[Music] [Music] [Music] is please take your seats the meeting is about to begin please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 1 good morning welcome to the commission meeting hybrid Commission meeting of March 13 2024 I'll ask our city clerk Rafael Granado to provide the zoom information yes sir uh good morning everyone during this hybrid commission meeting the city commission is physically present in the temporary commission chamber located at Mii Beach Convention Center 1901 Convention Center Drive meeting rooms 222 through 225 Miami Beach Florida 33139 members of the public who wish to attend the meeting or provide public comment in person may appear at the temporary commission chamber at the Miami Beach Convention Center to participate or provide comment virtually during the commission meeting the public may join the meeting by visiting the Zoom app on their smart device or on the web at zoom. us or they could do so by telephone the local phone number is 305 2241 1968 again 305 224-1 1968 the toll-free number is I'll repeat twice is 813 928 576 71 813 928 576 71 pound members of the public wanting to speak virtually on an item during the meeting must click the raised hand icon if using the Zoom app or press star9 on the telephone to raise your hand thank you mayor okay let's start the sutnik hour yes sir if there's anyone in the audience who wish to speak please uh come to the podium we're going to start virtually the first caller is Mr Ken Barnes Mr Barnes you have two minute please go ahead sir can you hear me yes sir go ahead please my name is Ken Barnes and I'm a resident of Miami day County the proposed ordinance that is going to I believe her tail-free speech is truly frightening to me as a Jewish person I am horrified by the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza and have part of the protests calling for a cease fire and an end to the unfolding genocide surely you know that not all I'm I'm gonna actually cut in this is not a this is a nonpartisan government if you want to talk about if you want to talk about the protest that's fine but I'm not going to sit here here and allow you to make accusations against the Israeli government anti-semitic in my opinion and anti-israel and I'm not going to allow it in this meeting so if you want to talk about the protest go ahead I wholeheartedly agree I feel I feel that this ordinance is directed primarily at one's right to free speech morning fact I suspect that the ordinance is motivated by your and the mayor's hostility to any criticism of the state of Israel this is United States where free speech is enshrined in our constitution stating that Congress shall make no law AB bridging freedom of speech the Supreme Court has written that this freedom is the Matrix the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom without it other fundamental rights would wither and die or do Miami Beach in Florida beat to a different Rhythm and a different version of this hallowed right yesterday a group of us handed out leaflets about the environmental degradation going on in the Palestinian territories as a result of Israel's policies the police of Miami Beach tried to isolate us to a spot where there was no foot traffic entirely negating our presence it didn't work as we found our way to a well-trafficked area but this ordinance gives the police too much power to determine to determine where legitimate and peaceful protest can occur I urge you not to pass this ordinance thank you for allowing me to speak thank you sir I'm speaking to the same ordinance I'd like to use my time to talk about why the right to protest and the right to be seen and heard is so critical at this moment I didn't catch your name can you start with your name my name is Donna Neville I'm a resident of Miami Beach Florida again I want to use this time to talk about why the right to protest and the right to be seen and heard is so critical at this moment I also want to say that if the police and City are concerned about safety it most definitely isn't those of us protesting they need to be concerned with but rather the only violence and aggression have come from counter protesters and the police the mayor should be ashamed of himself for trying to put us in a place where we couldn't be seen or heard this past weekend at the climate Justice Gathering when we were sharing educational material no member of the day should be pointed out comments in a public comment period are addressed to the to the entirety of the body no to one direct member of the city commission but to the extent you mentioned I'm actually proud of it and to call it a First Amendment Zone as he he did was well in my view ludicrous protest is always important it is and should be part of the air we breathe and growing up in Miami Beach it was a part of my life my parents protested for integration together with Martin Luther King King Jr when he came to South Florida as a young person in Miami Beach I joined a protest in support of Soviet Jews and another against the anti-gay Crusade of Bita Bryant among others do we really want to move backwards in a city in our Humanity as an and as a protector of free speech instead of moving forward my god do I wish there were more protests against Nazi Germany when my people the Jewish people were being slaughtered by the comparing are you comparing I'm not going to allow to compare I not going to allow you to stand here and compare the Israeli government the Israeli government just now I talked about protest and I wish there was protest against Nazi Germany when my people were being slaughtered that's what I said mayor okay we learn that never again means never again for anyone ever to call speaking out for justice anti-semitic is a Shonda and you should all then I can't you should all be ashamed of yourself as a Jewish person how could I be anywhere right now than on the streets protesting Israel's unable violence against the please terminate the mic please terminate the mic it's amazing it's amazing as a human being it's amazing how you don't get up here and talk about hamas's atrocities against the Jewish people the Israelis how they tortured mutilated and raped women and children but that you don't mention amazing amazing amazing how women groups across the country and the world did not mention a word about the most atrocious sexual violence against woman that is ever recorded in history and by the way and by the way let me let me finish we're going to show videos later of past protests where our residents have been harassed intimidated in violation of the law so this is not as as peaceful as you as you mentioned point out uh mayor I find as a as a half Israeli who holds a passport with Israel I find that disgusting that you would even compare Nazi Germany to Israel I start two minutes I'm a consti sir you're not next sir you're not you're not next you're not next no you're not sir we go the next speaker is Johan Moore and he is virtually Mr Moore you have two minutes sir there's somebody on the public who wants speak good morning uh I will Begin by rebuking the parties responsible on the commission for staining our reputation acting as foreign agents and attempting to undermine our constitution in service to a foreign genocidal regime you also waste our Municipal time I'm going to move on and take my own advice though and thank commissioner lingz for item R9 a she feels s our pain in the face of a broken special Master special magistrate process those are the issues we should be discussing here I'd like to discuss that issue today properly before you and uh as opposed to various interruptions of the public from the deis uh I believe that uh the special Masters process has become a fine dismissal Mill and I believe that the commission overlooks the tool that is a f dismissal process that requires a significant portion of the forgiven fine to in fact be used for various benefits such as resilience or sustainability or restoration of facade elements of the building in question or in the case of large racked up fines to get landlords such as Helios Corporation with its 35 apartment buildings to commit to affordability of a number of Apartments I believe that the commission needs to increase funding for Code Compliance in order to professionalize those of its employees who appear before the special magistrate and I want to encourage the commission to fully support commissioner Dominguez efforts at reforming this broken process it comes down to an inter or intraprofessional Gentleman's Agreement no diss on the gentleman who is our special magistrate but the public is disempowered by the process both special magistrates office and Code Compliance need funding professional your time is up Sir your next state your name and address please I speak to you today from two perspectives about your ordinance concerning protest one is a Jewish resident in Miami Beach and two is a civil rights lawyer who has spent the past 50 years litigating First Amendment cases first is a Jew some of you do not share obviously my hor Israel using starvation please cut the mic you no no no no you the resolution the resolution is discussing the right to protest you are not going to stand here and demean no he does not not no you're not this is a nonpartisan this is a nonpartisan commission meeting I'm not going to allow you to debase and lie a lie about the Israeli government you have proposed a resolution yes you can discuss that I never mentioned I never mentioned the country I don't mention anything can you cut the mic can you cut the mic yes because you're not going to discuss you can discuss you're I am not you can discuss you can discuss you can discuss the resolution I do not mention a country I don't mention Israel but I am not going to allow you I am not going to allow that in this meeting this is a nonpartisan government and I do not get into the [Music] issues and you're free to you're free to discuss the protest I'm not going to sit here and allow you to if you want if you want to run for if you want to run for commission if you want to run for commission you can run for commission you're you're close to being removed from this meeting actually you're close to being removed from this meeting yes you don't like no I told you we can you can discuss you can discuss the resolution okay I've looked carefully for laws that approximate the law that you all have proposed about standing on a sidewalk I asked your city Comm City attorney who was at the protest the other day I said Rob is there any such law coming close he says no well I found one it's a case from the 1960s Birmingham Alabama here's what the court said literally read therefore the second part of this ordinance says that a person may stand on a public sidewalk in Birmingham only at the whim of any police officer of that City the law does not provide for government by clearly defined laws but rather for government by the momentto moment opinions of a policeman on his beat so that's the company in which this city is going to find itself Birmingham Alabama of the 1960s there's a term for laws that allow the police to decide who may or may not stand in a public place it's called to police state that's what you're proposing you want to consider and pass this resolution you better speak to your lawyers and get a legal memo you haven't gotten it yet sir because you will end up in court with this ordinance thank you our next speaker is virtual our next speaker is let's see Nicole Morse Nicole you have two minutes please sayate your name and address please thank you my name is Nicole Morris my address is 4200 Community Drive West Palm Beach I'm a resident of South Florida and I'm an observant Jew who has participated in many protests in Miami over many issues I am here today in absolute shock and horror to witness friends of mine Jews like myself being called anti-semitic by members of this Council who are claiming to be nonpartisan while shouting propaganda about a foreign Nation this is not a space in which any decision should be made that would impact the Free Speech rights of US citizens and residents in the US what we are witnessing here today is people who are attempting to silence the public by using accusations of anti-Semitism against Jews and it is utterly inappropriate it is utterly inconceivable that a body that is behaving this way to Peaceful citizens speaking their minds would purport to make any decision about what police might do and not do for any protest within the city if you cannot even tolerate the disagreement of Jews who disagree with the views that you are clearly stating despite calling this a nonpartisan hearing then you should not and absolutely uh should never authorize the police to police and manage and suppress speech the principle of freedom of speech is sacran and what I'm hearing today is such an intolerance for speech such an intolerance for people who disagree with you having anything or any right right to say what they believe that I want to Echo what my previous uh what what my friend and the previous speaker said that what you are proposing is a police state that is horrifying it is unconstitutional and it is utterly inappropriate for a body that is behaving as this body is behaving today to attempt make any regulations on speak next please state your name and address please good morning ladies and gentlemen Mr Mayor uh my name is David Rodriguez I'm the docm Miami Beach Marina here to speak in regards to um an incident that occurred on uh February 9th at the Miami Beach Marina where I had a deny illegally enter the marina um we observed them coming into the marina we flagged them down they refused all our orders to stop we figured well there's somebody might be lost so my guys came out they said they were on the all the way down into the north side taking pictures when they came back I asked them what's going on they said um oh we looking for fuel which is impossible because if you know our Marina Once you walk into the marina I mean come into the marina there's the fuel station right in front of youting time so when we went around the I told them come around the side they came around the side I said you want to get fuel now we're here to take pictures of uh David uh Suarez's boat on North side we could do whatever we want and um at this time I told them what are you doing why are you here no we could do whatever we want at this time I told them they had to leave um they left uh after that I started getting pictures all over social media saying that I'm a dog hater that I kicked them out because of their dog and this is a person that's had dogs his whole life and still have dogs and I love animals and then I start getting harassed on social media by people friend requesting me and asking all these questions and stuff so um this is all I have to say about this matter thank you ladies and gentlemen thank you point of order mayor um David can you can you mention who the person was right here right here right there and this is the lady we have the video complete and everything was alive no you edited the have the whole video we have the whole video don't get the right to whatever you want excuse me you have your time okay in front of the microphone we can't have sorry officer okay okay our next virtual speaker actually is Andrew D Mr D state your name address please hi my name is Andrew dley Miami uh 1661 West Avenue representing the Sunset Harbor boers Association uh I'm here calling today uh in opposition against some of the bills proposed to restrict boers uh living in the bay we support working with the boter rather than evicting a 100 residents from their homes on the water all the environmental claims against the boers have been proven false the truth is that this is an effort led by the wealthy cond owners and associations like wava to get rid of the voters because they don't like looking at us voters who are ruining their perfect view this is the worst kind of segregation and gentrification I would like to remind everyone that those who stand by idly while Injustice is enacted are just as guilty as the attackers I would also like to ask for an apology from every single member of this body I would like an apology for the dock every single in this person in this body voted to remove that dock without talking to a single voter without giving us proper notice without considering how this may affect their livelihoods and families without giving them a chance to resolve the issues I would like an apology for the defamation of the voters the city of Miami Beach engaged in a coordinated smear and harassment campaign against the voters while they knew these statements were false in fact the city of Miami Beach has been sued for dumping 17 million gallons of sewage into biscan Bay and here we are again today after the Florida Senate resoundingly rejected the city of Mii Beach's false claims about the voters and significantly reduced the anchoring limitation areas in Senate Bill 192 how does the city of Miami Beach respond they proposed their own anchoring limitation area they offer a dingy dock for $750 a month with no services for voters which is more than triple that of a comparable public marina and they proposed to continue to waste tax dollars and initiatives that don't address the real issues because they have never been able to properly address them so I asked the city of Miami Beach today are you willing to make a commitment to work with the boers thank you sir your time is Sir your next state your name and address please you have two minutes my name is Carlos Leon I'm N I live in 920 Jefferson AV I'm here just because if you can see we're being harassed we're being targeted and everybody's on their phone nobody's paying attention and it's very very sad that we've been harassed online we've been harassed by the West Avenue we've even gotten three four visits by one of your Commissioners suito okay and and and he he even Dove under Dove under my boat he's been harassing he's been passing by my house he's been telling old old ladies to write emails about me it's it's sad soon soon we'll we'll have a six oock curfew to be able to be on land that's what it it's going to you guys are seriously following this guy right here that is is real real dirty you guys have to be care careful he has a background he's been arrested and and you have to be careful yeah smile because you you've been harassing us since December since December you passed by my boat you now you're putting an ordinance not to be able to leave our dog on the boat it's crazy what what else do you want you we can't go to Publix after 6 o'clock because your rich friends don't want to see us huh do you want us to wear a start too yeah that's what you want right huh I'm asking you to speak yeah he he talked last time he asked he asked the the doc the dog Master that's the dark master you guys are going to oh and another thing he wants to use the fuel thing because of that issue so I don't have an a way to get it got a fuel that's all his plan and you have to realize that every single meeting he tells every boater to go to the marina oh why don't you park in the marina because you have 20% over why don't you tell your buddy friend to to lower down the commercial Chargers in the marina you guys are over 10% thank you sir your time is up our next virtual speaker is Michael leak sir state your name address and you have two minutes go ahead sir good morning thank you the efforts by commissioner Suarez regarding boat squatters I'm asking you to please please consider passing C7 Y and r5q if this is not passed and taken seriously more people and boats will come in our waterways the effects that I have the effects environmental damage to bisc Bay sewage discharge and trash grinding away of seabed grass by anchors sunken and abandoned boats must be enforced and dealt with I have witnessed loud music drug smell barking dogs are a nuisance we as residents must abide by codes and laws why not Boat Owners other areas of our state have taken similar actions Miami Beach needs to do the same this isn't a rich versus poor issue it's regarding doing the right thing and enforcing codes I am a resident of Miami Beach and I hope you will pass this thank you mayor and thank you Commissioners for listening thank you sir our next speaker please state your name and address sir you have two minutes Mr Mayor Commissioners Christopher panel is from acran Lop law office is located at 98 Southeast 7th Street I'm here to talk today about item r5a and c7i I would like to respectfully request that item c7i be pulled from the consent agenda to be talked with item r5a uh this is in regard to the uh ban on rental watercraft um I represent biscan lady yacht Charters which is a longtime operator in the the city of Miami Beach they span three generations of folks who've been operating in the city they have a legal licensed uh BTR and operation within the city and I would like to respectfully request that c7i be pulled and discussed with R5 ia uh at the time that there was a public hearing scheduled for 1010 a.m. thank you so much thank you I just want to mention whoever's online will be heard and whoever has raised their hand on Zoom will be heard but we're not gonna we're going to end up going over our time for sutnik so we're g to just keep record we're going to cut it off whoever's online you're good whoever's on Zoom raising hand you're good please okay start oh go ahead no no nobody online yes sir is so you're yes yes go thank you thank you Mr Mayor your name good morning everybody my name is Wally Moran I'm the president of the Cruisers right network of North America we're a boating advocacy advocacy group in the nearly 20 years that I've been involved in boating advocacy in both Florida and Georgia I have never seen any City so dedicated to destroying its local boating community not only are you dedicated to it but certain among you brag to the media that that is your goal I hope you're proud of yourselves hating a group of your fellow citizens so much that you attempt to drive them out of town just who are these people that you're hating some of them are professional boat captains handling big Yachts for their owners some of them are veterans now working in such esoteric areas as data science some are former corporate Executives or actors some are retired veterans didn't catch and some of course work at less glamorous jobs but they're all human beings excuse me I didn't catch your address your address I didn't catch your address my apologies um Melbourne the problem for you folk is that they choose to live in a different fashion than you do they choose to live on a boat now will somebody please on this Council tell me what's wrong with living on a boat some of the multimillionaire homeowners in Miami Beach are upset because they look out their windows and they see a boat may I remind you that Boats were here a long time before Miami Beach existed in fact they anchored where now there are houses because that land did not even exist 100 years ago go it would be impossible to recreate that land now because it would be environmentally unsound to do so and yet you continue to make false observations such as the last speaker did not the last speaker the last Zoom speaker made that the voters are the ones who are polluting the bear destroying the seag grass those claims have been proven several times to be false by no less than reputable organizations such as Surf Rider foundation and FIU but still still you people continue the lies as part of your Vendetta you've made it impossible for these local citizens to be able to go to shore for their jobs for medical appointments for groceries and water one of you even brags about the fact that you're forcing people to act illegally to live their lives well as they say in the South bless your hearts so today you've decided to extend an olive branch you're going to offer these people better access to the dock at Maurice Gibbs park I've read the memorandum and it's a joke violating several Florida Statutes in several different ways I'll speak more to that this afternoon since my two minutes are up appreciate it thank you sir our next speaker is Clive Pierce Mr Pierce your name address you have two minutes go ahead sir let's go to Michael Rafael good morning mayor go ahead go ahead Mr Pierce good morning mayor Commissioners fellow residents my name is Clive Pierce I live at 60th in Indian Creek I have noticed a little area known as Normandy Cove right behind Fire Station Number Four at 69th in Indian Creek there has always existed anywhere between seven to nine boats on the water there that never move some of them are definitely Li boards cuz sometimes you can see laundry hanging outside and I've always wondered who these people are with the little dingies or kayaks Tethered to their boats two days ago I was at my dentist office and I'm sitting next to somebody in the waiting room and we started a conversation because one of the magazines on the table was boating us turns out that his business is Marine Salvage and he's telling me what a great business it is and he's always busy but really piqued my attention was the fact how expensive it is to raise and refloat up remove a boat he was telling me in the majority of his business is from unfortunate owners where the BGE pump stops working or heavy rain sink their boat at their dock but he says the real Payday is when a deric boat sinks and people just walk away and leave a mess he said most of these boats sometimes owned by an LLC and not registered or insured and the owners can't be found so it's left to the city state or County to clean up a mess but for him it's like a guaranteed payday with a fat check from the government it's kind of like if you had a