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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 2020-11-16 MinutesCity of Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, FL 33133 www.miamigov.com �YOp r 1 ' 'Parr +� v * INCORP ORATEO * 1896 Meeting Minutes Monday, November 16, 2020 10:00 AM Special Meeting City Hall City Commission Francis X. Suarez, Mayor Keon Hardemon, Chair, District Five Ken Russell, Vice Chair, District Two Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner, District One Joe Carollo, Commissioner, District Three Manolo Reyes, Commissioner, District Four Arthur Noriega, V, City Manager Victoria Mendez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 10:00 AM INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Present: Chair Hardemon, Vice Chair Russell, Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla, Commissioner Carollo and Commissioner Reyes. On the 16th day of November 2020, 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 special session. The Commission Meeting was called to order by Chair Hardemon at 11:43 a.m., recessed at 11:50 a.m., reconvened at 2:21 p.m., and adjourned at 4:09 p.m. Note for the Record: Commissioner Reyes entered the Commission chambers at 11:44 a.m. ALSO PRESENT: Arthur Noriega, T , City Manager Victoria Mendez, City Attorney Todd B. Hannon, City Clerk ORDER OF THE DAY Chair Hardemon: Today's special meeting has been called for the purpose of discussing and taking any and all actions related to Virginia Key Marina, including but not limited to the award of any request for proposals. The members of the City Commission for this meeting are Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Joe Carollo, Manolo Reyes, Ken Russell, the Vice Chair, and me, Keon Harmon, the Chair. Also appearing remotely, our City Manager, Art Noriega, or he's on the dais, remotely is City Attorney, Victoria Mendez, and our City Clerk, Todd Hannon, is also present. Madam City Attorney, please state the procedures to be followed during this meeting. Barnaby Min (Deputy City Attorney): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Any person who is a lobbyist pursuant to Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code 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 member until registering. A copy of the code section about lobbyists is available in the City Clerk's Office or online at municode.com. Any person making a presentation, formal request, or petition to the City Commission concerning real property must make the disclosures required by the City Code in writing. A copy of the City Code section is available at the Office of the City Clerk and online at municode.com. Pursuant to Section 2-33(f) and (g) of the City Code, the agenda and material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the City Clerk's Office and online 24 hours a day at miamigov.com. Any person may be heard by the City Commission through the Chair and upon registering pursuant to the published notice,for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the City Commission unless modified by the Chair. Members of the public wishing to address the body may do so by visiting miamigov.coni virtualmeeting to upload their two -minute video comments to be played during the Commission meeting or to submit their written comments via the online comment form. The comments submitted through the comment form have been distributed to elected officials and City administration throughout the day so that the elected official can consider their comments prior to taking any action. Additionally, the online comment form will remain open during the meeting to accept comments and distribute to the elected officials up until the time the chairperson closes the public comment period. Members of the public may also call 305-250- 5351 to provide comments via the dedicated City of Miami public comment voicemail where individuals will be able to leave a two -minute message that will be played during the Commission meeting. Members of the public may also pre -register to provide live public comment by phone during the meeting. You may, pre -register by phone by calling 305-250- 5345 or online at miamigov.comlgovernmentllivepublic-comment. All comments submitted will be included as part of the public record for this special meeting and will be considered by the City Commission prior to any action taken. Public comment may also be provided live at City of Miami Page 1 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 City Hall subject to any and all COVID-19 regulations and procedures. Speakers who appear in person will he subject to screening for symptoms of CO VID-19. Any person exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 will not be permitted to enter City Hall. All interested parties are required to abide by all state, county, and local emergency orders and urged to remain at home and practice social distancing. If the proposition is being continued or rescheduled, the opportunity to be heard may be at such a later date before the City Commission takes action on such a proposition. When addressing the City Commission, the member of the public must first state his or her name, his or her address, and what item will be spoken about. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, and services for this meeting may notify the City Clerk. Section 286.014(4)(c) of Florida Statutes specifically authorizes the City to prescribe procedures or forms for an individual to use in order to inform the board or commission of a desire to be heard, to indicate his or her support, opposition, or neutrality on a proposition. The City, through its multiple comment options, has provided different methods to indicate, among other things, the public 's support, opposition, or neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at the City Commission meeting. The public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the special meeting and within reasonable proximity and time before the meeting. The City has also created a simple set of instructions explaining how the public may submit their comments with either option. Those instructions were provided in the notice to the public via the City's social media channels and published online at miamigov.comlvirtualmeeting. Please note Commissioners have generally been briefed by City staff and the City Attorney on the items on the agenda today. Anyone wishing to appeal any decision made by the City Commission for any matter considered at this meeting may need a verbatim record of the item. A video of this meeting may be requested at the Office of Communications or viewed online at miamigov.com. Please silence all cell phones and other noise -making devices. This special meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV at miamigov.coin tv, through the City's Facebook page, on the City's Periscope channel, on the City's YouTube channel, and on Comcast Channel 77. The broadcast will also have closed captioning. Commissioners, please confirm you are comfortable with the notice provisions as set forth in these uniform rules and procedures we have established for this special meeting. Vice Chair Russell: Yes. Mr. Min: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Yes. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman? Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Vice Chair Russell: Before we get into the substance or the public comment on the issue of the agenda, I just wanted to bring up a procedural comment. And I'm very happy to see all of you here today. I like the interaction that we're able to have personally and especially on your last day with us, Chairman, it's good to see you in person. I am very concerned though with regard to COVID. We're not out of the woods yet. The numbers are up these last two weeks, both in the county and the state. Hospitalizations are up. I've witnessed over the last few hours more than 10 people touch that microphone and that lectern and the door handles as they come in and out of this room. I really want to make sure that we have the flexibility we need to be as safe as possible for our residents and perhaps a resolution urging the governor to allow for virtual meetings to continue if we choose. Commissioner Carollo: I second that. Vice Chair Russell: And also for municipalities to have flexibility on mitigation strategies with regard to COVID. Our hands are a little bit tied right now and we are a dense urban area that is not the same as the rest of Florida and I worry Jroour residents. So that would be my motion. City of Miami Page 2 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Commissioner Carollo: I would second that. Mr. Min: Mr. Chairman, unfortunately because this is a special Commission meeting, you can only, take action on the items for which the meeting was called. Vice Chair Russell: Emergency resolution based on the fact that we're here physically. Chair Hardemon: Can't do that. Mr. Min: Unfortunately, that's not allowed pursuant to the City Code. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: You can't do that. Mr. Min: Obviously, we can put this on the regular Commission agenda as an emergency. Commissioner Carollo: Bring it up as a pocket item on Thursday's meeting. Vice Chair Russell: Sounds good. Commissioner Carollo: I'll second it. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you. PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR SP ITEM(S) 8262 DISCUSSION ITEM Office of the City Clerk PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ONLINE BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC FOR THE NOVEMBER 16, 2020 SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING. RESULT: PRESENTED Chair Hardemon: So, at this time, I'm going to open the floor for public comment. If you're a member of the public and you would like to make a comment on the 10 o'clock a.m. Special City Commission meeting, now is your opportunity. I know there's no one that is outside. If there's anyone from the public that would like to speak on public comment inside the chambers, you can step to any of the two lecterns. Is there anyone that's pre-recorded for public comment for the 10 o 'clock a.m.? I'm seeing a no. With that being said, since there's no further public comment, I'm going to close the public comment period at this time. And we will recess and be back at 2 o'clock p.m. for -- to complete this agenda. Thank you very much. [Later...] Chair Hardemon: We're going to call back into order the Special City Commission meeting of November 16, 2020, at 10 a.m., the 10 a.m. meeting. You're recognized, Commissioner. Do you want to say something? Commissioner Carollo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I may suggest, Chairman, for the remaining part of this meeting and for meetings for now on, even though you won't be here, maybe we could set the agenda of how we want things done, the City of Miami Page 3 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 protocol rather. We want people to keep their mask on even when they come up here. I know for us, in particular, it's difficult because we're here the whole time, hut we do want people to keep their mask on. As, you know, minute as it might seem, someone takes their mask off you never know, and that's how we spread it more. So, if we could just inform everyone that they've got to keep their mask on while they're here. Obviously, it's up to the Commission, if the majority of you feel otherwise. Commissioner Reyes: Commissioner Russell, you're going to bring a pocket item next meeting so we can keep on doing it virtual? Okay, sir. Commissioner Carollo: But in the meantime, what 1'in talking about is -- Commissioner Reyes: No, in the meantime, I agree with you. I agree with you. Commissioner Carollo: We try to keep everybody as protective as we can, including ourselves. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman, if we could also have somebody clean off the lectern between uses. I noticed a lot of people readjusting the microphone and touching and physical contact could be a transmission vector. Chair Hardemon: Do you have anybody from staff that could take care of that? Wonderful. