HomeMy WebLinkAboutAppendix BAppendix B:
Notice of Public Hearing
aA I
MIAMI HERALD I
TUESDAY AUGUST 16 2022
Bill Maier installs an air-conditioning unit in Sweetwater. Because using AC is expensive,
cash -strapped households often cut down on cooling to lower their bills. One solution
from Miami -Dade County is cooling centers or heat shelters.
FROM PAGE 1A
HEAT
means extra weeks peryear
of the temperature feeling
like its topping 100.
"It's getting warmer
there, and while it's easy to
say `it's already hot here,'
the exposure to more dan-
gerous days is what dom-
inated the story in our
report," said Jeremy Porter,
First Street's chief research
officer.
The First Street report
found that Miami -Dade,
Browanl and Palm Beach
cowries could see about 40
extra days a year of the heat
index going over 100 de-
grees Fahrenheit. The re-
gion gets about 50 a year
now. The heat index— also
known as the `feels like"
temperature —factors in
humidity with temperature.
These findings mirror
previous studies' projections
of what global warming
could feel like for South
Florida, a warning that
pushed Miami -Dade to hire
its fu%chief heat officer, set
up an extreme -heat task
force and conduct a
heat -vulnerability sturdy.
"It reinforces what we're
already planning for," said
Jane Gilbert, the cou nty's
chief heat officer. "The
quality of life in Miami -
Dade County in 30 years is
highly dependent on how
globally we're able to con-
trol greenhouse -gas emis-
sions. It's imperative that as
a county and a state we are
leaders on greenhouse -gas -
emissions redactions."
WHO'S AT RISK
That vulnerability report,
which was published this
summer, is already guiding
investments.
Researchers found that
Miami -Dade has an average
of 58 hospitalizations and
301 emergency -room visits a
year for heat -related illness-
es. Deaths are harder to
count. In the five-year span,
only two death certificates
listed extreme heat as the
first cause of death.
ChristopherUejio, an
assodate professor at Flor-
ida State University and lead
author of the analysis, said
that's because medical
examiners have ahigh bar
for counting heat as the
main cause of death and
"heat exacerbates such a
long list ofhealth conditions
that is hard to tease tout."
In the analysis, researds-
ers found that changing that
standard to include all ill-
nesses that extreme heat
would have worsened
brought the total to 34
deaths a year.
As the county warms,
those deaths increased.
Every 10degree increase in
the heat index led to an
additional death a day, the
study found.
"Wthoutfurther adapta-
tion, we could expect heat -
related illnesses and deaths
to increase," Uepo said.
From there, researchers
took risk factors— such as
poverty, whether people
work outside or live in mo-
bile homes or ifthey have
children— and mapped it
out across the county.
The ZIP codes with the
highest risk for heat -related
illness and death were in
South Dade, Miami Gardens
and the Allapattah area.
Gilbert, the coumty's heat
czar, said she's targeting
these areas fortree-planting
and preservation to keep
them cool, and they're first
in line for the 360 new
shaded bus shelters that the
county is installing this
summer.
They're also the focus of
the county's heat -season
campaign of public-service
announcements, billboards
and presentations
"We used the vulnerabil-
ity assessment to focus our
investments in boosting the
videos and social -media
posts and bus shelter ads in
ZIP codes with the highest
rate ofheat-related hospital
bons," Gilbert said.
"We've reached over a
million residents already in
our campaign and we're
continuing at it."
LIVING AND WORKING
IN THE HEAT
While researchers looked
at a long list of factors that
crease someone's risk of
experiencing extreme heat,
it boils down to two things:
spending a lot of time out-
side, usually while working,
or living somewhere that
isn't properly cooled.
Miami -Dade has more
outdoor workers than any-
where in the state, but there
are no laws at the state,
national or local levels to
protect them from heat
stress.
The U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Adminis-
tration has been slowly
turning its set of recommen-
dations about offering labor-
ers water, rest and shade
into laws, a multi -year pro-
cess. In Florida, a bill that
only recommended employ-
ers consider offering some
protections against heat
stress (with no penalties for
not doing so) died after a
single committee hearing,
where it won unanimous,
bipartisan approval.
Miami -Dade is looking
into proposing its own pol-
icy, Gilbert said.
"We're going to get the
strongest possible policy that
we can pass and hold. We
have to hope it won't get
preempted," she said.
The other side of the
equation is housing. Most
apartments, condos and
homes in South Florida
include air conditioning,
although it's not standard in
federally subsidized hous-
ing But naming the AC is
expensive, and as the cost of
energy rises, cash -strapped
households often cut down
on cooling to lower their
bills.