car truck that has a lot of issues not worth fixing so you just drive it downtown pull off the license placeat and walk away for him it's great payday and especially if it sinks with fuel or Garbage left on board now we're talking about an environmental problem because most boats typically have some fuel left in sewage tanks he says it can cost anywhere between 15 and $30,000 to raise a boat and tow it away and if an EPA cleanup is required it's even more money what's better for him he's bragging is that he gets to keep the boat part it out and scrap it for money on top of everything else so I started thinking about who's paying for all this well guess what indirectly I am we are I just want to bring this to your attention thank you so much for your time and I commend commissioner sharez on his resolution c7y and r5q thank you very much for your time thank you next please two minutes St your name and address please good morning my name is Jana I'm not gonna say my address because the doc Master didn't need to say it uh I'm going to send the video of what happened in the marina to all the Commissioners to all the Senators I'm going to do a big email how I already sent I think this Saturday to all the Senators even on the San is interest what is going on in the Miami Beach so what we going to do about the boat harassment we just going to skip the city and we're going to go talk to the Senators and see if they can help us because uh I don't think so the city is trying to help us the solution for the new dock is more harassment that the help telling us we cannot leave our dog in the boat telling us we have to move the boat to Cent our way like you don't respect Senate if the Senate say be able to park there you're going to be like oh no they cannot park there because they ugly in my view let's put the ne rals for the city you cannot go against the Senate's law and it's not going to take you far away thank you thank you our next virtual speaker is Michael Rafael state your your name address and you have two minutes excuse me that was completely completely completely inappropriate what you just said my hopefully hopefully the mic didn't pick up what you said sorry M Rafael go ahead please thank you my name is Michael Rafael I'm a Miami Beach resident I am so glad that city council is finally addressing this very serious problem I believe the source of most of Miami Beach's problems is in this problem the rising cost of rents has nothing to do with outdated zoning codes or all of the exemptions given to developers of overpriced so-called luxury condos no it's because of all these damned anchors boats the air pollution that leaves soot on my balcony has nothing to do with planes flying overhead cruise ships or all the traffic no it's these damn boats speaking of all this traffic it has nothing to do with the overdevelopment it's these damned anchored boats don't even get me started on the flooding problem here on the beach abs absolutely nothing to do with aging infrastructure or climate change mythology no it's these anchored boats in the bay displacing the water causing it to rise a rising tide does not lift all boats it's all the boats that lift the tide duh crime homeless people sleeping on the streets drugs all of this can be laid at the boughs of these damned boats I mean what do these people think this is a land of liberty and freedom before all please so thank you esteemed council members for overlooking all these other minor inconveniences and finally dealing with this huge pressing problem this abomination of boats now seriously you all are trying to pass an ordinance to ban responsible voters from anchoring overnight in the biscane bay allegedly due to safety issues derc boats and pollution concerns caused by very few irresponsible owners conservatives believe that responsible law-abiding gun owners shouldn't be punished because of the actions of a few irresponsible and evil gun owners thank you sir your time is up a minor thank you so much next please state your name address and you have two minutes please hello my name is Nissa King I'm a writer I've lived south of 5ifth for three and a half years I don't live on a boat in the bay so this commission's actions over the last three months really don't impact me directly but I'm here speaking up anyway asking that the commission reverse course and reinstall the dock on the 17th Street Canal why am I doing this even though I'm not a Boer because I'm concerned that this issue is bigger than boating on December 13th this commission deemed the boers in biscane Bay unwanted and stated that they were going to therefore cut off their Lifeline by removing their access to land please let that language sink in cut off their Lifeline it's describing an intentional assault on the lives of a group of residents what has followed has been increasingly hostile measures against the boers that amount to a government sponsored attack on the group of Miami Beach residents residing legally in their homes if you think that's extreme listen on January 6th the city removed their only dock preventing these boers from accessing land to get food water medical care or go to work in February they started surprise inspections police invading their homes late at night without probable cause and without prior notification a few days ago they released a draft ordinance masquerading as a compromise with the voters but is really just a forc eviction whether or not you want boats in the bay what we have here is a government body attacking a group of Miami Beach residents who are legally living where they are we cannot abide by a government behaving this way because if they can do it to one Community they can do it to any Community what you do to one of our residents you do to us all there are better ways to clean up the bay please put the dock back and stop collectively punishing this community as a means to an end thanks thank you our next virtual speaker is Jean F please state your name address and you have two minutes hi my name is Ella f um I live in Miami Beach um and I just wanted to say um that as a Jewish person I'm very disheartened to see the memorandum against free speech that's being brought today I know that earlier it was said um not to bring up Israel because this item today is nonpartisan but the precedent for this item which was brought to the Commission in December does explicitly mention um speech that happened at in art basil action in December um and it's clear that today's proposal is based on the mayor's concern for specific types of speech that he disagrees with um and that December proposal is pretty much all of the evidence that you need to show that it is specific type of speech that is being targeted here um and therefore it is important that we acknowledge both the precedent in December and the the unconstitutional nature of the memorandum that is being brought to the commission today thank you thank you our next virtual actually it's in person go ahead sir you have two minutes state your name and address please yes my name is alexe a phonin 1661 West Avenue thank you very much for letting me speak um I'm a retired Captain still hold a 50 ton Master's license I'm also an actor I was in stranger things a Netflix television show um my wife and I live on the boat um in Sunset Bay and uh our boat is nice beautiful clean fully functional we're very uh careful about uh disposal our of our waste um as far I understand there is no seag grass underneath us uh it was dredged when they were putting the Venetian Islands so um uh a few of us a couple of weeks ago went to Tallahasse to um see that the SB 192 uh uh bill um doesn't happen but it was amended and um our rights to live on the water were okay so um therefore I always thought that uh where our boat is is the state water and now I see that actually Local Government Can overwrite this particular bill um that kind of doesn't seem right to me I was born and grown grew up in Soviet Union and uh my family my parents and my brother left in 1973 and my parents left Soviet Union as Soviet Jews to make sure that my brother and I grow up in the country that exercises democracy and freedom and this particular situation I'm sorry reminds me a little bit of Soviet Union thank you thank you sir our next virtual speaker is Wayne Roberts Mr Roberts state your name address and you have two minutes good morning ladies and gentlemen um I'm going to State it on behalf of a lot of residents I know and myself that I appreciate the efforts of uh David Suarez and Mr Miner in protecting interests of the residents of Miami Beach that um Drifters that hang out off our waterways uh that utilize our land uh without paying taxes is not democracy it's Anarchy what's more uh having um uh uh zealots that uh are clearly pro- Iranian even if they're Jewish uh that uh they don't have any outrage when they attack uh the people in Syria and kill 600,000 people just a few months ago there's no there's no outrage but when Jews defending themselves after an attack we're not allowing them on our streets to insult and um effectively destroy state of Israel um as as a purpose they might as well go to Iran that's and and wear a head scarf and um you know uh be controlled that's the control that that they they want ultimately will be um if if Israel did not defend s uh there wouldn't have been 1500 people dead there would have been 8 million dead and it's war war sucks it's terrible but I will not thank you thank you thank you sir sir go ahead state your name address you have two minutes please hello my name is Michael Plumber 1521 Alton Road um I wanted to save this one for private but it seems other people should probably hear it too I I have no position on the isi Palestine conflict I'm just purely bipartisan and I would actually appreciate hearing both sides of the argument um when you guys when you guys say no protesting you know that that stops both people by the right or wrong from speaking and that's a Bill of Rights issue also wanted to remind this um you guys have Miami Beach Florida code ordinances subpart a citizen Bill of Rights um number 18 ethics and government City of Miami Beach officials and employees are agents of the people and hold their positions for the benefit of the public as public servants they are to observe in their official acts a high standard of conduct and to discharge Faithfully the duties of their office regardless of personal considerations and interests maintaining the respect of the people in their government must be of foremost concern now I was here speaking about the boats but obviously the respect of the government the respect of the people in their government must be a foremost concern is not something that's on your minds right now and I I would just like to urge you all to just step back and make sure you're actually being bipartisan and also you trampled over 40 people's rights when you overturn that Dock and you had Reasonable Suspicion to believe that it was in the public interest I'm now telling you I'm one of those voters I look just like you they mistake me as a city official coming in here we look just like you guys we walk among you and now that you know better you have an obligation to never do it again and just work with us and allow us in your city if you want to charge us charge us if you want to price us out price us out but do it ethically and what's right for the city do not please just think of all of us as homeless and dumping in the water there's been numerous studies saying that that's not true and you just need to actually have an open mind thank you thank you our next speaker virtually is Cindy esel Cindy please state your name address you have two minutes hi good morning mayor and commission my name is Cindy esel I'm a south of beach resident um I'm the longtime resident um and activist here in in Miami Beach I'm in agreement with commissioner Magazine's item r5v the ordinance regarding City committee appointees that are paid I'm in full agreement and spoken with him on this item um as campaign workers um that are paid it can can be seen as unnecessary lobbying I I've witnessed it firsthand and spoke to him about that I do urge the commission after reading carefully this ordinance and being um as a city volunteer for many years and happy to help our wonderful City I urg um commissioner magazine and members of the commission to revise for clarification unpaid volunteers with and without expenses and why because that is currently noted noted as as fok into commissioner magazine it is lumping both together um by clarifying this um ordinance today it will allow unpaid um campaign volunteers that do occasionally work on a campaign to be able to work freely as well as continue to work for the greater good of the city on commission um uh commission um committees thank you so much for your time thank you our our next virtual speaker is Andrew diely please state your name address you have two minutes did okay I already sh it I I'll diver thank you okay thank you Audrey bombs Audrey please state your name address you have two minutes Andre PJ I unmute yourself please mayor we have no one else thank you p mayor there's no one else in S no no I I had already stated that if you weren't online that wasn't going to be hurt I'm sorry no we went 15 minutes over I'm very I'm very easygo goinging but we have to have some the next second is at 1M go ahead 30 seconds but next time I'm just saying I I'm going to stick to the rules that what I say I said it very clearly that end the Su but go ahead first of all I want to say thank you for what you've all done with spring break it's been so far very good I appreciate your effort I know name address sorry name address please oh sorry uh Richard sementelli and I live on Miami Beach at uh 220 um 20th Street so um I I'm concerned about the boat issue too I live here um but when I looked into the issue I realized that most of the claims that were made about what's wrong what's going on there are not really true because um the first thing they said is that there's dumping in in the in uh sewage in the in the bay which isn't true that was debunked the seagrass was never there to be scraped away there are derel boats and we have laws for derel boats to get rid of them and we're all in favor of anyone who's breaking the law we all are Law and Order people and we just want our rights I mean you have this 1,000 foot barrier which the the whole area is 2016 ft and when you take out the channel for the boats it leaves less there's basically no place to park a boat you can't put a boat anywhere so you guys are just eliminating all of our rights to have any uh Anchorage at all for things that are not happening for things that are not happening these things are not issues time is up sir thank you thank you so um we are now going to have a special rendition it it's uh it's actually St Patrick's Day coming up and I've asked Don worth who's a very talented bagp player and he's going to sing God Bless America [Music] [Music] go [Music] [Music] you're like d boy I can do that [Music] for [Music] Don worth that was beautiful we often associate bag pipes with funerals and uh it's nice to hear it on a very special happy [Music] occasion thank thank you Don I was not expecting that thank you um I'm actually now going to ask for inspirational message and I thought it was appropriate uh considering the month of March we're uh so far so good uh very successful peaceful enjoyable and uh I I could not thank our police department and all our sister agencies and state agencies that have that have been assisting us and uh I really do I have so much respect for what our law enforcement does each and every day but especially during this time and um really much appreciation so I'm gonna ask police chaplain Erica summer to give the inspirational message good morning um well this is my first time attending one of these so it's quite colorful and very interesting but I thank every single one of you for your service for your commitment to serve the community of the city of Miami Beach that is just so diverse in so many different manners I've lived in Miami Beach and worked in Miami Beach for probably almost two decades and and I love the beach and I love the diversity um so I was just planning on praying is that okay absolutely okay God Almighty Lord I Thank you for this place where you have given us freedoms where you have given us the ability to come together in our diversity and seek ality Lord I ask that today as these proceedings continue that there would be a spirit of peace that would enter this space that Integrity dignity honor and love would enter this space that people would be quick to listen and slow to anger slow to speak and that as we continue to have conversations that we would be open to really hear even from different perspectives and that we may approach each other with with honor please help us I can only sense your own grief when so many just feel unheard or feel so upset or so angry but we're all after just really the same thing we all want a life that is Peaceable that is with honor and dignity and so Lord show us today how to do that I pray this in your name amen that was beautiful thank you always appropriate to pray so um I'm gonna actually ask for the Pledge of Allegiance uh many of you know that at at inauguration I announced a new position that I was going to be creating a public safety enforcement advisor it's something I had thought about actually a couple of years ago and uh now that I'm in this position obviously uh reporting to the mayor but also obviously to the to the entire commission very proud to have you on board Christopher from mlan will hear more about you and your impressive background but please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Chris thank you Mr Mayor fellow Commissioners I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Mr great job thank you so before we move on uh thank you to all my colleagues for for being here and actually uh commissioner Tanya bot is going to be on on Zoom uh due to a family emergency she is uh out of out of state but um I'm going to allow our City attorney to explain uh how and why commissioner bot will be able to fully participate in this meeting and vote accordingly thank you mayor good morning everyone so under state law in order for official action and and for for in order to take official action and vote on agenda items a quorum of the city commission is required to attend the meeting in person members who participate remotely either by phone or in this case by Zoom may only vote under extraordinary circumstances uh under Florida attorney general opinions a medical issue is an extraordinary circumstance U Comm bot has explained in writing to us that her daughter is obtaining medical treatment in Houston and uh commissioner bot is a part of that treatment plan and so uh I I have given her the opinion that she can fully participate today remotely and and vote in this matter I apologize mayor commissioner bot would like to make a statement if possible oh absolutely commissioner bot PJ yep PJ can you yes commissioner you're available good morning everybody can you hear me yes wonderful I just wanted to say um thank you to the city and staff whove been uh and my colleagues who have been incredibly um accommodating dur during the last three and a half weeks or so as this slow rolling medical emergency has been unfolding I can assure you I'm sitting in a very glamorous holiday in on a strip mall access road to a highway adjacent to the medical center um having the time of my life but I am honored and thrilled to be here with you executing the duties for which I was elected and to my colleagues who I may have inquired about why this was permissible um it is important to me to continue to be active and engaged as I have been throughout the last few weeks and I don't want any of our residents to think that that is not the case I take my job very seriously and any working mother um has had this situation come up especially or single parent has had this um situation come up and uh this is just more public than it would ordinarily be so I thank you all for um uh the opinion and for letting me continue to do my job as um directed by the residents of our wonderful City thanks thank you commissioner bot and uh yes I can I can say firsthand you do take your uh elected responsibilities extremely seriously and I think the fact that you're even participating today fully uh despite uh obviously this uh family situation that you're faced I think speaks volumes about you and and a testament to you and by the way it's very clear the audio it almost sounds like you're here so uh no worries about that so just uh before I turn it over to our city clerk for any announcements um I did mention at the last meeting that any addendum items we would vote on as a body at uh five o'clock or later I think we do have a Time certain at 5: and uh we'll consider those uh at that time and if they're approved then they'll if time permitting they'll be heard uh Mr Clark you have any other announcements yes sir so item c7l has been withdrawn you can make that notation c7l uh commissioner magazine and mayor Miner has separated the same item c7t so c7t is being separated from the consent agenda that is the only item that's being separated however since the mayor says said that he will hear all addendum items after 5:00 we will be excluding from the consent agenda items c4t as in Tom C4 U c4w c7z and c7a so we will be hearing all those after five o'clock so if I may have a motion to approve the consent agenda excluding the items I have just mentioned I move the agenda all in favor I it's unanimous the consent agenda is approved excluding those items uh we will also be hearing after 5 o' r9ap AQ a r and as no other announcements sir excellent let's start um r5a yes sir r5a is actually just to make sure uh City attorney can we hear that or do we need to wait till 10:10 for that we need to wait till 1010 okay so let's go to R5 J what about the consent we just voted on it excuse me the c7t was not included in the items that were going to be heard at 5:00 pm correct we'll hear it okay that's my top priority I just wanted you know absolutely no we we'll hear that way before 5 o' R5 th the chair um R5 J is contingent upon on the county I'm sorry there's a request to refer the item to April 3rd so yes I'm sorry uh R5 J is contingent upon the county and so we're waiting for them to have the next commission meeting to to decide so I I deferred it to April thank sir so R5 J has been done deferred till April r5k r5k is a norance of the mayor and Cate Commission of the city may be Florida amending the code of City by beat subp Part B entitled Land Development regulations by amending chapter two of the of the resiliency code entitle Administration and review procedures article two entitled General development applications and hearing procedures section 2.2.4 entitled public hearing by amending subsection 2.24 one entitled public notification to establish a notice procedure for certain discussion items that are scheduled by land use boards and providing for codification repealer sub ability and an effective datee r5k is a first reading five sens votes are required r5k this is uh commissioner bot and uh item co-sponsored by commissioner magazine does commissioner bot want to be heard before Tom speaks um yeah I'll just I'll just heat up very quickly and then let go through the the details but you know in the spirit of residents rights um uh residents right to know which mbu was instrumental in crafting and the Commission in 2017 adopted as the law and which has been significantly improved every year um going forward um this is one of those things that seems to have just sort of fallen through the cracks it is uh a need that was not contemplated but is easy to address now and that is what this seeks to do so Tom please take it away sure um good morning uh Mr Mayor members of the commission this particular ordinance um deals solely with discussion items so this does not in any way impact the minimum notice requirements for regular application items for arly unused boards and in terms of discussion items what it does is it creates and codifies minimum notice requirements for discussion items and they would be 10 days prior to any discussion that pertains to a single property a courtesy mail or email notice must be sent to that property owner and with regard to multiple properties at least 10 days before that discussion um there must be notice posted on the City's online agenda uh system um as just a a um a point of information our staff will typically include notice for discussion on items within the main publish notice for each meeting because typically the board if they request a discussion item it will be for the following agenda this particular codification however would require that that discussion take place no earlier than the next agenda in order to meet these notice requirements the planning board endorsed this ordinance um by a unanimous unanimous vote and the administration recommends approval at first reading um if if I could just jump in for one additional second um I would like to actually encourage us to not just reach out to Property Owners we are seeing increasingly that a property owner may be an absentee landlord and um um so I would like to find a way to let anybody who is paying a water bill or with a registered address in the um in the prescribed area be be the person receiving the notice because Property Owners may not be the residents who are affected so I'm not sure exactly how that would look but um I would encourage us to include that as our thought process commissioner do you want to move your item commissioner bot sure