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, if we could have someone from staff be around so that after everyone uses the microphone, they can clean it as best they can before the next person comes? SP.1 DISCUSSION ITEM 8092 Commissioners and Mayor A DISCUSSION ITEM REGARDING TAKING ANY AND ALL ACTIONS IN RELATION TO VIRGINIA KEY MARINA INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE AWARD OF ANY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. RESULT: DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: All right, so let's get into the action. We have -- we had public comment regarding this 10 a.m. agenda. At this time, what I'd like to do is recognize our City Manager so that we can have his presentation of his item, his recommendation. From there, after the recommendation has been made, I will allow 15 minutes for whomever is not recommended to present. And then whomever, after that passes, whomever was recommended will have 15 minutes to present. And then well have our further discussion from the board and hopefully come up with some sort of action. Mr. Manager, you're recognized. Arthur Noriega (City Manager): Good afternoon, everyone. As 1've briefed each of you individually, as we've been kind of pulling this process along, this is a process that to this date has gone on for almost six years in total, when you sort of factor in all of the various iterations of the RFP (Request for Proposals) process to try to come to a sort of bigger, better project on that particular piece or City asset. The current process, obviously -- the current process has been really in play for the last more or less three years. It obviously has gone through the full solicitation process, a ranking, City of Miami Page 4 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 a scoring. There's been an appeal. There's heen various court rulings on those appeals. And it's been before this body and heen deferred now at this point in time, 13 times. I think when you look at what's in the best interest of the City going forward, has this process been perfect? No. Are there warts in this process? Absolutely. But having reviewed this entire timeline, having reviewed the process, the responsibility reviews, I concur with the recommendation that's proffered by the selection committee of the number one respondent. And I think that going forward, what 's in the best interest of the City is to move this project now and not to kick the can anymore in terms of deferrals and certainly not to restart the process wouldn't be the ideal position, 1 think, for the City, just in the parlance of a new developed site as well as the long-term -- medium and long-term financial goals of the City. That's my recommendation and I'll -- Chair Hardernon: Okay, so what I'll do now is I'll allow the entity that did not get the recommendation, I'll allow you to present first. You have 15 minutes. Aabad Melwani: Thank you. Excuse me, guys. Good afternoon. Aabad Melwani here on behalf of Biscayne Marine Partners. We thank you for calling this special meeting today in the hopes that we may achieve a collective win for the City and its residents. Our team very much appreciates the careful thought and deliberation that this commission, administration, and staff have put into this process. Befbre I continue, I invite you to enjoy this video, which offers a glimpse of who we are and what this beautiful community and what this particular location means to us. At this time, an audiovisual presentation was made. Mr. Melwani: Commissioners, we are ready to go. We've been ready to go. We're already there. We've been your faithful partner through hurricanes, economic downturns, and now a global pandemic. I offer you that we are tried and true. With us, there is no learning curve and we will provide a seamless transition for the City. Our team has remained unchanged. Our qualifications and capabilities are well known. Now on to the matter of award. You 've been advised that the City of Miami Code gives us a menu of what the Commission may do pursuant to Chapter -- or Section 18-86 (6). However, the City of Miami Code also gives us clear instruction on what the City Commission shall do with this award. Section 18-86 (7) states in relevant part, award shall be rnade to the responsive and responsible bidder whose proposal is most advantageous to the City, as determined by you, the City Commission. The City Commission, as our body of elected officials, is legally and rightfully capable of awarding to our team, Biscayne Marine Partners. You are empowered by your Charter, your Code, and the RFP itself Why? Because it has always been sound public policy to empower you, our elected officials, to select a proposal that it deems most advantageous to the City. In other words, the proposal from which your constituents will derive the most benefit. I respectfully ask this Commission to make its decision based on who is providing the most value to the City and its residents, especially in these uncertain times. In terns of value attributed to the City -owned property, we are making a vastly greater capital investment of $113 million as opposed to the only $80 million provided by the other team. A $33 million difference on this singularly important property. We are oceans apart. We have provided proof of liquidity that far exceeds the equity commitment needed for this project. We've provided real banking commitments that further evidence our financial capability to deliver. Additionally, we've demonstrated a track record of servicing debt far greater -- in far greater amounts than what is contemplated in the current project. We recently provided the City with updated proof of liquidity letters at the request of Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla. Three years have elapsed since all proposals were tendered, so that was very astute of him to instruct the administration to obtain these updates. Our team is comprised of one of South Florida's most prolific and respected real estate developers, a local veteran marina operator, and a well - City of Miami Page 5 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 capitalized equity partners. Our development team is almost entirely locally based and globally acclaimed. We are the only team standing before you today that actually has developed and is currently running an automated boat storage facility and have been for the last six years, well before this procurement was issued, and this is an undisputed fact. We are the only responsible bidder before you. And should this Commission award to us, we are ready, willing, and able to defend and indemnify the City against any frivolous legal action brought before you and hold you entirely harmless. It is simply in the City's best interest to award us. We stand before you offering certainty and familiarity. There is a very current, real, and practical benefit in awarding to us. During these uncertain times, we are the only team that has been and will continue to provide you with financial certainty. Remember that even upon award today, the earliest that the other team could take possession of the subject property would be November 2021, only after a successful referendum vote. Upon award to us, on the other hand, as the City's incumbent operator already on site, we would continue making the payments that exceed the rent contemplated in the RFP, even prior to executing a new lease with the City. As a matter offact, we already have been for the last two years via our voluntary rent supplements of $100,000 monthly. Upon award, Rickenbacker Marina, as principal of Biscayne Marine Partners, could immediately execute a month -to -month revocable license agreement with the City for the operation of the adjacent Marine Stadium Marina, which has been underperforming for years and is already a part of the project 's site. Over the next 12 months, Rickenbacker will pay the City $100,000 -- will prepay the City $100,000 monthly as the license fee, thus securing our performance under the license agreement. Right off the bat, the City would be receiving $2.4 million in annual rent, an amount which far exceeds the contemplated rent in our competitor's proposal. The $2.4 million is comprised of the $1.2 million in annual rent from Rickenbacker, coupled with the $1.2 million in annualized license fee for Marine Stadium Arena. Additionally', at the end of each month, just as RMI and the City have been accustomed to for decades under our current lease, RMI could then -- Rickenbacker could then remit 15 percent of the combined boat storage revenues to the City in addition to the prepaid $100,000 monthly. On an annual basis, this would well exceed the $2.4 million in rent. Nearing the 12-month mark, ending November 2021, together we will have realized the true revenue potential of the consolidated marina operation contemplated in the RFP. It is at this point where the Commissioner [sic] could direct the City Manager to negotiate upward the rent in the new lease, well above what is contemplated in the RFP. Even in the unlikely event that award would fail at referendum or a lawsuit was lobbed from the other team, we would continue to make these payments. Only we can offer this financial certainty, and again, we will continue to defend and -- indemnify and defend and hold the City harmless. Now this administration and staff has stated a number of times that they believe that both proposers to be responsible, capable, and thus eligible for award. If we can all accept this to be true, the only question that remains to be answered is whose proposal is most advantageous to the City as determined by you, our estimable City Commission. Respectfully, Commissioners, it is ours, Biscayne Marine Partners. Thank you very much. I stand ready to answer any questions along with the help of my counsel. Thank you again for this opportunity. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. I'm going to allow -- Mr. Melwani: Sure. Chair Hardemon: -- the next group to present. Al Dotson: Commissioner Carollo, do you mind if I take off my mask, or would you prefer I keep it on? Whatever you prefer. Commissioner Carollo: I really do. I mean, they didn't take it down. City of Miami Page 6 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Mr. Dotson: Yeah, whatever you prefer. Okay. I'm good. Before I get started on my 15 minutes, let me first say on behalf of our law firm, I want to congratulate each of you who've won re-election. And Commissioner, I want to congratulate you on your election to the upper chamber as you all have described it previously. I look forward to seeing you there at the upper chamber. First, Al Dotson of Bilzin Sumberg, 1450 Brickell Avenue. I'm going to give us a history lesson first and then bring us current. It was 43 years ago the last time this City Commission actually awarded a contract for the operation and maintenance of that marina. It was to expire in 2009. On December 11 th, 2008, the lease was amended with the term ending on July 7, 2016, based on a promise, I'll come back to the promises you just heard, that the current operator would contribute $2 million towards the construction of a parking facility and the current operator would make certain capital improvements by March 31st, 2011. As we sit here today, as I stand here today, as you sit here today, that still has not happened. In fact, what did happen is that the current operator sued the City, and the litigation pursued for two and a half years. The party settled that lawsuit in September of 2015, declaring the current operator a holdover tenant, and the City lost $1.5 million because the current operator did not pay the $2 million they promised in that agreement that led to that extension. On June 15th, 2015, the City began and issued the current RFP. The evaluation committee evaluated the responses and the current operator was ranked last out of all respondents. The evaluation committee saw the presentations that you see here today and they were ranked last. And our client, Virginia Key, was ranked first. The current operator filed a bid protest, which this Commission heard, and they lost that bid protest. The City Commission then decided to do a few things. Among them, they engaged CBRE (Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis), a Fortune 500 company with over 100,000 employees, and have been around for 114 years with a division dedicated to marine services to determine whether the City should operate the marina itself what are the risks, and what return should they expect. On October 20th, 2016, CBRE issued a 75-page report and concluded the City should not take over the operation of the marina because they cannot generate the revenue projected. It doesn't -- the City doesn't have 70 to $80 million to invest and it would create liability for the City because of the unknown cost of seagrass mitigation and cost overruns. But the City didn't stop there. They then hired Lambert Advisory, based here in Miami, but has advised on waterfront properties from South Florida to Texas, from South America to Malaysia, to review the CBRE report and findings and poke holes in it. Lambert Advisory agreed with CBRE's citing the City's same risk and issues noted in the CBRE report. There were several committee meetings of the Commission, the Virginia Key Advisory Board, the City's Waterfront Board, all to get public input. And then Chairman Ken Russell said on December 8th, 2016, and I quote, "We are here doing now with the Virginia Key Marina -- what we are doing here now with the Virginia Key Marina is actually a really good process. And I know it's going to take a little bit longer, but it is more public and more thorough and new ideas have come about." Then, on February 9th, 2017, then Chairman Ken Russell said, and I quote, `I'm very thankful for the administration for their patience over these past several months and their involvement with the public and us, the City Commissioners, to bring back the RFP that we now have. It's not the same animal we had before. Over 100 recommended changes from the public, many of which we have taken into account in this new RFP. I'm confident we can get this done. The future of Miami Marine Stadium depends on it. " A week later, you issued the RFP. You had a new evaluation committee with a marina expert, an