One solution from the
county is cooling centers or
heat shelters. These are
public spots, usually com-
munity centers, parks and
libraries, where residents
can drill out during the
hottest points of the day.
Ladd Keith, a University
of Arizona assistant profes-
sor of planning and sustain-
able built environments,
said that these are helpful,
but they don't get at the real
problem of overheated
housing.
"If the temperatures are
still elevated in the evening
you're essentially sending
those individuals back to
unsafe conditions," he said.
"The root cause is we need
everyone to have a safe
home to live in. The reason
we need cooling centers in
the first place is we need
everybody to have a safe
place to live."
HEAT SEASON
If there is good news for
Florida, heat waves and
extreme temperatures aren't
as common as they are in
the western US. because of
the cooling effects of the
Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of
Mexico.
"There's almost a ceiling,
a physical limit to how hot it
can get because ofthe wa-
ter," Porte said. "But there
are a few places in Florida
and along the Atlantic coast
where that protective effect
is starting to diminish be-
cause sea -surface temper-
atures are increasing.'
Eyeing the potential
health impacts of heat,
Miami -Dade started an-
nouncing an official heat
season, which rims from
May through October. It's
me more way towam
residents about the risk that
they face because the
threshold for a warning
from the National Weather
Service is so high— a heat
index of 108 degrees
That doesn't happen
often By the calculations in
the First Street report, Mia-
mi -Dade has hit that figure
zero times this year, and
after another 30 years of
wanting, it's projected to
hit that number just three
times a year.
To solve that, Gilbert and
the county wonted with the
local NWS office to come
up with a lower threshold to
wam residents At a heat
index of 103, the NWS now
talks about taking "extreme
caution."
"I think the NWS has
always wanted to be mind-
ful of not having to issue a
heat advisory or heat wam-
ing too often because peo-
ple might disregard t," she
said. "It currently shows
that we have room to issue
these kinds of advisories
and still get people's atten-
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CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE OF HEARING TO IMPOSE AND PROVIDE
FOR COLLECTION OF SOLID WASTE SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS
Notice is given that the City Commission of the City of Miami
will conduct a public hearing to consider imposing Solid Waste
special assessments for the provision of Solid Waste services
within the City of Miami for the Fiscal Year commencing
October 1. 2022 and ending September 30. 2023.
The hearing will he held at 1 0:00 a.m. on September 10, 2022,
in the City Commission Chambers of City Hall. 3500 Pan
American Drive, Miami, Florida, for the purpose of receiving
public comment an the proposed assessments. All affected
property (owners have a right to appear at the hearing and to file
written objections with the City Commission within twenty (20)
days of this notice. If a person decides to appeal any decision
made by the City Commissioners with respect to any matter
considered at the hearing, such person will need a record of the
proceedings and may need to ensur e that a verbatim record is
made, including the testimony and evidence upon which the
appeal Is to be made. In accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, persons needing special accommodation a
l
sign language interpreter to participate in this proceeding
should contact the Office of the City Clerk at (305) 250-5361,
TTY users may call via 711 (Florida Relay Service], at least seven
(7) days prior to the date of the hearing.
The assessment far each parcel of property will he based
upon each parcels classification and the total number of
pilling units attributed to that parcel. The total Solid Waste
estimated amount to he assessed and collected for the Fiscal
Year commencing October 1, 2022, is $24.619 million, ,nhile
the full cast of Solid Waste services is approximately $46.955
million. The following table reflects the proposed Solid Waste
assessment schedule:
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
USE CATEGORIES
Single Family & City -
Defined Multi Family
RATE PER EACH
DWELLING UNIT
$380.00
Copies of the Solid Waste Assessment Ordinance, Initial
Assessment Resolution and the preliminary assessment roll ar
available for inspection at the Office of the City Clerk of Miami
Florida, 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida.
Unless proper steps areinitiated in a court f
competent jurisdiction to secure relief within
twenty (P0] days from the date of City Commission
action at the above hearing (including the method
of apportionment, the rate of assessment and tl e
Imposition of assessments), such action shall he
the final adjudication of the Issues presented.
The assessments ,will be collected an the same hill
sad valorem taxes. Failure to pay the assessment
will result in either the commencement of
foreclosure proceedings err cause a tax certificate
to be issued against the property which may result
Ina lass of title.
If you have any questions, please contact the City
of Miami at (305) 416-1570, Monday through
Friday between 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
TODD B. HANNON
CITY CLERK
CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
Ad No. 40158