if nobody else has any comments I'd like to move it with that additional caveat however top is that an amendment yeah and to confirm um commissioner bot that would be in addition to the property owner um the tenants of the building so it's a single property it would be the tenants that would be notified and if it's multiple properties it would be the tenants in addition to the property owners correct yeah um and also um you know relying on the properties um you know if it's condo for instance relying on the HOA or the board of directors of that condo is not sufficient we've seen recently um where there was Outreach done that was handled by the building office and a few people on the board and most of the 300 residents had never heard anything about it so um in my view on this s of noticing more is is better so yeah thank you so I guess with with those adjustments I'll move it I'll second call the vote any discussion so none if so commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner bot yes commissioner magazine yes mayor Miner yes motion carries second reading is second reading public hearing is scheduled for April 3rd that was r5k don't go too far Tom R5 L yes sir r5l is an ordance of the mayor City Commission of the city of Miami Beach Florida amending the bami beach resiliency code by amending chapter 7 entitled zoning districts and regulations Article 2 entitled District regulations at section 7.2.1 17 CCC Civic and Convention Center District to modify the height limit for hotels and providing for codification repealer severability and an effective date this is a first reading the item requires 5 SS vote it is r5l sponsored by me commissioner Bach commissioner Dominguez commissioner Suarez and Fernandez and Fernandez so we have five we have the five votes anybody want to hear a discussion any comments let's take the vote I need a motion please second a second that commissioner vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Suarez he he voted yes and he's a co-sponsor thank you commissioner bot yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Dominguez yes mayor Miner yes the item is approved 70 second reading public hearing is April 3rd that was item r5l it's a bit unorthodox but I'm just thinking if anybody in the public doesn't know what this can you explain in one or two sentences what this item sure Mr Mayor this is a very simple item in the Civic and Convention Center zoning District the maximum height limit for hotel uses is 300 feet this would lower that to a maximum of 150 feet it would not impact the current um approved Convention Center Hotel that is a slated for construction okay thank you r5m m m as in Michael got it r5m is an ordinance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of Miami Beach Florida amending the Miami Beach resiliency code by amending chapter 2 entitled Administration and review procedures article one entitled land use board section 2.1.2 entitled planning board at the sub at subsection 2.1.2 point2 entitled membership and appointment section 2.1.3 entitled design review board and subsection 2.1.3 point2 entitled membership and appointment and subsection 2.1.4 entitled historic preservation board at subsection 2.1.4 point3 entitled membership and appointment to provide that the water management expert position on the land use boards May alternate alternatively be occupied by a person who is a resident at large as set forth in the ordinance and by providing for codification repealer cability and effective date this is a first reading the item requires 57 vot is r5m sponsored by commissioner bot hello again um again a very simple notion and I'll let Tom do the heavy lifting on it um but you know these um all of these land use boards have very specific criteria to ensure that we have the best representation of views and background and experience to come up with the best um advice to give to the commission and that is a noble undertaking but some of these things were contemplated before um resiliency issues and and water issues in general were as big a uh consideration what we do as a community as they are now we in fact have revised our uh municipal code in some in our in our land use regulations to be more resilience focused and I don't think a single conversation happens about um development or Redevelopment or adaptive reuse without conversations of um impact on resilience and and uh water expertise in whether it's it's sewer lines or storm water or flooding or Road raising so while this is still a noble undertaking it is also very difficult to find people who are willing to serve who don't have other conflicts and in this very narrow category um I think we are limiting really excellent the the the um volunteer work of really excellent candidates who may not have this particular expertise as professionals but um have lived here know the issues understand the issues can represent the issues um as an active enged resident and with all the work that the staff does and um you know that comes up as a matter of course in any discussion now I think we would be better served to if we cannot find somebody to fill that particular qualification which would always be the first choice um find a resident at large who is wonderful in every other possible way wonderful and qualified let me add vice mayor yeah do I have somebody to move i' like to move the item okay have a second I second okay let's call the RO thank you commissioner bot commissioner magazine yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Suarez yes mayor Miner yes thank you approved unanimously the second reading public hearing is scheduled for April 3rd that was item r5m thank you Tom r5n r5n is a nance of the mayor City Commission of the city of M Beach FL amending chapter 2 of the miambi beach city code entitled Administration by amending article three entitled agencies boards and committees by amending division 33 entitled North Beach community redevelopment agency advisory committee to amend the section 2-1 19.151 thereof entitled composition knowledge and experience to add a representative of the Normandy Fountain Business Association as a non-mod non- voting ex official member of the committee and providing for repealers sub ability codification and an effective date this is a first reading the item requires for s's vote it is item r5n commissioner bot is the sponsor sick of me in a few minutes you want to make sure we know you're here well that's right um so this is um this is a role that actually has been filled by a voting member up until recently the Normandy business um Norm Fountain Business Association is a um an organization that has for the last I don't know when it was formed exactly but three four five six seven years um number of years has been increasingly active and productive and successful in activating and reimagining the Normandy Fountain area and if anybody's been to North Beach in the last 12 months versus let's say 12 years ago um you'll see a market change we have a number of new businesses everything from most recently on Sunday a Pottery Studio which I cannot wait to visit to um new restaurants um we've got a great one of our great bars is up there and um uh and not a troublemaking bar a great business owner um and so this organization has been actively making these changes possible and in addition to that they are also sponsoring and largely responsible for with the help of the city and other organizations um Regular cultural and Community activations on an almost weekly and sometimes more often than once a week um schedule which are Music Arts dance um um Vintage Fair you know buying opportunities uh Easter egg hunts holiday events um music of every stripe soccer celebrations you name it it happens at Normandy Fountain and this business organization this business group is the group that has been largely responsible for making it happen and so um it is very important that they continue to have a v a voice on the North Beach CRA and even if they don't have a vote um uh we want to make sure that their views and their input are heard and and part of the deliberation process process so that is why I am bringing this this motion or this uh this item moveed by commissioner Suarez have a second from commissioner Fernandez there's no discussion we'll take the vote commissioner Suarez yes commissioner bot yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez mayor Miner yes motion carries second reading public hearing is April 3rd that was item r5n thank you recel R5 R5 is an ordinance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of May Beach Florida amending chapter two of the Mii Beach city code entitled Administration by amending article three entitled agencies boards and committees by repealing division 14 entitled Next Generation Council and providing for repealer severability codification and an effective date this item is a first reading R50 I I am the sponsor commissioner Suarez co-sponsoring thank you for that I move the item item has been moved by commissioner Suarez we have a second I'll second it anyone want to be heard commissioner Rosen Gonzalez so this is an item to uh repeal and remove a committee for our young for young adults and a committee is really only as good as it's leaon and I think what happened with this committee which was very exciting when we established this committee for Millennials and Next Generation residents was at the liaison um first stopped the meetings and had them quarterly there was also something uh interest bizarre about the committee that I think it only had a one-year appointment it should have been a two-year appointment like every other committee and I have to look legislatively and make sure that that's true but I'm not supportive of this item today because I encourage our youth and our young adults to participate in local government and that's what this was about it was about Commissioners reaching out to Young members of uh Miami Beach and asking them to take part and you know pass resolutions and weigh in on items that we're completing right now especially resiliency items because they're the ones that are inheriting our committee so I disagree um with this and I'm I'm a no vote today commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor um so I understand the the the intent um but I do I do feel that um sometimes boards and committees are only as good as as the way we we staff them um I do see such great value to a to a committee uh like this um in part because if I weren't on the city on the city commission I would I would qualify to be a member of this board and so and and so to the extent that we want to encourage young individuals to be engaged in government to to to have a voice in our local decision making I think it's important uh to um to to to to keep this board constituted I think it's hard a lot of times to find those boards where someone between the age of 18 and 36 can offer their voice in any substantive way um but this is one of those uh I'm happy to revisit the idea um in some time if the if the composition of the board doesn't improve if the output from the board doesn't doesn't get any better but I recently appointed for for example Britney B another new Young leader that's moved to our community the head of our Chamber of Commerce I mean how exciting is that we have a millennial who is the the head of our Chamber of Commerce now that inserts Youth and optimism and new energy and new way of seeing and doing things in Miami Beach and in our business Community that's so valuable and so I want to keep on to encourage young people to participate in our government I can't support board this today um but uh but what I'd like to see is see how we could make this board better how we can assign a better leas on to it to get better output from it thank you Mr Mayor thank you actually I I agree with both your comments commissioner Fernandez and commissioner Rosen Gonzalez comments the problem is we have not had a quorum I'm being told by for two years so there has not really been a meeting so you have people who want to be engage some people who want to be engaged but there is actually no meetings being held and then it becomes uh unfortunately it's it's a it's it's it's a waste of time for the people who want to participate and it's also a waste of City resources so I I agree if I can just if I can just finish so I'm happy to be heard heard from everyone I'm happy to reconsider trying to reconstitute this but two years is a long time without having a quorum at least that's the information that's being provided to me commissioner sare now I get the commissioner magazine the the previous liais on was was Eric cholis and he is a um I think we can all agree you know he worked with commissioner arola he was very Hands-On very engaged I don't think it was his fault at all that the administration kind of never never gave it the proper attention I think it's just the the composition of that board just wasn't as as enthusiastic as as they as they were and so um you know I'm going to support this item because the last two years it has never had a quorum so um I I just want to be be careful that we say who was responsible for not you know making sure that this board uh was active and and the previous liaison Eric cholas I think he's one of the most active you know public servants we we've had so I'll end with that thank you commissioner magazine thank you Mr Mayor um and you'll never see me supporting something of a continuing process just for the sake of doing so uh but I do do believe and it's been one of the focal priorities of mine even before I was elected to have uh younger people engaged and uh really put forward their ideas to how they want to also craft our city um that being said uh it's never good to put forward uh the desire to do something without a solution uh I would ask if you would consider uh I can pledge I'd take a leadership role in trying to over the next three months uh really make something out of this committee get it engaged get it up and running um if I'm unsuccessful in doing so uh you'll have my support to fold this committee um I would just ask for the opportunity to be able to do so because I really think it's important to have uh our young people have a voice in our community thank you commissioner Dominguez thank you um commissioner Suarez and I actually had a sunshine meeting about our committees um because the city has over 40 different committees they all require staff support and Liaisons and and they are a lot of work and this was actually one of the Committees that came up because of not having Quorum for two years that um it should be sunsetted so I'd support doing that today and happy to revisit in the future if it's something that can be uh revitalized okay thank you and you bring up a good point commissioner Dominguez there's actually three referrals on this agenda to create committees they're all they're actually all good ideas I'll say that but we'll and and we'll let the committee process play out but I do have a concern about that generally the amount of time that our Administration uh has to take to attend these meetings provide updates take minutes um there's a lot of work that goes on and they're important these committees but um I'm I've actually been looking at ways to potentially streamline that where our and the boards will remain I don't want anybody to get a misconception but how we can streamline and maybe reduce some of the staff time that we're taking because ultimately we need to make sure that our Administration is doing the things they they they need to do to keep our city safe clean and and all the things that we're we're working on and sitting in those meetings and hearing the input is important unquestionably but um sometimes I think there's duplicative efforts uh so that we can streamline I think commissioner bot you may be the only one who hasn't been heard yet if you I don't want to put you on the spot if you just want to vote you're welcome to do that but do you want to be heard no look I I love the idea of of getting um younger active voices involved I just think that based on the last two years um that has not happened and so totally open to um revisiting the future but the current configuration of how that works is not working and so I don't want to just continue it and hope that we have a different outcome good thank you okay let's take the vote so on item R5 commissioner magazine this is the disband it yes sir no commissioner Dominguez yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez no commissioner Fernandez no commissioner bot yes commissioner Suarez yes mayor Miner yes item passes second reading public hearing is scheduled for April 3rd and and I and I hear the the interest and if we can bring this back I'd be I'd be more than supportive to to have this reconstituted if we can get people who are engaged and interested actually there was somebody who called into my town hall last night and he uh his name was Angel if I recall and he actually identified himself early on when his comments his questioned that he was 25 years old and he said I know that's a rarity that because we unfort it's it's it's just the fact that we generally don't hear so much from our from our younger residents so it was actually refreshing and hopefully we can get people involved I I would love it I it would be great and I'd be I'll be the first one to jump on board and reconstitute this committee if we can do that Mr Mayor if I may well I and I don't know if there are any vacancies that may exist on that board we still haven't disbanded because we don't we haven't had a second reading of this once over next city commission meeting April April 3rd April 3rd so that's a little bit less than a month maybe if there are young people out there that are interested in serving in this in this committee maybe they can reach out to individuals that may have vacancies uh so that we you know may see if there's there really is an interest out there between now and April 3rd um from residents in our community Young Voices that may want to be interested in serving and commissioner magazine thank you for for for your comments it sounded like and and I don't want to speak for you but it sounded like you might potentially be interested in assisting with this committee yeah and perhaps uh through the mayor sorry um between now and second reading maybe we could refocus is the youngish generation Council maybe go to 45 and under um because I do think that there's still a vacuum of people in that age range not self- serving at all right to be engaged in our city I think this is a platform to do so and if we can do that and reconstitute it even before second reading I'll be I'll be happy to to to support support that and and get it going maybe bringing this item like this will serve the purpose exactly thank you Mr Mayor commissioner Rosa Gonzalez I think that all it needs is somebody willing like commissioner Magazine's office if you said that you want to revitalize the committee I think that if you Institute monthly meetings um and and because the quarterly thing didn't work it wasn't ever present people didn't attend the meetings that I think you'd find that there's a probably a lot of enthusiasm um for this committee I just didn't understand the one-year appointment it should be a regular appointment on that committee too we should you should consider changing that legislatively so they have people that are invested in the committee from one year to the next and then make sure that the Le is on who really scaled back the meetings and nobody's laying any blame it's a lot of work uh if you Institute the monthly meetings we all have an appointee to that committee the people will attend uh the meetings they have to or they're going to be kicked off so um yeah it's only as good as uh the people who are running the meeting by the way one of the issues I heard there was a committee that I try to um appoint someone it wasn't this committee uh a youngish uh resident who was all interested he actually had asked me for a while and I finally had an opening and then he came back to me I'm like I'm sorry I don't want to fill out the financial disclosure form so uh I think we sometimes we lose people on on that I don't know if that's the case in this committee but I I've heard that unless anyone else wants to be heard um let's go to r5p r5p is a notice of the mayor and City Commission of the city of man Beach Florida amending chapter two of the might Beach code entitled Administration by amending article 3 entitled agencies boards and committees by amending division 21 entitled Mar and water firm protection authority by amending section 2-1 19049 thereof entitled powers and duties by creating subsection 4 thereof to authorize a marine and Waterfront protection authority to make recommendations to city manager and the city commission regarding potential suspension or revocation of business tax receipts for commercial Charter operators that engage in nuisance or habitual unlawful activities and providing for repealers salability codification and an effective date this is a first reading it is item r5p commissioner Suarez the sponsor thank you for recognizing me Mr Mayor uh so our marine water protection authority board is unfortunately just a rubber stamp uh for a BTR process uh they actually have no authority to uh deny a BTR in fact if a if a business comes before them and they have all sorts of issues or violations they still have to approve them it's almost like a formality U so you know they came to me and they asked me well you know what what what more Authority can we have since we are the Marine water protection authority um and I I met with our city attorney's office and they they said you can't deny a BTR however you can have a review process for um for any issues re involving existing businesses and bring them forward to a board to discuss these issues in a formal process and if they believe that uh they've the certain criteria have met or they should be revoked of their BTR they'll give that suggestion to our city manager and to the Commission in which case we can both review the uh the issues and so uh this has been a long time coming you know just the other day there was an accident on the water where a man got sucked into the propeller his arm I think got amputated unfortunately and you know we don't necessarily know the details however the water is almost like the Wild Wild West right now with these Charters and so I think it's a good step in the right direction to bring Law and Order uh uh to our to our Charter vessels so um I welcome the input from my colleagues and I'd move the item do we have a second okay I'll second does anyone want to speak on this item so let's call a roll Commission Fernandez yes commissioner [Music] bot I'll go back to commissioner bot in a second commissioner yeah I'm sorry it took me a second to my little button yes thank you commissioner commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner magazine yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes mayor Miner yes the item passes second reading public hearing is scheduled for April 3D that was item r5p so we have a 10 o'clock time certain for C1 and we have County Commissioner Mickey Steinberg in the house it's so we we're going to be doing C1 uh so we are recessing as a commission meeting we are reconvening as the CRA so this is this item is CRA 1 exec North Beach CRA agreement with Bob's your uncle Mr Mayor I move to convene the CRA meeting to suspend the city commission meeting and convene the CRA meeting do we have a second commissioner Dominguez you want to Second it great all in favor of reconvening as a c okay great so by read the item me commissioner Steinberg welcome I'm used to sitting next to you actually at these commission meetings so you're very far away it's not done by Design don't worry thank you great to be here who's taking who's taking the lead on this Raquel Williams good morning honorable chair and board of directors recel Williams assistant city manager economic development director in September of 2023 this body approved the commercial facade Improvement program for the North Beach CRA and and the program was launched last year in September today we have the distinct honor of recommending our first uh fully vetted applicant for this program uh the program authorizes the board to approve a grant on a reimbursement basis of up to $20,000 for eligible project expenses today we have before us an application from Lola Rosa Inc doing business as Bob's your uncle a local Neighborhood Restaurant and Bar in the Normandy Fountain area the project contemplates awning lighting and painting project costs are estimated at about $6,500 so the matching component which is capped at 70% would Encompass about $4,600 uh we have the co-owner of Bob's your uncle here with us today Danielle slaven and I'll take any questions that you may have I move the item second if there is no discussion then so let's call the rooll it could be done by a Voice vote so all in favor I I so I have SE seven zero with mayor Miner absent oh here's I mayor yes on on the extension on this lease C1 yes so it's 80 and we thank commissioner seinberg thank you thank you we ask that we reconvene the city commission meeting motion to reconvene that's a Miami B City commission acclamation thank you we reconvened okay let's call R5 Q you want to do Q or yeah okay let's call r5r r5r is an ordinance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of man Beach flid amending Chapter 30 of the man Beach city code entitled code enforcement by amending article three entitled enforcement procedures by amending section 30- 72 thereof entitled conduct of hearings by creating