environmental expert, a financial expert, a member of the Virginia Key Advisory Board, a procurement expert, and yes, a member of Miami -Dade County DERM, Department of Environmental Resource Management. What happened? Our client was ranked first again. Again. And then the lawsuit started. Just as the lawsuit that happened seven years ago that resulted in the City losing $1.5 million, when the operator reneged on their commitment and promise to the City, they filed a bid protest against the City and lost. Filed an appeal in circuit court and lost. Asked the circuit City of Miami Page 7 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 court to review it again. It did, and they lost. Then they asked the Third District Court of Appeal to review it and they lost. Not a single court has found anything wrong with this process or the selection of Virginia Key, LLC (Limited Liability Company) our client, for the second time. Then the deferrals started. Mr. Manager, there have actually been 16 deferrals in this process from beginning to end. 16. And it was Commissioner Carollo who said on September 13, 2018, and I quote, `By deferring, deferring, deferring, nothing gets done." And here we are again. Now what has happened during those 16 deferrals? You have an auditor's report that you've received that suggests that this operator, who is a part of that team, currently owes the City $155,660 in additional rent, late fees, and audit costs, and $506,022 in sales tax. Yes, the current operator has created liability for this City, and we've checked with the Department of Revenue, and they have confirmed that sales tax should have been paid in connection with that operation. Now, what else has happened during those 16 deferrals? Our principles have continued to build marinas. In fact, we built world -class marinas everywhere in this country, including here in Miami. One in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at 200-plus slips that has hosted, during these 16 deferrals, two international boat shows. Two, and one during COVID, abiding by all the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and government regulations. They've also completed the permitting on the City of Fort Lauderdale Marina. And we partner with our government -- we partner with the government, we don't sue them, we partner with them. So why did the evaluation committee select us? The Virginia Key, LLC principles have operated and developed successfully world -class projects all over the country, including multiple developments in Miami, and in fact, this City called on one of our principals, RCI, when you had a problem with Monty's. You had an operator that had rent that hadn't paid and taxes that hadn't paid. And who did you call to take over that asset? RCI Marina, to turn it into a world -class asset. Our clients have confirmed in writing that we have enough cash on hand to develop the entire project. Our team is local. We understand this community. David Filler, one of the principals of Suntex, lives in Miami -Dade County in the City of Miami. RCI is based in Miami -Dade County and has operated marinas within Miami. And our team, that includes Arquitectonica, based here in Miami, all of our engineers based here in Miami, John Moriarty and Associates, Moe Fadden -Nicol, SCS Engineers all have offices here in Miami. Golden Boat Lifts and Garth Solutions all have offices here in Miami -Dade County. We are a local team. And we've also agreed -- everything I'm telling you that we've agreed to, we've agreed to in writing. We don't stand at a podium and make promises. Before you is an agreement that requires us to have a minimum of 40 percent of Miami -Dade County employees, 25 percent of City of Miami employees for construction, as well as 30 percent minority participation. In Fort Lauderdale, on Las Olas, in connection with the marina we're doing there, 90 percent of the employees reside in Fort Lauderdale. When we do a project in a city, in a community, we make that community number one. So, what is our financial offer to the City? It's actually $1 billion over the term of this lease. And that's $265 million more than what was proposed by this operator. Now, they've tried to change their bid, and I'm sure your City Attorney will tell you, you can 't do that at this moment to try to take -- once you find out what the other person bid, to change yours to try to make it better. If you ever want a process that completely undermines the public trust, then allow that to continue to happen and you'11 never get -- you'll never people to respond to RFPs. Now with respect to the investment, our client is going to be making $80 million -- 75 -- $77 million of which is a hard cost. Now the difference between our proposal and our investment is that we listened when then Chairman Ken Russell called on us to focus on the environment. Our proposal does not include the dredging of the entire basin. $15 million of their hard costs goes to dredging the entire basin. So our actual hard costs, when you compare apples to apples, we're actually investing more in the city. The rent uninterrupted during construction. Our proposal and in the signed lease, we're not interrupting our payments of rent to you during construction. What they proposed is they wanted an abatement. They wanted a deferral for 10 years. About $6 million deferred in rent for 10 years from now. That 's City of Miami Page 8 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 what they wanted to do during construction. And then the indemnification of the City. Again, a promise, but we've put it in writing. Section 8.4, Page 31 of the lease, says that we will indemnify you against lawsuits. And why do we need to do that? Because we know that this particular proposer will sate you, because they've sued you before. And more importantly, when you even mentioned you were going to kick them out for non-performance, they filed a lawsuit against you. You haven 't heard about it, but they filed a lawsuit against you. Only one was brought to your attention after the City staff asked them if they'd dismiss it. So they could probably position themselves to get an award. So we know they're going to file a lawsuit, and we're prepared to defend the City. Now, there's been a lot of things said about our client, but 1 want to go through two more things. First, not only are we ready and passionate about starting, we've already started. We've already done the due diligence related to that location to determine what we might have to do to fix it in order to start and identifY 25 violations, including more vehicles there than are permitted by their permit. There are significant violations there. And we've got the report here; we're happy to show it to you. But you should vote based on the numbers. If you just remember, 43 years since you last awarded a contract, $1.5 million loss the first time around with this current operator, $155,660 in back rent, $506, 022 in sales tax, $1 billion in rent from our client, $265 million more than their offer. Three courts have said that the process was fine. An independent analysis of two consultants has determined the City should not take over operation of the marina. And one, there's only one proposer that turned around City assets when you needed it. That's our client. Developed marinas during the 16 deferral delay. Views the City as a partner because there's been no lawsuits filed by us against any of our partners in the history of what we've been doing all around the country. And we've been called upon to turn around assets and we'll do it again. There's one proposer that's filed -- has a principle that's filed bankruptcy. There's one proposer that didn't disclose lawsuits filed against them. There's one proposer who has fated a lawsuit against the City, and that's not us. We're ready to start. We're ready to move forward. We're prepared to answer any questions that you have. Chair Hardemon: Thank you very much, sir. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, sir. Commissioner Carollo: There were some allegations made that they owe monies to the City, that they haven't paid taxes. I'm quite surprised in hearing that since, based upon my request some time ago, they've been paying an extra $100,000 to the City per month without having the benefit of the property that was supposed to be part of this lease, the dry dock next door. Plus, the City was gaining whatever amount of money in addition we were making in that dry dock storage. So if I may ask the Administration, what is he talking about here? And then if we could give at least four or five minutes to the other side to respond on what is the real truth on the allegations that are being made here. I don't know if the Administration is in agreement with that or not, but I'd certainly like to hear. Mr. Noriega: So, the Auditor General has been engaged in an audit, issued a draft report. I don 't think there's been a formal response yet to it. Unidentified Speaker: There has. Mr. Noriega: There has? Okay. So the audit's not complete. I know they've addressed some issues. I'll let Aabad sort of speak to it in terms of the current status. There are some outstanding issues. The sales tax issue is an outstanding issue. I don't think there's been a resolution to that either. So, as far as I know, the audit has not been City of Miami Page 9 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 closed out. It's not a final product. But I'll let Aabad speak to where he is in the response process and his communication with the Auditor General. Commissioner Carollo: Was that audit sent to everyone? Mr. Noriega: No, it's not complete. The only thing that was sent was a draft version. Unidentified Speaker: Correct. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, but the draft, was it sent to everyone? Mr. Noriega: 1 don't know who it was sent to. I'm not privy to who -- Commissioner Carollo: So, 1 guess what I'm trying to find out is, how are they aware of that draft? Mr. Noriega: I'm not -- I have no idea. Commissioner Reyes: Good question. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Mr. Melwani: Thank you, Commissioner Carollo. That's a very good question. So if in fact this audit is still in draft form and thus exempt from public records, it's a mystery to me how counsel for the other team actually has this report, number one. Number two, in our communications with the auditor, it's been determined that for the audit period, which extends roughly five years, which accounts for over $40 million in revenue from Rickenbacker Marina, we only owe a total of $14,000 in what they consider slightly underreported rent and late fees on that actual rent. $14,000 out of a total of $40 million for this audit period in gross revenues. Chair Hardemon: Can you speak directly to the sales tax though? Because the City Manager -- Mr. Melwani: I'm going to get into that. I just -- I'm trying to respond to these things categorically, but thank you, Mr. Chairman. Now with respect to the sales tax, okay, our lease provides for the exemption on sales tax. So let -- sorry, let me back up one second. We pay sales tax. We remit sales tax at what the Division of Revenue calls at the retail level. So with respect to rents, which are essentially sub -leases, now that includes sub -leasing of commercial property like the restaurant, for example, and sub -leasing of the slips and dry racks, we take those revenues and we remit the sales tax directly to the state. We've been audited more times than I can count by the City, we've been audited by the State, and this sales tax issue, because of the regular practice, because of the exclusions, because of our certificates, because of well settled law, which allows us to remit sales tax directly to the State, this was never a question. Now all of a sudden, in the midst of this RFP, this becomes part of the audit scope. Now, we've already obtained a letter from an attorney from the Division of Revenue, no less, stating that we're following the proper protocols and that there is no outstanding sales tax liability. Now, at the bottom of that letter, as in typical fashion, it says -- there's a little disclaimer on there that says, now, this letter, even though it 's drafted by an attorney for the DOR (Division of Revenue), says this letter is the opinion of the drafter and not necessarily of the State. Now, this is the best letter that Tye could get in the short time frame that we were afforded during this audit to provide that letter. But Commissioners, I assure you, and I can forward you all of the documentation as backup, that our lease provides for this exclusion on sales tax, which the City has claimed owed to them. I mean, the sales tax is owed to the State. It's not owed to the City, okay? Our lease provides.for that exemption, our certificates provide that exemption, the Florida Revenue Code provides for that exemption. I City of Miami Page 10 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 mean, we are doing exactly what we are supposed to do. Now, back to the difference in rent. If we were to continue to dispute the $14,000 that the City is saying we owed, it would cost me more money to dispute that claim than it is just to pay it out to you guys so we can continue on this