Escarra: Right; will be the final design that we'll work -- Chair Gort: That's the motion that's on the floor. Ms. Escarra: Right. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Chair Gort: Okay? Ms. Escarra: Understood. Chair Gort: Any further discussion? Ms. Escarra: Sorry I misunderstood earlier; I just want to be clear. Chair Gort: No problem. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor -- Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: -- state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Min: Can I just -- can I clam --? Vice Chair Hardemon: That's not -- that's a resolution; that is not RE.10. That is a separate resolution you explained. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Vice Chair Hardemon: 'Cause RE.10 deals with the -- Mr. Min: Right. Vice Chair Hardemon: -- leasing of the land. Ms. Escarra: Right. Chair Gort: It's got to be amended. Commissioner Sarnoff Now we'll deal with RE.10. Chair Gort: As amended. The second accept as amended? Commissioner Sarnoff Right. Now, I'll make a motion on RE.10. Commissioner Carollo: Hold on. Commissioner Sarnoff. I would ask -- City of Miami Page74 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Carollo: So that was not part of RE.10? Commissioner Sarnoff No, but now I'll incorporate RE.10 with that, I think, and Manager can listen carefully. So I would, number one, say that the part of the public record that's been in -- just before RE.10 is a part of this record, and that RE.10 be approved subject to the fulfillment of the previous resolution. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Okay, it's moved and second. Further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Min: As modified Ms. Escarra: Thank you very much, and I appreciate your patience -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Ms. Escarra: -- and clarifications. Commissioner Carollo: If it comes through, let me tell you something, that's a beautiful park. Commissioner Sarnoff Oh, it is. Commissioner Carollo: And by the way, I don't know -- I don't think it's people, I think it's just it washes it, all the trash there and stuff like that. I mean, I visit that park many times with my daughter, and I'll be honest with you, I wanted to do a cleanup day at that park. And I didn't so I wouldn't overstep my boundaries and go into -- but I'm telling you, it's such a beautiful park. I mean, it's just green area right into the bay; it's just beautiful. Chair Gort: Okay. Commissioner Sarnoff I'll tell you -- Commissioner Carollo: Except for all the dirt and all the trash bags. Commissioner Sarnoff And that park -- and Geoffrey will remember this -- used to have a great big fence in front of it. And one of the easiest things we did was take down the fence, and it was like, why would you put a fence up around this beautiful park? And, you know, Geoffrey, just so you know, I read what you had to say. I -- and I actually agree with a lot of your thoughts, just so you know. Mr. Bash: Well, they come from 15 years of experience there and -- but what I would like to also add, I heard mention of the design will occur between the developer and the City, and I would like to ask the community to be involved, as well. Chair Gort: My understanding, a design has already been done, it's been approved; all it's waiting for is for DERM's permit. Mr. Bash: I mean -- City of Miami Page75 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 BC.1 14-00870 Chair Gort: They have to input the design that you all worked on is what's going to be implemented is my understanding. Mr. Bash: That's the shoreline restoration portion. Chair Gort: Right. Mr. Bash: The other park improvements, the community would like -- because we have very different ideas. Commissioner Sarnoff.. TB say that's a ` yes. " Mr. Bash: Okay, thank you. Commissioner Sarnoff.. The answer is 'Yes." Mr. Alfonso: Yes. Chair Gort: Thank you. RESOLUTION END OF RESOLUTIONS BOARDS AND COMMITTEES Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION RATIFYING THE Clerk APPOINTMENT OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE OVERTOWN ADVISORY BOARD/OVERTOWN COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Mae Christian Elected Reginald Munnings Elected Alison Tomlinson Elected Ultrina Harris Elected Derek Cole Elected 14-00870 OAB CCMemo.pdf 14-00870 OAB Current_Board_Members.pdf 14-00870 OAB Nomination Applications for Elected Members.pdf 14-00870 OAB Certification - Election.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez City of Miami Page 76 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 BC.2 14-00871 R-14-0414 Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC. 1 is a resolution of the Miami City Commission ratifying the appointment of the following five members as elected members of the Overtown Advisory Board/Overtown Community Oversight Board: Mae Christian, Ultrina Harris, Derek Cole; Fred Mims has withdrawn and will be substituted by Reginald Munnings; Constance Collins has withdrawn and will be substituted with Alison Tomlinson; as such, this item is being modified. Vice Chair Hardemon: So moved. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: Been moved and second. Any discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Ms. Ewan: Thank you, Chair and Commissioners. RESOLUTION Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE OVERTOWN ADVISORY BOARD/OVERTOWN COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Irby McKnight Mayor Tomas Regalado Val Jean Baptiste Vice Chair Keon Hardemon Willie J. Cook Vice Chair Keon Hardemon Andrea Copeland Vice Chair Keon Hardemon Edduard Prince Vice Chair Keon Hardemon Cecilia Stewart Vice Chair Keon Hardemon Taress Nelson Vice Chair Keon Hardemon (Youth Member) 14-00871 OAB CCMemo -Appointed Members.pdf 14-00871 OAB Current_Board_Members.pdf 14-00871 OAB Qualifying Chart.pdf 14-00871 OAB Applications. pdf Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez City of Miami Page 77 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 R-14-0415 Chair Gort: Francisco, can you sit as the Assistant City Manager, please? RE.9. Vice Chair Hardemon: We deferred that one. Chair Gort: Deferred. RE.10 we can't. Board appointments. Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): Good afternoon, Chair and Commissioners. I'm going to start with BC.2, the appointment of members of the Overtown Advisory Board/Overtown Community Oversight Board. Mayor Regalado will be appointing Irby McKnight. Vice Chair Hardemon will be appointing the following individuals: Val Jean Baptiste, Willie Cook, Andrea Copeland, Edduard Prince, Cecilia Stewart and a youth member, Taress Nelson. Chair Gort: Okay, do I have a motion? Vice Chair Hardemon: So move. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: Motion and a second. Further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. END OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES BUDGET BU.1 BUDGET DISCUSSION ITEM 14-00937 Office of Management STATUS (SEC.18-542(B) CITY CODE) and Budget I. 2014-2015 BUDGET II. PROPOSED 2015-2016 BUDGET 14-00937 Summary Form.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Gort: We have an additional discussion item. I'm sorry, I forgot our budget. I know you been standing there anxiously to give us some good news and so on. Christopher Rose (Director): Thank you, Mr. Chair and Commissioners. Chris Rose, Office of Management and Budget. The financial integrity principles of the City require a monthly report that addresses the status of the current year budget and the development of the next year's budget, but for a moment, I'd like to talk about last year's budget before we get into those two things. Yesterday, the Finance Department did a soft close on the books and will be doing a hard close mid -next week. The Finance director and I talk every day, several times a day. We're watching, but I have to say, sometimes, it gets even harder during this period to project where we're going to end last year than it has been over the last several months. So right now, we're still looking at a closing with a fund balance of about $22 million, as we discussed last month, but I want to caution you, this number is going to change, it just is; it's still a preliminary number. With the 75 million that we closed two fiscal years ago with, plus this 22, we'll be in the 97 million dollar range. That is still short of what the threshold is in those same financial integrity principles. We've recalculated it. It's a hundred and three million and some change, so we will still end the year short of the threshold that we need to meet, but we're going to be close. City of Miami Page78 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 DI.1 14-00914 City Commission We will be bringing a year-end amendment to you in the month of November if any departments are over. We've talked about them a few times in the last few reports, and we'll bring them to you at that time. Since we're only 23 days into the current fiscal year, it's a little early to project, so I don't have a projection as yet, and to be honest with you, to address the requirements, we have not begun development of next year's, 2015/16, we have not begun development of that budget as yet. We will be beginning our preliminary things in the month of November for that development, but we're concentrating on closeout at the moment. I'll take any questions you may have. Chair Gort: Thank you. Any questions? Thank you. Mr. Rose: Thank you. END OF BUDGET DISCUSSION ITEMS DISCUSSION ITEM STATUS OF HIRING POLICE OFFICERS. 14-00914-Submittal-City Manager -Memo Police Department Hiring and Staffing Update.pdf DISCUSSED Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Okay, DI1, the Chief is here ready to discuss the status of police officer hiring. Commissioner Sarnoff Chief I know these guys are sick and tired of me, so just give me the real two -sentence progress report. Manuel Orosa (Chief of Police): Progress report: We hired a couple of people since last Commission, but we lost nine. Five were in the -- seven were in the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan), they had to leave. And two resigned,- one wasn't cutting the mustard in our training, and the other one left for a more lucrative position overseas as a defense contractor. Chair Gort: And that's not dangerous, okay. Chief Orosa: And we're finishing up the batch we have now. We should be done by the end of this month, and by the end of this month, we're bringing in the last batch of -- I think it's like 260 people for orientation, and then we will finish that batch quickly. Commissioner Sarnoff Again, are we on schedule for around June or July or August of next year to be at full staff? Chief Orosa: Yes, you should. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay. Chief Orosa: And you will see a good situation occur in the beginning of next year, in the first quarter of next year, come February, March, April, when you have everybody that's in the academy now, like 72 people out on patrol, and you'll have a big influx of those officers. We're also buying like 75 cars, so we should have enough vehicles and equipment for everybody coming out in patrol at that time. Commissioner Sarnoff Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. City of Miami Page79 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 DI.2 14-00831 Department of Police Chair Gort: Thank you. DISCUSSION ITEM DISCUSSION REGARDING OPERATION "SAFE CLUB". 14-00831 Summary Form.pdf 14-00831-Video-Commander Lazaro Ferro -Operation Safe Club.pdf 14-00831-Submittal- Commander Lazaro Ferro -Presentation Operation Safe Club.pdf Motion by Vice Chair Hardemon, seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff, that this matter be CONTINUED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Carollo and Suarez Note for the Record: Item DI.2 was continued to the November 20, 2014 Commission Meeting. END OF DISCUSSION ITEMS PART B: PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS Chair Gort: PZ (Planning & Zoning). Yes, ma'am. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Thank you, Chairman. We will now begin the Planning & Zoning items. I will state the procedures that'll be followed during this portion of the meeting. PZ items shall proceed according to Section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Before any PZ item is heard, all those wishing to speak will be sworn in by the City Clerk. Please note Commissioners have generally been briefed by the City Attorney staff -- by the City staff and the City Attorney on items on the agenda today. The members of the City Commission may disclose any ex parte communications pursuant to 2860115 Florida Statutes and Section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Staff will briefly present each item to be heard. The appellant or petitioner will present their application and request the City Commission if the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation and no one from the audience wishes to speak for or against the item. They may also waive the right to an evidentiary hearing. The order of presentation shall be as described in the City Code and Miami 21 Code. Members of the public will be permitted to speak through the Chair for not more than two minutes unless modified by the Chair. The City of Miami requires that any person requesting action by the City Commission must disclose before the hearing anything provided to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objection to the requested action. Pursuant to City Code Section 2-8, any documents offered to the City Commissioners that have not been provided seven days before the meeting as part of the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the City Commission's discretion. Thank you. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Good -- Chair Gort: PZ 1. Mr. Hannon: Sorry, Chair; just briefly. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. If anyone is speaking on today's Planning & Zoning items, may I please have you stand and raise your right hand? The City Clerk administered oath required under City Code Section 62-1 to those persons giving testimony on zoning issues. Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. -- City of Miami Page 80 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 PZ.1 14-00726sc Chair Gort: Thank you. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), CLOSING, VACATING, ABANDONING AND DISCONTINUING FOR PUBLIC USE A PORTION OF NORTHWEST 4TH TERRACE LOCATED WITHIN KINLOCH PARK, WEST OF NORTHWEST 45TH AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA. 14-00726sc Fact Sheet.pdf 14-00726scAnalysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 14-00726sc Application & Supporting Docs.pdf 14-00726sc Legislation (v2).pdf 14-00726sc Exhibit.pdf LOCATION: A portion of NW 4th Terrace located within Kinloch Park west of NW 45th Avenue [Commissioner Wifredo "Willy" Gort - District 1] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval subject to the provision of a platted "T" turnaround easement on the park property with dimensions acceptable to the City of Miami Fire -Rescue Department. PLAT & STREET COMMITTEE: Recommended approval on June 5, 2014 by a vote of 6-0 subject to the provision of a platted "T" turnaround easement on the park property with dimensions acceptable to the City of Miami Fire -Rescue Department. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on September 3, 2014 by a vote of 8-0. PURPOSE: The closure and vacation of a portion of NW 4th Terrace located within Kinloch Park will eliminate several encroachment problems upon the current street cul-de-sac turnaround, including a building, wall and parking stalls, that preclude access and maneuvering of automobiles and trucks. A replacement "T" type turnaround will provide unrestricted access for emergency and service vehicles, patrons of the park and the general public. Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez R-14-0422 Chair Gort: PZ 1. He's here. Commissioner Carollo: We need quorum. You here? City of Miami Page s1 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: He's here, he's here. Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. All of the items before you today, PZ's (Planning & Zoning) 1 through 4 are actually City applications. I will read the first one. PZ.1 is a resolution before you today for the street closure in Kinloch Park. This is the west end of Northwest 4th Terrace, located actually within Kinloch Park, west of 45th Avenue, Northwest 45th Avenue. The area's zoned CS (Civic Space), as you might imagine, and the intent is basically to bring into compliance a condition that exists. The improvements present within this land are actually the front surface parking lot within the park, itself. Passage of the item will basically bring this property into compliance. We're recommending approval, as well as the lower board's recommended approval for this item. Chair Gort: I'd like somebody from Public Works. My understanding, there was supposed to be -- there was a problem with the fence and the people in the center, they utilizes that. What's going to happen there? Eduardo Santamaria (Director): Commissioner, Ed Santamaria, Public Works. Mr. Chair, my understanding is that the fence issue will be taken care of and it will address the concerns of the community. We are working on a way of resolving that and we should have that fairly soon. Chair Gort: 'Cause this is a resolution; it's not coming back, right? Mr. Santamaria: That's correct. Chair Gort: I want to make sure we get it out on the record. Mr. Santamaria: Yes. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Santamaria: You're welcome. Chair Gort: Okay, anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Seeing none, hearing none, close the public hearing. Is there any comments? Motion? Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Been moved by Commissioner Carollo; second by Vice Chairman Hardemon. All in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. PZ.2 ORDINANCE Second Reading 03-0423zc AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION FROM "T4-R" TO "T4-L", FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 3155 SOUTHWEST 22ND TERRACE AND A PORTION OF 3170 & 3180 SOUTHWEST 22ND STREET, MIAMI, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; City of Miami Page 82 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 03-0423zc SR Fact Sheet.pdf 03-0423zc SR Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 03-0423zc Legislation (v3).pdf 03-0423zc Exhibit.pdf LOCATION: Approximately 3155 SW 22nd Terrace and a portion of 3170 & 3180 Southwest 22nd Street [Commissioner Francis Suarez - District 4] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. Item does not include a covenant. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval with modifications on September 22, 2014 by a vote of 6-3. PURPOSE: This will change the above properties from "T4-R" to "T4-L". Motion by Commissioner Sarnoff, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Sarnoff, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez 13489 Chair Gort: PZ.2. My understanding, Commissioner Suarez is not going to be able to go, but he asked the Clerk to read a statement. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes. Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Suarez apologizes for his absence this afternoon. He's still attending the Miami -- the Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting; however, he did request that I put on the record that he's in support of item PZ 2 and SR.2. Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Sarnoff. So we need to -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Sarnoff. -- move PZ.2 first, right? Chair Gort: Right. Commissioner Sarnoff. You want to put something in the record? Chair Gort: PZ 2. Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): With your permission, and continuation of the Planning & Zoning agenda, item PZ.2 is before you today on second reading, Commissioners. This is a proposed rezoning for properties at 31 SS Southwest 22nd Terrace and a portion of 3170 and 3180 Southwest 22nd Terrace. This is before you as a rezoning proposal, not a land use change. The land use is appropriate at it exists. The proposal is to change the zoning of these three parcels or the components of the three parcels, subject to this proposal, from T4-R to T4-L. City of Miami Page 83 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 This was recommended for approval by all the lower boards. We're recommending for approval, as well, and it is before you on second and final reading. Commissioner Sarnoff So move, Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Thank you sir. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Gort: It's been moved by Commissioner Sarnoff; second by Commissioner Carollo. Public hearing. Is anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Seeing none, hearing none, we close the public hearing. Been moved and second. Any further discussion? Commissioner Sarnoff It's an ordinance. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item PZ.2. A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on second reading, 4-0. Chair Gort: Thank you. PZ.3 ORDINANCE 14-00963zc First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION FROM T5 - 0 "URBAN CENTER TRANSECT ZONE -OPEN" TO T6-8-O "URBAN CORE TRANSECT ZONE - OPEN" , FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY SOUTHWEST 1ST STREET BETWEEN SOUTHWEST 13TH AVENUE AND SOUTHWEST 17TH AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA; AND BY CHANGING THE ZONING CLASSIFICATION FROM T4-L "URBAN GENERAL TRANSECT ZONE - OPEN" TO T5-L "URBAN CENTER TRANSECT ZONE - LIMITED", FOR THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY SOUTHWEST 2ND STREET BETWEEN SOUTHWEST 13TH AVENUE AND SOUTHWEST 17TH AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 14-00963zc SR Fact Sheet.pdf 14-00963zcAnalysis, Maps & PZAB Resolution.pdf 14-00963zc Legislation (v4).pdf 14-00963zc Exhibit.pdf LOCATION: Approximately SW 1st Street between SW 13th Avenue and SW 17th Avenue; and SW 2nd Street between SW 13th Avenue and SW 17th Avenue [Commissioner Frank Carollo - District 3] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami City of Miami Page 84 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. PURPOSE: This will change the zoning classification from "T5-O" to "T6-8-O" for the properties located at approximately SW 1st Street between SW 13th Avenue and SW 17th Avenue; and from "T4-L" to "T5-L" for the properties located at approximately SW 2nd Street between SW 13th Avenue and SW 17th Avenue. Item does not include a covenant. Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez Chair Gort: PZ.3. Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Would you entertain PZ.2, sir? Oh -- Chair Gort: No -- Mr. Garcia: -- perhaps Commissioner Suarez -- thank you. I'm sorry. PZ -- Item PZ.3 is a proposal for rezoning at the Southwest 1st Street and Southwest 2nd Street rights -of -way. As you might know, Southwest 1st Street is parallel to Flagler Street and basically functions as a one-way pair with Flagler Street. The zoning presently along Flagler Street is T 6-8-0; however, Southwest 1st Street is T5-O. We think that for there to be symmetry and since basically both serve the same function, a realignment of the zoning for Southwest 1st Street to T6-8-O in the same way as Flagler is makes abundant sense. Likewise, the rezoning of the right-of-way just south of Southwest 1st Street, which is Southwest 2nd Street, from T4-L to T5-L stands to make good sense since it will be a positional zoning that will ensure the development is much more stable. We have had community meetings and we also presented the items to the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board which recommended approval unanimously. This, I should clarify, in case I didn't say it before on the record, is only between Southwest 13th and Southwest 17th Avenues. That's all I have by way of presentation. I'll answer any questions you may have. Chair Gort: Thank you. Public hearing. Is anyone in the public like to address this issue? Is anyone in the public? Seeing none, hearing none -- Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Chair Gort: -- close the public hearing. Moved by Commissioner Carollo. Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: Second by Vice Chairman Hardemon. Any further discussion? Being none, all -- Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): An ordinance of the Miami City -- Chair Gort: It's an ordinance. Read it. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by Deputy City Attorney Barnaby Min. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair, before I begin the roll call, Mr. Planning Director, I believe the ordinance is going to be amended on first reading just to include the result from the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board? Mr. Garcia: Thank you, sir; that is correct. City of Miami Page 85 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Mr. Planning Director. Roll call on item PZ3. A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 3-0. PZ.4 ORDINANCE 14-0051 5zt First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 13114, THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, MORE SPECIFICALLY BY MODIFYING ARTICLE 7, SECTION 7.1.1.4(d)(4), ENTITLED "PLANNING, ZONING, AND APPEALS BOARD", SUBSECTION (D)(4), ENTITLED "PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD", TO PROVIDE THAT TO APPROVE CERTAIN ACTIONS, OR TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF CERTAIN ACTIONS, AS SPECIFIED BELOW, THE CONCURRING VOTES OF A SUPERMAJORITY OF BOARD MEMBERS, WHICH CONSISTS OF ONE (1) MORE MEMBER THAN A SIMPLE MAJORITY, BE REQUIRED; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 14-00515zt SR Fact Sheet.pdf 14-00515zt PZAB Reso.pdf 14-00515zt Legislation (v2) .pdf APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on September 3, 2014 by a vote of 8-0. PURPOSE: This will make Miami 21 consistent with Chapter 62, and provides that to approve, or to recommend approval of certain actions, the concurring votes of a supermajority of board members, which consists of one more member than a simple majority, be required. Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Vice Chair Hardemon, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Sarnoff and Suarez Chair Gort: PZ.4. Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Thank you, sir. Item PZ.4 is an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance Miami 21. It's a text amendment before you on first reading, and this is basically to clarify that a super majority for the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board is a super majority of those present once quorum is garnered, of course, as opposed to a majority of all members appointed. In so doing, we will be aligning the Zoning Ordinance with the City Code. We recommend approval, and so did the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board. Chair Gort: Thank you. Is anyone in the public would like to address this issue? Seeing none, City of Miami Page 86 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 hearing none, we close the public hearings. Motion. Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Chair Gort: Moved by -- Vice Chair Hardemon: Second. Chair Gort: -- Commissioner Carollo; second by Commissioner Hardemon. Any further discussion? Being none, all in favor, state it by saying "aye." Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): It's an ordinance. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair. Chair Gort: Yes. Ordinance. Sony. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by Deputy City Attorney Barnaby Min. Mr. Hannon: Roll call on item PZ 4. A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, 3-0. Chair Gort: That's the PZ (Planning & Zoning) items. Mr. Garcia: Those are all of the PZ items except for PZ.2, which is in District 4, sir. I'm happy to stand by to hear that item when it's appropriate. Chair Gort: Okay, if he comes back; if not, I don't know. END OF PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' ITEMS CITYWIDE HONORABLE MAYOR TOMAS REGALADO END OF CITYWIDE ITEMS DISTRICT 1 CHAIR WIFREDO (WILLY) GORT END OF DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 2 COMMISSIONER MARC DAVID SARNOFF END OF DISTRICT 2 City of Miami Page 87 Printed on 12,29, 2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 D3.1 14-00994 DISTRICT 3 COMMISSIONER FRANK CAROLLO DISCUSSION ITEM DISCUSSION REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CIVILIAN INVESTIGATIVE PANEL. 14-00994 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 14-00994 Independent Committee Report.pdf CONTINUED Note for the Record: Item D3.1 was continued to the November 20, 2014 Commission Meeting with a time certain designation of 10:30 a.m. Chair Gort: We can start PZ's (Planning & Zoning). Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, real quick? Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: IfI -- I have a D3.1, a discussion item. D3.1 is discussion, Civilian Investigative Panel. Various people have requested that I defer the item and it might be prudent to. We received the final report yesterday afternoon. Chair Gort: I might defer it for next meeting, 'cause I just received the report this morning, and I haven't had a chance to look at it or read it. Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. And I've had various people -- first of all, even though I think the gist of what the report says, we already know what it is, I want to allow my colleagues to make sure they have ample time to read the report and coupled with I've had various people request that the item be deferred. So if possible, I want to defer the item to the November 20 meeting. Chair Gort: There's a motion. Is there a second? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): No motion necessary. It's Commissioner Carollo's item. Chair Gort: Oh, okay. Thank you. Later... Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Real quick. Before we start the PZ (Planning & Zoning) agenda, following up on my discussion, D3.1 that's going to be deferred to November 20, could we get a time certain on that; maybe 10:30 a.m., is that possible? Chair Gort: Yeah, no problem, 10 o'clock convenient. City of Miami Page 88 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Carollo: Let's do 10:30 and make sure that -- Chair Gort: Ten -thirty is fine. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you; time certain. Chair Gort: Mr. Clerk. D3.2 DISCUSSION ITEM 14-01051 DISCUSSION REGARDING AN UPDATE ON HIRING A NEW POLICE CHIEF. 14-01051 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Gort: What do we have left; discussion items? I have a pocket item. Discussion. Commissioner Carollo: Discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The first discussion item that I have -- well, the first discussion is the Civilian Investigative Panel that will be deferred; time certain to 10:30 at the November 20, 2014 Commission meeting. My second discussion item is regarding an update of the hiring of the new Police Chief. Listen, we've spoken a lot about public safety, and the issues that we're having, and issues that we're trying to resolve, but ultimately, we are going to have a new Police Chief and I want to know where that process is, because it was told or it was stated that by November, we would probably have a new Police Chief. And I'm not trying to hold anyone to the November timeline, but at least I want to know where we are with the process. Chair Gort: Sure. Mr. Manager, you're recognized. Daniell Alfonso (City Manager): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe there's a little misunderstanding; not that we would have a new Police Chief by November, but let me state what the process that we're going through is. Commissioner Carollo: And I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. Before you start, when do you expect to have the new Police Chief? Mr. Alfonso: Well, the current Police Chief doesn't leave until January 20-something, so I don't want to kick him out before he's due. Commissioner Carollo: And I'm not trying to kick anybody out. I just want to make sure that, you know, we know what the timeline will be -- Mr. Alfonso: Right. So -- Commissioner Carollo: -- and I guess indirectly what I'm doing is I think -- I know I -- and I think this Commission -- wants to be informed with regards to the process. Mr. Alfonso: Right. So the process is as follows: We advertised; the advertisement was open for I think about a month. We received 55 applications. Our HR (Human Resources) Department went through the list of applicants, and we reduced it to 29 candidates. Those 29 candidates are currently being reviewed by a panel of five members that include Mr. Johnny Barber, Alex Alfonso, Mr. Arroyo, Jean Baker and a retired Assistant Chief of the Police Department, Mr. Bared. And what they're doing is they're going through the resumes, and we have established a criteria by which they will evaluate the resumes and reduce it down to a list of 10, and that City of Miami Page 89 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 would be eight primaries and two alternates. The eight primaries, if nobody drops out, will then be interviewed on November 5 by a panel that includes our State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez -Rundle; our Public Defender, Mr. Carlos Martinez; the Chief of Police for the Dade County Police Department, Mr. Patterson; our own Fire Chief Mr. Kemp and our assistant -- our Deputy City Attorney, Mr. John Greco. And those folks will then reduce that list to four that will be given to me, and then I will take some time to evaluate those people and determine who the next Police Chief is going to be. So if I get this list sometime November 6 or whatever, I should be able to within a month understand who it is that I would like, and the announcement of who that person's going to be will depend on who it is; whether it's external, internal or the timing. But I think our Chief is happy here until January 31. So, you know, if there is a need for perhaps some overlap, we can work on that, but there's time; I mean, we're not doing it in a rush at the last minute. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Manager. And again, I just -- for some reason, I thought that November was going to be when one would be chosen, even though I knew that the Police Chief will be gone or will be leaving in the beginning of the year, but I thought there was going to be some overlap or a transition period, if you will. So I just want to make sure that we understood where the process was, and at the same time, indirectly, letting you know this Commission, you know, does want to be in the loop of where you're at. Mr. Alfonso: Absolutely. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. D3.3 DISCUSSION ITEM 14-01052 DISCUSSION ON IMPROVING THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (C.I.P.) PROCESS. 14-01052 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Gort: Any other items? Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, Mr. Chairman. I have another discussion item. Chair Gort: Go ahead. Commissioner Carollo: It's regarding the CIP (Capital Improvements Program) process, and CIP is not Civilian Investigative Panel; it's Capital Improvements Projects [sic]. Chair Gort: Capital Improvement Project. Commissioner Carollo: So I -- thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I have tried this in the past; going to try a different angle, because unless all the Commissioners tell me that they're happy with the time frame of when they vote in favor of a Capital Improvement project and the time that it's actually complete and they're happy with that, I think we need to start working in the process to make sure that the time frame is reduced. And with that, let me ask you something, Director Spanioli, and it just -- and I may go a different direction with this because of what -- something that the Chairman said. Do you have a timeline of when a project is passed by the Commission, how long it would take for the project to be completed? And when I mean, "completed, " that that's it; signs are taken down; the roadway is open; and somehow we look at -- and I say "we," City of Miami Page90 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 CIP or now Finance or Budget to make sure that any excess funds goes back to another pot, or do you have a written time frame for start to finish? Mark Spanioli: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Mark Spanioli, director of Capital Improvements and Transportation. Yes, Commissioner Carollo, we actually do have what we consider to be four boilerplate type of schedules depending on the type of project. The four boilerplates that we use are -- we have two different boilerplates for horizontal project or our roadway -type projects, and we have two boilerplates for our building -type projects. We then break those two up into a large-scale project or a smaller -scale project. That's kind of our baseline schedule used to start with. Obviously, every project differs to some degree, depending on the difficulty of the project. Commissioner Carollo: Okay, understood. And that's why I wanted to start with that, and in a way, this is also the start of our discussion in this Commission meeting, and I will foresee that in other Commission meetings. Is it possible for you to have that timeline or boilerplate schedule provided to all the Commissioners, and maybe we could put it in our backup for the next time so that'll be our starting point and we could see what normally --? and at the same time, we could see from that boilerplate schedule, we could also look at, okay, see some of our actual projects and be pragmatic about it, and see did the project actually take this long, or did it take longer, or less, and so forth, and have it as a starting point, 'cause I will have to -- I will have to think that the majority of the Commissioners -- maybe not all, but the majority of the Commissioners would think that, you know, that the timeline is too long. And by the way, if the Commissioners don't think that, I could tell you the residents think that. So I think that's a good starting point if you could provide that to all the Commissioners, so no one is blind -sided; we're all on the same page. And I think now once that happens, we should have a good hearty discussion to see if we're happy with the timeline or not, and if we're not, then how are we going to solve that and start working towards that, because I can tell you, the residents are not happy with the timeline, you know. And whatever the paper says -- and I've seen some of it in all fairness. You provided me some of that information in the past, so I've seen some of it. Mr. Spanioli: We -- Commissioner Carollo: But I want to make sure that all the Commissioners have the same information. Mr. Spanioli: We have -- Chair Gort: Let me tell you, I been working quite a bit with Mr. Spanioli because we have the same problem, and it's very difficult for the public to understand there's a hell of a difference between the public sector and the private sector. So my suggestion is create a critical path that shows what -- all the things you have to go through, and I'm sure working with Administration, some of the things will be cut off but create a critical path so we can all see it and where the stops takes place; where the changes will take place because of the license from the County, from DERM (Department of Environmental Resource Management) and so on. So make sure we get all that so -- and then maybe we can work and see what the Administration working with the permits process, Finance, the whole works, because there's too many different involvements in the project getting done. So if you could do that, I think we'll all appreciate it. Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, and by the way, I just -- you know, in listening to the Vice Chairman speaking a little while ago, I just don't want to do what's always been done. I want to look at ways to be more efficient. And I'll give you an example, and I'll tell you the area that it happened. It was in Grove Park in District 3. We had a large amount of roadway projects in that area and it was with the previous City Manager, Johnny Martinez, that understood the capital improvement quite a bit, I must admit. And we were told by -- I don't know if it was the general contractor or the lead firm that they couldn't start at this week; they needed to wait two City of Miami Page91 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 D4.1 14-01002 or three weeks because of other projects and so forth. And I remember speaking to the Manager, which was Johnny Martinez at the time, and I told him, "So if they have too much work, why are we waiting for them; why don't we then go to the second, second bidder?" The bottom line is that, you know, it was done. We went with the second bidder and the work was done on time. And what's important about that is that, you know, for some reason, we fall into "Let's do what's been done before," or "That's never been done, " and just by saying, "Okay, you don't want the work right now or you can't fulfill the work right now, we'll go with the second bidder," that saved us three weeks. Now, what was important about that? We needed to start the project by a certain time and finish by a certain time, because that's right next to Marlins Park, and we didn't want the season to start and then have all that construction going on surrounding the stadium where it was going to be chaotic not only for, you know, the people visiting the park, but also the residents. So again, I just want -- and I know this is going to take a long time, because everything I guess with capital improvements in the City takes a long time, but I just want to look at the process and start drilling at it little by little by little, and hopefully get to a point where, you know, at least the residents will understand and be happy with. So I'll -- you know, if you could provide that for the next meeting, I'll have the same discussion item on. It'll be an update and we could go from there. Mr. Spanioli: That sounds fair. We do have a critical path schedule that Commissioner Gort -- Chairman Gort mentioned for the four boilerplates, and I'm happy to provide that. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. END OF DISTRICT 3 DISTRICT 4 COMMISSIONER FRANCIS SUAREZ DISCUSSION ITEM SMALL BUILDING PARKING EXEMPTION. 14-01002 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 14-01002 Draft Legislation.pdf 14-01002 Back -Up Documentation.pdf 14-01002-Submittal-Commisisioner Suarez -Newspaper Articles.pdf 14-01002-Submittal-The Growing Crisis in Rental Housing.pdf DISCUSSED A motion was made by Commissioner Suarez and seconded by Commissioner Sarnoff and passed unanimously directing the City Attorney and the Administration to include the following language within the legislation that will be presented to the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board (PZAB) for their consideration: Parking ratios may be reduced within half mile of a transit oriented development or within a quarter mile radius of a transit corridor by thirty percent (30%) by process of a waiver or by 100% for any structure that has a floor area of 10,000 square feet or less except when the site is within 500 feet of a T3 Single Family Residential neighborhood" Commissioner Suarez: I'm ready now, Mr. Chairman, if you are. Chair Gort: You're ready? Okay, you're recognized. City of Miami Page92 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank everyone who's here. I see Andrew and others who are here in support of a small building parking exemption in the City of Miami. The City is transforming before our very eyes. Today the City Commission has asked me to go before the MPO, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, advocating for mass transit in the form of a connector between -- a trolley connector, a -- I'm sorry; not a trolley. A -- Unidentified Speaker: Streetcar. Commissioner Suarez: What's that? Unidentified Speaker: Streetcar. Chair Gort: Streetcar. Commissioner Suarez: Streetcar connector. Thank you. -- between downtown and Midtown and connecting all of the neighborhoods within. And we're going to be advocating for that with the Mayor's help and the support -- unanimous support of this Commission, but there are other things that we need to do to efficiently develop our lands and to continue to promote walkability, to continue to promote biking and transit, and get people out of cars in a heavily congested city and county and allow them to utilize their properties in a very efficient way. I know that sometimes these ideas can be difficult and controversial because they inquire a change of philosophy, which is sometimes difficult. And even sometimes when you do something that's visionary, you actually make the problem a little worse before it gets better, because you are restricting certain things that will have a short-term difficult effect, but a long-term very, very positive effect. And I know that this small building parking exemption has been vetted very much by the Administration, and I'm not sure if they've spoken to you as Commissioners, but I presume and I hope that they have. They have a proposal. I have what I feel is a reasonable counterproposal. Obviously, we don't have the right or the ability to discuss it outside of the sunshine, which is why I wanted to bring it to the forefront, because, ultimately, what happens sometimes with good legislation is it kind of remains in legislative limbo and it never makes its way to the forefront for a variety of reasons, and so I wanted to bring it to the forefront of my Commissioners. And if it has support, I'd like to bring it in the future as a change to our Zoning Ordinance. And you know, just to give you an example of what I would be looking for is language that would say that a parking ratio may be reduced within half a mile of a transit -oriented development, half a mile being a walkable distance, in essence, of a transit -oriented development, or within a quarter mile of a transit corridor by 30 percent by process of waiver, or -- which means it goes through an administrative process that is appealable -- or 100 percent for any structure that has a f oor area of less than 10,000 square feet -- 10,000 square feet or less, except when it's within 500 feet of a T-3, which is a single-family residential home, so that there's no overflow or spillage parking into residential neighborhoods, which we know has been an issue. This is very similar to what we did in the affordable housing context. What we did was we said, as a city, we want to become competitive with other cities in the State of Florida that have a formula, and we know what that formula is, to dole out affordable housing dollars; and we did a wholesale reform of Miami 21 when it was enacted, and the result of that was we got 1,000 units of affordable housing within a two- or three-year period, so we did extremely well on the competitive process. And what we're doing here is something similar. We're looking at the utilization of our properties and we're saying, number one, is this the best utilization of our properties? Number two, is this in line with our philosophy as a city? What should we be promoting as a city? And one of the things that I see clearly from this Commission -- although I'm not saying that this isn't going to have debate -- is that we want to promote mass transit, we want to promote walkability and bike -ability in our cities, because the congestion is getting so bad right now -- and that's exclusive of a tremendous amount of density that we're going to see in the next 5 to 10 years with the buildings that we're going to be seeing online. So, you know, I just wanted to bring it up for discussion. I know there's a variety of speakers that have signed up to speak on it. And I thank the Chairman for his indulgence in allowing me to City of Miami Page93 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 bring this at a time certain. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Suarez: Speakers? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes. I have about 16 speakers signed up. Would you like to open it up to the public hearing? Commissioner Suarez: It's up to the Chairman. Chair Gort: Go ahead and open it up. Commissioner Suarez: The only thing I would ask -- there's 16 speakers. There's about 20 minutes before lunch, and you know, in consideration of the Commissioners' time, if it it's something that someone has already said, then you can just simply say, "I support it," or "it's been said, " or "it was said by this speaker," and not avail yourself of the full two minutes that each person has every right to take, by the way, if you feel like you have something special and unique to add to the discussion. Thank you. Mr. Hannon: Andrew Frey. Andrew Frey: Thank you, honorable Chair, Commissioners. Andrew Frey, in support of the small building parking exemption. I've spoken, I believe, with all four of you about this issue. This issue promotes a lot of different great policies in our city. Commissioner Suarez has mentioned the mobility, how it promotes walkability, alternative transportation, things like that. My main focus is actually on our small property owners in the City, many of whom have 50-by-100-foot lots or other small properties, and due to the requirements of parking, find it basically impossible to do anything with their properties, and so you have folks that basically have only the option of selling out to a large land assembler who can then meet the parking requirements. So promoting small neighborhood investment, helping out our small -- existing small property owners, promoting mobility, these are just a number of the reasons that you're here to support this. The draft ordinance that you have in your agenda package right now does not include the small building parking exemption. It's scheduled to be heard by the Planning Board on November 5, and we would like your direction to include the small building parking exemption at least for debate and for consideration. It's an idea that deserves to be heard and you see there's a lot of support here for it. And it'll come back to you. It'll come back to you for final adoption. Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: And I would just add, Mr. Chair -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: -- that the corollary to what Andrew is saying -- Mr. Frey is saying about having small property owners be able to develop their land efficiently is the blight that comes when they're not able to, which is you see empty lots littered, and that not only affects them, it affects us and it affects the neighbors, so there's a corollary to that. Mr. Frey: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Hannon: Hernando Arencibia. Fernando Arencibia: Thank you, Commissioners, for your time. I'll be brief. I'm going to cut this down as well. City of Miami Page94 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Mr. Arencibia: I will say that I'm a proud son of the City of Miami. I'm a proud son of Little Havana, and a graduate of Miami Senior High school; go Stingarees. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Mr. Arencibia: And I just want to say that -- Chair Gort: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Arencibia: Excellent. -- a small parking exemption would allow small business owners to invest in their neighborhoods instead of being forced to sell. It encourages small-scale economic developments; small buildings are compatible with the character of a neighborhood; they promote walkability; they enhance the connections and interactions that make us a community. It's time to level the playing field Miami zoning already has a parking exemption for the biggest building; now it's time that small buildings get the same consideration. Commissioners, I don't want Little Havana to just be a thoroughfare to downtown or to Brickell. We are becoming a city of neighborhoods like other great cities around the country and we must be vigilant; that we continue to foster the growth of these neighborhoods without infringing on their character. This issue is at the very heart of our future as a city. Millennials have a very different attitude about cars and driving than those of past generations. They find their grandparents' love affair with cars to be outdated, and they find the economic and environmental cost of acquiring and maintaining a vehicle to be prohibitive. They also don't want to grow old waiting in traffic. They want to live near the urban core, close to where they have access to different transit options, but they don't want to pay the cost of parking for a vehicle they don't own, nor do they want to own. This is exactly the place where we are proposing this small building exemption, near the transit corridor, near the TOD (Transit -Oriented Development); therefore, I encourage you to have a long-term view when entertaining this small building exemption and to share the vision that Miami can be a city where neighborhoods that are culturally rich and diverse have its own characters, they're integral part of the City, and each has the ability to adapt to the changing demands of our society. It's time that we built for us. Thank you so much for your time. Commissioner Suarez: Hey, you got it right on time. Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: That's awesome. Chair Gort: Next. Mr. Hannon: Leo Macias. Leo Macias: Good morning, and I'm here to support the -- Chair Gort: Name and address, please, sir. Mr. Macias: Pardon? Chair Gort: Name and address, please. Mr. Macias: Oh. Chair Gort: Name and address. City of Miami Page95 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Mr. Macias: Leo Macias, 1401 Southwest 4th Street. I'm an owner of property in Little Havana, and I'm here to support the small building parking exemption. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Next. Mr. Hannon: Jorge Damian de la Paz. Jorge Damian de la Paz: Good morning. My name is Jorge de la Paz. I'm with the Miami Coalition for the Homeless, and we strongly support a parking exemptions for small urban buildings because of its potential to encourage the development of new affordable housing units and additions by significantly reducing construction costs. Currently, the high cost of building parking spaces pass onto residents, resulting in higher rents and fewer affordable housing units. According to the Shimberg Center, nearly half of all households within the City of Miami are cost -burdened; of which, 38,000 households are spending more than half of their income on housing costs. This leaves households with limited resources to afford other essentials, such as food, clothing, and healthcare, and makes them increasingly vulnerable to becoming homeless. This exemption will promote much -needed infill housing and more economically resilient neighborhoods. These are also fundamental components of our affordable housing initiative, Miami Homes For All, which seeks to establish a loan fund to finance the development of mixed -used, mixed -income rental housing with a percentage of the units set aside for extremely low-income households. This initiative will greatly benefit from the increased development of small adaptable buildings. In conclusion, this parking exemption will allow us to transform asphalt into housing; it will generate increased tax revenue for public programs and promote new opportunities for workforce and millennial retention. We must deploy a full variety of tools, like zoning changes and innovative financing structures, like Miami Homes For All, to better address local housing needs. Thank you for your time. Chair Gort: Thank you. Next. Mr. Hannon: Raissa Fernandez. Raissa Fernandez: Good morning or good afternoon; one of those two. Chair Gort: Good morning; it's still morning. Ms. Fernandez: I'm here. My name is Raissa Fernandez, 1020 Southwest 7th Street, Miami. I was born and raised in the neighborhood, went to school here, and in 2005, decided to invest in a small condo conversion building in Little Havana, and I love the idea that I'm able to walk, ride bike to all the places I love -- Coconut Grove, Brickell, downtown, Wynwood -- and would love to see this come through. I see a lot of empty vacant lots that I believe can be transformed to great neighborhoods in like San Francisco, New York, with small buildings and no parking. So I support it and hope you guys support it, as well. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Hannon: Jason Chamber [sic]. Jason Chandler: Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you. My name is Jason Chandler, 1201 Genoa Street, Coral Gables. I'm an architect and the chair of the Department of Architecture at Florida International University. I'm here speaking up for myself. I support this proposal to exempt small buildings from parking. I -- a quick thing: IfI were to come here and ask you to increase the amount of parking needed for small buildings, the smaller the building goes is the more parking it requires, you would think I was crazy, right? But essentially, the code is written in that fashion; that as property gets smaller, it is harder to accommodate parking on City of Miami Page96 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 there, so the proportion of the building that you're trying to figure out with -- is the same code -- becomes hampered by parking, so the result is buildings that are dreadful, right? And you all know the building that the ground floor is all parking, and it sits on little columns, and on top of it is housing. So again, I support it. Thank you for your time. Commissioner Suarez: I think what you mean is -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Next. Commissioner Suarez: -- a park -- parking space doesn't shrink in proportion to the size of the lot. Mr. Hannon: Nikolay Nedev. Nikolay Nedev: Good morning. Nikolay Nedev, 8117 Northeast 1st Avenue. I am an architect and also a faculty at FIU (Florida International University) School of Architecture, and I'm currently in the process of purchasing a small property in Little Havana. I live in downtown Miami, and I work in downtown Miami, in buildings that are not small, but they do not have any parking. So my wife and I, we have a four year old son, and a big dog, and we walk from our condo to our office, and both of the buildings do not have any parking requirements or they don't have any parking, but the developers have been smart enough to make arrangements for the tenants to park elsewhere in public or private garages, so it significantly limits the amount of parking that is needed for these buildings. And it took some getting used to, but my wife and I, and our dog, and our four year old kid are very happy walking in downtown without a car, and I support this proposition. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Now, let me ask you a question. My understanding is your building owner provides parking. Mr. Nedev: I'm sorry? Chair Gort: The building owner provides parking. Mr. Nedev: Well, the -- Chair Gort: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) parking. Mr. Nedev: -- building does not have parking. Chair Gort: But they assign parking space to the clients? Mr. Nedev: But they have an arrangement with a separate -- Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Mr. Nedev: -- building. Thank you. Mr. Hannon: Carlos Fausto Miranda. Carlos Fausto Miranda: Carlos Fausto Miranda, 185 Southwest 7th Street. Most of the technical points I think have been made and will be made by the next couple speakers. The way that I see it is that the -- I like metaphors. The ancient Athenians had a metaphor for the city. They viewed it as a ship, and they viewed that ship -- they viewed the citizens of the city as the crew of that ship, and they viewed sort of the decisions that were made, and the history, the timeline of that city as the journey. So why do I say that? I think that the way that the Zoning City of Miami Page97 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Code is written right now, we are eliminating the most creative, driven, capable members of our crew from this equation, from this journey, and that is the small property owners and the entrepreneurs. The -- if we think about, you know, sort of the greatest cities in the world, the -- you know, places like London, like Paris, like New York, like Cartagena, these places that we take our free time -- you know, we step away from our daily lives in order to go to, these places were all built under conditions similar to what this amendment is supporting. So I feel that if we want to build that type of a city, we need to pass this amendment and unleash the strength, the energy and the abilities of these small property owners and entrepreneurs that originally are what Miami was built on, founded on and continues to grow with. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Next. Mr. Hannon: Mari Chael. Mari Chael: Morning, Commissioners. My name is Mari Chael, and I'm an architect working in affiliation with the town planning firm of Dover Kohl & Partners, and I specialize in -- Chair Gort: Address, please. Ms. Chael: Sure. 6227 Southwest 57th Street. And I specialize in small buildings for small developers. You know, in my hometown of South Miami, I've built buildings that are just like the ones that we're trying to promote here, and one particular one on Sunset Drive and U.S. 1, the small property developer was so proud after he built his three-story building that he wanted his name inscribed on the parapet of the building. And another one right on our main street on Sunset Drive, a local coffee shop, you know, did a mixed -story building that is one of the focal points in our community, and next to it, a local bank embarked on a development where otherwise wouldn't have been. Now, all these were done by people with civic pride, local people, not big pockets, in little lots, and all these small buildings are quite an amenity to our community. And the important thing is that they are all in urban environments where you park once. You park your car once, you know, in supply that is absorbed by the streets, is -- you know, and you don't need a parking space in all of the individual parcels; that's crazy. So there are many spaces and places locally where it assumes that you must drive everywhere, and I assure you, those are not the places where people want to be. Chair Gort: In conclusion. Ms. Chael: I'm sorry? Chair Gort: In conclusion; your time's up. Ms. Chael: So in conclusion, please, please adopt this ordinance; it's what Miami needs. Chair Gort: Thank you. Ms. Chael: Thank you. Chair Gort: Next. Mr. Hannon: The next speaker is Victor Dover and after Victor Dover, it'll be David Polinsky and Joe Furst. Victor Dover: Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Victor Dover. I'm a town planner in private practice. I'm not here for any client; just because I think this ordinance is a great idea. I'd love to see it move forward. I'm fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and in the past, I've been in front of you with projects like Museum Park, Miami or the Southeast City of Miami Page98 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Overtown/Park West CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) Plan. Let -- as we look at cities, what we see is that the places where people really want to be seem to be the places that have a lot of small buildings and don't have a lot of parking on every little lot, but rather they take on parking as part of public infrastructure. And I don't mean just at the bright center of the metropolis where the tallest, biggest buildings are. If you think about Back Bay in Boston, or you think about Old Town Alexandria in Greater Washington, those surrounding neighborhoods are what make the bright center strong. And when you look at those neighborhoods, what do you see? Small buildings close together, usually with very little if any parking on their own little lot. So this is a great opportunity for us to get in sync with a pattern that has existed throughout the history of urban civilization. I hope you'll take it into consideration. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Next. David Polinsky: My name's David Polinsky, 1040 Biscayne. I'm the developer of 250 Wynwood Project in Wynwood, and I was told out in the hallway that I'm the poster child for small developments. And what I'd like to say is that this proposed amendment is a great opportunity for the Commission and the City of Miami to embrace and catalyze progressive ideas about small buildings, and to embrace the trend that we all see and know is true that people are going to be less reliant in the future on privately owned vehicle, so I think this is a wonderful place to start. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Next. Joe Furst: Good morning still; good morning, Commissioners, Chair. Joe Furst, 2750 Northwest 3rd Avenue, here on behalf of Goldman Properties, on behalf of Joe Furst and I think most importantly in this case, on behalf of the Wynwood Business Improvement District. As you all know, we're working very, very hard to be progressive, thoughtful for a city that has tremendous growth and really growth that happens in a more localized nature, right? So for us, in trying to create interesting neighborhoods that are unique, differentiated, that have interesting building types, this parking ordinance is absolutely essential for our future and we ask for your support. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Next. Mr. Hannon: The next three speakers are Tony Cho, Truly Burton and Felipe Azenha [sic]; ifI could have all three of you come up to the podium. Tony Cho: Good morning, Commissioners. Thanks for the opportunity. I'm here in support of the small building parking exemption. I'm a member of the Business Improvement District, Wynwood Business Improvement District Board, a small developer and business owner in Wynwood at 120 Northeast 27th Street. I think this is an opportunity for the Commission and for the City to innovate and to look at opportunities to create a city that is sustainable, and that's unique, and that's individual in its neighborhoods, and I think this is a way for us to try to innovate with alternatives for what currently we have in our current zoning, so I'm here in support, and thank you for the opportunity. Chair Gort: Thank you. Truly Burton: Good "almost" afternoon, Mr. Chairman and City Commissioners. Truly Burton, executive director of the Builders Association of South Florida. Back in July, we had sent you a letter indicating our support of this particular matter. I will just tell you briefly this is smarter growth; not smart growth. It's smarter growth. You asked the development industry back in the day to review Miami 21. I was here early and often. We did that, and I think this is the next step in that direction. To -- I think several architects and planners indicated about a variety of buildings, variety of form. I think that's very important. Mr. Dover indicated Alexandria City of Miami Page99 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Virginia, Old Town and Back Bay in Boston. I would ask you to think of Manhattan, but think of Greenwich Village. We lived there for a while. Those buildings were no more than six to eight stories tall; downtown, different story; midtown, different story. But you need to have that variety of housing opportunity partly because housing affordability is a big issue; it will continue to be a big issue. People need to be able to develop on those lots for housing affordability, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chair Gort: Thank you. Felipe Isaiah: Good morning. Felipe Isaiah, 727 Northeast 76th Street. Ditto what everyone before me said; this is certainly a small right step in the right direction for Miami. Although this will not affect me personally because I live not in Little Havana, I would hope that this would eventually be expanded to my neighborhood, to other neighborhoods, as well. If we want a less autocentric Miami, this is the first step, parking Armageddon, it will not occur with this. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Hannon: The next three speakers, if I may have you come up to the podium, are Hector Roos, Charles Ratner and Peter Ehrlich. Hector Roos: Good afternoon, Commissioners, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor. I support this initiative. I think it's a great idea. I think number one, the City is about its people. When you want to develop a site and the first thing neighbors ask is, "Well, who is the developer? " And it tends to be that these kind of small scale, small building developments tend to attract people who are in the area first and foremost; no problems there. I would also like to talk about the future. You know, I'll take an analogy that was said about the ship by Mr. Miranda. You know, the people and the future, they're the future of the ship; where it goes is guided by its rudder. The future of the City of Miami are the people who will live in small buildings in these communities where they're not in million dollar condos; they're in smaller, smaller footprint buildings, and I'm telling you this is a great idea for the future of the City of Miami, and this is a great start, and I hope with more to come. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Yes, sir. Charles Ratner: Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, Commissioners. My name is Charles Ratner. I represent myself and my sister. Our property is located at 127 Northwest 5th Street in Miami. The last time I was before this Commission, on this property in this room, I was 17 years old speaking about this property, asking for a variance. I'm 51 now. Our property remained vacant and blighted throughout that period of time. Our property is also the poster child for this particular ordinance change. We are 50-by-150 feet, within 500 feet of Metrorail, Metromover and the entrance to the new train station. We have a parking garage across the street from us. On the next block, Don Peebles is building over 700 parking spaces, and there is a new tower being constructed next to us, as well. Yet ifI want to build 5,000 square feet of retail on my property, I can't do it because I have to park on my roof and with a 50-by-150 lot, it's impossible to actually get a car in and out of there, so I've got to go and negotiate with my neighbors and some people and maybe spend half a million dollars, a million dollars to lease some off -site parking spaces that will never in fact be utilized by anybody, but will increase the cost of our property, increase the rents, et cetera. So I am very much in support of this ordinance and would urge you to consider it. Thank you for your time. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Peter Ehrlich: Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. Peter Ehrlich. My address is 720 Northeast 69th Street. I live in Bayside and I have property in Lemon City. I'm City of Miami Page 100 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 speaking in favor of the proposed legislation and I would just like to state that as a property owner in Lemon City, I would like to ask the Planning Department to consider drafting legislation to respect zero lot line buildings, especially older commercial and industrial buildings in areas like Lemon City, Little River and the other industrial areas of our City that, you know, continue to maintain space for small users and users that need the type of products that we offer. Thank you very much. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Mr. Hannon: The last three speakers I have signed up for item D4.1: Renita Holmes, Williams Armbrister and Alberto Milo. Please come up to the podium. Renita Holmes: Thank you. Madam Renita Holmes for the record, 350 LeBray [phonetic] Place, resident of Overtown. While I highly support this and recall my support of another building recently that I guess superseded or was precedent in allowing the lack of parking and talking about the advantage of space, I have to reiterate that this is also great because of the environmentals. The residue, the chemicals, the pollutants that occur when you have small buildings and small streets, and the multiplicity of cars that continue to go to and fro leave a deposit, and even those that have these great grand parking stacked on top still have that same contamination. And you know me; I'm big on EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). That was done because the City funded the brownsfield program and talked to many of us about respiratory illnesses, and the contaminations, and where the high (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but particularly, my concern that may be a little bit -- and make me ambivalent about it is that in Overtown, we're already inundated with small buildings that have mothers that have children and affordable housing is also this -- built as mixed housing, so I'm wondering how this is going to affect those of us in Overtown whose tenants are not transportation -oriented development pro that are historical families there, have been renting for a long time. So I would like to hear someone address how Planning & Zoning can deal with the difference in the cultures of the families that makes up the households that do the affordable housing on small buildings, and remember that health comes first, safety comes first. The more cars, the increase in the safety issues, the more -- so you're a winner on that, but for those of us in Overtown that are already paying for Miami 21 and dealing with those issues where there will be parking and charged parking, and who have that same increase and have families, we do need that. How do we address the balance in this, and how it applies to those of us? Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, ma'am. Williams Armbrister: Williams Armbrister. You've allowed something for decades -- Chair Gort: Address, address. Mr. Armbrister: 3260 Thomas Avenue. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Armbrister: Miami, Florida, here in Coconut Grove. Before I start, I'd like to address the statement you opened up with, Commissioner Suarez. When you talk about affordable housing, make sure there's some specificity in what you're saying when it comes to -- I may have just made that word up, but you understand what I mean. Okay, when you're talking about affordable housing, make sure that you also include with that statement household incomes at $44, 000 and up, because you're leaving out most of the people here that need homeownership for low- and moderate -income families that has never been included. You've always defined low- and moderate -income and affordable under the same banner, which is not -- but my -- since my time is running and I know Commissioner Gort would like for me to speed it up. So what I want to say is you might want to consider in the future that when you allow these businesses to open that City of Miami Page 101 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 they have appropriate parking available for the business that they intend to open, and that will solve most of our issues moving forward, but you can't undo what you've already allowed to take place, see. And I just wanted to weigh in on here since I heard this and I was here. I figure that this is where I need to be at this time and for this purpose, and if you'll go ahead now, you use the rest of my time. I want to hear you. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Go ahead. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Armbrister. First of all, I agree with what you're saying. I think -- first, it's not my definition of affordable housing. It's the State's definition of affordable housing, and I don't necessarily agree with it per se, because you're right; it defines affordable housing in terms of percentages of area median income, and I think sometimes, it doesn't do enough for some of the lower area median incomes. Mr. Armbrister: It doesn't do anything. Commissioner Suarez: It does very little, very little, let's put it that way. It does something, but it does very, very, very little. And so I think we need to do better or at least urge the State to do better in terms of the way it thinks about its formula, so I completely agree with you. In terms of homeownership and affordable housing, there's almost none of it. Mr. Armbrister: I'll send you the documentation that was provided by Dade County and -- Chair Gort: Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. Commissioner Suarez: I'm agreeing with you by the way. I don't know if you noticed. Mr. Armbrister: -- documentation. Chair Gort: Get the clock running, please. Commissioner Suarez: I'm kind of agreeing with you -- Chair Gort: We cannot have this debate. Commissioner Suarez: -- which is that on homeowner and affordable housing, I'm not aware of much if any that is happening, so I think what you're trying to say is that we can do better, and I don't disagree with you. I think we can do better, and we need to do better, and we will do better. Mr. Armbrister: That's not what I'm trying to say at all. What I'm saying is you can do something. Unidentified Speaker: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Chair Gort: No, he's got 11 minutes [sic]. Go ahead. Mr. Armbrister: Okay. I'm not trying to say -- I can always clam what I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to say that you can do better. I'm saying that you can do something because -- Commissioner Suarez: Same thing. Mr. Armbrister: -- no. Because doing something means nothing in that area is being done, and I can send you the documentation to prove what I'm saying -- City of Miami Page 102 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Chair Gort: Thank you, sir. Mr. Armbrister: -- and you can pass it on. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Armbrister: God bless. Chair Gort: You have a good day now. Mr. Armbrister: All right, you too now. Chair Gort: Will do. Mr. Milo. Albert Milo: I guess it's "good afternoon" now, right? Good afternoon, Commissioners, Mr. Mayor. I -- Chair Gort: Name and address. Mr. Milo: Albert Milo, a principal of Related Urban, 315 South Biscayne Boulevard. And maybe some of you are a little surprised to kind of see me coming here to speak on this ordinance. We don't really build small buildings. However, when I read the article in the Miami Today a couple weeks ago, I felt compelled to come here and address the Commission. I was also born and raised in Miami, and I don't want this item to get confused as an affordable housing item, because, obviously, that's our main business, and we build large-scale buildings, but I think this is more of -- and you heard a lot of different opinions today, most -- almost everybody in favor. I think this is more of a mixed -income approach, and it's more about neighborhood revitalization. This is an opportunity to take what today is a flaw in the code that takes your typical lot which is 50 foot wide either by 100 feet deep or 150 deep; and a lot of neighborhoods throughout the City, they're really unbuildable. So what you're hearing today is if some small either property owner or developer wanted to build a property, the code doesn't really allow for them to do it unless they have some type of chitty-chitty-bam-bam car land on the roof or something. It just doesn't work. So I think this is a good ordinance. Obviously, the devil's into detail, andl think it's attuned to the ordinance that this Commission passed earlier this year where we worked on together with the Planning Department for an 80-20 ordinance or to allow for large-scale projects that are 80 percent market and 20 percent affordable to also -- Chair Gort: Excuse me. Mr. Milo: -- adhere to the parking relaxation. So I would support this ordinance and I'll work closely with the Commission or the Planning Department. Chair Gort: Thank you. Mr. Milo: Thank you. Chair Gort: Next. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, ifI may, real quick, before he leaves? Mr. Milo, sorry, how many units of affordable housing has your -- as defined by the State, by the way -- company built since we reformed Miami 21? Mr. Milo: Us, personally, we've got over 700 units in the last two years since we had -- with the parking relaxation. City of Miami Page 103 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Commissioner Suarez: And I think it's important what you said at the end, because it goes to the point that Commissioner Sarnoff and I debated when we passed that affordable housing legislation, which is he said to me, "You know, Commissioner, for this thing to work, it can't just be affordable, it has to be" -- andl said -- well, you were Chair at the time, Mr. Chair -- "I will come back and I promise you, " and we did it and we got it passed at mixed income so that we also have the ability to include those projects, as well, and I think that was very significant. And if you -- thank you, and if -- Mr. Chair, if I just may -- Chair Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: -- wrap it up by saying -- Chair Gort: Guys, let me say -- close the public hearings. Go ahead. Commissioner Suarez: -- just wrap it up by saying the Miami Herald on June 4, 2014 wrote an article saying, "Car dependency drives young people away." Some of the speakers here today alluded to a Miami Today article, and I think that's what prompted Mr. Milo to come. Transit Miami is involved. We've gotten letters of support by many of the people who are here, but the Transit Action Committee, Neighborhoods, Housing Services of South Florida, E-Merge Miami, the Wynwood Business Improvement District, Little Havana Merchants Alliance, South Florida Community Development Coalition, American Planning Association, Miami Coalition for the Homeless that came today, thank you; just a variety of specific -- Elizabeth Plater-Zyberg, Association of Building Contractors. Truly, thank you for coming; the Haitian -American Community Development Corporation and Builders Association of South Florida, the AIA Miami. So we've gotten -- there's been a tremendous amount of support on this issue. I think the speakers spoke very eloquently on the reasons why we need this. I think, as Mr. Frey said, I think the -- we should at least make this part of the debate and allow them to express their perspective at the Planning & Zoning Board, and hopefully, if it comes to the City Commission. That's all I'm asking for; that that language that I articulated, and I make that as a motion, be included in what gets presented to the Planning & Zoning Board at the next meeting. Chair Gort: I'm sorry, what was the motion again? Commissioner Suarez: The motion is that the language that I articulated at the beginning that parking ratios may be reduced within half a mile of a transit -oriented development or within a quarter mile radius of a transit corridor by 30 percent by process of waiver, which is an administrative process that can be appealed, or by 100 percent for any structure that has a floor area of 10, 000 square feet or less, except when the site is within 500 feet of a T3, which is a single-family residential neighborhood, since we don't want this to be a negative thing for single-family residential neighborhoods. It's the same thing we did with the affordable housing parking reduction legislation. We buffered the single-family residential neighborhoods from this. And if you notice, there have been no single-family residents come here since we passed that legislation. Ms. Mendez: And just to be clear, this is a directive for an ordinance to come back with this language? Commissioner Suarez: Well, I think it's going to go to Planning & Zoning, and so what we want is to make sure that this language is inserted -- Ms. Mendez: Okay. Commissioner Suarez: -- and it's a directive of this Commission that it be supported by the Administration, and then it comes to this Commission for approval. City of Miami Page 104 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Mendez: Through the normal process. Commissioner Suarez: Correct. Commissioner Sarnoff Second, Mr. Chair. Ms. Mendez: Thank you. Chair Gort: It's been moved and seconded. Discussion. Commissioner Sarnoff As a discussion. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Sarnoff I feel pretty capable -- well, first off, let me ask a question that -- 'cause I love these kind of questions. Of everybody wearing one of those pretty blue shirts, how many of you vote four out of five times, just by a show of hands? How many of you don't vote at all? Okay, somebody didn't raise their hand. So some of you are three voters, two voters and one voters. If you want to be the voice of Miami and you want to really have your voice heard, you need to vote, and not talk about voting, and not be a one -voter, a two -voter or a three -voter, and that's really important, because you're about to change the complexion of the City of Miami, which is okay with me, because, unlike -- I'm going to call him "Georgia Boy" over here -- from -- he said the watermelon capital of the world -- or of my two colleagues to my far right, which I think were born and raised in Miami, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I'm a Flatbush boy, which is right next to Williamsburg, which is essentially what you want the City of Miami to look like. Now, when I was born and raised in Brooklyn, you didn't want to talk about that. You want to say, "Pm from Brooklyn"; you didn't want to live in Brooklyn. It is a change in the complexion of the City of Miami, a change I'm accustomed to, a change I'm okay with. It's a change that I want to make sure that everyone on this Board is accustomed to, is aware of and supports. I can support this, and I do support this, but I want to do so in conjunction with Director of Planning Francisco Garcia, and I don't mind prodding him to move along and get this thing moving a little faster than it is, but I want to do so with his support, because this is a profound change. I call these one of -- I call this one of these organic changes of the City of Miami, and I certainly applaud Commissioner Suarez for doing that, 'cause he's a Miami boy, born and raised. I'm from Brooklyn. I'm okay with this. This is Williamsburg. This is, in part, Flatbush. We never had a parking spot, but -- and we didn't have parks in Brooklyn, either. Everybody know that book, "A Tree Doesn't Grow in" -- "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"? I think there was one tree when I grew up. I think I saw it once. It was right by Gil Hodges' house. He lived about a block away from me. He was the former manager of the New York Mets. He used to play for the Yankees. Anyway, it changes your neighborhood. We played stickball, stoop ball out in the street, and you did so amongst the cars, and that's just what we knew growing up; that's how Brooklyn looked. It was what we understood. Who did we know or how did we know -- what? -- 50, 60 years later that was really cool or that's what you want to do? But it is an organic change in the City of Miami. We just have to be accustomed; you have to be comfortable with that type of change. Will it allow urban infill? Absolutely. Will it afford people the opportunity to make some pretty cool projects? Yes. But to the young folk out there and to this Commission -- I sent this about two months ago -- I strongly urge each and every one of you to read this. It's called "The High Cost of Free Parking." If you want to change your city, if you want to make it more livable, you need to read and rudimentally [sic] understand the high cost of free parking. Once you understand that, and once you appreciate that, and once you implement that in your policy and procedures, you can have exactly what you're asking for. But then ask each Commissioner up here when they're about to vote the next time you come up through the PZAB and whatnot, "Have you all read 'The High Cost of Free Parking'? You agree with it?" That will explain their vote, 'cause some of them may agree with it and some of them don't -- may not agree with it. I'm -- it's sort of like an inconvenient truth from Al Gore. I know that's not City of Miami Page 105 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 popular to say right now. I read that or listened to it and I believed in it. I believe in the high cost of free parking. So here's my challenge to each and every one of you: If you're a one -voter and a two -voter, even a three -voter, you should be a five -voter. If you haven't read "The High Cost of Free Parking," the next time you come here and you speak, say, "Commissioner, I've read 'The High Cost of Free Parking,'I support this," and still support this ordinance. Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Suarez: I'm a Miami boy with a Miami boy, so that makes me a double Miami boy. No, I just wanted to address one issue, which is that I completely agree that I want to have the Planning director's full and complete support and buy -in. I think in fairness to him, sometimes, he looks to us to reconcile some of the policy issues, because he can take us so far and then it's on us to decide do we want to go that extra step, or do we want to pull back or -- you know. So in fairness to him, I think sometimes we need to provide guidance so that he knows, quote/unquote, "what the marching orders are," and then he can go from there. And so I completely agree with you, and I just wanted to make that last statement. Thank you. Chair Gort: Go ahead. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to say that, first of all, as all of you know, I always welcome the discussion and the debate, and I thought that this was going to be more of a discussion than a debate. I know we're starting to get away from discussion items being just a discussion item. We're always -- it seems like we're always getting a vote of some kind when a discussion item comes up, and I'd rather not continue in that route for the future, but it seems like what you're asking is to have it go to PZAB and then to the Commission for us to have the discussion and the debate at that time. Commissioner Suarez: Right. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. And I could support your resolution, because we will have the debate and the discussion -- Commissioner Suarez: Sure. Commissioner Carollo: -- on this. I'll be honest with you. I'm not there yet with regards to this. I still haven't vetted this fully. I know Commissioner Sarnoff had a question. I mean, I also have a question: Out of all of you with the blue shirts that are here, how many actually took public transportation over here? And that's something -- one person -- that's something that we need to, you know, also, you know, discuss, vet, because even though maybe in the future we're there, I don't know if we're there yet, and we need to have a -- and listen, I understand with the blue shirts, maybe it's not the most popular thing to say right now, but at the same time, I hold my fiduciary duty to the City very, very strongly, and I want to make sure, and that's why I always welcome the discussion and the debate, because I want to make sure that, you know, whatever laws we pass, or whatever ordinance we pass, we do not pass, with my vote I can justift what I've done and make sure that I have sufficient time to do all of my homework. With that said, that doesn't mean that I'm against it, because in all fairness, I think I've demonstrated that, you know, I'm reasonable and open-minded, but I think it does need a lot more vetting. So I can support a resolution for it to go to PZ4B and then to this Commission to have a good, hearty debate. I appreciate Mr. Frey coming to speak to me. I don't think -- I think I've been pretty straightforward with you, and I look forward to meeting with you again, with the Planning Department, and really vetting all this, because what I would want is if we pass any type of ordinance to it be sound and something that will be good for the City of Miami now and in the City of Miami Page 106 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 future. And then we have to see pretty much how much of a time warp or time would take for it to be where, you know, we're saying it's going to be. So again, I'm open to the, you know, the discussion; I'm open to the debate and I will be supporting the resolution. Chair Gort: Yes, sir. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I'm sorry; I have to address a couple issues. First of all, I want to thank the Commissioner for his support of the resolution. I do something very peculiar with discussion items. I actually provide the backup to my discussion, so, you know, I actually put a lot of information about what I want to discuss, why I want to discuss it, and that's why seldomly I will ask for a vote. But in this particular case, it's a direction; it's not a vote on any sort of -- which, like you said, Commissioner -- you're right -- it will come back to us, so there will be many, many opportunities to properly vet this legislation and to make sure that we discuss it and debate it. I think, like has unfortunately happened in the past, that has not happened on discussion items or items brought by certain Commissioners, we have not had the backup for those items, we have not had an opportunity, and we've been asked to vote on them very, very quickly. So, you know, in this case, I'm very, very deliberate. I'm very -- I try to treat my colleagues in a way that I would like to be treated, so I'm very transparent about what I'm trying to do, and so you can have many, many opportunities to debate and discuss it with staff, et cetera. As far as people here not taking mass transit to get here, there is very little mass transit accessibility. Chair Gort: None. Commissioner Suarez: And that's what we're talking about here, and it reminds me of when they were going to reconstruct Coral Way. The Florida Department of Transportation came to me and said -- we said, "Look, we want Coral Way to be more pedestrian friendly. " And they said, "Well, Commissioner, we did a study and do you realize that we did a study and no pedestrians are crossing Coral Way?" And I said, "Why do you think that is? Because it's a nightmare to cross Coral Way; it's -- you're taking your life in your own hands. " So, you know, we were thankfully able to impress upon them the logic, and they are now doing four crosswalks and an extra signalization on Coral Way with the emphasis of trying to make Coral Way more transit - and pedestrian friendly. So what comes first, the chicken or the egg? You know, obviously, Coral Way was not traversable by pedestrians unless you wanted to put your life at risk, and so therefore, there had to be a policy decision made that we are going to give a priority to a certain mode of transportation over another one, because that is our public policy priority, and that's what this is about. Mass transit may not be here for another five, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 years comprehensively; I sincerely hope it is earlier than that so that at least if I can't enjoy it, my son can. But it's -- I think it's our responsibility today to do something to change that, and that's why I'm advancing this. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you, sir, and thank you all for being here. I went to school in New York, and I saw Brooklyn and a lot of the cities you all mentioned. Yes, they have great mass transportation; you don't need a car. In here, it's a little different. And I'm going to be asking staff a lot of questions about the -- all these buildings that have been built right next to mass transportation, how they have increased their ridership in those locations, and I'll give you the places where the locations are at. Thank you all for being here. And debate is good; we'll continue to debate. Are we ready today? I don't know. I'm not convinced that we're ready for today. Thank you. Mr. Hannon: Chair. Commissioner Suarez: Take the vote. Mr. Hannon: I do need a vote on the motion. City of Miami Page 107 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 D4.2 14-01024 NA.1 14-01090 Chair Gort: All in favor, state it by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Chair Gort: I'm sorry, when we come back at 3, we lost some of the -- I'd appreciate it -- shh. That's not going to help. DISCUSSION ITEM DISCUSSION REGARDING CONDITION OF FLAGLERAND EIGHT STREET BUSINESS CORRIDOR. 14-01024 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN END OF DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 5 VICE CHAIR KEON HARDEMON END OF DISTRICT 5 NON AGENDA ITEM(S) DISCUSSION ITEM PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 286.011(8) FLORIDA STATUTES, CITY ATTORNEY VICTORIA MENDEZ REQUESTED TO SCHEDULE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 20, 2014, AN ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION, CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC, FOR THE PURPOSES OF DISCUSSING THE PENDING LITIGATION IN THE CASE OF: SOUTHERN WASTE SYSTEMS, LLC VS. CITY OF MIAMI, CASE NO. 13-00619 CA 02, PENDING IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, THE SUBJECT OF THE MEETING WILL BE CONFINED TO SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS OR STRATEGY SESSIONS RELATED TO LITIGATION EXPENDITURES. DISCUSSED Chair Gort: DI1.1 [sic]. Commissioner Sarnoff. Item DI.1.1. Chair Gort: Police item. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): While we're waiting for the Police item, could I read two things that I need to read? Chair Gort: Sure. City of Miami Page 108 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Mendez: I'm reading the script that's necessary for an executive -- a shade meeting. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of Section 286.0118 Florida Statute, I'm requesting that at the next City Commission meeting of November 20, 2014, an attorney/client session meeting closed to the public for purposes of discussing the pending litigation in the case of Southern Waste Systems, LLC (Limited Liability Company) versus City of Miami, Case Number 13-00619-CA-02, pending in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, in and for Miami -Dade County, Florida. The subject of this meeting will be confined to settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to the litigation expenditures or any settlement negotiations for this case. I would suggest approximately 2 o'clock, but of course, you can tell me. Thank you. Chair Gort: Thank you. Is anything else? Commissioner Sarnoff Do you need a motion on it? Ms. Mendez: Well, just that you accept -- Chair Gort: Motion? Ms. Mendez: I don't think so, but just that you accept that you want to do this at the next session. Chair Gort: Yes, we do. Commissioner Sarnoff There you go; Chair says we do. Ms. Mendez: Okay, thank you. NA.2 DISCUSSION ITEM 14-01091 DISCUSSION BY CHAIR GORT REGARDING THE STEPS AND ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE ADMINISTRATION TO HELP ALLEVIATE ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH SQUATTERS IN THE CITY OF MIAMI. DISCUSSED Chair Gort: Let me take advantage while you're here. I have a pocket item. Madam Attorney, I'd like to know, where are we with the squatters? 'Cause I understand we're going to do a due process, and the Chiefs need to train some people. In the meantime, I keep getting calls from neighbors that they have the squatters in there; property owners say they have the squatters in there, and it's been over two, three weeks now. I want to know where we're at. Manuel Orosa (Chief of Police): Okay, I'll tell you, Commissioner. Just something that I was thinking about: One of the officers that left a little while ago for Miami Beach, for a bigger and better place just asked us to come back, so we'll be bringing him back. Daniel J. Alfonso (City Manager): Do we want to? Chief Orosa: Excuse me? Yeah, we want to. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): If he's coming from the Beach, I don't know. Chair Gort: I don't know. Chief Orosa: Things usually are better someplace else until -- City of Miami Page 109 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 Ms. Mendez: Job security, correct? Chair Gort: Yeah, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Chief Orosa: Yeah, until you have to mow it. Chair Gort: We know that. Chief Orosa: Right. Commissioner, to answer your question, we already have two detectives trained to take over the investigations of the squatters. Next week, the NRO's (Neighborhood Resource Officers) will be all trained, because that's going to be -- the responding people are going to be the NRO's and do a preliminary investigation. And we already have the investigators onboard, so basically, the way I foresee it is somebody has a concern, the NRO goes out, interviews people, writes a report. The investigator does the investigation, and then if it's a truly civil matter, it'll go through the civil procedures and it'll go through our Hearing Boards. And if it's a criminal matter at that point, we make an arrest and return the property to the rightful owner. Chair Gort: Okay. Ms. Mendez: And also -- Chair Gort: Let me ask you a question now, because I don't know the difference, what you just explained, but the property owner is there with the police officer. Chief Orosa: Correct. Chair Gort: And he tells him, `I didn't give you any permit, he doesn't have any documents, he's a squatter, he's trespassing." Can he be removed? Chief Orosa: Yes, he can be removed. Chair Gort: Okay. And if he shows up with a document -- Chief Orosa: Unless the property owners makes the mistake to say, "I'll give you a week; you better leave in a week." Then the property owner made a mistake -- Chair Gort: Loses his -- Chief Orosa: -- and it's a civil matter. Chair Gort: I understand all that. Chief Orosa: Okay. Chair Gort: But I want to share a thing. We can expedite this, 'cause I'm getting calls every day. I mean, I had -- I even had the people from the real estate association that were here; they have a couple of cases. I think you all have the cases. Ms. Mendez: Right. We have -- Chair Gort: Or the Code Enforcement should have those cases. Ms. Mendez: Commissioner, Chairman, what we've done is we've created already the process for it. The officers had to be trained, because we can't be doing things without the officers City of Miami Page 110 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 having the proper training. We've established the SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures). We've already identified someone in my office who's going to look through the title. I mean this is ramped up more so than it has in the past, so hopefully, we should have our first batch of hearings -- if I double check with the Special Masters that we already have, we should start having hearings within the month. -- Chair Gort: Well, what are we doing with --? Ms. Mendez: -- not this month, but November. Chair Gort: -- the complaints we already had for over a month? Ms. Mendez: I'm sorry? Chair Gort: What are we doing with the complaints we already had over a month? Ms. Mendez: Okay, with the complaints that we have, we're starting the process now to review paperwork, the ones that have been forwarded to us. I know that the Flagami NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) -- I think it's Commander Lozano -- he has a set of properties that he's advised us. You've sent us one. We just got one from a couple realtors. So we're going to start going through that process, and looking through the properties. We need to work also with the Police Chief on sending out the police officers, as well. So we're -- Chair Gort: 'Cause I have a lot of them in Flagami and I also have a lot of them in Grapeland, and in Little Havana we have a few, too. Ms. Mendez: And I can work with Castaiieda to get your list of squatters, and we'll start the process as soon as -- hopefully next week? Chief Orosa: By next -- early next week, everybody that's going to be in the process will be trained, and by next week, we'll send them out to make contact, write reports, and the investigations will commence, and the investigations shouldn't take that long. Chair Gort: Right. Chief Orosa: Within a few days, we should know who the property owner -- the legitimate property owner is and whether or not it's a crime -- Chair Gort: If you need help -- Chief Orosa: -- or it's a civil matter. Chair Gort: -- we can help in getting property owners; my office can do that. Chief Orosa: Okay. We'll -- Chair Gort: So if you need -- if you can't find them, let us know; we'll do it. Thank you. Chief Orosa: Okay. Chair Gort: We have anything else, anybody? Mr. Alfonso: Well, just -- Commissioner Suarez had some discussion items, but he's not here, so. Chair Gort: He's not here. I have a motion to adjourn. City of Miami Page 111 Printed on 12/29/2014 City Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2014 ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Sarnoff So move. Chair Gort: Thank you all. Have a good day. The meeting adjourned at 5:02 p.m. City of Miami Page 112 Printed on 12/29/2014