subsection C allowing only one continu for the city and one continues for the alleged violator except in exceptional circumstances and providing for repealer sub ability codification and effective dates this is a first reading it is item r5r VI okay so r5r is commissioner Dominguez floor uh thank you vice mayor uh so this item in the last uh few weeks I've attended several special magistrates meetings and I've seen um a big opportunity for efficiencies to be made in that area I've spoken to code and the clerk's office and uh given some recommendations that they're looking into and uh one thing that I saw was there were items on there for a year or more because of the game being played of uh continuances and we really need to get these things resolved D and decided on and my uh recommendation in this first reading item is for special magistrates to allow one continuance per side uh I spoke to a special magistrate about it uh and that was fine and also the city attorney's office who agreed Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you commissioner Dominguez I want to thank you for bringing this item forward um I I think it's one of the failures uh in in the process uh of no one in specific but of process itself the way that it's gained uh by violators sometimes uh requesting endless numbers of continuances um at the expense of the quality of life of our residents when those violations noise violations and other types of violations can't be adjudicated and then the due process can't continue in the interest of the residents of our city that have called code to enforce on a business so that then the planning board can have a progress report on a conditional use permit but they can't because the violation just ends in this endless loop in this Loop of continuance and continuous and continu and who is who is the one at the greatest detriment the quality of life of the residents and the taxpayers of the city of Miami Beach and so you have brought forward something that I think improves process improves our residents rights makes our enforcement mechanism with code enforcement so much more meaningful because now it requires for there to actually be sooner rather than later uh a hearing with with a determination whether a viol VI whether a violation is to be upheld or not and uh I actually like to join as a co-sponsor with you because you've crafted something that is definitely important to improve process thank you so much so commissioner Dominguez are you moving your item okay this is not a roll call it is it is a roll call call the roll please so I have a motion by commissioner Dominguez seconded by commissioner Fernandez commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner bot yes commissioner Suarez vice mayor Rosa Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez yes mayor Miner yes item passes second reading public hearing is scheduled for April 3rd that was item r5r I'd like to call c7t is this a good time commissioner rosing house that was the item pulled c7t yes sir c7t is suspend expenditures towards fire station one project at uh sscc it was separated by commissioner magazine and mayor minor C7 point point order U mayor we have a 1010 uh r5a I I'm assuming c7t might take a little time um and I don't know if anyone's here for r5a to speak that might take some time I called it we're GNA it's not a time it's a Time certain in the sense that it cannot be heard before that time it's not a it's not a Time certain in the sense that I promised that it would be heard at that time but if we we'll we'll hear it next c7t okay um yeah commissioner magazine um regarding the fire station uh not going to beat this to death or be labor this um just laying out how I see this ultimately playing out um it seems as if we now have two options moving forward with the fire station the original location at the Southshore Community Center or there's a a new location that uh City staff is exploring now and that is on the uh Western portion of the Flamingo Park uh track and field um and this item is to essentially stop expenditures relating to uh placing at the Southshore Community Center while I am uh eager to hear staff come back with a recommendation uh how feasible Flamingo Park would be My worry is uh there hasn't been full community vetting and uh after if City staff does come back and say yes this is feasible we essentially sit there as an elected body and start hearing from our constituents that say we don't want this in a park and then we've kind of abandoned plans for the South Shore Community Center and we realize that a park uh may or may not be feasible um so I just want to highlight that's kind of where I see this going uh where if we take the Southshore Community Center off the table and then find that this new location is uh not feasible either because logistically City staff says it will not work or we is a elected body hear from our community and say this is not an adequate option either we are quite literally back at the drawing board where we were five or six years ago so again not going to beat this to death if there's room to move forward I'm not going to sit here and throw hisy fitter fight uh leave that up thank you uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez um I will defer to hear what commissioner Fernandez says and then I'd like to speak after if that's okay commissioner Fernandez and then commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and commissioner bot is also requesting to speak and then commissioner bot thank you Mr Mayor um and I understand the concerns of of commissioner magazine you all know uh how how passionately I feel about this that we uh need to um deliver a product for the fire department that addresses response times and anything that delays that is not anything that I can support and so I share a lot of your same sentiments and concerns um where I perhaps see a little bit differently and where I can align with this wrest solution is that it says everything that you said but then until the city commission receives and evaluates recommendations on the options and viability of other suitable locations for the project and I anticipate that being if it's not the next city commission meeting the following but I really do think it's going to be the next city commission meeting I hope I see our director of Capital Improvements uh at at the podium and I would like to through the mayor uh recognize uh David um do you feel comfortable saying that by a by the April 3rd City Commission meeting you'll be able to come forward to us with some sort of recommendation in particular I'm I'm very much focused on the side that I brought forward having to to do with the western boundary of Flamingo Park um do you feel you'll be able to come by the August City commission meeting to give some sort of um evaluation or recommendation and feasibility as to that site uh good morning Mr Mayor and Commissioners uh thank you for letting me speak uh commissioner Fernandez we feel comfortable at this point being able to come to the April 3D meeting with some form of recommendation including any potential consequences or or otherwise associated with any selection of any of the sites perect that has been uh proposed thank you thank you Mr director and that to me is important because also uh we've been reaching out to Miami day County uh my office together with the city attorney's office uh as to the possibility of doing the required referendum um we've been dealing with the elections Department with the county attorney's office with the political body at Miami day County and and all those Logistics and we would have to make a determination at the April 3D meeting some sort of determination so that we can then follow the legislative process at the county to be able to get an August referendum on the ballot and so I really find this to be consistent with all of our efforts I don't see this uh you know necessarily causing any any significant interruption or delay uh to the process that our staff is doing so I feel comfortable supporting this item because it's consistent with a word that I've given the public with everything that I've stated on on the record and the efforts that we're engaged in uh as it relates to advancing a viable solution a responsible solution for the fire department at fire station one thank you Mr Mayor thank you commissioner Rosen Gonzalez thank you commissioner Fernandez um I love that the reason I brought forward this item is because of as of the last meeting um and this is about the South Shore Community Center on Sixth Street where there is a daycare where we closed down a senior lunchroom over covid that was never reopened and uh what we have right now is uh two Divergent directions we have the city staff that's currently working um actively toward getting this on the ballot and moving it into Flamingo Park I know that also Comm bat is actively working toward finding a location and in the interim our city staff is still working toward a June demolition which by the way is less than three months away um I would like to take this community center off the table completely and just move the direction to either get behind commissioner bot or commissioner Fernandez take the Southshore Community Center off the table I'm going to bring an item next month to reopen the senior lunchroom and get our HUD funding because now is when you have to submit the applications to get the funny and what I will tell you is that lunchroom on 6th Street when I first started in politics up until the pandemic when I would step foot in that lunch it was our poorest senior citizens it was the poorest of the poor who had no voice to advocate for themselves many of them probably supported you in your elections they're the residents of lulav and the surrounding buildings of the Southshore Community Center um I'd really like to just take it off the table I I I really commend commissioner Fernandez I'm a little bit I'm not going to say that I'm not nervous about a countywide referendum but I think that if we work with the county and he's working diligently with the county to get that ballot language ready to go on the ballot that we just once and for all take it off the table because I know that um I I heard from one of our residents the other day from Flamingo Park that they're actively working with commissioner bot to find a space commissioner Fernandez also has an initiative to find a space I know that I'm supportive of this I also know that commissioner uh Suarez and commissioner domiguez in the past have have expressed and I don't know how they're going to vote today but I they've also expressed intent to try to save this historical structure and its resources so to give the administration this conflicting Direction doesn't make any sense because what are they spending on they're spending on a building a trailer to move the kids out of their brick and mortar daycare at the moris Lapidus Center and I'd like to move in the other direction I would like to be painting the building with Barbara hulanicki and making it pop and making the neighborhood giving the neighborhood something prideful and beautiful I would like to issue an RFP that I'm going to bring forward next month to open a dramatic or a theater company for the second floor which has a beautiful stage and can be completely populated I want to see the Southshore Community Center thriving so since I feel like we're finally moving towards someplace positive I going to try to get the get it up and running again because that's what we need to do uh everything else is just just a waste of money let's get that neighborhood uh Center up and running let's get a theater program in there I'm sure that we can have something really spectacular for the neighborhood reactivate the senior lunchroom and uh finally just uh take it off the table and that is why I'm uh you know pushing for this today so thank you commissioner Fernandez for your support on this resolution thank you commissioner bot hi um so you know I think we're all trying to find the right way way to proceed um we all have different ways of working I don't put a lot of stuff on the agenda despite appearances to the contrary with the items this morning I do a lot of things with collaborative meetings with staff and residents and neighborhood groups since the January commission meeting where we were unanimously given giving direction to the staff to look for alternate sites in service of getting a new Fire Station built and also trying to protect this uh Southshore Community Center I've had comprehensive meetings with an with the team uh from the staff to look at four in fact um uh sites um two of them came off uh let me correct myself three sites and then with the addition of the um the Flamingo Park one now four um that was brought by um commissioner uh Fernandez is two of the sites have been crossed off the table uh crossed off the list because they do not work there's no way to make them work the the size doesn't work the configuration doesn't work there are two sites that we are going forward with and I have been meeting and speaking with David Martinez as he said that um he will be he and the staff will be ready to present rough recommendations or at least a a a sense of whether or not something is even possible by the April 3rd meeting I think to suspend anything and to start reactivating something now is premature so I would actually request that this be deferred until the um April 3rd meeting because if God forbid and you know I'm I've got fingers and toes and eyes crossed that one or both of these alternate sites will be feasible but if they're not then we are back to where we were a decade ago and I'm not willing to make that decision now in the absence of information so I don't think it does any harm to defer this by three weeks I will expect at that April 3D meeting uh a full comprehensive vetting of the total cost of all three options assuming that the two that we are still investigating um are feasible in terms of demolition costs rebuilding recy in moving this moving that reconfiguring the entire thing Soup To Nuts um I am also leery of um putting an official pause on contracts that mean that we might if we need to re-engage them in three or four months um you know we've lost the the contractor teams that are working on our projects um it is likely that the Southshore Community Center would need to be closed for some small period of time for painting and and regular other maintenance anyhow so I'm not entirely sure that we are squandering money by continuing with the program for the kids in the park I just think that we don't have enough information right now and three weeks is you know a a a blip of an eye um to get the correct information in front of us so we can make a better informed decision about the future path that we want to take thank you commissioner bot commissioner Suarez you know not to Echo too much of what commissioner Gonzalez said um you know I'm I'm I'm fully prepared to save the South Shore Community Center and so um I believe that commissioner bot had a referral or deferral for April 3rd um and I believe that takes precedence but I just want to let everyone know that that is where that is where that's my position and so um okay so I'm counting here I have commissioner Suarez commissioner Fernandez myself I'd like to hear from commissioner Dominguez before we move forward because she'd be the deciding factor oness thank you um I'd be happy to support the deferral so is that a second there was a motion to defer but we need a second I'll second just a question uh David thank you for in practicality what is the what is the impact that this item has if any I mean is is this going to stop something that's actually ongoing right now um yes it is this uh formerly uh it basically translates to a stop work order on all contracts uh which then we would have to get into whatever the contract language and requirements are uh that either the contractors or consultant could uh buy them elv by uh there's going to be uh um a restart I if we end up back here it'll the restart would be much slower and and it'll cause a delay there could be some potential Financial impacts what I would propose if in fact um the vote is to to not spend any more money on until we make a decision in April uh at least allow us to spend some small amount of money to keep some of the paperwork going and permits alive and in certain things so it doesn't just you know stop and have a greater impact when we tell the contractors that we're abandoning this particular project and going towards a different location just to minimize those potential Financial or exposure okay thank you let's hear from commissioner Rose Gonzalez commissioner Fernandez and then I'd like to take the vote make no mistake about it it's moving toward a June demolition so a deferral to April that leaves two months before we move toward demolition so by not stopping it right now um is really in order to just get rid of this Center we really every other neighborhood said we don't want it you went South the fifth they said we don't want it Flamingo Park said we don't want it then you went to pray on the poorest of the poor and they had no choice they had no voice and the push back that I'm getting to advocate for this group of seniors I I really want to thank commissioner Suarez and commissioner Fernandez um for you know for their finally you know saying yeah we need to stop it and go in a different direction um I would love to I guess we have to vote on two motions um we have to vote on the motion to defer and then we have to vote on this additional item that I have um on the agenda and I would like to call both of those votes Mr Mayor if you can call them please I just want to turn to our City attorney I I I'm not sure that's the correct procedure but I'll turn it to City attorney if the motion to defer the item passes then the the main motion would not be before the body on the deferral Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you let me explain why I'm not going to support a deferral because what does this item do it directs to temporarily temporarily suspend any expenditure towards uh towards fire station one at the Southshore Community Center it until the city commission receives and evaluates recommendations on the options and the viability of other suitable locations for the project and Mr director when do we anticipate that being and I'm sorry repeat your question when when we will when do we anticipate uh to receive and evaluate uh recommendations on options and viability of other suitable locations for the fire station one project uh just commissioner as I mentioned we should be prepared to have that discussion on April 3rd April 3rd and while we anticipate that this item could cause delays and financial impacts if we do proceed with another side we're still going to have delays and financial impacts is that correct that is correct and if we proceed with another site those delays and financial impacts will probably be greater than the delays and the financial impacts of a temporary suspension as associated with that item wouldn't that be correct that is a great possibility okay and so and and and and part of what's important to me is upholding the public Trust on our commitment to stop the demolition we publicly stated at the city commission that we were going to stop the demolition until such point that we made such determination and that commitment that we made to the public is very important to me because we've made a commitment to the fire department and we're moving forward with that commitment but equally important Is our commitment to the public um to to to temporarily stop this and this item I believe is is consistent with that commitment we've we've made and so um to my colleague the sponsor of the item I I'll I'll tell you I don't feel comfortable you know starting to say oh let's go paint the property let's go start find ways to program the property because we're not there yet I think we got to be very careful about process making sure that we move in a very methodical way but I believe the item you've sponsored and you've placed before us today is consistent with the process and with all the commitments we've publicly made to the residents and to the taxpayers of the city of Miami Beach I cannot support the deferral because of that uh but I think that this item is very much aligned uh and I think I I think we don't harm the project even if the decision is not to go with some other site and to continue as the Southshore Community Center I don't think this item harms harms that and so and and so and so I cannot support the deferral today mayor commissioner Gonzalez commissioner B is also oh yes I was going to well I would like to hear from commissioner bot because I was actually going to ask her a question so commissioner bot so I would um I would just like to correct the what I heard um and and maybe I misheard but nobody is signing on to a demolition and I want this to be crystal clear the commitment was made to not move forward with the Demolition until we have vetted all available sites currently that is what we are doing there is absolutely no movement to demolishing anything until that V has happened we have heard from uh the director of CIP David Martinez that in fact um this effectively becomes a stop work order and that it will actually harm the process because we get into contract issues and so it is a question of keeping just enough going to keep the paperwork going in the event that we end up in the possible event that we end up continuing with the Southshore Community Center which I can tell you is not my desired outcome but I am also very mindful of the commitment we have made to keep the process going on a dual track and this is not doing that this is stopping one track in service of the other they don't need to be that doesn't need to be the way that we proceed we can continue to proceed on the Dual track we will have in three weeks a very robust analysis of what is possible and at that point can say you know what we feel good enough about option A or option b that we can now stop further work on the Southshore Community Center other than rehabilitating it and bringing up it up to its possible glory and that's it that is the full extent of what the deferral is is doing commission thank you commissioner bot commissioner Rosa Gonzalez commissioner bot thank you so much uh for your comments um I would like you to know and be crystal clear that that is not the Direction um that the commission has given the administration right now the administration right now is moving toward a demolition and that means that they're moving toward wait wait a second we continued this I I I don't want to be interrupted here the direction the cific the codified direction right now I would like to make that clear with the city attorney right now because David Martinez can say whatever he wants but we gave a direction and the legal Direction right now is is moving toward a demolition you're getting 90 days out from a demolition and uh that makes me extremely extremely nervous especially when we're dedicating resources to something else so um Raphael what is the current direction that this commission has given on the Southshore Community Center because moving toward the Dual track is moving toward a demolition and I would like everybody to be clear on that because I think that there's that there is no clear Clarity right now I I believe at the last meeting the the Comm Mission authorized adding the Flamingo Park uh uh location as a potential site that would be explored along with other sites and clarified that there would be no demolition until un less and until the city commission uh acted on those alternative sites and made a decision as to how to proceed that's correct okay can I ask a question what so they're not demolishing but moving toward demolition means constructing the daycare Center in a trailer in the park are we currently moving forward with the construction of a daycare in the park are we building the trailer as we speak we are not Mr so this is only paper pushing that's it sort of speak what do you mean sort of speaking what mean meaning meaning there is no there will be no mobilization on any site there will be no construction activity on any on either of the two sites it just means the doing the the permitting requirements keeping permits with the different uh agencies up to date and and then minor off office type related uh technicalities that happen prec construction before the work takes place so purely administrative at this point that that is correct until we get the April 3D recommendation we're waiting from the county to hear from the county on this is that what's happening there there's different you know permits that that that are in the final stage uh and some that we have so we have to you know extend we have to also you know look at the Grant and make sure that you know the the grant stays in place uh so there may be some work some help that we might need from the consultant not necessarily from the contractor but from the consultant to keep the the the project at least viable and until you all tell us that we're going to a different site that that's all that I would put out there and when on April 3D we find that it does fit on that site and that we will be going to a referendum um well like what kind of direction would we need to get at that point once we get on April 3D will this body be making a decision if the county says that it's fine and we just have to pass a referendum and the fire station one fits on that site in the park I mean are we going to uh I've commissioner Suarez has been steadfast um and F commissioner Fernandez this