process just as we are today. So in good faith, even though we had a long back and forth with the staff auditor, okay, who is a very nice lady who has an unenviable job of making sure that all their tenants pay money, we just said, look, we're going to pay for this, okay? And on top of that, the additional monies that are showed owed in this audit are basically audit fees that the City is charging us to conduct the audit. Now, that's unprecedented. You guys have an audit team, an auditor general that in the normal course of City business conducts these audits. This is the first time ever, in the almost -- in the 37 years that we've been in business, that we've been made to pay this. So rather than be painted as, yet again, you know, another feisty litigious guy, I said, you know what, we're going to pay this in good faith and let's move on. Out of 40 million dollars that we've paid to you or in revenues over the course of the audit period, if we're saying we only owe you 14,000 bucks, here you go, because it's going to cost me more to dispute it than it would just to pay it. Okay, now the reason for that difference, which is in our actual response, is that we, as most businesses should, that report to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), that report to the State, do all of our accounting on an accrual basis. When the auditor comes in and examines our general ledger and our statements and all those other things, they're applying the cash basis. So what happens when they come in and they get all of our deposits, whether those deposits are things to be reimbursed or deposits or things that are non -income items, they tally all of that up and then they start backing out little items which they believe are clearly not income. If you're looking at thousands upon thousands of transactions over the course of five years, totaling up to $40 million in revenue, you're going to have discrepancies. As a matter of fact, when we compare -- when we equalize everything and put everything on an accrual basis, we actually overpaid rent. And I trust that you will ask this auditor for her work papers, which will demonstrate that that is in our communications and proven with our sound math. Now if there's any other questions on that, I'd be delighted to answer those questions, but the fact of the matter is we owe arguably $14,000 in rent and late fees. And that's $14,000 out of a total of $40 million in revenue over the course of the audit period, which is five years. Commissioner Carollo: Is the way that you've always paid the sales tax in the fashion that you described, you paid it to the State? Mr. Melwani: Yes, sir, and it's been clearly delineated that way. We submit to you guys monthly rent reports. As you guys know, we pay our rent as a function of percentage of gross. Commissioner Carollo: And in the 43 years that that counselor stated that you've been an operator for the City of Miami there, has the City claimed at any time until now that you had to pay to the City instead of the State? Mr. Melwani: No, Commissioner. And that's what's most, you know, kind of unusual about this whole situation. We've actually been in business for about 38 years now, there was an operator there, the original awardee of the lease, Marty Raven in 1977, was awarded the parcel, he partially developed it, and then it was my father who in 1983 came and brought the marina to where it was until I took over, and then so on and so forth. But this is, to answer your question, the first time in our marina's history that this sales tax question has been part of the audit scope. And I think it's because our lease has always been clear on it, our exemptions and certificates are clear on it, and the body of law on municipal taxation is abundantly clear on this, as stated by the attorney. from the Division of Revenue who provided us that letter. Now, currently, another letter, which is a sworn letter, which was, again, asked for•, again, as further proof of no delinquent tax liability, is being drafted as we speak. I don't have any City of Miami Page 11 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 control over the DOR. However, we will be following up with them to see if there is any way that they can expedite that. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Manager, anything you would like to add to that? Mr. Noriega: The only thing I'll add is that the auditor sent the report, it looks like, on the 11 th to each of you, so you should have a copy of it, a final version of the report. For your review, we can print some out so you have them. As you know, the auditor works directly ,for the Commission, so any questions you have reference the report, I certainly would encourage you to ask that office directly. You know, we played no role in that audit so. Commissioner Carollo: Okay. Chair Hardemon: Thank you, sir. Mr. Melwani: Thank you all. Chair Hardemon: Any discussion amongst the body? You're recognized, sir. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's good to see both sides of this issue. I really would like to see us come to a resolution today. It 's been a long time coming. My name was invoked a few times by counsel with regard to comments on the process. And, yes, 1 did say those things in the first iteration of the RFP after it was thrown out and it was redone, 1 was very happy with that process. What 1 wasn't happy with were the scores that were returned and the Manager's interpretation of those scores. So, if you hear me out, what I intend to do here is to show you why I believe that the bidder with the highest score is actually not responsible here and that it shouldn't -- that we've been -- this Commission has dealt with environmental issues for the last few years as a unit. And we have fought very hard to implement Styrofoam issues, fertilizer issues, glvphosate, go after people who dump into the bay. And you hear all these broken pipe issues over the last couple of years in Broward County and Miami -Dade County, 1.5 million gallons of raw sewage put into the bay. The contractors that are working for the winning bidder -- principles dumped over 30 million gallons of raw sewage into Biscayne Bay in the year 2000. And they did not disclose that in the first issuance of the RFP. To me, that spoke vohunes to not only their responsibility, but their character and their forthrightness in responding. When we reissued, we were more specific about that. And so, yes, they did disclose that they had that history, that that did happen. And if you study the scoring of all the different scores that were given, there was one category called commitment to protection of environmental assets and history of environmental stewardship. And for that category you can award zero or you can award a perfect score of five. Three of the judges gave them a perfect five in history of environmental stewardship, while one of their partners had the worst environmental damage ever done to our bay. I don't understand that. The other five scorers gave a score of four, only took one point off. That's 35 points, I would have given them a zero. And anyone who 's truly a -- judging them based on their history of environmental stewardship should have as well. So I believe that there's -- there was irresponsible scoring in that, and I believe that the Manager should have seen that in making the award as well, because all this history is very clear. CNN (Cable News Network), Miami Herald, they all reported on this incident, between 25 and 35 million gallons of raw sewage. And for that alone, I would make a motion to not grant the award to the recommendation of the Manager. I would stop short there on what we do after that point. But my hope is to find consensus that this is not the responsible bidder. And if we do award to them and this happens again, in their case it was driving a piling through a five-foot wide pipe, million gallons an hour. It's on us. It's on us. And our bay is in a very delicate position and I think if we are making this decision and awarding this to a company, we need to know that one, they're very honest about their history, and two, that they City of Miami Page 12 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 have a good history. And 1 don't feel that either has happened in this case. So that would be my motion to not award to the Manager's recommendation. Mr. Dotson: Mr. Chairman? Chair Hardemon: I'll let you respond then (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Dotson: That's a complete misstatement of what took place and I need to correct the record. Because what actually took place is that a subcontractor of a contractor hit a pipe that had -- no one knew where it was, there were no easements anywhere, and in fact, DERM determined that because my client was responsible and acted quickly, there was no damage to the City of Miami, no damage to the City of Miami Beach, and the water quality after we finished was actually better than before we started. That's number one. Number two, we are prepared -- with respect to this environmental issue, we're prepared to have the City hire whoever they want to hire to oversee our work on our dime. If you really believe we're not responsible, then do that. Because everybody who's looked at this has determined we 're not at fault. More importantly, on your evaluation committees, you go down all those scores, the one person who gave us a four out of five was actually part of DERM, was very well aware of this. This was not a secret. Our role in being responsible and good stewards and how we responded was actually lauded. So I want to make sure it's crystal clear. We did not do it, but as soon as we heard that it took place, we immediately responded. It was determined that no one could have located that pipe because the easement had never been recorded. Those are the facts. Those are the facts. That the water quality actually ended up better as a result of the work we did. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chairman, thank you. I mean, if we're talking about cleaning up sewage, I'm going to need a shovel in here because that was some -- we got a mess to clean up to say that the water was cleaner after 35 million gallons of raw sewage. There were more than one four that you got on the scores. There were five number four scores and that one that you mentioned was Alyce Robertson who was the assistant director of DERM at the time. Mr. Dotson: No. Vice Chair Russell: Alyce Robertson was assistant director of DERM at the time in 2000 and she was quoted in multiple news agencies on the incident itself talking to the lack of responsibility that happened in that moment, with permitting, with who was responsible, who was at the end of the day, whether the sub -subcontractor, the contractor, or the principal, the buck's got to stop with somebody, and to -- not to even have admitted to the incident in the first issuance of the RFP is one, but two, to really analyze it, which I have on my own. Each in the moment of scoring, they have to listen to the spin of both sides and make a score and everybody scored within fours and fives. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman? Vice Chair Russell: I had the time to study this, the news articles, the scoring and everything, and that is my opinion of this situation. Commissioner Carollo: Mr. Chairman? Chair Hardemon: I have Commissioner Reyes and then I'll come back to you. Commissioner Carollo: But if could because I want to put some order here. Chair Hardemon: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). City of Miami Page 13 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Commissioner Carollo: If every time one of us is going to say something that either side doesn't like, they're going to he jumping up and answering us, this is not going to work too well. Chair Hardemon: No, I don 't intend for that to happen. Commissioner Carollo: Well, it happened already, so I just don't want it to happen again. Chair Hardemon: But also, the accusation was made on one side. Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, but that was different. That was from one of them in their presentations. I'm talking about us up here now talking. Now, if we want, we'll leave five minutes at the end when we all talk, that either side could address anything we said in five minutes, but this jumping in every time any one of us says anything, this ain't going to work. And if this is the way we 're going to conduct it, then I'm going to make a quick motion, and well end this real quick. Chair Hardemon: Commissioner Reyes. Commissioner Reyes: Make a motion. Go ahead. Commissioner Carollo: Well, I'm trying to be as balanced as 1 can, Commissioner -- Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Commissioner Carollo: -- in trying to put some rules in how we're going to proceed so. Chair Hardemon: At the end of the day, if no one's ready -- so we have discussion to prepare us for a motion. Well, you have a motion and we have discussion on that motion. Either way works as long as we're getting to some action. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think we have a motion on the table, though. I think Commissioner -- Chair Hardemon: He made a motion, butt didn't get a second. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No one seconded. Commissioner Carollo: What was the motion, Commissioner? Chair Hardemon: To reject. Vice Chair Russell: To reject, but not give further direction on what to do about the award from that point. I was going to leave that part open, but at the very least, to reject the Manager's proposal. Commissioner Carollo: I will second that motion, and after Commissioner Reyes speaks, if Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla will like to, I'll go into some additional reasons why I'm seconding the motion. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. I guess that everybody knows the way I feel about this. I never liked it since we inherited it, most of us that are here, you inherited it, I inherited it, Commissioner Carollo inherited it. We inherited it. You know, I know City of Miami Page 14 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 that's why 1 take off my mask. 1 have a deep accent and with this mask on, I mean, it gets multiplied. So it's going to be difficult for you, Senator, to understand nie. But well, I'll do my best. Listen, 1 wasn't happy and 1 haven't been --1'm not happy with what happened. You see, I knew -- I read about what Commissioner Russell was referring, that was RCI if am not mistaken, a company by RCI. Also, I -- in the -- in awarding this, this RFP to Virginia Key, LLC, there were different subcontractors that were also influential in the scoring, you see, and that's the way it should be. Because if I am going to present a proposal and that proposal is going to be scored based on the total project, including the people that are going to be subcontracting, and then we find that among those contractors -- and let me tell you this, 1 don't have anything against anybody (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 1 know that we have to do something today because this has to end. This has to end, okay? Now, I found out a company by the name of Shoreline Foundation was convicted last year of a felony for defrauding the U.S. Coast Guard. That disqualified that company. And we don't know what will be the grading of the company that you 're going to bring in and how much effect it will have, you see. That's why I am -- I have been promoting for a long time that we follow what Commissioner Russell said. We deny the award, but we go further and do everything that is possible for the City to take over the marina and start all over again from a clean slate. Maybe we can do it better, maybe we cannot, but we 'd start all over again. But that is my position and that's going to be my position, because I don 't believe that anything is clear here. I think there is fault on both sides. On both sides. There's fault on both sides, and I don't, in a clear conscience, I cannot award this to anybody, you see, on a clear conscience. Commissioner Carollo? Commissioner Carollo: 1 heard here about the selection committee members of how they graded this. Well, after being around the block a bit, I've been a commissioner four times, mayor twice, vice mayor twice, when we had vice mayors, city manager, played street hockey in Chicago when I was a kid, and the real Mayor Daley was my mentor. So, I guess you could say that I've been around the block and no one's going to BS me. If I get to choose who the selection committee is going to be, you 're damn right I'm going to get whoever I want to come out on top. And what I'm saying right out in plain English, that if this whole thing wasn't rigged from the first RFP, the second RFP, it's a hell of a good impersonation. The first RFP, one of their own attorneys right now that's not here, after that RFP, made the allegation, before the two firms united for the second RFP, that the director that we had that recently resigned on DREAM (Department of Real Estate and Asset Management) had a conflict that he hadn 't reported like he should have. And that was that sometime before he became our director, not that much after, he had worked for one of the people involved in the bid process in this firm. It's the same director that stayed on for the second RFP. At the same time, one of the committee members, who's not disclosed, had worked for one of the corporations, Coastal Systems, I believe, under Tim Blankenship, who was a consultant for RFP 1, RFP 2, for the gentlemen that they're representing. And then, within five months or so, after she graded the firms, she went to work for Edgewater Consulting, which is Suntex's development partner. So, if that doesn 't pass the test of smelling bad, I don 't know what does. And frankly, I don't need to go any further than that. That should be more than enough. Because the so-called expertise that I am told that was there, frankly, that's not the expertise that I would have chosen for a project like this. Last but not least, what Commissioner Russell stated is true. How can you, in good conscience, award to a firm that in the first RFP purposely did not disclose the, as I understand it, the biggest sewage spill in South Florida history that happened in 2000. Commissioner Reyes is also correct when he mentioned Shoreline Development that was convicted last year, on January 9th of last year, on a felony count for defrauding the U.S. Coast Guard. And then, in addition, we have Virginia Key, LLC misrepresented that Aero-Docks technology and cradle had been used in the port marina development. Now, you take all this, and even with the grades that this committee gave, they wouldn't have been on top if you would have taken these three issues into account. But of course, you're going to be City of Miami Page 15 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 told these are subcontractors, this is not the main one, this is that, that 's the other. So, look, 1 don 't want to go any further, but I'm more than prepared to slice this any way anybody wants it. This whole thing stinks. I wasn't around when it happened. 1 know how it stunk and how it began. But 1 'd just rather vote to reject this and not have to go any further. But if at any time in the future anybody wants to sue and would like to put any of us under deposition, I'll be happy then to answer some of the other things that 1 haven 't talked about here. Commissioner Reyes: I want to add to that, if I may. I have here the members of the -- the voting members of the committee. And this is typical of the City, that we form a committee of people that most of them don't have no experience in the field. Not a single person here in this committee that ever run a marina. You see, and I'm saying this, Mr. City Manager, because I know that this is going to come back again. This, and other projects, that if we are going to ask for an RFP, it should be evaluated by experts in the field, not by a person that was an advisory board member for Virginia Key. Oh, right now, I'm a chair of the Downtown Development Authority. If they ask me to be in this committee, I would tell them, "What the hell do I know about marinas?" You see, so that was Alyce Robertson, she was the chair of Downtown Development Authority. What I'm trying to say is that we have to be more professional. If we are going to ask for an RFP, which should be evaluating the participants, they should be evaluated by persons that are experts in the field, you see? And that's what 1 would like. And 1 sincerely, 1 think that we should vote on what Mr. Russell said, but 1 would also would like to add -- and 1 don't want anybody to take this -- because 1 want to move forward and 1 want for the City to be free of doing whatever they want with that marina. I would like to add that it should be asked by the City Attorney to take all appropriate measures and actions to remove the holdover tenant and assume operation of the Dinner Key Marina as a City of Miami marina. And that will free our hands to do whatever we want to do with it, bring it back to another RFP, or run it if we can run it, you see. And I hope that it keeps us out of court. Chair Hardemon: Any other comments? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I have a question. A couple of them actually. Our City Attorney, I think she's there. I see her there on screen. The amendment that Commissioner Reyes added right now at the end, what's the net effect of that? In other words, can the City of Miami take over this marina today? Victoria Mendez (City Attorney): If that is the direction, yes. However, we really need to deal first with the RFP. If it's going to be awarded or it's going -- or all the bids are going to be thrown out, it should be a bifurcated process. It should be separate. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Excuse me, what you want to say is that we'll do it on two steps? Ms. Mendez: If that is the will of the Commission, it needs to be -- Commissioner Carollo: Yeah, let's separate -- Commissioner Reyes: Let's separate it. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, I'm not done yet. Commissioner Reyes: Oh, I'm sorry. Senator, you see, you paused for a long time. You were thinking. City of Miami Page 16 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, no, no. 1 always try to think somewhat, you know. I understand bifurcating it. My question is, if we throw this out, the winning bidder now is no longer in consideration if we vote that way? Do we in effect start the entire process all over again? Mr. Noriega: Yes, sir. Ms. Mendez: The Commission needs to tell the Administration and the City Attorney 's Office what the Commission wishes to do if you decide to reject all bids today and what the next step would be. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, it'll be --1'm sorry, Mr. Chair, through you. Chair Hardemon: No, please. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So, it'll be a number of votes that we'd have to take. First to throw out what the Manager is recommending, and then perhaps an expedited RFP process can occur. So I need to know a little bit, some clarification on how that would work, Mr. Manager, from you. Tell me what expedited means to you, because what I don't want is for our City to continue to wait. It's been almost six years and we don't have a world -class marina. The City of Miami -- I've only been here about a year now, but it's been six years. You've been here two years, three years, Commissioner Reyes, Commissioner Carollo, you made your comeback three years ago too. So way before we got here, this has been going on. And the City of Miami does not have a world -class marina still. We do have an incumbent, it's true, that's been there, I think, 38 years, or you said. But in those 38 years, there hasn't been any upgrade to this facility, any significant upgrade of the kind that we 're talking about the City of Miami deserves, a world -class marina. Now we're talking about, I think you said, $113 million, which Mr. Prieguez reminds me was the number of his district number when we met, $113 million, when we did that campaign back in 1998, Mr. Prieguez, remember? But I haven't seen any upgrade. All I have seen is read from afar when I wasn't here, when I was in Tallahassee and other places, just watching that Miami has not built a world -class marina. Now you're coming to us and saying that you're committed to building a world -class marina. I could take you at your word, but we can't -- and Commissioner Carollo is saying that there is a tainted or rigged process, to use his words. I wasn 't here. I have heard -- I've had conversations with both sides, all principals and lobbyists, and I still see that Miami is not moving any quicker towards a world -class marina. It's just a back and forth accusation after accusation. Unidentified Speaker: Yeah. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: So I want to know what it means to our current City Manager what an expedited RFP process looks like. Give me your definition of expedited and how quickly can we move at least, before I'm termed out in seven years, when Miami can have a world -class marina. Mr. Noriega: Commissioner, if I may, so I'm a student of history, and obviously, if you've looked at the history of this project in particular, and given the timeline and multiple iterations of RFPs, I think the earliest we could engage and get to finalization of an RFP process given the nature of the appeals, how prolific they've been on both of the RFP processes to date, I think you're looking at two to three years at a minimum. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well -- Commissioner Carollo: Well, ill may say this through the Chair. City of Miami Page 17 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Carollo: We want to look for a world -class marina where we can create one. We don't have to look that far from the bay to Virginia Key, even to our downtown marina. All we got to do is just step out and look at the one here. Commissioner Reyes: Yep. Commissioner Carollo: This is the largest marina in Florida, one of the largest in the whole southeast part of the country. If you want to talk about a dump that nothing's really been done to it, it's right here. So, if we want to have the private sector to do something, then maybe we ought to open this one up. We ought to open the one in downtown up so that we can have world -class marinas. But frankly, you know, I was here through many years, not enough, and you can 't expect someone that's running anything to put in tens of millions of dollars if they don't have the time to be able to eventually get that money out. And that's been part of the problem that we've had there. Look at the dry dock marina next door. Now, I don't know what's happened there, but nobody seemed to care. No one was held accountable. That's been bringing in, if you compare it to what the marina right next door was bringing for their dry docks, he was bringing 0-action, a small fraction of what this marina was bringing. What was the problem? It was all a joke, according to the former director. Family and friends, whatever. But the bottom line is that it's only been recently when the pressure was felt that they brought the revenue up, and still is way below what it should be. And that's the problem that I have with the City running marinas or many other things, because the lack of accountability, the fact that some of us are here four years, eight years, and we're out. The bureaucrats just, you know, bug themselves in the sand, waiting for us to be gone, and the next guy to come, so they could BS the next elected official. And elected officials come and go, but the bureaucrats are still here, not giving a damn. And this is part of what 's going on with the City of Miami in particular. Commissioner Reyes: I -- if I -- I think that we should, as the City Attorney said, take care of the business the way it should be taken care of. We have a motion and a second. Let's take care of that. And then what we're going to do later on, I think that we should -- we can have an exchange among us and try to find common ground -- Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Commissioner Reyes: -- on what we think is best. Commissioner Carollo: What I would suggest is the Manager sits with each of us, and you know, find out from each of us individually -- Commissioner Reyes: Yeah. Commissioner Carollo: -- what we think, and then he could come back to the Commission so that we could take the next step. But the only step that we really need to take today is the one whether to accept or reject, and the motion that we have is to reject. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: My question is this, I have difficulty voting for something just to kick something out without knowing what Plan B is and what we're going to do down the line. I didn't come here to kick the can. I came here to make decisions. And this constant deferral and let's talk about it and we'll figure it out later City of Miami Page 18 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 on, we sit down with the Manager. 1 understand it's a process, but I think that all of us have had conversations with the Manager in the last month or so. We all know where the Manager stands on this particular issue. He's recommending the winning bidder. We also, I suspect, based on the advice of my City Attorney and other attorneys I've spoken to, that if we do not award to the winning bidder, they're probably going to sue us and that they'll probably win. And they'll probably win. Hold on. And I don't want another Flagstone, Commissioner Russell. I don 't want that mistake. I don't want to vote for something that is going to make my city liable and it's going to cost, in these difficult economic times, my constituents millions of dollars. But before I vote, 1 want to ask our City Attorney what her legal opinion is as to what happens if we reject the winning bidder through, as far as 1 know, even though Commissioner Carollo says that it was rigged, I take him at his word, maybe that's his opinion. Commissioner Carollo: That's my opinion. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I know, I know, but I haven 't heard that it was rigged. I haven't seen any evidence of it being rigged. If there is, please let me know. But I want to see what our City Attorney thinks as to the City's liability. If my vote is going to put my city, it's going to make my city liable for millions of dollars, I want to know if I'm doing that. Because otherwise I'll vote no. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It doesn't matter what the result is at the end of the day. What matters is that I'm not going to be the one responsible for my city losing a lawsuit. Commissioner Carollo: We have every right to reject any bid. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I want to hear from the City Attorney. Commissioner Carollo: And anybody has any right to sue and lose. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I want to hear from the City Attorney what her legal opinion is -- Commissioner Reyes: Yes, I would -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: -- as to our liability. Commissioner Reyes: I would like to hear and I want you, Vicky, to make sure that we can -- we have -- what options do we have in order to bring this back, or how can we do it and which can stay out of court? And I think the only way is the way that I said. Chair Hardemon: Vicky. Ms. Mendez: Right, so you have the ability obviously to award or to reject all bids. Those are your options with regard to this process. You can figure out what you do later after, but with respect to this award, it's either you award to number one or you reject all bids. If you are going to reject all bids, like Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla said, you need to give reasons for the rejection of all bids. One of the reasons obviously was the environmental issue that Russell felt uncomfortable about, and Commissioner Carollo reasons for not trusting the committee. But you do have to give reasons -- Commissioner Carollo: But there were -- there were -- City of Miami Page 19 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Ms. Mendez: -- if you decide to reject all bids. Commissioner Carollo: -- three reasons, three direct reasons that three of us discussed up here. The environmental, the defrauding of the Coast Guard, and the misrepresentation of the Aero-Docks technology. Now, what I believe or not believe, while that could be a reason, it still doesn 't matter. We gave three sound reasons why we can reject this. And if they want to sue, let them sue. I know where the ducks are at. And I'm going to tell you now, the first thing I'm going to ask for is a special counsel, if they want to sue, that we, the Commission, choose. And I'll be happy to sit down with that special counsel and give them my opinion where we should begin. Chair Hardemon: Senator? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Our City Attorney said that we reject all bids, right? It's not a question of rejecting the winning bidder. There's a difference, right? There 's a legal difference. Ms. Mendez: Correct. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Right? If the selection committee recommends the winning bidder, obviously, and we just reject that one, it's a different legal situation than if we reject all bids and throw all bids out. And then the second part -- Ms. Mendez: Right, it has to be reject all bids. It can 't just be reject number one. All bids. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I think I said it in a kind of convoluted way, but yes, that's what I mean. And then the second part of the equation is not wait until tomorrow and kick the can. It's what do we do? We call the special meeting today to deal with this issue after ahnost six years. Do we instruct our manager to begin a new process? I agree with Commissioner Reyes that the selection committee has to be people that know something about marinas. I agree with that 100 percent. But you have to be careful how you pick the selection committee, Mr. Manager. But what is the formula for moving the City forward, right, so we can have a world -class marina? Let's have that conversation today, at least, so we have some direction, or give our city manager some direction as to how we're going to get there eventually, right? And then number three, why is it -- why is it that every time we have a debate on an important issue, there's always a deferral? It's always, let's talk about it some other day. Commissioner Carollo: There is no deferral here. We're voting and rejecting. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It's a rejection. It's throwing out an RFP process that's been litigated, that's been going on for six years. It is, in effect, worse than a deferral. It's throwing out something that's taken six years and we're still where we started. So, we're saying let's go back to the beginning from scratch. That scratch means three -- two or three years according to our city manager. So, we have at least three years to wait before -- Commissioner Carollo: The City Manager doesn't know. He gave you a -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, I asked him. He's the city manager. I don't know what he knows or doesn't know, but I know that he thinks that it's going to take between two or three years. He could be wrong. Commissioner Carollo: No, you should have told him jive or six, Art, so he could have felt better. City of Miami Page 20 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, it's not a question of five or six. It's been five or six already, Commissioner. It's been five or six. Now we're adding an additional three. So now it's going to be ten. And then that's for the construction, for an RFP to be awarded. And then the construction. So you'll be gone, I'll be gone, and we still won't have a world -class marina. To me it doesn't matter who gets it, I just want the best entity to get it. And so we have the best marina, I don 't care who it is. Commissioner Carollo: And the first step we need to take is to vote upon this, so I call the question, and then we can proceed to the next discussion that you like. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: It doesn't work that way, unfortunately, because we need to make sure that what we do here is legal and that when we're sued -- Commissioner Carollo: It is legal. The City Attorney just stated it's legal. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: You've got to throw everything out. You can't throw one bidder out. Commissioner Carollo: That's right. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: You throw everything out and you start from scratch. Yes. Commissioner Reyes: Point of clarification, the Senator is right. We have to -- I mean, if we're going to vote, we're going to throw the whole thing out and then we start from scratch. Chair Hardemon: So ifI may add before you -- Ms. Mendez: Correct. Chair Hardemon: Mr. Vice Chairman? Vice Chair Russell: I'll clarify the motion, please, because there seems to be several versions of it floating right now. Chair Hardemon: You can clarify the motion. Vice Chair Russell: My motion is to reject the Manager's recommendation. Not to throw out all bids, because I want this to be a further discussion right now. Not tomorrow, not a month from now. As soon as we make -- if we vote affirmatively to reject the Manager's recommendation, then I'd like us to have a substantive discussion right now of what to do next. Whether it's take it back, whether it's see if there is (UNINTELLIGIBLE). (MULTIPLE PARTIES SPEAKING IN UNISON) Vice Chair Russell: So, that gives us options to move immediately today, but at least we are getting definitive jbrward action with this particular bidder, the Manager's recommendation. Chair Hardemon: So Section 18-86, that doesn 't give us that option. Vice Chair Russell: I disagree. Chair Hardemon: Well, I'm just reading from what was provided. Section 18-86 gives the City Commission the option to approve the City Manager's recommendation and City of Miami Page 21 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 negotiate the contracts. They give us the -- two, to approve the City Manager's recommendation to authorize contract negotiations. Three, reject all proposals. Four, reject all proposals and instruct the City Manager to reissue the solicitation. But it says all proposals. And then it says, or five, reject all proposals and instruct the City Manager to enter into competitive negotiations with at least three individuals or firms and we don't have three farms here. And the second thing I'll add is that, to me, this feels like deja vu. Because the reason -- many of the reasons that were stated today, and then maybe with some small amendments, are the reason that we threw the RFP out in the first place. This is pretty much the same groups, except we had a third place finisher that probably got involved with one of the companies. I'm not sure how they kind of merged. But there were three groups at that time. And the same arguments were being made to send it back --1'm sorry, to reject all the proposals and issue a new competition. And so here we are back again with another recommendation from our manager and the City Commission has decided that it had -- it seems that the City Commission has decided that they don't want to award to this particular organization. And so you want to reject all of them again. And the only thing that makes sense to me is when you have this sort of situation is that when you continue to reject the person