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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2016-01-14 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com Meeting Minutes Thursday, January 14, 2016 9:00 AM REGULAR FINAL City Hall Commission Chambers City Commission Tomas Regalado, Mayor Keon Hardemon, Chair Ken Russell, Vice Chair Wifredo (Willy) Gort, Commissioner District One 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 January 14, 2016 CONTENTS PR - PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS AM - APPROVING MINUTES MV - MAYORAL VETOES CA - CONSENT AGENDA SR - SECOND READING ORDINANCES FR - FIRST READING ORDINANCES RE - RESOLUTIONS AC - ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION BC - BOARDS AND COMMITTEES 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 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 ORDER OF THE DAY 9:00 A.M. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Present: Commissioner Gort, Vice Chair Russell, Commissioner Carollo, Commissioner Suarez and Chair Hardemon On the 14th day of January 2016, 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 Hardemon at 9:07 a.m., recessed at 12:23 p.m., reconvened at 3:09 p.m., recessed at 6:43 p.m., reconvened at 6:58 p.m. and adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Note for the Record: Commissioner Suarez entered the Commission chamber at 9:21 a.m., and Commissioner Carollo entered the Commission chamber at 9:22 a.m. ALSO PRESENT: Victoria Mendez, City Attorney Fernando Casamayor, Assistant City Manager Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk Chair Hardemon: So at this time, I'd like to welcome you to the January 14, 2016 meeting of the City of Miami Commission in these historic chambers. The members of the City Commission are Commissioner W fredo Gort, Frank Carollo, Francis Suarez, and Vice Chairman Ken Russell; and me, myself, Keon Hardemon, as Chairman. Also on the dais are Daniel Alfonso, the City Manager; Victoria Mendez, the City Attorney; and Todd Hannon, the City Clerk. The meeting will be opened by a prayer, and if I'd like to do so, I'd like to give this honor, of course, to Commissioner Gort to open up the meeting with a prayer. Got it? Good. Commissioner Gort: I'll do it from here. Would you all stand, please. Invocation delivered. Chair Hardemon: The pledge of allegiance will be led by Vice Chair Russell. Pledge of allegiance delivered. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Chairman, may I read the procedures into the record? Chair Hardemon: We'll now be -- to the Commission, we will now begin the regular meeting. The City Attorney will state the procedures to be followed during this meeting. Ms. Mendez: Thank you, Chairman. Any person who is a lobbyist, including all paid persons or firms retained by a principal to advocate for a particular decision by the City Commission must register with the City Clerk and comply with the related City requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the City Commission. A person may not lobby a City official, Board Member, or staff until registering. A copy of the Code section about lobbyists is available in the City Clerk's Office. Any person making a presentation, formal request or petition to the City Commission concerning real property must make disclosures required by the City Code in writing. A copy of this Code section is available in the City Clerk's Office. The material for each item on the agenda today is available during business hours at the City Clerk's Office, and online 24 hours a day at wwwmiagov.com [sic]. Any person may be heard by the City 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 City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 such proposition. Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the City Commission for any matter considered at this meeting today 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 or her 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 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 either at the conclusion of deliberation of the agenda item being 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. At this time, the Administration, by Mr. Casamayor, will announce which items, if any, will be either withdrawn, deferred, or substituted. Thank you. Fernando Casamayor (Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer): Good morning, Commissioners. Items FR.1, RE.4, RE.6 and AC.1 are to be withdrawn; and we would like to defer item RE.1 to the January 28 Commission meeting. Commissioner Suarez: Can you repeat that one more time, Fernando? Mr. Casamayor: Sorry, sir? Commissioner Suarez: Can you repeat that? Chair Hardemon: Can you repeat it, please, again? Mr. Casamayor: Yes. FR.1, RE.4, RE.6 and AC.1 to be withdrawn; and item RE.1 to be deferred until the January 28 meeting. Chair Hardemon: Do any Commissioners wish to have any items removed from the consent agenda or the regular meeting agenda? Commissioner Gort: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded that we withdraw FR.1, RE.4, RE.6, AC.1 and defer RE.1 till January 28. Any unreadiness? Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS PR.1 16-00005 PRESENTATION Honoree Ruth Alcala Presenter Protocol Item Mayor Regalado Certificate of & Kevin Burns Appreciation City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Cesar R. Nunez Mayor Regalado Commendation & Comm. Suarez Live Healthy Little Havana Mayor Regalado Check & Lillian Blondet 16-00005 Protocol Item.pdf PRESENTED Mayor Regalado presented City of Miami Information Technology Department employee Ms. Ruth Alcala with a certificate of appreciation for her 14 years of service to the City of Miami and thanked her for her outstanding professionalism and efforts. Mayor Regalado and Commissioner Suarez presented broadcast journalist and City of Miami Video Producer Mr. Cesar R. Nunez with a proclamation and commended him for his leadership, humble dedication and hard work; in addition to his many achievements which include 5 Emmy Awards, 14 Emmy Nominations and the 2015 Silver Circle Award. Mr. Nunez is also the Executive Director and Producer for CRNFILMS and Founder and President of FILM MIAMI FEST and WIDESCREENFEST which are both international festivals based in the City of Miami. Mayor Regalado and Commissioner Carollo presented a certificate of appreciation to Health Foundation of South Florida, an organization committed to improving the health of the citizens of the City of Miami by funding providers and supporting programs such as the Live Healthy Little Havana Initiative to promote health and prevent disease. Chair Hardemon: At this point, we will make our presentations and proclamations. Presentations made. APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS: Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, to APPROVE PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Chair Hardemon: At this point, is there a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of November 19, 2015? Commissioner Suarez: So moved. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved. Is there a second? Commissioner Gort: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been seconded by Vice Chairman Russell [sic]. Is there any discussion about the matter? Hearing none, all in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, to APPROVE PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon MAYORAL VETOES Chair Hardemon: And then, also, the equal motion for the Planning & Zoning meeting of November 19, 2015. Commissioner Suarez: I'll move it, as well. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Gort: Second. Chair Hardemon: Seconded by Commissioner Gort. Is there any unreadiness or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. END OF APPROVING MINUTES NO MAYORAL VETOES Chair Hardemon: And Mr. City Clerk, are there any mayoral vetoes? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, there are no mayoral vetoes. CONSENT AGENDA CA.1 RESOLUTION 15-01582 Department of Police A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $188,807.33, FORA ONE (1) YEAR PERIOD, TO THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE, COUNTY COURT STANDBY PROGRAM; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF POLICE GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET, ACCOUNT NO. 00001.191501.534000.0000.00000. 15-01582 Summary Form.pdf 15-01582 Back -Up Documents.pdf 15-01582 Legislation.pdf This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0015 CA.2 RESOLUTION 15-01587 City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Department of A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ACCEPTING THE BIDS Procurement RECEIVED OCTOBER 21, 2015, PURSUANT TO INVITATION FOR BID NO. 523381, FROM LOGISTICAL SOURCING, INC. D/B/A LOGISTICAL OUTSOURCING, BRAND201, LLC, 4IMPRINT, INC., AND CHINA MAPLELEAF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT LIMITED TO PROVIDE PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, CITYWIDE, FOR A CONTRACT PERIOD OF THREE (3) YEARS; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE VARIOUS SOURCES FROM THE USER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL, AT THE TIME OF NEED; AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL SUPPLIERS TO THE CONTRACT AS DEEMED IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY. 15-01587 Summary Form.pdf 15-01587 Pre -Qualification Pool.pdf 15-01587 Bid Response - Logistical Sourcing Inc.pdf 15-01587 Bid Response - Brand201 LLC.pdf 15-01587 Bid Response - 4imprint Inc.pdf 15-01587 Bid Response - China Mapleleaf Industrial.pdf 15-01587 Invitation For Bid.pdf 15-01587 Legislation.pdf This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0016 CA.3 RESOLUTION 15-01592 Department of Solid A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Waste ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE PROCUREMENT OF DRIVECAM SYSTEMS AND SERVICES FROM LYTX, INC. THROUGH EXISTING FEDERAL GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ("GSA") CONTRACT GS-35F-06235, AVAILABLE THROUGH THE FEDERAL GSA SCHEDULE 70, EFFECTIVE THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7, 2016, SUBJECT TO ANY RENEWALS, EXTENSIONS, OR REPLACEMENT CONTRACTS BY FEDERAL GSA, TO BE UTILIZED ON A CITYWIDE, AS -NEEDED CONTRACTUAL BASIS, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE USE OF ALL COMPETITIVELY SOLICITED AND AWARDED CONTRACTS AVAILABLE THROUGH FEDERAL GSA SCHEDULE 70, AS SET FORTH IN EXHIBIT "A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED, SUBJECT TO ANY RENEWALS, EXTENSIONS, OR REPLACEMENT CONTRACTS BY FEDERAL GSA, TO BE UTILIZED ON AN AS -NEEDED CONTRACTUAL BASIS AS APPLICABLE UNDER SECTION 18-111 OF THE CITY'S PROCUREMENT CODE AND SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED. 15-01592 Summary Form.pdf 15-01592 Back -Up Documents - Lytx.pdf 15-01592 Back -Up From Law Dept.pdf 15-01592 Legislation.pdf 15-01592 Exhibit.pdf City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 This Matter was ADOPTED on the Consent Agenda. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0017 Adopted the Consent Agenda Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Vice Chair Russell, including all the preceding items marked as having been adopted on the Consent Agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon SR.1 15-01367 Department of Parks and Recreation END OF CONSENT AGENDA Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda -- Commissioner Suarez: So move. Chair Hardemon: -- of January 14? It's been properly moved by Commissioner Suarez. Is there a second? Vice Chair Russell: Second. Chair Hardemon: And seconded by Vice Chairman. Is there any unreadiness, any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. ORDINANCES - SECOND READING ORDINANCE Second Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 38/ARTICLE I OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "PARKS AND RECREATION/IN GENERAL", BY ESTABLISHING A NEW SECTION 38-19 ENTITLED "NAMING OF FACILITIES ON VIRGINIA KEY", THEREBY NAMING THE TRAIL AT VIRGINIA KEY BEACH NORTH POINT PARK, AS THE "MABEL FENTRESS MILLER WALKING TRAIL" HONORING MABEL FENTRESS MILLER FOR HER UNDYING DEVOTION AND TIRELESS EFFORTS IN THE AREA OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-01367 Summary Form SR.pdf 15-01367 Map.pdf 15-01367 Back -Up Documents.pdf 15-01367 Legislation FR/SR.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 13584 Chair Hardemon: Moving on now to a 10 o'clock time certain, SR.1. Kevin Kerwin: Good morning, Commissioners. Kevin Kerwin, your City of Miami Parks & Recreation director. This item is a second reading of an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to take all necessary actions to effectuate the naming of a trail at Virginia Key Beach North Point Park as the Mabel Miller Walking Trail. Mr. Chair, Mabel -- I talked to her yesterday morning, and she wanted to be here today. That's why -- she just got out of the hospital, and it wasn't going to happen, but she did want to thank you for making this a time certain item. And knowing Mabel, for those of us that know her, she -- first thing she said to me, You know, I'm a woman of action. "So she dictated a little statement that she would like for me to read, so. Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, you andl are involved in the City of Miami in similar ways. You and I are trying to solve similar problems. I, along with Pat Malone and other friends of Virginia Key have aimed to recognize Virginia Key as a unique representation of multiple natural habitats, seagrasses, mangroves, sand dunes, marshes and upland hammocks. We've come together in understanding of Virginia Key's value for youth education, teacher training, science research, and towards benefit. The City of Miami's Juan Fernandez; Garry Milano, formerly of DERM (Department of Environmental Resource Management); Greg Bush are one with us in understanding Virginia Key as a natural jewel we mutually hope to protect. Thank you for understanding Virginia Key's importance as a compact area featuring major environmental sites as our shared interest. I hope you will arrange to visit the trail with your family and friends. You and they will always remember your visit. Thank you. Mabel Miller. "So I think there's a couple folks to make a comment. Chair Hardemon: Open up the floor for public hearing. Greg Bush: Good morning. I'm Greg Bush, the Institute of Public History at the University of Miami and a couple other things that I do. Better? Is the mike on? I first met Mabel Miller in late 1998, when I took over as president of the Urban Environment League. You were there then. She was immediately insistent that I attend the meeting of the Virginia Key Task Force, looking to the future of Virginia Key Beach. I did. Little did I know that so much of my own future would be wrapped up in relation to that park, and eventually, the whole island; long time. Mabel is a sweet lady with a southern drawl, but a fierce determination to have her voice heard on behalf of preserving the natural beauty and educational value of that special island. I believe we owe her a huge and hearty thanks, and naming a trail after her would be a wonderful start. Yet, she's also a long-time environmental educator of thousands of young people. I well remember Mabel taking several young people with intellectual disabilities -- my own daughter being one of them -- on an extended walk along the shoreline of Virginia Key, eliciting fascination from the students about sea life, underscoring the importance of locally -- of looking closely at natural processes. To this day, my daughter, Paula, recalls the experience fondly, and I'm speaking for her, as well in thanking you all, hopefully, for naming this trial after her. I don't want to keep you too long here, but I just spoke to Mabel earlier. Now, at 88, 89 years old, she lives in Deland and I hope that you can support this measure on her behalf. Thank you very much. Chair Hardemon: Thank you. You're recognized, sir. Garry Milano: Good morning. Garry Milano. I just want to thank you for having this designation. It's so important. She -- as Greg said and as Kevin said -- she did so much for Virginia Key. She was the first friend of Virginia Key. She was an educator and an activist, and she was someone that was always here in this room, speaking up for Virginia Key. And I want to thank you and thank everyone that put this together. Thank you very much. Chair Hardemon: Thank you. You're recognized, sir. City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Juan Fernandez: Good morning. My name is Juan Fernandez. I am the park naturalist in the City of Miami's Parks & Recreation Department. I feel today very happy, because in 1996, I begun the work in City of Miami doing the ecological restoration in different City parks -- Simpson Park, Alice Wainwright Park, and Virginia Key -- and the first hands that I had at that moment was Mabel Miller. Through Mabel Miller, I met DERM, all the people that is today here, looking for help for this designation, and I met Florida Native Plant Society, and with this help, I have been doing the constructions of the nature areas in City of Miami. Mabel Miller have been working with us all the time, dedicate all the time to give the students, the school coming to visit Virginia Key -- sorry. She gave me all the help and was teaching all the students. She was retired, and she dedicate all the time to help us in this project. Now, with the help of the Park & Recreation Department, Kevin Kerwin, he's supporting our projects excellent, and we hope to keep in City of Miami good -- a scenario of good place for the environmental education in the City of Miami. Thank you very much. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Are there any other persons? Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing at this time. Is there any other discussion, motion, or anything left from the dais? Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Frank Carollo -- Commissioner Suarez: Second. Vice Chair Russell: Second. Chair Hardemon: -- and seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Is there any further discussion from the dais? Hearing none, the name on the record, please. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): 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, 5/0. Mr. Bush: Mr. Commissioner and Chairs, thank you very much. Chair Hardemon: You're very welcome. Thank you. SR.2 ORDINANCE Second Reading 15-01482 Department of Public AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Works 54/ARTICLE VI OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "STREETS AND SIDEWALKS/SIDEWALK CAFES", TO ESTABLISH A REINSPECTION FEE AND TO MODIFY THE CRITERIA SET FORTH FOR THE ISSUANCE AND MAINTENANCE OF SIDEWALK CAFE PERMITS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-01482 Summary Form SR.pdf 15-01482 Legislation SR (v2) 01-14-016.pdf City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon 13585 Chair Hardemon: Let's turn our attention back to an item that, Commissioner Carollo, you asked us to pass, SR.2. Commissioner Carollo: SR.2, mm-hmm. Chair Hardemon: Okay. Eduardo Santamaria: Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, Commissioners. Ed Santamaria, director of Public Works. SR.2 is an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 54, to establish a re -inspection fee and modify the criteria set forth for the issuance and maintenance of sidewalk cafe permits. The item passed on first reading on December 10, 2015. I'd like to note that in response to some concerns raised by the Commissioner this morning, and some of his constituents, we'd like to amend the item to read thus in Section 54-223, Definitions: 'Sidewalk' means that portion of the street between the curb lines or the lateral lines of a non -driving lane. "That eliminates [larking lane,'hnd gives some flexibility there. And so the item remains as is from then forward. Any questions? Chair Hardemon: Is there anyone from the public that'd like to speak on this item? Seeing no one from the public, I'll close the public hearing at this point. Any further discussion from the dais? Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: During staff briefing, I heard from the management that there were some concerns about the amount of time of notice given to the cafe to comply, or remove. And then, what is done with the cafe furniture; whether it's confiscated, impounded, or disposed of for lack of storage space that we have? And I guess I would just like to know from the Administration what the concern of the plan is on that with the ordinance as it is. Mr. Santamaria: Well, what we would do -- by the way, we -- to my knowledge, we've never confiscated any furniture as of this date. What we'd do is we'd store it at one of our facilities, Public Works operations facilities. Vice Chair Russell: So there is storage space for this? Mr. Santamaria: Yes. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Mr. Santamaria: We do have storage space. Vice Chair Russell: The Manager expressed concern, though -- I mean, he seemed to want to take action very quickly if there is a violation; that he has the authority to go in rather quickly. What is our current time frame on this to take action against a -- for enforcement, as is currently? Mr. Santamaria: I think the way that it's written right now -- and I'd defer to the folks at Code if City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 I'm incorrect -- but I think it's 36 hours that we give them. Unidentified Speaker: That sounds right. Vice Chair Russell: And we've never done a confiscation before? We've never taken the furniture before? Mr. Santamaria: Not to my knowledge. Vice Chair Russell: That's all. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion, unreadiness? Is there a motion? Commissioner Gort: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Commissioner Carollo: As amended. Commissioner Suarez: As amended. Chair Hardemon: This was properly moved by Commissioner Carollo [sic]; seconded by Commissioner Gort [sic], as amended. Any further unreadiness? Hearing none, all in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): It's a roll call vote, Chair. Chair Hardemon: Oh, yeah, I'm sorry; yes. Has it -- has the title been read into the record? Ms. Ewan: No, it has not. Chair Hardemon: Can you read the title into the record? It was already done? Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): It was already read into the record by Mr. Santamaria. Chair Hardemon: Okay. Ms. Ewan: Roll call on item SR.2. A roll call was taken, the result of which is stated above. Ms. Ewan: Item SR.2 passes on second reading, 5/0. Chair Hardemon: Okay. Ms. Ewan: And that would be as amended. SR.3 ORDINANCE Second Reading 15-01566 District4- AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER Commissioner 2/ARTICLE XI OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS Francis Suarez AMENDED, ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION/BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS", MORE PARTICULARLY BY ESTABLISHING THE CITY OF City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 MIAMI VIRGINIA KEY ADVISORY BOARD, TO ADVISE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COMMISSION REGARDING THE MISSION, VISION, BUSINESS PLAN, GOVERNANCE, AND OPERATION OF VIRGINIA KEY, ITS ABUTTING PROPERTY AND BASIN, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VIRGINIA KEY 2010 MASTER PLAN AS IT RELATES TO THE ENTIRETY OF VIRGINIA KEY; STATING THE BOARD'S PURPOSE, POWERS, DUTIES, COMPOSITION, APPOINTMENT, QUALIFICATIONS, AND REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP; PROVIDING FOR OFFICERS, RULES OF PROCEDURE, MEETINGS, QUORUM, LEGAL AND STAFF SUPPORT, ASSIGNMENT OF PERSONNEL, WAIVERS, AND PUBLIC NOTICE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-01566-Submittal-Greg Bush -Letter of Support.pdf 15-01566-Submittal-Blanca Mesa -Create an Urban Gateway to Biscayne National ParkArticle.pdf 15-01566 Legislation SR (v2).pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon 13583 Chair Hardemon: So we'll move on with the ordinances that are on second reading. SR.1 -- I'm sorry -- SR.2. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Carollo: I respectfully request a little bit more time with SR.2. I just had some, within the last few minutes, businesses from District 3, from Little Havana, asking questions with regards to this, so I just brought it up to the attention of our Assistant City Manager, so I don't know if he's ready to answer. We may need a little bit more time, so maybe we could continue with SR.3 or the others. Chair Hardemon: That's perfectly fine. Calling SR.3. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. SR.3, ifI may, is the second reading on the Virginia Key Steering Committee. Essentially, we listened to the comments from the Commission and the public from first reading and made some changes to the composition of the board in consideration of those comments, so I'd like to move the item. Obviously, if there's any additional comments, questions, concerns, you know, we can go from there. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Suarez; seconded by Commissioner Carollo. Had to open up the floor for public hearing on this item. Is there anyone from the public that'd like to speak on this item? Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion about the item? Any discussion from the Board Members? Seeing none, then I move to a roll call vote. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair -- Madam City Attorney, would you like to read the title into the record? The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 FR.1 15-01260 City Manager's Office 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, 5/0. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. END OF ORDINANCES - SECOND READINGS ORDINANCES - FIRST READING ORDINANCE First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 38 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "PARKS AND RECREATION" MORE PARTICULARLY BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE VII ENTITLED "MUSEUM PARK CONSERVANCY", PROVIDING FOR POWERS, DUTIES, AND SCOPE OF A CONSERVANCY FOR MUSEUM PARK; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-01260 Back -Up Agreement FR.pdf 15-01260 Legislation FR (v2).pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon FR.2 15-01398 City Manager's Office ORDINANCE First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 29/ARTICLE IV, OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "LANDFILLS AND WATERFRONT IMPROVEMENTS/WATERFRONT ADVISORY BOARD", MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 29-124, TO AMEND THE WATERFRONT ADVISORY BOARD'S QUORUM REQUIREMENT; CONTAINING A REPEALER PROVISION, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-01398 Summary Form FR.pdf 15-01398 Legislation FR (v2) 01-14-16.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Chair Hardemon: Move on to first reading, FR.2. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): This item, FR.2, is an iteni that we've discussed before with -- regarding quorum with regard to the Waterfront Advisory Board. Because there had been issues with the board meeting, it was suggested that quorum -- by reducing the quorum requirement, we would be able to actually get this very active and vocal board meeting. They actually do meet, but unfortunately, they can't take as much action as they would want, because they're usually City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 short a member for quorum purposes. So they meet and discuss things, but are not able to vote. So this would be the opportunity for this board to actually be able to vote on the items that come before them, and be able to give much needed input, and that is why this is here before you today. Chair Hardemon: Open up the public hearing on this. Is there anyone from the public that'd like to speak on this matter? You're recognized, sir. Go ahead. Nathan Kurland: Nathan Kurland, 3132 Day Avenue. A question for the City Attorney, if possible, and that is, is there a lack of a quorum because members are not attending, or lack of a quorum because appointments have not been made? Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Any other person would like to speak from the public? Hearing none, I'll close the public hearing on this matter. Madam City Attorney? Ms. Mendez: Yes. Chairman, to answer his question, it has to do with some of the members not attending; that is why quorum sometimes is not met, even though there are several members that do attend and discuss things, but they're not able to vote. Chair Hardemon: Is there any discussion from the Board Members? You're recognized, Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. IfI understand correctly, by passing this, we would be making a new status for board members who aren't active to take into a non -good standing, so they wouldn't count toward quorum, but they could still show up and vote; is that correct? Chair Hardemon: That's the way the ordinance reads, yes. Vice Chair Russell: Why would we not just be letting their absences rack up to the appropriate time at which they're no longer a board member? Why -- if they're going to be a board member in non -good standing -- like, for example, if they're in non -good standing, and then they show up, they don't actually count toward quorum then; is that correct? Ms. Mendez: They stay on until they're replaced, so they could obviously participate in the discussion and -- but they would not be counted towards quorum purposes, so the major problem that we're having is that they're not able to vote. The board is not able to vote, because you don't have the quorum in order to vote. They're able to discuss things and give some input, but it's not in the form of a resolution that could be passed on to you to be able to make decisions. Vice Chair Russell: That, I understand, but if -- as a member in non -good standing because of their attendance record, would they be -- they would not count toward quorum, but they would be allowed to vote when they do show up? Ms. Mendez: If -- yes, unless replaced. So the goal is you replace them quickly if they do fall out of standing, and the Clerk will be able to advise you the moment that your members are not -- have reached this new category that we're trying to place in order to be able to resolve this board's problem with quorum at any given time. Vice Chair Russell: But within the current rules of this board, they aren't -- there's no method to automatically remove them after such time that they've been absent so many times? Is it -- don't -- doesn't it have to come back to us for an absence waiver at that point? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Excuse me, Madam City Attorney. Yes, sir, and so, essentially, once a board member has reached either three consecutive absences or four absences within a calendar year, we'll basically place them on a report that's given to you for the first meeting of City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 every month, and you have the ability at that point in time to replace them immediately; or you can waive the absences with a 4/5th absentee waiver. Vice Chair Russell: So it's replacement or waiver, but there is no just removing them and having that seat empty? They need to be replaced in order for that --? Mr. Hannon: Yes, because there's a provision within the Code that allows for the absenteeism to be waived by the appointing Commissioner. Vice Chair Russell: All right. For me, then, I think that the -- Chair Hardemon: They can also be removed. Vice Chair Russell: They can be removed? Chair Hardemon: They can be removed without necessarily replacing them immediately. Vice Chair Russell: Okay. So that -- see, to me, that makes more sense that you remove them once they've been absent beyond the limit if they're not willing to be there, or for whatever reason, even if it's a good reason, but if they're not able to participate, and vote, and add toward quorum, they should be removed. If we, as the Commission, or whoever is doing the appointing should -- don't actually replace them, that absent seat would not count toward quorum; that we would have half of the active members of the seats that are filled plus one be quorum. Would that be a reasonable approach to it? Commissioner Carollo: Vice Chairman -- Commissioner Gort: That's the intent of this ordinance. Vice Chair Russell: But they get to stay on, but just be not considered active? I guess the only change that I guess I would like to see is that if they're not in good standing that we just remove them. Commissioner Gort: Right. Mr. Hannon: And Commissioners, ifI may, I think -- and Madam City Attorney, correct me if I'm wrong -- if a board member reaches two absences, they're now considered to be potentially not in good standing. So you haven't reached the three consecutive or four absences within a calendar year, but if they miss two meetings, now they're looked upon as a board member who's not as in good standing as those who are attending on a regular basis. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort, you're recognized. Commissioner Gort: Todd, are you finished? What I would like to see is -- a lot of times, I've appointed people to different boards, and after they go into two or three meetings, they really don't want to go back. I think we should analyze what the board's -- what their function is and if they're working, because we have a lot of boards, and if they're not working, let's eliminate them. Mr. Hannon: And that's an excellent point, Commissioner Gort, because we do have the annual report of boards coming up; if I'm not mistaken, the February meeting, where the City Manager basically receives a report from every single board throughout the City. The City Manager can assess if they're actually living up to the expectations established for that board, and then can make recommendations to the Commission to potentially sunset that board or boards. Commissioner Gort: Thank you. City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Ms. Mendez: And another option, as Commissioner Gort mentioned, other than sun -setting boards, you also have the opportunity to combine boards, which has been recommendation that Commissioner Gort has even made in the past, so that is another option. This is not your only option; this was just an opportunity to try and correct the situation. Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, a last question. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: So if there is a seat that's not filled, someone hasn't been reappointed, but someone has been removed, what counts toward quorum; is it a set number, or is it a percentage plus one? Mr. Hannon: Quorum is of the body. The standard is quorum is of the body, so if you have nine members and, you know, five members don't show up or -- it doesn't matter if that seat is filled or vacant. Just like here on the Commission, if we require a 4/5ths for, you know, particular items, it's 4/5ths of the body. So, essentially, it's the same standard for the boards, as well. Now, if you wanted to establish a new standard where quorum is based upon members present versus members of the body that would be the will of the Commission. Vice Chair Russell: I mean, a percentage of members present means you'd always have -- as long as that -- who is here. Mr. Hannon: You're correct, sir. Vice Chair Russell: But the body -- you're saying that the body is -- consists of the seats, not the people, so if there's an empty seat, that empty seat still counts toward that body of which we have to meet half. Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. Vice Chair Russell: That, to me, is where we've got a problem, because if somebody hasn't appointed somebody and we've got an empty seat on a board, that makes quorum much more difficult to reach. The friendly amendment I would probably offer is that if a seat is not filled that that does not count toward the body. Is there a way to word that properly, and would anyone agree with that idea or --? Commissioner Carollo: I'm okay with it. Ms. Mendez: Right now, it's worded, The quorum shall consist of six members, 'and as he has stated, as Todd has stated, this is of the body. So we can -- we could draft it in a way that you're describing, but that, in essence, lowers quorum even more, which has been the concern of this Commission, so. Chair Hardemon: And Vice Chairman Russell, one thing I would say is that I've always been leery about reducing quorum for anything. I don't think that it's proper to reduce a quorum. I think that in a situation as that, we have to, one, take the responsibility of appointing members; and then, two, if those members are not showing up and they're not having meetings because they have a lack of quorum, then either removing those members and appointing someone new; or encouraging those members to show up to the meetings. I think reducing quorum is a slippery slope, because once you reduce quorum, you reduce your passing votes for items that are on whatever the agenda may be. So if you -- you're essentially reducing the level in which that you need to meet, that threshold you need to meet to pass something that may be particularly important. So, personally, I don't agree with this ordinance, because it is exactly doing that. It's City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 reducing the number of votes that it takes to pass an item. If there is an issue -- there are many boards. Some boards don't meet because of lack of quorum. Some boards always meet, and they always have quorum. And so, if there is a board that is not meeting because of lack of quorum, to me, it shows a lack of interest, maybe; or someone's schedule may be too busy to be on that board, andl would encourage us as Commissioners to replace those members instead of reducing the quorum, because reducing quorum for a board leads, to me, to the presentation of another board being presented to us, saying, Let's reduce this quorum,'and then, the next board, and then the next board, until one day, you find yourself reducing quorum for a board like PZAB (Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board), and that's not something -- where I want to be. I just want to clarify for the record there is no motion on the floor, so we're discussing this matter, but if there is amendments that you would like to make to this, or if there's a vote to pass it or to decline this ordinance, then it needs to be done so. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: IfI could just ask, just to understand and clam, I do agree with everything you just said, but ifI under -- would you agree with the idea that quorum should be half of the body plus one, and whatever the size of that body is; and that way, quorum is always more than half of the -- is the majority of the body? Chair Hardemon: Quorum is the majority of the body; the number of people that make up that board. Correct, I would agree to that. Vice Chair Russell: So the fact that this one is a set number, six, rather than half plus one -- and it doesn't make a difference unless you move the body size. Ms. Mendez: Half plus one here would actually increase quorum, because it's six plus one would make it seven. Commissioner Suarez: Seven. Ms. Mendez: So it's increasing it. Vice Chair Russell: The quorum's already -- Chair Hardemon: Quorum is the big issue here, but typically, quorum -- what I think about when we say ijuorum,12ou have to think about the number of people it takes to pass something. If your quorum is reduced, the number of people to actually pass an item in that board is also reduced. So if, for instance -- on this body, what is it; six, that makes quorum? Ms. Mendez: Right now, it's six. Chair Hardemon: Six. So then if it's six, then this body needs, say, to pass an item, four positive votes, right? That's the minimum, four. If the quorum is reduced -- this legislation could say that quorum could be reduced to four, and then to pass an item, you only need three to pass. So you're essentially losing the number of votes to pass an item. What if some board members can't make it to that meeting? What if you selectively schedule a meeting that conflicts with one or two board members, and now, because they've missed these meetings and they're not in good status, now you've reduced the number of votes, and they pass something that essentially, the board, itself, for the majority of the time, has been against? So those are the ways that I'd like to think about this item. Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman. City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner. Commissioner Gort: I'd like to request from the Clerk's Office, when you're going to be getting the reports from all the different boards? I imagine each one of them have a goal that they have to accomplish. Mr. Hannon: Actually -- Commissioner Gort: I would like to see in their report what their goal is and what they have accomplished, okay? Mr. Hannon: -- you're exactly correct, Commissioner Gort, and that falls in with the annual reports that boards are required to submit per the City Code. They submit those reports to the City Manager because the City Manager does have the opportunity to review every single report to make sure that those -- excuse me -- boards are living up to the expectations as outlined within the Code. So an item will be brought before you, if I'm not mistaken. I think -- again, I think it'll be in February, where the Manager will share those reports with you. So, yes, sir; you're exactly right. Commissioner Gort: Thank you, sir. Ms. Mendez: And if it's the Commission's pleasure, also, if you would like to wait to see that report and then vote on this, that is another option, as well; or decide what you would like to do with this item after that; that is another option. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: I think the Commission decided that they don't like to see the reduction of the quorum, so do you need motion against it? Chair Hardemon: It's been moved to oppose, to deny. Mr. Hannon: Chair. Chair Hardemon: Yes. Mr. Hannon: If it's the will of the Commission, you can simply just withdraw the item from the agenda, and it can be brought back at a later date, you know, if that's the will. Chair Hardemon: Is there any objection to withdraw it? Seeing no objection, the item is withdrawn. Mr. Hannon: Sorry, I would need a motion and a second on that. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Chair Hardemon: There was a -- the motion to withdraw it is made by Commissioner Gort and seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Is there any unreadiness, any further discussion? You're recognized, Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Just very briefly, I just want to say that sometimes, also, it may be helpful when they do their reports to clam what their role and mission is, because I think -- and I don't know if it was said when I was not on the dais, but, you know, if you further define -- better define what their role is, then you can -- you know, they know what they're limited in and what City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 FR.3 15-01413 District 4- Commissioner Francis Suarez they have to do and the things -- you know, it doesn't waste their time to meet on things that are not within the scope of their role. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Any further unreadiness? Was the title read into the -- well, we don't need the title read into the record at this point. All in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes. ORDINANCE First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING CHAPTER 10/ARTICLE I OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "BUILDINGS/IN GENERAL," MORE PARTICULARLY BY AMENDING SECTION 10-5 TO PROVIDE FOR EXTREMELY LOW INCOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO DEFER BUILDING PERMIT FEES; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-01413 Declaration of Rest. Covenants.pdf 15-01413 Legislation SR(v3).pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be PASSED ON FIRST READING WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Chair Hardemon: Moving on with the agenda, FR.3. Ms. Mendez: Commissioner Suarez, I believe FR.3 is the permit deferral. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Mr. Chair, may I be recognized? Chair Hardemon: You are recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. I don't think I have to emphasize today what a need -- a critical need there is for true affordable housing in our community. Affordable housing goes by many different names and many different definitions. Some would say that workforce housing is affordable housing. Others would say that affordable housing, as defined by the Tax Credit Program is affordable housing, which is somewhere between 80 percent AMI (Area Median Income) and 65 percent AMI. And others would say that truly affordable housing is only affordable housing for extremely low income, which is people that are at the 30 percent AMI level or below. This type of housing is very difficult to produce, even under the best of circumstances, because it requires, first of all, someone to donate the land in many cases; it requires governments to subsidize nearly all, if not all of the construction. And even once those subsidies are in place, it still becomes difficult to produce extremely low income housing because the rents are so low that even for the operation and maintenance of the building, itself over time, there is the chance that the building could go under, or the building could go bankrupt. So, you know, this is an effort to put in a portion of the formula, similar to what we've done in a variety of different contexts by deferring impact fees for affordable housing and for workforce housing. This is just another piece of the puzzle. It's not necessarily going to be what's determinative of whether extremely low income housing gets built or not, but as I'm sure many of you know, and I'm sure most of you have worked with someone in your district to try to promote that kind of housing, there's a variety of different funding sources and pots that need to be accessed so that extremely low income affordable housing can be built. And so, you know, the Administration City of Miami Page 20 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 asked that -- you know, I obviously work with the Administration to produce this, and they asked that a cap be placed, simply because they're not exactly sure to what extent this is going to be availed of. It's going to be availed of on a first -come -first basis, on a pro rata basis, based on the number ofELI (Extremely Low Income) units that are built within a project. And so, you know, I understand their concern, and that's why that's in there. And so, again, I don't think I need to convince anyone here on this dais that there is a critical and dire need to extremely low income housing in Miami -Dade County and in the City of Miami. I remember the former HUD (Housing & Urban Development) director, Craig Fortner, once told me that 50 percent of all residents in Dade County qualify under the Federal standards for affordable housing, as defined by the Federal Government. That's 1.2 million people. And when he explained to me what is the supply in the County to meet that demand, I believe it was somewhere in the 20, 000-unit range, and that's divided up into public housing, and into Tax Credit Program housing, and into what they call Plan Ocho. And, of course, we all know that our residents who take advantage of Section 8 housing, the only ones who get off the Section 8 housing rolls are the ones that basically pass away, and that's how that roll is sort of replenished. So it hasn't been expanded by the Federal Government, and so, you know, we have to do what we can, and I think this is a very needed step in that direction. So without further ado, I move FR.3. Commissioner Gort: Second. Commissioner Carollo: Second; discussion. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Suarez and seconded by Commissioner Gort. Is there anyone from the public that'd like to speak on this item? You're recognized, ma'am. Brenda Betancourt: Good morning. Happy New Year. Brenda Betancourt, 1436 Southwest 6th Street. Yes, the concern is for a lot of our residents -- Little Havana, Overtown, Little Haiti -- that those funds and this effort from the City representative reflect and those constructions, there have been a lot of complaints being displaced from these areas to different areas of the County, and they want to be -- keep their residence. They want to be City of Miami residents. So I believe that the City has the obligations of helping them to keep those new constructions affordable as possible. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there anyone else that'd like to speak? Seeing no other speakers, I close the public hearing at this time. You're recognized, Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that I'm a proponent of affordable housing, especially now that we're seeing market values rising once again, and making it harder for more and more people to live in our City; and anywhere, for that matter. With that said, I'm also very glad that we're paying attention to a very needy part of our City, which is extremely low income housing, because I think before, we were focused a lot on affordable housing, but it really wasn't paying attention to a lot of our residents that actually cannot afford affordable housing; they are extremely low income. Doing a little homework on this and speaking with the Manager, he mentioned that, right now, it wouldn't be that big of a fiscal impact, because, right now, this would be approximately $80,000 a year. So I think that an investment of $80, 000 is definitely, you know, one to make in order to help the industry, if possible, if this would help the industry with regards to extremely low income. Now, with that said there's a few things that I want to clar. This is not a waiver; this is a deferral. So if it's a deferral, we will be deferring the permit fee until when? Because it really doesn't stipulate that. Peter Iglesias (Building, Planning & Zoning): Peter Iglesias, senior director. Commissioner, it would be deferred until the -- if the use changes; in other words, if they decide to make that into a regular apartment building that is not LEI [sic], then the impact fees and the permit fees would have to be paid at that time. City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Could we then, as a friendly amendment, put that stipulation there? And I know you have two sections there, but I looked up the sections, and it doesn't appear that that's mentioned there, so a friendly amendment, could that actually be written there, so, you know, it's crystal clear the deferral will be until, you know, X'ilate? Mr. Iglesias: This is what we're doing for impact fees right now. Chair Hardemon: Does the mover and seconder agree to that friendly amendment? Commissioner Gort: Yes. I don't have any problem. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I don't have any problem for further clarifying that. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. And then, realistically, my second question was, regard to that, what if it would change -- the usage would change from affordable to the market, but then you just mentioned, so if we clam that, I think we're good. Mr. Iglesias: They would pay at that point impact fees and all the permit fees that were deferred. Commissioner Suarez: And I would just add one thing, Commissioner, because I think this would put you more at peace: A covenant's going to be required, and that's in the language, and so, specifically for sales, in particular, when someone wants to sell a building, if they're going to change the character of the building from an ELI building to a market rate building, certainly, they would want that covenant released. And no bank would lend money on a building -- a purchase and sale for market rate units without that covenant being released. So I think there's an extra protection in there, as well. So I think, you know, I think -- Mr. Iglesias: It would be registered in the courthouse, so that would be -- all -- Commissioner Suarez: Got it. Mr. Iglesias: -- applicable buyers would be aware of the -- Commissioner Suarez: Exactly. Mr. Iglesias: -- requirement. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Commissioners, we could further clam the language, but there really does not have to be a change in the legislation. The covenants that we file clearly say that if there is any change in status, whether it's rental or sale that it kicks in. I mean, we could -- we can add something else, but I just want you to know that that's standard practice in the covenants. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. The only thing is, Madam City Attorney, that covenant was not placed as backup for this legislation. So I'm just reading what has been underlined and what we're voting on. There's nothing there with any covenant. I'm not seeing the covenant. I can't research the covenant. I don't know where the covenant's coming from. I don't know if it's one that we look up online. Therefore, I want clam before I actually vote, so I want to, you know, be specific, because this wouldn't be the first time that something is passed, and then, in the future, it's legislation, or, you know, legal claims, and then we're up in the air. City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. And I would just say, in fairness to the Commissioner's concern, you know, even if a covenant was attached, it wouldn't matter, because a covenant can be redrafted or drafted in a number of different ways, so it probably makes sense to put it in the legislation, itself; that's what binds the body. Commissioner Carollo: Right. Commissioner Suarez: A covenant could be -- you know, I mean, I'm not saying that your covenant, as you assert it or as you would draft it wouldn't do that, but I'm saying is, even if you attached a model covenant to the -- unless you said, This is the covenant that's going to be recorded,'and you tied the legislation to the covenant, itself, to the language of the covenant, you know, you really need to specify it in the legislation. So I don't have a problem with that. Chair Hardemon: And right now, just to clam for the record, the ordinance is modified in the spirit that Commissioner Carollo -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I'm okay with that. Chair Hardemon: -- expressed. Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: The one thing I want to see, because -- and I'm going to address this in a pocket item that I'm going to bring up, but who's going to be in charge of the compliance to make sure that they maintain the rents and so on? Because a lot of times, the problems that we have, we have a lot of ordinance, we have a lot of requirements, but there's no compliance. In order to enforce the compliance, who would be in charge of that? Yes. Unidentified Speaker: Commissioners, our Community & Economic Development Department has graciously volunteered to monitor this and make sure that we are in compliance, sir. Commissioner Gort: Okay. Commissioner Suarez: And I think there's also two additional -- may I, Mr. Chair? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Suarez: I think there's also two additional mechanisms. One of them is almost a self -compliance mechanism, which is the covenant, itself. Like I said, when the sale happens, that's sort of a self -compliance mechanism. The second, of course, is our residents. If somebody calls in to try to rent a unit there and they're told that it's not $350, but it's in fact, $800, I'm sure we'll get a call from the resident, saying, !ley, these people are not really providing extremely low income housing,'and then we'll be able to act on it. Commissioner Gort: No, I understand, but I want to make sure we report that -- Commissioner Suarez: I know. I agree. Commissioner Gort: -- that someone goes there and makes sure they do that. Commissioner Suarez: I agree. Commissioner Gort: Because we are empowered to do so. City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Suarez: I agree. Commissioner Gort: Now, something I'd like to add is, a lot of people don't realize in the City of Miami and throughout Miami -Dade County, most of the people that were here, they came in the -- I would say '70, '80s, '90. The salaries weren't the best of the world, so they were not able -- and this is an argument I take to Washington and Tallahassee all the time. Not everyone here was able to save and create a pension plan for them self. A lot of the residents in our area, throughout the whole City, they might get maybe $500 a month, 600. What can you afford with that? So this is something they really need to take care. I think we should go after the Federal Government. They have cut all the funding that have come for housing, which I think is very important. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Suarez: I just finish by agreeing wholeheartedly with the Commissioner and with the gentle lady who came up and spoke. We're facing an onslaught of gentrification and it is pushing people. We've seen it in the census numbers when we redistricted that our poorest district lost population and our wealthiest district gained population, and that is not slowing down; if anything, that's accelerating. So as the Commissioner said, he's right. You know, sometimes, we label something fffordable housing,'and somebody -- sometimes, people can't afford it. So that's why I think extremely low income is really what many people would consider affordable housing, but it's also the most difficult, because with rising land values, it requires a full subsidy, essentially, of construction. Andl think this is that last piece that maybe helps with the operation and maintenance component to make a profit, you know -- I mean, not a profit -- to make a project viable. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: I would like to say that I'm very much in favor of anything we can do to help, you know, incentivize and push for more affordable housing, especially at the lower end. The ELI is so hard to incentivize; workforce is a little bit easier. I think that developers are more apt to go to that level, but this is one tool in what I hope are many. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Vice Chair Russell: Because what this does is really, from a market perspective, is helping incentivize the developer. We don't have any guarantee that the savings we're giving him in this permit fee reduction will be passed on, but it does help them and incentivize them. Commissioner Suarez: Oh, no; we definitely have a guarantee that it'll be passed on. Commissioner Gort: It would have to be passed on. Commissioner Suarez: It has to be passed on. Vice Chair Russell: It has to be --? Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, yeah, yeah, because there -- that -- there's rent controls for them to City of Miami Page 24 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Vice Chair Russell: Right, the rent controls are there. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Vice Chair Russell: But they would not necessarily be any different, with or without this permit fee change, right? They -- Commissioner Suarez: Well -- Vice Chair Russell: -- if they're complying -- if they're meeting those rent control limits and they save on this permit fee, that savings doesn't necessarily go on and knock down that rent by that much money, but it does help this developer. In this case, we're helping them be more profitable and incentivizing them to be more active in the affordable housing market, and I think that's a good thing, but it's a start; it's just a start, and we got a lot to do. Commissioner Suarez: I think it could be the difference between a project happening and not happening. Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Commissioner Suarez: So I think that's another way of saying it. Chair Hardemon: I'd like to thank Commissioner Suarez for bringing this item forward, and it makes me very proud of this Commission, because once again, this is another tool that we're using to fight poverty within our communities. So since a few years ago, we've been actively engaged in fighting and eradicating poverty within the City of Miami, and so this is another way that we can go about doing it. With a combination of all the different things we're doing, I think we'll make at least a dent in poverty within the City of Miami, and this is something we should be proud of. So is there any further discussion? Hearing none, can you please read the title into the record? Ms. Mendez: Thank you, Chairman. I just wanted to clarify for the record that the smaller printed agenda that goes out had a minor discrepancy in the title, but the title as advertised, and as placed in our agendas, and as distributed to the public was correct, and it's what I'm reading into the record. The Ordinance was read by title into the public record by the City Attorney. Ms. Mendez: As amended by the Commissioners. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Roll call on item FR.3. Commissioner Carollo? Commissioner Carollo: Yes, as amended. Mr. Hannon: Vice Chair Russell? Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Gort? Commissioner Gort: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Commissioner Suarez? City of Miami Page 25 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Suarez: Yes. Mr. Hannon: Chair Hardemon? Chair Hardemon: For. Mr. Hannon: The ordinance passes on first reading, as amended, 5/0. END OF FIRST READING ORDINANCES RESOLUTIONS RE.1 RESOLUTION 15-01585 Department of Public A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Works ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A COVENANT TO RUN WITH THE LAND, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH OAK PLAZA ASSOCIATES (DEL.) LLC TO CONSTRUCT AND MAINTAIN NON-STANDARD IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN THE DEDICATED PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY THAT ABUTS THEIR PROPERTY IN THE DESIGN DISTRICT, MIAMI, FLORIDA. 15-01585 Summary Form.pdf 15-01585 Legislation.pdf 15-01585 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Note for the Record: Item RE. 1 was deferred to the January 28, 2016, Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting. RE.2 RESOLUTION 15-01596 Bayfront Park A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, ACCEPTING THE BID Management Trust RECEIVED ON AUGUST 20, 2015, FROM BCLS LANDSCAPING GROUP, INC., FOR THE PROVISION OF GROUNDS MAINTENANCE SERVICES AT MUSEUM PARK FOR THE BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST ("TRUST"), PURSUANT TO INVITATION FOR BID NO. 505365, ISSUED BY THE CITY OF MIAMI PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT, FOR AN INITIAL TWO (2) YEAR PERIOD, WITH THE OPTION TO EXTEND FOR THREE (3) ADDITIONAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIODS, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR SUCCEEDING FISCAL YEARS FROM THE TRUSTS OPERATING BUDGET. 15-01596 Memo - Bayfront Park Mgmt Trust.pdf 15-01596 Bid Tabulation.pdf 15-05196 Bid Response - BCLS Landscaping Grp.pdf 15-01596 Corporate Detail.pdf 15-01596 Invitation For Bid.pdf 15-01596 Legislation.pdf City of Miami Page 26 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0011 Chair Hardemon: Moving on to RE.2. Timothy Schmand: Morning, Commissioners. Tim Schmand, Bayfront Park Management Trust, 301 North Biscayne Boulevard. This is a resolution accepting the bid received on August 20, 2015, from BCLS Landscaping Group for the provision of ground maintenance services at Museum Park for a time of two-year period with three additional one-year options to renew. Chair Hardemon: I'll open the public hearing. Is there anyone from the public that comment on this? Please come to the lectern now. Gus Arango: Gus Arango. Chair Hardemon: State your address for the record, please. Mr. Arango: The address? I'm actually from Pembroke Pines. I'm not even from Miami, so it's 19498 Northwest 14th Street. I believe you guys received some information regarding Bayfront, Tim, Mr. Russell, regarding some rocks that were full of debris that need to be brought into the contract; to make sure that you guys are aware of the debris being accumulated in the rocks. It's very important; just a thought. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Any other persons? Hearing none, close the public hearing on this item. Is there any discussion, motions, anything from the dais? Commissioner Carollo: I move it and discussion. Commissioner Suarez: I'll second it. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Carollo; seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Carollo, you're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will want Mr. Schmand to address Mr. Arango's issue. Mr. Schmand. Mr. Schmand: First, I want to thank Gus for bringing that up. As many of you know, Bayfront Park is located in the heart of what we could call the maritime industrial district, and material and debris gets washed off ships, gets blown off boats, and ends up in the rocks that are adjacent to our seawall. Cleaning the seawall is a Sisyphean task, inasmuch as when you get to the end of it, you have to start over again. Twice a week, my crew goes out and, you know, does a cleaning, but it's insufficient. Once a month, we have a volunteer group who comes down, and they clean, and that also doesn't do as good a job as we'd like. Gus has proposed and suggested that we find a vac truck that would remove the debris from the rocks. The problem with the vac truck is anybody who owns the vac truck won't allow you to use it for that debris, because the saltwater will destroy the inner workings of the equipment. So we're stuck in this conundrum of how to deal with these rocks. I have spoken to three different companies with vac trucks, and they've all declined the opportunity, and if anybody listening to this broadcast has a vac truck that they would like to participate in this program, you know, we're available to discuss it. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. City of Miami Page 27 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: With regards to the landscaping contract, I mean, it's pretty straightforward; it's landscaping. Can any of this contract be applied to --? Mr. Schmand: So this is primarily for Museum Park. This is the Museum Park part of the Bayfront Park operation; not the Bayfront Park operation. So, of course, we can bring in crews to clean the debris, but the problem is, as anybody who's worked along the waterfront knows, the debris is an unending event in Miami. So, you know, the crew could go out and clean the rocks, and the following day, it'll be just as messy as it was the day before. It's sort of the function of the natural environment that we inhabit. You know, prior to our arrival here, we didn't have hard shorelines. We had mangrove forests that, you know, populated the shore, and the roots of the mangrove forest captured the debris that washed in from the natural environment. Of course, our natural environment now includes Styrofoam, and plastic bottles, and old coolers, and those are the sorts of things that wash in and deposit in those rocks. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, and so the issue is that, unfortunately, so many people are polluting our waters that every time the tide comes in, some of that stuff gets awash to Bayfront Park, as I'm sure Commissioner Russell's going to see all the different bay areas, from Kennedy Park to even in the Upper Eastside, I've seen the issues. So I don't know if the landscaping contract is actually a way to address it, but, again, twice a week, we're out there collecting, you know, everything, cleaning up our rocks; and once a month, we have an organization that we partner with, and we're out there cleaning, but every day, as the tide comes in, we have new garbage coming in. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: So if I understand correctly, this current landscaping contract on which we're voting does not have a provision to clean the shoreline? Mr. Schmand: No, because this is primarily the Museum Park operation. So for what they do in Museum Park is seven days a week, there's three staff members from their company, you know, pulling weeds, picking up papers and keeping the park in generally good shape. And then once every Wednesday, another group comes in, and they do mowing, and blowing, and weed -eating and trimming. So that's primarily Museum Park, which at Museum Park, there's a different seawall environment completely. The seawall at Museum Park is a hard wall that runs perpendicular to the water. The difference in Bayfront Park, that runs from like the Hotel Intercontinental to -- just to Bayside Marketplace -- is it was built by the Army Corps of Engineers, and they laid in rock as part of like a break water to protect the seawall, and that's where the debris washes in. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: I've been involved in beach clean-ups for years, having been in the water sports industry, and just being a resident; and I even went campaigning, visiting parks, and just seeing -- what you're saying is absolutely correct. The debris washes up, and a lot of that blame even comes from us, because a lot of it's washing out from the streets in our own storm drain systems into the bay. It's not (UNINTELLIGIBLE) just people throwing it from a boat or City of Miami Page 28 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 throwing it from the shore, but it almost sounds like we're saying that there's so much, and it's going to come back tomorrow again that, you know, cleaning it up today isn't really going to help. And I really think we need to shift that mentality that says, That's even more reason for us to clean up today, and tomorrow, and the next day,'because our bay is our treasure. And these parks that we have on the bay are our access to that treasure. And so if we're going be charged with maintaining those parks, that shoreline should almost be the first priority of cleanliness, because that's -- it's just -- it's an important place. And when I'm doing the clean-ups, I'm there, and the kids are there, and we're finding hypodermic needles; we're finding all sorts of things that are physically dangerous, not just dirty or an eyesore. And so I think if it's not addressed in a landscaping contract and the landscaping teams aren't the ones who would be stepping out in there, I mean, groups like volunteercleanup.org, David Dobler, these guys are doing great things, but I think we should enable them more. We should help fund them. We should give them the tools to even either do it or help teach us how we can do it better, because I think it is our responsibility. Our job doesn't stop at the grass. I think the shoreline is really important. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman, I'm glad it's been brought up. If you remember, about a year ago, we talked about the Keeping America Beautiful. We're part of that now, and we have Keep Miami Clean. This is a campaign that we've been working for a whole year, and some of us have been going to the school and educating the kids the effect of throwing trash in the streets, how it ends up in our bay and our river. So this is very important that we continue this clean-up campaign. I think it's very important to educate our people. My understanding is staff is preparing to put a whole program together so we can go to the public and inform the public why it should keep the street clean, and why it's so important for them, how they get affected personally, because people sometimes don't pay attention unless they know how they going to be affected. So we going to make sure we going to do that. And one of the things we been caking all the Commissioners is to make sure we go to the school and begin with the kids. I mean, the kids will educate the parents why we should not throw trash away in the streets. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to say that I wholeheartedly agree with both of my colleagues; I really do. So we described the issue. So when I said as far as this landscaping contract not necessarily being the right tool right now doesn't mean we can't bring something back in the future; which, by the way, you actually see that Bayfront Park actually goes to Procurement and then comes back to this Commission. So, you know, it's added layers to make sure that, you know, our City Government, even though we are given the opportunity to manage the parks, we still bring back issues to the City Commission in order to address and make sure that you're aware of what's going on in our City parks. With that said, this landscaping contract, I think, should go as is, and then bring something back, and I'll tell you why: One of the issues, it's not just -- first of all, this landscaping contract is for Museum Park; it's not Bayfront Park. And Bayfront Park is where we're having more of the issue, because you have rocks. And it also becomes a safety issue, people going on top of the rocks picking up trash, so it's something that we have to address a little bit differently, instead of just an outright landscaping contract, so that's why I think we should pass this resolution as is; however, however, we will see how we bring something back or we do -- we procure to see how we could address this other issue, because I agree with both of you; one, that we just can't look the other way -- and we haven't; but number two, that we need to educate our public, because you're right, Commissioner Russell; it's not just people throwing trash out over the boat. It's actually our sewer system, and it's something that -- it's a bigger problem than just a quick fix with our landscapers going out there and doing that. And in all fairness, our landscaper may not necessarily be the right avenue or the right, you know, venue to fix this problem that is much City of Miami Page 29 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 greater than most people would think. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, indicate so by saying aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes. Mr. Schmand: Thank you. RE.3 RESOLUTION 15-01601 Department of Capital A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Improvement ATTACHMENT(S), ACCEPTING THE BID RECEIVED SEPTEMBER 30, 2015, Programs/Transportat PURSUANT TO INVITATION TO BID ("ITB") NO. 14-15-029, FROM METRO ion EXPRESS, INC., THE LOWEST RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE BIDDER, FOR THE GROVE PARK ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS - PHASE 2 - DISTRICT 3 PROJECT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,136,770.00 FOR THE SCOPE OF WORK, PLUS A TEN PERCENT (10%) OWNER CONTINGENCY AMOUNT OF $113,677.00, FOR A TOTAL NOT TO EXCEED AWARD VALUE OF $1,250,447.00; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. B-40347; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, CONSISTING OF THE ITB DOCUMENTS AND ATTACHMENTS, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 15-01601 Summary Form.pdf 15-01601 Memo - Manager's Approval.pdf 15-01601 Bid Security List.pdf 15-01601 Corporate Detail.pdf 15-01601 Legislation.pdf 15-01601 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez R-16-0013 Chair Hardemon: Let's go back in the agenda to RE.4. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, did you mean RE.3? Vice Chair Russell: It's RE.3. Commissioner Carollo: RE.3. Commissioner Gort: RE.3. Chair Hardemon: RE.3 was withdrawn. Mr. Hannon: RE.4 was withdrawn, sir. Commissioner Carollo: RE.4 was. We have RE.3. City of Miami Page 30 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.4 15-01600 Chair Hardemon: RE.3. Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good morning, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director, Capital Improvements & Transportation. RE.3 is a resolution accepting the bids from Metro Express in the amount of $1,136, 770 for the construction of the Grove Park Project. Chair Hardemon: Is there anyone from the public that'd like to comment on this item? Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Chair Hardemon: Is there any discussion? It's been properly moved -- Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Chair Hardemon: -- by Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: Seconded by Commissioner Carollo. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: All against? Motion passes. RESOLUTION Department of Real A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Estate and Asset ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A Management PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, BETWEEN THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") AND DAVID ROSENTHAL AND MARVIN ROSENTHAL ("SELLERS"), FOR THE ACQUISITION OF THE REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2000 SOUTHWEST 33RD AVENUE, MIAMI, FLORIDA, ("PROPERTY"), WITH AN APPROXIMATE TOTAL LOT AREA OF 6,363 SQUARE FEET, AS LEGALLY DESCRIBED IN THE AGREEMENT, FOR A TOTAL PURCHASE PRICE OF FOUR HUNDRED FORTY NINE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED NINETY NINE DOLLARS ($449,999.00), CONTINGENT UPON THE CITY OBTAINING A WRITTEN APPRAISAL FROM A LICENSED FLORIDA APPRAISER STATING THAT THE APPRAISED VALUE OF THE PROPERTY IS AT MINIMUM THE REFERENCED AMOUNT HEREIN; AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS TO SAID AGREEMENT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE SAID ACQUISITION; WITH FUNDS ALLOCATED FROM THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT AND TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM PROJECT B-50568, DISTRICT4 PARK LAND ACQUISITION, IN THE TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($460,000.00), TO COVER THE COST OF SAID ACQUISITION, INCLUSIVE OF THE COST OF THE SURVEY, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT, TITLE INSURANCE AND SUCH OTHER RELATED CLOSING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID ACQUISITION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND City of Miami Page 31 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.5 15-01610 CONDITIONS OF THE AGREEMENT. 15-01600 Summary Form.pdf 15-01600 Legislation.pdf 15-01600 Exhibit-Agreement.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon RESOLUTION District 1- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING GOVERNOR Commissioner RICK SCOTT AND THE MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO Wifredo (Willy) Gort PASS SENATE BILL 130 AND HOUSE BILL 41, AMENDING SECTION 790.15, FLORIDA STATUTES, ENTITLED "DISCHARGING FIREARM IN PUBLIC OR ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY" BY ADDING SUBSECTION (4) PROHIBITING PERSONS FROM RECREATIONALLY DISCHARGING A FIREARM OUTDOORS "IN AN AREA THAT THE PERSON KNOWS OR REASONABLY SHOULD KNOW IS PRIMARILY RESIDENTIAL IN NATURE"; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMITA COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT, SENATE PRESIDENTANDY GARDINER, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE GARRETT RICHTER, HOUSE SPEAKER STEVE CRISAFULLI AND THE MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE. 15-01610 Senate Bill 130.pdf 15-01610 House Bill 41.pdf 15-01610 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Absent: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez R-16-0018 Chair Hardemon: Moving on now to RE.5. Commissioner Gort: That's my -- the reason I brought this up, if you're -- I don't know how many people are aware that the State of Florida allows you to have a target range in your back yard, and this is something that I've been working for the last three years. It needs to be eliminated. Can you imagine with the things that are going on today how many people set up their own target practice in their own back yards? And so this legislation -- and supporting another one that does away with a little of that. Could you read it? Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Sorry? Commissioner Gort: Will you read that resolution? Mr. Min: Yes. Mr. Chair, the legislation is a resolution of the Miami City Commission urging Governor Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Legislature to pass Senate Bill 130 and House Bill 41; amending Section 790.15 Florida Statutes, entitled Discharging a Firearm in Public or on Residential Property'7y adding Sub -Section 4, prohibiting persons from recreationally discharging a firearm outdoors in an area that the person knows or reasonably should know is primarily residential in nature; directing the City Clerk to transmit a copy of this City of Miami Page 32 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 resolution to Governor Rick Scott, Senate President Andy Gardiner, President Pro Tempore Garrett Richter, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and the members of the Florida Legislature. Commissioner Gort: So moved, and my suggestion is that we call our Legislator, the one we know, and make sure that they pass this. Chair Hardemon: There is a motion on the floor, correct? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Commissioner Gort just moved it. Chair Hardemon: And -- okay. Moved by Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: Second by Commissioner Suarez [sic]. Pll open up the public hearing. Commissioner Carollo: Commissioner -- Chair Hardemon: Is there anyone from the public hearing -- Commissioner Carollo: -- Carollo. Chair Hardemon: What did I say? Commissioner Carollo: Suarez. Chair Hardemon: Suarez? Commissioner Carollo: Suarez is not here. Chair Hardemon: I apologize. By Commissioner Carollo. Closing the public hearing at this time. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. RE.6 RESOLUTION 15-01175 Department of Real TO BE WITHDRAWN BY THE ADMINISTRATION Estate and Asset Management A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACCEPT, PURSUANT TO A SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED, THE DONATION OF A PARCEL OF LAND IDENTIFIED AS PORTIONS OF FOLIO NOS. 01-3230-012-0060 AND 01-3230-095-0001 LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY NORTHEAST 32ND STREET AND NORTHEAST 7TH AVENUE, AS MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED IN "EXHIBIT A", FROM PRH NE 31ST STREET, LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, AND THIRTY-FIRST STREET PROPERTY OWNER LLC, A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ("GRANTORS"), TO THE CITY OF MIAMI, SAID DONATION TO INCLUDE ALL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRANSFER OF THE PROPERTY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE SURVEY, ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT, TITLE INSURANCE AND CLOSING COSTS; City of Miami Page 33 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ANY NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, IN ORDER TO EFFECTUATE SAID CONVEYANCE. 15-01175 Summary Form.pdf 15-01175 Back -Up Document.pdf 15-01175 Pre-Legislation.pdf 15-01175 Legislation.pdf 15-01175 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon RE.7 RESOLUTION 15-01670 District 4- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION DIRECTING THE CITY Commissioner ADMINISTRATION TO DEVELOP THE SCOPE, DETERMINE THE COST, Francis Suarez AND OUTLINE THE TIMEFRAME ASOCIATED WITH CONDUCTING A STUDY PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 13 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS AMENDED ("CITY CODE"), ENTITLED "DEVELOPMENT IMPACT AND OTHER RELATED FEES," REGARDING THE FEASIBILITY OF CREATING A TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEE; FURTHER DIRECTING THE CITY ADMINISTRATION TO RETURN TO THE JANUARY 28, 2016 COMMISSION MEETING WITH A STATUS UPDATE AS TO THIS TRANSPORTATION STUDY, AND TO CONDUCTATRIENNIAL IMPACT FEE REVIEW PURSUANT TO SECTION 13-13(G) OF THE CITY CODE, TO DETERMINE IF CHANGES IN COSTS, CITY FACILITY NEEDS, OR DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS DICTATE A NEED TO UPDATE ANY OTHER IMPACT FEES. 15-01670 Draft Ordinance.pdf 15-01670 Back -Up from Law Dept.pdf 15-01670 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0019 Chair Hardemon: Let's go backwards to RE.7. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. May I be recognized? Chair Hardemon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Both Commissioner Carollo and I have expressed in similar and different ways -- and we also had a sunshine meeting -- on the need for looking at and studying impact fees, which are currently not being paid by developers or development for transportation and transit. We've talked about a lot of the issues here today. We know that density and development is corning to our city, and it's already here, and many people are -- particularly the ones who object to more density and development -- their major objection is City of Miami Page 34 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 traffic. And they are shocked to know that we do not charge an impact fee, and they're shocked to know that it's not considered -- that development is not considered one of the impacts of traffic -- to traffic. So, you know, the City Attorney has told me that we have to -- in order for a transportation impact fee to be held up as legal and constitutional, we have to do a study that justifies it. I would also state that, you know, one of the things that would be important for us to study is: What kind of an economic impact would it have? Are we overcharging on some impact fees, categories, potentially? Is it something where we can charge a transportation impact fee within a certain -- within the current fee envelope, or is it something that we would have to go above the fee envelope to do? And I think, you know, that's something that we should look at and see what the impacts are going to be of that. So I move the item. Commissioner Gort: Second. Vice Chair Russell: Discussion. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Suarez; seconded by Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: And I recognize the Vice Chairman; then Commissioner Carollo. Vice Chair Russell: Yes. When I spoke with the City Manager about this issue, it seems that his concern would have been the cost of this study based on what is its scope. If it -- whereas Parks is something very definable, and Now does one unit of a new construction impact transportation?'fs a very broad, broad request. And so, you know, maybe we should think about the scope of the study, or the scope of the impact fee and target it more specifically; whether it's public transportation issues, or, you know, traffic flow issues, enforcement issues. How would that impact fee be used. I did feel a resistance to it, though, from the City in the sense that this is something that the County should be handling, as they're in charge of transportation. And I wholeheartedly disagree. I think that as we as a City approve construction and projects, that has an impact, and we know that it has an impact. It has to be measured and it has to be mitigated, and that's what these impact fees are for. So, one, we'd be really looking at the scope of the study, and how the fee could be done; two, I'd -- it is of my opinion that I hope that it adds an impact fee, and not eats away from a Parks impact fee, for example. But that's -- we're going to study. And three, our Planning & Zoning director suggested a plan where impact fees could be separated into districts so that where the impact happened due to those constructions and the new people moving in that the mitigation would concentrate a little bit -- not completely, at all -- that those fees would go throughout the City, but that the intent being this building is impacting this neighborhood. We're approving it; we're going to mitigate it, and we help that out. I'm sorry, one last point -- I think it's number four -- is that it also consider the impact of the construction; not just the impact of the people moving in, and the additional cars and traffic, but that when we approve a project, the impact for those next few years will be the blocked lanes of the staging areas, the deliveries, the noise; so much things that we are causing that we should mitigate. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Suarez: There's just two things that he said there thatl think are really worth for me to -- sort of shedding a little light on. I heard the same concern from the Administration relative to the study cost, and I even heard someone toss out a number, like, Oh, this could cost $1 million to study," just to give you an example. One year alone, I think it was -- if not last year, the year before -- in Park impact fees to use that category that you used. I think we collected $34 City of Miami Page 35 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 million in one year, which is how we did Regatta Park. We allocated, I think, a good portion of that monies to Regatta Park, which is what happened, and it happened so quickly. So I think the study costs pale in comparison to what, you know, the mitigation of funds could generate. To your other point, I think you're right insofar as -- and that -- there was a big debate at that time when we generated that amount of money and allocated it to that -- to your district; it was your district at the time. There was a big discussion about whether the impact should be spent, the money should be spent in the district where the impact money is generated. With transit, I think it's a little different, which is why I think Commissioner Carollo, on his blue page item a few weeks ago or a month, couple months ago had talked about creating a citywide impact fee zone, which I think is right, because we have to move people around, and I think that's why -- we have to get them out of one place and efficiently to another one. So it makes it a little harder in the context of transportation, though. I do think you actually articulated the scope pretty well in terms of all the different things that really need to be looked at, and that could create traffic problems. So I have no problem with the scope as you've articulated it, but certainly allowing the experts to articulate it further, if necessary. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I -- so, Commissioner Russell, that resistance that you have noticed, I definitely share that resistance, because back on September 24, 2015, I actually -- right now, I have a discussion item, DI.10, which stipulates a follow-up regarding the directive that was given by this Commission on September 24, 2015, regarding the transportation impact fee. So that directive was given back in September 24 -- months ago -- with regards to bringing a report to us so we could do the study, or see exactly what needed to be done. I have had no traction, whatsoever; none. I actually had a few weeks back a discussion item -- I think it was the same discussion item -- which we didn't take up, but you would think that we would get some type of a report, or some type of follow-up, which we have received none. So I understand the resistance with regards to the County ultimately is the one responsible. They had the purview with transportation, and I'm not looking to take that responsibility away from them; however, that doesn't mean that we cannot subsidize some of that and make sure that our City is running the way everybody feels that it should run, because in all fairness, something that I have learned as soon as I got elected, most individuals, most residents don't really care if it's the job of the City, the County, the State, the Federal Government; they just want it fixed. So that's why I do believe in subsidizing some of these programs. And in all fairness, I don't think it's the Administration's purview to show resistance, or not do what has been directed by the City Commission. With that said, I know Commissioner Suarez has also brought things, and we have different variations and stuff like that, and I think we mentioned it in -- at one sunshine meeting, where I believe that what Commissioner Suarez had thought was doing impact fee; or, realistically, seeing if some of the monies that's already allocated for impact fees -- not necessarily Parks, but from what I understood was GSA (General Services Administration) monies could then could -- instead of going to GSA, be allocated for transportation. I had thought, You know what? Especially in downtown Miami and Brickell area with the high-rises, that's'L- I mean, whoever touches it, that's not causing impact in traffic, I think is not living in reality. So I thought, with those students, we should consider this study to see if we do a new impact fee for transportation citywide. I used the language when -- back in September 24 -- of the same language that is used for Parks, Police, Fire, with regards to impact citywide, and I have yet to have really any response from the Administration or the City Attorneys Office with regards to the study, you know. So I guess I welcome this from Commissioner Suarez, that he's bringing it as a resolution as opposed to me trying in good faith of, you know, bringing discussion items, and trying to work with the Administration, but in all fairness, listen, I just want to get the thing done. I just want to make sure we can move forward. I just want to make sure that we address some of the issues, and something that was brought back in September 24, 2015, you know, where we're here in mid -January, and, you know, it's coming in a different variation or not, but the bottom line is it's not getting done. So I guess with what I'm saying, I'm addressing a lot of the issues that you've had, because we've -- sort of already have addressed City of Miami Page 36 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 them. You know, we're not looking at switching Park impact fees to transportation. Commissioner Suarez was looking at GSA. I was looking at having a new category for transportation, itself, and although, yes, it could be used for roads, but I'm not looking necessarily for this impact fee to be used for roads. I'm looking for, you know, mass transit, mass transit projects for it to go to our Transportation Trust Fund, so that when there's opportunities to have matching funds with the State, Federal Government; if that happens, we have the monies there. So that's -- that was my intention with doing an impact fee, or a new additional impact fee with regards to transportation. And I'm looking more at the high-rises. I'm not necessarily looking at someone who's putting a duplex or a house. I'm looking at what really is causing an impact in our community. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort, would you like to be recognized? No? Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if may real quick? Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman first; then you. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Vice Chair Russell: Actually, I'm okay. Chair Hardemon: You're okay? You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I just wanted to say that I pretty much agree with 97 percent of what Commissioner Carollo said. I think, from my perspective, certainly, there was an effort to look at what currently existing impact fees could be eligible for transit and/or other solutions, like undergrounding the FPL (Florida Power & Light) lines. And one of the things that I wanted to flush out with him in our sunshine meeting was creating another category. Do we create it within the envelope of the already -existing fees, like within the current dollar; or do we go a dollar plus? And I think that was one of the things that we wanted to flush out, and I think that's one of the things that we need to study. The other thing I think we need to study is -- and this goes -- this will be part of the study into the scope that you were talking about, Vice Chair, is -- you know, I don't want to say selectively, can we charge? But he was talking about charging people in a block -- let's say, for example, high-rises. I'm not sure that we can -- I don't know if we can parcel out -- yeah, I mean I think that needs to be studied; let's leave it at that. And then, maybe there's a way to do it. Maybe you already an idea of how to do it, and so -- but that was one of the things that I wanted to think about, because I wanted to make sure that whatever we do will hold up afterwards, after the fact. Because some -- yeah. Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chair, ifI could? Yes. And what I'm looking at, let's say building a new construction of buildings that are X'humber of units or above. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Commissioner Carollo: And that's what I'm looking at, because that's where you really see the effect. A new house, a new duplex, you know, I think you could argue, Hey, the impact is minimal,'but if you do a new high-rise that's 80 stories, with rhumber of units, that definitely has an impact in that area, so that's more of what I'm looking at. And again, I guess now you're seeing a joint effort by two Commissioners again requesting, demanding from our Administration, let's move forward with this. I mean, at least for my part, I brought it back in September 24. Let's move forward. I mean, there's definitely dollars. I mean, you still see the new construction there, and that new construction is adding -- is going to add to our transportation problems, but we need to somehow be able to mitigate that problem with some type of impact fee. And I think what we're saying is, Let's do the study, let's have it done. "And, you know, I think if Commissioner Suarez and I differ in any of this, I think it's minor. You know, City of Miami Page 37 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 usually, 97 percent is actually pretty good, and that's without having -- Commissioner Suarez: Awesome, yeah. Commissioner Carollo: -- being able to speak too much about it, but here, you have two Commissioners that are saying, !Iey, listen, we need to get this done. "And maybe it's just, you know, within GSA; or maybe a list of new impact fee, which I think should be the way we go, but the bottom line is, let's see the numbers. And now is the only time that we really get to talk with regards to, you know, the monies. I think it should be, you know, more or less looking at mass transit. Commissioner Suarez: Absolutely. No, 1100 percent agree, and I think one of the things I wanted to put on the record -- and I know Vice Chair wants to jump in -- but is -- I think we're already due for a five-year re-evaluation of the study of impact fee collections, anyhow, so this is something that we have to restudy, regardless. Commissioner Carollo: Right. Commissioner Suarez: And I think this dovetails nicely with that, because this is a new reality. I mean, densification in the urban core is not a new reality, but I think it's gone into hyper -drive in the last five years, and I think nothing right now is showing that it's going to slow down. I mean, there's obviously some economic indicators that might show that there's a little bit of a slow -down, but I think we could safely assume that we're going to have a pretty good amount of densification over the next two to five years. Chair Hardemon: Now, I want a few things to be known. First, I want to make sure that we're bringing this back so that we know the cost to implement something like this before anything is ever executed; that's the first thing. And then the second, you know, there's certain buzz words that always perk my ears. Mass transit,'to me, sounds like a Federal and a -- in some degree, regional, so County have responsibility. So I know that the cost of delivering mass transit dwarfs whatever amount we have in our budget and what we're capable of actually executing. And so the only way that we will be able to, for instance, affect, I think, mass transit is by issuing some sort of bond or something that would actually give us the amount of funds necessary to do that. I don't think a transportation impact fee will give us that; however, I do think a transportation impact fee would allow us to fund items that move people around; for instance, like light rails and things of that nature, it can do that. But as far as a mass transit, I think -- mass transit, I think highways; I think trains; I think, you know, things that have a significant capital input. And so when we use that -- but those -- that stuff will be flushed out as we move forward, so I'm not asking to have a debate on that right now. I want to recognize the Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair, thank you. I was going to see if we could get a timeline from Administration on some deadlines for this, and if there's any reasons of things that would make it more complicated that we know them now so that we can flush it out, give them clear direction on what we're looking for, or do they already have that? Commissioner Suarez: No. I think we've given it to them. Commissioner Carollo: I mean, since September, they've had plenty of time to ask us any questions that, you know, they feel fit, or any ambiguities or -- Vice Chair Russell: But you have three. There's three -- you said there's two -- Chair Hardemon: So Mr. Manager's Office, what's the timeline that you expect to have this returned to us with the costs? City of Miami Page 38 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Fernando Casamayor (Chief Financial Officer/Assistant City Manager): Boy, I miss Danny today. Commissioners, you know, we need to -- for the transportation impact fee, you know, we really need to determine the scope of what this would be used for. We also, as mentioned before, we do need to take a review of our existing impact fees, as well. I can tell you that this is expertise, especially on the transportation side, that the City does not have. We are going to need to engage a consultant, a partner, someone who specializes in these things in order to assist us to do the study. So the first thing we need to do is get a scope together to tell them what it is that we're asking them to do. You know, to give you a date of when that's going to be available and ready, I cannot do that at this moment. What I can do is commit to having a discussion item, if you like, to put on at the next Commission agenda, or separately, to advise you regarding what it is that we're doing. I can commit to do that, and then once we have a better understanding of how long it's going to take to develop a scope that we are still trying to figure out, then we can give you the update as to when we can get it through a procurement process, and, you know, how we would go about doing that. That's the best I can do right now. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: I'm going to let Commissioner Carollo jump in on the timeline, because I think he's got a pretty solid idea, I'm sure, but I want to touch on an issue that will make a little bit -- this meeting a little more efficient, which I think will make the Chairman happy. I have another blue page item that talks about a -- I have -- I don't know why I have so many. I think it has to do with the holidays, but I have another blue page item that talks about a transportation master plan, and we may want to go out, if we're going to go RFP, a transportation study for impact fees that we also add that to the scope. I know Coral Gables did one recently, a transportation master plan, and this goes to a variety of issues related all the way from changing our transportation philosophy; particularly in our neighborhoods, so that our neighborhoods are walkable, and bike -able, and pedestrian friendly, child friendly, and elderly friendly, all the way through to the mass transit component. So I think the better that we are focused, the better that we are organized, and the better we think things through -- I mean, we have a comprehensive master plan for development; you know what I mean? We should have a comprehensive transportation master plan, as well. So if the Commission is okay with that, I think it might be a good idea to fold the two into one. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't have a problem with that, but in all fairness, I think it's been done piecemeal, because, you know, you're mentioning that we're going to hire consultants. Didn't we just approve, this Commission approve an additional -- I don't know -- I'm not going to say an amount, but let's say a large sum of monies for transportation consultants? And haven't they done millions of dollars of work already? So, I mean, you know, if now the issue is that we don't know what consultants, this and that, I mean, in all fairness, what about all those millions of dollars of work that they've done already? Mr. Casamayor: Sir, absolutely, and they have done particular amount -- they've done a considerable amount of work with certain traffic studies that we've asked them to do for various projects that have been required. I think what's being asked now is to develop an impact fee that would have some sort of citywide improvement to certain -- it could be road widening; it could be some sort of -- for lack of a better term -- large-scale transportation, public transportation. It could be a lot of things, and that's something that requires an addition -- another study. We do have a Max Consultant pool. We can access very quickly consultants if we need to, if the price tag is less than $200, 000. I'm hoping that we can get it below that. That would be a win/win for City of Miami Page 39 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 everybody if we can do it for a much smaller amount than we originally anticipate, but it's just -- we need a little bit of time to figure out what it is that we're going to be asking them to do, and be able to get back some estimate as to what that cost is going to be; that's what we're asking for, sir. And I'm not going to speak for Danny regarding -- for the Manager regarding whether or not his opinion is that it's a regional issue, or it's a local issue. This is strictly a policy decision by the City Commission. As the Administration, we will abide by whatever policy the Commission dictates to us. He has been accused of being a little passionate regarding certain issues, but it's not in any way, shape or form meant to be disrespectful to anyone. We will work regarding whatever policy it is that the Commission sees fit. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Understood, Mr. Casamayor. And, realistically, I think -- listen, I just want to make sure that -- I've been waiting since September. I just want to make sure we move on it. I just want to make sure that, you know, we're not lingering and it's not getting done. I mean, with regards to consultants, you have consultants. I've seen how much money they've already cost the City. I don't know if we've gotten -- you know, how fruitful it's been, but the bottom line is, this is something that we're looking at. And whether we define lhass transit'as, you know -- I don't know -- high-speed rail, or streetcar, or bay link, you know, I think that could come later, but I think you're seeing the gist of what we're trying to do. And again, I think -- I don't know; I don't know how else to define it, unless, you know, my colleagues could help me, but I think we've been pretty clear on what we want to see. So, you know, I -- and then -- I don't know -- are you planning on bringing some type of agenda item at the next Commission meeting? And we can discuss cost, if there is any. I mean, $200, 000 seems high, but anyways, I mean -- Mr. Casamayor: Yes, sir. I mean, if we are able to do the things that we need to do -- develop the scope; get estimates on what the cost is going to be -- we will bring that at the next Commission meeting, if we can; if not, at the very least, we could have a discussion item that comes in so we can keep you informed as to where we are in the process. I mean, that's what I can offer; in order to keep you all informed regarding the work that we're doing in order to effectuate the policy that's been dictated. Chair Hardemon: I think that's separate. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. And Mr. City Clerk, if you could show my DI. 10 combined with RE.7? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Commissioner Suarez: I think I have a -- I think I'm combining also the transportation master plan with this too, though, for efficiency's sake. Chair Hardemon: Is yours DI.8? Correct? Commissioner Suarez: I think so. Chair Hardemon: DI.8, correct. Commissioner Suarez: Makes sense. Chair Hardemon: We've noted that. There's been a motion and a second to -- Commissioner Suarez: Consolidate -- City of Miami Page 40 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: -- accept RE.7 at this point. Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Is there any further -- Mr. Min: Does the elective body want to amend the resolution? All the resolution states is that the City Manager is directed to conduct a study. Do you want to amend the legislation to indicate when it has to come back; that it has to come back; and certainly, the price that's going to be paid; any of the other issues that were discussed on the floor or --? Commissioner Suarez: I think so, but I think -- obviously, he's not going to conduct the study himself. He just said he doesn't have the expertise to do it, so he's going to have to bring someone onboard to do it, so, yeah. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, as amended. As amended, Mr. Clerk. Commissioner Carollo: So it's actually not going to be the study and bringing it back. We don't have a time frame, but it will be -- at least you will inform us at the next Commission meeting, so you will bring something back. Commissioner Suarez: If you're not ready. Mr. Casamayor: Yes, we can discuss the item and continue talking about where we are in the process at the next Commission meeting. Commissioner Carollo: Or hopefully moving forward already with -- Mr. Casamayor: Yes, sir; hopefully moving forward, sir. Chair Hardemon: So to clam for the motion and the second, the additional -- I guess modification to this -- will be that it will come back with a cost estimate; you would have the permission to engage a consultant, and that would be all, or is there one more thing? Mr. Min: And I -- if the Commission wants to direct the Administration to report back on a monthly basis -- Chair Hardemon: Yes. Mr. Min: -- with the status of the study. Chair Hardemon: What -- The direction is to come at the next agenda hearing with at least a discussion item if you do not have something readily available for us to review. That's fair? Commissioner Suarez: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Chair Hardemon: Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 41 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.8 15-01659 Honorable Mayor Tomas Regalado Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. Mr. Hannon: As amended. Chair Hardemon: As amended RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ("MOU"), IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, WITH THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, FOR THE BEACH CORRIDOR DIRECT CONNECTION PROJECT; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY ATTORNEY, IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THE INTENT OF THE MOU. 15-01659 Back -Up Document.pdf 15-01659 Legislation.pdf 15-01659 Exhibit - MOU.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be CONTINUED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 4 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo and Hardemon Noes: 1 - Commissioner(s) Suarez Note for the Record: Item RE.8 was continued to the February 11, 2016, Regular Commission Meeting. Chair Hardemon: At this time, I would like to recognize Miami City Mayor, and he has a couple of items that he would like to address. Mayor Tombs Regalado: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, I'm here on RE.8. RE.8 is a resolution of the Miami City Commission authorizing the City Manager to execute a memorandum of understanding in the attached form with the City of Miami Beach, Miami -Dade County, and the Florida Department of Transportation for the Beach Corridor Direct Connection Project, and the reason that I'm here is to respectfully request that you allow us to defer this to the second -- the first or the second meeting -- when is the first meeting in February? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): February 11, sir. Mayor Regalado: February 11. So to the first meeting. The reason is that, as you know, we have a committee -- the Mayor of the County, the Mayor of Miami Beach, the Mayor of the City of Miami, plus Commissioner Xavier Suarez and Commissioner Bruno Barreiro. This is the Beach Corridor; what we all call the bay link. In the last meeting of this committee, it was decided that we -- all the Commissions -- Miami Beach, Miami -Dade County, and City of Miami -- will examine and approve this MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), which will give the green light to FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) to start the process for the Bay Link Project. As you may have remembered, in that meeting, it was said that CITT (Citizens' Independent Transportation Trust) will put about $3.5 million; FDOT, about $5 million; and the three different governments -- County, Miami Beach, and Miami -- $250, 000. It's a total of $10 million, so they can start the feasibility study and the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) study with -- the Federal Government requires. At that time, all the members of the committee City of Miami Page 42 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 agreed, but then the City of Miami Beach decided to move forward, and they -- Mayor Levine brought to the City Commission an item to issue an RFP (Request for Proposals) for an internal streetcar, which is similar to the bay link, because they didn't want to wait for the connectivity and for FDOT. At the time, some people say that because of that, bay link was in life support. I do not agree. I still think that we can at least plan and go to Washington. There is a possibility of Federal money for the bay link; although we don't know the consequences of Miami Beach. The good thing is that Mayor Levine said that by August, if they see movement within FDOT, they will withdraw their proposal or whoever have want that; that is to be seen. But the main issue is that a meeting with Mayor Levine, the Mayor of the County, myself and Commissioners Suarez and Barreiro has been called for February 4. On that meeting, we will know if the secretary for FDOT recommends that we move forward, and if that is the case, if Miami Beach opts to not participate, then a new scenario will have to be presented to you. But the bottom line is that by February 11, we will have at least some document from that meeting for you to consider. So I just wanted your permission to defer this item to the February 11 City Commission. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: We need a motion. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved. Is there a second? Commissioner Carollo: Second for the deferral. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Gort; seconded by Commissioner Carollo. I'm recognizing Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I apologize to the Mayor, because I did want to talk to him about this beforehand. We sort of had a very, very quick conversation maybe a week ago or so, a few days ago, and I didn't have a chance to actually talk to him a little bit more about this. I guess my fear is -- or my recollection of this process was before, when Ms. Bravo was our Assistant City Manager, we were the ones that, as a city, were pushing very hard to get our -- quote/unquote -- Ytreetcar,'{vhich I think has sort of metamorphosized [sic] into bay link. I think that's a good thing, you know, that the streetcar idea for us to move people from downtown along Biscayne Boulevard or along that corridor, if you will, north. Mayor Regalado: Right, Miami -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. Combining with the connectivity with Miami Beach is a very good thing. I think the concern I have was at that time -- and you recall, because you went with me to the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization), and I really appreciate the fact that you were there, fighting alongside me, even though we kind of took it on the chin -- Mayor Regalado: Right. Commissioner Suarez: -- that day. Mayor Regalado: We lost. Commissioner Suarez: We lost, but we went because we were the ones saying at that time that, We're going to self -fund, because we've done a NEPA study for our side of the bay,'and, you City of Miami Page 43 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 know, these -- the reason why I think there's hesitation -- and I obviously can't talk to the Mayor, because we're both on the MPO -- but I think the reason why there's a hesitation is because it's further study, it's further delay; you know, it's a process that takes between 12 and 14 months just to study, and then to become potentially eligible for a funding source that we don't know will actually be available or not; we're not sure. Certainly, if you look at our history with us having studied our corridor and gotten to a point where we would be eligible, and then nothing happened for a long period of time, that's not a very comforting -- that's not very comforting. And so, I'm just -- my concern is, you know, we had -- we were teed up to go on the Miami streetcar. We were convinced by Miami Beach at that time, !ley, wait for us. "Now, they wanted to go on their own for, I think, many of the same reasons that we did, which was we just didn't have confidence in either the State or the Federal process, because it hadn't gotten us anywhere. And I think the Mayor -- just like you and I did at the time -- felt a tremendous pressure from our residents to deliver a solution. Mayor Regalado: Right. Commissioner Suarez: And so I think my concern is, first and foremost, what are you -- and this is question I would have asked you before, and I apologize -- what do you expect will -- I mean, because we could, in theory, pass this resolution right now, but you're recommending that we don't do that. Mayor Regalado: No, you shouldn't, because I think Miami Beach is out of this resolution as of now, and you're right. As a matter of fact, the County made a mistake in the minutes, and I think that that was fixed by Assistant City Manager Alberto Parjus, because in the prior meeting, specific, we spoke about the streetcar of the City of Miami; not on the past meeting, but on the prior meeting, we did said that we wanted to move forward and look for any connectivity. At the time, Commissioner Suarez was in favor of connecting all the dots, you know, through Julia Tuttle, and all that, and they missed that on the minutes and -- but I think they're back on the minutes on -- specific about the streetcar. What I expect that we do on February 4 is clarity. We -- I know that in the past meeting, Secretary Pego was very, very, very clear to Mayor Levine that if he would pull out of the system, it would create a difficult situation for the whole project, and the reason is that if they do go out with an RFP and buy into a technology, then we will be forced to use the same technology on the whole Bay Link Project, and you might not want to do it. The City probably would like to issue its own RFP or piggyback in the State or whatever. So I think we should wait for the February 4. I really believe -- because this is a sunshine meeting that we are going to have at the County -- that if you can attend, the members of the Commission should be there, because this is a big deal; it's a citywide issue, and I urge you to be there. I just don't know what to expect on February 4. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: And I have a blue page item -- so I'll just subsume the blue page item into this, so that we don't have to do it again -- on bay link, and it was -- obviously, I put it on there before I had seen this agenda, so I didn't realize the Mayor was going to be talking about this issue today. I guess my issue is this -- and this goes to the sunshine meeting that we had this week, you know, and it's really also for my colleagues' benefit. When we were going to go forward with the streetcar component of it, we were going to essentially self -fund with 50 percent coming from the State through its New Start Program; 20 percent coming from the County; and the rest coming from the City. That was sort of what was being talked about at the time, and when we were pushing for Priority 1 funding at the MPO. And, you know, we were pushing to get going. We may have done an RFP -- if we had got -- been successful, we may have done an RFP, and maybe Miami Beach would have had to use our -- you know, whoever we selected or whatever the case may be. I think, in terms of bi-County mobility, we chose to piggyback on one City of Miami Page 44 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 of their RFP's, which was the bicycle RFP. Obviously, it's a slightly different scale to piggyback off a bicycle RFP, you know, for bicycle sharing -- Mayor Regalado: Right. Commissioner Suarez: -- than it is to do mass transit. But to me, you know, the fear that I have is twofold: Number one, delay, which I think is the same fear that the Mayor of Miami Beach has; and number two, there is no guarantee at the end of the delay that we are going to be better off than we are today; that's just my perspective, because, you know -- and I do think there's absolutely a good reason, like you said, Mayor, for there to be one entity controlling this process; whether it's the State or the County, to me, it makes no difference. But -- Mayor Regalado: It should be the State. I mean -- Commissioner Suarez: That's fine. Mayor Regalado: -- they are the one. Commissioner Suarez: But for the reason you articulated, because it should be one procurement; it should be one vendor; it should be one system. It doesn't make sense for us to have different systems, different paying systems, and all that stuff. But I'm just, you know, concerned, because we went, you know, to the MPO with a very strong -- in my opinion -- argument that, Hey, we're ready to go on the streetcar. If=- We're ready to self fund, if we have to,'because all these processes take forever, and then you're never guaranteed at the end of the process you're going to get anything. And if you want any proof of that, just look at the last 35 years of how we've not expanded mass transit in our community. So, you know, I think -- I understand what's going on. You know, I -- I'll -- I'm going to try to make it to that meeting. I go to a lot of meetings, and I'm going to try to make that one to express my concern, but, you know, I'm just concerned that we're delaying this by 14, 12 months; hopefully, we'll get something out of it at the end of the day, and that's the concern that I have. Mayor Regalado: One thing that I want to say -- and I'm glad that you went back to history, because I was here -- the streetcar is part of the global agreement. The streetcar, it was voted as a package with the Marlin Stadium, the tunnel and the streetcar. It was the global agreement. It was voted by this Commission. I was sitting there. I was in the minority, but I was sitting there; and it was voted by the County Commission. And the reason I'm saying this is because if we were to move with the streetcar, the County has the obligation to come up with the money that they proffered, promised, and it was voted by the County Commission for the streetcar. I remember Pete Hernandez sitting there, and me saying, Well, why don't we do a separate vote on the Marlins Stadium, and do a referendum?"And he said, Commissioner, everything is together. There is no Marlins Stadium without the tunnel; there is no tunnel without the streetcar; there is no streetcar without the tunnel and the Marlins Stadium. "So it's a binding resolution. We also have in that global agreement the commitment of FDOT for $100 million -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. Mayor Regalado: -- for the streetcar. That commitment is a binding resolution, so -- Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Mayor Regalado: -- this is things that we need to -- because now, you know, we have heard conversations about, Well, we take the City to court because this and that, and the restrictions from the port,'but the fact of the matter is that we have binding votes by the County and the City Commission on the streetcar. And, you know, I -- on the meetings -- on the few meetings that we have had, I have -- I didn't want to be like a spoiler, a party crasher and say, Wait a minute, City of Miami Page 45 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 guys,1;ou know, Because you, County, you have to give us some money for the streetcar. Mr. Pego, you have to give us some money,'but it will be the time to say it in case that this -- I mean, this resolution, as presented today, collapse without Miami Beach, so we will just wait for the February 4 meeting. I spoke to Alice the other day, and she didn't know what would be the outcome of this, but it will be an interesting meeting. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. My recollection is exactly yours. I think it was $100 million, the State; 20 million, the County, if I'm not mistaken -- Mayor Regalado: 20 million from the County. I vividly remember that. 20 million from the County; 100 million from the State of Florida; and the rest, the City of Miami. Commissioner Suarez: Right. And ifI may, Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Yes. Commissioner Suarez: And so when we were discussing it, back then, when we went to the MPO together, you know, that's part of the reason why I legislated the Miami Transportation Trust Fund, because I thought there were going to be projects where we were going to potentially have to put in a certain percentage; in that case, it would have been 80 million. Whether we financed it; whether we did availability payments; whatever we ended up doing; a public/private partnership, whatever the case may be. I just want to be clear about one thing, and it's got nothing to do with some of the stuff we're talking about; it has to do more with the sunshine meeting that we had the other day. By agreeing to go through this process, we are saying that we're going to wait another 12 to 14 months to go through a study -- okay? -- that then has to be -- assuming it takes 12 to 14 months -- that then will make us potentially eligible for State and Federal funding for this project. So back to some of the things that I said at that meeting: We -- the funding is not in place for this project. There has been funding ideas; one being the one that we just outlined, at least for the City's portion, which is the 100/20/80; other ones being going through this process and then applying for Federal and State funding; another one being clawing back the half cent money that's being used for -- which the CITT approved, though. But you -- we're going to start -- the State is going to start an RFP on a bridge; that's going to start. This process now is going to be delayed at least 12 to 14 months before you even start applying for funding, because a study has to be done. Mayor Regalado: Right. Commissioner Suarez: So -- Mayor Regalado: But the study is necessary to get funds. Commissioner Suarez: Well, the study is necessary if you want to apply for those funds. Mayor Regalado: Right. Commissioner Suarez: If you want to do it the way we were going to do it, the way we -- you and I went to the MPO to convince the MPO -- Mayor Regalado: Well, we were talking about the streetcar, our streetcar. Commissioner Suarez: Right. And -- but what I'm saying is there's a bunch of different ways to City of Miami Page 46 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 do it. Like we could have done the City part; they could have done their part; and the County could have done the connection. I mean, there's a bunch of different ways to do it. And I'm going -- taking a step back; as the Vice Chair of the MPO, I'm taking a broader perspective. We don't only have to do, you know, the City's portion and the bay link portion, but we also have to do three other transit lines. So we're going to be scrambling as a County [sic] to find the money to do that, whether we do BRT, light rail, whatever, so I'm just trying to give you guys a perspective. Mayor Regalado: And just for the conversation, remember that the bay link connection is being looked at it by a 2004 study that was done by the MPO, and this is a reference. Only one problem: The 2004 study had the transfer station and the repair station in one place. That place happens to be today the Perez Art Museum. So unless we -- Commissioner Suarez: Unlikely it'll happen. Mayor Regalado: -- want to demolish the museum, so -- because there is no space in Miami Beach for the transit station. So there's a lot of things that need to -- and this is why the February 4 meeting is important, and I hope that some of you -- all of you can come to the meeting. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort, you're recognized. Commissioner Gort: I've asked about six months ago the projections in maintaining trolley cars system, and we continue to increase it, and this will be an additional increase that we're going to have into our trolley traffic component; in other words, we have expanded our original traffic using those trolleys through the City of Miami; we expanding constantly. There's a cost to it. And then I, myself, had a request two years ago, an extension on Northwest 7th Street. I'd like to get, whenever you guys get together on how we going to do it. We can see what's happening with museum. They got $165 million from the County, and what happened now for the maintenance to finish the museum? I want to make sure, whatever we build, how are we going to maintain it? How are we going to pay for it? I think this need to be -- we need to be knowledgeable, because we can make it, we can buy it, but then how we maintain it? Where the revenues are going to come from? Chair Hardemon: Right. Mayor Regalado: Right. And -- Commissioner Gort: I'd like to see that as part of the study, too. Mayor Regalado: Right. And this is -- so on February 4, we will know more about the bay link, but I think that there need to be a conversation on the streetcar that was originally planned from Midtown, and now from the Design District. And by the way, I remember that this Commission -- at the time, Commissioner Johnny Winton -- moved to use some money of the 2001 GOB (General Obligation Bond) -- Commissioner Suarez: Homeland. Mayor Regalado: -- issuance of bonds from the City of Miami to install the rails in Midtown for -- and they are there -- for the streetcar, because it was something that it was -- been talked from that money. So there is a lot of things that, historically, in the Administration, and maybe Assistant City Manager Parjus could gather all this history, because there are bits and pieces. But I will tell you something, unequivocally -- and the City Attorney can say -- several times, I have requested information, whether the global agreement is a binding agreement, because of the Marlins, and the tunnel, and all that. And the response is, 1't is a binding agreement. "And the City of Miami Page 47 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 streetcar and the monies that were promised are there. So. Chair Hardemon: So to clam, to keep the meeting moving forward, then the motion on the floor that has been moved and seconded is to defer this item, RE.8, to February 11. Is there any further discussion about that motion? Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Vice Chair. Vice Chair Russell: I just have a couple questions. One is about the Federal funding, just to understand, ifI may. If I'm understanding correctly, by -- I met briefly with Alice Bravo last week, and my understanding is that from her side, is that if the City of Miami Beach goes forward with their procurement process, it may put those Federal funding at risk. But I reached out to Commissioner Grieco from Miami Beach, and they've -- their side feels that there is no impact on the Federal funding by them moving forward. I'm wondering if our City Administration could give an opinion on that. I think that there's a better meeting of the minds with Miami Beach that needs to happen. We received a letter from their City Manager just this week about, you know, the causeway, and a traffic study, and potential lawsuits and things. We need to look at our relationship with Miami Beach in a broader sense of not 'us and them, 'but its as a community together. "We need to build that bridge, literally and figuratively, with them. And one is first getting on the same page in terms of that. It just seems we're in different places. But my second question, beyond the -- whether the Federal funding is at risk is, ifI understand, you're saying correctly, almost as Miami Beach is doing that we need to move forward, regardless of that Federal funding wait, and that we should be able to find those monies otherwise? Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. What my, I guess, position is, first and foremost, when was the last time that we got Federal funding for a mass transit project in Miami? 30 years ago, when we did Metrorail? So there's been a deficiency of Federal funding in projects, and part of the reason why is it's extremely cumbersome to become eligible for Federal funding. So I've proffered a variety of different ways to fund it; one of them is the way that we just talked about, the -- at least the Miami portion -- have Miami Beach fund their portion, and then -- which is sort of what we did with the trolleys, as Commissioner Gort said, so that's one idea; the other one is, if there is a mechanism to move funds from the signature bridge over to bay link, that's another mechanism to do it more quickly. So, I mean, I think that there are other ideas, and just -- my issue is really more than by doing this, we are agreeing to a delay of anywhere from 12 to 14 months. It may work out. It may be a delay that ends up being beneficial. Mayor Regalado: Commissioners, ifI may respond to the Federal funding. In June of last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio from New York organized a press conference in front of the steps of the Capitol. He invited about 40 mayors from throughout the United States. I was invited, andl attended, along with the Mayor of Boston; Oklahoma; the Mayor Muriel Bowser, the Mayor of Washington, and the idea for that press conference was to call on Congress to approve a new transportation bill. The reason was that every single year for the last 10 years, the Congress has just done a continuing resolution for transportation, and it allocated the same money every single year. They did not voted on a new transportation bill. Because of that, a lot of money went to an unused pot. And Mayor de Blasio brought details about the bridges in New York all collapsing. You know, we had to get that funding. The Mayor of Boston, everybody -- I mentioned some of the projects that we have. Well, soon enough, the Congress approved a new transportation bill, so now, there is money. But also, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart sits, as well as Congressman Coble, on the Transportation Committee. The Administration have given City of Miami Page 48 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Congressman Coble and Diaz-Balart all the information on the streetcar and on the bay link, and they believe that this is a possibility; whether it will delay or not, it's to be seen. But Miami Beach has an advantage over us; is that they can use tourist development dollars to do their transportation project. So it would be interesting. In fact, whatever is agreed on that committee has to be discussed and voted for, both Commission, or three Commission, in the case of -- that Miami Beach comes back. And Mayor Levine was saying at the time, Well, if we see that this moves Mr. Pego, we can always reject the RFP and the process. "So it is very difficult to understand what Miami Beach is going to do with this RFP. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: I agree with everything the Mayor said. I don't disagree with anything he said. I don't know how much of the Federal highway bill that was passed by Congress actually is allocated or useful for mass transit. I'm not sure that anybody's gotten any of that information. Maybe somebody -- Mayor Regalado: No, we don't have it, no. Commissioner Suarez: So I don't know that any of it is eligible for -- I don't know how -- maybe it's a lot, maybe it's a little. I don't know who else is asking for it, but -- and certainly, it's needed. And I agree with the Mayor, and I commend him for going to New York and asking for it, because that's precisely what needs to be done. And I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer,'either, you know, that his process or the process that he's asking us to do by deferring this and then going through the NEPA process may -- it may work. I'm just -- I just want to be -- I want to be clear about there are different ways to do this, and some ways have timing consequences, more so than others. But there are -- I mean, I think in fairness, the entire County's scrambling for funds. And there's been ideas about recapturing license tag fees; there's been ideas about -- I think there's a Senate bill right now about getting 20 percent of MDX's (Miami -Dade Expressways) unallocated revenues and having that being used for mass transit. I mean, there's a variety of different ideas for expanding that pot. And we need to expand the pot, because the need is going to be somewhere in the $1.5 to $3 billion price tag for mass transit in the County. So, look, I would -- it would be better, in my opinion, if we could do these on a -- on parallel tracks so that one doesn't hinder the other one, which is why I don't want to slow anything down, per se. That's sort of my philosophical objection. It's not that I don't support what the Mayor is doing. I do support what the Mayor is doing, and I support the process of trying to get Federal funds. Certainly, if somebody else is willing to pay for something, and we don't have to pay for it, or our citizens don't have to pay for it -- at least not directly; obviously, they pay for it by and through their Federal income taxes -- then that would be fine. Mayor Regalado: I would like to yield to Assistant City Manager Alberto Parjus, because he has an idea, but I -- that I think is important. Alberto Parjus: Good morning. Alberto Parjus, Assistant City Manager. I think it will be beneficial to everyone if on the 28, we have a little workshop on how is it the Federal funding is allocated, based on a competition for new start projects. So if you are amenable to it, we could arrange for that. Commissioner Suarez: But just that, alone? Did you hear what he said? It's a competition for new start funding, and -- just like we have competitions every year for affordable housing for four percent tax credit deals, okay? So do you know how many the City of Miami got in the last tax credit cycle? Commissioner Gort: Let me ask you a question. The Mayor is asking for a deferral for two City of Miami Page 49 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 weeks or three weeks. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Gort: And he might come back with a better answer. He might come back to your suggestion. Why don't we pass on this today; wait until the 28th and then come back and make a decision which way we going to go? Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So we've said a lot today, so let me start with regards to what you mentioned with the competition. Yes, there's a competition, and that's where some have opined that us not teaming up with the Beach may hurt our chances, because we want to go in a united front, so that's where there might be difference of opinion, but that's where some have opined this will actually hurt us, because we all want to be together -- Commissioner Gort: True. Commissioner Carollo: -- with a consensus, going to a united front to the Federal Government requesting those dollars, because other areas will go in a united front. So that's where the issue is where we would want to team up with Miami Beach. As a matter of fact, when I had my briefing with the Manager on this item, it was very brief because he mentioned that it was going to be withdrawn, and we mentioned as far as Miami Beach not wanting to be involved possibly hurt our changes of obtaining Federal dollars and so forth. What I am seeing is that this is an issue that the Mayor brought to us, and now, the same person who is bringing this issue to us is saying, Hey, allow me two or three weeks to see if we could work something out. "Now -- Chair Hardemon: Is there any unreadiness to that? Commissioner Carollo: See, I don't have an issue with it. If even -- see, where I would have an issue is now, you're asking me to vote for it; where in our, you know, discussion and out of good faith, I'm thinking the Manager, you know, has spoken to the Mayor and this was going to be withdrawn; if not, you're asking me to vote for it. Now, deferring it two or three weeks, okay, so it's not a withdrawal; it's a deferral. I don't have an issue with that. Mayor Regalado: Well, it could be called a withdrawal, because we will have to come with a completely new -- Commissioner Carollo: Right. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, eventually. Commissioner Carollo: Right. Mayor Regalado: -- so it's a -- Commissioner Carollo: But -- Mayor Regalado: -- withdrawal, not a deferral. But I'm asking for you to hear something on the February 11 Commission. Commissioner Carollo: Understood. But I just want to clarify. This two weeks, three weeks, whatever it is, deferral, withdrawal, or come back with a new -- do you think that would City of Miami Page 50 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 jeopardize for 12-, 14-month process? Mayor Regalado: No. Commissioner Gort: No. Commissioner Suarez: No. I -- Mayor Regalado: No, no. Commissioner Carollo: I understand. You're looking out for Federal funds as opposed to us trying to fund it ourselves. Mayor Regalado: No. Actually, the County Commission was supposed to be voting on -- in few weeks, and they will wait until February 4 to see what comes out of that meeting. Commissioner Carollo: So I want clarity on that 12, 14 month. Obviously, we all understand the -- Mayor Regalado: That's the NEPA study. Commissioner Carollo: Right. So that's the NEPA study. So you're -- so, Commissioner Suarez, if I understand, you're actually saying forget the NEPA study, or don't do the NEPA study; let's try to fund it ourselves and not go after Federal funds? So it really doesn't matter whether Miami Beach does their own thing and we do our own thing, because we're going to be funding it ourselves and not going after Federal dollars. Commissioner Suarez: I think what I'm trying to say is that -- Commissioner Carollo: And real quick. Because Federal dollars would take too long, 12 to 14 months. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I think what I'm saying is that after 12 to 14 months, you're eligible for Federal funding after you complete the study. Mayor Regalado: Right. Commissioner Suarez: And then you have to compete for Federal funding. So -- Mayor Regalado: Well, you can do it parallel. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: Gentlemen, let me tell you what I -- Commissioner Suarez: Can I answer the question? Commissioner Gort: -- what I understood it, we have two options. We have two options. February, when the meeting comes, we can decide if we going to join with the Federal grant and Miami Beach comes aboard or not; if they don't, then we need to work with Miami Beach so we can solicit the same REP and maybe use the same system. We got to work with the Miami Beach if we not going to work with the Federal Government. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. City of Miami Page 51 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Gort: So that's the -- I understand that's the -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Gort: -- decision we have to take when we come back. Commissioner Suarez: I think my fear and my concern is as follows: The NEPA process will take, you know, supposedly estimated 12 to 14 months. Actually, 12 months, I think, was a State process, and they were saying that NEPA would be a couple months beyond the State process, if I'm not mistaken. But first of all, that is always subject to it actually happening in a 14-month timeline. So that's issue number one. Issue number two: Then we have to compete. And as you know, through affordable housing and in the Overtown CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), for example, we entitled properties for a long period of time on the four percent tax credit deals, and those properties were entitled for years, and years, and years, and years, and years, while they had to go and compete for those funds in Tallahassee with Orlando -- because the Mayor's right, you know. New York's going to be asking for those monies; Denver; San Diego; Washington. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of cities that are going to be asking for those monies. And I'm not so sure if we're going to win the competition or not, but if we don't win, then what happens? How much longer are we going to have to wait? And the question is -- the crisis for transportation in that area is acute. That means it is right now. The density that's coming to that area, as of right, if we do nothing in this Commission, over the next two to five years, is going to be extremely, extremely problematic for an area that already has a problematic traffic issue, so that goes -- it goes back to some of the issues we talked about in the sunshine meeting. The fear that I have is we may be talking about a potential solution of getting funding potentially in two years, three years, just to get funding; then we got to go to procurement; then we got to go to construction, okay? Not that long ago, maybe six months ago or a year ago, we were talking about us doing it ourselves -- okay? -- which meant we were going to do our own procurement, we were going to pay a portion of it, which was, you know, 40 percent of it -- okay? -- which, by the way, is essentially what we paid for the connection of Tri-Rail to downtown. I'm not saying that that's the ideal scenario. I think you and I both agree that's not the ideal scenario, but the less ideal scenario is that our residents get stuck with gridlock traffic in the urban core for another three to five years, so that's my concern. And I apologize to you, Mayor, because I wanted to talk to you about this beforehand, and we just didn't have a chance to talk about it. I really, sincerely did want to talk to you. It's not that I want to throw cold water on what you're doing. I think you're doing the right thing. You're trying to explore an option that should be explored. I think you're doing everything, you know, the way that it should be done. You're attending all the meetings; you're, you know, a constructive participant; and you're just listening to what the people are telling you that you need to do; which, I think, you know, is understandable, given that they're the experts. So my fear is, you know, further delay on this process, and I think -- you know, I'm not so sure that our residents are going to be happy about that or satisfied with that. Mayor Regalado: Okay. So, I mean, I will report back to you on February 11, but some of you will be there. I'm sure that the media will be there. I don't really know what's going to happen on February 4, even if we have Miami Beach and their input. I do agree with the Vice Chair that we have to have a better conversation with Miami Beach. I had -- as a matter of fact, I have met with the new two Commissioners, Kristen Rosen and Ricky Arriola, and they understand our position. We don't want to be adversaries. They -- you know, they don't want anything built in Watson Island, or other things, but I think we should explore everything. I do caution that I don't think that FDOT -- Commissioner Suarez, I think that you -- and you did a very good meeting. I don't think that FDOT -- because they have said that to me -- is going to change the protocol that they have established for the bridge, for the signature bridge. If we do that, if we were to ask for that, then other cities in the State would compete for that money. It doesn't mean that we can switch it to other projects, but that's another conversation. And we still don't know how much is the bay link. The last study was $700 million in 2004, and we -- on 2007, we had the study for City of Miami Page 52 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 the streetcar, which we know what it would have cost on 2007, and you were right on the 100 million, the 20 million, and the 80 million; and that would be the connectivity from the Design District to downtown Miami, going on stations on Wynwood, also in Omni and Midtown. So I would report back to you, but it will be nice if some of you can attend the meeting, so you will hear the different entities. I do know that CITT is still onboard; that FDOT is still onboard; that the County is still onboard, so we will see. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. And we're speaking about a lot of things here. And by the way, I agree and I share the concerns that, you know, we need to expedite and move as quickly as possible, but we're talking signature bridge; we're talking bay link; we're talking streetcars. So I really don't see that a deferral for two or three weeks is going to really change any of this because we're -- Mayor Regalado: No, Commissioner. Commissioner Carollo: -- and there's a lot of moving parts. I -- obviously, I get it. You know, I think the signature bridge -- I don't know how long we've been at this for; for a while. So there's a lot of moving parts. There's a lot of issues, but I think what the Mayor is asking is reasonable: Two or three weeks; and let's attend the meeting; and then all the things that we've discussed, you know, we could address them again and bring them back to this Commission, but I think we'll have more information from that February 4 meeting, according to what the Mayor is saying. Chair Hardemon: Seeing -- Mayor Regalado: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: -- no further discussion on the item, all in favor, say Eye." Commissioner Gort: Aye. Vice Chair Russell: Aye. Commissioner Carollo: Aye. Chair Hardemon: Aye. All against? Commissioner Suarez: Respectfully, respectfully -- Mayor Regalado: Mr. Chairman -- Commissioner Suarez: -- against. RE.9 RESOLUTION 15-01579 Honorable Mayor A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH Tomas Regalado ATTACHMENT(S), URGING THE HOTELS, MOTELS, AND OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS PROVIDING LODGING FOR TRAVELERS AND TOURISTS WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI TO PARTICIPATE IN THE "THE ENVELOPE PLEASE" INITIATIVE BY PROVIDING ENVELOPES IN ROOMS REMINDING GUESTS TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE BY LEAVING TIPS City of Miami Page 53 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 FOR HOUSEKEEPERS. 15-01579 Back -Up Document.pdf 15-01579 Legislation.pdf 15-01579 Exhibit.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0012 Mayor Regalado: -- I have an easy one for you now. Chair Hardemon: RE.9, correct? Mayor Regalado: RE.9. This is an easy one, and this is an idea on a project of the Committee on the Status of Women of the City of Miami. As you know, this committee has been very, very active in many things. They were the one that raised the money and did the statue for Julia Tuttle. They have come up with a lot of ideas. This is a working committee that we have in the City of Miami, and what they have come up is something that has been going on around the country, which is the "Envelope Please Initiative." And this is something that impacts 95 percent, 99 percent of women, the maids in the hotels. And the campaign that is -- I heard is going on around the country -- is leaving an envelope for tips for the maids that works in the hotel. And what this resolution will do is then for the Administration to send every hotel or motel in the City of Miami this resolution, in case you approve it, and request; it's not mandatory, it's just aspirational. But I'm sure that some hotels will accommodate this request. Allyson is here, Mr. Chairman, to speak on that matter. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Gort; second by Commissioner Suarez. At this point, I'm going to open up the floor for public hearing. Allyson Warren: Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for hearing from us. This initiative was started by Maria Shriver several years ago through her women's initiative. It's a mechanism for the service staff in hotels and motels, and people in the tourism industry to allow for people who stay in these places an easier way, should they choose to tip the staff. Most folks who stay at a hotel or motel don't know if they can; where they should leave cash; if they should leave it under the -- you know, in the bathroom, or in the drawer of their nightstand, or, you know, under the lamp. This gives them an envelope with the name of the hotel on it, and an area for the staff person for that day to put their name there so that whoever stays in the room knows that this money is a tip for that person. The Manager asked me a few weeks ago a similar question as, 1f I stay in a place for three, or four, or five days, I don't know that the person that's taking care of my room is going to be the same person the first day as it is the last day. And do I do it on a daily basis, or on a weekly basis? "And the answer is Sin a daily basis. "That way, you know that whoever took care of your room that day is going to be the one who receives the tip. This is not, obviously, mandatory. This is something to help the staff at these places. It's been done -- as I said I know Hilton worldwide has come onboard with it. And this is just a way to help the folks who really need the extra money, and it gives the people who stay there the comfort that they're not leaving cash out on a counter someplace. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. City of Miami Page 54 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Ms. Warren: Thank you. This is my new board member. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, ma'am. Brenda Betancourt: Good morning again. This resolution was already passed on in Miami Beach, and that was one of the ideas that we were talking about, to enforce the same gratitude envelope to those hotels, motels that are established in the City of Miami. So we really appreciate if you guys see this resolution and approve it, and let us help those people who work in this industry, which sometimes, they get a minimum wage. So a little tip, it will give them a little help. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Seeing no other persons here for public comment -- well, we have one more. You're recognized, ma'am. Can you state your name and your address for the record? Coralia Estrada: Okay. Good morning to all of you. My name is Coralia Estrada. I live on 320 West 32ndAvenue, Miami, Florida. My name -- I'm a leader of the Hotels Worker Union United here, Local 355. I'm here with -- other leaders of the union are here. All of them over here supports our "Envelope Please Initiative " for the Mayor Tomas Regalado. An average hotel housekeeper service from 15 to 20 guestrooms each day, making up to 25 beds. In a typical shift, they are -- lifted mattresses from 150 to 200 at a time. Here in the City of Miami, where tourism and hospitality remain a large, rapidly growing industry, initiative like this is significant in drawing attention in some of the hardest working in our City. We thank you, Mayor, and Commissioners, and here all in leadership on your support for this initiative. And thank you to Mayor Tomas Regalado, as well. And thank you, gentlemen [sic]. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. You're recognized, sir. Nathan Kurland: Thank you. Nathan Kurland 3132 Day Avenue. I want to thank the advisor of Women's Status for bringing this measure. I can't imagine under any circumstance that you wouldn't support this, and I'd just like to commend them on their excellent work and ask for your support. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Seeing no other persons here for public comment, I close the public hearing session at this time. Any further discussion from the Board Members? Vice Chair Russell: One question: So this is an encouragement to the hotels, but it's up to them, individually, each, to purchase, pay for, print and distribute the envelopes, correct? There's no --? Chair Hardemon: That is correct. Vice Chair Russell: Yeah. Understood. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Just two things, real quick. One is, my wife being in the hospitality industry, I never really thought about it the way that Allyson described it in terms of giving it on a daily basis, the tip, so I that's actually educational for me, too, versus -- I usually give it at the end, you know, so I didn't think of that. Secondly, and going to the issue of committees, this is exactly what a committee should be doing. Commissioner Gort: Yes. City of Miami Page 55 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.10 15-01494 Department of Capital Improvement Programs/Transportat ion Commissioner Suarez: They should be looking at legislation in other parts of the County, and they should be advancing on bringing to our attention so we can enact similar legislation, if it's good legislation. And so I commend you for doing that. Commissioner Gort: That's one of the best they've done in years. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Gort: No, go ahead. Chair Hardemon: Seeing no further comments, all in favor, indicate so by saying aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Against? Motion passes. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE TO THE CONTRACT WITH FHP TECTONICS CORP., FOR THE DOWNTOWN BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT - SOUTH, FLAGLER STREET, B-30606, FOR AN ADDITION TO THE SCOPE OF WORK, IN THE AMOUNT OF $835,820.62, PLUS A TEN PERCENT (10%) OWNER CONTINGENCY IN THE AMOUNT OF $83,582.06, THEREBY INCREASING THE AWARD VALUE FROM $9,737,426.16 TO AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $10,656,828.84; ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT NO. B-30606; AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE TO THE CONTRACT TIME OF TWO HUNDRED SIXTEEN (216) CALENDAR DAYS, FORA TOTAL CONTRACT TIME OF EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTY-SIX (876) CALENDAR DAYS; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE CONTRACT, IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE ATTACHED FORM, FOR SAID PURPOSE. 15-01494 Summary Form.pdf 15-01494 Bid Contract.pdf 15-01494 Legislation.pdf 15-01494 Exhibit -Amendment No. 1.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0014 Chair Hardemon: I'm going to move on now to RE.10. Well -- You're recognized, sir. Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good morning, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director, Capital Improvements & Transportation. RE.10 is a resolution authorizing an increase in contract capacity for FF [sic] Passion Tectonics for the construction of the Flagler Redevelopment Project. The increase in contract capacity, it's an amount of 835, 820, plus 10 percent contingency, bringing the contract -- the total contract value from the original value of 9, 737,426 to a total not -to -exceed amount of 10, 656, 828. City of Miami Page 56 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. I open up the floor for public hearing at this time. Is there anyone from the public that'd like to speak? Seeing no one from the public that'd like to speak on this item, I close the public hearing. Is there any motion or discussion from the dais? Vice Chair Russell: Move it. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Chair Hardemon: Been properly moved by Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: Second by Commissioner Suarez. Is there any discussion, unreadiness? Vice Chair Russell: Yes, if I may. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Mr. Vice Chair. Vice Chair Russell: The Flagler Street Project is not so much on the radar of the public yet, but I'm very glad to see it has broken ground, and that we're moving forward, and really excited to show the public that downtown is going to be an -- have a renaissance of pedestrian retail and restaurant activity based on this project. It's well worth the investment. The additional funds that are being sought now, I fully understand it. And the change order really has to do with the way the water drains; whereas originally, the drainage system would have gone into the bay, just as many things do, and that's part of the issues of what we have even spoken on today. The fact that we're doing wells, these drains that will now take the water down instead of out to the bay is part of the, you know, sea level rise issue, and it's also indirectly going to be a bay pollution issue, and it's a good thing. And so I look forward to seeing this project move forward quickly. On behalf of downtown and the City, I'm very excited to see Flagler Street getting revitalized. Chair Hardemon: Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say liye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. RE.11 RESOLUTION 15-01636 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION AMENDING THE GREEN CORRIDOR PACE DISTRICT TO EXPAND ELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCING OF QUALIFYING IMPROVEMENTS TO PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CITY OF MIAMI. 15-01636 Back -Up from Law Dept.pdf 15-01636 Pre-Legislation.pdf 15-01636 Legislation.pdf 15-01636-Submittal-Victoria Mendez-Ygrene Financing Agreement Section 8.pdf SPONSORS: HONORABLE MAYOR TOMAS REGALADO COMMISSIONER FRANCIS SUAREZ Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. City of Miami Page 57 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Note for the Record: Item RE. 11 was deferred to the February 25, 2016, Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting. Chair Hardemon: Let's move on to RE. 11. We have a few moments that's left before lunch. Commissioner Suarez: I don't know. I don't know if we're going to do both. Chair Hardemon: The PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Program. Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Commissioner Suarez, do you wish to present RE.11, or would you like me to --? Commissioner Suarez: Yes, thank you. It's a resolution of the Miami City Commission amending the green corridor. I learned -- I've already learned, Mr. Chair -- I mean Mr. Clerk -- what I got to do here -- PACE District to expand eligibility for financing of qualifying improvements to properties in the City of Miami. This is a companion item with the Mayor. I guess he's not here. We talked about this at the last -- or the one before that, and I think the Chair expressed some concerns about the way it was drafted, so we brought it back. I was not involved in redrafting this, so I don't know why it was done the particular way that it was done. I thought it was -- we were just going to opt in your district, but I think this is an opt -in for all, and whoever wants to opt out can opt out. So, I mean, obviously, you know, just to give the brief history, this was adopted at the commercial corridor level; then they were -- the company came to us, they -- we -- they said they were going to do it for a year and do it like as a pilot program in the commercial corridor; come back to the Commission and explain whether or not it was good, and healthy, and safe to do it in the residential corridor. At the time, the District 2 Commissioner and myself agreed that we would adopt it in our respective districts. I have not gotten any complaints personally in my district for the use of this, so I think this is a good program, I think we should continue to do it, and I think it avails people of an opportunity to do energy -efficient retrofits for their homes that they would not otherwise be able to do under conventional lending circumstances, so I move it, subject to any modifications by any Commissioners who -- Chair Hardemon: It's been moved by Commissioner Suarez. Is there a second? Vice Chair Russell: Second with discussion. Chair Hardemon: Seconded by Vice Chairman. I'd like to recognize the Vice Chairman; then Commissioner Gort. Vice Chair Russell: Just because we haven't heard any complaints yet, I wonder if there's any quantitative results on how many people have used it, have actually taken advantage of the program, and I guess some of the fears or the challenges to it. The intention is very good on what this can accomplish, but it does create basically an additional lien on your home when you try to sell it, and I've always been curious how that affects the sale of your home if you've got this attached to it. And, you know, I almost took part in this a couple years ago when it just came into District 2. I was pretty excited about it, and I looked at it, and I was a little hesitant, and at that point, I couldn't get a response. I asked real estate agents and stuff like that, Have you ever sold a house with Ygrene attached to it, and did it affect it? "And I don't know those things. I'd be curious how successful it's been, and see some good case studies of it. I don't even know for my district at this point, I don't know how we'd go about getting that information. Who would we direct to find that out for us? Chair Hardemon: Well, that was the intent of this meeting, so that they would be able to present some information. I believe that the City Attorney was able to accumulate some information, because I know you forwarded some reports. I can't pull it up where I am now. It's archived into City of Miami Page 58 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 my device, but we should know some information about how it affects the City of Miami, but while you gather your thoughts about that, Commissioner Gort, I'll recognize you. Commissioner Gort: Let me be frank with you. When it first came to me -- to us here, we approved it at the commercial, because commercial, most of the people that have business and shopping center are the one that can take a lot of advantage of it; and they have knowledge, they have lawyers, they have people that can do all the work and the reading, and things worked out well with the commercials. Then two districts decided to have it. I have a problem with mine, because in my district, you know, salespeople will tell you anything to sell. First, I want to see the copies of the contract that people have to sign. I want to see who the commitment is. My understanding is it becomes like the first lien, so the person might buy it now and that's fine; they're not going to have any problem for the first two or three years. If they try to sell it and the bank will not finance it, they cannot sell their property, and that's the problem that I have. At the same time, I have people selling this program like this is a City of Miami program. Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Commissioner Gort: In other words, we're liable, according to what the salespeople tells them, so I do have a problem within my district; people, that, yes, they can use it, but at the same time, I want to make sure they're protected. My understanding is the estimate that comes from these companies, that people -- under this, it's a lot higher than whatever other quote that they can get from somebody else. At the first time when it was presented to us, it was a whole group of all the vendors that could participate. Right now, it's my understanding it's only two or three vendors that really pushing it. And I can tell you, the estimates is a lot higher than the regular estimates. So I do have a problem. I prefer to defer this, because I'm not ready to vote on this one. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, I recently have spoken to representatives from the Ygrene -- I don't know if it's called Ygrene, or PACE, or Green Corridor. Chair Hardemon: Ygrene is, I believe, the private company. PACE is the program. Commissioner Carollo: So Ygrene -- representatives from Ygrene to see if we could alleviate some of the concerns that I have. Listen, when you have two biggest lender, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, having issues with this program, it's a red flag, and it was a red flag when we originally brought it, and that's why we did it in a pilot program, to see how it would do in two districts. And thus far, I'm glad to hear from District 4 that he has not had any issues, but at the same time, Commissioner Gort is very right that -- and Commissioner Russell -- that in all fairness, first year or two is not where you're going to have the issue; it's probably going to be a little bit down the road. So I'm trying to work with Ygrene with regards to making sure that there's a separate disclosure page that stipulates that; that is clear where people need to sign, because you're right, and I've had the same calls and so forth, where people believe that it's a City of Miami project, and it's their Commissioner that doesn't want it to happen; or calls more or less of that nature. Commissioner Gort: But that's what they tell them, Your Commissioner doesn't want it." Commissioner Carollo: Now, here, here's the bigger problem, here's the bigger problem: First of all, we know about predator lending and all that stuff, and I definitely do not want any residents to feel like they've been swindled, or somehow been taken; that's number one. Number two, if they feel that way, you know where they're coming, right? Commissioner Suarez: Right here. City of Miami Page 59 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: They're coming to the City of Miami. And it happened to me in Little Havana; decisions that were made way before I was a Commissioner. And I will tell you the complex. It was Las Palmas in Little Havana, where it was loans subsidized; actually subsidized by the City and the County. And when those apartments started falling apart, they came to the City, they came to the County, saying, Hey, it was a project by the City; it was a loan by the City; it was subsidized by the City. We had the full trust of the City Government. "So that's why, in all fairness, it's -- I think we need to be very cautious with moving, at least within our district. So I would like an additional time to speak to Ygrene, because that might be a solution, you know; simply not speaking with them, having a separate, you know, disclosure where it's not 8 point font; it's a little bigger, at least 12 point font or 14 point font, where it's clear, you know, and the applicant can sign and say, Yes, we understand this. We understand that,'''ou know, this will take first mortgagor," and in all fairness, someone that comes later on to purchase their home may not be able to receive a loan, because the lending facility, the bank may not give a loan; something to that effect. I still haven't worked that out completely with Ygrene, so I would like more of an opportunity to discuss the possibility of doing something like this. Chair Hardemon: I'm going to recognize Commissioner -- well, Suarez -- Commissioner Suarez: No, no, I'll yield to the Vice Chair. Chair Hardemon: -- to the Vice Chairman and then Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Carollo: And I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman, just to finish, I'm sorry. And listen, I know there's been a lot of litigation, there's been court rulings. Something that has been determined is that this is a valid State program. So, you know, there are some Plus."So that's why I'm looking to see if somehow, we could benefit from the benefits that our residents could achieve, but at the same time, you know, with eyes wide open, so they don't feel swindled. Chair Hardemon: And before I pass the floor to you, there's one thing I -- the reason I asked this -- that this be put on in this fashion is so that we can have this citywide discussion about this issue, because I, too, get emails from certain parts within the district that want to participate within the PACE Program, but then the -- but at the same time, I get those emails because of the way that -- particularly one company, Ygrene has advertised this information as a citywide program, like the -- like Commissioner Gort stated -- and that you should call your district Commissioner to be included. So they're first told that they're within the jurisdiction of it, they can apply for it, they are eligible. And then when they get the negative response, they say, (Oh, but you're not eligible, because you're in a district that does not participate. "And I want to make something known that the City Attorney's Office has provided to me, that there is -- in the financing agreement, the property owner, when you apply for the PACE Program or -- yeah, when you're applying for PACE Programs, it indemnifies -- well, it says PACE. "What I'm assuming it to be is to mean Ygrene -- from any and all claims. And then it says that Fannie Mae has issued instructions not to purchase loans with PACE liens, and that many mortgages prohibit the property owner from granting a lien senior to the mortgage. I mean, that common sense. The mortgages are being provided through some financial agreement. And, of course, there's a -- well, there's a prepayment penalty in this, and property owner prospectively waives all claims against whatever that provider is; so, for instance, a Ygrene. So this is something that I think is very serious. Many people have purchased homes within the City of Miami. It's becoming a bit more difficult, but when you have to read through your mortgaging agreement, I'm sure you don't read it to this degree. Commissioner Suarez: I do. Chair Hardemon: Well, you; but you're different. Commissioner Suarez: Right. City of Miami Page 60 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Gort: You're the lawyer. You represent them. Chair Hardemon: Right. So I think many times, people are so happy to have improvements into their home that they may not see this, and I think we have a responsibility of ensuring at least that this information is flushed out to our constituents before they're able to make -- before they make a decision like this; not saying that you can't -- not saying -- I'm not saying to the people who are within the City of Miami that you're not smart enough, or well-equipped enough to contract on your own. That is not what I'm saying. What we're saying, I think, as a Commission, that we need more information to know that -- what product that we're allowing through the State and through this City or -- municipality to be marketed to you is at least fair and legal within the eyes of the State. And now, I'll pass the floor. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I agree completely. I think we -- we've sort of isolated the potential issue, and I guess that's something I'd like to understand further on how they got into the first lien position, and if they should be there, and if that's something that is changeable, because the exact people that we would really like to target for this are also the ones who may be most vulnerable to fine print. Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Vice Chair Russell: And I think the message we're trying to send through this program is that solar panels aren't just for rich people; that we are trying to incentivize the entire community to be able to afford to make their homes more efficient and greener, better for the environment, so many things. And if this is the one thing that causes it to be an issue, I'd like to see if there is a solution to it. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. And I don't -- I certainly don't -- and they can talk for themselves on many of the issues that were articulated. I just have a little bit of knowledge on this stuff because of the nature of what I do for a living. I have a hard time understanding -- and maybe the City Attorney or the company can explain to me -- the Freddie and Fannie Mae issue, because Freddie and Fannie Mae buy loans after they're issued. So you don't -- it's not like you buy a property with a loan that's Freddie and Fannie backed, or that's going to be sold to Freddie and Fannie, and then do a Ygrene deal at the same time; that's not really the way it works. So the loan is already purchased by Fannie and Freddie once the person owns the property, so I don't know where that concern comes in, but the other side to the story is usually in -- lending is very simple; it's usually very straightforward. You lend money, and as a lender, you lend it because it's a safe investment for you. And I think the fact that they are a priority lender is part of the reason why you have such free flowing capital. If you didn't have it that way -- if it were, let's say, a second mortgage, for example, you may not have anyone that's willing to invest in that; or conversely, they may say, Okay, we'll do it, but we're going to do it at 10 percent, or 11 percent, or 12 percent,'ivhich is double the rate that they charge now. And as for the prepayment penalty, it's negligible. I mean, I know what it is. It's -- I think it's a very small amount of money in comparison to what -- and I don't -- I mean, I'm not saying that a prepayment penalty is good. Obviously, it's not good, but it's not like a huge prepayment penalty, and I want to be clear about that. And as far as complaints, you know, the only complaints I've gotten -- and you guys are right. I mean, I'm sure you're right, because I actually heard it the other day at a Shenandoah meeting, I think, where someone did say that there was advertising sent to them outside of the district, and then when the person called, they were told, Well, your Commissioner hasn't opted in. "It's the truth, but nevertheless, you know, I'm not sure that that's the kind of advertising tactic that, you know, as a Commission that needs to pass this City of Miami Page 61 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 to opt in is actually the smartest tactic, but -- Chair Hardemon: Can I say something to you? Commissioner Suarez: -- but let me just -- Chair Hardemon: I'll let you finish. No, no, no. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Chair Hardemon: I want to say, but remember, from the initial discussion that we had about this, tibe were opting in,'{vas that we never wanted to have predatory -- we didn't want people to knock on the old woman's door, who can't defend their self, and then -- and basically shove that loan down her throat. And so that kind of -- I guess the action that you just described is what makes me feel like they could have in the future, but go ahead. Commissioner Suarez: I get it, 100 percent. And -- I get that. I mean, that's understandable; that that would create that sort of suspicion in you. I haven't gotten any complaints about any sort of thing of that nature. The only -- again -- complaints I've gotten -- and I've gotten emails directly -- about it not being available in certain areas; that's the only complaint that I've gotten, but you're right. I mean, that's legitimate. Chair Hardemon: I know that there is a representative from Ygrene that is here, and I want to give you -- and I'm not opening another public hearing, but I'll give you a couple minutes so that you can say just a few words. I think that your input is definitely going to be needed, but I think because we have Commissioners that would like a deferral, your input would be needed. When this item comes back, we'll give you an opportunity to make a presentation if you'd like; not necessarily a sales pitch, but more so clarifying the issues from your perspective as a participant within the PACE Program, but as -- as of today -- because we've used your name and represented some things, I want to let you have an opportunity to speak. Joseph Spector: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. You brought up many issues. Chair Hardemon: Can you state your name though? Mr. Spector: Oh, I'm sorry. Joe Spector. I'm vice president of operations for Ygrene Florida. Our office is here in the Mayfair, 3390 Mary Street. You've brought up a lot of issues. It's hard for me to address all of them. There's a lot of misinformation. What I do just want to make sure that you point out is we share your concerns. We don't want anyone to participate in this program who is being taken advantage of That's the worst thing -- politically speaking, it's the worst thing for the program. So we do have a -- what is called rights and responsibilities, which itemizes, in -- not small print; very clearly -- that they have to sign. All the issues that you've brought up, we make this clear to every property owner that comes into the program. If -- I don't know if you saw the report that I sent, the sustainability department or not, on the program, itself. But, for example, in the City of Miami, since the program began, we've had 500 applications, more or less, with about 200 people actually participating. That means that 300 people, after they come in and apply to the program, after explained to them, after they understand how it works, have decided to walk away; it's just not for them. It's not their best option. No one's being taken advantage of And as far as the advertising goes, we've had a very difficult time with the City of Miami, because we tried to get mailing lists for the districts, themselves. We were not able to get those from the City, so we send out mailers based on zip codes, and there is some overlap between the districts. So it wasn't an intent to try to get your residents to call you at all. We've been very respectful of your wishes and have tried to keep it limited to the areas that you've asked us to offer the program in, but there has just been some overlap. My guess, if you looked at who was calling you was probably within a block or two of City of Miami Page 62 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 District 2 or 4. So that was -- there was never an intent, and I want you to be understanding of that. Chair Hardemon: You may want to try the Department of Elections. I think we get pretty good district information there. Commissioner Suarez? Commissioner Suarez: Can I just say a couple things that just came to mind as we were talking about this? We do talk about this -- and I want all of you guys to hear this, because we do talk about this in the context of energy retrofits, as the Vice Chair had mentioned. For example, he used the example of a solar panel. But some of the examples that I'm thinking of are: Reroofing, which is a safety issue in a hurricane -ravaged part of the country. Impact windows: When you think about in districts where there are shootings, and people shoot through the windows; and we've had people killed, innocent by-standers that are killed as a result of drive -by shootings. You know, impact windows, that's a huge safety issue. And to the issue of contractors, I get a lot of complaints from people because -- you're probably right. I would guess you're probably right that the contractors may be more expensive. But you know what the complaint I get a lot? I get a lot of complaints about people who have contractors that rip them off that -- give them money, and take the money and never finish the job, or never close the permits, or anything like that. And one of the -- Commissioner Gort: My understanding, an original -- if a Latin builder were involved with this and they were going to have -- if-- a lot of people can qualifir to be vendors -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. Commissioner Gort: -- for the program, and they had a process they were going to go through. I've never heard back from those people. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I don't know. He can talk to that. But what my thing is that they -- my understanding is -- and maybe -- if I'm wrong -- the contractor doesn't get paid until they close the permits and the work is inspected, correct? Mr. Spector: Correct. On the front end, we check their license numbers. We check their complaint histories against them. We check to make sure that whoever has that license number is the one that pulls the permit, and we don't release any funds to the contractor until it's actually been inspected by the City. Commissioner Suarez: So my thing is, yes, maybe it is more expensive; I'm not sure. But the fact of the matter is that a lot of times, I get complaints about contractors running away, not closing permits, doing shoddy work. Commissioner Gort: I understand that. Commissioner, I'm speaking on experience. I walked a lot during the last four months, and now, I ran into a couple of houses where people were under the -- that this was a program that was partly paid by the City of Miami, and this is what the vendors told them. Look, this is a program where you going to have to pay it all, we going to pay it to the government, we going to pay your taxes, and people need to understand this. Salespeople will use any method to make a sale. Commissioner Suarez: I get it. Chair Hardemon: I would like to say that -- and Commissioner Suarez, I hear what you're saying there. Definitely, good things about the PACE Program that I think people would find a benefit to participate within, but we have to weigh those against what are the negatives. And all we're saying is that we want to have more information. So I think what we need to do to accompany the deferral, that I'm sure the motion is coming, is to instruct the Administration to -- City of Miami Page 63 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 I know that we've been gathering information, but instruct the Administration to actually make a presentation, the same way, I believe, that Ygrene would want to present, to advise the Commission on different parts of -- well, different issues that we have within the Ygrene implementation. And Commissioner Suarez, I was -- passed by (INAUDIBLE) the City Attorney, the financials given to Ygrene on Page 3, Section 8, talks about special disclosures. All of you have it before you, but I just want to read it so that the public will be aware of it. It says that many lenders that make residential loans desire to preserve the option to sell those loans to U.S. (United States) Government -sponsored enterprises called GSE's that are regulated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The FHFA appears to have instructed its GSE's not to purchase residential loans where there is a superior lien for qualing improvements, such as the assessment lien; thus, in order to refinance your residential loan or for a perspective purchaser of your property to obtain a loan secured by this property -- or by l7ie'roperty -- you may need to remove the assessment lien by prepaying the assessment obligation in full. You thus should consider the likelihood and timing of a possible refinancing or sale of your property and the cost to prepay the assessment obligation in deciding whether to participate in the program or executing this agreement. Now, of course, this isn't saying that they won't buy. This is saying that you should prepay the amount -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. Chair Hardemon: -- in order to sell it, but, you know, I'm -- Commissioner Suarez: What I was going to say is exactly sort of when you sell a house, if you have a first and a second mortgage, unless the first mortgagee is going to assume or -- that's right -- the second mortgagee is going to subordinate his self to the first, which will almost never happen in -- today; I can pretty much guarantee you that -- you're going to have to pay off the first and the second mortgage -- Vice Chair Russell: That's correct. Commissioner Suarez: -- to sell the house. So that's sort of the status quo, so I don't think -- I think they're just articulating what is the normal practice; or if you have two mortgages, whether it's -- you know, because in effect, the first becomes the second, right? Commissioner Gort: Right, right. Commissioner Suarez: So you still got to pay off both. You got to pay off what you owe before you sell your house. That's just normal -- that's a normal transactional sale practice. That's not anything out of the ordinary. The fact that they disclose it, I think, is actually good, because they're doing an additional heightened disclosure, but, I mean, that's normal. Chair Hardemon: I think it's good. I think one thing that we have to keep in mind -- especially within my district. I mean, I'm in the home purchasing market right now. I'm looking for a place to live, and I mean, I will tell you, what we call affordable housing, I mean, it has been -- it has proven to be difficult to find and finance a home within the City of Miami, even within District 5, because of a few things, but one of the things is that we compete against cash buyers. Commissioner Suarez: True. Chair Hardemon: Right? Commissioner Carollo: Foreigners. Chair Hardemon: Right? City of Miami Page 64 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: Foreigners. Chair Hardemon: Right, exactly; foreigners buying in -- so the -- I'm looking at a place right now that is actually owned by someone in London, but is down the street from my grandmother's house. And so, you know, you start to think about those things. And increasingly, what I've seen is that cash buyers are able to buy that property. They raise the cost that it takes to buy property within that area, but not always does the financing reflect. So if you go to Bank of America, for instance, financing, they haven't been as quick to include them in their -- what are the thing we call them? -- the comparables. Commissioner Suarez: Right. Chair Hardemon: Comps, right? And so it's difficult, and I -- one of the things that I'm worried about is the difficulty in -- for people to finance homes within our area, so we just want a report to bring that information in. Commissioner Suarez: Can I just say that -- using you as an example -- what's difficult is when you buy that home -- let's say, hopefully, you find the home and you buy the home -- and most homes, my home included were not exactly the way you want them. Maybe it needs to redo a roof,- maybe you need to redo your windows; maybe you need to do whatever that's energy efficient. The issue is, unless you have the cash to do it yourself it's not going to get done. Chair Hardemon: Which is why PACE is good. Commissioner Suarez: Right. And what I'm saying is that you could go to a bank and try to get a second mortgage, but it's very difficult; it's almost impossible right now. There just isn't the liquidity in the market for that. So this is an option that you have that you may be eligible for, so you may get the house that you want with the energy efficient and safety issues that you want. Chair Hardemon: It all makes sense. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Chair Hardemon: I don't think you have to sell PACE. I think the PACE Program makes sense. Commissioner Suarez: Right. Chair Hardemon: We know that the cost to provide solar energy is high. Commissioner Suarez: Right. Chair Hardemon: The cost is dropping. I mean, that's been proven, and even FP&L (Florida Power and Light) will give you an opinion on that matter, but all we're saying is that we want to make sure that people will know what they're getting themselves into, and that's why we want to -- at least the motion that I would like to entertain would be the deferral, and I believe it was moved by the Chairman -- Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: -- and seconded by Commissioner Carollo, and it includes that the Administration must bring back information to present to us -- information so we make a smart decision for the people in the City of Miami. And is there a time that you would like it to be deferred to? Commissioner Carollo: And a date. City of Miami Page 65 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.12 16-00004 Chair Hardemon: A date. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): And Chair, if I may. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Mr. Hannon: There is a motion by Commissioner Suarez with a second by Commissioner Russell so -- Commissioner Suarez: I'll withdraw my motion. Mr. Hannon: Very well. And so did you want to -- the next -- if you want to continue the item, it would be to February 11, which is the first meeting in February. Commissioner Gort: No. Second meeting. Mr. Hannon: Second meeting in February will be February 25. Yes, sir. Chair Hardemon: That's fine. Is there any further unreadiness? Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. All right, I'll -- Commissioner Gort: Are we going to break? Chair Hardemon: Yes. We will suspend the Commission meeting; return back at 3 o'clock. Is there an attorney -client session today? Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): No. Chair Hardemon: No. Okay. Commissioner Carollo: Withdrawn. Chair Hardemon: All right. So come back at 3 (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Thank you very much. This meeting is in recess. RESOLUTION District 5- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING GOVERNOR CommissionerKeon RICK SCOTTAND THE MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO Hardemon OPPOSE SENATE BILL 598 AND HOUSE BILL 181, OR SIMILAR LEGISLATION THAT WOULD (A) PREEMPT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FROM IMPOSING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS ON PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTORS PERTAINING TO WAGES, BENEFITS, HIRING, AND TRAINING; OR (B) PREEMPT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FROM RESTRICTING QUALIFIED BIDDERS FROM SUBMITTING BIDS, BEING AWARDED ANY BID OR CONTRACT, OR PERFORMING WORK ON PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS; DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO INCLUDE THIS ISSUE AS AN ADDITIONAL STATE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY FOR THE 2016 SESSION; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMITA CERTIFIED COPY City of Miami Page 66 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 OF THIS RESOLUTION TO GOVERNOR RICK SCOTTAND THE MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE. 16-00004 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 3 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Suarez and Hardemon Absent: 2 - Commissioner(s) Russell and Carollo R-16-0020 Chair Hardemon: Back into order at 3:10; noted the presence of Commissioner Suarez, Commissioner Gort; and myself, the Chairman, Commissioner Hardemon. Bringing our attention to RE.12. That's something that I've sponsored, so, Madam City Attorney. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): I'll read the resolution into the record, Chairman. A resolution of the Miami City Commission urging Governor Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Legislature to oppose Senate Bill 598 and House Bill 181, or similar legislation that would: (A) Preempt local governments from imposing certain requirements on public works contractors, pertaining to wages, benefits, hiring and training; or (B) preempt local governments from restricting qualified bidders from submitting bids, being awarded any bid or contract, or performing work on public work projects; directing the City Manager to include this issue as an additional State legislative priority for the 2016 session; directing the City Clerk to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to Governor Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Legislature. Commissioner Suarez: Move it for discussion. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved -- Commissioner Gort: Second. Chair Hardemon: -- and seconded for discussion. I'll open up -- this up for -- I'll open this for public hearing at this time. Is there anyone from the public that'd like to speak on the item? You're recognized, sir. Matthew Land: Matthew Land, 14 Northeast I st Avenue, Suite 1200, Miami, Florida 33132. Mr. Chairman, thank you for sponsoring this resolution today. As you know, the past couple years, this Commission, as well as the Overtown/Park West CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) has really been tackling local hire, wages, training, and we couldn't do -- you know, we couldn't do it without the help of you guys. Tallahassee is trying to preempt these ordinances from taking place if one dollar of State funds are used. It's a battle we're fighting in Tallahassee, but this certainly sends a strong message to the delegation and other members of the legislature that the City of Miami wants to, you know, regulate their own, so if you guys pass this today, you will be joining the City of Miami Beach, Miami -Dade County in unanimously sponsoring and passing similar ordinances -- or resolutions. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there anyone else that would like to speak? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. Commissioner Gort: Call the question. Chair Hardemon: Call the question? Okay, we'll call the question. All in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 67 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.13 15-01599 Office of Management and Budget Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), ADDING CAPITAL PROJECTS TO THE FISCAL YEAR 2015-16 MULTI -YEAR CAPITAL PLAN PURSUANT TO RESOLUTION NO. 15-0394, ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 10, 2015, AS SUBSEQUENTLY AMENDED BY RESOLUTION NO. 15-0416, AND RESOLUTION NO. 15-0424, BOTH ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 24, 2015, RESOLUTION NO. 15-0463, ADOPTED OCTOBER 22, 2015, AND RESOLUTION NO. 15-0547, ADOPTED DECEMBER 10, 2015, AND REVISING CURRENT APPROPRIATIONS AMONG APPROVED PROJECTS; FURTHER APPROPRIATING AND RE -APPROPRIATING FUNDING FOR THE EXISTING AND ADDED PROJECTS; RATIFYING, APPROVING, AND CONFIRMING CERTAIN NECESSARY ACTIONS BY THE CITY MANAGER AND DESIGNATED CITY DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO UPDATE THE RELEVANT FINANCIAL CONTROLS AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. 15-01599 Summary Form.pdf 15-01599 Legislation.pdf 15-01599 Exhibit A SUB Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0021 Chair Hardemon: Moving on to RE.13. Christopher Rose (Director): Good afternoon, Commissioners. Chris Rose, Office of Management & Budget. RE.13 is a regular capital appropriation. There is one new appropriation involved, and that is just recognizing and appropriating the Wagner Creek State revolving loan that has previously been approved by the City Commission. In ExhibitA,'j,ou will see that no projects crossed Commission lines. Lines 1 through 46 are at the request of District 5; lines 47 through 49 are at the request of the Administration in District 2; lines 50 through 54 are at the request of the Administration; again, no new funding, but some movement of funds between projects. Lines 55 through 67 are at the request of District 4; lines 68 through 103 are at the request of District 3; and lines 104 through 121 are at the request of District 1. I'll be happy to take any questions you may have at this time. I will note there are a couple of floor amendments that we have discussed with the honorable Commissioner from District 3. If now would be the time or if later would be the time, I'd be happy to explain those. Chair Hardemon: You can put them into the record. Mr. Rose: Certainly, sir. There are three floor amendments at the request of District 3. They are all moving funds around within District 3 funding. The first is a floor amendment in the amount of $171, 000 from the District 3 half -cent sales tax funds, with the number to be named -- delegated to the Administration to be created. It is for Southwest 5th Street, from 21 stAvenue to 22ndAvenue. The second one is from Southwest 15th Street, from 13th Avenue to 14th Avenue, in the amount of 51, 000; also from District 3 half -cent sales tax, and this will include potholes at the intersection of 14th Street and 14th Avenue. And the final one is from Southwest 31stRoad, from 2nd Avenue to 3rd Avenue, afloor amendment in the amount of 190, 000; again, from District 3 half -cent sales tax. I'll be happy to take any questions, Commissioners. City of Miami Page 68 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.14 15-01594 Department of General Services Administration Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Any motions? Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded as amended. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: It passes. Mr. Rose: Thank you, Commissioners. Chair Hardemon: You're welcome. RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION ACCEPTING THE BIDS RECEIVED OCTOBER 14, 2015, PURSUANT TO INVITATION FOR BID NO. 516388, FROM DANA SAFETY SUPPLY, INC. AND LESC, INC. D/B/A LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPLY COMPANY, INC., THE RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE BIDDERS, FOR THE PURCHASE AND/OR INSTALLATION OF MUNICIPAL VEHICLE EQUIPMENT, ON A CITYWIDE, AS NEEDED CONTRACTUAL BASIS, FORA PERIOD OF TWO (2) YEARS, WITH THE OPTION TO RENEW FOR THREE (3) ADDITIONAL ONE (1) YEAR PERIODS, ALLOCATING FUNDS FROM THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF FUNDS FROM THE USER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES, SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND BUDGETARY APPROVAL AT THE TIME OF NEED; FURTHER AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL SUPPLIERS TO BE ADDED TO THE CONTRACT AS DEEMED IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY OF MIAMI. 15-01594 Summary Fom.pdf 15-01594 Memo - Manager's Approval. pdf 15-01594 Bid Tabulation.pdf 15-01594 Bid Response - Dana Safety Supply Inc.pdf 15-01594 Bid Response - Law Enforcement Supply.pdf 15-01594 Corporate Detail.pdf 15-01594 Invitation For Bid.pdf 15-01594 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0009 Chair Hardemon: Moving on to RE.14. Ricardo Falero: Rick Falero, director of GSA (General Services Administration). A resolution of the City of Miami Commission accepting the bid received of October 14, pursuant to Invitation City of Miami Page 69 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Bid 516388 from Dana Safety Supplies and LESC, Inc., the responsive and responsible bidders for the purchase of installation of municipal vehicle equipment on citywide, as -needed contractual basis, for a period of two years, with an option to renew for three additional one-year periods; allocating funds from various sources. Chair Hardemon: Is there a motion? Commissioner Suarez: So moved. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded to pass RE.14. Any discussion? Any unreadiness? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Falero: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. RE.15 RESOLUTION 16-00007 District 3- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION EXPRESSING Commissioner Frank SUPPORT FOR A PUBLIC BAYWALK CONNECTING THE NORTH AND Carollo SOUTH PORTIONS OF THE WATERFRONT UNDERNEATH THE 1-395 EXPRESSWAY ("SIGNATURE BRIDGE") AND URGING THE METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ADOPT A BAYWALK THAT IS AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE (25) FEET WIDE WITHIN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SIGNATURE BRIDGE PROJECT; AND DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMITA COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE OFFICIALS DESIGNATED HEREIN. 16-00007 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATIONS PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0022 Chair Hardemon: Moving on to RE.15. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Commissioner Carollo, I believe this item is yours; the bay walk. Commissioner Carollo: It is, if you'll give me a second. Chair Hardemon: No problem. Commissioner Carollo: Yes, Commissioner. This resolution allows the City, through MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) and FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) to send a clear message of the importance of having a bay walk by the Signature Bridge Project. This was briefly discussed at the MPO level, where former Mayor Ferre has taken the initiative to provide awareness to this issue. I believe Commissioner Suarez well knows about this, and City of Miami Page 70 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 pretty much, what I'm trying to do is give our representative there in the MPO, you know, proper directions and the City's support in order for him and former Mayor Ferre to push this . The ability to maximize and open more public space, I think, especially on the waterfront, I think is extremely important. And one thing that, you know, speaking to former Mayor Ferre, he would like to see if, to my resolution, we do a friendly amendment, saying that we would prefer for it to be at least 25 feet wide, which would then allow for strollers, wheelchairs, you know, and pedestrians. So -- Commissioner Suarez: Second; second for discussion. Commissioner Carollo: -- I make the motion. Commissioner Suarez: Second for discussion. Chair Hardemon: It's been moved by Commissioner Carollo, with amendments; seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez, you're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, thank you, Commissioner. We definitely discussed it at the last -- the tail end of the last MPO hearing, and I think we passed a resolution then that it be at the next MPO Board meeting, but I think it's good to have a resolution of the City Commission supporting it. And, you know, this goes back to sort of some of the issues that were raised at the sunshine meeting. And I hate to come back to that, but these kind of quality of life components of this project are not envisioned by the project and are not funded by the project, so I think it's important that, you know, our advocacy on this issue, whether we end up getting a signature bridge or whatever ends up happening, you know, I agree that if we get a signature bridge, this is definitely a better version of the signature bridge than what they have proposed, but they have -- are about to go to RFP (Request for Proposals), I think, in a month. Commissioner Carollo: Well, that's why I'm bringing it forward -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Carollo: -- because I know you have a small window in the MPO to discuss it, and since this is going forward, you know, with the RFP within a month -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Carollo: -- I figured that at least you could, you know, represent us by showing, hey, the City of Miami Commission, hopefully unanimously, wants to continue the bay walk -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Carollo: -- from Museum Park to the other side of the former Herald, you know, premises or location so -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. No, I agree. I think it's a no-brainer, andl think, you know, the Mayor and I agreed at the time it was -- we had a spirited meeting that day. It was one of the few things that we agreed with on, but the good news is that -- but the fear that I have is that these qualitative things, which make total sense to us, you know, unfortunately, there had to be a lawsuit for the, quote/unquote, 5'ignature component'bf the signature bridge, which is the $60 million aesthetic feature, and, you know, I don't know what we would have to do to make something like this happen, but you can rest assured that if we pass this reso, which we will, unanimously, that I will be as forceful -- and I'd love for you to be there at the MPO meeting; and also, if you want, you know, make your presentation, as well, because it helps. We've had -- I've had -- trust me, I've had unanimous MPO -- unanimous resolutions here I've taken, and even City of Miami Page 71 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 with an elected official from the City that has come, and not been able to, unfortunately, get traction sometimes, because there's 23 members, tallying the other cities, et cetera. So I'd love for you to be there, too, if you can, to advocate this. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. I mean, more than anything, I think this would show a unanimous resolution, and again, I'm hoping that it's a unanimous resolution, because, you know, every time there's a development on the water, on the river, we talk about the bay walk, and the bay walk, and the continuous bay walk. So I want to make sure that, you know, even with this signature bridge, which, you're right, there was a lawsuit and stuff, but it seems like we're there at the tail end. It seems like we're finally going to get the funds, it's finally going to happen, and they're going out to RFP within a month; that, you know, that they take this into consideration, and hopefully, you know, we can move forward with this. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: As Chairman of the Downtown Development Authority, this is something that I really wanted to make sure that we, as a city, and we, as a downtown are concentrating on quality of life issues, just as you said. And I was pleasantly surprised to learn that that focus already is there, very much, and bay walk is a priority, and I intend to continue that. So one of the things that we're really looking at doing is making it a -- making -- getting a lot more momentum behind it as a community, and if you could use the underline as an example, to see the type of marketing that they've done to engage the community, get the excitement going to where, politically, there's almost no other way than to be for such a great thing. They have a logo; they have a motto; they have all sorts of things. And, you know, I wear the underline hat sometimes, when I'm biking around. It's just -- it's a good thing to be behind, but we don't yet have that awareness amongst the public of what's going on with bay walk. And so some of the things we're considering are, you know, trying to find a ribbon of continuity of the bay walk, so that from start to finish, even though there are different stakeholders along the way that there's something that, when you walk out to the bay, you know that you're hitting this basic entity, this bay walk; that people understand that it's a continuous flow from top to bottom. So our job, you know, logistically, is to make sure that all the little roadblocks along that bayfront just really start opening up, and we work with each tenant or stakeholder and be sure of that. So you've got my support, absolutely; not only for this concept, but as the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) and as the District 2 Commissioner along the waterfront that, you know, maximizing that's going to be very important. I did meet with Gus Pego last week before the sunshine meeting, and he implied to me, though, that this was already in -- a part of the plan. And I guess we need to make sure there's a meeting of minds to what extent; if it was just as a lightbulb under the bridge at that point, and however many feet, but we need to be very specific as to what we're -- what our expectation is of that, and so, yeah. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Hearing none, all for,ay fiye. " Commissioner Gort: Aye. Vice Chair Russell: Aye. Commissioner Suarez: Aye. Chair Hardemon: Aye. Commissioner Carollo: Aye; as amended, with preference for the 25 -- at least 25 foot bay walk. Chair Hardemon: It's noted. City of Miami Page 72 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 RE.16 16-00008 Commissioner Carollo: Right. RESOLUTION District 3- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING GOVERNOR Commissioner Frank RICK SCOTTAND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE, VIA Carollo SECRETARY OF STATE KEN DETZNER, TO HONOR THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT ENTERED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2008, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE MIAMI CIRCLE PROJECT TO THE STANDARDS ESTABLISHED IN THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT, THEREBY ENSURING THE MIAMI CIRCLE IS CLEAN AND FREE OF DEBRIS AND GARBAGE AND INVITING TO THE PUBLIC; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMITA COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE INDIVIDUALS AS STATED HEREIN. 16-00008 Miami Circle Shoreline Project Agreement.pdf 16-00008 Backup Images and FIND Letter.pdf 16-00008 Legislation.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0023 Chair Hardemon: RE.16. Commissioner Carollo: RE.16. Thank you, Commissioner. Once again, this is an item that I'm bringing before you. We, as Commissioners and public stewards must ensure and secure the public waterfront space is clean, and not littered with debris and garbage. This is why I brought this resolution forward, in order to honor an agreement which is meant to accomplish the goal. FIND, the Florida Inland Navigation District, and the Florida Department of State are parties to a grant administered by FIND, which has the Department of State maintaining the Miami Circle. This agreement includes funding which requires that the Miami Circle is by and large absent of garbage, in reasonably safe condition, in a proper state of repair; and importantly, in a state which encourages public use. It is important to note that Miami Circle is one of our continent's significant archeological sites found right here in the mouth of the Miami River on Brickell. Residents and visitors should be encouraged to use this space; however, with proper maintenance and upkeep, the use of the Miami Circle will not only live -- will not be able to live to its true potential. So I welcome all of you to support me and help FIND; the Miami River Commission, which I see Brett Bibeau here before us; and the public to truly achieve the Miami Circle's beauty and the promise, and the grant, which is in your package. I don't know if someone here is from FIND, but I know Brett Bibeau from the Miami River Commission is here, so Brett. Chair Hardemon: 1'll open the floor for public hearing at this time. Brett Bibeau: Honorable Chairman, City Commission, Brett Bibeau, managing director of the Miami River Commission, with offices located at 1407 Northwest 7th Street. For starters, I want to thank Commissioner Carollo for participating in the Miami River Commission's January 4 public board meeting, when FIND member Spencer Crowley presented their letter to the Department of State. And subsequently, Commissioner Carollo, thankfully placed this item on today's City Commission agenda. Since then, there is a new interim director of the Department of State's Division of Historical Resources, Tim Parsons, whom is saying all the right things. I'm hopeful that under the new Director Parsons' new leadership, his positive words will eventually City of Miami Page 73 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 materialize and be brought to fruition. For starters, on garbage removal, FYI (for your information), the Miami River Commission, at our expense, for the past year or so, has paid a professional company every Thursday to empty the garbage cans at the site. Now, we're doing it more often; now, it's every Monday and Thursday. In addition, this week, we spent extra time doing a lot of landscaping, and removing garbage from the overgrown portion of the Miami Circle Park. And in addition, we actually pressure -washed the river walk there twice, last year alone. In addition, there's a river walk extension piece of the puzzle, with public paid parking beneath the Brickell Bridge, so that the bay walk and the river walk to the east of the Brickell Bridge can continue to the west of the Brickell Bridge, where 1 Brickell was approved, to the public river walk. Bob Carr just submitted to the Department of State revised monitoring plans, and those plans for a river walk extension and public paid parking beneath the Brickell Bridge, we thank the Miami Parking Authority for funding that design and construction. I thank City of Miami Sergeant Valdez and the Miami Parking Authority for increased enforcement of the do parking'at the Miami Circle Park. And in conclusion, I want to thank the City of Miami Homeless Assistance Department, the County Homeless Trust, and Officer Bernat for addressing three homeless camps that previously existed on the site. So it's a work in progress. We appreciate the City of Miami's support in asking our friends at the Department of State to do their part to keep the site a world -class park for a world -class city, a national historic landmark. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there anyone else? Horacio Stuart Aguirre: Chairman Hardemon, good afternoon. Vice Chairman Russell, good afternoon. Horacio Stuart Aguirre, as chairman of the Miami River Commission. This item was presented before the Miami River Commission last Monday by Mr. Spencer Crowley, our local Commissioner for the Florida Inland Navigation District; Commissioner Frank Carollo was present. I'm here to tell you that the Miami River Commission passed a resolution unanimously in support of essentially Commissioner Carollo's resolution proposal of today. We strongly support and urge you to adopt that resolution, and to encourage the State of Florida to honor its commitment to the Miami Circle. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any other person? Hearing none, seeing none, I'll close the public hearing at this time. Commissioner Carollo: Move it, and one quick discussion that I want to -- Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Carollo; seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Carollo, you're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to say that I was in conversation with Commissioner Spencer Crowley just a few days ago. He was not able to make it here; he's out of town. And he was going to try to have someone here, but since there was not a time certain and we didn't know exactly what time this was going to happen, I guess someone wasn't able to appear, but they're very much interested in passing this for -- really for the betterment of our community. So with that, I move the item. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and second. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say Eye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. City of Miami Page 74 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 END OF RESOLUTIONS ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION AC.1 ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION 15-01629a Office of the City UNDER THE PARAMETERS OF §286.011(8), F.S. THE PERSON CHAIRING Attorney THE CITY OF MIAMI COMMISSION MEETING WILL ANNOUNCE THE COMMENCEMENT OF AN ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION, CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC, FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSING THE PENDING LITIGATION CASE OF CITY OF MIAMI V. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ET. AL., CASE NO. 11-14989 CA04, CURRENTLY PENDING IN THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO WHICH THE CITY IS PRESENTLYA PARTY. THIS PRIVATE MEETING WILL BEGIN AT APPROXIMATELY 2:00 P.M. (OR AS SOON THEREAFTER AS THE COMMISSIONERS' SCHEDULES PERMIT) AND CONCLUDE APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR LATER. THE SESSION WILL BE ATTENDED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COMMISSION: CHAIRMAN KEON HARDEMON, VICE-CHAIRMAN KEN RUSSELL, AND COMMISSIONERS WIFREDO "WILLY" GORT, FRANK CAROLLO, AND FRANCIS SUAREZ; THE CITY MANAGER, DANIEL J. ALFONSO; THE CITY ATTORNEY, VICTORIA MENDEZ; DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEYS JOHN GRECOAND BARNABY L. MIN; DIVISION CHIEF KEVIN R. JONES; AND ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEYS KERRI L. MCNULTY AND STEPHANIE K. PANOFF. A CERTIFIED COURT REPORTER WILL BE PRESENT TO ENSURE THAT THE SESSION IS FULLY TRANSCRIBED AND THE TRANSCRIPT WILL BE MADE PUBLIC UPON THE CONCLUSION OF THE ABOVE -CITED, ONGOING LITIGATION. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION, THE REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING WILL BE REOPENED AND THE PERSON CHAIRING THE COMMISSION MEETING WILL ANNOUNCE THE TERMINATION OF THE ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION. 15-01629a Memo - Office of the City Attorney.pdf 15-01629a Notice to the Public.pdf Motion by Commissioner Gort, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be WITHDRAWN PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon END OF ATTORNEY -CLIENT SESSION BOARDS AND COMMITTEES BC.1 RESOLUTION 15-01676 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COUNCIL FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: City of Miami Page 75 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 BC.2 15-01500 15-01676 Arts CCMemo.pdf 15-01676 Arts Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION Vice Chair Ken Russell Commissioner Frank Carollo Commissioner Francis Suarez Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE AUDIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. BC.3 15-01280 Office of the City Clerk BC.4 15-01677 APPOINTEES: 15-01500 Audit CCMemo.pdf 15-01500 Audit Current_Board_Members.pdf 15-01500 Audit Resume.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon Vice Chair Ken Russell Commissioner Francis Suarez A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE BAYFRONT PARK MANAGEMENT TRUST FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Vice Chair Ken Russell 15-01280 Bayfront CCMemo.pdf 15-01280 Bayfront Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION City of Miami Page 76 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CHARTER REVIEW AND REFORM COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. BC.5 15-01678 APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Vice Chair Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell 15-01677 Charter Review CCMemo.pdf 15-01677 Charter Review Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Tere Perez -Cisneros Commissioner Francis Suarez Bob Powers City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso 15-01678 Beautification CCMemo.pdf 15-01678 Beautification Current_Board_Members.pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0001 Chair Hardemon: May we take up the Board and Committee appointments at this time? Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): Sure, absolutely. Good afternoon, Chair and Commissioners. BC.5, City of Miami Beautification Committee: Commissioner Suarez will be appointing Tere Perez -Cisneros; City Manager Alfonso will be appointing Bob Powers. Commissioner Suarez: So moved. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. City of Miami Page 77 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 BC.6 RESOLUTION 14-00967 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION CONFIRMING THE Clerk APPOINTMENT OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CIVILIAN INVESTIGATIVE PANEL FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. BC.7 15-01679 APPOINTEES: 14-00967 CIP CCMemo.pdf 14-00967 CIP Current_Board_Members.pdf 14-00967 CIP Memo and Resumes.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION NOMINATED BY: Civilian Investigative Panel Civilian Investigative Panel Civilian Investigative Panel Civilian Investigative Panel Civilian Investigative Panel Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. BC.8 15-01680 APPOINTEES: (Alternate Member) (Alternate Member) 15-01679 CEB CCMemo.pdf 15-01679 CEB Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION NOMINATED BY: Vice Chair Ken Russell Commission -At -Large Commission -At -Large Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. City of Miami Page 78 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 BC.9 15-01282 APPOINTEES: 15-01680 CRB CCMemo.pdf 15-01680 CRB Current_Board_Members.pdf 15-01680 CRB Memos and Resumes.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon Chair Keon Hardemon Vice Chair Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell Office ofthe City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon Chair Keon Hardemon Vice Chair Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell Commissioner Frank Carollo 15-01282 CSW CCMemo.pdf 15-01282 CSW Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN BC.10 RESOLUTION 15-00291 Office ofthe City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Mayor Tomas Regalado Vice Chair Ken Russell City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso City of Miami Page 79 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 BC.11 15-01503 (Ex-Officio Non Voting Member) (Ex-Officio Non Voting Youth Member) 15-00291 EAB CCMemo.pdf 15-00291 EAB Current_Board_Members.pdf 15-00291 EAB Resume.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN Clerk INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon Chair Keon Hardemon Vice Chair Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell Commissioner Wifredo (Willy) Gort Commissioner Frank Carollo Commissioner Frank Carollo Commissioner Francis Suarez IAFF FOP AFSCME 1907 15-01503 EOAB CCMemo.pdf 15-01503 EOAB Current_Board_Members.pdf 15-01503 EOAB Resume.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN BC.12 RESOLUTION 15-01283 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE FOR ATERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. City of Miami Page 80 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Vice Chair Ken Russell 15-01283 Finance CCMemo.pdf 15-01283 Finance Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN BC.13 RESOLUTION 15-01284 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE HISTORIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION BOARD FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE/CATEGORY: NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon (Landscape Architect - Category 2) 15-01284 HEP CCMemo.pdf 15-01284 HEP Current_Board_Members.pdf 15-01284 HEP Application.pdf 15-01284 HEP Application Summary.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN BC.14 RESOLUTION 15-01681 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE LIBERTY CITY COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION TRUST FORATERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Keon Lewis (unexpired term ending September 24, 2016) City Manager Daniel J. Alfonso 15-01681 Liberty City CCMemo.pdf 15-01681 Liberty City Trust Current_Board_Members.pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon City of Miami Page S1 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 R-16-0002 Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC. 14, Liberty City Community Revitalization Trust: City Manager Alfonso will be appointing Keon Lewis. Commissioner Suarez: So moved. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. BC.15 RESOLUTION 15-01285 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE MAYOR'S INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Eduardo Padron Commissioner Frank Carollo 15-01285 MIC CCMemo.pdf 15-01285 MIC Current_Board_Members.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0003 A motion was made by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, and was passed unanimously, to appoint Eduardo Padron as a member of the Mayor's International Council; further waiving the term limits of Section 2-885(b) by a unanimous (5/5) vote of the members of the City Commission, as it relates to Eduardo Padron as a member of the Mayor's International Council. Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.15, Mayors International Council: Commissioner Carollo will be appointing Dr. Eduardo Padron, with a 5/5 term waiver. Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. City of Miami Page 82 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 BC.16 15-01505 RESOLUTION Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE MIAMI SPORTS AND EXHIBITION AUTHORITY FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Nathan Kurland Commissioner Frank Carollo 15-01505 MSEA CCMemo.pdf 15-01505 MSEA Current_Board_Members.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0004 Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.16, Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority: Commissioner Carollo will be appointing Nathan Kurland. Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say t. ye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. BC.17 RESOLUTION 15-01682 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL ASAMEMBER OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD FOR ATERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Frank Fernandez Commissioner Frank Carollo 15-01682 PRAB CCMemo.pdf 15-01682 PRAB Current_Board_Members.pdf Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon City of Miami Page 83 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 R-16-0005 A motion was made by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, and was passed unanimously, to appoint Frank Fernandez as a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; further waiving the attendance requirements in Section 2-886 of the Code of the City of Miami, as amended, by a four/fifths (4/5ths) vote of the members of the City Commission, as it relates to past absences on record for Frank Fernandez as a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.17, Parks & Recreation Advisory Board: Commissioner Carollo will be reappointing Frank Fernandez, with a 4/5th attendance waiver. Commissioner Suarez: So moved. Commissioner Carollo: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say t. ye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. BC.18 RESOLUTION 15-01683 Office ofthe City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD FORATERMAS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Mayor Tomas Regalado 15-01683 PZAB CCMemo.pdf 15-01683 PZAB Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN BC.19 RESOLUTION 15-01684 Office ofthe City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE SENIOR CITIZENS' ADVISORY COMMITTEE FORATERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Agatha Caraballo Commissioner Wifredo (Willy) Gort 15-01684 Senior Citizens Committee CCMemo.pdf 15-01684 Senior Citizens Committee Current_Board_Members.pdf City of Miami Page 84 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Gort, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0006 Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.19, Senior Citizens Advisory Board: Commissioner Gort will be appointing Agatha Caraballo, with a -- as a new member. Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second Commissioner Gort: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, say i. ye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. BC.20 RESOLUTION 15-01685 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE STARS OF CALLE OCHO WALK OF FAME COMMITTEE FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Suzy Battle Commissioner Frank Carollo Juan Coro Commissioner Frank Carollo Jose Celeya Commissioner Frank Carollo Carole Ann Taylor Commission -At -Large Bill Fuller Commission -At -Large Eduardo Padron Commission -At -Large 15-01685 Stars of Calle Ocho CC Memo.pdf 15-01685 Stars of Calle Ocho Current_Board_Members.pdf Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0007 Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): BC.20, Stars of Calle Ocho Walk of Fame Committee: City of Miami Page 85 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo will be appointing the following members: Suzy Battle, Juan Coro, Jose Celeya. There are three Commission -at -large appointments. Commissioner Carollo will also be appointing Carole Anne Taylor, Bill Fuller and Dr. Eduardo Padron. Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. BC.21 RESOLUTION 15-01507 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD (UDRB) FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon Vice Chair Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell Commissioner Wifredo (Willy) Gort Commissioner Frank Carollo Commissioner Frank Carollo Commissioner Francis Suarez 15-01507 UDRB CCMemo.pdf 15-01507 UDRB Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN BC.22 RESOLUTION 15-01686 Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK TRUST FOR ATERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE: NOMINATED BY: Vice Chair Ken Russell City of Miami Page 86 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 BC.23 15-01689 Office of the City Clerk DI.1 15-01489 15-01686 VKBPT CCMemo.pdf 15-01686 VKBPT Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AS MEMBERS OF THE WATERFRONT ADVISORY BOARD FOR TERMS AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEES: 15-01689 WAB CCMemo.pdf 15-01689 WAB Current_Board_Members.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN NOMINATED BY: Chair Keon Hardemon Chair Keon Hardemon Vice Chair Ken Russell Vice Chair Ken Russell Commissioner Frank Carollo Commissioner Frank Carollo END OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES DISCUSSION ITEM DISCUSSION ITEMS Department of Capital DISCUSSION REGARDING CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND Improvement TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM (CI TP) WEBSITE. Programs/Transportat ion 15-01489 Summary Form.pdf 15-01489-Submittal-Jeovanny Rodriguez-CITP-Presentation.pdf DISCUSSED Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director of Capital Improvements & Transportation. DI.1 is a discussion item for the introduction of the website developed for Capital Improvements & Transportation. This website was developed for the purpose of information. It's a purpose of information for our own staff to be able to map all the projects that we do efficiently; but it's also information for you, the Commissioners, your staff, and more important, for our citizens. The intent is to have a website that the citizens can come in view what projects are being done in their area; having a general idea of the project number, the scope, and also some basic timelines. I have a very small and simple presentation, which I believe you guys have a copy of it. My intent is to go through that presentation real quick, and City of Miami Page 87 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 then just go right into the website and show you how to get there, and some of the things that we can do with it. The objective of the website, again, was to develop an interactive management tool that you're going to be able to display projects and query those projects. And it's a tool that is going to be able to review it, update the projects, and monitor the projects. And, of course, the final point is a website that is going to be able to provide the citizens with the information of, you know, what projects is being done in the area, and basic time frames and scopes. The website is, again, it's a base -- web -based application. All you need is access to the internet. And this is the address right here. And again, we'll provide this presentation to your office, so you can distribute the website. Once you enter this address, this will be the map that you'll see. Once you get into the website, one -- few things that you want to know is you're going to see a list of layers. In here, it's on your right-hand side, but in the actual application, they'll be shown on the left. And the layers are color layers, and again, the intent is to be a very simple, friendly -- user-friendly application, and it's going to tell you the phase of the projects just by the color. Just to highlight a couple, for example, anything in red is pre -design or design; anything in yellow shows you that it's under construction; those in green will tell you that they're completed, and so on and so on. Once you get into the website, you'll be able to click on a specific project, and a box will pop up, which is kind of small over here, but that box will tell you the project number; it will tell you the basic scope of the project; it will tell you the district that it's in; and it will give you some basic days for the project; start design, start construction and so on. In addition to that, if you see at the bottom of that box, you're going to have the opportunity to create a report and if you click on it, it will -- going to give you the ability to print the project and that project information, which is the page that you see right next to it. In addition, there is several layers. Since this is a GIS (Geographic Information System) -based application, there are several layers that you can add to the GIS. One that I found most useful is the aerial view. You can add an aerial view, and you basically going to see that; and also, you can add the street names and so on. And sometimes, it's helpful to identifir the projects by the areas. This is -- just gives you another function of how to print a report. You can print a report in landscape; you can print it in portrait; but, again, it does give you the ability to be able to print the report for a specific project, if you so desire. One of the most useful tools is the ability to query. The website has several ways that you can find a specific project; or you can either query for many projects. You can even query by districts, all the projects within a district; or any type of specific projects within a district; whether you want design projects, construction projects, or even vertical projects and so on. Once you do the queries and you identify the query, it's going to give you a list, much similar for what you see down here; that it's going to give you, again, a list of all those project numbers; it's going to give you the name of the project, scopes and so on. Here, what you see is how to do some of the queries. If you see the box that is in your left-hand side, it's going to give you several options here once you're going to query a project. Again, you can put the district; you can put the type of projects that you want; drainage projects, for example. And again, you can also ask for the phase of the project. And again, once you select the query, the table that you see below, it's the list of all those projects that you select. And this table can then be exported into, for example, an Excel file that you can manipulate, and analyze, and print, if you so desire. Additional ways that you can query the website is by address of residents, or anybody in the matter are going to have the opportunity to go into the website, put an address, and identifir a radius; you know, 1, 000 feet, 500 feet, whatever they want, and the website will give you all the projects that are within that area selected; and again, it will give it to you in a list, and that list, you can export it to Excel or any other type of format, and then it could be analyzed this way. Really, that's -- again, it's intended to be a simple tool. It's a tool for -- just for informational purposes, but the idea is to be able to give anybody who wishes so the opportunity to see what projects are in the area, and what is the status of the project. One thing that I would like to mention is that this website is up and running now. It is a work in progress in the sense that the information that is feeding the website is coming from our track system, which is the system that Capital Improvements uses to manage the capital project. We are now -- one of the big exercise that we're doing within our own department, working in conjunction with the Budget Department, for example, is trying to clear up a lot of the data that is in the system. You have basically 14 years of datas [sic] and projects that were created there, and some of them are City of Miami Page 88 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 completed, but have not really been taken off the books, and so on. So as we clear the information in our own system, the website will be automatically updated. Again, I encourage all the Commissioners to look at it, to use it, and to let us know, you know, any comments that you have. Now, how do you access the website? The easiest way to do it -- and, of course, you can always put the information -- but if you go to our own page, City's website, and you go to departments, if you go to Capital Improvements, and it's here, once you get into our website, there's right here on your left-hand corner, you say Find a project,'hnd that's going to basically launch the website. We say, figree,'hnd here it is. It basically gives you a map of the City, all the projects that are already here. You're going to see there's all kinds of colors here. From here, we can do several ways to search. If you know your way around a map, you can simply zoom in on certain projects. You can move around the City. You can click on certain projects if you want. You're going to see all kinds of colors. And as you find your way around, if you find a project that, for example, you want to know information, and this is one. For example, this green over here, if I click on it, it tells you what that is. That's the Rockerman Canal, which is a project that we finished about a year or so ago. It's in green right now, because it tells you that it's a completed project. If you want to add the aerial view, for example, you come here in base maps, and you can add it, and automatically, it's going to give you the aerial map. And sometimes, it's easier to know your way around that way. Now, if you want a query for the project, there's several ways to do it. If you say, S'elect a project,'You can go to Select a project,'and you can list here. For example, we can pick, and we can say, for example, District 1,'and we can say fill projects in District 1,'hnd we can run a query on that, and the website would give you a -- basically a table with all the projects that we have in District 1, and you can see that table right there. This table then you can export here, where it says, 1'xport content. "You can automatically take it to your spreadsheet, to Excel file or something like that. You can print it; you can analyze it; you can sort it out, and so on. If -- again, you can search by -- you can put a B'humber, for example, if you know the project number. Here, where it says, Project number,'You can put a B" number, if you know the project number for the project. It's going to take you specifically to that number. You can search by an address. If you put an address here, automatically, you're going to be able to get it. And again, it takes you to where you want, and the radius that you want. Again, our presentation here today is meant to be a simple presentation. It is a tool that we find useful. Hopefully, you'll find it useful the same way. And I encourage all of you to try it out and give us feedback of what you think. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Any discussion about it? Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Congratulations. I think this is an amazing tool that -- as I transfer from being a citizen to an elected official, one of the big things that I remember as a citizen is going, Wow, I didn't know that project was going to happen until the shovel goes in the ground,'and that's when usually the neighbors have something to say. And now, I can see from the other side that you say, No, we"- you know -- We had three meetings. We put the same thing in the paper. We posted it up. "And there's still not a meeting of the minds, that they know it's coming, and you've given them fair warning. There's something not meeting. And this is one -- this is a great tool that can be available to the public to help them know. What I would not like to see this become is a -- Well, we had it on the website. You didn't see it. You've been given public "really good notice. "It's all here if they know how to find it. And I guess my question is, is there any action plan or budget available to teach people about this website, and let them know how to use it, and activate the public on its availability? Because if they knew that it was here and how to use it, it would be -- it would really make our lives much easier as Commission offices as keeping people informed. Mr. Rodriguez: Well, Commissioner, right now, I believe that's a great idea. I think that's City of Miami Page 89 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 precisely what we want. We want to educate our public, and let them know that there are certain projects, that just because they don't see activity out there or a shovel in the ground, we are working on those projects. And sometimes, we are working on those projects for quite a while; and unfortunately, a lot of times, our residents don't know until we break ground, and that's when they come out and they want to give comments and so on. And sometimes, that's problematic for us. One of the ideas here is that they know that there is a project coming up in their neighborhood or their area of interest; that's it's now in design. At least it gives you the project name; it gives you the basic scope, and it kind of puts them on the radar. So the next time that we do like a community meeting or something like that, it's something that they are aware and they participate. We have within our staff personnel that I can -- we can probably set up a -- some type of a training program, or the ability to be able to teach those who want to know about it how to use it, and how to get to it, and we can definitely put some information in our website. And in addition, you know, we're also working with the NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) Office; that's one of the things that we're doing. We share this information with NET. We have actually have been in communications recently with the NET Office, and they're going to be helping us putting the word out of all these projects, and the stage of the projects, including the website and how to get to it. So we can definitely take that in consideration, Commissioner, and I think that's a great idea. Commissioner Gort: That's a good suggestion about the NET office; that's one of the best way to use them. Mr. Rodriguez: I agree, Commissioner, and that's why we went to the NET Office and we actually requested help. And they were very kind about it and -- Commissioner Gort: Thank you. Mr. Rodriguez: -- the director is here, and she is fully committed in helping us put the word out there through the managers in NET centers, to help us get -- Commissioner Gort: We got a pocket item. We got a pocket item. We're going to address a few of those things, because a lot of times, what people don't understand, we allocate the funds in here, and people thinks because we allocated the funds in here that they're going to see the project right away. They don't understand they have to go through design, and they cannot go into design until the money is approved here and given to the Finance Department. Designs take two to three months. And then, you have to go to bid, which takes another two or three months. And then it's -- by the time we will make the decision that gets implemented to begin, it's about a year. And people today are very demanding. They want to see action right away. And this is something I'm going to be discussing later on. Mr. Rodriguez: Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Gort: Thank you. This is a good presentation. Mr. Rodriguez: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. DI.2 DISCUSSION ITEM 15-01372 City Commission STATUS UPDATE REGARDING THE EXTENSION OF THE LIFE OF BOTH THE SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("SEOPW CRA"), AND THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY. City of Miami Page 90 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 15-01372-Submittal-City Manager -Status Update on CRA Memo.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: I think -- Commissioner Carollo: The special -- Chair Hardemon: -- we can finish this meeting with the discussion items; we're moving along great. DI. I. DI. 1 is a presentation to the City Commission on the official launch of the Capital Improvements and Transportation Geographic Information System Web Application. Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good morning, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director of Capital Improvements & Transportation. If you could give me just a quick second so I can set up the -- I have a small presentation and I'm trying to put -- Unidentified Speaker: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair Hardemon: What I can do is I can move on to DI.2, status of extension of the Southeast Overtown/Park West and Omni CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). Fernando Casamayor (Chief Financial Officer/Assistant City Manager): Yes, good afternoon. Commissioners, there was a memo that was sent out -- I believe it was either yesterday or day before yesterday -- from the City Manager regarding the status. Basically, the Administration had met with Miami -Dade County representatives regarding the extension of the CRA's, as was requested for us to do. What they would like -- what the County would like -- and they're amenable to discussing the item. They would like, though, an official vote from both CRA Boards in order to formalize and get the process moving. So that's the status. Chair Hardemon: But they're not requiring -- I know they want to know some ideas as to what the CRA's want to do with the extra TIF (Tax Increment Fund) dollars that is created by extending the time period, but they don't need all of the plans that we want to move forward with. I mean, that's part of what you have to do in the application, when you want to extend it, but not at this point; is that correct? Mr. Casamayor: Yes, Commissioner. They would like an idea of the type of projects that we'd like to retain for funding purposes. And again, I think we all understand that, you know, there is a Ibday'that we know of because we're living in it; and then there's a future that we don't know of so it would be very difficult to categorize dollars of projects that are -- we're unaware of but they would certainly like a list of items that currently, today, there are commitments to, or anything that we know of that is going up that would have some commitments to, so they can, at the very least, you know, carve out whatever that is that's necessary. Chair Hardemon: And I say that, also, because, I mean, for instance in the Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA, there is still lots of work to be done to eliminate slum and blight, and so it may not be necessarily project specific in the sense of a building that needs to be built that will cost you, you know, $22 million, such as African Diaspora Museum, or something of that nature, but there are still people living in Southeast Overtown/Park West that are living in slum, and that need those buildings renovated, so that's why I'm just trying to be clear, because it may not come back, for instance, from our -- from the board that I chair with 10 particular projects, but there's still a need for the CRA. Mr. Casamayor: Commissioner, I'm pretty sure on the Southeast Overtown/Park West that I believe there is still a need, because there is still slum and blight. It's -- that's -- I don't think that's an argument that anyone can make, but again, what they did express to us was they would City of Miami Page 91 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 like some official notice from the CRA Board, itself that they have an intention to extend, so that at that point, the County can now officially enter into some sort of negotiation regarding what it is that they would require for a 9es,'fn order to do so. Chair Hardemon: Okay. Any further discussion? Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please. Chair Hardemon: Mr. Russell. Vice Chair Russell: I would like to echo a little bit of what Commissioner Hardemon -- Chair Hardemon said; that our goal with the CRA is not to decide its fate based on projects; it's based on the need. And I know that's our intention, but when you say, 1"m sure there is slum and blight," without a doubt, there is, that needs to be addressed. I think there is a quantifiable measure through which we have available to us. The last finding of necessity, if I'm not mistaken, was done back in 2009; is that correct? And from that, we made a redevelopment plan. And so based on the need, and then the plan, we should be able to see where we are on that plan to meet the need; and either we've met it; at which point, it would go -- it would sunset; or we haven't, which means we have more work to do. From this point on, it would be my recommendation to either do a new finding of necessity, or reassess the redevelopment plan; one of the two, to really have a quantifiable measure and geographical measure of where we are within each of the CRA's, and what there is to do. And what this will -- the big thing this will do is give a transparency to the public and to the media to really see that we're not making these decisions just by a whim; that we're actually following a very specific directive that we've set out for ourselves in a measurement tool, to show that this is a tool for good. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none, thank you very much. Let's move back to DI. 1. You ready? Commissioner Carollo: Actually, Mr. Chairman, you know, I'm sorry, if we could go back. I do want a few words, because you -- you know, like I said, we don't violate the sunshine. This is the only time we get to speak. I definitely agree with what Commissioner Russell is saying, and that re-evaluation, it's actually premature, so that's why I was staying quiet. I'm still doing my homework with these issues, but one of the things that I would want to take into consideration with that re-evaluation is Museum Park. Originally, that CRA, Omni CRA was going to fund all those enhancements to Museum Park; not to mention capital and operation, I believe so. So I just wanted to keep your mind open with regards to that. I'm sure in the future, we will have discussions, obviously, properly noticed, and all that, and in the sunshine, but I'm still doing a lot of homework, and, you know, we're not there yet, but it's something that originally -- the original promise for Museum Park was for Omni CRA to fund it. And, well, everyone can read the history of what occurred and so forth, but the bottom line is it's something where, you know, I might be open to, you know, continue that CRA or extend the life if it's projects that are very well needed. And I get it; it's not project -based, but I just want to make sure that when we do that re -assessment or the new assessment that we take that into consideration. Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Yeah, and I guess my only perspective on this is more so with the Omni than with Overtown. I think, Overtown, I think the good thing about it is we're starting to see some significant progress in terms of addressing slum and blight. I think in Omni, like Midtown -- for example, Midtown was a single purpose CRA. It was designed just for the purpose of creating Midtown. With Omni, there's also been -- it's been used in large part to do big things versus Overtown that has sort of tried to look at things more comprehensively from a City of Miami Page 92 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 DI.3 15-01595 City Commission perspective of curing slum and blight. And so, I think, you know, that may be something that you want to look at, as the Chair of Omni, and say, Okay, we've done some big things. We've done the Performing Arts Center; we've done the port bond; we've done, you know, the Miami Entertainment Complex. What about, you know, poverty? What about, you know, all the issues that, you know, are really what create a CRA and the need for a CRA?"Why are you smiling? Chair Hardemon: You said Omni'and[3overty'fn the same sentence. I like that; it has a beautiful ring to it. Commissioner Suarez: I had a feeling you would; that's why I thought you were smiling. So, yeah, I really think that, again, the focus has been slightly different. The focus has been doing some bigger projects and developing it in one way. Listen, we've done that in Overtown, as well. I mean, we've gotten involved in big projects, but we've also gotten involved in affordable housing; we've also gotten involved in job training; we've also gotten involved in a variety of other things; in rehab, which has been a big deal, you know, particularly for Historic Overtown residents. And so I think, you know, maybe that's something to consider. And I think if we do that, I think people will be much more amenable to the thought of continuing the life of the Omni CRA. Thank you. Vice Chair Russell: If I may. Chair Hardemon: Yeah, you're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: Yeah. I think you'll see a very big difference in tone and the use of the Omni CRA as -- even during my campaign, I was quite vocal about CRA's and how they could be such a great tool for good, and they should be, but the reputation is there within the media, and what's been said over year; and not just about, you know, South Florida; Omni -- CRA's in every parts of the country, in all parts of the country have the chance to be misused. And so some people thought that that meant that I actually wasn't interested in chairing the CRA as I came in, and it's quite the opposite. I'm very excited to get in there and actually focus the target; not just on large-scale projects, but on the things that can really build up a community and affect slum and blight in a positive way, so I'm with you. Commissioner Gort: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Gort: I think the statement that was made by Russell is very important. I think we should analyze and look -- that when we began with the CRA, what was in place, what we have accomplished, because, unfortunately, a lot of times, what makes news is the bad news. A lot of the good news and a lot of the good work that's been done throughout the CRA -- I mean, the changes that we've seen in Biscayne Boulevard and Buena Vista have been tremendous. The changes that we have seen in Overtown, I think it's tremendous. So I think it's important that we go back where we began, what was there, and what we have done up to now, so people could see how effective we've been. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none, move on to DI.1. DISCUSSION ITEM STATUS REPORT REGARDING THE CREATION OF THE PROPOSED LUDLAM TRAIL 15-01595-Submittal-City Manager -Ludlam Trail Park Land Aquisition Memo.pdf City of Miami Page 93 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Let's move on to -- Jeovanny Rodriguez (Director, Capital Improvements & Transportation): Thank you. Chair Hardemon: -- DI.3: Status report on Ludlam Trail. Commissioner Gort: Report on Ludlam Trail. Chair Hardemon: That may be -- Fernando Casamayor (Chief Financial Officer/Assistant City Manager): Good afternoon, Commissioners. We also sent a memo out on this particular item as well -- I believe it was on the 12th -- regarding some of the information that -- you know, so far, we've worked on this Ludlam Trail Project and -- Chair Hardemon: Is this item concerning Commissioner Suarez? Commissioner Gort: Yes. Mr. Casamayor: Yes. Chair Hardemon: All right. Let's just wait till Commissioner Suarez comes back. DI.4 is also regarding something that he put on, correct? Later... Chair Hardemon: Let's move on to -- Commissioner Suarez: I'll try to be quick, Mr. Chair, if you want. Chair Hardemon: What is it, DI.3, the Ludlam --? Is that the one you need? Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. DI.3, DI.4, and DI.7 were discussion items that our office asked, prior to the limitation being set of three per district. Chair Hardemon: So that's what -- you have as many as you want. Commissioner Suarez: So -- but I'll be very quick. The Ludlum Trail one, the Administration already prepared a very comprehensive memo on what it is that we're looking at. I want to thank Danny for coming out there with me, and I want to thank the Administration. It's going to -- part of that memo is going to require, potentially, participation from the School Board, and it's an idea of potentially doubling the size of Robert King High, which is a -- you know, within an 11-acre parcel that we're looking at. Again, trying to acquire and get that kind of acreage and that kind of land in the City is very, very difficult, very expensive usually, so it's going to require some input from other agencies, and we've already started the process. They're in the process of doing appraisals, and they've already reached out proactively to FECI (Florida East Coast Industries), so -- and I think the County also has already approved, if Pm not mistaken, a lot of the zoning for the corridor. That's -- that was a consensus plan approved by the neighbors as well, so I think that's the report. I don't want to belabor it, unless you guys -- yeah, go ahead. Daniel Rotenberg: The one thing -- Daniel Rotenberg, director of Real Estate & Asset Management. I would like the Commission to know that we just were informed. We just got some emails today that FEC (Florida East Coast) started their program. They started their plans to abandon the tract, meaning that they're starting to do their environmental studies. City of Miami Page 94 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 DI.4 15-01615 District 4- Commissioner Francis Suarez Commissioner Suarez: Awesome. Mr. Rotenberg: And they've notified FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) that they start removing the rails, so it looks like they're working along with us as well. Commissioner Suarez: Perfect. DISCUSSION ITEM PRESENTATION BY ADMINISTRATION REGARDING OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC BENEFITS TRUST PROGRAM. 15-01615 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 15-01615-Submittal-Francisco Garcia -Presentation Public Benefits Overview.pdf DISCUSSED Commissioner Suarez: DI .4 [sic], I didn't get a report on this. I may have missed it. DI point -- I'm sorry. DJ.4 [sic], which is the Public Benefits Trust Program. Thank you, Mr. Planning Director. I think both -- Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Mr. Chair, Commissioners. Commissioner Suarez: -- 4 and 7 are your -- are things with -- that you can speak to. Mr. Garcia: Yes, certainly. So, we've prepared what I expect will be a brief presentation. While I speak with you momentarily, I will connect to the screen so you may see it as well. Commissioner Suarez: If you want, in the meantime, while you're doing that -- well, you got it? Mr. Garcia: I think we're set, and I'm ready to begin. And again, this is simply in an effort to describe to you, at some level of detail but in a very sort of superficial concise manner, what the many components of the Public Benefits Program is like today, and then we'll certainly be very sympathetic to listen to any feedback and additional information you care to provide. So I'll begin here. All right. And so, I will begin very briefly by sharing with you that when Miami 21, the present Zoning Ordinance of the City of Miami, was first implemented, the only similar program that preceded it under Zoning Ordinance 11000 was an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and it was deemed that because of the dearth of parkland that there was in the City, the dearth of affordable housing there was in the City, the dearth of some infrastructural and civic improvements that was in the City, that there should be a program whereby development, especially in high density/high intensity areas, should be provided a means to contribute to a fund intended to foster the development of again, park facilities, affordable housing, infrastructure, and civic structures, ex cetera. And so, the way it is structured presently under Miami 21, the Zoning Ordinance, it has the following components: It provides for a bonus for any developer -- again, I emphasize -- in a large scale high density/high intensity site that provides affordable workforce housing. If they do so on site, there is a 2-to-1 ratio; and if they do so off site, there is a 1-to-1 ratio; 2-to-I and 1-to-1 meaning per square foot provided of such a facility. They can enjoy the additional benefit for their development. The same goes for public parks and open space: on site, a 1-to-1 ratio; and off site, a 2-to-1 ratio, because it is preferred that the offsite facility take up the whole lot, as opposed to simply having a small component of the lot being used as park or open space. And there is also a benefit that provides for improvements made to parks and public facilities, and there the ratio is 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 for areas in the City with -- below a 50 percent median income to incentivize those facilities in those areas. Now, presently, the contributions that have been captured in this Public Benefits Trust Fund City of Miami Page 95 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 amount only to $700,000. Commissioner Suarez: Right now? Mr. Garcia: At present, correct. That's a raw number, and I'll explain in a moment why that is. It's, in fact, the very next line, and you'll see a little more detail in a moment. It is because the City also instituted a Transfer of Development Rights program that allowed property owners that have historically designated properties to be able to sell those development rights to parcels or development proposals within these high density/high intensity areas, so I'll skip over that, and then come to it on the next slide with a little more detail, and then I'll cover briefly the brownfield incentive that is also at a rate of 1-to-1. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), or sustainability incentive, which requires for large-scale buildings that they comply with LEED silver certification. However, they provide an incentive for gold certification and for platinum certification at the rate of 4 percent of floor -lot -ratio; and for platinum certification, 13 percent of floor -lot -ratio, because, of course, those are increasingly hard to obtain. For civic space and civil support uses, the donation of the space or the use is actually rewarded at a 2-to-1 ratio, and I wanted to also add the newest component of this program, which is the NRD-1 Public Benefits Trust Fund. There, as you know, they provide for incentives for affordable and workforce housing, parks and open space, civic space and support uses, as well as cash contributions, and those are intended to be contained within the boundaries of NRD-1. I think I will save this slide for questions, should there be any, but what this slide shows you at a glance -- and I will certainly forward this -- is what the available parameters are in each of the zoning designations for the bonuses. In other words, it is not the case that a developer can make contributions to increase a development capacity without limits. There are limits, and here they are. And I'll use as an example: In T-6-8 where the maximum height by right is eight stories, the bonus -able height can rise only up to 12; and the floor -lot ratio, which is, by right, 5, can be increased only by a factor of 25 percent; and in the remainder of the chart, you have all the available increases for all the zoning designations. Again, happy to come back to this, if there are any questions. This graphic simply explains that the way we calculate the bonuses for a developer that is going to provide onsite open space or park facilities is to take the amount of land dedicated to it, to the parks or open space, and to multiply that times the floor -lot ratio, and then take that development capacity and add it to the building to the extent allowed by the parameters presented previously. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, can I stop him? Can I just stop you just to ask a question? Mr. Garcia: Of course. Commissioner Suarez: Because I want to fully understand this. So, there's a maximum that you can bonus up. Mr. Garcia: Correct. Commissioner Suarez: And as far as I can tell from the prior slide, there seems to be only two ways that you can get a bonus. One is on- or offsite park space, if you provide that, or park improvements, and the other one being on- or offsite affordable housing. Mr. Garcia: That is correct. Commissioner Suarez: That's the only way that you can be eligible for a bonus. In other words, if you provide those benefits, then you can get a -- some sort of a bonus. Mr. Garcia: That is correct. There are two additional ones which I mentioned in passing. One has to do with providing civil support infrastructure, typically parking garages. Of course, those parking spaces would have to be made available to the public at large. It cannot be reserved City of Miami Page 96 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 only for residents, for instance. And the other way to do it is to make improvements to parks and public facilities that are off site typically, and then those improvements are also rewarded, as described previously. Commissioner Suarez: Can you make a cash payment in lieu of some of those benefits? Mr. Garcia: Of course, any and all of them. Commissioner Suarez: Right. And then they go into the pot for that specific thing? So, in other words, you can say, in lieu of doing offsite, you know, affordable housing, or onsite affordable housing, we're going to give you X'humber of dollars, and that will go into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund under Miami 21, public benefits? Mr. Garcia: Yes, partially, and the only reason why I say `partially" is because there is one pot of money, so to speak, so we don't differentiate. The cash contributions - Commissioner Suarez: That's what I - Mr. Garcia: -- are made into the fund, and it is all lumped in together; and as I described earlier, the amount presently rises only to $700,000. Commissioner Suarez: I get it, and that's where I think it's a little bit confusing for me, because it seems like you can get the bonus by doing two things: either expanding park space or doing affordable housing; or paying cash in lieu of the two, but that goes into a fund and that -- the expenditure of those funds can be used for -- Mr. Garcia: Either/or. Commissioner Suarez: -- either/or. Mr. Garcia: Correct. Commissioner Suarez: Got it. Mr. Garcia: Correct. But again, the money presently hasn't risen to the level where any significant expenditure can be made. We will get there at some point in time. I'll be quick in covering the remainder of it, which I think will further illustrate the points I've made. I wanted to very quickly touch upon probably one of the most frequently asked questions, which is, "What dollar value is assigned to the square foot when one makes a contribution into the Public Benefits Trust Fund?" And here is a map; it's published. It's public information, of course, and it is of record, and it describes on an area -by -area basis what the dollar amount is per square foot in each of the areas. I'll mention briefly -- not to complicate matters any -- that those dollar amounts are tied to the value of the land in these particular areas as appraised roughly five years ago. We are due -- and I know that the Department of Real Estate & Asset Management is working on a reappraisal of those land values, because we have every reason to believe they've risen. Commissioner Suarez: Can I ask another question, Mr. Chair? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: And this may be just a confusion on my part. So you have a T-6-8, which means the highest you can do is eight. You want to go beyond that, you can pay a per -square -foot amount into the fund, and it can be used for either of those two purposes, correct? City of Miami Page 97 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Mr. Garcia: Correct. Commissioner Suarez: So that I understand. The other thing you can do is you can improve a park or you can build a park onsite, or you can build affordable housing onsite or offsite, and that will also -- I mean, I guess if you do that, you're just doing that. That's not a cash contribution into the fund, correct? That's the actual -- you're doing the actual -- and you have a -- some way of valuing that for purposes of a bonus? Mr. Garcia: That's correct, yes. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Mr. Garcia: That is correct. Vice Chair Russell: Question. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. The offsite contribution, is it limited geographically from the distance -- from the project, or it can be anywhere citywide? Mr. Garcia: No. The only -- no. So, within the City of Miami, of course, that's the only limit that exists. And the only incentive that is given to control, to some extent, where the improvements go in the case of parks and open space is that if those improvements are made to a park or a recreational facility in areas of the City of Miami which are at 50 percent of income level or less, then there is an added bonus provided to that developer. That's the only distinction. Vice Chair Russell: All right. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort. Mr. Garcia: I'll cover briefly one more item, because this is important, ifI may. The transfer of development rights -- and it seems I've just run out of battery, so I will ask someone to provide me with a connection. In any event, I'll tell you by way of narrative, there's also a Transfer of Development Rights Program that you may be aware of and what we do there is we allow property owners that have historically designated properties to -- Commissioner Suarez: Sell. Mr. Garcia: -- certify with the City of Miami -- and this is - there's a process for that, and we keep the records -- certify with the City of Miami the fact that, "A," the property's properly designated, and "B, " that there is some remaining development capacity on that land -- thank you very much -- that there is remaining development capacity on that land that they will not be able to develop by virtue of maintaining the building as it is at that time. That remainder of development capacity that exists on the property, on the historic property, can then be sold in a private transaction to a developer -- thank you, George -- that has a site that is eligible for that bonus. So, in lieu of paying into -- thank you -- the Public Benefits Trust Fund -- paying money to get additional swear footage or development capacity -- they will instead sell those development rights to a property owner that is qualified, and they will make use of them at the time of building permits. Now, the reason this is important to mention -- thank you -- is because, presently, of record, we have 37 such transactions, 37 historic properties which have registered to -- Commissioner Suarez: Sell. City of Miami Page 98 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Mr. Garcia: -- transfer over development capacity; of which, 16 have already been effectuated. The amount of square footage that has been transferred in these transactions is 1,600,000 square feet, all recorded; we keep track. And at the average amount or price of $14 per square foot, because it ranges from roughly 10 to 18, the number rises to 22, 400, 000. So those are 22 million, 2 hundred -- 400,000 -- I stand corrected -- dollars that might have come into the Public Benefits Trust Fund but are instead being privately transacted between property owners and developers. Now, that's not a loss, that's not a loss, because a significant amount of that money is reinvested under historic properties for their upkeep and maintenance and refurbishment. However, when I -- I'm asked the question -- I'm often asked the question as to why is it that the Public Benefits Trust Fund is not as replete as we might thought it might have been. Much of the money has been assigned to these. And the last thing I'll say -- and with this, I close -- is, of course, through the special area plans, there are also development orders that contemplate donations made by developers for the additional development capacity they obtain to make either cash contributions or improvements to public facilities or City facilities, as is the case with the ones that you've seen in the recent past. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. And I think you hit the nail on the head, particularly in the -- not the last statement, but the one before, which is, obviously, we want to incentivize our preservation of historic property, and clearly, the TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) mechanism has done so out of the 37 eligible properties. A little less than half have already taken advantage of it. I think, from my perspective -- this is why I asked us, the Commission, to study of what was the private transactional value of that so that we could reconfigure our own public benefit for purposes of affordable housing. You know, the discrepancy between 700,000 and 22 million is a big discrepancy. I would have preferred it to have been 10 million, 10 million, or you know, 15 million, 5 million, to be completely frank with you, and I think that's the opportunity that we lost, you know, and I think we have an opportunity to correct it, because as you said you know, there's still a lot of transactions that are out there available in the open market. We certainly want to incentivize people who have historic properties to maintain them historic, and we want to create a mechanism for that, but we also want to incentivize affordable housing. So that was one of the sort of policy initiatives that I'm studying to bring to this Commission, which is a tweaking of the public benefit formula so that we don't lose out to that extent, 22 million versus 700,000 in terms of the open market value that a developer's getting by buying them from a historic property versus paying into our Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Vice Chair Russell: Question. Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Is this solution making the public benefits contribution easier to obtain, or is it that the TDR transactions are too inexpensive? Commissioner Suarez: I think the TD -- well, the TDRs are traded on the open market, so the price for the TDR is determined by the market. What we can do is we can change the benefit, because that's what we control, so you could do it either way. You could either do it by saying, "We're going to give you a greater benefit if you pay into the Public Benefit/Affordable Housing Trust Fund," or "We're going to give you a lessor benefit if you" -- Vice Chair Russell: TDR. Commissioner Suarez: -- "trade a TDR," which really -- my issue was you can't do either of the City of Miami Page 99 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 two unless you know what they're trading at, and that's why I asked for the study to be made, because now that we know what the price is, now we can fix the formula so that we can be in a position to take advantage of it. I just think the discrepancy of 22 million versus 700,000 -- and before -- and under 11000, when TDRs did not exist, we had major contributions into the Public Benefits/Affordable Housing Trust Fund, if -- correct me if I'm wrong. Mr. Garcia: That's correct. Commissioner Suarez: So, with the advent of Miami 21, a good concept, which is preserving historic properties, sort of overcame, overwhelmed a little bit the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and I just thought we should all be aware of it, and that's why I brought the discussion item, and that's why I'm bringing the initiative. Vice Chair Russell: Are we of the opinion that the open market pricing model for the TDRs is the correct way to go? Has it worked well? Is it --? Commissioner Suarez: I think one thing that might also be helpful is if we asked them -- because we're asking them to register and to be certified, right? Maybe we should ask them to come back after the transaction is completed; not that we're going to tax them or anything like that, but ask them to declare or disclose a transaction so we have more accurate data. You know, we can do -- I don't know. But, you know, from my perspective, I think that's what I wanted the Commission to study, because I think the study would show what are they trading at and how can we tweak our benefit so that we start -- so that money flow starts coming towards us versus not coming towards us. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: If you see what's in our screen right now, which was, I think, the last part of his presentation, you see here with the Miami River Project, the SAP (Special Area Plan), $14 million contributed for affordable housing. We started at zero there, you know. When it was presented on first reading to the Commission, I told you that, you know, I will work with them on second reading, but from first to second reading, we added $14 million to affordable housing. And what I'm saying is we do have some leeway, you know, when we're discussing with the developers and so forth on how to better apply some of those monies for, you know, the needs that we're facing in the City. Commissioner Suarez: I kind of I don't want to say, &Yisagree,'but the -- that SAP was going to generate $21 million worth of public benefits, right? Commissioner Carollo: It still did. Commissioner Suarez: That's what I'm saying. What I think you did, which was intelligent, was, you said of that 21 million that it's generating, we're going to segregate 14 million, because, as the Planning director said, you can use that pot for either/or. Commissioner Carollo: Well -- Commissioner Suarez: Right. So you said, let's use 14 million of it for affordable housing, which we all agree on, and putting some in the Transportation Fund and other sources. What I'm saying is they could have potentially gotten those benefits by going to the TDR market. They just decided not to do that, for whatever reason. Maybe they couldn't coble together. You know, if it took, what, 16 different projects -- City of Miami Page 100 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: Right. Commissioner Suarez: -- to generate $22 million worth of public benefits, they just generated themselves rather than go out, you know, and maybe, you know, save a little bit of money, if you will, by going out to the other 17 or 18 or 20 projects that haven't sold their TDRs and bought them all -- gobbled up from them. In which case, we would have seen nothing, so that's the -- that's what I'm really concerned about. No, I think that was a good move to do that. Mr. Garcia: I will interject briefly to say that in the last slide, which is the one you're looking at now on your monitors that addresses the special area plans, those large-scale projects that are nine acres or more, the situation is slightly different. The City has more leverage, because by -- Commissioner Suarez: Of course. Mr. Garcia: -- interacting with the developers, we can -- through the development order process, we can actually -- we actually have a much larger say on what monies come in and where they are assigned to. Commissioner Suarez: Agreed. Thanks. Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none, thank you very much. Mr. Garcia: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: That concludes DI.4. DI.5 DISCUSSION ITEM 15-01625 District 4- STATUS REPORT ON THE CITY'S PREPAREDNESS FOR CATASTROPHIC Commissioner EVENTS. Francis Suarez 15-01625 Presentation.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: DI.5, the preparedness for catastrophic events. I think that may work. Commissioner Gort: There's a report in there. Chair Hardemon: Huh? Commissioner Gort: There is a report. Chair Hardemon: For DI.5, right? Commissioner Gort: Who's going to go over it? Fire? Fernando Casamayor (Chief Financial Officer/Assistant City Manager): All right. Commissioners, we're going to give you a general presentation of you know, what to expect in case of a catastrophic event. Obviously, if you want a more in-depth detailed report on what would happen depending on different scenarios, we'll be very happy to do so one on one. Pedro Gomez (Assistant Fire Chief/City of Miami): Good afternoon -- Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. City of Miami Page 101 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Mr. Gomez: -- Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak today. At the end of the presentation, if you like what I said and you're good with the plan, Chief Kemp came up with it. If you don't like it, it was Chief Llanes that came up with the plan. Just want to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that out. So what we're going to do is we're going to give you a highlight, give you a little history of what we call `Active Shooters and Mass Casualty Events." It's not necessarily catastrophic events, because we got other plans for that, but this -- I believe it came up with -- after Sandy Hook -- not Sandy Hook; the San Bernardino shootings; that you wanted a briefing on how our preparedness efforts were going, so we put together this presentation for you. Let me just give you a little background. Close to a thousand people have been killed in the United States since -- active shooter and mass casualty incident since the Columbine shooting, so it's actually a big problem throughout the country; not nation - not worldwide, but in this country specifically. There's been all kinds of murders by lone -wolf attackers and multiple attackers. Okay, these events take place in any community, not just in large communities, like the City of Miami, New York City, but in every community in the United States. Local jurisdictions have to have the ability to respond, and we need the resources to be able to respond We feel like the Miami Police Department, Miami Fire Department have the resources available to respond to these type of events. So this is going to be new. This is a new paradigm that's going to be taking place, and we feel like we're at the forefront of it nationwide. It's a local Fire Department, EMS (Emergency Management System), and Police Department collaborative effort to respond to these type of events. One of the big things that we're going to be doing that you're going see is that we have standard operating procedures. As you know, police officers function in one way; Fire Department function in another way. In the past, when we've had these type of events, police officers made the scene safe. While they're making that scene safe, people are dying, people are bleeding out before we go in -- the Fire Department goes in to make rescues, treat the patients, and get them out. This is going to be new. Standard operating guides. They're operating under the same plan that we're operating. Both the Police Chief and the Fire Chief came together; they agreed on a plan, and we're going to be moving forward with that. Again, the goal of this is to save as many lives as possible. On many of the active shooter events and mass casualty events that have happened, people died waiting for a fire department or EMS people to get inside; they bled to death, and we're taking all the steps necessary to stop that from happening if an event like this takes place in the City of Miami. I also want to say that we're at the forefront of this. Many of the departments in the surrounding community are not doing this. We're way ahead of the game when it comes to this. Some of the other departments are starting their process, but we're way ahead of the game when it comes to this. Some of the facts and statistics, as you'll see: 84 active shooter events occurred between 2000 and 2010; 30 percent - 37 percent of those were business locations; 34 percent were schools; 17 percent were outdoor venues, such as what happened in Paris. Most commonly used weapon, believe it or not, was a pistol; some rifles and some shotguns. Although some of them did have explosives, IEDs (improvised explosive device), and pipe bombs, they didn't always use them. And not -- 49 percent of the time these attacks ended before police ever arrived. Let me say that they ended before police ever arrived. That doesn't mean that EMS got to the people before police arrived, because like I said before, they had -- we had to wait for the scene to be safe. And in the past, we always waited for police to make entry; assure us that the scene was safe before we went in, so in 47 -- 49 percent of those times, police hadn't even arrived yet, and the event was already over, and people were still inside dying. All right. An analysis of the active shooter events in U.S. (United States) between January of 2011 and March of 2013: 40 percent of the assailants had a formal diagnosis of some kind of mental illness; 67 percent of the assailants had no criminal history. They weren't on anybody's radar. They just started acting out. In 19 of 20 cases that were examined, the assailant was a lone -wolf attacker. According to the FBI (Federal Bureau oflnvestigations), the U.S. now has one active shooter incident every three weeks. That's a staggering number. In 209 out of 336 days of this year -- and this is for 2015 -- at least one shooting left four or more people dead or injured in the United States. An FBI study of active shooter incidents. Commercial and educational settings were the most common. 15.6 percent of the incidents involved more than one location, as you saw in Paris and City of Miami Page 102 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Mumbai; 60 percent of the incidents ended before the police ever arrived; all but two of the incidents involved just one shooter. If you can see by this graph, you'll see that commerce and businesses were the majority of where the incidents took place. Government only accounted for 10 percent of the incident, and education board -- the majority of the rest at 24.4 percent. And by the way, just stop me any time you want if you have questions. This is an interesting graph here, because as you can see, it breaks down active shooter events by the month. Like I said, in 209 of 336 days, there was one event every day. If you take a look at June, almost every single day in June, there was an active shooter events. And on one of the days, you had about four or five active shooter events. So like I said, it's a staggering number taking place all the time. These are some of the active shooter and mass casualty events that we have seen. In Columbine, you had the two attackers; high school kids got a hold of some weapons; decided to go in and create havoc in a community. One location, 13 dead 21 wounded It took 49 minutes. During that 49 minutes, kids were dying in that high school. Could they have been saved? We think -- with the policies and the tactics that we're going to be using, we say, "yes, we're going to be able to save them." The weapons used: assault rifles, handguns, shotguns. They also had pipe bombs, and improvised explosives set up all around the building. Those explosives and those pipe bombs were aimed not only at the initial attack, but when the first responders come in, they're looking to take us out. Newton, Connecticut: Sandy Hook. Contrary to what the FAU (Florida Atlantic University) professor says, it took place. One attacker, one location, 28 children dead, 2 were wounded It lasted 11 minutes. Assault rifle and handguns was the methodology. Washington Navy Yard: One attacker, one location, 12 dead, 8 wounded; took 1 hour and 10 minutes; used a shotgun and a pistol. The way that guy was stopped is you had one member inside that was not following protocol; had a weapon inside the building when he wasn't supposed to have that weapon, and he's the one that took the assailant out. Chattanooga, Tennessee: 1 attacker, 2 locations, 6 dead, 2 wounded; took 30 minutes; assault rifle, shotgun, and pistols. Colorado Springs: One attacker, one location, three dead, nine wounded; took five hours; an assault rifle. Saint [sic] Bernardino: 2 people, 1 location, 14 dead, 21 wounded; 1 hour, 25 minutes. Again, long guns, handguns, pipe bombs; inexperienced attackers; never done it before. Paris, France. Andl say Paris France; this is City of Miami right here. Commissioner Carollo, you and I took a tour around the downtown area during Ultra Fest last year. Multiple events taking place all the way up to the Omni area, and major, major event taking place in the downtown area; resources are taxed; perfect location. 8 attackers, with 3 teens; 6 locations; 130 dead, 368 wounded; took 3 hours, 38 minutes; assault rifles, explosive vests -- these were suicide bombers -- and they were experienced. They had military backgrounds. Now, what's the difference between some of these? You got the inspired attack, which is what we had in Saint [sic] Bernardino. They were inspired by the theologies of the radicalized Muslims; inspired by terrorist propaganda; it's a single attack. They weren't -- it wasn't a suicide attack, because they had an exit plan. Explosives malfunctioned, which showed how inexperienced they were, and they had no prior terrorist activity. The Paris attack was directed by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). So, we had experienced military personnel; multiple coordinated attacks. These guys were suicide bombers. They did not plan to live the attack out. They had combat experience. All the explosives functioned, and several attackers were known to the authorities, so they were on somebody's radar. Mumbai, India: 10 attackers in teams of two; 6 locations; 155 dead, 600 wounded The duration took 96 hours. Part of the reason why it took 96 hours is because that police force did not react accordingly. As a matter of fact, they barely reacted You're not going to see that from the Miami Police Department. Weapons used: assault rifles, handguns, and grenades. So where are we now? What is the City of Miami Fire Department and Police Department doing? Like I said, in the past, Police Department would function on their own; Fire Department would function on their own, and hopefully, we'd be able to get the mission accomplished Now we have a coordinated attack. We have standard operating procedures for joint Police and Fire response. All Miami Police personnel and all Miami Fire Department personnel are currently being trained. Fire Department is completely done; Police Department is partially done, so we're making great strides. We're not going to be using what's called a "Rescue Task Force." The objectives of the Rescue Task Force are: it's a set of teams to deploy multiple -- we can deploy multiple teams and City of Miami Page 103 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 provide point wound of care immediately. In other words, as soon as the police makes the scene semi -safe for us to go in, they're going to have what's called a "Contact Team" engaging. Police and Fire team is going to follow to take care of business; treat the wounded immediately and get them out as fast as we can. We're going to treat, stabilize, and ultimately, remove the patient as fast as possible. We're not going to let what happened in some of these other events happen. Fire's not going to sit back and wait for the incident to become safe. We're going to go in there with protection from the police officers, and we're going to take care of business. The Rescue Task Force is going to respond in a uniform -- unified response consisting of Police and Fire personnel. It's not based on armed or an unarmed Fire Department response or Police response. It's based on a protective element, which is the police officers, and an EMS element, which is your Fire Department. The goal is to treat, stabilize, and remove the patients as fast as possible. The deployment will be under the direction of a unified incident command led by the Police Department. This happens as quickly as possible, but only after the following occurs: Arrival of Police and Fire Rescue personnel on the scene; communication channels have been identified and established; safety equipment is done. When we talk about safety equipment, we're talking about ballistic vests, ballistic helmets, which Police and Fire will both be wearing. We've purchased them; they're being deployed right now as we speak. Contact team confirms casualties and locations. A contact team is not part of the Rescue Task Force. It's the initial set of police officers that are going to be engaging the bad guys. We're going to provide -- the medical element is to provide care immediately to the victims. We're going to treat them, stabilize, and remove the victims; get them definitive care as fast as possible. We will triage them, and then get them out, and put them in a collection point as soon as we can. All of this comes from the Hartford Consensus, which recommended that the following things be addressed when we're creating these SOPs (standard operating procedures) in our policies: Threat suppression: Police Department's going to take care of the threat. Hemorrhage control: When we talk about hemorrhage control, we're not going to let people bleed out. We got tourniquets, we got coagulants going onboard, not only by the Police -- I mean, not only by the Fire EMS personnel, but police are going to be carrying them as well. Rapid extrication to safety: Like I mentioned before, people were dying because we weren't treating them and getting them out safely. An assessment by the medical providers is going to take place as quickly as possible, and then we'll transport them and get them to definitive care. So what does the emergency team and the Rescue Task Force do? The main things police officers do is protect paramedics. In this Rescue Task Force, that is their only job, is to protect us. They will announce if there is a threat on the front, a threat in the back, a threat on the right, or a threat on the left, and the closest police officer is going to engage and take that threat out. Deployment concept is to meet these goals. Fire and Police must constantly evaluate these tactics. Like I said, this is a new paradigm that we're taking on. We've got drills planned. As a matter of fact, in early February -- and you're welcomed to attend -- at the 111 building, we have a major drill going on by multiple agencies, multiple jurisdictions; you're welcomed to come, so we're going to be taking a look at these plans. If they work, we'll leave them. If they don't work, we'll adjust them. We'll make whatever adjustments are needed to make this process work. And again, it's aimed to save lives. And the interesting part about this Rescue Task Force: This isn't anything that we're training people super extra to do. This is what the average police officer does every day on the beat. This is what the average firefighter EMS personnel does every day when we come to work. We're just collaborating now and working together as one team. Now, what have we done to get the City ready and City employees ready? Between the Division of Emergency Management, Risk Management, and the Miami Police Department, we started training, and we started with the MRC (Miami Riverside Center). So we're doing some training that shows some survival skills for the employees, the workers, during an active shooter situation. We're identing and showing them some signature behaviors to be looking for for possible active shooters. We're going to demonstrate the different levels and stages of the active shooter event and how to respond to an active shooter. Police officers have been undergoing what's called the `ALERRT, "Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Team Training. All the police officers have already gone through it; they're only missing the medical component or working with the Fire Department personnel. Medical kits, like I mentioned before, and training to police officers City of Miami Page 104 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 to be able to stop the bleeding. They'll be able to do -- put tourniquets on, and also to be able to use coagulants that will stop the bleeding. These are all techniques that I've learned, and we've picked up from the military. We got a full-scale exercise, like I mentioned before, called "Operation Heat Shield" It's going to be taking place in February at the Government Center, 111 Northwest 1 Street, and you're all welcomed to come and watch what's going to be going on. It's a Fire and Police collaboration and an active shooter training. We've also implemented, which Miami Police has been doing for years, Public Service Announcements, such as the "See Something, Say Something" campaign. As you know, in Saint [sic] Bernardino, one of the neighbors suspected something; yet, never said anything because didn't want to offend somebody. Well, we're getting the message out that if you see something suspicious, let authorities know so they can move on it. And Miami Police has also been doing their BAT (Basic Ability Training) Program, which helps businesses and train their people in these active shooter/mass casualty events. In summary, the greatest benefit for all of this is going to be achieved by a combined Police and Fire effort. It's going to put the responders, as fast as possible, at the side of the victims so that we can start treating them and getting them out of the scene as quickly as possible, and to get definitive care at the local hospitals. We will operate in a warm zone, while the contact team is going to be making entry and identifying and engaging the bad guys. Police is going to -- are the only ones that are going to be operating in that hot zone. And that's what I have for you today. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them to you. I want you to keep in mind some of the information and tactics that we use are, obviously, law enforcement -sensitive, but if you'd like, I would -- happy to meet with all of you on a private and give you more information. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: I just want to thank you both, and I want to thank the Chief so both departments for taking the challenge of presenting this presentation; obviously, extremely seriously as you always do. Clearly, this is a very comprehensively and well -thought out plan, and I think it -- it's got to feel comforting for us as elected officials to know that you've put in the time and energy and effort into thinking these things through, and there's clearly a lot of data in there that I had no idea what the scale or scope of this problem was, or the fact that a thousand people had lost their lives since 1999, and the frequency with which these situations are occurring. Again, I commend you. Great presentation, and thank you both, Chiefs; appreciate it. Mr. Gomez: Thank you very much. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I echo those words, and at the same time, I think it also shows how our Police Department is working hand in hand with our Fire Department. I think that that's extremely important to have that teamwork and that unity, because as you well mentioned, a lot of times, Police is doing their things and Fire is doing their things, and here we're corroborating two of our first responders -- first responder departments, so I think it is great, you know. And I guess, Chief like you mentioned you know, we've had the different walks and stuff like that; and actually, from the Police Department, Marco Perez, I just recently was able to work with him with the drones, and I know he's great, and he's doing the trainings for the active shooters, so I've been actually, you know, I guess, active in knowing what's going on, but I think it's great that you're actually able to come here and make a presentation to show the public. Listen, we're ready, the City of Miami is ready, and working together as a team to make sure that, you know, public safety is at its utmost, you know, effect City of Miami Page 105 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 here in the City of Miami, so thank you. Chair Hardemon: Anything else? Commissioner Gort: Well, I want to express a "thank you " in working with us and the team work involved, and this is not only you guys; the Fire Department and the Police Department, but I think all our departments has got to work together as a team, because there's a lot of things that needs to be done within the City. A lot of times in different departments, they have to get together so we can come up with a beautiful plan, so I really appreciate this. Thank you. Mr. Casamayor: Commissioners -- Chair Hardemon: Chief Llanes, one thing, the -- when I went to the -- what was the -- Bayfront Park during New Year's -- or New Year's Eve, there's a police vehicle that seems to be used for strategies; it's a vehicle that has televisions inside of it. Rodolfo Llanes (Chief of Police/City of Miami): Command -- yes. Chair Hardemon: What's that called? Chief Llanes: Command Center. Chair Hardemon: The Command Center. Chief Llanes: Yes. Chair Hardemon: Will the Command Center be used in an operation like this? Chief Llanes: Well, you know, when something like this happens, if we have the time and luxury to roll that thing out, we will as the back end of it. What we're talking about here is the initial contact and the initial elimination of the threat and the treatment of our victims, so, yes, in the -- when we come to do the crime scene and we come to do -- we will put that forward We usually have that forward when we have a large number of resources out so that we can track and command the huge events that we have. I want to make a specific point. You know, the difference between what happened in Paris and what happens here, as you know, most of our special events are maned by police officers. We do have officers there. That doesn't mean that it's going to prevent a lone wolf. As we saw in Philadelphia, somebody who wants to attack a police officer with a gun will do that without -- if they don't have, you know, the threat of losing their own life. But for attackers like what we saw in Saint [sic] Bernardino and these places who don't wish to lose their lives in an attack, that's a huge deterrent for these kinds of attack. I also want to say that, you know, we, as a -- as fire departments and police departments learns from other events, and we adjust our tactics and our methods. Prior to Columbine, it was a police response not to engage an active shooter locked in a building; we would hold for specialized training. We don't do that anymore. We changed to go and engage the threat. Now we have, again, evolved to not only go and engage a threat, but also bring our Fire partners with us to treat the wounded. So as these things evolve, we evolve with tactics and training. And I want to highlight something that is another huge step for the Miami Police Department. Beginning and -- in February, we will have a full-time active SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team in the City of Miami. We will have -- we're now looking and researching ballistic vests and shields in order to protect our officers better, should we have one of these catastrophic events happen. So we are not only teaching our officers how to do this, but we want to protect them better also, and I hope that when the time comes for us to ask for the funding for that, that you all will, of course, you know, approve that. That's very important for us to not only teach our officers, but also equip them properly so that they feel safe when they're engaging these targets. City of Miami Page 106 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two things: With regards to the full-time SWAT team, as you know, I was part of one for approximately four years, and is that going to include SWAT medics also? Chief Llanes: No. What we're going to have is the SWAT medics will not be full-time with our SWAT team; they will be always available, of course, but we're going to have a core team as this department grows in resources. I want to have -- be able to have a 24 -- not 24/7. I want to have seven -days -a -week coverage, but about 18 hours a day SWAT officers here working. This is a new step for us, so I'm starting small, and I'm trying to maximize the time that we have, but we will have one team ready to go to respond to a scene like one of these. Commissioner Carollo: Perfect. And I would just suggest looking at the County, because they've had a full-time SWAT team for quite some time. With that said, the other thing I want to mention, Commissioner Hardemon -- Chairman Hardemon mentioned the command post. I think in the future, we may want to consider CCTV (Closed -Circuit Television) inside the command post; special events, like what we're having -- what we're hosting at Bayfront Park, Calle Ocho, and stuff like that, because that could be additional eyes and resources that you could all have, so -- Chair Hardemon: Particularly with that statement, the reason I brought it up, because when I took the tour of it, what I realize was that it looks good, but there are lots of inefficiencies within it, and there are a lot of - there's a lot of obsolete technology that it holds. And so, with all the new camera systems and things that we have going on, we wanted to be able to properly equip the police with the ability to manage those areas and see what's actually happening; you know, live feed is actually fed into that van, so if there's a need to meet with the Administration so you can present what it takes to bring it up to par, please do so. Chief Llanes: We do already have an update. That vehicle is about 10 years old -- Commissioner Carollo: Right. Chief Llanes: -- so that technology is obsolete. It is still very viable to us, but we do want to update it, and we do -- I believe we're in the process or have already gotten a number of estimates to upgrade it not only technologically, but to make it a little bit more ergonomically friendly for our o icers to be in there, so that is in the works. Chair Hardemon: Thank you. Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: Chief about three years ago, during one of the Calle Ocho events, there was a demonstration of the wireless cameras located in key buildings, and with those cameras, you can even target the pocket of a person and see what's inside that pocket and everything. Do we still have those things, or did we ever do anything with that? Chief Llanes: That's FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) equipment and technology that we use for some of those events, and so we still have the ability to bring our Federal partners in and our State partners in to use it. So, even though we don't have it, we bring them in for big events like that, and we use their technology. Chair Hardemon: Sounds like a Fourth Amendment violation to move it. Commissioner Gort: It was a test. City of Miami Page 107 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chief Llanes: I'm not going to touch that one. Commissioner Gort: It was a pilot program; it was a test. Chair Hardemon: Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, thank you all very much. Commissioner Gort: Thank you. Great presentation. Mr. Gomez: I just realized; I didn't introduce myself. I'm Pete Gomez, and I'm the City of Miami's emergency manager. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. Commissioner Gort: Good job. DI.6 DISCUSSION ITEM 15-01668 District4- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE MIAMI BEACH BAY LINK PROJECT. Commissioner Francis Suarez DI.7 15-01672 District 4- Commissioner Francis Suarez 15-01668 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 15-01668 Article.pdf 15-01668-Submittal-Com. Gort-Community Policing Article.pdf DISCUSSED Note for the Record: Please see item RE.8 for minutes relating to item DI.6. DISCUSSION ITEM DISCUSSION REGARDING NOTICE ON PLANNING AND ZONING ITEM. 15-01672 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 15-01672-Submittal-Francisco Garcia-Requirements.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: DI.7. Does that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ? Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Just quickly -- Chair Hardemon: DI.7. Commissioner Suarez: -- we're still getting -- and I mean, I've had this discussion with Francisco, and we still get complaints sometimes from neighbors and neighborhood associations that they're not getting sufficient notice of zoning and planning issues. You know, we're racking our brain, I think, the director and our office, in trying to find ways through NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team), through the Internet, through our -- maybe Channel 77 -- you know, I don't know what other ways we can do it. You know, obviously, they've talked about expanding the requirement, which obviously has a cost, but I do hear, you know, a lot of complaints about that, and that's continuous, so I thought it would be important to bring it to the attention of the board. Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): And so to that end, I'll say very briefly -- and City of Miami Page 108 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 thank you for the opportunity to do so -- on DI.7, I have a one -sheet presentation, a one -image presentation, which you have before you, and I'm happy to report that the City of Miami has probably the most intensive and thorough public notice program for public hearings; certainly in the Miami -Dade area and very competitive at nationwide. We, at the City of Miami, provide notice -- this is certified notice -- to -- for public hearing items pertaining to Planning & Zoning, of course. We require certified notice to all residents within 500 feet, 500-foot radius of the subject property; and with the exception, of course, that when it comes to condominiums, only the president of the condominium association needs to be notified by the certified notice. All other municipalities do not require certified notice, so I'll emphasize that, except for South Miami; and South Miami actually requires that only for the abutting property owners and all the others are not required to be provided certified notice. Now, what -- the reason that is important is because we can keep track, because we actually post the notices ourselves and can keep accurate records of each of those notices that are sent out, which is why I can sit in the Planning & Zoning meetings and tell you with every bit of comfort that these property owners have, in fact, been notified according to the Code requirements. Now, can we change the Code to provide more notice? Of course. Do -- are we competitive? Are we really best practices locally in our own County? We are at present. Commissioner Suarez: Let me ask a question, Mr. Chair, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Because, you know, obviously, it says here that we have to -- we're required to give notice to registered HOAs (homeowners associations), but I think what happens is HOAs or neighborhood associations, they sort of -- sometimes they come up quickly. They are not maybe registered for whatever reason. They may not even understand how to become a nonprofit organization; they're nebulous. Could we maybe expand by saying that any individual that wants to register and that actually goes through the affirmative process of registering could get notice, or maybe they can spec) notice of things in a specific Commission district or in a specific area or in a specific neighborhood so that maybe an individual who says, "Hey, I'm interested in what's going on in my neighborhood. You know, I'm not going to create an HOA, but I want to know what's going on." And I know that we also post the notices on the -- you know, obviously, on -- physically post them on telephone poles, but you know, `I want a notice." You know, "I'm involved. I want to get involved, but I'm not going to do any" - `I'm not going to create an HOA. It just doesn't rise to that level, for whatever reason, but I do want to get notices." That's something that maybe we can explore. I mean, that might be a little bit simpler and not -- that's not very onerous, I don't think. Vanessa Acosta: Vanessa Acosta, director of NET. Currently, we have undertaken a survey of how we're registering our different groups. Rental communities, for example, don't have a condo association, so they weren't included. We've actually gone as far as requesting from the State all registered HOAs and matching them to our registered HOAs. We found in some cases that they were registered with us, but not registered for the -- with the State, so we're educating them on how to register with the State. The ones registered with the State but not with us, we're reaching out to add them to our data bases. We created a process whereby any interested party, whether registered HOA or not -- Commissioner Suarez: Perfect. Ms. Acosta: -- can actually be added to the list that NET keeps to hand to other departments for notice. It includes individuals, it includes groups, it includes renters communities, so we're trying to expand the knowledge base as much as we can through outreach. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Thank you. City of Miami Page 109 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: Any further discussion? Seeing none, move on to -- Commissioner Suarez: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: -- DL9. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, that that was discussed with item RE.7. DI.8 DISCUSSION ITEM 15-01673 District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE TRANSIT PLAN. Commissioner Francis Suarez 15-01673 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf 15-01673-Submittal-Anna Medina -Transit Plan Back-up Documents.pdf DISCUSSED Note for the Record: Please see item RE.7 for minutes relating to item DL 8. DI.9 DISCUSSION ITEM 15-01567 District 4- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEE UPDATE. Commissioner Francis Suarez 15-01567 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf DI.10 15-01584 DISCUSSED Note for the Record: Please see item RE.7 for minutes relating to item DL 9. DISCUSSION ITEM District 3- DISCUSSION REGARDING FOLLOW UP ON DIRECTIVE FROM THE Commissioner Frank SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 MEETING FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEE. Carollo DI.11 16-00009 15-01584 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf DISCUSSED Note for the Record: Please see item RE.7 for minutes relating to item D1.10. DISCUSSION ITEM District 3- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE CITY'S PREPAREDNESS FOR POTENTIAL Commissioner Frank MIGRANT RELOCATION AND REQUESTING SUPPORT/RESOURCES FROM Carollo THE FEDERALAND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 16-00009 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf DISCUSSED City of Miami Page 110 Printed on 2,9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: I was going to call The'Francis Suarez, but I think Te'Francis Suarez, Jr. is here, so we have to -- maybe he'll call the item. Commissioner Suarez -- I mean, Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, thank you. The other items are D.4 [sic]. Chair Hardemon: Right. Commissioner Carollo: So if we could go to DI. II, because the Mayor's here, and it's something that -- Chair Hardemon: DI 11. Commissioner Carollo: -- partially, I put it on because of some of the comments that our City Mayor made, and it's a discussion regarding the City's preparedness for potential migrant relocation, and requesting support or resources from our Federal and State Government. And as -- if any of you have been keeping up with the news, we're seeing what's happening with the migrants and possibly coming here to the United States, and we all know; they're actually going to come, and their Cuban migrants are going to end up coming here to Dade County and the City of Miami. The Mayor made public comments stipulating that the City of Miami is not prepared for this migration. We saw yesterday that the School Board passed a resolution requesting Federal and State resources in support, so it's something that, you know, in two part. I wanted to bring this discussion because, number one, I want to make sure that we do have a plan, the City has a plan; and second of all, you know, make that request to the Federal and State Government for those resources and support. And again, you know, I yield now to the Mayor because, you know, he's the one who came publicly and said City of Miami's not prepared for this, which right away I said, then we need to discuss it here as a Commission and make sure that we are prepared for it and pass whatever legislation we need to pass in order to make sure that the resources are received here and we are prepared. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez, and then I'll recognize the Mayor. Commissioner Suarez: I'll just be very brief and just say I totally agree with the Commissioner and with the Mayor. I've heard his public comments on the issue. I've spoken about it as well. I actually drafted a resolution, so we're on the same page. We're thinking similarly. I don't know if -- my chief of staff can pass it out, but it essentially says what you just said, and what the Mayor has said. I think we're all in agreement on this issue, and that's it. I mean, I'll let the Mayor make his comments. Chair Hardemon: Mr. Mayor. Mayor Tomas Regalado: Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Suarez; and thank you, Commissioner Carollo for bringing this up, andl think it's important. It's a conversation that we need to have. And the reason that I have said that the City of Miami is not prepared is several reasons. Number one: As you know, many, many years ago, this Commission appointed me as a member of the Homeless Trust. I'm a voting member of the Homeless Trust, representing the City of Miami and the League of cities. And number two: We have been engaged in the migration in a very active way since we took office as Commissioner and also as Mayor. Actually, the first action that the City had to take was in 2009, the late 2009, when we have the earthquake; on the -- on January in 2010, when we have the earthquake in Haiti; and we saw a tremendous migration, especially of children, and then people accompanying those children. In late February of that year, in one of the schools, elementary schools in Little Haiti, the principal said that he had a surge of about 85 children that do not spoke English at the time, and that is one of the reasons that, yesterday, the School Board of Miami -Dade County and the superintendent called for a press conference. They invited me. I was there to speak for one reason. The City of Miami has the greater number of schools of the Miami -Dade County Public School System. We City of Miami Page 111 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 have 53 schools in all in the City of Miami, and it's the municipality that has the largest number of school. The rest are in different municipalities and unincorporated Miami -Dade County. These schools are seeing the most impact in terms of migrations, so much so that, according to the superintendent, in the first six months of this year, the school system has taken about 13,000 new children born outside of the United States, and most of these children are -- were born in Cuba. And the reason that they're asking for Federal funding is because, as you know, every child cost $7, 000, but when you have a child that does not speak English, it add up. The cost goes up $2,900, because of a special program. So they're asking money from the Education Department and the Federal Government, because they cannot afford; in their budget, they don't have it. So why the City of Miami is involved? Well, because we have seen, historically, that Miami and Hialeah are the preferred cities for migrants, especially from Cuba or Central America; Miami for Central America, and Miami and Hialeah for Cuban migrants to settle once they're here. But in June of last year, we were called by our partners and friends of the Bishop Conference. The Catholic Bishop Conference has an agency that is located in Doral. Next to that agency, there is Church World Services, which is another non -governmental organization, and International Rescue Committee. Those agencies are contracted by the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States to process and relocate migrants, especially exile of all nationalities, but they do here mostly Cuban migrants, because of the special treatment that the Cubans have in terms of immigration law. They are accepted once they come to the United States, and they are not deportable. So, in June of last year, there was a spike in the number of people that were crossing the border from Mexico to Laredo in Texas, and immediately coming to the City of Miami. At the time, some TV (television) reports show people living in the street outside those agencies. We got a call from the Mayor of Doral and those agencies, and our homeless outreach team -- Sergio is here -- pick up those two groups; one, 13 males and females, no children; another one, 11, no children. And thanks to Shed Boring and the team in Camillus House, they were given someplace to stay. Why they were living in the streets? Because it takes about -- between three to six weeks to get the work permit, the immigration papers and the Social Security number. Unless and until they have these three documents, they cannot be relocated. And what they do is when they get these documents, different churches, either Catholic or Protestant, throughout the United States, do the due diligence and accommodate them, but until they have these documents, they can be -- they cannot be relocated. So these people were waiting for their turn, but didn't have any relatives that will take them in. The agencies sometime have some budget to house them in hotels and motels, but at the time in June, the number was so big that they couldn't accommodate them, because they didn't have the budget, so they were taken to Camillus House. They spent in Camillus House several weeks; some of them were relocated; some of them found a job once they had that -- the different papers. In July, as a member of the Homeless Trust, we had a discussion at the Homeless Trust Board meeting, and we passed a resolution asking the State of Florida and the Federal Government to send resources, especially funding, in case this number will increase. That resolution was sent to Tallahassee. The lobbying team of the Homeless Trust is working with the State, and there was no response from the Federal Government. At the time, we interviewed those people, and they said that there were about 30,000, especially in Ecuador, because you don't need a visa to go from Cuba to Ecuador, and they were coming here. We had a conversation with the assistant director for immigration in Washington, and she acknowledge that this -- they knew about this situation, and that they will get back to us. They never did. That was in July. So, in November, Nicaragua decided to close the border and stop the influx of Cubans that were crossing different borders from Ecuador, and that's when you had all these media reports of 6,000 people. As you know, last Tuesday, there was the first flight from Costa Rica to El Salvador to the border of Guatemala and Mexico, and those people have 20 days. They have a 20-day visa to cross the state -- all the states in Mexico and get to the border. Once they get to the border, they can cross because of the Cuban Adjustment Act, and the presidential directive of "Wet Foot, Dry Foot,''o they will not be deported, and that's what has been going on. Now, what is the problem? The agencies that process these refugees have a set budget for every month to process and take care and even house some of these refugees, but there's been an increase on Cuba rafters. The Bishop Conference is processing between 15 and 20 Cuban City of Miami Page 112 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 rafters a day, because we see on the media sometime a group of Cuban rafters, but those are the ones we see, because the media was able to film. The protocol is that every time that the Border Patrol or the Coast Guard finds Cuban rafters that are on U.S. soil, they immediately bring them to those agencies, and those agencies are supposed to take care of that. As of last week, the three agencies that are processing those Cubans ran out of money in their budget for January, so they are giving them appointment for February, so that gap, which they don't have any papers, it has to be resolved either by placing them in a motel or hotel or a shelter, but the agencies, again, do not have the budget. They have been requesting to their headquarters in Washington, the Bishop Conference, Church World Services, and other, additional monies to deal with this issue. They feel optimistic, but as of yesterday, there was no response in terms of more funding. Now, the City of Miami -- and this is where we come in -- is in charge of the homeless outreach throughout Miami -Dade County, because we have a contract with the Homeless Trust. Sergio and his team, they go around and they -- when they see families, they have to put them in the motel, because the HAC (Homeless Assistance Center) is at full capacity, and Lotus House is at full capacity, so they have to go a motel. My understanding -- and he's here -- is that, as of today, we have 64 families homeless; not Cubans, or not coming from Cuba; local families that are homeless, that are in motels. And the money that he was allocated, $450, 000, to house these people from the Homeless Trust will be gone by March, so I guess that we will have to go back to the Homeless Trust for more money to house these people. These people have a window of three months for the motels until they can go back on their feet. The chairman of the Homeless Trust, Mr. Ron Book, I met with him, and unequivocally, he said that the Homeless Trust does not have money set aside for Cuban migrants, nor they have a budget, nor they would participate on this, and this is where we come in, because if people come -- and we don't know how many are coming; we don't know when they are coming, and we don't know how they're coming. The only thing we know is that the State Department understands that there are about 35,000 Cubans in -- that left Cuba to Ecuador; there are several thousands that went to Colombia and to Venezuela, and also are crossing borders, and there -- not only the 6,000 in Costa Rica, but about 2,000 also stranded in Panama. And as soon as they get money, they can get their air fare and go to the border and cross the border. As of today, the Federal Government does not have a program or a plan -- maybe they have a plan; we have not been informed -- to process the Cubans in the border in Laredo, so the natural point to process the people that will come will be here in Miami. The agencies, they will say to you -- and they have said it to the media - they are overwhelmed; they do not have the resources to do it. And if we have 20, 40, 50 a day, which is maybe a small number -- and this is not Mariel; this is a Mariel in slow motion -- people think, "Well, they can be processed." That's not the point. And they can get aid. As Cuban migrants, they -- once they are processed, they get eight month of a stipend and food stamps and also Medicaid, so -- but they have to wait until they have all the paper. The stipend is $180 a month for eight month, something that -- it's impossible to rent an apartment in anywhere, so some of them would -- maybe they will get together and rent some apartment. If you check with Mayor Carlos Hernandez of Hialeah, he -- his team went around all the rental buildings, and they have no inventory, they have no empty apartments in Hialeah, low rent; and of course, impossible for housing, because they don't quality for public housing. So, at the end of the day, it will be Miami and Hialeah; and at the end of the day, we'll be impacted, and the reason that I say we're not prepared is because I can say that the Homeless Trust is not ready to support any project to engage dozens of hundreds of Cuban migrants; and as a matter of fact, we're running out of money. Camillus House is at full capacity. So there is no information from the Federal Government. There is no plan from the Federal Government. My opinion is that the Federal Government should help those agencies with more resources so they can expedite the process, because if they don't, these people will have a gap of not having any place to live, and we will see the same pictures that we saw back in June and July of last year. The School Board has a different issue, because they have to accommodate anybody, no question asked; but also by doing that, they are violating the limit that was set by the Constitutional amendment on classes, on number of students on classes, and that's a conversation that they are having with Tallahassee. So, I think this is a good proposal, Commissioners, because our delegation in Congress already have requested information and help. They have not get a response from the City of Miami Page 113 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 DI.12 16-00011 Administration, the Federal Government, but having the City of Miami doing this ask is important, and why it's important? Because, first, the agencies need support, and second, the Homeless Trust and the Homeless Division of the City of Miami will end up eventually, no question on that matter, with some people that will be living in the street, if the air bridge that was established continues and people continue to come. One thing is for sure: If you interview all those who are in Costa Rica or in the border with Mexico or they have come before, their final destination is Miami. None of them have said Massachusetts, or Colorado, or Kentucky. It's Miami. That's their goal. That's where they have family, and they may have family, and they may have friends. And to add to this, if -- one thing that the press has not caught on is that through Miami International Airport, there's also dozens of Cubans that are arriving monthly and seeking political asylum, because they are Spanish residents and a Spanish citizen. There was a law called the "Grandfather Law "; that if you have a grandfather that was born in Spain, you can adopt the Spanish citizenship. And in Cuba, about 26,000 people were able to become Spanish citizens, and they have dual citizenship. Well, the European Union does not require that any of their residents or citizen have a visa to come to the United States. Anybody from the European Union, a citizen of any country of the European Union can get on a plane and come to the United States with their passport. What is happening now is that we're seeing dozens of Cubans, Spaniards with Cuban passport and Spanish passport that get on a plane in Havana; they come to Miami, and they land with a Cuban passport. They claim to be Cuban citizens, and they are accepted under the Cuban Adjustment Act, so it's a very complex situation. But the fact of the matter is that there's going to be a need for money for the agencies or -- I don't know. Sergio, what do you think? Because, I mean, he tries, but money runs out. And as a matter of fact, I have never seen -- I don't know if Sergio, but I have never seen so many families homeless in motels at any given time as we have now. We have, you said - Unidentified Speaker: 64. Mayor Regalado: -- 64. There are -- these are family with children, so they cannot go to the single persons shelter. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez, I know you have a piece of -- a resolution that you wanted to bring forth to the Commission to help address this. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I think it encapsulates what both Commissioner Carollo and the Mayor have said. We've all been reading and watching the same news reports, I'm sure, and have the same concerns, so I think this does that. Chair Hardemon: You want to present it? Commissioner Suarez: I'll move it, yeah. Chair Hardemon: Okay. Commissioner Carollo: And, Mr. Chairman, I will second it, because having read the proposed legislation, it deals exactly with what I'm saying, so, you know, I think we are all on the same page. I think the Mayor gave a lengthy reasoning of why we need this, and now I think we just -- and this is why I brought it forward, because we just cannot sit by and allow what could be a crisis here in the City just happen, so -- DISCUSSION ITEM District3- DISCUSSION REGARDING THE POSSIBLE ELIMINATION OF THE MSEA Commissioner Frank BOARD. Carollo City of Miami Page 114 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 16-00011 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Okay. We have one last discussion item that I have listed here, which is DI.12. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. Commissioners, I have had a clear history of having concerns with MSEA (Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority) and with the circumventing of the City's Charter to avoid referendums. Where in the past, I have faced no appetite for change in MSEA, I now bring the discussion again to see if there's now an appetite for restrictions, changes, and even the possibility of abolishing MSEA. I understand that any changes will need to be done through an ordinance, which I plan to bring back, and -- however, I want to have the discussion and express some of my concerns; the main concern being MSEA's ability to circumvent policies. So maybe I can bring back an ordinance to stipulate that MSEA must follow the same referendum policy as outlined in the City Charter or will be unable to use an exemption, like 29B. That obviously is the main concern; however, there are others. Another concern that I have is, I just can't fathom how an organization can manage some of the City's most valuable waterfront properties and not take minutes or record their public meetings. I think it's something that has been addressed now, but I want to make sure that, you know, we put the correct controls to make sure that that doesn't happen again, because, again, I just can't fathom how that could happen. There's actually other concerns that I have, but I would like to see what's the appetite of this Commission before bringing legislation back. And again, the purpose of this discussion is that I plan on bringing legislation regarding MSEA, and I want to have this, you know, discussion with my colleagues so we could possibly have legislation that I will bring where we have consensus and fix some of the issues that I've addressed. And with that, you know, I want to open it up to hear from my colleagues. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chair. We talked about this at the last MSEA hearing. I think it was last week. Was it last week or this week? I can't even -- Commissioner Carollo: Tuesday. Commissioner Suarez: Was it Tuesday? Commissioner Gort: Tuesday. Commissioner Suarez: And I expressed the sentiment that you just expressed, which was that many believe that MSEA has been used to circumvent the requirements of the Charter on referendum. I think it's an easy fix. I think it's an ordinance fix. I would support that ordinance, and I think others expressed support for that ordinance at the MSEA meeting. You know, I think the MSEA members -- and I don't want to put words in their mouth; they're all there, and they can express themselves. I talked about abolishing MSEA a while ago. I talked about it actually before we settled with Chalks, when it looked like we were getting - at that point, we were getting no revenue, and we were cannibalizing ourselves, you know, and I think you may have been a board member at that time. And I think now, since we've settled with Chalks, we've actually received some revenue. We're still doing things that, you know, that are within the mission of MSEA, and I think, if the main fear, which I support and I agree with, is the fear that it's going to be used as a tool to circumvent the Charter, and that, by the way, you know, was sort of what City of Miami Page 115 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 happened in Marine Stadium or what was talked about with Marine Stadium, to give an example, concrete example, you know, I think that that's a very good public policy, and it's one that one would support. And if we had to go to the -- if we had to do it at the Charter level, I could also take it up with the Charter level if there's a fear that that could be undone by a future Commission to make it as a -- Commissioner Carollo: I have -- Commissioner Suarez: In other words, it not be an exception to 29B, which is what it is under the governmental agency. Commissioner Carollo: And again -- I'm sorry. Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: And again, that's why I wanted to bring it up to this Commission, because I think -- I'm seeing that we may have -- finally have the appetite to address some of these issues. With regards to finally receiving some revenues, you're saying MSEA's finally receiving some revenues -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, that's right. Commissioner Carollo: -- because the City of Miami's not receiving any revenues, which is another reason why we can consider abolishing MSEA so the City actually gets the revenue and not MSEA, you know, and again, there's other issues. I want to hear from my other colleagues, but there are other issues. Commissioner Gort: Let me tell you. Igo back to MSEA from the beginning, before I even -- I was a Commissioner, and if, today, we're having Miami Heat here in the City of Miami is thanks to the work that was done by MSEA and the private sector, where we had to put some funds together in order to make sure that all the seats necessary to be sold to get the Miami Arena and to get the Heat here was done by the MSEA and the private sector working together. At the time, it was created for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. That was the Convention and Visitors Bureau and, at the same time, the Sports Authority, so we were able to bring that. Some of the funds were utilized to improve the facility here. Ten million dollars was spent in that. Part of the MSEA -- doing the work of the MSEA, the stadium was part of the financing for the Miami stadium, the baseball stadium, and I think there's a lot of other work that we've done. I have a problem also with going to the waterfront and not going to the public. We don't have any problem going to the public. I don't think at any one time we made any -- an issue without going to the public for a referendum, and that's something that we have put into it always. I think MSEA is there to do a lot of -- not only the sports facility, but also the entertainment and the -- and we are very active in those things, and I don't see any problem continuing with MSEA. The other two properties that you talked about, the other two projects that are going on in the Island, they were voted by the public, and it was passed by the public; that wasn't MSEA's. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, ifI may. Not only was -- and more specifically, the helipad voted upon this Commission. I specifically asked why this was not going to referendum, and I specifically was told by -- I don't know if it was Assistant Manager, Alice Bravo, at that time -- that the answer was MSEA, and Veronica Xiques, which was acting as the City Attorney for that, agreed. So, I could tell you, on that date, May 24, 2012, it specifically did not go to a referendum, and this is our Administration and our City Attorneys telling us because of MSEA I specifically mentioned that at that time, we had a $40 million deficit. How much of that money was going to go to pay for that deficit? And the answer was "zero," because, once again, the answer was MSEA. So it has -- you know, and I get -- City of Miami Page 116 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Gort: You're correct, but at the same time, you need to understand that the heliport, the airplane facility, and the blimp existed in that island forever. Right now, my understanding, if you'll recall, we were in litigation for almost 15 years, and there's nothing we could have done. And I think MSEA was able to expedite the transaction so we could get the heliport back to the way it used to be, to get a decent looking facility for the sea planes, and I think this is the time to do it. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: I'm glad all this discussion's come about. I think it was a simple question I had asked at the last Commission meeting about why do we have MSEA, and is it correct in the way it acts, and I've done a lot of research since then as well, and I've seen it in the press, and I hear us discussing it in -- even at the point -- now this discussion (UNINTELLIGIBLE) possible abolishment. I think there's all different levels of what could be done; the smallest of which would be a simple change to 29B. Was it Subsection "C" that allows for the intergovernmental transactions? Which, to me, when I would ask -- originally, when I said What is MSEA for? "I had intended the answer to be about, you know, what are the good things that it does: The Miami Heat, Mango Strut Parade, and things like that, but in a briefing that I had asked for, one of the answers I got from staff was, "Well, it's to circumvent the Charter." And as we all -- I've heard that already said here several times today. We all feel that way, but the City Attorneys Office was very clear that they don't feel that it circumvents the Charter; that by the letter of the law, it is correct, it's straight; all the deals that it does are correct. But my question to that was, if the spirit of the law is that we intended 29B to make all waterfront property go before the public so we know what they want us to do with it before we make a decision, and that this actually allows us -- or so that we couldn't -- that we, as a government, couldn't transact with a private entity, but that we found a way, through Subsection "C" that we can transact through a government entity, that they can transact with a private entity. The spirit of the law is being circumvented by the letter of the law, and for me, that's just as bad. Despite the good things that it does, there is a loophole here that needs to be closed. It could be done as simple as that. The further step, short of abolishment, would be something like removing its ability to manage assets. If the true intention of MSEA is to promote Miami, encourage the sports and exhibition part of things, and the expenditures that it does on these events and parades and different things, why couldn't the City just give it a budget to do that, to do those expenditures? And I was told, "Well, it's because MSEA self -generates its funds through its revenue of these asset managements." It's not really in my mind self -generating if it's taking those assets that would otherwise be the City's, and so it really is pulling from the pot in another -- just in another way. So if those monies were back in the pot and MSEA were just allocated certain funds, it could still exist and operate on what its true intention should be, unless its true intention is to be a landlord and to circumvent the Charter and make things more efficient; not necessarily for nefarious purposes, but to make things faster and more efficient, which it apparently does, but for me, the requirement of honoring the intention of checking with the public to see what they want. Do they want a seaport helipad? Or do they want a park? We haven't asked them; we don't know. And the next time it comes up to transaction, we should be doing that, in my mind. So that -- those are some of my thoughts about it. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Suarez: I like -- Chair Hardemon: Further discussion. Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I don't know how it impacts the two -- really, they're only managing right now two properties that I'm aware of. I don't know how it impacts -- I like your City of Miami Page 117 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 idea. We have sort of -- we almost have it backwards, in some ways, because we have a parade fund that we do every year, so that sort of -- you know, sports and exhibition and arts fund, so we do fund that, and so that makes some sense, what you're saying. I don't know how it would impact or if it can be unwound, the fact that they own and operate two properties, which is what they do now. So I don't know legally. I have never really thought that through that way. Vice Chair Russell: But how do we -- Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. Commissioner Carollo: I'll yield, I'll yield. Vice Chair Russell: How do we choose what properties MSEA's going to manage or not manage? And so it's -- Commissioner Gort: I think you're -- it was already decide what we're going to manage. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Gort: I don't think there's any other additional property that MSEA's looking at. Commissioner Carollo: Well, you have the Marine Stadium, which, you know, again, was -- Commissioner Gort: The Marine Stadium, if you see -- when somebody come up with a plans that we didn't like it, we reject it, because it had to comes in front of the Commission to be approved. At the same time, the new ordinance that we passed today that was presented by Commissioner Suarez, it takes place for Marine Stadium. The Friends of Marine Stadium, they're the one that going to be doing the whole thing. At the same time, we were told anything that takes place in Marine Stadium, it's got to go to the voters. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I think -- you know, I think Marine Stadium was one where, you know, there was some question about whether or not there would be a Charter referendum or not. Interestingly, Marine Stadium is a sports and exhibition facility, like the American -- you know, like the Miami Arena was a sports facility, so there's some nexus between sports facility or some sort of a facility, an exhibition facility and MSEA. I just think if we prevent MSEA from being an exception to the, you know, provision or the requirement that it be -- that it go out to referendum, then I think we solve the problem, because whether MSEA's the landlord, whether the City's the landlord, in the case of an asset, it's similar to like saying, Bayfront Park Management Trust. Bayfront Park Management Trust is a board that manages an asset. It manages Bayfront Park. So, you know, I don't think there's a problem with that, per se, and it generates revenue, by the way, that stays with the Trust, and then the Trust spends the money; it doesn't come to the City. Commissioner Gort: The -- Commissioner Carollo: Right. Commissioner Gort: I'm not the attorney, so he is an attorney; you might comment on this. My understanding, the -- part of the -- what took place in Watson Island was a settlement with the courts on the sea plane. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. City of Miami Page 118 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Suarez: No. I just -- look, I think -- Chair Hardemon: I'm sorry. I meant to say Carollo. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, that's fine. Commissioner Carollo: That's fine. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I think -- look, I think at the end of the day -- Commissioner Carollo: I want this discussion. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I think at the end of the day -- Commissioner Carollo: That's why I'm bringing it. I want this discussion. Commissioner Suarez: -- the decision on who manages the property or who gets MSEA property is a City Commission decision, so that I agree with Commissioner Gort. We transfer that property to that entity. Whether that entity should receive property or the mission of that entity in terms of managing property and why does it make sense to do that, that's -- I think that's an open question. But I think the bigger issue is that it not be useable to get around, you know, the consensus of the voters, which is to go to referendum. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. And you're right; the City Commission does have the purview of what to do with MSEA, and that's why I'm bringing it before the City Commission. And like I said, I know in the past, there was no appetite to deal with 29B and deal with MSEA, definitely not at -- to this stage, but obviously -- and I said, my first issue has been, you know, circumventing the Charter. So that's one thing that I believe, in speaking to our City Attorneys, we could do with an ordinance change, and I could bring it back as early as next Commission meeting. So I -- you know, at the very least -- and I think maybe we should take it by steps. Maybe we need more time to think about it, but I think, at the very least, the consensus is -- or let me rephrase that. I believe the consensus is that MSEA should not be able to circumvent the Charter or maybe -- and maybe I'm not phrasing it right. Maybe I need to phrase it more diplomatically. MSEA will not be able to use the 29B exemption. It will follow all City Charter rules with regards to referendums. I think that - I would also like to add: To make sure that their minutes are -- the meetings are properly recorded and minutes are taken, and I would ask our City Clerk to actually do that. Chair Hardemon: The meetings are -- the minutes are properly recorded and -- Commissioner Gort: Why don't you make sure that you have the minutes sent to the Commissioner? Commissioner Carollo: Right, but they weren't for a while. Commissioner Gort: Well, that was before. Commissioner Suarez: Every meeting. Commissioner Carollo: Understood, but the problem is when we're trying to track what's exactly going on with Chalks and what happened with revenues that this Commission voted on that we City of Miami Page 119 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 were supposed to get -- and I brought it up in one of our budget hearings when I didn't see revenues coming into the MSEA budget, and I asked what's going on, that's how I actually found out that the minutes were not being taken or the recordings weren't being done, because I actually asked, "Well, you know, City Commission on such and such date passed" -- I don't know if it was a resolution or an ordinance, but the bottom line is that MSEA was supposed to be receiving -- I don't know if it was 20-some thousand, or whatever it was, and I didn't see it in the budget, so I said, "Where was that?" And then there was issues and stuff like that. So I wanted to see exactly what occurred -- Commissioner Gort: Right. Commissioner Carollo: -- and those recordings were not there; those minutes were not there, so, I mean, it was very troubling to me. So I want to make sure that's correct. It appears that it has, but I want to make sure that it is corrected. Commissioner Gort: Right. Commissioner Carollo: And another thing that I want to make sure is that the meetings are properly noticed. You know, as far as -- I don't know if it was last week or this week or when it was, but I don't know if that MSEA meeting was properly noticed. I know that I -- Chair Hardemon: Well, let me say this, Commissioner, because I want you to -- I want to be very clear. If you don't know, I don't want you to give the public the perception that it was improperly noticed. Commissioner Carollo: Well - Chair Hardemon: So, I think a proper question would be, Was it properly noticed? "And then we can allow the Clerk to answer that question, or whomever it is that does the notices to answer that question, because - Commissioner Gort: Let me - Chair Hardemon: And for instance -- Commissioner Carollo: Fair enough. Chair Hardemon: -- just in the same - Commissioner Carollo: Fair enough. Chair Hardemon: -- in the tone of this when we say MSEA intentionally -- basically gets around -- or intentionally violates the ordinance, and things of these natures. I'm a part of MSEA. I've been a part of MSEA for two years, and I haven't intentionally or been a part of anything that intentionally did those things, so that's why when you -- rephrase your -- your response was a bit different. Commissioner Carollo: Understood. So let's ask, you know, our City Clerk to see the facts. Mr. City Clerk, was MSEA's meeting properly noticed? And the reason why I'm saying is because I don't know if it was the Manager or who told me that there was a MSEA meeting; we had no idea. I had my staff look every which way -- and other meetings they're able to find right away -- they weren't able to find it. So was the meeting properly noticed? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Off the top of my head, we can look into that. We work very closely with all the liaisons for every board here in the City of Miami. It's the responsibility of City of Miami Page 120 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 that liaison to provide us with what we call a Request for Posting form. When we receive that Request for Posting form, then we will then go ahead and put that information on the City of Miami's website under the `Public Meetings'" link and on the City Clerk's home page, and that is sufficient for public notice. So we're currently looking to see if we received a Request for Posting, and I can get back to you on that shortly. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. City clerk. And again, I could tell you, we didn't see it. We definitely Jigged [sic] to see where it was, and we didn't see it, so -- and listen, I'm not saying that there's malice behind it, but what I do say is that MSEA cannot continue operating like this; it needs to be corrected, should we want to continue with MSEA. So, you know, in a way, I'm seeing Commissioner Gort really wants to maintain MSEA, so you know, to a certain degree, I'm saying okay, maybe we could compromise somewhat, but, you know, some of these key concerns, I think, do need to be addressed, and I think they -- you know, they need to be fixed, point blank. So, you know -- and even to a point that I will make a motion to request that our City attorneys bring back legislation, as soon as they can, maybe in the next Commission meeting, to address the three issues that I've mentioned, and specifically, where MSEA will not be allowed to use the 29B exemption. Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Mr. Chair, may I? Commissioner Gort: Commissioner Carollo, my understanding is, Commissioner Suarez made the recommendation to the attorneys to go ahead and draft that ordinance; am I correct? Commissioner Suarez: I'm (UNINTELLIGIBLE), yeah. Mr. Min: Yes, sir. If may, Mr. Chair? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Mr. Min: The Administration is actually finalizing the agenda for the January 28 agenda. There are actually two items that are scheduled for first reading on that agenda. One item is a proposal to amend the makeup of MSEA as far as removing elected officials, other than the Mayor, from serving on that body; to remove any potential dual office -holding issues. That's legislation that's being sponsored by the Mayor. There's a second piece of legislation that is going for first reading that came up as a result of Tuesday's MSEA Board meeting concerning requiring MSEA to comply with the referendum requirements for waterfront property. Based on the discussion that we're having today, the question I would ask is whether you want to combine both of those into one ordinance, which would then be sponsored by the City Commission as a whole, or if any individual elected officials want to sponsor that ordinance on their own; and two, whether -- just to clam, we're talking about 29B, and that's where the exemption is, but that deals with City -owned property, the waterfront properties in Section 3 of the City Charter. So I simply want to clarify that the Commission's desire is regardless of whether it's waterfront property or not, any City -owned property that MSEA is going to lease out would have to go to referendum. Commissioner Carollo: Yes, yes. And -- Vice Chair Russell: Referendum or Commission? Chair Hardemon: Wait a minute. Currently, all City -owned properties are referendum -- Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, yeah. Chair Hardemon: -- so I don't -- we don't want to shackle -- City of Miami Page 121 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Suarez: No, no, no. Commissioner Carollo: No. Commissioner Suarez: City -owned -- Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) MSEA -- Commissioner Suarez: No, no. Wait. All City -owned properties do not go through referendum. Commissioner Carollo: Right, they do not. Chair Hardemon: Right. Commissioner Suarez: Right. Only waterfront properties, so I think -- Chair Hardemon: Only waterfront. That's my point. Commissioner Suarez: -- the idea is to treat MSEA like everybody else. Chair Hardemon: Exactly. Commissioner Carollo: Exactly. Commissioner Suarez: Not -- for MSEA not to have a preference or -- look -- Commissioner Carollo: Not to have the exemption of the intergovernmental. Commissioner Suarez: Look -- Commissioner Carollo: -- which will make it an exemption where you do not have to go to referendum. Chair Hardemon: So it was a misstatement, if you will. The intent is for waterfront property to go to referendum. Commissioner Suarez: Correct. Chair Hardemon: Just to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) - Mr. Min: And that's what I want to clarify. Chair Hardemon: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Min: Is the intent only for waterfront property or is it for all MSEA property have to go? Commissioner Suarez: And essentially, what happened was, after the MSEA meeting, I asked the City Attorney to draft that ordinance; the Commissioner also has essentially the same idea. So I have no problem co -sponsoring with him, or whatever the case may be. It's just -- it's already in the draft works. Commissioner Carollo: Listen, I'm not here to say who sponsors or not. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, yeah. City of Miami Page 122 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: I just want to make sure it gets done. Commissioner Gort: It's going to get done. Commissioner Carollo: So whether it's City Commission, whether it's whatever. I could tell you that, speaking to the Mayor, the Mayor started that meeting mentioning to the members of the board that I was bringing up an item for the possible abolishment ofMSEA, and that generated all the discussion, and that's speaking with the Mayor. And then the Mayor told me, "You know, Commissioner, I agree with you, " you know, with regards to, you know, the circumvention, and stuff like that. Listen, the bottom line, like I said, there was other issues, like dual office holding. I think for two or three years, there's been activists in the community that have mentioned the dual office holding. As most of you know, I removed myself from the MSEA Board a few years ago, and that might -- and that was one of the reasons. With that said, listen, as long as you bring it back and it doesn't linger for three, four, five months, and then we put a discussion item or an ordinance, whatever, as long as you bring it back, I don't care who sponsors it, you know. I just -- I'm happy, once again, that I could bring the discussion, that I could bring this to the forefront, and once -- and now we're finding that there is an appetite to deal with this. Chair Hardemon: All right. Vice Chairman, you have something you wanted to add? Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if may just real quick? Chair Hardemon: Sure. Commissioner Suarez: Once he reads the minutes that you send to him, you'll see that what happened was the Mayor opposed abolishing MSEA. And what I said was, I think what Commissioner Carollo's concerned about is what I'm concerned about, which is making sure that it's not used to circumvent the Charter, and in that point he agreed, and I think we all agree, and I think that's how it came about. And that's why I asked that that be drafted that way. Unidentified Speaker: Thanks. Commissioner Suarez: Just wanted to clam that. Mr. Min: So just to clam, it'll be -- we'll combine the ordinances in one ordinance, to be sponsored by the City Commission -- Commissioner Suarez: Yes. Mr. Min: -- to address the membership issue with dual office holding; to address that any MSEA lease would have to go to referendum; that it is not -- does not -- cannot take advantage of the exemption procedure -- Commissioner Suarez: Yes. Mr. Min: -- process in 29B, and we'll clam both the minutes issue, as well as the notice issue that Commissioner Carollo brought up. Chair Hardemon: Can we clarify the statement about the dual office holding again for me? Commissioner Carollo: Well, I don't want to pretend that I'm an attorney, so I'm going to yield to the City Attorney, because I'm sure, if they're drafting legislation, they could explain a lot better than I would the dual office holding, and the possibility, and why they're drafting legislation. City of Miami Page 123 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): The -- just to avoid any concern that there could be -- I'm not saying that there is, but just to avoid any problems, either all the elected officials or at least all the Commissioners should be on or they should all be off, or one Commissioner could be designated to be on, but on all the time. The issue is we can't pick and choose what the -- who is in a position or not, because it has to be as a part of the office of the Commissioner to sit on that board, because if not, it could be considered two differences -- it's a different agency; it could be considered dual office holding. So, for instance, in the CRAB (Community Redevelopment Agencies), CRAs, per statute, allows you to sit in different capacities, and it's not considered dual office holding. So that was just something that I wanted to clam. If we continue to use MSEA as it stands, that it would either be all the Commissioners sitting on it or the Mayor just sitting on it or maybe the district Commissioner, because most of the properties right now happen to be in District 2. So that was just ideas that we were bouncing around, and that's something also that could be addressed in whatever legislation comes back next time. Chair Hardemon: So the way that the MSEA composition is set up now, each -- well, you have one appointment by the Commission; you have one appointment -- the Mayor sits on it, and then each Commissioner has two appointments; one can be a ex-officio of the office, and if so, it can be that Commissioner, and he gets one more appointment, except for the Commissioner who was appointed by the Commission; then he gets only one appointment. So are you saying that that structure is problematic? Ms. Mendez: I'm not saying it's problematic; just that it could be problematic, so we're just trying to address that situation. Chair Hardemon: So you want to clean up the language so that there won't be? Ms. Mendez: I just want to clean it up so that there's no question. Commissioner Suarez: She wants to act in an abundance of caution. You know how attorneys like to use that. Chair Hardemon: You know I don't like that term. Ms. Mendez: Yes, he does not like that. Commissioner Suarez: You know what? You don't have to -- Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I woke up -- Commissioner Suarez: You don't have to act in an abundance of caution. That's the beauty of it. Chair Hardemon: Okay. So, apparently, there was a motion that was actually put on the floor. It was not seconded by Commissioner Carollo. I'm assuming, Commissioner Carollo, you will rescind that motion in favor of what was discussed as far as adding or combining those two together. Commissioner Carollo: 171 make that motion (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, we're good. Commissioner Carollo: In essence, it's pretty much the same thing. Chair Hardemon: Right. There's no need for the motion -- Commissioner Carollo: We just tweaked it. City of Miami Page 124 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: -- because you all are doing it together? Correct, because it's already in plans. And Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: I have a question about what we're asking the City Attorney to draft. Would just simply removing Subsection C 'fs it, of 29B, would that solve the situation? Because it's not just about MSEA; it's about any governmental agency to governmental agency, then to private agency. That is the circumventing. And so MSEA's not the issue; it's the process that's an issue, and if that loophole still exists, it can be used by other entities, no? Ms. Mendez: Right. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Ms. Mendez: And I just want to clarify a few things, because E!ircumventing'fs a -- not the appropriate word. Just -- MSEA is creature of statute. It is perfectly legal. The exemption of government to government is perfectly legal. It is a policy decision of what's done, and what agency takes ownership -- you know, management of a property, so I just -- because Llircumventioneems -- you know, it gives an interesting connotation. So what -- the problem is, 29B cannot be amended by this body; it has to go to a vote of the people. We are now presently in the Charter Committee Review, which Commissioner Suarez is the head of the Charter Review, and he can, through the process and vetting and with his committee, can give -- and look into some of these exceptions when we get to that section and clean that up. But right now, in order to address the concerns that this Commission has, the only way to resolve the government -to -government exception is through a Code revision, and the Code revision would say that any waterfront property would be subject to City Commission approval, you know, or cannot use the government -to -government exception, so that's the way -- the only way right now that you could address this and have the comfort level if you want to keep MSEA. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, I just want to ask the Vice Chair. I want to explore the concept with you. Not here -- not necessarily right now, but by and through the Charter Review Committee, because the central question is, under any circumstance, does it make sense to grant a property on the waterfront to another governmental agency without going to a referendum? That's really the question. Does that exception make any sense? And I don't know the answer to that. I think we should explore it. You know, we might be willing to -- that's why I was saying, we might need a Charter amendment, because we might be willing to eliminate that provision completely. The only -- you know, if -- again, it's just something that -- it should be explored in more depth. I don't know that it's happened and -- other than MSEA, but -- Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Russell, you're right on target so -- for a rookie Commissioner, you're learning quick. Your learning curve is pretty quick. I actually brought that item to the Commission to go to referendum, and unfortunately, I didn't get the support of -- or I didn't get the support of my colleagues to put it in a referendum, but that was explored so that we could do it, but then, you know, what Commissioner Suarez is saying -- I mean, in all fairness, this body's going to have to understand, you know, that, yes, we are not -- there will not be any loopholes. If you want -- Madam City Attorney, if you want me to be more diplomatic, give me another word for 1'oophole,'but -- City of Miami Page 125 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Ms. Mendez: Process." Commissioner Carollo: Okay, process. So there will not be a process where instead of going to the voters, you'll be able to transfer to an entity, which is a governmental entity, like MSEA, where then MSEA gets -- you know, does the actual leasing and stuff like that, but that was something that -- again, I know it has to go to a referendum, but I'm trying to -- like I said, there wasn't an appetite in the past; I'm trying little by little. So I think, at least for now, we should get this passed. You know, we should have the City Attorney bring this back, and then maybe, little by little, we could address that maybe through Charter Review now, you know -- Commissioner Gort: Charter Review (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Carollo: -- and see if that loophole -- or that process is finally - will that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) consider fixed. Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman Russell. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. I would imagine that the intergovernmental transfer concept was that we were going to give it to - give a piece of land to another governmental agency, like the State or the County, or something like that. And the question I guess, even then is would we want it to go to referendum before we're allowed to let ourselves do that? But for sure, it wasn't intended for us to give it to another entity that we create with a board that's sat on by our own Commissioners, 'cause in that sense, we really are acting almost as the City in a quasi way because we're here, our voices are here as Commissioners, if we're on that board, and we've created that entity, and we've transferred to them, and they then have the rights to transfer that lease or sale to a private entity without going to referendum. I call a duck a duck. If it's -- that's circumventing the intention of what it was meant to do, and sometimes those words don't sound nice, and they're a little ugly, but if they are what they are, we -- you know, actually giving them their strength, hopefully prods us to action, and it's not by bad intention necessarily, but the end result is there. And even though changing the Charter might be the harder thing to do, if it ensures that the spirit of it carries through beyond our time here, that's more important than fixing the issue in the moment of this one entity, because it's -- to me, it's not about MSEA; it's about the concept and the process. Commissioner Carollo: Absolutely. Commissioner Suarez: And I'll take it a slight step forward or further, which is to say that you can transfer to MSEA; they're not -- there's no requirement for a referendum, and then MSEA can transfer to someone else or enter an agreement without even an RFP (Request for Proposals), without even an RFP. So you're going from the most scrutinized situation where the voters will opine to a situation where there's zero bidding process. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Suarez: It's a big difference. Chair Hardemon: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: So, once again, do we want to abolish MSEA? Commissioner Suarez: No, I -- Chair Hardemon: He just said there was a process. Mr. City Clerk, I know that Commissioner Carollo had a question about the proper notice for MSEA's last meeting. Do you have a City of Miami Page 126 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 response? Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. I did receive a Request for Posting form for the liaison for the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority on January 7, and we posted it that same day to the City of Miami's website, and it also would be posted in our display case in front of the City Clerk's front counter. Commissioner Carollo: So it was properly noticed? Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Okay, because -- you know, my staff is usually pretty good at finding the notices and - Chair Hardemon: They didn't. Commissioner Carollo: -- they didn't, so. Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's a very large place nowadays. Commissioner Carollo: No, no. I hear you, I hear you. Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Carollo: I hear you. So 171 give you the benefit of the doubt, but again, we didn't see it, but -- Chair Hardemon: Is there any further discussion? Commissioner Gort: No. Let me ask a question. Isn't all the MSEA meetings recorded by the Clerk's Office? Mr. Hannon: We do assist the liaison for the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority with recording equipment so that they can record the meeting, and we do keep that recording on file for, what, roughly two years? For two years. Commissioner Gort: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: Can you give Commissioner Carollo a copy of the last meeting? Because I want him to read it. Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. City Clerk, when did you -- when did your office begin to do that? Mr. Hannon: We've been, I guess, doing it -- Chair Hardemon: I wouldn't suggest you guess. I wouldn't suggest. Mr. Hannon: The opportunity was there for the liaison to request the recording equipment from the City Clerk's Office, so I would have to see if maybe we have a log for whatever period you're requesting to see if the liaison at that time requested the recording equipment. Commissioner Carollo: Right, but I guess my question was -- and I don't want to put you in the City of Miami Page 127 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 spot, but when did you actually start recording? Because I remember having the conversations with you with regards to -- and we're going back now some time -- "Hey, can I get the MSEA recording?" And it was after one of the budget hearings. And you said, "Commissioner, we don't record the" -- "it's not our duties to record MSEA." Do you remember that, Todd, or --? Mr. Hannon: No, no. And you're absolutely correct, sir. It's just that we provide the equipment to the liaisons, and it's incumbent upon the liaisons to request the recording equipment from us. So if they decide to do their own summary minutes without having an audio recording, that actually is what the sunshine law requires. An audio recording does not allow you to meet the standards of the sunshine law. You actually have to have some form of written minutes, whether verbatim or summary. So again, the Clerk's Office provides the opportunity for the liaisons to request the audio recording equipment so that they can go back and listen to the meeting to either conduct summary minutes or verbatim minutes, but we do not necessarily directly assist them with the recording of those meetings. Commissioner Carollo: IfI may, Mr. Chairman? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: Who keeps those minutes? Who's the -- who is -- I forgot what's the technical term, but -- Mr. Hannon: No, I understand exactly you're talking about. Commissioner Suarez: Records custodian? Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Mr. Hannon: That as well. The liaison for the board is ultimately responsible for the minutes. However, the Miami City Code does require each liaison to furnish attendance, minutes, and so forth, and the Request for Posting forms to the City Clerk's Office, since we are looked upon as the central repository for documents of that nature, but ultimately, it would be the liaison's responsibility. Commissioner Carollo: So, if there was a period of time where you didn't have it, which is what we spoke about a little while ago, where I asked you, and you said "Commissioner, I don't have it; it's not our responsibility," then there was an error there. Chair Hardemon: But, Commissioner Carollo, you're talking about recordings. Commissioner Suarez: Right. Chair Hardemon: And you have to understand that the law doesn't require you to have recordings; the law requires you to have minutes. That can be summaries, or they can be more detailed. Commissioner Suarez: No. In fact, the recording -- Chair Hardemon: So, you want to know who moved -- Commissioner Suarez: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair Hardemon: -- who second the motion passed and things of that nature. Commissioner Carollo: Understood, but I asked for recordings or minutes -- and/or minutes. City of Miami Page 128 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: Well, you know, I wouldn't -- Commissioner Carollo: So, in other words, I -- my issue wasn't whether I was going to hear it or I was going to read about it; my issue was what occurred at the meetings. Chair Hardemon: Right. Commissioner Carollo: What has occurred from this point on, so I asked a representative of the City, will know what's going on with MSEA and what's going on with these contracts and what's going on with these revenues that's supposed to have come into MSEA and they were not coming into MSEA, so. Chair Hardemon: No, no. I completely understand. At this time, I am assured -- because I sit on MSEA, and whenever they schedule a meeting the date that I'm in town, I attend; and when I attend, there are minutes that are being taken by recording, and I assume they're then transcribed so that it meets the letter of the law. Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chairman, if may? Please understand my intention is, I wanted to make sure that it's fix. Whatever errors were done in the past, listen, I just want to make sure that it's fixed; simple as that. Chair Hardemon: Is there any further discussion? Vice Chair Russell: We're directing -- what are we exactly directing the --? Chair Hardemon: We -- the City Attorneys Office has already started the process of the legislation that we want to bring forward. Right now all we did was instruct him to combine the Commission -- Commissioner Suarez' desires with Commissioner Carollo's desires so we have that one document. I think the document's already scheduled to come back before the Commission, so there's not a need to direct them to do anything as of right now. Vice Chair Russell: Within that legislative request, are they considering the Charter change as well, possibly, or just the change? Chair Hardemon: The Charter Review Committee is considering the Charter change. Vice Chair Russell: Okay. Commissioner Gort: We can ask that of the Charter Review. Vice Chair Russell: Got it, got it. Chair Hardemon: All hearts and minds clear? Commissioner Suarez: Yep. Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Chair Hardemon: Great. DI 12 is now complete. We've finished -- Ms. Mendez: Chairman, ifI could just clarify, will this be a co -sponsored item by both of the Commissioners, Carollo and Suarez? Commissioner Suarez: By all of them. I mean, I think we're all on -- City of Miami Page 129 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Ms. Mendez: Or a City Commission item in general? Commissioner Gort: City Commission item. Commissioner Suarez: City Commission item. Commissioner Carollo: Listen, Madam City Attorney, I already said I don't care who's the sponsor, you know, whether me, whether it's joint sponsor, whether it's the whole City Commission. My intention is to fix what I really foresee as a problem, so just bring it back to City Commission, and you know, put us all as sponsors, if you want. Ms. Mendez: Thank you. END OF DISCUSSION ITEMS PART B: PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS Chair Hardemon: The City Attorney will state the procedures to be followed during this portion of the meeting. Commissioner Gort: You want to take five? Chair Hardemon: You want to take five? Let her read the -- I'll let her read the rules, and then we'll take five minutes. Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): PZ (Planning & Zoning) 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 must be sworn in by the City Clerk. Please note, Commissioners have been briefed by City staff and the City Commission on items on the agenda today. The members of the City Commission shall disclose any ex parte communications to remove the presumption of prejudice, pursuant to Florida Statute Section 286.0115 and Section 7.1.4 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Staff will briefly present the item to be heard. For applications requiring City Commission approval, the applicant will then present its application or request to the City Commission. If the applicant agrees with the staff recommendation and no one from the public wishes to speak for or against the item, the City Commission may proceed to its deliberation and decision. The applicant may also waive the right to an evidentiary hearing on the record. For appeals, the appellant may present its appeal to the City Commission. However, no appeals will be on the agenda today. The order of presentation shall be as described in the City Code and the 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 anyone 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. Any documents offered to the City Commissioners that have not been provided seven days before the meeting are -- as part of the agenda materials and will be entered into the record at the City Commission's discretion. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: All right. Have you sworn everyone in? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair, if we have a moment, anyone wishing to speak on tonight's Planning & Zoning items, may I please have you stand and raise your right hand? Again, anyone wishing to speak. The City Clerk administered the oath required under City Code Section 62-1 to those persons giving testimony on zoning issues. City of Miami Page 130 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Mr. Hannon: Thank you, Chair. Chair Hardemon: All right, thank you very nuich. We'll be in recess for five minutes. PZ.1 ORDINANCE 15-00672Iu Second Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10544, AS AMENDED, THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP OF THE MIAMI COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN, PURSUANT TO SMALL SCALE AMENDMENT PROCEDURES SUBJECT TO §163.3187, FLORI DA STATUTES, BY CHANGING THE FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF 5.31 ±ACRES OF THE REAL PROPERTY GENERALLY IDENTIFIED AS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF TRACT "D" OF WATSON ISLAND, MIAMI, FLORIDA, FROM "PUBLIC PARKS AND RECREATION" TO "MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL, PUBLIC FACILITIES, TRANSPORTATION, AND UTILITIES", AS DEPICTED IN "EXHIBITA", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; MAKING FINDINGS; DIRECTING TRANSMITTALS TO AFFECTED AGENCIES; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-006721u 01-28-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 15-006721u Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 15-006721u Legislation (v2).pdf 15-006721u Exhibit.pdf 15-006721u-Submittal-Carlos Gimenez-Agreements Comparison.pdf 15-006721u-Submittal-Com. Russell -Construction Waiver Chalks Airlines, Inc..pdf 15-006721u-Submittal-Chalk's Airline Inc -Presentation Watson Island Seaplane Base.pdf 15-006721u-Submittal-Paul Dudley -Original and Proposed Heliport.pdf 15-006721u-Submittal-Paul Dudley -Watson Island Heliport.pdf LOCATION: Approximately the southern portion of Tract D of Watson Island [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. See companion File IDs 15-00672zc and 15-006721u1. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on September 2, 2015, by a vote of 6-3. PURPOSE: This will change the land use designation for the above property from "Public Parks and Recreation" to "Major Institutional, Public Facilities, Transportation, and Utilities". Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Note for the Record: Item PZ.1 was deferred to the January 28, 2016, Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting. Chair Hardemon: (INAUDIBLE) quorum just yet, but maybe now that the lights and cameras City of Miami Page 131 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 are on, the Commissioners who are in the back who are watching us on the television may come inside. Commissioner Suarez: Hopefully. Chair Hardemon: Right. So -- but what I'd like to do is I'd like to call the attention to PZ.1. So those who are here for PZ.1, please prepare yourselves to make your presentation. And I'd like for everyone in the public to know that I'm going to open the floor for public hearing, when I do open the floor for public hearing for PZ.1 and PZ.2. So, if you want to speak on PZ.1 or PZ.2, you want to speak at one time when I open the public hearing during the discussion of PZ 1. Now that we have quorum, I'm going to call PZ 1. Francisco Garcia (Director, Planning & Zoning): Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Item PZ. 1 and PZ.2, both items are companion items, and I should add, parenthetically, that PZs 3 and 4 are also related; although at present, we can take up PZs 1 and 2. They happen to be a proposal for a land use change, and the rezoning proposal for a parcel of land in Watson Island known as the "southern portion of tract 'D, "and the proposed changes are as follows: For the land use change, which is PZ.1, we are requesting -- the City is the applicant -- that the land use designation be changed from public parks and recreation to major institutional public facilities transportation and utilities. And on the zoning side, which is PZ.2, the request is that the zoning designation change from CS, or civic space, to CI, or civic institutional. This is before you on second reading, and the parcel involved is approximately a nine -acre parcel, a nine -acre parcel of land within Watson Island, which, in its totality, is approximately 110 acres. That's just to give you an idea of the relative size of the proposal. I'll say briefly by way of introduction that the reason for this proposal before you today is essentially to allow for the redevelopment and refurbishment of the two existing facilities. The use of this land has been, from time immemorial, for both a heliport operation and a seaplane base, and the improvements and the structures on the property are presently -- certainly not in ideal condition; arguably, in a state of disrepair, and the proposed refurbishment and redevelopment of the site would require the zoning change that we are proposing today. The last thing I'll add -- and then I'll certainly answer any questions you may have -- is that by virtue of the CI, or civic institutional, proposed zoning designation, any development -- and when I say llny,'7 do mean liny,'ho exceptions -- any development would actually require an exception permit, and that exception permit requires a public hearing process, which means that the decision is made ultimately by the Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board with a recommendation and analysis of the Planning & Department, of course; and then, ultimately, that could be appealed should there be any issues to this body, to the City Commission. That's all I have by way of brief presentation, and I'm certainly happy to answer any questions. Chair Hardemon: Before we get into any questions, I'll open up the public hearing for PZ.1 and PZ.2. Is there anyone from the public? This is your opportunity to speak right now. You're recognized, sir. Ben Fernandez: Good afternoon, M. Chair, members of the board. Ben Fernandez, 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, here on behalf of Nautilus Enterprises, who's the operator of the Chalks Seaplane Base. Chalks, as many of you may know, is a seaplane operation that is in existence since 1917. It came to Watson Island in 1926 when "Poppy" Chalks, who was a World War I airline pilot, came to the island and started flying from Miami to Bimini shortly after the island was actually created. It was actually dredged out of the bay and created; and right after it was created, Chalks Airlines was there. So this is an application that isn't so much about the future, but it's about recognizing the past. And this is a seaplane base that was the first use on this island I dare to say. I can't prove that, but I would venture to say that it was one of the first uses. And what happened when Miami 21 was adopted was that the previous zoning district, which is the PR (Planned Residential) zoning district, allowed seaplane bases as a conditional use. The corresponding CS parks designation under Miami 21 did not, and the reason it did not City of Miami Page 132 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 is because it was looking at parks throughout the City. It wasn't really focusing on Watson Island. Ordinance 11000 -- that predated Miami 21 -- was an ordinance that was taking into account many of the specific uses that existed in particular areas. It was a code that created -- that had over 27 different special districts. Miami 21 has almost no special districts. It has a few special area plans, but it has general zoning districts, so the thought was to move away from these highly tailored zoning districts to something more general. In that effort -- and it may have been a very good effort -- but in that effort, what happened was that it rendered the Chalks Airline facility a nonconforming use; a grandfathered one, but a nonconforming one. And what that mean is that if this seaplane base is destroyed today, it can't be rebuilt tomorrow. It's over. Not even -- we're not talking about an expansion; we're talking about the ability to rebuild a use that's there today, so we view this application for a comp plan amendment and a zoning change as being necessary in order to recognize the seaplane base that has been there for 90 years. And I had a couple of images that I wanted to present to you, but I don't know if the video is working. I think that -- well, I apologize, but the point is that we would ask you to support staffs recommendation for approval, and we would ask you to specifically look at the Chalks Airline property, which is a subset of the entire area that is before you today, which is approximately 5.3 acres. The Chalks Airline facility is only the strip of land immediately abutting the bay. It's approximately 2.2, 2.3 acres. We would be comfortable with the Commission moving forward with that portion of Tract "D" in order to recognize Chalks' ability to seek the necessary permits to continue to improve the airline operation that is already ongoing, and then the Commission can do as it wishes with respect to the remainder of the tract and as plans come forward to develop the rest of the tract. That's what we'd like to say. I know that there are others here, including Carlos Gimenez, Jr. that is with me; and Mr. "Nacho" Ignacio Vega, who is the operator of Seaplane Base; and Marin Kim, who is here as well that would like to address you. I'm here to answer any questions. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Public hearing. Carlos Gimenez: Good evening, members of the board. Carlos Gimenez, with offices at 2020 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables, 33134. I thank you for listening to this item, and want to speak, obviously, in behalf of Nautilus. We've been going through this process for many years now. Many of you, in your capacity as both Commissioners and members of the MSEA (Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority) Board, I think have a lot of history or knowledge of the history that involve this issue. We just recently, through the Clerk, had provided you with a comparison of the lease agreement, the sublease agreement that was executed, you know, within the last year; and, you know, one of the issues that we found through our negotiations was this problem with the zoning; and immediately, when we saw that there was an issue, we went to City staff they acknowledged that there was an issue, so part of the agreement with MSEA is addressing this -- really, what it is, it's not a zoning change; it's a correction of the zoning to what it should be, all right. This was actually modified, you know, citywide master plan, citywide change of the zoning atlas; mistakes are going to be made, and this happens to be one of them, so that's the first point. As to Ben's comments and bifurcation of the application, it's a -- this applies only to Chalks. Obviously, our client is in total agreement with that. In fact, we prefer that so we know what's going to happen surrounding us. In addition to that, as the staff has indicated, once the change is complete, we can't build what we want. Number one, we're constricted by the terms of the lease agreement itself, which provide for thresholds and development envelopes and limitations on use, et cetera, but we're also limited by the fact that we have to appear before the PZAB (Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board) through the exception process. You know, we understand fully that that doesn't automatically come to the Commission, but we're, you know, willing, ready, and able to commit that through the exception process, we will file the necessary documents to bring this before the Commission, regardless of what the decision of the PZAB is. And, you know, with that, I wanted to actually bring Marin up, who can -- excuse me; one more speaker. Freddie Balsera: Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission. My name is City of Miami Page 133 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Freddie Balsera, 2020 Ponce de Leon Boulevard, Coral Gables, Florida. And I wanted to just round out what Mr. Gimenez says, because as far as I'm concerned, individually, I've been involved from day one, more than three years ago, with Nacho, as we affectionately call him, Ignacio Vega-Penichet, in this process, and I know it intimately. I understand how the process evolved, and the part that I've been most active in is public outreach and public engagement as this project has moved through the process. I say that because, as I've sat here tonight and I've listened to conversations about MSEA, and I've listened to conversations about waterfront lands, and conversations in the past by Commissioner Carollo about sweetheart deals, and conversations about process and how all these things evolve, I recognize that there's a lot of angst on the part of some, if not all Commissioners with the way that these processes have evolved. And I fear that, to a certain extent, the Chalks project, which seems to me has general goodwill among the Commissioners, could get caught up in some of that emotion, and I'm here to submit to you that we hope it doesn't, because this process, which is the only one that I can speak about, and this project, which is the only one that I've been involved with, I can assure you has been managed and handled with the highest degree of transparency, integrity, openness through public meetings that a majority of these Commissioners were part of; through sunshine meetings that reporters were present at and wrote about; through exhaustive negotiations that specifically addressed a priority of Commissioner Carollo was -- which was to make sure that money was repaid and that these sweetheart deals, which I think is what he classified the original deal as, would no longer exist. It ended litigation, and we feel that through a lot of negotiation and through a lot of just honest, earnest discussion with the City, we arrived at a good product that both sides felt comfortable with. We never really anticipated that this situation would arise now, because our intention and Nacho's intention is to live up to every single last element of this deal and provide you with a world -class facility that residents and visitors can enjoy to their fullest, and restores to its glory one of the most iconic services and elements of Miami's past. So, hopefully, you will look at this project individually; and I submit to you again, we hope that it doesn't get caught up with a lot of the other stuff that we have nothing to do with that involves MSEA, that involves Watson Island, involves other stuff, because I can assure you, this project, on its own, is a project worthy of moving forward, and we hope that you will agree with us and vote in favor of the zoning change so that we can present our plans, work with this Commission, work with Commissioner Russell in making sure that the project that is going to be presented and approved is something that agrees with your vision, and we can have a world -class, modern, state-of-the-art facility for residents and visitors at Watson Island. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. We have one last person that wants to speak at the public hearing. Roger Craver: Thank you, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, Commissioners. I'm Roger Craver -- excuse me -- 1000 Venetian Way, Miami. I am president of the Coalition Against Causeway Chaos, which is a group of citizens and homeowner associations, small businesses that are seeking to make sure that Watson Island is developed properly in terms of traffic and in terms of the public interests and not just the interest of single individuals. Watson Island is not the property of one Commissioner, as it's been treated in the past; it is not the private territory of the City of Miami staff, which it has been treated as in the past; this is a public treasure. I and my organization have absolutely no objection to Chalk [sic]. We're talking here beyond the two plus acres that Chalk [sic] needs to the rezoning or upzoning of a substantially larger thing. Now, I am here tonight because the PAZB [sic] failed to do its job; the City Attorney failed to do her job; the City staff, part of them, failed to do their job, because they did not inform the Commission or the PAZB [sic] exactly what was going to be done with this land. We heard the folks from Nautilus talk about what they want to do with their part, but there's been no detail on that. Neither has the City responded to the City of Miami Beach, which has a legitimate intergovernmental interest in having its questions answered, questions that were asked almost a year ago in April and still have not been answered. So here's my recommendation to you: To show that there's a new way of doing business in the City of Miami, a new transparent way, we recommend -- I recommend that you defer your decision on this until you get all the facts, until City of Miami Page 134 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 you get the specificity on this upzoning that you deserve. And when you get that opinion from the City Attorney, and whomever she involves, share it with an outside independent group who does not do business with the City, and see what your options are, but most of all, seek the transparency the public deserves and that you deserve. Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. You're recognized, sir. Peter Ehrlich: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Peter Ehrlich. My address is 720 Northeast 69th Street, and I'm just going to speak generically in favor of parks and opposed to any up -zoning of parkland in general. I'd also like to say that I hope that whatever goes on on Watson Island, that you don't allow any billboards, particularly any LED (light emitting diodes) billboards like we see in the Children's Museum and Charter School. I'm also affiliated with the Urban Environment League and Scenic Miami, and we would support the goals of more parks, not less parks, and we're opposed to the visual pollution. And we also support the comments from Roger Craver. Thank you very much for your time. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. We have one last person. Public hearing. Ignacio Vega-Penichet: My name is Ignacio Vega-Penichet. I represent Nautilus and Chalks Airline, 1000 McArthur Causeway. I just want to say, I want to talk here about the activity. I want to talk about Chalks, the employees. I want to talk of our operators. We have seven operators working there. I want to talk about the crew. I want to talk about the passengers. Regardless of what happens with Chalks, or with the project that we want to do, and the best seaplane base that we could construct there, I want to talk about what we're doing today; and what we're doing today, I would like to do it in a nice place, if possible. I would like to -- whatever we have -- we don't have much. Maybe we have half of this total area for CBP, immigration, for our employees, for waiting gates, for waiting rooms, for restrooms, and for our offices. I can tell you, it's not more than two-thirds of this; of which, two-thirds are unusable. CBP decided that they couldn't stay there anymore, and we decided to give part of our building, the one that we have for our offices, they're doing their things there. We have MT-2, something around 4,000, I think it is, or 3,500 square foot that are not usable anymore. Actually, it's not more than this (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioners Suarez, you will be out of the building if we had this. So I'm not saying -- I know this is important to you, but it's vital for us. We need to adapt. We have to take those trailers away, I assure you. We don't want anybody to come to Miami and see that, and that's all I want to say. I think that at least this change of zoning will give us the opportunity to put that -- at least, update it, and we can resolve the thing of the project. I'm not going to do anything that is not approved by all of you. I don't want to do that. I want to -- my activity, my employees -- the operators that are there, they're spending a lot of money creating new destinations. Please, let me do that. That's all I'm asking for. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. Mr. Vega-Penichet: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. I'm not going to say "last" anymore, because that might be my bad luck. Paul Dudley: Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Paul Dudley. I'm involved with the heliport project. I know most of you a very long time, because this project has been vetted and it's been ongoing for 16 years. So, I heard some comments today that are a little distressing; that people didn't know what was going on. This has probably been one of the most dragged out and public processes you could possibly have, and, you know, we're certainly happy to answer anybody's questions from the public or anybody else. My comments are very short, because the Chalks team did an absolutely very, very good job of presenting probably 90 percent of the pertinent information. The issue comes down to -- it's always been aviation use. When the City of Miami Page 135 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 zoning was changed it created a problem, which creates a technical problem with moving forward, as Mr. Vega said before. When you apply for things that we have to do to perform in our agreement -- and I'm trying to perform -- we can't, because it's excluded by zoning. We're supposed to have fuel. I cannot apply for the permits to do that because it's contrary to zoning. When this was done, it was all done with the original zoning, which it included these things that we're supposed to be doing, so please consider this nothing more than a correction. We all want to move forward. We're all trying to perform. I would appreciate your support of this. And also, I would like to thank Francesco [sic], Mr. Garcia, who's been trying to shepherd this for the last two years; and people like Mr. Rotenberg; and of course, Aldo Bustamante, who, as far as City officials could be concerned, are -- have been outstanding. Some of you may know, I run a public airport up in New Jersey. It's an entire airport. And I have to deal with many, many City officials and Federal and State officials, and these people are exemplary, and nothing should be taken to heart that degrades that performance. So I would ask you kindly to please move this forward. I've been working on this project for 16 years. I would like to perform, and I ask your indulgence to please correct this error. Thank you for your attention. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Seeing no other persons for public comment, I'll close the public hearing at this time. And I saw the eagerness in Commissioner Russell. Did you have some discussion that you want to start with? Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: I guess I should start with my Jennings disclosure. Is that appropriate? Yeah, my staff and I met with Ignacio Vega-Penichet of Chalks Nautilus, and the representatives regarding him. We've also met with -- actually, we spoke by phone with Paul Dudley, owner of Linden; and we've also met with Roger Craver, Stephen Herbits, and Fernando Diaz of the Coalition Against Causeway Chaos. Commissioner Suarez: Can I also make a Jennings disclosure to the same effect, with the exception of Paul Dudley? I didn't talk to Paul Dudley about that, but the same disclosure. Vice Chair Russell: All right. Should I read the rest, the whole disclosure? I'm disclosing this communi -- Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): Yes. Vice Chair Russell: You prefer? I am disclosing this communication pursuant to the City's applicable regulations in order to give affected parties an opportunity to rebut or comment on anything that was mentioned to me at that meeting. If the applicant wishes to move for a continuance, the items can be deferred to the next regularly scheduled meeting of this Commission to afford ample time for the applicant to refute any information. This communication has not swayed me in any fashion, and I continue to be as impartial about this item as I was prior to the communication. My disclosure will be made a part of the record. Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: I incorporate the same disclosure. Vice Chair Russell: You can't do that; that's cheating. Ms. Mendez: Thank you. Commissioner Suarez: What do you mean? City of Miami Page 136 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: You just did that on (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Suarez: In what way? I'm being efficient. We've been here -- these poor people have been waiting for seven hours. Vice Chair Russell: I'd like to definitely start by saying I'm a fan of the concept of the seaplane and Miami having a seaplane. I was a customer in the 1970s of Chalks itself. And as a small business owner, I can sympathize with what both Nautilus and Linden are going through in their efforts to continue their business and grow and what it costs them when delays happen. I brought up my concerns in the last Commission meeting about we don't really know what it is that we're looking at. We've heard rumors of ideas of restaurants and things, but we don't quite know. And before I vote to change zoning or upzone a spot that could be considered park space for future use, it's a serious thing to consider, whether it's considered a mistake of what could have been -- and even though Chalks was there since before history, what could it have been, and it's not up to me as a fan of seaplanes, necessarily. And being waterfront property and dovetailing from our discussions earlier today, what do the people want it to be? We don't even know. We've never asked them, you know, and so I take this decision very seriously. And I just want to make sure we've got all of our ducks in a row before we enact change of zoning, which is no light thing. Its, in this case, going from CS to CI is a big difference in what can be done on the land, so I reached out to all of the entities that I mentioned, and the Chalks' representatives did come to the office and explain that they're interested in a low -end restaurant, a high -end restaurant, a media center where companies like CNN (Cable News Network) could have a backdrop of the City and lease that to them, a retail facility; and they did not try to disguise it in the sense of "This is a coffee shop for people to drink coffee before they get on the plane." This is a full operation independent of flying, you know. They're looking to attract customers for the retail operation, and they were very honest about it. Their idea is that a seaplane operation in itself is not profitable, and so these extra add-ons and this additional project is what's needed. They understood my concerns, and they came with this letter that I've shared with all of you here, and the basic gist of it is it's Mr. Vega letting us know that he has the right, through his contract with MSEA, to develop a hundred thousand square feet for his development, but he's promising through this letter that he will only develop half of that at 50,000 square feet. It also goes on to ask that that also affect the rent obviously, since he's promising to do less. And what I realized after that -- and I very much appreciate this gesture -- it helps clarify for the public the limits of what could go there. It's actually not a binding document with me. There's -- I don't have the authority to negotiate that with him. He has a lease with MSEA. And, of course, there's all of us. A letter to me, as the district Commissioner for where the item happens to be, isn't a binding promise, but I do take it as sincere. I'm not implying that with this that they would then turn around and do otherwise later. I'm just saying by the legal instrument -- and they were clear about it when they brought it to me -- that it's not a binding document but more of a gentleman's handshake and promise. I forgot to mention, they want a lighthouse as well, which I think was mentioned. So they want to develop this to the maximum potential that we will allow them, and it's -- they're not being secretive about it, but I don't feel that we have all the tools before us to make that decision. Even if we were to put a covenant or restriction on the zoning change that they can only do "X, " "Y, " and "Z" -- I know that's not Francisco's preference; that he'd rather see those sorts of covenants happen at the exception phase, but if that gives us the comfort to move forward with a zoning change, are we getting in the way of the contract with MSEA? Are we somehow tortuously interfering with what they've already agreed with MSEA? Of which, half the MSEA folks are here -- up here with me. So, you know, all of this is surrounded by the issues we're dealing with with Watson Island. And what I said to Mr. Gimenez earlier was that, in a vacuum, their situation is very clear, but we're not -- we've got so many additional things to consider; and as a Commission, we take into account more than necessarily what MSEA's charged with as a landlord. And, in fact, they're trying to maximize the development potential, because they can only generate funds for MSEA above what market rate, which would -- everything below that would go to the City, so they're actually incentivized to maximize the potential, and by this promise, we're cutting that off and that wasn't the intention of MSEA. So City of Miami Page 137 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 here we are, wearing many different hats, and for me, it just -- I want more time to settle out -- let the dust settle on some of these issues we're trying to resolve with MSEA. I'm not trying to stall the project as an intention, but knowing that Chalks has been around for decades and decades with the current facilities it has, before we move forward and let them improve those facilities, I just want to make sure we've got everything straight. Those are my thoughts. Mr. Fernandez: Commissioner, through the Chair, may I just respond to a couple of those comments? I think it's interesting to note that by virtue of this land use change, an area that has never been a park, you know, will now become a park in another part of the City, because there is the required exchange. Along the Rickenbacker, areas that are not designated for park purposes will now be designated for park purposes, so this is really a net increase in parkland, in real parkland for the City of Miami, because you have an area that has never been a park, unless you're talking about demolishing the Chalks Seaplane Base entirely and converting it -- If that's the wish -- the will of the Commission, well, that's not what was voted on previously in sunshine meetings by at least three of the Commissioners on this board today. The plan for this seaplane base was discussed. The terms of the lease were discussed. They were approved and ratified, and they may be new to you, Commissioner, andl can certainly respect that, but the fact is that this is a net increase in park area for the City as a result of this change that you wouldn't otherwise have, and it also ensures the lessor that he will be able to rebuild his facility in the event of an act of God. Suppose we have hurricane tomorrow? He's continuing -- he's been paying lease payments for I don't know how many years. He has millions of dollars -- over a quarter of a million dollars paid to date with the inability to improve the dilapidated base that is on that island today. It's a shame. Anybody that comes in on a cruise boat and sees the seaplane operation that exists today, it's shameful. I just happened to come on a cruise, and I was looking at it. I said, This is ridiculous, compared to what I used to see as a child, the constant landing of seaplane bases; people coming to the island to actually watch the seaplanes land for entertainment. "That's gone, because the frequency has been diminished to such an extent that it's not viable anymore. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Vice Chair Russell: Could I respond to the park swap issue, because --? And I do understand all the points that are in favor of why you need to move forward, but I definitely want to be straight with something, and I'm not very comfortable with the whole park swap idea, but if we're going to do it, we definitely got to call it what it is. We're not getting a net gain of parkland here. We're doing a wash with taking something that's never been a park and taking away its park designation, so we're not really losing a park, per se. But then we're also taking a piece of land on the Rickenbacker, because we have a policy of no net loss of park space, and we're calling something that already is in itself a park, even -- maybe it's -- and it is managed, if I'm not mistaken, by the City. It's already cleaned. It's already taken care of. People go and park and kiss there. I've kite boarded and paddle boarded there. That qualifies it as a park. So we're not gaining a park here; we're just calling it something. Chair Hardemon: I didn't (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Vice Chair Russell: I didn't do the kissing; I did the paddle boarding. Commissioner Suarez: No comment. Vice Chair Russell: So that's a wash, and so there's no favor being granted. There's -- I mean, for me, I almost held to the idea that, well, if we have a no net park loss, then I don't want to just call something that's already a park a park. I want to -- let's go find a piece of land and that's not a park and make it a park, and then we'll say we got a net gain, but that would drag this out City of Miami Page 138 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 even further. Mr. Fernandez: And I agree with you, but also understand, we have to go through an exception process. This is just a perfunctory step that needs to take place in order for us to come to you with an application, but you're asking the applicant to wait -- to spend money now without having the assurance that he can rebuild what he has today. And what we're saying is, You need to make this change if you want to see a seaplane base on this property, whether it's for Mr. Vega-Penichet or for somebody else. That change needs to happen. "The details of how it would be improved in the future, that needs to come to you through an exception process. We're prepared to do that immediately, but this step has to take place, so there's no reason to delay this process. Vice Chair Russell: But every developer that comes before us seeking an upzoning, they do present the full plans, the renderings; they do spend the money on architectural drawings and concepts and show us so that we can show the public this is what we're approving; and when we approve this, this is what will happen and not more. And so just by listing ideas and what we'd like to do and the many things of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), none of them that I sincerely have an issue with, I'd like to conquertize that for the public and show them just as anyone else does a presentation. They know it's an investment. It's a risk just as any developer takes before they come before us asking for this. Mr. Fernandez: That sounds correct, but in this particular case, you have a use that predates the adoption of Miami 21, somebody that stepped into the lease rights of an existing seaplane base. And so, this isn't an application for a rezoning to allow a new use; this is an application to simply condone what is already there legally. Vice Chair Russell: So, it -- but I sincerely disagree. I don't feel it's ever been used for a restaurant, it's ever been used for retail, it's ever been used for a lighthouse -- Mr. Fernandez: Understood, and we can't -- Vice Chair Russell: -- a media center. Mr. Fernandez: -- bring those uses to you without going through an exception process. Chair Hardemon: All right. Now, at this point, I just want to be clear that this is -- Mr. Fernandez: Understood. Chair Hardemon: -- the public hearing portion has been closed. Mr. Fernandez: Yes, sir. Chair Hardemon: At this time, what I see is a Commissioner that wishes to urge his fellow board members to continue an item moving forward, and so, lots of argument have been put forth. Is there any further discussion from the Commissioner to the board to encourage -- to -- us to continue the item? Vice Chair Russell: Should I move it? Chair Hardemon: If that's what you wish? Vice Chair Russell: I would move it, then -- Commissioner Carollo: Second. City of Miami Page 139 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Vice Chair Russell: -- to continue. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Russell and second by Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman, only thing I ask, a date. If we're going to defer the item, we need to defer it to a certain Commission date, so I just -- Chair Hardemon: And additionally, some clarification from Francisco. If -- and I'm assuming you're saying PZ.1 and PZ.2? Vice Chair Russell: They're all -- yes, they're all -- yeah. Chair Hardemon: Oh. Or would you say -- Vice Chair Russell: They're all companion items. Chair Hardemon: -- PZ.1, 2, 3 and 4? Vice Chair Russell: Correct. Chair Hardemon: Okay, so just to clarify the motion, it would be a continuance ofPZ.1, 2, 3 and 4 to a date that we have yet to determine. Have we -- do we know the date? Vice Chair Russell: For them, the soonest possible that they could possibly bring for the -- Chair Hardemon: So what's the next Planning & Zoning meeting date? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Well, the next Planning & Zoning meeting date would be January 28, but if you wanted to defer the item to February 25, that's the natural Planning -- that's when the -- you know, the normal Planning & Zoning hearings are held. Chair Hardemon: Well, that's what I mean. Vice Chair Russell: The 28th. I do have one last question, though, for both the Planning & Zoning Department and City Attorney. The suggestion came today about possibly bifurcating the property so that the heliport and the seaplane are treated separately for the zoning purposes, and because part of -- you know, we -- they've been very forthcoming with me in what they would like to do, but I actually only heard today finally from the heliport portion. I understand his position. He feels that this is simply a correction of an error, but I want to know what's going to be there, but -- so they've requested a bifurcation. When is that possible? Two, would that bring it back to first reading if there was a bifurcation set up, or would that be able to be all done together? Ms. Mendez: I guess I would have to clarify what type of bifurcation and who's requesting the bifurcations. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Garcia, actually, presented the idea to us during discussion as a possibility. Mr. Garcia: So I'll address -- and let me be factually accurate, because it's relevant. There is no folio number attached to this land. That is unique, because this is a sub parcel of a larger parcel that has a legal description, but that, again, is a subset of a larger parcel of land. So, it is one unified property, and there aren't, per se, two folio numbers to separate them, item one. Item two City of Miami Page 140 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 is, from the Planning & Zoning perspective, the two operations are on one property; and the entire property, as pertains to these operations, falls under the same set of conditions, so I have no rationale to offer you that would support a bifurcation from that standpoint. Now, the other component of it, and what leads some to perhaps consider this, is they are two distinct operations, each subject to a different lease and a different agreement, but again, I would, to make the record clear, offer that there is no link necessarily between those lease agreements and the zoning change proposed to you today. So I just wanted to make the record clear on that. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: So -- and to clay fly, the next Planning & Zoning meeting would be the 28th of January, which is next -- Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. Chair Hardemon: -- our next meeting. Correct. So would your motion be to move it to the 28th? Vice Chair Russell: Yes, please. Chair Hardemon: So we all know that there's a proper -- Commissioner Carollo: And second. Chair Hardemon: -- motion and second. Francisco, you have some more to add? Mr. Garcia: Through the Chair, and for clarity sake, I just wanted to add a couple of comments, hopefully, to address some issues that may -- confuse certainly not for us, perhaps, who have been very well briefed in all this -- but in terms of public perception, two brief items. One, this has been described as an upzoning; it is most definitely not. And although I could elaborate on it further, I'll simply put to you that there are some by -right uses under the present zoning designation, which would be much more intense -- to name one, a marina -- by right, which would be much more intense than many of the uses that would be allowed in the CI designation; and certainly any use, as I described earlier under the CI designation, would require an exception. So that's one thing to note. It is not an upzoning; it is, I think, properly described as an adjustment of a zoning designation, because it doesn't fit the uses that are there, which are grandfathered and historic, number one. Number two, a comment was made, somewhat in passing, but I wanted to address it also briefly for the record, that not enough information has been provided, or that some information is being withheld. And the covenant was made specifically in reference to a request made by the City of Miami Beach, which was interested to see what the repercussions of any development on the land would be, vis-a-vis concurrency issues, mainly traffic, et cetera. And the response has been on the record previously, but I'll put it on the record again in case anyone has questions. We cannot determine what the impact of development on this site is, unless we know what shape and form the development takes. But what I said to you consistently is that this zoning change does not vest a project; it makes the application for a project possible. So our response has been: When the project comes through the exception process, it is then that we will know what impact it may have, and it is then that we will conduct a concurrency analysis, and that's appropriate. Chair Hardemon: I think that's something that needs to be reiterated to everyone; that although we've had counsel come before us and advocate for the passage of this item, because it makes it possible for the new development that you which to have, that it is not what we're considering today. What we're considering today is a zoning change, use change -- zoning change. I always get confused with those two issues, but zoning change that would allow that to happen, so that's why they're in support of it. So, just don't want that -- those two issues to be confused. Commissioner Suarez. City of Miami Page 141 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, thank you. I would encourage, if we could, for all the parties to get together, because I -- it seems to me, just based on some conversations that I had before, that we're not that far apart. I think there was a concern expressed that a zoning change would be an indeterminate blank check, if you will, and I think -- you know, I think that was a concern that was expressed. And so I think, to the extent that we give definition to this, as the Vice Chair is suggesting; and to the extent that maybe you're involved, you know, maybe there could be a meeting or two between now and then, because I -- my understanding is that it seems like the parties were talking, and they seem like they were having fruitful discussions, and I'll just leave it at that. Chair Hardemon: All right. If there's no further discussion -- Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: And whatever information is presented to the Vice Chair and to any other members, I would like to also receive. I would like to be able to see exactly some of the information, because some of the questions he has and the information he's requesting is really what I want to see also. As a matter of fact, Mr. Balsera, when you first started speaking and you mentioned as far as this was the original and then, you know, the amendments, and stuff like that, I want to be clear what documents you're speaking about and so forth; so that's something that, from now until the next meeting, we could go over. And one more thing. I have a question for the Administration, because I've heard it various times already, and, you know, I think I'm in a difference of opinion, but I want to verify. Do we need to pass PZ.1 and 2 in order to pass PZ.3 and 4? Because I hear this net gain, but can we have a positive gain outright by passing 3 and 4, PZ.3 and 4 without having to pass PZ.1 and 2? Vice Chair Russell: Then they've got to find a new park when they come back next time then. Mr. Garcia: Certainly, Commissioner. The reason we are suggesting to you that the four of these items should travel together is this. The reason -- and you've heard it described as a net gain or no net loss. We have in our comprehensive plan a policy statement, which we are responsible for compliance with to the State of Florida, that there will be no net loss of parkland in the City of Miami, and we certainly intend to abide by that. And so, Commissioner Russell is correct in pointing out that what we are doing here really is to take a park that already exists that has no zoning -- it has no zoning presently -- and applying the proper zoning to it, and replacing it for this. The reason why I am saying -- and I'll get to your question -- Commissioner Carollo: I understand exactly what Commissioner Russell said. Mr. Garcia: Of course. Commissioner Carollo: But my -- what I'm asking now is a little different. Mr. Garcia: Sure. Commissioner Carollo: But I understand exactly what he said about the net gain, but I'm saying, well, can we actually have a bigger gain if we don't do PZ.1 and 2 right now, and we actually do PZ.3 and 4? Wouldn't that be a bigger gain instead of just a net gain? Mr. Garcia: I understand. And the reason we propose to you to do it in the manner we're doing it today, and to continue all of items is, when we submit a report to the State of Florida, we need to demonstrate a -- basically, a no delta scenario, and the only way we get to that presently is by City of Miami Page 142 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 submitting possibly a change from CS to CI in the nine acres in Watson Island that we're talking about today, and an increase of nothing to CS of also nine acres approximately along the Rickenbacker Causeway, so it's a question of keeping the accounting correct, essentially. Commissioner Carollo: No, I understand about debits and credits, but it's not about keeping the accounting correct. It's about, you know -- it was stated that you'll have a net gain, so I want to say, okay, what's the maximum gain of parkland that we could have so we could --? Mr. Garcia: There is no limit on that, sir. I'm sorry. Commissioner Carollo: So we could actually, you know, pass 3 and 4 and have a much bigger gain in park space. And by the way, on a side note, I want -- I was going to do it -- actually, bring it to the Commission, but I'm going to -- I'm just going to ask it right now. How much more of this land does the City have that is not necessarily deemed parkland but could be deemed parkland so we could take care of it already and name it parkland so, in the future, we know exactly how much parkland we have? Mr. Garcia: A very valid question, sir. And so, we thought we had none, and then we found some. Commissioner Carollo: Well -- Mr. Garcia: So -- Commissioner Carollo: So, before the next time you find .'ome,'7 want to make sure that we know exactly what our assets are and -- you know. Mr. Garcia: No, it's a fair question. And so, we are presently conducting a survey to identifir exactly those missed opportunities that you're alluding to. In terms of the accounting, what I was alluding to is that the State of Florida is a very tough accountant, so to speak; and so, if we have a net gain today, which would be what we would have if we passed items three 3 and 4 -- Commissioner Carollo: Understood. Mr. Garcia: -- then they would hold us against it if we ever wanted to pass 1 and 2, and we would be at a net loss (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Carollo: Unless we find park space somewhere else, which is what Commissioner Russell alluded to. Mr. Garcia: And we'll look for it, absolutely. Commissioner Carollo: And then that would be a true gain in park space. Mr. Garcia: Understood and agreed. Commissioner Carollo: So, you see, I actually really understood what Commissioner Russell had said. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, I just -- out of respect for all the parties that are here who waited, I think, five or six or seven hours, I would respectfully request that if it's going to be deferred, that it be deferred to a time certain, because there's a P&Z (Planning & Zoning) agenda at the next Commission meeting, and these folks have been waiting here for City of Miami Page 143 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 seven hours or so. So, I think, in fairness -- Chair Hardemon: What number are you counting from? They had to at least be here since 3, so four, five, six, seven -- Commissioner Suarez: They've been here -- Mr. Garcia: Noon. Chair Hardemon: Since noon? They came for the lunch. Commissioner Suarez: What lunch was that? I missed that. Chair Hardemon: I don't know. Commissioner Suarez: That's seven and a half hours. Chair Hardemon: These guys know exactly when to come. Commissioner Suarez: All right. Chair Hardemon: But if -- I mean, if it's the will of the body to determine a time certain on this agenda, then we can do that. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I think it's a fair thing to do, the right thing to do. Commissioner Gort: First item after lunch. Chair Hardemon: That's what you want, first item after lunch? Hearing no objection -- Commissioner Gort: Commissioner, you can't take any planning until after 2 o' clock. Vice Chair Russell: Before 2. Yeah, has to be after 2. Chair Hardemon: Okay. Mr. Balsera: May I be recognized, Mr. Chairman? Chair Hardemon: Because you waited for seven hours -- Commissioner Gort: Quit while you're ahead. Chair Hardemon: -- I'll give you -- Mr. Balsera: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: -- 30 seconds. Mr. Balsera: And -- Commissioner Gort: Quit while you're ahead. Mr. Balsera: -- I recognize that the public hearing is over, so I appreciate it, but I think my question is an important one, because when we leave here today and we're going to huddle outside to figure out what just happened and what the next steps are, I think a lot of us are going City of Miami Page 144 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 to be left scratching our heads. I can assure you that in comments that we've had right now, we're not exactly sure what the next two weeks until the next meeting is supposed to yield and what your expectations are, so I'd like to know clearly what the expectations are so that we can meet them. That's my question. Also, a comment, which I also believe is important, and it gives a little bit of the history as to why we're actually having this conversation. When Ignacio bought this company and came to the City looking to transfer the lease that we thought was going to be a very simple process, he offered ending the lawsuits. There were a bunch of lawsuits. The City took the position that we'd rather kick out Chalks, since you don't yet own Chalks. Mr. Confalone, who had a very negative relationship with the City, had these lawsuits, and they felt comfortable that they were going to be victorious in court. So the City and Chalks went to court, and the ruling by Judge Cueto was half, if you will, for the City; half, if you will, for Chalks, and what he ultimately said at the end of his ruling is that the original lease was so bad that it looked as if it had been put together by cutting and pasting; that all the sides should just get back together and figure out a way to make a deal happen and propose essentially a new lease, which is how we got here. Ignacio spent easily about 18 months negotiating with the MSEA Board and with designees of the MSEA Board or the Asset Management; spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with lawyers and financial consultants; divulged all kinds of documents about the strength of his finances, his partners finances. They settled the lawsuits, and right around the end when we were coming to sign the document that he thought he was going to take possession, he was going to be able to substantiate his commitment of significantly increased revenue for the City, we find out that there was a zoning problem, and it was actually Carlos who figured out there was a zoning problem. So what we were told was that "not a big deal." As part of our commitment in this relationship that we now became partners, the City's going to take care of this; the applicant will be the City, and the City will be asking itself to rezone this piece of land so that we can go forward with your agreement. Chair Hardemon: The only issue that you have right now, though, is that the City has to bring this before the Commission. Mr. Balsera: That's correct. Chair Hardemon: And the Commission has to decide on a policy decision. Just like Commissioner Russell, the Vice Chair, has been saying, is this something that the City --? Mr. Balsera: And I fully understand that. I fully understand that. Chair Hardemon: But as far as clarification on the issue of what they need to bring back, Vice Chairman? Mr. Balsera: And ifI -- may I just say this? Because it has been a long process to get here. Towards the end of the process when we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the zoning issue came up. And, in fact, three of the Commissioners: you, Chairman Hardemon; Commissioner Suarez, and Commissioner Gort voted on this agreement, andl believe this came up in that meeting. So we just want to know what the expectations are and not have another situation where, in two weeks, we come back and we're not exactly sure what you were looking for. Vice Chair Russell: That's a very fair question. Mr. Gimenez: And ifI -- I'm sorry, Commissioner, for interrupting, but ifI can add to that. You know, what we need to know, too, is what -- beyond what would be required through the exception process can we provide you? Because, ultimately, and it's my position -- as you know, I've told you, and it's still my position -- everything that you're looking to achieve can be achieved -- should be achieved through the exception process, because again, we can't do anything, other than renovate the existing building that we have and the module or the units that City of Miami Page 145 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 we have without an exception, all right? And that's, you know -- and this is, you know, process. I've been doing this for a while. I understand the process of zoning and land use issues. That's the process. The zoning comes first; the sight plan comes later, and that's the time when we engage with you. You're a part of the team -- the City, as partners, are a part of what Chalks is doing there, and we seek your guidance as to, you know, what you'd like to see there. We provide you with a proposal; you look at it. You say, "Okay, you know, this is a good part. Maybe you want to tweak this here; you know, see if you can, you know, help me get some more, you know, satisfaction on what you guys are providing. That's the time to bring all these issues up, you know. What we're doing here is essentially -- you know, it's kicking the can down the road, which has happened on and on and on with the situation. So what I'm trying to say here is if we get this, you know, rezoning approved, which is really a zoning correction, if we get this approved today, then we can initiate the process to formerly flush through all of these issues, present it to you; we have to present it before the PZAB at some point, and then we have a commitment to come back to you ultimately, you know. And so I -- you know, I have a tough time understanding why we can't move -- Vice Chair Russell: We're past this. Mr. Gimenez: -- this to the next -- Chair Hardemon: Well, I'll explain. Mr. Gimenez: -- spot. Yes. Chair Hardemon: Because one of the things that the Vice Chairman point -- one of the points that he made very clear was that there could possibly be -- what we're discussing here is a wash. I think that's the way you put it. You described it as a wash as far as gaining public parkland, and it may -- he may not want it to be a wash. He may want it to be an actual -- as Commissioner Carollo explained it, a positive gain in park space, so that's a decision that he needs to make on this issue, notwithstanding what it is that you are applying for. And so, just on the merits that he wants extra time to figure out what are we really doing here with the parkland? Is it an actual swap, or should we vote down 1 and 2 and approve 3 and 4 and have that positive gain? So just wanting to figure that out, I think, deserves a continuance, if that's what he wants. Mr. Gimenez: Well, ultimately, at the end of the day -- Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the information -- Mr. Gimenez: Oh, sorry. Chair Hardemon: -- that he seeks from you all is additional information that may -- that he may use to make his decision, and that's what, you know, he's asking of you. Mr. Gimenez: Well -- yeah, thank you for those comments, Commissioner. But, you know, the way I see it -- and I know Francisco can chime in if he disagrees with me -- regardless of whether or not you swapped the concept of Chalks area being a park with, you know, the kissing spot that Commissioner Russell talked about, that really -- it really plays no role, because that is a concurrency issue, right? Whether or not you want to develop additional parks, that's a separate and a side issue. This is about -- that's a concurrency issue. It has nothing to do with you guys looking for additional park space. Chair Hardemon: I hear you. Mr. Gimenez: Yeah. City of Miami Page 146 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: But I want you to know this: We have a motion; we have a second -- Vice Chair Russell: We've had the discussion. Chair Hardemon: -- for a continuance. We've had discussion about it. Mr. Gimenez: Yeah. Chair Hardemon: And what you essentially will be asking is for a Commissioner, maybe two, maybe three, to vote on an issue that they're not comfortable with. So the question you have to ask yourself is, if we were to vote on one and two today, would it go in your favor, or would it go in the favor of Commissioner Carollo, in the favor of Commissioner Russell and what his thoughts are? Because then you only need one more vote to decide which way you want to go. Mr. Gimenez: Well -- no. To be frank with you, I'm just -- Chair Hardemon: All I'm -- so -- Mr. Gimenez: Yeah. No, I agree. Chair Hardemon: So what I'm saying to you is what we want to do is address, one, what he would like for you to bring back; and then, two, the motion for continuance to the January 28 meeting; is that fair? Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. If I may? Because that's what you're asking, and I -- it's a very fair question. What you would like -- what we would like to see on the 28th that would sway us at that point to move forward. To be honest, the park swap is the least of my concerns, and it's not the most -- and unfortunately -- and sincerely, I really do -- I understand. I apologize that this is dragging out this way, and I hope to be a customer. I hope I'm invited to the ribbon -cutting and get tally on the first flight. I doubt it at this point, the way I'm carrying this out. But sincerely, the priority is the transparency and all of the issues. So, yes, there are things you can bring that will really help show a concrete vision of your request of what you'd like to do that -- because once we approve this zoning, and we leave it up to the exception phase, well, then we're already under pressure to say "yes" at that point, because you have an existing lease that gives you certain things that you should be entitled to; and if we hold back at that point, we could be liable for obstructing that, and so this is our chance to really study the project, study whether we want to set the ball in motion of the zoning change. I hope it's a "yes." Most likely, it may be, and I do, but it's all about process for me, and the process is that we see it clearly and that we do it right. And unfortunately, no matter what you bring, you check off that list perfectly of what we're looking for. Like I said, this isn't a vacuum; there are items possibly out of your control going on with MSEA and the change. I have been assured by the City Attorney that if MSEA were to be abolished, that the lease contracts would just be absorbed by the City as is, and that our Asset Department would handle them from that point rather than MSEA, but all of that -- all that has to play, because the one thing you did mention is that it was like writing a new lease at that point because the old lease was so bad. And if 29B truly is a loophole from our earlier conversation regarding MSEA, at that point, should the public have been asked by referendum, "What do you want done with this space? " and they weren't. And, unfortunately, you're in the blender with all of these things going on right now. And so, I'm going to put the pressure on us to resolve those issues as well and come with clear ideas of where we're heading with that by the 28th as well so that, hopefully, we can wrap it all together, because I don't want to kick the can either. Mr. Balsera. So we have, that we presented to MSEA, a business plan. There are certain elements that are laid out specifically in the lease in terms of square footage for restaurants, square footage for retail, square footage for parking. Some of that stuff is already there. City of Miami Page 147 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Perhaps, it hasn't really been discussed in great detail with your -- with your respective staff. Vice Chair Russell: I'm not on MSEA, and I'm not of MSEA, and so, it hasn't been presented to us as a Commission. Mr. Balsera: But I don't think we can go get our architects and engineers to come up with a site plan and conceptual plan in two weeks or in six weeks, quite frankly. And it's just another major investment when we had the full expectation -- Vice Chair Russell: If you're -- if that's -- if you're not going to do that, then give us what you're willing to do, because just calling out a -- and we actually haven't listed the exact things of what we intend to be there, and so what we're being asked to change zoning on is a bit of an enigma. I understand some of the concepts, the restaurants and the intention to limit that to whatever we, as a Commission, are willing to limit it to, but I'd like some form of presentation of what it's going to be so we know what we're being asked to change. Mr. Balsera: We have a presentation that we made to MSEA already that goes along those lines. Chair Hardemon: Can you bring that? Commissioner Gort: Look -- Mr. Balsera: We -- and we could work with all your staffs and ask if you want more within what we have -- we have a lot of information. We've got reams of information. Chair Hardemon: So make sure you -- Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: -- bring some of that information in to Vice Chairman, Commissioner Gort, Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Gort: It's very simple: Quit while you're ahead. You guys made certain commitment to cut 50 percent; that's what he would like to see, what the 50 percent's going to look like and how they can be assure that that 50 percent that is promised is going to be maintained. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And -- Unidentified Speaker: May I clarify something? Chair Hardemon: No. Commissioner Carollo. Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And this is exactly what I mean. This why I'm thirsty for information. Mr. Balsera mentioned that three of us already voted on this. I would imagine, the vote was in the MSEA level, correct? Mr. Balsera: That's correct. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. I would have expected that that vote then comes to the Commission for the Commission to take a position, and I don't think that has happened. Mr. Balsera: But that's beyond our control, whether it comes here or not. City of Miami Page 148 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: I understand. Mr. Balsera: That's beyond our control. Commissioner Carollo: But you're coming now after -- Mr. Balsera: We actually thought it was going to also go before the Commission. Commissioner Carollo: And that's why I'm so, "Wait a second,- there's missing pieces here." There has to be missing pieces. I asked about it in the board meeting. That was back -- I'm sorry, in the budget hearing, and that's where I started looking for the minutes, and that's how we got into all this information, because I feel there's missing pieces here. And even when you started at the very beginning mentioning sweetheart deal, but now it has changed and all that, I'm saying, `I haven't seen it. There's missing pieces here." What -- this is not, you know -- Mr. Balsera: I heard you mention that in the last hearing; that's why I brought you that information. Commissioner Carollo: Right, but -- Chair Hardemon: Let us not belabor the point -- I'm saying not from the Commissioner's standpoint, but as far as the response. Commissioner Carollo: Understood. Chair Hardemon: But right now, it's time for the Commission to discuss whether or not we want this continuance -- Commissioner Carollo: Understood. Chair Hardemon: -- and why we should go about doing it. Commissioner Carollo: Call the question. Chair Hardemon: The proper -- the question has been properly called. All in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. We have one last item that's on the agenda, item D4.1. Commissioner Suarez: Continued. Chair Hardemon: Move it. Commissioner Carollo: And Mr. Chairman, just real quick, just a point of privilege I just want to ver fy with the City Clerk. We can make one deferral for all four items, correct; or do we need to defer them all individually? Mr. Hannon: You can do all in one fell swoop. Chair Hardemon: It was all in one. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. And that deferral was for PZ.1, 2, 3 and 4. City of Miami Page 149 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: That is correct. Commissioner Carollo: Just for the record. Chair Hardemon: There are no further items on the agenda. If all hearts and all minds are clear, this meeting is adjourned Commissioner Carollo: Thank you. PZ.2 ORDINANCE Second Reading 15-00672zc 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 OF 5.31 ±ACRES OF THE REAL PROPERTY GENERALLY IDENTIFIED AS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF TRACT "D" OF WATSON ISLAND, MIAMI, FLORIDA, FROM "CS" CIVIC SPACE TO "Cl" CIVIC INSTITUTIONAL, AS DESCRIBED IN "EXHIBIT A", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-00672zc 01-28-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 15-00672zcAnalysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 15-00672zc Legislation (v2).pdf 15-00672zc Exhibit.pdf 15-00672zc-Submittal-Carlos Gimenez-Agreements Comparison.pdf 15-00672zc-Submittal-Com. Russell -Construction Waiver Chalks Airlines, Inc..pdf 15-00672zc-Submittal-Chalk's Airline Inc -Presentation Watson Island Seaplane Base.pdf 15-00672zc-Submittal-Paul Dudley -Original and Proposed Heliport.pdf 15-00672zc-Submittal-Paul Dudley -Watson Island Heliport.pdf LOCATION: Approximately the southern portion of Tract D of Watson Island [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of the City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. See companion File ID 15-006721u. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on September 2, 2015, by a vote of 6-3. PURPOSE: This will change the zoning classification for the above property from "CS" Civic Space to "Cl" Civic Institutional. Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Note for the Record: Item PZ.2 was deferred to the January 28, 2016, Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting. Note for the Record: Please see item PZ.1 for minutes relating to item PZ.2. City of Miami Page 150 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 PZ.3 ORDINANCE Second Reading 15-00672Iu 1 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10544, AS AMENDED, THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP OF THE MIAMI COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN, PURSUANT TO SMALL SCALE AMENDMENT PROCEDURES SUBJECT TO §163.3187, FLORI DA STATUTES, BY ASSIGNING THE FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF "PUBLIC PARKS AND RECREATION" TO A NON -DESIGNATED ACREAGE OF REAL PROPERTIES OF APPROXIMATELY 8.69 ACRES LOCATED AT THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE TRACT OF LAND COMMONLY KNOWN AS RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY MIAMI, FLORIDA, AS DEPICTED IN "EXHIBIT A", HEREBY ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; MAKING FINDINGS; DIRECTING TRANSMITTALS TO AFFECTED AGENCIES; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-006721u1 01-28-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 15-006721u1 Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 15-006721u1 Legislation (v2).pdf 15-006721u1 Exhibit.pdf LOCATION: Approximately the northern portion of the tract of land commonly known as Rickenbacker Causeway [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. See companion File IDs 15-00672zc1 and 15-006721u. PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on June 3, 2015, by a vote of 9-2. PURPOSE: This will assign the land use designation of "Public Parks and Recreation" to the above property. Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Note for the Record: Item PZ.3 was deferred to the January 28, 2016, Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting. PZ.4 ORDINANCE Second Reading 15-00672zc1 AN ORDINANCE OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), AMENDING THE ZONING ATLAS OF ORDINANCE NO. 13114, AS AMENDED, BY ASSIGNING A CS "CIVIC SPACE" ZONING CLASSIFICATION TO A NON -DESIGNATED AREAAPPROXIMATELY LOCATED AT THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE TRACT OF LAND COMMONLY KNOWN AS RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY, MIAMI, FLORIDA, City of Miami Page 151 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 AS DEPICTED IN "EXHIBITA", ATTACHED AND INCORPORATED; MAKING FINDINGS; CONTAINING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 15-00672zc1 01-28-16 CC SR Fact Sheet.pdf 15-00672zc1 Analysis, Maps & PZAB Reso.pdf 15-00672zc1 Legislation (v2).pdf 15-00672zc1 Exhibit.pdf LOCATION: Approximately the northern portion of the tract of land commonly known as Rickenbacker Causeway [Commissioner Ken Russell - District 2] APPLICANT(S): Daniel J. Alfonso, City Manager, on behalf of City of Miami FINDING(S): PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT: Recommended approval. See companion File ID 15-006721u1 PLANNING, ZONING AND APPEALS BOARD: Recommended approval on June 3, 2015, by a vote of 9-2. PURPOSE: This will assign the zoning classification of "CS" Civic Space to the above property. Motion by Vice Chair Russell, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be DEFERRED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon Note for the Record: Item PZ.4 was deferred to the January 28, 2016, Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting. END OF PLANNING AND ZONING ITEMS MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS' ITEMS CITYWIDE HONORABLE MAYOR TOMAS REGALADO END OF CITYWIDE ITEMS DISTRICT 1 COMMISSIONER WIFREDO (WILLY) GORT END OF DISTRICT 1 DISTRICT 2 VICE CHAIR KEN RUSSELL END OF DISTRICT 2 DISTRICT 3 City of Miami Page 152 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 COMMISSIONER FRANK CAROLLO END OF DISTRICT 3 DISTRICT 4 COMMISSIONER FRANCIS SUAREZ D4.1 DISCUSSION ITEM 15-01559 District 4- DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING ILLEGAL DUMPING Commissioner Francis Suarez NA.1 16-00056 15-01559 E-Mail - Discussion Item.pdf NO ACTION TAKEN END OF DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 5 CHAIR KEON HARDEMON END OF DISTRICT 5 NON -AGENDA ITEM(S) DISCUSSION ITEM MAYOR REGALADO EXPRESSED HIS APPRECIATION TO COMMISSIONER GORT FOR SERVING AS CHAIR OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS AND WELCOMED CHAIR HARDEMON AS THE NEW PRESIDING OFFICER. DISCUSSED Mayor Tombs Regalado: So today, we start this Commission meeting in a different way. Every Commission meeting, the Chairperson -- the Chairman of the City Commission starts the meeting, and set the rules, so -- and guide the different items. Today's a special day because today, we want to thank the Chairman for the last two years, Commissioner Willy Gort. Applause. Mayor Regalado: You know, when you see in the media different governments throughout the United States, and sometimes, their issues and their discussion, you look at the City of Miami, and I feel proud. I have been here many years, and like they say always, this is the best Commission that we ever had. But I want to say something about the Chairman. Chairman Gort has been the leader of this Commission for two years, and he has brought decorum, but more important, he has brought to the people of Miami the possibility of being heard. Everyone is heard in this hall, and this is the purpose. This is not our hall; this is the people's hall. And for that, the people of Miami should really appreciate the work that the Chairman has done. And many people don't know the work, the excess work that the Chairman has to do. They have to go City of Miami Page 153 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 NA.2 16-00042 through the draft agenda. They have to discuss the items that go in the agenda. They have to honor -- everybody wants to be heard at a certain time, so they have to figure out how to do it, and when to do it. They have to accommodate the people, and run this meeting, and be also the face of the City Commission. So today, we begin the year with a new Chairman and a new Vice Chairman of the City of Miami Commission, and for the introduction of the new Chairman, I'm proud to pass the mike to Chairman Willy Gort. Commissioner Gort: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Applause Commissioner Gort: First of all, I want to thank all of you for the cooperation during the meetings, and especially my associates here. And to me, it's been a pleasure to serve as Chairperson, but also, it's a great pleasure to pass the gavel on to Keon Hardemon. I know he's going to do a wonderful job. I've been under his leadership in the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency), and he can handle the meeting very good, and he's very effective, so I want to congratulate him and let people know that we -- I keep saying all the time, this is the best City Commission that the City of Miami's ever had, and it gets even better, you know, with the new elected ofcial, Ken Russell, as you can tell in the two meetings that he participated. He's smart, he's sharp, and he's up to the items. So thank you. Congratulations to both of you. And here is your -- Applause Chair Hardemon: First, I'd like to thank the Mayor for this appointment. I appreciate your confidence in me; not only as Chairman, but to serve as Vice Chairman for the past two years, and it's been an absolute honor to serve under Chairman Willy Gort. I mean, he's been someone that I think all of us have been able to look up to and know that with his temperament, this City is moving in a positive direction. And I want to make sure that I'm just a conduit for the information that we present here to the City of Miami, and so everyone should feel like they have an opportunity to be heard; everyone should feel like they have the time necessary to express the points that they need to; but then also, we move the business efficiently, and that's what I want to make sure that I do, and if I am able to do that, then as Chairman, I believe I have done my job. So it's nothing more complicated than that; although it can be very complicated, so I'm sure all of you understand that, but thank you all so very much. And to the new Vice Chairman, I mean, there is much responsibility in being a Vice Chairman, and the duties of the Chairman are passed to you at the whim of a minute, and so I think you should always keep that in mind, because when the microphone is passed to you, you become the Chairman, you have all the duties and the powers of the Chairman. So if you've been watching this gentleman like I'm sure you have on television before you were Commissioner, and you've watched him while you were here, I think you'll understand exactly what the responsibilities have for them. So thank you all so very much. Applause. RESOLUTION Office of the City A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION APPOINTING A Clerk CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL AS A MEMBER OF THE FIRE FIGHTERS' AND POLICE OFFICERS' RETIREMENT TRUST FOR A TERM AS DESIGNATED HEREIN. APPOINTEE/CATEGORY: NOMINATED BY: Thomas Gabriel Commission -At -Large (Miami Association of Firefighters) City of Miami Page 154 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Motion by Commissioner Carollo, seconded by Commissioner Suarez, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0008 Nicole N. Ewan (Assistant City Clerk): And Chair, there is one non -agenda item for the appointment to the Firefighters and Police Officer Retirement Trust. IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters) Local 587 is recommending Thomas Gabriel for an at -large vacant seat on that board. Commissioner Carollo: Move it. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Commissioner Gort: Second. Commissioner Suarez: Second. Chair Hardemon: It's been moved by Commissioner Carollo; seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor, say i. ye. " The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Ms. Ewan: That concludes the Board and Committees. Chair Hardemon: Thanks. Ms. Ewan: Thank you, Chair. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. NA.3 RESOLUTION 16-00072 A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION RESCHEDULING THE REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016 TO FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016. Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0024 Chair Hardemon: Mr. Clerk, you know, there's an item that had about the meeting date. Would it be most appropriate to have it at this time? Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Absolutely, sir, if you'd like to go ahead and address that matter now. Yes. Chair Hardemon: Please. City of Miami Page 155 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 NA.4 16-00027 Mr. Hannon: Oh, my apologies. And just so that the Commission is aware, Chair Hardemon is requesting from the Commission to reschedule the March 10, 2016 Commission meeting to March 11, 2016. When we reschedule Miami City Commission meetings, it's usually handled by a Commission vote, and it's captured as a resolution. Chair Hardemon: And just so the Commissioners know, I'll be out of the country. It'd be hard-pressed for me to hold the meeting, so that's why I'm asking for the move from Thursday till Friday. Okay? Commissioner Suarez: So move. Commissioner Gort: Will you be supplying the happy hour -- Chair Hardemon: I will do that. Commissioner Gort: -- on Friday? Commissioner Carollo: Don't you trust our Vice Chair? Chair Hardemon: He said not to give it to him just yet; don't pass him the rock just yet. Commissioner Gort: Move it. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved by Commissioner Suarez; second by Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Suarez: Do we all get one a year; is that the way it works now? Is this under the new rules? Chair Hardemon: What; the pocket item? Commissioner Suarez: No, no. One change of a Commission meeting if we're going to be out of the country. Chair Hardemon: I don't know how many we -- Commissioner Suarez: Move it. Chair Hardemon: Is there any further discussion about it? Commissioner Suarez: No. Chair Hardemon: Seeing none, all in favor, say Bye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Mr. Hannon: And for the record, the March 10 Miami City Commission meeting is now going to be rescheduled to March 11, 2016, and it will begin at 9 a.m. on March 11, 2016. Chair Hardemon: Thank you. This is something I had planned like seven months ago. RESOLUTION City of Miami Page 156 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 District4- A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION URGING THE FEDERAL Commissioner GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO PROVIDE Francis Suarez FINANCIAL AID TO HELP LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS MEET THE NEEDS OF CUBAN MIGRANTS, CURRENTLY STRANDED IN CENTRAL AMERICA, AND SEEKING TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE ELECTED OFFICIALS STATED HEREIN. Motion by Commissioner Suarez, seconded by Commissioner Carollo, that this matter be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote. Votes: Ayes: 5 - Commissioner(s) Gort, Russell, Carollo, Suarez and Hardemon R-16-0010 Mayor Tomas Regalado: I think you should hear just a brief thing from Sergio. Sergio is the director of the outreach program and -- I mean, his team was the one that pick up those two groups that were living on the streets when they came from Ecuador; and this is when we knew, when we interview them, of what the number of people that potentially can come to here. One thing is for sure, Central American countries do not have the resources to keep them there forever. And one thing is for sure, they all want to come. The reason that they exit Ecuador is because Ecuador, until November, didn't require a visa, but when Ecuador saw that they have like 40,000 people traveling to Ecuador from Cuba, they said "Well, now you need a visa, " and this is the situation that we have, but I guess that Sergio -- Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Please state your name and address. Sergio Torres: Sergio Torres, Homeless Program administrator. City of Miami Homeless Program administrator. I came -- I've been dealing with this situation for about a year; and several agencies, working throughout the county, has reached out to us trying to get these individual placed. The City is overwhelmed. As the Mayor said, we have a policy in Miami -Dade County that we don't allow childrens [sic] out on the street, so for that reason, we place homeless families in hotels. As the Mayor mentioned, we have 64 families residing in hotel. Just so you have an idea, hotel has been also overwhelm to the point that there's no room on the main facility and we have had to place those families in scattered sites. So, in other words, hotels have made accommodation for families in houses and properties that they owned, and we had to place those families in there. The situation's critical. We don't have the resources for the individuals that we have homeless in our community that have worked in the community, that have paid taxes throughout the years. We have around 200 people voluntarily calling our Homeless Help Line trying to get into a shelter, and we don't have the capacity for all of them, so it's -- I'm really concerned about the situation, and the possible impact that this might have, this -- the number of people without the resources, without families that might be coming to this community, and we are not ready, and we are not prepared for it. I've been listening to the County's speech about them being prepared, about them having a plan. I work very closely with the County. I don't see -- or not aware of any plan that there might be out there, and I'm really concerned. That's all I wanted to say; I'm really concerned, and thank you so much. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Commissioner Gort: Sergio, don't go away. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: Let me ask a question, because lately, I've seen a lot more homeless in the streets. I think it's increasing, and I think they're younger. I've seen a group -- I forget at which corner it was at. It was at least about 15 individuals that look like young couples that were there City of Miami Page 157 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 homeless. In other words, we have enough problems, as it is right now, the way it is today. We cannot really take care of all the homeless we have here, which mean, if we get -- continue to get additional people coming in here being homeless, it's going to be a major problem. You know, and I'm -- from what you said, Mr. Mayor, the Federal Government has not responded at all. They're the one that in charge. They're the one that create all those problems, and that's very irresponsible from their side, because I heard people in the private sector that already having conversation with the State Department of grants that they're going to give out in order to take care of those people. Mayor Regalado: And, you know, I have heard people on the radio or TV (television) saying, "Oh, we're going to have" -- or We have a farm, and we're going to house 200 people." Well, the first question I ask, is that farm zoned -- in zoning for -- to do a shelter? Do you have sewer? Do you have -- how many bathrooms do you have? Because people don't understand that to house people, there's -- you don't -- you only need a bed, you need three meals, and you need the facilities, you need social services. In fact, in one of the camps in Panama, one Cuban die of a contagious disease, so you need all these things, and these things can only be provided by Camillus or Miami Rescue Mission, and other facilities that have the infrastructure. Commissioner Gort: But I'm sure they should have some kind of a screening before they're allowed to come in. I mean, I don't -- Mayor Regalado: Commissioner, there is no screening at all. It's -- you just cross the border; claim to the Border Patrol that you are a Cuban national, and you are on your way, and this is the same with the Cuban rafter. It's been a spike in the number of Cuban rafters that just walk into U.S. 1 in the Keys, and the only thing that the Border Patrol does is then pick them up and they take it to the agencies in -- to be processed. Chair Hardemon: Is there any further discussion? Seeing no further discussion, all in favor, say e. The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: Motion passes. NA.5 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00061 District 1- DISCUSSION BY COMMISSIONER GORT REGARDING ILLEGAL Commissioner ACTIVITIES IN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS. Wifredo (Willy) Gort DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Mr. City Clerk, are there any pocket items for us to consider? Commissioner Gort: I have -- Vice Chair Russell: I do. Chair Hardemon: Okay, Commissioner Gort. Commissioner Gort: Commissioner Russell has some, and I have some too. Chair Hardemon: All right, Commissioner Gort, may I -- you're recognized. Commissioner Gort: I'm not going to take much of your time. For the last two years, I've been discussing with the Administration several of the problems that we've had. I'm not going to go City of Miami Page 158 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 NA.6 16-00075 District 4- Commissioner Francis Suarez too much in detail, but some of the things we address was the status of the NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) and Code Enforcement to work the way they used to work before, which is the way -- it was very effective when you had them working as a team. The other problem that we have, the squatters that we have all through our neighborhoods. It's not only in my district; I think it's all through the district. How long it takes to get any of the problems that were already addressed before by CIP (Capital Improvement Programs) when you make a presentation, allocation, and I've been working with the Attorneys Office and the department directors, and beginning to get together. We beginning to put a plan, and I hope -- I'm not going to go into details, because it's going to take all afternoon. I think we all be going through the same problem with the homeless; the squatters, which is becoming a major problems within my district, but I'm sure it's throughout the City of Miami. I think we're all having those problems, and we're really working very close with the Administration; we coming up with solutions to expedite some of the transactions we're working on. I'm not going to go into the detail. Once I have it, I'll be coming back to you all with some of the answers. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Is there any other item from --? Commissioner Gort, any other item, besides that one? No? DISCUSSION ITEM DISCUSSION BY COMMISSIONER SUAREZ REGARDING THE OPERATION OF THE CORAL WAY TROLLEY LINE UNTIL 11:00 P.M. DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. I was going to bring a pocket item, but I'm going to ask just that it be brought with information to the next Commission meeting on the Coral Way trolley potentially running to 11 p.m.; and also, a companion to that is we approved an expansion, a doubling of the size of the Trolley Program months ago, and I'd just like a status update on that, because that was a very hard-fought for the community expansion, and it's one that I think will -- I hope will be a deliverable for this year as a transit expansion, so I just want a -- it better be. Commissioner Carollo: This year? Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Commissioner Carollo: No, within the next few months I'm expecting it. Commissioner Suarez: Well, sure, within the next few days, as far as I'm concerned; and I think there are ways that we can expedite that process, if it's an issue of purchasing trolleys or anything of that nature. I just -- I feel like we haven't done much since we went through that fight, and I say "we," I say the Administration hasn't done anything since we approved those three lines, not that I'm aware of so I just want a report, you know. Commissioner Carollo: And -- I'm sorry, Mr. -- Chair Hardemon: Go ahead. Commissioner Carollo: And that's fine. I have been following up with CITP (Capital City of Miami Page 159 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Improvement & Transportation Programs) or CIP. If -- actually, if the director of CIP could address on that issue? And I spoke to him recently about this, but I would like for him to -- with the Manager's -- Commissioner Suarez: You want to just wait till the next Commission meeting? Chair Hardemon: Well -- Yeah, I want to follow up with your motion; and seeing that there's no objection to the motion, I'll note Commissioner Carollo as the seconder, and we -- without any objection, we'll continue the pocket item that Commissioner Suarez -- because you have the pocket item (UNINTELLIGIBLE) correct? Commissioner Suarez: Yeah, yeah, that's what it was, yeah. Chair Hardemon: And my -- what pocket item was that? Commissioner Suarez: It would be on the -- it's a two fold. One is on expanding the Coral Way trolley to 11 p.m.; and secondly, a report from the Administration regarding the expansion that we voted on a few months ago on when that will come online, because that happened months ago and it hasn't started yet. Commissioner Gort: My understanding, they've been working on that, because I asked -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I requested, and you guys took the priority on that. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Commissioner Carollo: No. I -- Commissioner Gort: So. Commissioner Carollo: And that's why I wanted our director to come, because I have been speaking to him about that. I have been following up. Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director of Capital Improvements & Transportation, and I'm here to answer any questions related to this item. Commissioner Suarez: No, just when is it going to start? When are we going to put the next three lines online? Mr. Rodriguez: All right, we're working with the Procurement Department now, Commissioner, to order the trolleys. That's going to take -- as you know, it's going to take -- it's at least an eight -month process or lee -- of head time -- yeah -- to be able to get those. Now, it's going to be a time before we're able to put those new routes in place. Now, we do have -- with the current fleet that we have, we talked about maybe expanding operations, even in the new areas, maybe on the weekends right now, because -- Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair. Mr. Rodriguez: Yeah. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. City of Miami Page 160 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now what? Commissioner Suarez: We went from talking about having a discussion item at the next Commission meeting to this. This is going to blow up, I'm telling you right now. So I think the best thing for us to do -- Commissioner Carollo: Yes. Commissioner Suarez: -- is to move it to the next meeting. I don't -- I want to respect your time and everybody else's time. This is not -- agree? Chair Hardemon: So -- and -- Commissioner Suarez: Just if I could be a blue page item on the next meeting, and then we'll take it then. Chair Hardemon: The City Clerk just informed me that we don't have to take a motion to move your pocket item -- Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Chair Hardemon: -- to the next agenda. Commissioner Suarez: Okay. Chair Hardemon: We will just take it -- Commissioner Suarez: Cool. Chair Hardemon: -- and table it to the next agenda; and then the companion item is a discussion item, you said? Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. And I would just strongly suggest to the CIT director that before you make a recommendation that it's -- we're going to do a procurement that's going to take eight months, you call the vendor and you see if they have the ability to go online right away while we do whatever else we need to do, because I think -- that's it. Let's just leave it at that, okay? Mr. Rodriguez: I agree. We can confirm that. Commissioner Suarez: Awesome. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Commissioner Gort: I'd like to also find -- see if we have all the sources of funding for the operations -- to continue the operation once we expand it. Mr. Rodriguez: Correct. Commissioner Gort: Once we expand, I want to make sure we can support it. Mr. Rodriguez: Absolutely. Commissioner Gort: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Thank you. City of Miami Page 161 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 NA.7 16-00069 DISCUSSION ITEM District2- DISCUSSION BY VICE CHAIR RUSSELL REGARDING FUNDING FOR Commissioner Ken POLICE MINI STATIONS. Russell DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman Russell. Vice Chair Russel: I had a couple pocket items, ifI may? Chair Hardemon: Yes. Vice Chair Russell: One is on a police mini station that's currently in Coconut Grove on Grand Avenue. It's been sort of a pilot program, but it was privately funded, and I was curious to hear about the other Commissioners' thoughts on possibly expanding that program, so I invited Chief Llanes to let us know a little bit about how that substation is done. The reason I -- it came so quickly, that I'm bringing now as a pocket item is that they've actually run out of their lease and they're scrambling to find a place to put it. It's been placed in the Virrick Park, which is a children's park, which now has a police substation in it, which the community isn't crazy about. It's also been suggested to put it in the Oak Avenue garage NET (Neighborhood Enhancement Team) office, the Coconut Grove NET office, but the local commander feels that it's -- that's a little bit far from the area where he's really trying to affect. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, can I make a suggestion? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: You guys may recall that there was a big dust-up months ago over the City of Coral Gables' attempt to create a trolley station in Coconut Grove; you'll remember. The developer of that building had to abandon that building for purposes of the trolley, because there was a -- you know, the Federal Government got involved, and it became very, very messy. That building is brand new; it's sitting there, and nobody's touched it. And what I'm telling you is if you look at Little Havana's substation, or the northern substation, I would suggest you go and check them out, if you haven't. Vice Chair Russell: That is an idea. The current substation cost 4,000 a month; that one would be about three and a half million dollars. Commissioner Suarez: And what I would tell you is this: I would support that, and I'll tell you why. Go to the northern substation, go to the southern substation; you're going to see that those are very comprehensive and big, you know, buildings with -- you know, a big operation that is being run out of there. Recently, we had -- before your election, we had residents coming here complaining about an escalation of crime in the Grove, and I think maybe the time has come for us to do something more than just a tiny little station and to have a real footprint and a real meaningful footprint in a facility that could have gone in the wrong direction, but may end up being salvaged and going in the right direction. Vice Chair Russell: That may be the solution, but ifI may just continue a little bit about where we are with it now, and why it may be a good idea to expand it throughout the City, and if so, it should be accommodated into the budget, and how that would happen is -- that could definitely be a big part of it. When I used to live in Japan -- and my family's Japanese, as you guys know -- there's a thing called a "Koban, " and that's the smallest organizational unit in the Japanese policing system, and it's a neighborhood police office, sometimes manned by one or two people, but it's -- there's over 6,000 of them around Japan, and it's just a -- it's a natural part of their City of Miami Page 162 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 policing system. I don't know whether that's effective or not. It works there very well, and the public -- it doesn't feel like they're -- it's a good form of community policing that seems to work. There's a lot of cost involved with that. Well, we also have a NET office system that's sort of scattered around town. And I attended a NET full -staff meeting the other day, and I see where they're looking to increase their abilities, and I really want to back them as -- I was originally thinking just, you know, how do I help the NET office be our constituent services for our district offices in a very uniform way, instead of each of us reinventing the constituency solution? But now, I'm also seeing that what if there was a combination of the NET office and these police substations where there's a shared budget there, so it's not fully shouldered by the Police, but there might be cooperative efforts within their -- that a neighborhood knows that this one little office in their community is their go -to for Code enforcement issues, pothole issues, and policing issues. For sure, I hear that it cuts down on reaction time for the police when there's an issue in the neighborhood that -- it cuts down their call time significantly, at least in the Grove situation, but that building in the Grove could be a very good -- it's very big, and there's a lot of things that could go in there, and this could be part of one of them, but really, I'm thinking on a citywide issue, and I guess I'd like to hear from the Chief, if that's all right, on what his thoughts are on it. Chair Hardemon: Well, one other thing. I just want to remind the Commission that the pocket items shouldn't have a budgetary effect, especially -- Vice Chair Russell: That's true; I apologize. Chair Hardemon: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the general budget, but you know, I would love to hear what Chief Llanes has to say, but it would be improper to use the pocket item for amending Vice Chair Russell: I agree, so I would -- I'll refrain from discussing the funding; I'm just curious about the effectiveness of the substation as it is. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You want to let him speak, and then you want to comment or you --? Commissioner Carollo: No, I just want to speak on what you just said, because I haven't had a chance. I think I was told that a memo was out, but I haven't read the whole memo yet with regards to procedures and stuff like that, but you know -- and I'll reserve my comments until I read the whole memo and so forth, but, I mean, we can discuss any -- Chair Hardemon: What I've said was that budgetary effects. Pocket items has been this way since I've been on the Commission. I didn't invent a new rule with this, that pocket items should not have a budgetary effect on the general budget. And as I understand it -- which is also included within the memo; that you can have a budgetary effect of Commissioner's district budget, but not of the general budget, because, of course, you want to make sure that you have proper notice to everyone who's viewing us in public -- Vice Chair Russell: Agreed. Chair Hardemon: -- all of our constituents, so we want to make sure we go through that notice process so they know that this is a budgetary item that will affect the City of Miami's budget and they have an opportunity to be seen, to be heard, and things of that nature. The pocket items address things, of course, that are of emergency importance or things that are summarily important within our community, within the City, within the district, but it should not have a budgetary effect on the general budget of the City of Miami Commission. Commissioner Carollo: And by the way, and like I said, I haven't read the whole memo, and you City of Miami Page 163 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 know, I just received it. I don't know if it -- Chair Hardemon: It's an easy read. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. I don't know if it was yesterday or the day before. With regards to pocket items, I don't think, since you've been here, I've ever had a pocket item, so would it have an impact or not? Hey, listen, I say we take a vote on it. I'll make a motion that pocket items should not have a fiscal impact. Chair Hardemon: No, I believe (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Commissioner Gort: We have an ordinance -- Vice Chair Russell: That exist. Chair Hardemon: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the ordinance Vice Chair Russell: It exists. Commissioner Gort: -- stating that before your time. Commissioner Carollo: We passed an ordinance stating that? Commissioner Gort: Yes. Vice Chair Russell: But would a discussion item with no motion have a fiscal effect if we're just having a discussion? Commissioner Carollo: No. Vice Chair Russell: So then, I think we're okay in his case maybe. Chair Hardemon: Right. So, Chief Llanes, you're recognized. Chief Rodolfo Llanes: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Rodolfo Llanes, Chief of Police. First, I want to start by saying that as a police manager and as a matter of vision and properly to run the Police Department, I am not in favor of substations anywhere. The thought of a dynamic resource being made static and that is more efficient just kind of defies logic. So, however, we all understand that some of the things that we do is to make the community feel better and to communicate with them better, so not -- sometimes you pinch your nose and you do things that you don't think are -- not Proper," that you don't think are the best efficient use of resources, but it makes the community feel better, and so we have to respond to those requests. That particular substation, from the commander's point of view, was a success, and that's why we didn't stop or pull away altogether from it, and we moved it to the park when our lease expired. We wanted to maintain a presence in the same area in order to give service to the people that were used to coming there for service. When I spoke to the commander, I believe we did about a hundred police reports throughout the year there, so I'm -- I don't want to proliferate more substations. I believe in keeping our resources dynamic and out and engaging; not waiting for something to come to them. So that's just a matter of my policy and what I believe. Some other chief may think different, but that's what I think, and -- but I also understand that sometimes the community feels better by having that presence there; and if we have to accommodate that -- I also believe in community policing, and the community sets our goals, and we will follow that. And so sometimes I will pinch my nose and say "yes." Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Gort, you're recognized. City of Miami Page 164 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Commissioner Gort: Chief let me ask you a question. You were a part of the forces when the NET office used to have all the NET administrator, the commanders, and the Code Enforcement working as a team. Was that very close to what we proposing right now? Chief Llanes: Well, I think that that's a little bit different when you talk about putting work stations in a NET office. That, I'm not against, because the resource is not dedicated to the office. They have a work space where they can come together, talk about the things they need, make appointments if the community wants to come in and speak about something; that, I'm all in favor for. If we have a space in a NET office where the officers can come in and out and use those and communicate with Code and communicate with the NET Administrator, that's great. That part is fine. What I am not in favor of is sitting a resource in there for 10 hours. Vice Chair Russell: Understood. And by the way, I think I just graduated to Chairman here briefly. Chief Llanes: Congratulations, sir. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. I'm not one to pretend to be an expert beyond the people who are the experts in the field, and so if -- in my opinion, if you say substations as a whole are not a good idea -- and we can have that conversation at a later time -- Chief Llanes: Absolutely. Vice Chair Russell: -- of exactly why -- I would tend to follow your lead, rather than try to find private funding to accomplish something within your police force that's not within your intention, so -- but I do appreciate the possibility that there may be space in NET offices and there may be some cooperation there. I hand the gavel back. Chief Llanes: That fits better in our delivery of service and having a point of all services being in one office. I like that idea better. Commissioner Suarez: Mr. Chair, if I may, or Mr. -- Chair Hardemon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Suarez: Who's chairing now? Chair Hardemon: No, I'm the chair. You're recognized. Commissioner Suarez: So I get the concept of being dynamic, and I agree with the concept of being dynamic; and I think, from a technology perspective, our cars and the -- you know, the equipment that our officers have allow them to be more dynamic and do more things, and I think that's obviously a good thing. When I think about the concept of the substation, I actually thought it was decentralizing, because I thought, you know -- obviously, we have the police station in downtown, and what we wanted to do was bring those police services -- sort of like the NET -- closer to the people so that somebody would lives in Little Havana doesn't have to go downtown; they can go to the Little Havana substation; somebody who lives in the northern side can go to the northern substation; they don't have to go to downtown. It's probably more comfortable for somebody who lives in the northern station to go to the -- in the north side to go to the northern station than to go downtown; certainly a less distance. So I get the idea of being dynamic, but I do believe in the substation concept, because to me -- and I don't know why we're -- I don't know why I'm -- I just feel like it's decentralized, and it's closer to the people. So, for example, people in the Grove, they want to see a presence of the police in their neighborhood. They want to be able to go and visit the police station. They want to be able to go and log a City of Miami Page 165 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 complaint. They want to be able to go -- So, even though police officers are decentralized and there's dynamic -- to use your word, which is a good word, you know -- all throughout the area, they want to have a -- it's like saying, "I'm dynamic so I'm not going to go home to go to sleep." You know what I mean? You're certainly very dynamic if you slept somewhere differently every single day, but at some point, you do want to have a place where you can go and get, you know, the static services that you require, so I agree with his concept, but from the dynamic point of view -- and certainly, we're becoming more dynamic by virtue of the equipment that we have in our cars, and we want to encourage that, certainly, but I also agree that we should have, you know, a substation where people can feel comfortable, they can go and they can actually do all the things that you can do at a police station that you would otherwise have to go all the way to downtown to do. Chair Hardemon: And one of the things I wanted to say, Commissioner -- Chief Llanes, regarding that substation, as I always understood it to be, was that the substation was more of a place where police officers could come, write a report, and gather themselves; they can meet there, refresh themselves, and then go back out into the community. It's not a station where you're to receive complaints and things of that nature; is that correct? Chief Llanes: Yes. And when we're talking in the context of a substation, like the south or the north station, you're talking about that's where our resources for the area are deployed from. That's a little bit different than what we had here in the Grove on Grand Avenue. It was a PSA (Public Service Aide) that was, you know, there all the time to answer questions and do those things, and then the officers would come in and out; and exactly what you're talking about, Commissioner, that, I don't have a huge issue with, because what I don't want again is a resource dedicated there. Now, when you open up a storefront and you pay rent, you have to have somebody there to attend the storefront. So a substation, again, is different from what we're talking about here. This was a smaller kind of -- but what you're talking about at that property -- and I've been to visit the property -- that is now -- we're talking substation (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Suarez: A real substation. Chief Llanes: Yes. It's -- I don't know that the design of the building is -- Commissioner Suarez: I don't either. Chief Llanes: -- you know -- Commissioner Suarez: I just think -- it just happens to be -- Chief Llanes: Because I went -- I did go see that building, and the parking's got some issues and all those kind of things, but I mean, it's worth exploring. Commissioner Suarez: Yeah. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much. Is there any other discussion about this? Vice Chair Russell: Not this, no. Chair Hardemon: About this? Vice Chair Russell: No. NA.8 DISCUSSION ITEM 16-00070 City of Miami Page 166 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 District 2- DISCUSSION BY VICE CHAIR RUSSELL REGARDING LIVING WAGE Commissioner Ken REQUIREMENTS AS PART OF LEASES TO PUBLIC LAND. Russell 16-00070-Submittal-Com. Russell -Hiring Rates.pdf DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Okay, so we're moving on to -- Vice Chair Russell: Pocket item. Chair Hardemon: -- you have another pocket. Vice Chair Russell: Very brief very brief. I missed the vote on RE.12, and I apologize. I would have been in favor of that as well. But in that same thread, I wanted to discuss about the wages that we ask of our contractors to pay their employees. And, yes, if the Clerk could hand out an advertisement I recently saw for a hiring fair, a job fair for the upcoming Boat Show, and it's offering positions at $8.05 an hour and forklift operators at $10 an hour. And I've asked around about forklift operators, and I wouldn't want to be around a forklift when it's being operated by someone who's getting paid $10 for forklift operations. These seem to be very low wages; certainly not living wage. And so my staff actually attended the job fair to see what the turnout was like, and I said, "It was pretty dismal," and the people who did show were not very optimistic. And when you look for those sorts of wages, that's what you can expect, I'd imagine. But where we have the chance to affect these sorts of decisions, I'd like to see that we take them in a positive way to really support the most vulnerable in our community who are looking for jobs. I mean, this job fair should have been packed. I mean, there's people looking for jobs in our community right now. Andl understand, on construction jobs, we're quite strong about looking to have our freedom on making requirements of what the contractors do, but on these -- on -- someone who's borrowing City land or renting City land from us, someone we're having a contract with, like the Boat Show, you know, I think we should take a step there as well. Even the City Twitter has -- the City's Twitter feed was advertising this job fair. I just don't think these rates are something that we should be excited or proud about. I think we should be asking more of the people that we work with, who contract with us, especially on City land. That's just a thought. Commissioner Suarez: Good point. Vice Chair Russell: I don't know about a particular motion. Chair Hardemon: I wanted to say that I agree with that point. I think that's taking a stricter look at how we've already decided to go with a responsible wages for City contracts that we have, so this is now -- you're dealing with City land -- I believe the way you put it -- City land, and then adding possibly a responsible wage to it. I'm sure they have a -- some sort of budgetary effects. I'm sure the Administration will want to talk to us about that, how that works. But I'm sure that many of us feel the exact same way about this type of pay for the people that live within our community, so I think it's a good idea. I'm not sure if you want to necessarily present this as a pocket item, or if you want this to be something that -- because -- and I want to be -- I'm not trying -- I'm usually like a stickler for rules and how things go, and so if you look at Article 2, Mayor and City Commission, I thought all of us -- I think all of us get this, or maybe it's just the Chairman and the Vice Chairman, but I'm sure you probably have it. Vice Chair Russell: I meant it as a discussion item, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair Hardemon: Right. Vice Chair Russell: Yeah, yeah. City of Miami Page 167 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 NA. 9 16-00071 Chair Hardemon: So it's just a matter of -- the pocket items are generally items that the Commission agrees is of emergency importance, so that's why we bring the item without the public notice, so we have a vote on that item, and we move that item forward. So things like that you've seen -- just for one small example, a parade is coming up and -- well, say -- an event is coming up at a certain location; they've exceeded their number of events at that location, and we just found out, so you can introduce a pocket item because it's of emergency importance so you can have that event -- pocket item. A discussion item, of course, is when we're discussing certain things. Sometimes action comes from discussion, but generally, discussion items are information in the way that they're presented. And so with this, I understand you just want to bring the information for something for -- we can look into, and we can move forward possibly in the future -- Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Chair Hardemon: -- with some resolution, right? Vice Chair Russell: I had intended it as a discussion item, and I apologize; I was delinquent in getting it on the agenda, but the job fair was just a day or two ago, and the timeliness of it, so I didn't mean it as a pocket item. I intended it as a discussion item that was late to get on the agenda. Chair Hardemon: Okay. DISCUSSION ITEM District2- DISCUSSION BY VICE CHAIR RUSSELL REGARDING THE IMPROPER Commissioner Ken REMOVAL OF MANGROVES FROM PUBLIC LAND. Russell DISCUSSED Vice Chair Russell: And the last and final item -- I'd beg for your indulgence -- was a -- it's similar, actually. It's just a discussion, and it has to do with Virginia Key as well. And I was just looking for an update on the mangrove situation, which I remember, several months ago, Commissioner Carollo was very passionate about, and I've just kind of waited to see what the City would do about that situation; and how the tone is with which when we recognize that we, as a city, have made a mistake, how do we make up for that mistake; and in this case, the contractor hired by the City removed a certain amount of mangroves. It's a question about exactly how much there were, but what do we do about it? Now we, as a Commission, if someone in our community did the same thing, whether it's a developer or a resident, and they remove trees, especially something that's protected, we would come down with the full force on them and be pretty strict, as I was in the last Commission meeting with regard to a tree removal issue. I think we should hold ourselves to the same standard. And rather than wait to be told what we should be doing, I feel like we should be taking it upon ourselves to mitigate and do more than maybe is necessary. This isn't a very expensive thing to remove -- I mean, to replace mangroves, but the message it sends to the public is that we're making good and not waiting for the press to push us, or waiting for a governing body to tell us exactly what mitigation. And you know, I don't want to hear any sort of excuse for -- or justification for why we did it, that -- when I hear things like, "Well, that wasn't a natural basin in the first place," or "Look at it; it's a horse show that we carved," or "Those mangroves weren't there 20 years ago." None of that, to me, is -- should even be -- shouldn't be in our vocabulary when it comes to "we made a mistake; lets fix it." And it's just really about a thing that sets the tone of showing that we take the environment seriously. That's all. And so, I guess I would like to ask if we could direct the management to give us a report on the mangrove situation in the coming Commission meeting. That's all. City of Miami Page 168 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Jeovanny Rodriguez: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Jeovanny Rodriguez, director of Capital Improvements & Transportation. And Commissioner, I'll be more than happy to give you an update of where we are with that situation. The removal of the mangroves in the beginning -- Chair Hardemon: Do you think you have enough information today to give it without coming back, or do you want to give it today? Mr. Rodriguez: I could basically give you a verbal update of where we are, if that's what the Commissioner so desire. Basically, I can -- Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) give you (UNINTELLIGIBLE), yeah. Mr. Rodriguez: -- tell you where we are. Again, Commissioner, the removal of those mangroves is associated with the work that we're doing at the Virginia Key. In reality, we -- basically, what we did is we clear an area of approximate 36,000 square feet of overgrown vegetation. Within those 36,000 square feet, that's the area that DERM (Department of Environmental Resource Management) came back and say, "Well, there was several mangroves in there." And the discussion, like you said, the question was exactly how much was there to someone. We prepared a report a couple months ago, which we can send you a copy of such a report, because I don't think you were here at that time, and by our calculations, we went back, and we took a look at the photographs that we have there and some of the areas that were there. We estimated that it was roughly about 500 square feet. DERM came back, and they say that based on their estimations and based on the pencil draft that one of biologists did when they were there, they roughly estimated about 1,700 square feet, which is roughly about 4 percent of the area that we took out; so, first of all, you know, over 96 percent of the area that we cleared was indeed the invasive species that we said that was there. Out of those 1,700 square feet that DERM ident, not everything was mangrove; there was other species there, like sea grapes and so on, that they also consider protected species. So, in reality, the mangrove percentage that was there, I would say, was roughly around 2 percent of what was there, but regardless what, you know, that amount it is, we have already -- and what we did is we met immediately with DERM, and we're going a couple months ago. We reviewed that information that they have, that survey that they provided. We submitted to them the report that we provided. We have already agreed that we will replace the 1,730 square feet that they want us to replace. In addition to that, we're also going to replace an additional 500 square feet, because this was done after the fact, and DERM gave us the option of either replace an additional 500 square feet or you pay the penalty, and we chose to replace the additional 500 square feet. And the reason that we did that is because, in fact, we have more than enough space out there to replant what DERM is asking for and more. As a matter of fact, our intentions -- and as we have told DERM -- is that we're going to exceed the mitigation requirements that they're giving us. We have been going back and forth with DERM. They did present us with a consent agreement that they want us to engage that stipulates that we are responsible for mitigating that percentage (UNINTELLIGIBLE) onsite, and that will also have to insure that those species survive for the next five years, which is typical whenever you plant mangroves of any type of well-known species. The only point of this agreement that we have with DERM right now -- and as a matter of fact, we have a meeting set up with them for next Thursday at 9 o'clock to discuss specifically that issue -- is the fact that DERM is asking us, in addition to planting the 1,700 square feet of mangroves that they want us to do it, they want us to install what they call "mangrove planters," which we feel is not a requirement. It's sort of like a recommendation from DERM. And I told DERM myself that I am considering and -- to consider mangrove planters, because, indeed, they are a good idea, but it's not necessarily the only option to replace the mangroves. And in our opinion, the consent order should basically be focused on the requirement, which is, you need to mitigate 1,700 square feet, and you need to make a -- guarantee their survival for five years. How do we mitigate that? Whether we plant City of Miami Page 169 Printed on 2/9/2016 City Commission Meeting Minutes January 14, 2016 ADJOURNMENT more, whether we plant it with the planters, whether we put them here or there, that's something that can be taken care of during the permitting process, and we feel that it's not necessarily needs to be in the consent order. Once it's put into the consent order, it basically limits our options down the line, and we have no choice to complies [sic] and put the mangrove planters where we feel may not be necessary. So, again, that's the only point that we have with DERM right now of this agreement. We have agreed to replace the 1,700 square feet and above that, and we have a meeting with them set up for next Thursday that, hopefully, we can get this final point agreed. We're coming there with a consultant that we have on board already to do this. Like I said, we have plenty of space in the site, and it's just a matter of going through the process. The other question that we have for DERM is actually their process to go through. Since they -- this is an enforcement action, our intention -- initial recommendation was for DERM to just allow us to come in and replant them right now. DERM's recommendation is that we go through the full execution of a Class I application, which requires you to go through the Army Corp of Engineers, which requires you to go through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; and we know, just based on the experience that we have, that that's a long process. So that's the other thing that we're trying to work with DERM and the other agencies, to see if we have to go through the entire process of permitting; if that could be somehow expedite so we don't have to wait, you know, a long time to come in and replant the mangroves. So, in addition to that, we have placed both contractors on site, because there was two contractors that did this work. We placed them on notice, and they are waiting for us to finalize these negotiations that we have with DERM so we can properly determine exactly the scope of work that we're going to do, and our intent is to go back to both of these contractors and recuperate the costs. Chair Hardemon: Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you very much. I mean, this is wonderful information to hear, that this all is in motion. I just wish we weren't hearing it now in here. This is -- we're -- our city is a punching bag in the press for this action, and I think that we should be -- if we're going to do the good mitigation and we're doing the right thing, we should be screaming it at the top of our lungs and being very proud of that effort. So I would just encourage that we're very vocal about our positive steps in this effort so that the public is aware of it and they see that we care about the situation. I'm glad to hear it's progressing. Thank you. Mr. Rodriguez: Thank you, Commissioner. I agree with you. Chair Hardemon: All right. Thank you very much. I don't believe that there are any further pocket items? Seeing none, if there's no need for a break, we will now begin the Planning & Zoning items. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. City of Miami Page 170 Printed on 2/9/2016