is your initiative so I understand that and I see that with me we're at three votes I'd like to know that if the site is vetted on April 3rd um I would like to hear from my colleag Coles if that site is vetted are we going to finally switch the direction so we stop this and move to a different direction that's a separate item well I know I think it's all interrelated for me it's very important and it's very inter interrelated and these are a lot of taxpayer dollars moving forward with all of this stuff I'm not quite sure um why we continue moving forward with something if in two weeks we're all going to make a different decision what's the big deal we have a motion on the table we have a second I'll I'll let you be heard but I think it's time to call the vote and and I understand that um just just number number one I I think I think we have to be very very clear and consistent here I cannot support anything I I can't support this if we're going to give misinformation so if the intent is to give misinformation it is very it is very clear the city manager has stated on the record that we are not moving towards towards demolition so if we're going to misrepresent the record if we're going to twist things I can't support you in that I can't support and you had the floor and I did not interrupt you so please do not interrupt me if we're going to follow process we're going to you know follow follow process I this is just something temporary this is this is next month we are we we are coming forward uh with with an with an analysis to see if we're if we're going to proceed with the Flamingo Park site commissioner bot is leading a tremendous effort with Good Will with uh with with with good intentions to find another alternate side she's been leading on this and she's been dedicating so much time to meet with staff and with other stakeholders to find a viable solution to this but there's no misrepresentation here no one is moving towards a demolition I just want to be very clear about that no one is moving towards a demolition that commitment was made at the last meeting and all that and all that they've done is just make sure that permits are kept alive because that is your your your item is speaking about the interest of fiscal responsibility keeping permits alive is as well equally in the interest of f of fiscal responsibility because if in the next meeting what if this body says you know what we have to keep it at the Southshore Community Center it is in the fiscal in the interest of fiscal responsibility to keep permit alive so that we don't have to later on deal with added Financial impacts your item today the way that is stated is proper in the process what's wrong is when we start to misrepresent it and twist it and that's what I cannot support if we stay proper and in process and professional with a properly written document as we have now that they set out perfectly I can support this because the impacts are minimal but the moment we go Rogue and spewing misinformation and lies and that type of stuff then I have to step back and say I can't support that because that is not right I have 20 seconds if I could and I need to and commissioner B is also magazine and commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and then we're even though I've said this before we're going to take the vote keep this short uh whether it be April 3rd May 15th we're going to have two perhaps three options here we're going to say Southshore Community Center we need to move forward we can move forward at the Flamingo Park site or we do nothing okay that's that's what we're going to be left with I have no dog in this fight I understand a critical infrastructure project like this is going to come with imperfections and we're going to get pushed back no matter what path that we choose right so on April 3rd if we would say yes it's going to be in Flamingo Park everybody that wants to Pres preserve Green Space which has just as every right to do that as people that want to preserve a building are going to come reaching out in Mass so us as elected officials will be looking at two different decisions say upset the people that want to maintain Green Space upset the people that want to maintain a building or we just don't go forward with the project and we lose tens of millions of dollars in geobond funding and uh State Grant and we uh delay uh 10-year critical infrastructure project so just so nobody is under any any other Illusions those will be the three scenarios that we're facing in either April or May commissioner Rosa Gonzalez and then we vote commissioner B is also first first and foremost I would like to explain to everybody that it's not misinformation let me explain why I'm thinking the way that I am okay it's not to deceive anyone what is our final goal our goal is to preserve this Center and reopen the senior lunchroom and keep the daycare in a brick-and mortar spot that's permanent wait yeah we just need a fire station if we give that the dire what what even keeping a permit alive to put the kids in a trailer means that we're moving toward a demolition I understand well well you know listen I it's a it's very frustrating as somebody who's who's really trying to save this building to continue to defer and to prolong and it's been years and years and you know listen um if commissioner but you want to defer until April 3rd um that is fine but on April 3rd I'm going to bring a series of resolutions to this body so that we take some direction at that point in time and really I I would tell you that there is resounding support across this community from thousands of residents that have responded that really do want to save this now people have it in their hearts in their minds they see that it's something that should be done and I would so like to be able to say to everybody tomorrow you know what our commission cares they care about that neighborhood we care we it takes a village you know what that means we take care of our weakest and that's why preserving this is so important and you're right there is going to be push back for Flamingo Park too but the only thing that I can say is that that piece of land is a budding Alton Road and it's not taking away from any enjoyment of the park so I'm not saying that that's going to be an easy Road either but at least we're not praying any longer Upon Our most vulnerable because that for me is unacceptable and to watch this happen over years and years and to get to this point where we're so close and to now have to defer until April 3rd I'll support your deferral commissioner bot but I would like this body to take some serious action actually I'm not going to support the deferral I'm not I'm going to vote no on the deferral today I'm sure that the deferral will pass um I would like to ask you commissioner bot on some level to withdraw your deferral and to just finally give direction to find another site because once we give direction to find another site the Administration has to find another site whether it's where they currently are right now in Flamingo Park South the 5ifth purchasing a property once we give that direction Everything Changes until we don't give that direction we're still moving toward a demolition commissioner bot would you consider withdrawing your deferral there's a motion and is a motion in a second um City attorney what's the what no you're right there is a motion in a second and it's it's before the body there's a motion in a second do you want to be heard commissioner b or yes please go ah we actually have four options before us on April possible options before us on April 3rd we find that one of the alternate sites is a possibility we find that two of the alternate sites is a possibility we uh find that neither of those sites is a possibility and have to proceed with the Demolition or we find that neither is a a possibility and we choose to go a different path not demolish and start the process over I am not willing at this point to make a a decision that has such a large Financial impact into to our residents to our budget and and could potentially um have repercussions for years to come I will tell you that I am a th% on board with the desire to save the Southshore Community Center as my record has stated very clearly going back four years and commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I share your deep concern about the fact that time and again the residents who are not organized um in homeowner groups or resident associations don't have a voice and that is frustrating and not how this is supposed to work I I hear you loud and clear and I I share that concern but we are talking about a matter of three weeks where we will have yards of information where we have nothing but speculation at this moment and I am not willing to make a b a decision based on speculation at this time thank you can we vote um you it seems like you want to speak I'll give you the Liberty obviously because I know how passionate you are about this and I commend you for that but just like a resolution I mean Mr Mayor I would like to ask you as a leader after we vote on this I'm voting no on the deferral you know what commissioner bot in Goodwill no I can't I'm not to vote I'm not voting to to wait any longer I'm voting no on the deferral um but I would like you you've listened to this body commissioner Suarez has a commitment to save the Southshore Community Center so do I commissioner bota said she's a th% on board for saving it and so is commissioner Fernandez so all of this is just a big political process theater because we have the votes to move forward I understand that the process is important but why can't we just say today let's just save it just save it because everything else is confusing it is confusing for David it is confusing for CIP the fire department would like resolution the union would like resolution my office would like resolution on this the legal department who I'm going to now sit down with and craft a series of resolutions for next meeting on the sou Shore Community Center they would like a little bit of rest bit so why can't we just make the decision today I mean if it makes you happy commissioner bought 3 weeks that's fine you're going to get your three weeks today because your your deferral is going to be supported but I don't understand why three weeks is going to make any difference if you're really a th% on board for saving the center then we have the four votes to save it so the deferral is really kind of a moot point because we know that we're going to save it at some point in the future isn't that true okay Commission with the desire to commission you have not been recognized I am calling the vote call the vote Rafael yes sir to to Def we have a motion in a second on the deferral deferral to April 3rd want going to call a rule yes commissioner bot to defer yes commissioner Dominguez to defer commissioner Fernandez no Rosen Gonzalez commissioner magazine yes commissioner Suarez mayor Miner yes the item passes the item is deferred to April 3rd that was c7t we'll call r5a r5a hold on for a second r5a is in ordance of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city Miami Beach Florida amending the Miami Beach resiliency code by amending chapter 7 entitled zoning districts and regulations Article 2 entitled zoning District regulations Section 7.2.2 entitled WD Waterway District at subsection 7.2 21.2 entitled uses wd1 to prohibit the rental of watercraft and subsection 7.2 21.5 entitled additional regulations wd1 to clarify existing requirements for legally non-conforming watercraft rental uses and providing for codification repealers have ability and an effective date this is a first reading public hearing the item requires a 5 S vote I see no one on zoom and I see no one in the audience wishing to speak at this time commissioner Suarez there is a person okay um thank you for recognizing me Mr Mayor um so allow me to te let me allow me to te this up for our planning director um the in the Indian Creek Waterway is predominantly all residential okay residential neighborhoods surround the Indian Creek Waterway um right now the operation that's going on in in the Indian Creek Waterway is is is is not meant for a residential Waterway neighborhood uh there's no dock Master there's no bathrooms there's no fuel dock uh there's no pumpout stations uh nothing that a traditional Marina would have to support this sort of commercial oper operation in a residential neighborhood um you know after knocking on thousands of doors this this last year one of the biggest concerns that we've had is traffic traffic is is unbearable and there is a particular location where traffic is really bad and that's the 63rd Street Bridge Okay that bridge goes up all the time and the reason it goes up all the time is because of Charter operations and so um you know I find it very disc I find it in infuriating that our residents have to wait for a bridge to open up that stalls their day for 20 minutes just for party Charters to go through okay um not only that but that bridge in particular at any time of the night if that bridge opens for these party Charters that bridge has to Signal a horn that wakes up the whole entire neighborhood and its surrounding okay um not only that but while the bridge is opening these party Charters consistently have their volume up way too loud waking up Neighbors at any time of the night and it's a quality of life issue so you know we are in the process right now with rebranding our city as a catered to Residents not to the party scene and the Indian Creek Waterway is a residential Waterway it was never meant to be what it is today which is being commercially used and abused so um I'm going to te it up for Tom or I already did but Tom if you can give a little bit uh insight into what this favorable planning recommendation was which passed 70 uh that'd be great thanks sure uh good afternoon mayor and members of the commission um as commissioner Suarez indicated um this particular proposal would amend the Land Development regulations of the city code with regard to the wd1 district and the wd1 district is basically a small sliver of land that's on the east side of Indian Creek from roughly Lake Panos which is about 23rd Street up to 53rd Street um the item was referred to the planning board um and on February 27th the planning board unanimously transmitted this proposal to the city commission with a favorable recommendation specifically it would amend section 7.2.2 one.5 by no longer allowing the rental of watercraft within the wd1 district and it would also um amend this section of the code to clarify that the current rules and regulations that apply now would still be applicable to any existing uses that would become legal non-conforming and so any existing uses can continue to operate but there can be uh no future uses proposed for the wd1 district this proposal does require a 57s vote um the administration is supportive and we would recommend approval at first reading and this is a p first reading public hearing Mr Mayor I'm sorry to interrupt it may be heard on this I'm sorry to stand up when who do you represent I represent uh biscan Lady Charters if I may be heard on this item I'm sorry I couldn't hear the who you represent then your B Lady Charters thank you Mr Mayor commission thank you for for hearing me and allowing me an audience on this issue um Chris pelis acran LLP um all office is located at 98 Southeast 7 Street in the city of Miami Florida uh we represent as I've mentioned before biscan Lady Charters which may be significantly impacted by this legislation our client is a family business that has been in operation for over 50 years in the city of Miami Beach and spans three generation of operators the principal of my client um his his dad and his grandfather have all been operating Charters um in the city of Miami Beach and in Indian Creek our client employs over 160 Personnel that support their operations throughout South Florida the client's business has already been significantly impacted by the ban on loading and unloading and operating during night time time hours the client's business has never been a subject of noise complaints or other issues associated with bad operators to the contrary they have been operating with a BTR in the city for decades the proposed legislation does not provide a clear grandfathering or exemption process to allow morning or evening Charters that are a key component of their business this gain lady yacht Charters operates out of the docking facilities on IND Creek and rely on their dogs as an amenity for guests of the hotels this gain there's no clear list on what establishments are exempt and if they exent is proposed that they be phased out it's not clear whether this legislation would also ban all daytime use of Charters or whether it is only intended to apply to rental of boats to individuals city is obviously aware of the major impact that this may have on existing businesses which is why they've uh they've initiated the study that was approved via a resolution or consent agenda this morning c7i and we respectfully request that this item be deferred until that study is completed um and I would like to request an audience with the sponsor of this item so that we may discuss this legislation moving forward and protect those good operators that are operating in Indian Creek um and get rid of those bad operators we have no issue with that we understand and with that I would respectfully request a deferral of this item thank you commissioner Suarez this is your item yeah um nothing stopping this operator from operating out of Miami Beach Marino where it is where there's infrastructure for a business and a charter and you know I think it's I think it's very disingenuous for to be here and and tell us that you know this is his only option to be on Indian Creek waterways there's there's another option it's at Miami Beach Marina you know there's sure there's a list of people who who want to operate out of there and you know I I think you know look I was elected by the by the residents of Miami Beach their top concern was traffic and noise amongst other public safety issues but when we have an a situation on our waterways or a business is basically causing noise and traffic I think we as elected officials need to do something about that and so you know I I I have I have colleagues up here who are very sensitive to noise issues right and and and I get complaints all day about the bridge coming up a horn blasting or or or partygoers just blasting music at all hours of the day and something needs to be done and so look there is a proper facility out of Miami Beach Marina that can handle and entertain this sort of business model but when you're telling me that you have to go a mile from uh from the the dock to the bridge and interrupt the lives and F and quality of life of all the families on there I have a big problem with that and like I said to my colleagues we are changing our brand from from a party town to a resident Centric town and I believe this is the step in the right direction now look this particular item what it does it limits the use to Hotel guests okay so that means that you can't just have anyone from anywhere book a charter and go directly to uh to the to these yachts and and correct me if I'm wrong uh City attorney the the way the language was written originally it just the intent was it was meant for hotel guests but the language wasn't clear this ordinance clean that language up also it prohibits any future uh businesses operating so allow me um vice mayor to introduce the City attorney to discuss the clarity in the language sure go that's right commissioner the existing rule is that watercraft rental establishments are only allowed in the wd1 district When It's associated with a hotel of 350 or more units so um as to that particular part of of the existing code this Ord this ordinance only provides additional Clarity which is to say what that what that means um the other the other major change in the ordinance is to prohibit any new water cover rental establishments moving forward and and so with that you know there's there's another item that I have on the agenda to to amortise uh the use of commercial uh use in the unan creek Waterway but for this particular item what we're doing today is we're clarifying the language that that these Charters that are existing now are only limited to hotel guest which is what we believe originally intended and this prohibits any future btrs from being granted in the and Indian Creek Waterway commissioner magazine yeah thank you uh not going to support a deferral but I I will pledge to make myself available between now and second reading because I would like to understand some of the nuances better uh I'm in the middle um yeah we want to provide services but I also agree with some of the traffic infrastructure issues uh I would just speaking off the cuff here but uh perhaps if this is intended for only uh reserved Hotel guests if we are so resident Centric also perhaps expanding that to uh residents having the ability to book as well um my father has a 70th birthday party uh maybe that's an amenity we're not going to be out there partying um but you know as a family trip uh not so blessed that we have our own boat we may be able to utilize a service like this so um I'll support moving this forward uh but do pledge the at least allow you to be heard I'd like to understand nuances better appreciate that commissioner Dominguez thank you uh I'm supporting this item today but I do want to uh let you know that I understand the biscane lady um the owners lived on Miami Beach I know that in the past I've attended friends of North Beach events because the owners have Don ated the space for fundraising for our schools so it's a legitimate business but traffic and noise has become a big problem in our city and um that's why I am supporting this today understood commissioner question how how are we going to enforce like being a hotel guest to get on a charter anybody could say that they're staying anywhere and I don't see how you can let me allow me to um maybe Tom or hearnen can come up from code yeah in in terms of enforcement um I I would uh defer to code on that I'm not sure how much detail the co- compliance director is going to want to get into their um en enforcement um strategies but that is something that we would be very proactively enforcing good morning everyone hernand cardino code complaints um so we we haven't gotten into the granular yet of how we would go about enforcing this um but I would imagine it would start off uh generally with the vessels that are on the Waterway and then we'd go from there so essentially oh sorry um essentially you know code can go up to the uh the patrons of the vessel and say hey can I see your reservation for the hotel um and then that would be and and look I mean if we pass this law I'm assuming these operators would follow the the law and and our rules U but that's how it would be enforced and how many companies would this be affecting just so that we know so there's two two there's only two licensed operators currently now there is by the way there's like half a dozen operators at the gates ready to go that in fact came on after the the zoning and progress from planning board so you're looking at a situation if we don't pass this you're going to have maybe a dozen more operators on on the Indian Creek Waterway and by the way just to let you know the mid Beach neighborhood association unanimously supports this listen I'm supportive of this 100% um we've seen the charters grow the problem is the traffic at 63rd Street has become untenable because all of these Charters are going under the 3 63rd Street Bridge it's affecting tens of thousands of people that just can't get around and the Coast Guard which has to manage this bridge cannot say no to a charter it has to open the bridge so that's really the problem that that we're having it's a traffic problem thank goodness we finally figured out a way to solve it we don't want to hurt businesses especially businesses who've been operating for for you know for a long time but we' it's come to this and vice mayor if I listen like I said I don't want to be the dead horse that there is a a perfectly fine establishment at the Miami Beach Marina that can entertain this operation and where it is where it is suitable for that kind of commercial activity so um and and again this particular item only clarifies language of our of the city's original intent to limit this to hotels so um I don't know if U so do you want to move your item commissioner the only if I may I'm sorry to to speak but I would just request an audience with you because there are certain issues with operating out of Miami Beach Marina my client's existing BTR is actually next next to the docks at Eden Rock um so they wouldn't be able currently as as it stands to be able to operate out of miamu China so so if you're open to it I would like to request an audience with you sir to speak about these issues and see if potentially there is a path forward that we can you know see here so that we can get rid of those bad operators we're not in disagreement there's a lot of people through the mayor the commissioner and obviously this is a first reading so through the mayor um look I I I I I've met with Mike he's a good guy okay um and I know he's a longtime resident okay but there are thousands of residents along the Indian Creek waterway that just want an end to the to the commercialization of their waterways and so um I'm always open to to actually I don't meet with lobbyist so um but if Mike wants to come with me uh and have another talk I'm more than happy to um so you know I