that is number one because they're number one, the only time that you won't reject is if that person is not number one. Maybe another organization is number one. And that was part of the concern that I had when this first came up. I said, look, I mean, if this is number one and this is score number one, we're going to issue the RFP for the same sort of competition and then here we are back again with them being number one. And so if you -- to me, you know, it makes more -- it may be more trouble for our city attorney, but certainly at least the business community would know what to expect when you say, hey, you don't apply, because we're not going to award it to you, because that's what it appears to be. But that doesn't mean that there's any credence to the things that any of the commissioners stated on the record that they believe are issues with the RFP. But you know, my only retort to that would be that we all knew what the RFP was when the RFP was issued. Who was going to participate, how it was going to be scored and -- Commissioner Carollo: I wasn 't here then, Commissioner. Vice Chair Russell: That's true. Chair Hardemon: You know -- Commissioner Carollo: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Chair Hardemon: I'm an old man on the thing, I forget. You guys remember, I forget. But all I know is that I've been here before with this same sort of thing. So that's my only issue with this. So, you know, like the senator, I'm walking away from this saying, hey, if we knew this is where we wanted to be, meaning a rejection of all the recommendations, then we should have done this a long time ago instead of today. Mr. Vice Chairman. Vice Chair Russell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Legal question, and I'd like to debate this with you, because you were citing 18-86(c)(6)(b), which is under -- about the evaluation and the criteria through which -- what the Commission can do after receiving the Manager's recommendation. It says "the City Commission may, " and it lists those five items that you just read. The next one under that is 18-86(c)(7), which talks about the award and it's very specific. Instead of saying "array" and listing in items, it says that "the City Commission shall." So "awards shall be made to the responsive and responsible proposer whose proposal is most advantageous to the City as determined by the City Commission. "And it doesn't in that -- Ms. Mendez: In conjunction -- City of Miami Page 22 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry. Madam City Attorney -- Ms. Mendez: -- continue reading. Vice Chair Russell: -- I'm sorry. Ms. Mendez: There's more. Vice Chair Russell: "In accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in the RFP, RFLI (Request for Letters of Interest), RFQ (Request for Qualifications)." So the criteria contained in that RFP does not say we're limited to 18-86(c)(6)(b). It's our responsibility -- Ms. Mendez: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Russell: -- and I'd like to have this debate with the Chairman because he's also an attorney. I am not, but this is the way I'm reading this here. That I believe that we have the power as a Commission to award to the most responsive and responsible bidder, most advantageous to the City, that we deem. And I do not believe we are a rubber stamp here. I do not believe we have a ministerial role in this. I believe we are to study the whole process and weigh in whether we believe it went right or wrong. And that gives us a lot of strength and power to make that decision. I'm not going so far as to throw out all or to award to number two in this moment. The only motion on the floor right now is that we eliminate number one based on -- eliminate the Manager's recommendation. We'd reject the Manager's recommendation. At that point, if we get past that moment, then we discuss what we do from here. And that is the motion on the floor and we're either together on that or not. I know it's not a consensus, but if there's a majority for that, then we decide what to do next because we don't have consensus on what to do next. But I do want to know if we have consensus on this part, which is reject the Manager's proposal. And I believe we do. I believe the will is here. Commissioner Reyes: But, through the Chair. Chair Hardemon: Yes. Commissioner Reyes: I do believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that our City Attorney says that we should throw all the bids out. That will be the safest -- Ms. Mendez: Right, that's how -- that's the only -- and I disagree, and unfortunately, the Vice Chairman and I have had this discussion and I tried to explain it to him. That is not an option. To just reject number one is not an option because responsibility review happens and responsiveness review happens before it even gets to the Commission. Vice Chair Russell: And that's why I disagree. Ms. Mendez: You have the power, the broad power to always reject all bids. And the reason why you're rejecting all bids is based on your decision, that is fine, but you can't just reject number one and move on, that is not an option. Vice Chair Russell: Mr. Chair, I believe we can find non -responsible here. Despite what was deemed at the selection committee or the Manager's level, responsibility is a subjective issue. And (INAUDIBLE) -- Ms. Mendez: Right, but if it's a reason to reject -- City of Miami Page 23 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, Madam City Attorney, 1 'm not finished. Ms. Mendez: -- all bids, it's not a reason to -- Vice Chair Russell: I'm sorry, Madam City Attorney, they -- Ms. Mendez: -- carve out number one. Vice Chair Russell: -- admitted to the contamination. It is up to us to decide whether that deems them irresponsible to the level of contamination that was done or the level of the other issues that were brought up. We have that power as a Commission to decide whether or not they're responsible. That's our job here today. And that's why I made the motion, because 1 do believe there is a majority of us here who do not find this bidder responsible. Commissioner Reyes: I hear you. I know why you did it. And I agree that we shouldn 't grant, I mean, to number one, the first bidder. But I agree with the City Attorney. You might not agree with it, but you're not an attorney. Although you like to be an attorney once in a while, you know, but you are (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but she is the one that it is recommending. And I wasn't here before she made certain recommendations, and this Commission went above her and it had cost us more than $20 million. And you were part of that too, and you had an argument with that at that time. So I really, I would vote in favor of throwing all the bids out and then directing after that the City Manager to start a new process, I mean, and do it national or whatever, and take it from there. But I'm not going to do it piecemeal as you want because it is not the advice that our City Attorney is giving us and I don't want to place, as the Senator said, our city in a position that we will have to -- I mean, we will be sued and we 're going to lose a lot of money. If this is the safe way to do it, let's do it like that and let's take it from there and then let's start the process. It's not going to take three years. It hasn 't taken three years or taken so long because we have gone into this back and forth. If we have a process that has been decided by real professionals, I commit myself to vote for a person that has been selected by that committee, you see? Chair Hardemon: Okay. Commissioner Carollo: Well, as I see it, there are no three votes for the motion the wav it's there so -- Chair Hardemon: Well, we don't -- we -- Commissioner Carollo: -- I would suggest that the motion would be made in the way the City Attorney is stating it, that we reject all bids. Commissioner Reyes: I second that. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Mr. Hannon has an issue over there. Chair Hardemon: You're recognized, Mr. Hannon. Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): There is a motion on the floor. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: He has to withdraw it. Vice Chair Russell: It hasn't been withdrawn. Commissioner Carollo: It hasn't been withdrawn yet. We're discussing the motion. City of Miami Page 24 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo, you're the seconder to the motion, so if you withdraw your second, then there's -- a new motion can be made. Commissioner Carollo: I haven 't done that yet -- Mr. Hannon: Understood. Commissioner Carollo: -- Mr. Clerk. We're discussing -- Mr. Hannon: Yes, sir. Commissioner Carollo: -- the first motion. 1 don't feel there are the votes for the first motion. The City Attorney, whether rightly or not, feels that the way that we have to do it is by rejecting all bids. And unless there are three votes for the motion that's before us now, then there's no sense in going forward with this motion if it doesn 't have three votes. I do believe that the motion that rejects all bids will at least have three votes. Vice Chair Russell: Where did we lose you, Commissioner Reyes, because I felt synergy there for a while. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE). Vice Chair Russell: Because when the motion was first made, I felt that we were in agreement. In further discussion, you changed your mind or you misunderstood what my motion was. I'd like to know more about how you're feeling. Commissioner Reyes: Okay. From the get -go, I thought that we should start all over again. Vice Chair Russell: Oh, okay. Commissioner Reyes: And that was from the get -go. And I asked the City Attorney, if that would have been the only road, I would have followed. I would have followed you if that would have been the only option. But when the City Attorney clarified that the safest way to get out of this mess and start all over was to reject all -- I mean, the RFP, reject everything. I -- you see, sometimes when you are very idealistic, I'm still, I am, you see, I am, and you get kind of stubborn, but when you get to be my, age, you try to get, you tend to be a little more cautious and look ahead. And I don't want to, just as the Senator said and the Commissioner Carollo, I don't want to get our city in a bind. Commissioner Carollo: Excuse me, if you're going to call him Senator, then call me Mayor. Commissioner Reyes: No, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor. Well, to me, you are still Mayor. You're still Mayor. Okay, and that's why, I mean, we had a synergy, and we still have the synergy, but it is in a way that as proposed by the City Attorney, which is the safest way. That's why. Vice Chair Russell: So, I'll make one last effort for my motion, and then obviously it will either die for lack of second or I'll withdraw it myself, and I'll walk you through my thought process. I don't pretend to be a lawyer, but I am a commissioner, and I do believe in what the powers of the Commission can do. Commissioner Reyes: Don 't take it personal, man. City of Miami Page 25 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Vice Chair Russell: No, no, I don't.1 don't. And -- but do believe in what the powers of a commissioner are, and 1 believe I'm clear on them. Now, we can have a difference of opinion on the interpretation of this, but here 's what I feel could and should happen. Both of these bidders were found to be responsive and responsible, and then within the scoring system, the committee and the Manager agreed that one was higher scored within that responsive and responsibility than the other. If we throw out one for responsibility, the other one still remains a responsive and responsible bidder. But we as a Commission have let the Manager know that we believe, we've analyzed the scoring, we've seen his recommendation, we do not believe that that winning bidder was responsible. We can direct him, in my opinion, to then go back and analyze the number two bidder in a separate motion to see whether he still believes they are responsive and responsible, and if so, he can make a recommendation then. Now he doesn't have to accept the scores of the committee either. He can analyze them himself and make his recommendation to us. But we are giving him feedback now through this motion, but I understand. The safest would be to throw out all because then nobody can sue us, because we definitely have that right. I get that. I get that. Commissioner Reyes: And also, sir, you know, I'm going to add to it. I did state it that the selection committee, in my opinion, didn't have any expertise in this field. Vice Chair Russell: Right. (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Commissioner Reyes: And why are we going to select one or the other when we are questioning the way that they evaluated this. And if it was wrong for one, it was wrong for the other one. It could be a problem. I mean, I don't know. I want a professional selection committee that are really experts in the field, because this is a major -- it's a major development, and I don't want to go wrong, you see? I don't want to go wrong. And that's another -- Vice Chair Russell: Just to finish my thought, Commissioner Reyes, and thank you for that, but I would like to not go through another full process. If we have responsive and responsible bidders here, but we as a Commission deem one to not be responsible, I'd like to hear from the Manager on who is left within the bidding rather than starting all over again. Because as many of us have said up here, we'd like to see something happen here within our tenure or lifetime. Commissioner Reyes: Yes. Vice Chair Russell: And I believe that we are legally sound in this option as commissioners. Because remember the precedent this sets on all other procurement issues. You're saying we only have the right to say up or down, that we don't have the right to choose the winning bidder. although, I believe in 18-86(c)(7), we do have that right to choose the winning bidder that we believe is most advantageous to the City. And I think that 's something we -- a right we want to preserve as commissioners. Now we -- I disagree with the City Attorney. I respect her opinion, but I do disagree with it and I do read it differently. I read it differently. Commissioner Carollo: Well, one of the things that we could do, we could get ourselves an outside counsel and go to the courts for a declaratory judgment. Vice Chair Russell: Get a dec action? Commissioner Carollo: Yeah. Let the courts tell us what we can do or not do. City of Miami Page 26 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Commissioner Reyes: Well, 1 think, with all due respect, Conznzissioner, 1 think we should make a decision today. Make a decision today. 