again I I think you know we we did this with spring break our message was clear that the part's over and I don't think it should just end on spring break I think it should end moving forward period where you know we are going to cater to the residents not to commercial activity that causes resident pain so um I'm more than happy to meet with Mike from now until second reading and um I appreciate your your input unless anybody else wants to be heard let's call the vote mayor we have three individuals in the public I'm sorry here Martin Smith from eeden Rock so we have been around since 1955 and had a good relationship with the river so I think when I read c71 the goal is to eliminate those Charters that we have used for many years to bring groups and tourists to the hotel and done it legally and done it well taking this away from us is going to make it difficult more difficult for us to book business we're a hotel that's what we're supposed to do so I just wanted to be on record to say that we're against this we should be enforcing the rules that are in place putting the people that are don't have a license out of business many years ago this wasn't an issue the issue is there are more legals operating now than there are legals if you take the illegal operators out maybe the bridge wouldn't open as much thank you very much for your time thank you our next virtual speaker ER is Captain Andre mik please state your name and address please hello can you hear me yes sir go ahead please I don't know if you can hear me now can you copy go ahead please okay um is there a way to turn on the I don't know uh I don't use zoom very often but I'm a captain I've been a captain over there for about 15 years and father was a captain my grand I'm a third generation Captain I've been in and out of the Miami Beach you know from ever since I was a child and 46 you know so I got about 30 years driving boats and and I you know I don't even understand how people can you know dictate the waterways if they want to live on the water shouldn't they be able to live on the water and then that's what boats go by you know I go up and down the coast traveling in the coast all the way to Chicago I I deliver new yacht it's my career you know I I bring them from Fort Lauderdale you know down to the keys to the Bahamas to the Caribbean up all the way to New York to the Hampton that's my career I do Charters Charters has been my bread and butter on the side now it it used to be on the side but now since I've been a resident and I have a child here I have to co-parent and I have to actually work and this is my job I'm in I'm in um the first boat you know um in Indian crink Fountain Blue slip one and I actually made that slip about 10 years ago it was too shallow look this is this is a 80 foot boat that you know I rely on to F feed my family and I I can't leave and do deliveries anymore because I have to co-parent I'm a father now I'm a little older I'm I'm begging you guys what are you guys even thinking I don't care about the bridge one reason is because the bridge opens and closes every half hour and then during rush hour we actually the rush hour traffic is shut down from what is it 8:00 7 in the morning till till 10: in the morning and then um in afternoon 4:00 till 6 o'clock the bridge some it's it's you know so it's not like we're you know these are bridges when I travel all the way to Chicago I must go over I must have a thousand Bridges I have to open thank you sir your time is up I apologize thank you so much our next speaker is VIP Marine please please state your name address and you have two minutes hello can you hear me yes state your name please sir hi this is valal Goen alsoa resident Miami Beach and uh just wanted to clarify there's been some misinformation about uh the noise complaints and Charters being operating illegally so in the past couple years it's been a huge issue getting a BTR in Miami Beach in that area exactly uh first it was due to co and then they just paus G model together um also you know proposing moving everything to Miami Beach Miami Beach also stopped you out BTR so with this it would eventually just it would close down a lot of legal operators and a lot of companies um there's really nowhere else to go on Miami Beach to do Charters also with the bridges just like Captain Andre said that is already closed between 7: in the morning until 10:00 a.m. as well as 400 p.m. till 7:00 p.m. to alleviate traffic and it's really unfair to say that the only people making noise are Charter operators because there is a lot of private owners priate boats that do bless the music so just don't want to s l the charter operators and uh just want to see a better solution versus just closing down businesses and taking them out and for tours not to have any other access to the waterways or for tours or whatnot thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is rosan Norco please state your name address and you have two minutes we cannot hear you we see your mic moving but okay we've lost and at the moment we have no one else vice mayor if I may be recognized yes um Mr Suarez we have one more ed go ahead if I may yeah go for Ed go ahead you have two minutes please state your name and address please yes hi my name is uh Edward Hawk with the beach Bo rental located at 2400 Collins Avenue um I just wanted to introduce myself I recently purchased a Marina at 2400 at Lake pen Coast uh I reach out to commissioner Suarez without an answer by the way um I'm pretty concerned about what's going on and I fully support what you guys are doing I think it's it's a great uh it's a great initiative but we I'm actually one of the only two that are legal on Indian Creek and I'm very concerned about this I invested all my life saving into this project and uh I would like to request uh one on-one with the David Suarez I would really appreciate it uh this business has been there for since 1994 uh fully legal Marine operating permit submerge land Le BTR issued by the C of Miami Beach since 1994 um let's try not to put everybody in the same boat not pun intendent and uh yeah I would love to uh to have a one-on-one meeting talk about it we clearly cannot relocate anywhere we invested over $2 million um I have a newborn I won't be able to you know to to move anywhere we're fully legal and um yeah I appreciate uh commissioner SES to give me a a meeting regarding this thank you very much thank you sir at the moment we have no one else thank you do we have a motion we do not have a motion I motion to move it we have a second I'll second commissioner Rosen gazale second Alex is over there missing one member but uh Alex is over there ah commissioner Fernandez yes we're ready to vote we need you well we may need you we'll see how the vote goes let's call the rooll commissioner Suarez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Rosa Gonzalez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries second reading public hearing is scheduled for April third that was item r5a r5b as in boy r5b is a nor of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city of B Beach Florida amending chapter 2 of the b beach city code entitle Administration by amending article 3 entitle 8 agencies boards and committees by amending division 15 entitled sister cities program by amending section 2-1 181 thereof to reestablish the city's administration of the sister cities program buing through a coordinating Council appointed by the mayor of the city commission with the city's Administration to provide staff support for the program and serve as liaison to the council and providing for repealer cability codification and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing the item requires five7 vot it is item r5b commissioner Dominguez is the sponsor commissioner bot Rosen Gonzalez our co-sponsors commissioner Dominguez thank you um so uh this had passed that first reading and in between that time it was referred to the finance committee where it received unanimous support I've worked uh diligently with the city Administration uh Raquel Williams and her team and the city manager to ensure that it would be housed uh within the city and we've made those arrangements happen we even had a delegation come in and we did it within the budget that was allocated and with that I would like to move the item I second I'll second wonderful so let's call the vote does anyone have anything that they'd like to say commissioner bot any comments no I I'm very supportive of this and I'm thrilled to Second it and uh I'm just like to see it move move a pace so far we've had two um sister cities uh events The Seer alone in in Mexico and then here with the Japanese delegation they've both been wildly successful and I can't wait to see what we can do going forward I'm glad you're on the screen because before I was speaking to you and I was looking up like to the voice of God I did no it's in here with not light bulbs I had to wait until you could actually see me otherwise it looked like I was in a cake wonderful I'm glad you're um up and ready we're about to yeah call the vote I think thank you Vice uh mayor um just very quickly uh support of this initiative I know at FK media was uh brought up perhaps uh allocating a dedicated resource to the sister cities program in the economic development department uh if there's some items here where we could be getting increased uh Staffing in the mayor and Commissioner's Office perhaps uh as a uh first year we see if we're able to um staff the city sisters program using some of those excess resources instead of adding Manpower but something we could work through administratively I just want to put that idea out there commissioner Dominguez uh thank you so much commissioner I uh really the focus is to have it on the city Administration side and of course anybody on the mayor and commission can offer to help but it is strictly a position that's or work that's being absorbed by um riel's team and mayor it is call the vote it is a public hearing I see no one in the audience and I see no one in Zoom the calling of the vote commissioner Fernandez is absent commissioner bot yes commissioner Dominguez yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner Suarez yes mayor Miner no motion passes uh the item is approved r5b r5c r5c is in Ord of the mayor City Commission of the city of B Beach Florida amending chapter 62 of the code of the city of M Beach entitled human relation by amending Article 2 entitled discrimination by amending section 62-35 entitled membership to provide a preference for the attorney member of the human rights committee to be a member of the Florida bar but otherwise allow for an attorney licens to practice law in any other United States jurisdiction to serve on the committee if the attorney has civil rights related experience and providing for repealers of ability clarification and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing it is item r5c commissioner Dominguez and co-sponsored by commissioner bot thank you uh the modification was for um uh at the time this has been here so long uh but at the time we weren't able to get uh an attorney that had an active license in the state of Florida their active license was in another state because they uh had passed the bar uh up in the Northeast and it was to make that adjustment um I'm still happy to continue with this and I move the item second unless anybody wants to be heard let's call the vote it is a public hearing I see no one in the audience I don't see no one on Zoom commissioner bot yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner magazine yes vice mayor Rona Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved that was item r5c r5d r5d is an ordinance of the mayor and City Commission of the city of man Beach Florida amending chapter 2 of the code of the city of Mani Beach entitle Administration by amending article three entitle agencies boards and committees by amending division 32 entitled lgbtqia plus advisory committee by amending section 2-1 19045 entitled powers and duties by codifying the annual preparation and submission of the city's data and information to be scored by the Human Rights Campaign Municipal equality index as part of the community the committee's official powers and duties and providing for repealers have ability codification and effective this is a second reading public hearing it is item r5d I see no one in the audience and no one in Zoom requesting to speak commissioner Fernandez you are the sponsor commissioner bot co-sponsor I move the item I second have a motion by commissioner Fernandez second by commissioner Suarez may I call the rooll yes Y no one no one wishing to speak commissioner magazine yes commissioner Fernandez yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner B yes commissioner suarz yes mayor Miner yes motion carries that was item r5d the item is approved r5e has been deferred R5 F I don't I don't have that e was deferred uh yes uh after some comments received during sutnick I'd just like to spend uh the next month I'm going to move forward with this but would like to clean up some things with legal just so there's no unintended consequences it may come back in the same form it may not but just like a few weeks to talk so r5e is deferred to April 3rd does that work actually it's open and continue correct we're going to open and continue the item to to April 3D r5f r5f is a nance of the mayor City Commission of the city of May Beach Florida amending chapter 14 of the code of the city of May beach entitled building regulations by amending Article 2 entitled construction standards by amending division 4 thereof entitled 2017 through 2022 building per reprieve program to extend the duration of the building permit reprieve program for owners of single family residential multif family residential mix use or commercial properties who have failed to obtain a building permit who have or who hold expired permits providing for repealer catification cability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing it is item r5f I see no one in the public that wishes to speak I see one individual in Zoom uh I'll Callum Captain Malik are you here to talk on the building program building preve no it's it's about it's about the commercial okay thank you sir I apologize but that's the wrong item at this time uh mayor there's no one else on Zoom or in the audience which to speak sponsor commissioner Fernandez commissioner Suarez magazine co-sponsors I'll actually add my name as a co-sponsor so we have four thank you Mr Mayor if I may please thank you um so so I this is an important item because often times when a when a tittle to a property is transferred to a new property owner the new owner often unaware of Prior unpermitted work and it's left to clean up permitting issues oftentimes facing double or even triple uh permit fees and it creates a burden on a new property owner uh in their ability to to to improve a property or even make it safer light of new state laws I think that it's so important that we help property owners in any way possible not only be compliant with the with with a building code but even pre uh prevent um them from from getting an unsafe uh violation and we start that by helping them comply with a building code and this in essence uh through through uh December 31st 2026 extends the reprieve period perod and Mr attorney when we say that we're extending the repri period because I want our residents who are listening explain to them what that means to them as it relates to the fees that they otherwise uh would be would be exposed to well and I don't know if someone from the building department is here but generally if there are fees or penalties uh associated with the failure to obtain a permit and somebody applies through the reprieve program then the the fees and penalties would not would not apply perfect and I so and so I just want to put that out there so that any property owner any Resident that is that is uh watching this meeting that they know that this uh legislative body is doing this measure to extend through December 31st 2026 an amnesty period to help them become compliant uh with uh with the Florida building code to make their property safe and to and to make sure that we minimize the cost in that process to to them and so every resident taxpayer and property owner should be aware of that to take advantage of that with that Mr Mayor I move the item thank you do you have a second I second I I'll second commissioner Suarez got it in under the gun may I call the rooll let's call the rooll commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Dominguez yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner bot yes yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner magazine is out commissioner so commissioner magazine is absent mayor Miner yes motion Carri the item is approved we're adding mayor Miner as a co-sponsor to r5f thank you r5g r5g is norance of the mayor City Commission of the city of Mii Beach Florida amending chapter 66 of the code of the city of Mii Beach Florida entitled Marine structures facilities and vessels by by amending article four entitled vessels by amending section 66-1 151 thereof entitled launching hauling and docking at public seaw walls Etc prohibited unauthorized vessel enforcement by prohibiting the docking or moing of vessels at or along certain public property and modifying the notice requirements for the towing of unauthorized vessels docked or otherwise secured along the city's public property and providing for repealer cability qualification and an effective date this is item r5g second reading public hearing no one in the audience is requesting to speak nor Zoom at this time r5g r5g is sponsored by commissioner Suarez and co-sponsored by commissioner magazine thank you Mr Mayor so uh this is a second reading uh our code has um has languaged that every 25 ft a towway sign on our seaw walls has to be posted and not only that but it needs another sign a duplicate sign three feet above so right on right now on along the Indian Creek Waterway we have hundreds of signs because every 25 feet we have to say no no uh no docking and so what this ordinance does or this code Amendment does is it's going to change it from every 25t to every 100 feet and it removes the additional three feet duplicate sign above and so that causes a lot of sign pollution um and we're we're not going to have to see a post uh 3T above the ground on on every sign and not only that the good thing about this is that we get to repurpose the signs that have already been placed so with that I move the item happy to second okay let's call the RO they have two individuals in the yeah two individuals in Zoom that wish to speak at this time captured Malik go ahead sir please state your name address and you have two minutes okay okay so as US Coast Guard is um under any of these rules that's what I'm asking um I understand that you guys are trying to less the pollution now this is something that I'm all for you know but the the there's there's there's um there's rules like you know I know all the rules about the United States Coast Guard rules and regulations along the sea you know should do we need a lawyer on this that's all thank you sir our next speaker is is Andy Andy state your name address you have two minutes please hi this is Andrew dadley 1661 West Avenue um i' just like to offer something that at the previous commission meeting when this similar item came up uh the commissioner stated that they were going to talk to the voters they're going to have h a meeting at the public safety and quality of life committee and that still hasn't happened so we're just going to continue to post signs on the city um increase the requirements so we can just post signs every 100 feet so no Boer will ever be able to get to shore we could cut off their access to food water and medical care right and illegally evict a 100 residents from the water right because the city of Miami Beach is doing the the the bidding of wealthy condo owners who don't want to look at sailboats and they know they don't have the legal jurisdiction to get rid of the voters because the Florida Senate themselves stated that those environmental claims they stated were false and that the city of Miami Beach should not be treating the voters like this and yet here we are again today not even talking to the voters not even considering all the people's lives are going to be impacted by this measure right and so I'm asking the city to instead of just putting up more signs and putting up fences with Barb wires and Electric electrical fences and code enforcement Army and all these restrictions to work with the boers to listen to the voters to to realize that we are residents we are voters we are people and human beings and our our input needs to be taken into consideration here because the solution is not to just marginalize and discriminate against an entire group of people because we live a different way of life so with that I'd like to ask the commission uh to consider postponing this until we have the chance to have this discussion at the public safety and quality of life committee on March 20th where I will be presenting from the Sunset Harbor voters Association and another uh representative thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Peter Pata state your name address and you have two minutes sir my name is Peter pesota I'm not a member of resident of Miami Beach I am a resident of madira beach on the other side of the boat state I'm here to talk as a voer who transits the icw the Atlantic icw and enjoys it there the previous speaker I believe is representative of the anchor outs and the derik can tell you I became aware of this um this measure as well as c7y on an online Forum with approximately 13,000 uh Sailors and who the uh anchor outs um contacted to ask to for their support I think they were surprised to find that uh they had zero support from active voters who use their boat what are you missing here uh by by going along with the anchor out and derix I can tell you active boter who Cruise like my wife and I who are recently retired um in general spend about $60,000 a year on boating and transiting canals and visiting places seing restaurants and pieces like that what they find in places like uh biscane bay is the Anchorage is clogged with derel sunken boats and anchor outs who do not move they do not represent the cruising Community they do not represent the cruising Community I resent them calling themselves voters they live on a boat that doesn't float they're not willing to move it from time to time much different animal Cruisers move their boat they visit they go to restaurants they spend money so that's my uh pitch I appreciate your time this morning thank you so much at the moment there's no one in zoom and there's no one in the audience wishing to speak we may close a public hearing okay so the public hearing is closed and we can call the vote all right let's move forward so I have a motion in a second commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner magazine yes commissioner bot yes vice mayor Rosa Gonzalez yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved that was item r5g let's call R5 5H r5h is the Nance of the mayor and City Commissioner of the city of Mi Beach Florida amending Chapter 70 of the code of the city of May Beach Florida entitled miscellaneous offenses by amending article two entitled public places by amending division one entitled generally by creating section 7046 thereof entitled obstructing of pedestrian and vehicular traffic prohibited and providing for repealers of ability CIF codification and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing it is item r5h at the moment I see no one in zoom and I see no one in the audience requesting to speak Madam Vice happy to move the yeah um this is my item uh this item basically uh it this is for purposes of Public Safety we' seen in in the past how you know the blocking of of uh of streets of sidewalks uh pushes in individuals then to be in a compromised Public Safety uh situation when you're walking a sidewalk and then the sidewalk is blocked and you need to get on the street or you're a handicapped person or you're a blind person and the sidewalk is is obstructed it does create a public safety situation so with that I move the item do we have a second I'll second call the rooll vice mayor bosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner bot yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner magazine yes mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved that was item r5h r7i r7i is Implement an enforce plan for future protest I am the sponsor commissioner Suarez is co-sponsoring um I'll tell you let me explain the attent of this item uh clearly we are respectful and protective of free speech and we have actually consistently done that in every occasion the issue uh is twofold in this one is I I've asked for a notice requirement to me the mayor as well as my colleagues on the commission that we get notice of these demonstrations and two that our law is actually enforced because right now we're in a situation where our laws are not being enforced um and protests are allowed Free Speech obviously is uh protected in every way but there's also a reasonable time place and manner in which protests and demonstrations can take place so we've had unfortunately a number of instances where our laws have been violated we talk about ourselves as being a Law and Order City we've seen that and we're implementing that in Spring Break and other items it's literally most of our commission agenda which is a change from what we've seen sometimes in the past we're seeing quality of life Public Safety uh items consistently being brought and discussed at this commission which is is great and I think and I know our residents are extremely appreciative but this item is no different than any of those other items to make sure that our laws are enforced you know after October 7th there was a demonstration on Ocean Drive and the it it uh it spilled over into the onto Ocean Drive where traffic was impeded what I'm being told for 20 minutes in front of Basel are literally our signature event of the Year there was a massive demonstration uh in front literally in front of the convention center which our legal department and had Aline did not would would would not and the law did not require it to take place and actually the police had issued orders for the demonstrators to move to the assigned location where they could be heard and seen but not literally in front of the convention center as people were going in and out and those orders were not obeyed there was only one arrest made at the time but our lawful orders from our Police Department were ignored the next day several individuals who protesting were arrested for throwing bottles at cars there was an event and I will show a couple of videos at Temple Emanuel for no's not familiar a synagogue in which demonstrators several demonstrators uh went into the synagogue by the way in violation of the law and I'll read that shortly it's actually a misdemeanor offense which is could be an arrest warranted the police ultimately detained but did not arrest the individuals and then there was an incident outside where elderly residents of Miami Beach were you'll see the video yourself you'll make your own determination if that's acceptable behavior in our city and whether any person who's coming to pray to pray to God has to endure the level of abuse and harassment that they had to endure I never thought I would see that in United States of America and certainly not in Miami Beach and as mayor I will not I will not tolerate our residents being harassed and accosted and threatened by simply trying to pray so I'm asking in this resolution that we enforce reasonable time place and manner which are legal department has issued opinions on and has been vetted and that we are provided the notice from the police department it's important that we get the notice for example the demonstration yesterday this was not yesterday it was two days ago actually um there is certainly in this occasion there was a heightened heightened alert because of the event being a Aspen ideas uh event that was in our city there were cabinet members just to be clear cabinet members from the president of the United States who were present here and speaking there were 52 Mayors present and speaking and certainly we did not want the images that we've seen on other occasions I'm going to ask PJ to call up the the first video this is outside of Temple Emanuel from uh about two weeks ago yeah can we enlarge it and get volume [Music] [Applause] PJ [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] on [Music] [Applause] PJ's because the video I saw that there's an elderly man walking with a with a walker you can't really make it out from there I think if you enlarge it you would be able to see [Music] [Applause] [Music] that stay behind [Music] me on you shame on you shame on you shame on you shame on you shame on you shame on [Music] you can you show can you show the second video that TR don't that TR don't hurt anybody don't anybody let the police let the police let the [Music] police just [Music] police then they get that on camera and they show the attack without showing the provocation so don't go for it let's continue continue fall into that trap don't fall into that trap don't hurt anybody don't anybody let the police let the police let the police I just let the [Music] police camera and they show the attack without showing the provocation so don't fall for it let's let's continue continue okay thank you PJ there's a little one of the videos I saw I I thought this was it has a little bit more that previous to what what transpired before police got involved at stat Florida statute 87101 says whoever willfully interrupts or disturbs any school or any assembly of people met for the worship of God or for any lawful purpose commits a misdemeanor of the second degree again these individuals could have been arrested they were they were they were removed by police but not arrested um so the two purposes again that are police uh give us the uh proper notice so we're aware of the demonstration so and and B um because this for example this Temple Emanuel um I was not given notice I'll let my colleagues comment whether they were I doubt it um we were before this last one before Aspen climate and I appreciate that so I think we're heading in the right direction but this will give direction and that we Implement consistent with the law a reasonable time place and manner for the speech and that be enforced and that if individuals go outside those bounds that the police take the proper action including arrest if necessary so we keep people safe again this is a public safety itemz mayor if I could just uh interject be as you discuss uh this item it has been raised to me the request in the resolution that notice be given within one hour May Rob Rob let the Commissioners speak up if they wish to that's that's a commissioner item if they wish to amend the item okay thank you thank you uh Mr Mayor um I got a couple questions for our police chief through the chair morning Wayne Jones police chief myb police department Wayne um in the past you can call me Chief excuse me Chief in the past uh we have gotten notifications on on on upcoming protests yes sir and this one we did not why not that was affilate on my part to notify you the mayor and the commission okay my follow-up question is through the chair you saw those videos I did Sir okay um elderly people elderly Jews came out of a synagogue and walked down the street and were verbally accosted and threatened and they had to walk through a gauntlet elderly elderly residents of Miami Beach had to go through that where was the police uh present at the location in the front of it I I only saw one police officer the chief they were present inside the location and in the outside as well okay if we need to play the video again because I only saw one officer yeah in in in that whole video and you know when we had the Pro Palestinian protest in front of art basil we had 30 cops um and that was that was handled accordingly okay I I may not agree with the place that it was set up but where were the 30 cops for this event to protect actual synagogue patrons that were that were leaving both outside the event and inside the temple um again I'm looking at that video and I only see one police officer I don't see a line of police officers that were defending religious people just practicing their right to to to to pray yeah and so um I find it very concerning that you know we have four Jewish people on this commission and we were not notified of this protest these people uh the the pramas sympathizers mind you they are they are defending the people that raped and murdered women and children in Israel we haven't seen this kind of atrocity on Jewish lives since the Holocaust now I don't know why you're not taking the this very seriously but I don't think I I don't ever want to see that video again where there is no police officers present to me that's grounds for firing I don't know why you're laughing at this this is I taking very seriously let meish I'm offended serious I find it frustrating that you're laughing at this I'm not laughing at this this is a serious matter okay it's a very serious matter and what I believe reality because what I saw in those videos was unacceptable let me finish that was unacceptable if that was a KKK rally things would have been different I guarantee you so I'm going let you explain your position okay but I don't I'm going to just speak for myself but I don't ever want to see a situation where elderly Jewish people have to leave their synagogue and run a gauntlet of verbal accosting because something could have really happened there so please continue so commissioner we had multiple police officers there in fact uniform police officers 22 police officers there four of those police officers was inside the synagogue I think PJ has a video you can show those police officers unseen what you saw from the cell phone video was a limited scope of what happened happened at that night at the event in fact there were three people ticket paying people who entered that synagogue they were part of the congregation they paid to go there they had a ticket to get inside when they disrupted the services they were taken out one of the people who were taken out was actually battered by a congregant in the synagogue and officers exercised their discretion in all cases nobody went to jail uh PJ can you play the video please the point of this video said there was significant police presence at the synagogue that evening my failure that I've apologized each of you for was not alerting you to this demonstration through the chair commissioner Suarez I see cops on the street but where are they protecting the elderly residents leaving the synagogue because I didn't see any of that in the video in fact that video gave a point of view of someone leaving that synagogue only seeing one officer and going through a gauntlet of Terror so who who's running the show here is is is it someone else in command or is it you sir I am in command my actions of police officers that evening is my responsibility I am in command okay so if you were to go back in time and you were to do something differently what would you do well certainly I would alert the you and the colleagues about the operations what would you do different so there there's always tweaks and ways we can better perform operationally I would rather not disclose that here publicly I'd love to have a conversation with you about it if you'd like offline but I'm not going to talk about operation of the police department how we police demonstrations publicly thank you I've made this statement privately and I'll say it publicly without mentioning groups I do believe that if it was any other group of people other than Jewish people that these demonstrations would have been handled much differently I believe that I know you probably don't you've told me you don't but I truly believe that because I've seen the difference and we need to protect our Jewish residents just like we would any other resident and group of residents no person no Jewish person should ever ever have to be harassed like that I hope we're making the changes that we need I mean there are there are rules that's why there are can be barricades I mean people you see there's free reign just to literally surround an elderly couple my heart broke when I saw that my heart broke in pieces it was an image and I never like to compare it to what happened during Nazi Germany but I got to tell you and I hate and I really dislike when people do it but that is the image that came to my mind when you picture Crystal KN that is the image that came to my mind and I can tell you I'm not the only one people were really really Disturbed and I can tell you you probably didn't hear Too Much I actually I didn't get really too many emails I got a few but I could tell you when I went to synagogue when I walked the streets people were really really upset they're like mayor how can did you let this happen how did or if they didn't even approach me how did the police department let this happen that is who we're protecting these are images but it's and and and and that's why you know art bosel was a different it was a different situation but it was the same reaction why are we allowing these protests to happen in front of our signature event in front of our signature tourism is the convention center I I'm not I'm not going to I'm not going to sit here and ask what you're going to do differently that's not that's not the purpose of why I'm bringing it up I brought it up I brought it to Commission because I felt it was the time and by the way I've told you this Chief I think you're doing a lot of things really well and I commend you I think you know there's still there's still room for improvement a lot of things but I do see a lot of changes that you are implementing Citywide and I commend you for that and I'm very appreciative and I think you're taking our force in in in a good direction on this one the reason why I brought it and I don't want to Bel labored is I have not been happy with the way things have gone on these anti-israel Pro protests again we're protecting Free Speech but we're also protecting the public um and I made the point I'm not going to repeat it that's why I just I want to have the level of notice that's given to us you did this past week and I appreciate it um this would just codify it and you know it's hard to get more specific than enforce time place and manner but we're working with our legal department and we need to really set that up because in a situation like coming out of Temple Emanual well and I have no doubt there were a lot of police around I and I don't know the circumstan I'm not going to put you on the spot that's not my purpose but for somehow for some reason that wherever whenever that picture was taken there was still a lot of demonstrators and there didn't seem to be a heavy police presence at that moment again um that's what we're trying to correct and make sure that that those images and not just for the residents walking out but it has an impact on residents who weren't there it has an impact when they see that it goes viral it did go viral and it has an impact is it going to happen to me am I safe when I go to synagogue um so again I I I don't want to this to be all bad because I do appreciate and respect a lot of the good you're doing on this one though I think we can do better and I think hopefully we're on the same page and um that's that's the item I hope somebody will move it I have a motion by commissioner sarez second commissioner Fernandez second may I call the vote call the vote yep call the vote all in favor I motion passes unanimously thank you that was item r7i let's call r5i r5i is aordance of the mayor City Commissioner of the city of Mii Beach Florida amending chapter two of the code of the city of Mii Beach entitle Administration by amending Article 2 entitled City commission by amending section 2-17 entitled residents right to know to amend the list of issues defined as matters that impact residents quality of life which require targeted neighborhood notice and providing for repealer codification severability and an effective date this is a second reading public hearing I see no one in the audience I see uh one individual in Zoom Raquel Pacho are you here to talk about the resident's right to know item r5i Miss Pacho no longer has her hand up I see no one we have no individuals wishing to speak on this item it's r5i if I can have a motion or r5i is uh commissioner Fernandez uh sponsor in the item commissioner Suarez co-sponsor I have a motion by commissioner Fernandez a second a second by commissioner Suarez may I call the RO yes commissioner Fernandez there's no one I already called the public hearing and there's no one requesting to speak commissioner Fernandez yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Dominguez yes commissioner magazine commissioner Suarez yes commissioner bot yes and I'd like to be added as a spor yes commissioner bot is a co-sponsor of this item uh mayor Miner yes motion carries the item is approved r five I this is unusual but I think maybe we'll take an early lunch break think we've had a busy morning and we're getting through the items pretty quickly um is everyone on board with that think so let's reconvene at one o'clock for suck hour thank you [Music] High [Music] me [Music] take [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] n a [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] fall see [Music] take [Music] yeah [Music] High me [Music] [Music] [Music] it [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] w [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] e e e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh see [Music] High all see [Music] for [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] y [Music] [Music] please take your proceeds the meeting is about to begin please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 one okay welcome back after the lunch break let's commence our sutnik hour thank you mayor our first speaker is Yan Moore Mr Moore please state your name address and you have two minutes sir and if anyone else is here to speak then they can approach the podium please let's go then to Nicole Mor Nicole you have two minutes please go ahead and please state your name and address hello my name is Nicole moris I am a resident of West Palm Beach and I am deeply concerned by what I've seen here today A an undemocratic and unconstitutional restriction of protest has been passed by this board in total disregard of the community members who spoke uh about the problems with this ordinance but Additionally the argument for the ordinance was bolstered by counterfactual statements that misrepresent what has actually happened for example I am one of the people who attended the Alan dtz event at Temple Emanuel I bought a ticket I was in attendance at the event and I was hearing disturbing statements and I spoke up about it in no way was the temple stormed or overwhelmed with violent protesters this was a nonviolent example of Civil Disobedience to have it characterized otherwise is false and it is as false as what dtz himself was saying and some of the claims made by members of the commission here today who are repeating propagandistic statements from a foreign government rather than engaging with the question at hand which is in the US here in South Florida should we have the right to peacefully protest or should we be subjected to the restrictions of a police state just because some of us disagree with the political opinions of those on this commission and because we have acted peacefully and non-violently and have spoken up about our views it is a Shonda as my grandparents would say for this commission to treat non-violent peaceful protesters as threats to restrict the right to free speech and to do so by misrepresenting what has actually happened including my friend who was beaten by people at Temple Emanuel simply for speaking if you have to distort the truth this much in order to support youra your time is up I apologize thank you so much next please state your name address and you have two minutes I'm Nancy Duke 1450 Lincoln row and actually I'm here today because I was called thank you I was called out this morning um someone came up and spoke about the voter's issue and they talked about what they called an old lady writing emails well that was me I have been writing emails for the past year I think so you're not old I know thank you but it's in the eye of the beholder I guess but I've been called out or I've been writing emails for the the last year about the situation at the end of Lincoln Road it's been atro ious a lot of people coming on Shore misbehaving code was there it was great it cleaned everything up and I want to thank you all for doing that I'm so glad but in the process of all of it I met Carlos and Carlos was the one who called me out today who referred to me as the old lady who was writing emails and um I want to say this has been the last couple months a lot of harassment from Carlos a lot of bullying he um told the Miami heral that I was part of a problem there that was there with the uh public SPO do I have nothing to do with that issue so I did give uh an interview to the reporter to clear that up uh then he told me if I wanted to run for commissioner that he would help me do that because he had over 500,000 Facebook followers and he could help me get elected I refused that and um so it it just kept going and then he started removing boats and which made me happy because some of those boats had been there over a year they were deric boats however when that happened he wanted me to stand up for him and his people I can't do that because some of those people are still out there he also told me that he's the only one that can help me the Commissioners can't help me they if they could have they would have so I'm here today asking you guys please we need help in that area code was beautiful I'd love to see code back but whatever you can do for us we are grateful thank you thank you so much our next ver virtual caller is Johan Moore answer to this question Mr Moore you have two minutes please state your name and address please thank you Johan Moore 717 Jefferson Avenue uh I wanted to make two points one an item that is not before you today but that I urge you to consider as opposed to uh the various ill-conceived items before you there is in fact a meeting to address the Back Bay project check next week it would be ideal if we had a unified commission position in favor of County pursuit of US Army Corps of Engineers uh request for inclusion in the Congressional funding request for the Back Bay project that would permit elevation of our federally recognized historic district that being said I want to get back to my constitutional observations a speaker this morning Milan Iran to no objection or intervention from the de that speaker also maligned Hamas the legitimately elected however much any of us might disapprove government of the Palestinian people to no objection or intervention from the deis precisely elucidating my point about constitutionally impermissible behavior in retrospect there was already a constitutional violation of a particular sort protesters were thwarted from carrying out their constitutionally protected and defined right to engage in discourse with our interior secretary even at a distance and even by way of slogans though an encounter might have been possible as to the assertion that security concerns required the protesters to be kept at a distance had I been so inclined rather than deeply honoring interior secretary Holland duel Laguna and US citizen I could have carried a weapon into the event and I was not searched nor were there in fact metal detectors heaven forbid our indigenous member of the federal government appreciate it your time is up I apologize next sir set your name and address please two minutes my name is alexe a phonin 1661 West Avenue as I said in the morning I'm a captain and an actor I want to address an issue of of access to shore for people who live on boats um and um no access to food and water um my mother died three years ago at the age of 97 she was a holocaust Survivor um all her life she told me not to tell anyone that I'm Jewish because she never trusted the human race not to repeat it again she also said that it all started with the rumor they would sit at the breakfast table and uh a father would say we all going to get killed the rumors are and they would all mock it and laughed then there was an ordinance then there was a law and when the German Army crossed the border Lithuanian border where my mother lived at the time her family her relatives and all her friends were executed no access to food and water for the small community of people who choose to live on boats even prisoners in aitz had access to some limited food and water thank you thank you sir uh our next speaker virtually has a screen name of Moto G stylus please state your name address and you have two minutes my name is uh Bobby Duke hold on for a second please unmute yourself go ahead sir or ma'am uh my name is Dave and I'm the Sunset Harbor Miami Beach resident and um I noticed the last meeting when you guys wanted to spend like a half a million dollars on cameras in the canal after you took took out the dock um it just seems ridiculous uh uh as the amount of money you want to spend to to for what then all the voters now come over to Sunset Harbor and so now you have them all in Sun Harbor coming picking people up there people get sitting on the dock seriously I've seen people had to spend the night because the person never picked them up I I don't understand you created this problem and now want to spend our taxpayer money to fix it I just read this thing that Tanya bot wants to spend another what $270,000 to have three Park Rangers uh watch call them doc Masters and and try to charge people $750 a month what we don't want the people in Sunset Harbor they were fine in the canal the chief said they never had one call for service never had a complaint and and now you know we're going you're going to spend our taxpayer money to fix this problem that you created just just leave the people in in the canal take down your Draconian signs and and you can't just I just it just irritates me you think this money just grows on trees like our government in Washington DC just spend our money however you see F I wish I would have been a park ranger if I would have known they're getting paid $9 $9,000 a year $5,000 radio fee I couldn't believe it when I saw that and now you're going to propose this who well who's going to pay for all this we are thank you so much sir I'm done thank you certain next my name is Bobby Duke I live at 1450 Lincoln Road uh and I'm here to talk about the boats that are there that have been abandoned and that's one of the things that are really important there are grp group of boats and we live right on the bay that are abandoned and have been there for probably months and months and months and that's what has to be taken care of you know you can pass all