1 personally, 1 am going to follow the -- my vote is going to follow the suggestion of the City Attorney. And that's it. I mean -- Vice Chair Russell: So you would not vote with my motion? Commissioner Reyes: Huh? Vice Chair Russell: You would not vote with my motion? Commissioner Reyes: No, I would not. Vice Chair Russell: Got it. Because even still, after that, we could also reject the second one if we wanted to as well. Commissioner Reyes: No, but why? Let's do it ftom the get -go, you see? Vice Chair Russell: All right. So, in that case, I'll withdraw my motion. Commissioner Carollo: And I'll withdraw my second. I will make a motion that we reject all bids, all proposals. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'll second that. Chair Hardemon: It's been properly moved and second to reject all proposals. Any further discussion? Ms. Mendez: For all the reasons that you had stated, Commissioner Carollo? Commissioner Carollo: Of course, of course. Commissioner Reyes: All the reasons that we have stated. Commissioner Carollo: The three main reasons that I went over. Do you need for me to go through them again? Chair Hardemon: No. Ms. Mendez: No, no, I just wanted to clam. Commissioner Carollo: I'll be happy to. Ms. Mendez: Thank you. Chair Hardemon: Anv further discussion? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I'm going to withdraw my second because I am not going to put into a motion accusations that one side makes against another side. Chair Hardemon: Okay, so there's a motion. Is there a second? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: The reason why, Commissioner Carollo -- Commissioner Carollo: What is that that you're saying? City of Miami Page 27 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, there are accusations that are -- I've been listening to the back and forth between both sides. So, I'm okay with the motion and voting with you to reject all proposals, but not because the three reasons that you said publicly, that one side was doing, because I don 't know if that's true or not. Commissioner Carollo: Well, you can vote any way you want to. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: No, I understand. I just want -- I don't want my city to be held liable. That's all. Commissioner Carollo: You've been telling us up to now that, you know, we've got to listen to the City Attorney, on this. That's what I'm doing. She says that we've got to put on the record reasons why we're voting for it. Now my motion is not based on anything that I stated here or anybody else has stated. My motion is to reject -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Okay. Commissioner Carollo: -- and in conversation with the City Attorney, I asked her if it was sufficient, the point one, two or three that I placed on the record why I'm voting the way that I am, and if she needed for me to repeat them again, she said no. So it's a simple motion to reject all the proposals. Chair Hardemon: Is there a second? Commissioner Reyes: Second. Chair Hardemon: Seconded by the -- by Commissioner Reyes. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion, say "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: All against? Vice Chair Russell: No. Chair Hardemon: Against. Mr. Hannon: Motion passes 4-1, with Commissioner Russell -- oh, my apologies. Motion passes 3-2, with Commissioner Hardemon and Commissioner Russell voting no. Chair Hardemon: So I would assume that would capture SP.1. SP.2, that would be the rejection, right? So that's the -- Commissioner Carollo: Well, Madam City Attorney, you tell us what else we got to vote on. Chair Hardemon: So, on SP.2 where it says accept recommendation, that would be -- the way it's written on the agenda (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that would be (INAUDIBLE). City of Miami Page 28 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 SP.2 RESOLUTION 2525 Department of Real Estate and Asset Management A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), REJECTING ANY AND ALL PROPOSALS IN RESPONSE TO CITY OF MIAMI DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE AND ASSET MANAGEMENT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ("RFP") NO. 16-17-011, LEASE OF CITY OF MIAMI-OWNED WATERFRONT PROPERTY FOR MARINAS/RESTAURANT/STORE USES LOCATED AT APPROXIMATELY 3301, 3605, 3501, 3311, & 3511 RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY, MIAMI, FLORIDA. ENACTMENT NUMBER: R-20-0361 MOTION TO: Adopt with Modification(s) RESULT: ADOPTED WITH MODIFICATION(S) MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Manolo Reyes, Commissioner AYES: Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes NAYS: Hardemon, Russell Note for the Record: For directive referencing Item SP.2, please see Item NA.1. Note for the Record: For minutes referencing Item Number SP.2, please see Item Number SP.1. City of Miami Page 29 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 SP.3 RESOLUTION 2526 Department of Real Estate and Asset Management A RESOLUTION OF THE MIAMI CITY COMMISSION, WITH ATTACHMENT(S), MAKING PROVISIONS FOR A REFERENDUM SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD CONCURRENTLY ON FOR THE PURPOSES OF SUBMITTING TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI ("CITY") FOR THEIR APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF THE FOLLOWING REFERENDUM BALLOT QUESTION: "SHALL THE CITY BE AUTHORIZED TO LEASE APPROXIMATELY 27.5 ACRES OF LAND ON VIRGINIA KEY TO VIRGINIA KEY, LLC FOR A 45-YEAR INITIAL TERM WITH TWO 15 YEAR RENEWALS; MINIMUM ANNUAL GUARANTEED RENT OF $2,200,000.00 (WITH ESCALATIONS) TOTALING APPROXIMATELY $203,984,060 OVER THE INITIAL TERM; 6% OF GROSS REVENUES; APPROXIMATELY $80,000,000.00 PRIVATELY FUNDED INVESTMENT TO REDEVELOP THE MARINAS IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE MANNER, INCLUDING BOAT STORAGE, RESTAURANTS, RETAIL, AND PUBLIC PARKING?"; DESIGNATING AND APPOINTING THE CITY CLERK AS THE OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CITY COMMISSION WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF VOTER REGISTRATION BOOKS AND RECORDS; AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO CAUSE A CERTIFIED COPY OF THE HEREIN RESOLUTION TO BE DELIVERED TO THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW. MOTION TO: Withdraw RESULT: WITHDRAWN MOVER: Joe Carollo, Commissioner SECONDER: Keon Hardemon, Commissioner AYES: Hardemon, Russell, Diaz de la Portilla, Carollo, Reyes Commissioner Carollo: SP.3 is null and void, correct? Chair Hardemon: And SP.3 -- Todd B. Hannon (City Clerk): Chair? Chair Hardemon: Yes. Mr. Hannon: So, SP.2, passed as amended, rejecting all bids. SP.3, if I could get a motion to withdraw. Commissioner Carollo: Motion to withdraw SP.3. Chair Hardemon: Seconded by the Chair. All in favor, say "aye." The Commission (Collectively): Aye. Chair Hardemon: All against? The motion carries. City of Miami Page 30 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 NA.1 8233 City Commission NA - NON -AGENDA ITEM(S) DIRECTIVE DIRECTION BY THE CITY COMMISSION TO THE CITY MANAGER TO MEET WITH EACH COMMISSIONER REGARDING FUTURE OPERATION OF VIRGINIA KEY MARINA. RESULT: DISCUSSED Chair Hardemon: Okay. Seeing no further issues on this special Commission meeting this meeting -- Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Well, Mr. Chair, are we done then? Chair Hardemon: We're done with the business. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: I thought Commissioner Russell had talked about some direction to our city manager on a moving forward basis, or are we just going to kick the can again? Commissioner Carollo: No, we're not kicking the can. Commissioner Reyes: (INAUDIBLE) do that. Commissioner Carollo: I've stated on the record that the City Manager should meet with each of us, and he could discuss it either at the next meeting if he 's had the time, or if not, the one after that. Commissioner Reyes: I -- Commissioner Carollo: Then we could go from there. Commissioner Reyes: I -- well, that meeting is fine, but I would like to be more specific and direct the City Manager to start procedures, procedures into selecting a company that could develop the way that we want. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Is that a request for a new RFP? Commissioner Reyes: An RFP, an RFP. Request for an RFP. Vice Chair Russell: I'm not ready for that. Commissioner Reyes: Okay? Vice Chair Russell: I'd like to sit with the Manager and discuss options. Commissioner Reyes: Okay, but that will be my recommendation and my request when he sits with me. You see, I am very transparent. Everybody knows where I stand. And I'm letting him know what I want to do. Arthur Noriega (City Manager): IfI may, Mr. Chair. Chair Hardemon: Please. Mr. Noriega: Yeah, I'll meet with each of you individually. Keep in mind that we're -- there are some decisions to be made relative to District 5. And that seat may not have City of Miami Page 31 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 NA.2 8234 City Commission a resolution in the foreseeable future. So there'll he one commissioner I probably may or may not have the opportunity to brief in the next month or so. So just be mindful of that. I'll meet with each of you individually. But that particular seat is sort of at this point undecided. Commissioner Reyes: Absolutely. Okay. DISCUSSION ITEM SPECIAL RECOGNITION BY THE CITY COMMISSION TO CHAIR KEON HARDEMON FOR HIS LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE DURING HIS TENURE AS DISTRICT 5 CITY COMMISSIONER AND CHAIR OF THE CITY COMMISSION. FURTHERMORE, WISHING COMMISSIONER HARDEMON BEST ENDEAVORS IN HIS NEWLY ELECTED POSITION AS DISTRICT 3 MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMISSIONER. RESULT: PRESENTED Vice Chair Russell: Commissioner Hardemon, it's been an honor. Commissioner Reyes: Yes, sir. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Yes, sir. Congratulations to the upper body. Chair Hardemon: That's what we call it, right? Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Don't forget us here at the lower body. Chair Hardemon: That's where all the disease happens in the upper body. Commissioner Carollo: Good luck to you. If you don't like the food over there, feel free to come over. Commissioner Reyes: That's right. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: We have sushi. We have sushi every Thursday. Chair Hardemon: I promise you I'm going to be down here. Commissioner Diaz de la Portilla: Good luck to you, sir. Chair Hardemon: Just to see everyone. Commissioner Reyes: Listen, once again, thank you very much for all of your support. I came here very, very green. I didn't bring the experience that Mayor Carollo or the Senator had. And you guided me well. And you guided me. And I also had some help from when Commissioner Russell, when he was the -- he was -- when he was chairing. Although, he tried to cut me off all the time. Chair Hardemon: Yeah, it's a science. Commissioner Reyes: But thank you, thank you, and good luck. Commissioner Carollo: Good luck to you. City of Miami Page 32 Printed on 09/10/2024 City Commission Meeting Minutes November 16, 2020 ADJOURNMENT Chair Hardemon: I appreciate it. You know, actually, the fact that the governor didn't extend the, you know, the virtual meetings gave me an opportunity to sit here with you guys. So, it really does mean something to me to be able to sit here for the last meeting and say my farewell to you all. So, I'll be back. I won't be a stranger. I'll be seeing you all. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is my last time doing this. This meeting is adjourned. END OF SPECIAL MEETING The meeting adjourned at 4:09 p.m. City of Miami Page 33 Printed on 09/10/2024