the rules that you want and you can do everything you want but unless you enforce some of the rules nothing gets done and I'm here to tell you right now that by living on the bay and seeing all the boats that are there and not all of them are bad but the ones that are bad have to be taken out and they should be spent the money should be spent to actually get those boats off the Bay right now because they're destroying the Bay now the bay is coming back to life we just saw in the water some dolphin some manatees things like that that's happening now because you got rid of some of the boats but you can't get rid of just the few of the boats you have to get rid of the boats that are that have been just laying there that don't have people on them that are actually at this point right now being uh used as just play play toys and that's something that we got to take care of thank you very much thank you sir our next virtual speaker is Ken Barnes State your name address two minutes please my name is Ken Barnes and you can hear me yes sir go ahead my name is Ken Barnes and I live at 11111 biscane Boulevard I want to comment on the fact that Mr Miner interrupted me shortly after I'd been talking about how horrified I was by the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza and dared to call me anti-semitic he then said that these hearings were nonpartisan which was soon followed by his comments about how Hamas raped and committed sexual violence against Israelis I ask you how are your comments nonpartisan are negative comments about Israel considered partisan while comments about Hamas are nonpartisan can you not see the fallacy and utter hypocrisy in your logic and then all of you have the nerve to unanimously pass an ordinance which will curtail our free speech in what country are we living how is it that that hallowed right of freedom of expression is reduced to your being able to say what you want but I am not allowed to do so shame on you all thank you so much next please say your name please hi I'm Richard sementelli I live on 20th Street in Miami Beach um anyone who knows me knows that I'm an advocate for individual rights because I believe that is the basic principle that's behind our government our constitution the Declaration of Independence and why you're all here today you're here trying to you know balance on a rope to keep everybody's rights respected on both sides of any kind of situation so whether it's in a synagogue or if it's in a highrise condo or a boat on the water and um I I want you all to understand that most of the people that are on the water or have boats on the water we understand the problems that you are facing and we agree with them and we think that if we just enforce the laws that exist we don't need more law you know government has a tendency to say well we have a problem here let's pass more laws instead of hey why don't we look at the laws we have and try to enforce those so the issues with the sewage we all agree we don't want that to happen with boats on the water there's solutions to that the grass under the water is not an issue we we learned that it was never there since they dredged that area um derc boats we we want them gone too so we just want to have our freedom our rights to our individual rights to have a boat on the water without 45 Day rules and 20 minutes for this and 100 or excuse me a thousand yards or S thousand feet for this limitation all these other layers and layers we we already have the laws on the books and we just need them to be enforced and I hope that I can try to have time with any of you who will listen to talk about each and every issue and come up with Solutions instead of just passing just more laws to to uh take away our rights that's it thank you thank you sir our next speaker is Michael G Michael state your name address two minutes please hi uh my name is Michael gr I live on bow uh Mr Mayor Commissioners improving resident quality of life is your number one priority and the residents of Miami Beach who voted for you and pay taxes to support the budget thank you for that the proliferation of camping boats in biscane Bay is negatively impacting the quality of life of the residents of bile and surrounding neighborhoods from noise of barking dogs noise of loud music noise of unmuffled dingy engines all hours of the day noise of riggings clanging for hours in the middle of the night uh keeping me awake in this windy winter um or from waste I see dog mats get dumped into the bay I see people peeing in the bay and we know that with showering toileting cleaning dishes uh that that goes into the bay a quick text chain can tell people to close the holes and we know that the bay is like a river it flushes itself twice a day so of course you can't prove that there's any difference in uh the caulif bacteria near the boat versus other parts of the bay but if uh these individuals are so unabashed that they want to squat on public space for years on end and not allow others to come and go to actually vote then the city must and should enforce its current laws and enact programs like the docm at Gib Park to try and improve and maintain the quality of life of the Miami Beach residents thank you thank you so much go ahead please hi good afternoon uh city manager mayor Commissioners first of all I want to recognize you all for really the huge initiative and we all notice the resident Focus name name Tim Car West AV neighborhood association the uh the positive resident Focus initiatives and it's all on the day is today highly evident today I wanted to talk to you briefly about our five Q in particular I want to focus in particular on bullying and threats because again we do need to bring some Law and Order to the residents that I represent on West stab so for example I want to read to you and I'll let me give you the number where it came from 786 745 4443 for the record and again another board member got the same threat that said stop attacking folks and spreading lies or else your company all your co-workers and family will find out the kind of person you are same thing goes for Suarez and the wna folks then he puts my address to let me know exactly where I live and my unit number tell Suarez to withdraw c7y and r5q then he sent another one to one of my other board members same thing saying stop attacking folks and spreading lies or else all your real estate clients at his company your co-workers friends and family are going to be fined out of the type of person you are therefore that is why we need order and control on our Bay and we don't know what kind of people are out there but this gives you a good example of some of the bad actors I respect the good actors but we got to manage the Bad actors and putting rules in place will help that and to get the good actors have no problem with that it's the Bad actors that do and for them I say goodbye thank you our next I'm sorry our next virtual speaker is Jim McDonald please state your name address and you have two minutes please uh Jim McDonald um California resident although I have a boat in Miami Beach city limits um I'm addressing the Commissioners today uh regarding item r5q on today's agenda I'm requesting a public hearing Mr chairman uh please acknowledge my request I'm not quite understanding your request you're allowed to speak you have three minutes to speak can you hear me yes ah okay please go ahead uh yeah uh regarding r5q yes on today's yes please go ahead requesting a public hearing it's it's not a public hearing but you could speak now on it if you wish I know I'm requesting a public hearing it's a part of the right of the public hearing correct and that that'll be thank you commissioner Fernandez that'll be in the second reading this has to this has to go two different times if it passes today then there'll be a second reading presumably at our April 3rd meeting and that would be subject to a public hearing yes sir you certainly can reach out to us and and in the interim and and let us know your thoughts thank you that's all I need have a good day thanks so much please sir go ahead my name is caros Leon I'm a resident of Miami Beach I just want to show you guys a new Times article it says State sues Miami Mi Beach for 1.7 million gallons of sewage leaks into biscane Bay I just want to ask you guys have you fixed that problem yet no so 39 boats you guys with suito here told me made made the Coast Guard let those go please do not do that FWC and the police to come on our boats 39 Boats were rated not rid at 10:00 at night 9:00 and only two violations were done there was an FIU Professor that passed by the other day with Emmy Award winner uh Louis air and they checked the bottom of the bay and they said that there's no seagrass because in the past 100 years it was dreaded so now I heard the other day that they found 150 pieces of debris in the bay and five boats okay in 120 years let's say 100 years if there's 150 pieces of debris down there that's very very very little so we decided as a community Miami Beach boers Association to start diving and cleaning the bay because we're going to fix the bay that's our backyard you you guys take it as a vacation bringing your big boats next to my boat to harass me bringing drones at night to harass my wife inside of the boat now you guys are harassing my dog because I can't leave my dog in the in the boat and plus you guys want to regulate where I put gas and where is the only place I can put gas is in the Miami Beach Marina that smells bad and there's a I'm gonna uh to minor um there's a Jewish Gollum I'm May mayor Miner thank you mayor minor sorry I'm sorry sir but you're mayor minor um I was listening to my wife other day talked to the his her mom and she said that the Jewish Community give me two minutes two minutes you had two minutes sir I apologize but there's people behind you our next caller is Seth fur sir you have two minutes Mr F state your name and address please good afternoon viewer West Avenue 13:30 West Avenue Miami Beach um good afternoon mayor minor City commission thank you for being there for us as chairperson for the police citizens Relations Committee I've had the privilege to work closely with the Miami Beach Police Department for six years we've been focused on spring break issues for most of these years and the committee unanimously ratified an LTC commending the city commission Mii Beach police department and City Administration for their Stellar planning this past weekend was the first positive one even if not perfect and we are quite comfortable and confident with the Miami Beach Police Department that they can handle whatever comes their way this weekend please let them do their job finally as a Jewish man I have never heard or seen anything from Chief Jones or any of his officers indicating the slightest hint of not being sensitive to anti-Semitism in fact I've seen the exact opposite they embrace all cultures and people and I commend him and the department for their exceptional professionalism in extending the open and embracing culture of Miami Beach to all those that live work and visit here if there's an opportunity to expand he and the department sensitively to it I can assure the commission that all you need to do is Task him as such please I only ask you that you do that after the month of March a special thanks to Chief Jones and his staff for truly being there for our city and doing a stellar job all year through especially what is thrown at them this month thank you all for your time and efforts thank you sir thank you Seth next please state your name and address and two minutes please hi I'm Tatiana trifkovic I live at 900 West Avenue and I also briefly want to touch on the boers issue because I live right on the bay I see these boats every day I see sewage leaking out of the boats I see them dumping animal waste I see them creeping on residents with binoculars which as a young woman is not a very fun feeling and just I think we need a dock Master we need to regulate these boats they can't just be spilling sewage into the bay they can't just live there rentree operate illegal airb bees jet ski rentals and whatnot so please address this issue thank you thank you so much our next virtual speaker is Bill Isle residents Association state your name and address please and you have two minutes good afternoon mayor uh Commissioners and city manager my name is Sean Patrick Bryant of B ale here in Miami Beach the Bo of directors of the Bell Isle residents Association has reviewed and supports agenda item r5q regarding extending the dockage of dinging and tenders at Maurice Gibb park for far too long we've endured the chaos from noisy vessels speeding dingies unlicensed vessels on the bay behind our home the city is working hard with success to regain control of Law and Order on the land in our city the city needs to take whatever steps it can to restore Law and Order on the water with the growing number of boats using biscane bay as a parking lot and Campground the residents of bell is are paying a significant amount of property tax to fund the needed Services of our city the residents of Bell Isle have many public safety and privacy concerns related to the growing numbers of boats anchoring along our homes this s ordinance is a step in the right direction to address many of our concerns through the regulations you will have the docm enforce at marce Park in the 20 years of working on neighborhood issues today was the first day I received a threatening text message warning me and the residents of my neighborhood not to support a specific item there appears to be an element of dangerous people living on their boats in the bay this is unacceptable and should not be tolerated we urge the commission to pass this ordinance thank you thank you so much next please sayate your name address and you have two minutes sir yes my name is Kim dor I'm resident at 1500 Bay Road and just want to say beautiful day commission and mayor I am in support of commissioner David Suarez and c7y and r5q that will essentially put an end to the lawlessness of the derel squatter boats anchored in Miami Beach waterways right now the only way these squatters homeless can support their Lively lifestyle is to access land through the free Mor skip uh Park dock ramp or pay at the M Beach Marina if the item passes essentially it will establish a dock Master at moris skid Park ramp where currently uh the squatters are leveraging the free 20 minut access floating dock uh we will establish a monthly permit fee of $750 or $25 day for a dinghy um which will uh enforce be enforced by a doc Master some of the main terms to be granted if permitted must be Anchorage 1,000 ft off the shoreline uh vessel and ding must both be um registered and ured uh and must provide uh 7-Day pump out uh pumpage uh receipts uh I'm sure we can all agree uh the health of kis Gan is dependent upon it thank you thank you our next virtual speaker is Barbie win please state your name address and you have two minutes please hi my name is Barbie wi I actually live on the bay on the water and I don't look at it from above so I know exactly what's going on in this Bay I'm the one that cleans up the bottles that the land individuals throw into the water I'm the one that goes by the canal and picks up all the trash I think there's a total misconception between the people that live what they call on the bay and the people that actually live on the bay this voter Community yes just like your neighborhoods have individuals that you don't necessarily want to be your neighbors but the fact is that's just a small amount the majority of us out here such as myself a retired firefighter a citizen of the United States a um Community member of Miami Beach a vote a voter for Miami Beach I work on Miami Beach I'm a responsible boat owner that lives on the bay just like the majority of these boat owners and there's a lot of misconception about what needs to happen to the Bay but as far as I have read and listened to the professionals about it the bay is fine the bay is thriving there's always been Dolphins stingrays there's always been those things here we just need to be more supportive with each other land people and voer people on how to continue to make it a pretty place and unfortunately a lot of the issues that the islands have have nothing to do with the sailboats the people living on the boats so I am not totally against a doc for the thank you w I appreciate it sorry the time is up vice mayor 30 minutes have more than 30 minutes have elapsed do you wish me to continue or mayor actually the mayor's here yeah we have I think three more speakers here and how many on Zoom uh 10 10 10 uh do three more and three more how about we'll do uh um two two minutes for the next four next four and then one minute for the remaining on Zoom after that six lot of MTH for me so four four and so I'm trying to get to two two o'clock basically it's go ahead please name Carla prois uh North Bay Road I'm calling to I was calling him and then I just decided to drive over uh couple of things I'm a little emotional about all this I as you know me very members of the commission know that my nephew is in the IDF he's a pilot and he's actually named after my husband Jonas Meyers and uh he is you know in the in the Harm's Way and my family has an apartment in Tel Aviv and we're very committed to the Jewish State um but when I hear our first African-American Chief and his staff being attacked saying they're anti-semitic when I know that this man would also fight just as hard and he said it more than one time against the kkk's right too and it's our right we don't necessarily agree with the guns we don't necessarily agree with anything but it is a constitutional right to to be able to speak and I think that these guys have worked so hard this week and for us to like take pot shots at them when as hard as these guys have been working 247 including the city manager the fire chief co- parking this is not the time to be attacking our police and it's just I just think it's wrong and you know when they did the um demon the demonstration or the the I'm sorry it wasn't demonstration at the Holocaust munal everyone said there was almost as many police there as there were uh people demonstrating or having their friendly whatever and I just don't I think we that's are our rights and we should be be more uh less bullying on the commission and treating our city manager with respect treating our police chief with respect treeing our fire chief respect our parking d everyone in this city needs to be treated with respect and every employee needs to be treated with respect and we've got to stop the bullying it's just out of control and we're losing time every every day there's another person in the city that's that's leaving and we just got to stop what's what's the end what's the end here we just got to stop the bullying we we don't accept bullying in a Kinder garden thank you why should we expect it up here it's not right we got to do something about it mayor please yeah Carla thank you and and by the way I'm actually working on something relating to the code of conduct but I do want to comment on something you said I I can't I I really don't believe anybody made any comments against the chief that he was anti-semitic I think the frustration uh and and obviously there were there were two of us who spoke but I think what you're hearing is beyond even Miami Beach I think what you're hearing is Jewish voices saying that a lot of Jewish people feel that they are being treated differently than other groups this is not just in Miami Beach it's nationally it's internationally that things that are being said on campuses and whatever would absolutely and there's proof of that would absolutely not be allowed against other groups but for some reason against Jewish groups and Jewish people and Jewish residents it doesn't seem to be causing a problem and doesn't seem to be enforced I think that was the tone and so I I I just want to correct that I I really don't believe anybody commissioner Suarez or I and I'm not vouching for the comments were made I I can only control the comments that I make but I I do not believe that that was being said that the chief was being anti-semitic it was how we are enforcing the law and that we are not dutifully enforcing the law to to the way it should be and specifically and and and and and again I I've said my piece thank you okay but you understand I yes my nephew is right there he's in the middle of it and my family has given a lot to Jewish Charities and we will continue to give to Jewish Charities and you know so thank you you understand where I am thank you our next virtual speaker is Andy Andy please state your name you have two minutes hi this is Andrew dley uh 1661 West Avenue uh supporting the voters um I would just like to say that we need to have a discussion we need to stop the the back and forth the arguing the false narratives and realize that there is a middle ground that I believe can be reached um rq5 is just too restrictive the thousand foot uh yard restriction is basically no area for anchoring for the boers the $750 per month is really outside of what the boers can afford um and it really doesn't provide the services that comparable marinas would charge which provide more than triple that of which is more than triple the cost of those marinas and um uh you know we need to realize that the voters like a lot of said are part of our community they are residents they are voters they are legally anchored on the waters they are not squatters they are not campers they are not all these negative um and distasteful names that they're being called they are human beings and I think we need to to reach a resolution and I'm just disappointed that this commission did not wait until the March 20th quality of life and Public Safety to to talk to the boter and and you know we we live out in the waters um we are concerned about the the environmental issues that quite frankly are the city should be spending more money to address the sewage pipes and to address um you know people who are not following the laws and that's what we want to want you guys to hear about is that we just want the laws to be followed and we want to make policy that does not exclude people so I I hope you guys will take that into consideration and I thank you guys for your time so so we've done four for two minutes so we're going to do starting with one as the mayor indicated so go ahead please say your name hello my name is Jana I just want to show how dangerous is it when the city officials Start Spreading lies and talking about people like squaders because now today we saw that the people really think we are Squad and they don't even know what the word mean like if you go to Google and look what Squad is I can literally tell you it say a person who unlawfully occupies an unhabited building come on like we live on the boat it's our boat we pay taxes what's the squad do with it you know it's no sense and also about the young lady who is doesn't see feel safe I was living on the bay 3 years and I never have a drone flying next to my Windows Looking Through the Windows when I'm naked and harassing me so I would want to see is the city was flying the Drone or are we going to see some footage because I would really want to find out if the Drone was a city official because you even under our boat around the boat so maybe you want to check it up thank you thank you so much our next speaker is Mr beanock Terry beanock sir state your name address and you have one minute sir yes thank you uh I'm speaking speak on this Terry beanock Sunset Island 3 uh speaking on behalf of the sunset Island 3 and four Association uh to since this is a quick thing I'll just say we support everything that the B Association said they they got it right commissioner Suarez proposal goes a long way to fixing the quality of life issues from the Bayside so we support a passage of RQ r5q and C7 Y and just want to conclude by saying that my son just told me he's moving my 30-year-old Son's Moving to Coconut Grove I asked him why and he said because none of his friends want to come to South Beach anymore because of the quality the the deterioration of the quality of life issues you guys have done a great job on uh spring break and on traffic making good progress we now need need to need to make that progress from the Bayside thank you thank you Mr Bak sir state your name address and you have one minute I'm Steve Atlas I live at 12 28 West Avenue Bay View Terrace on the bay and I originally had an issue with the amount of noise that some of the boats make because it travels over the water very easily and then I've come to realize all the other host of problems that come along with having boers you know out in the water so you know what we have are like people who seem to have an unlimited sense of entitlement as if they have a right to just live you know it's like living in a park living on the bay is is public property is there's not like an inherent constitutional right to just you know live on a boat and anchor and access to land so I just want to say that I'm completely in favor of commissioner Suarez's proposals and I hope they pass thank you thank you sir our next virtual speaker is James kutas James you have one minute please state your name and address thank you I'm on Bay or west in Bay Road um look I think a lot of these boter I get why they want to live on the boat but they seem to want all of the rights of being a Miami Beach resident or even a Miami Beach tourist but n the responsibility um a lot of them and and look not all of them but you know a lot of them are dumping in the bay um you know they're harassing people Andrew diely who was just speaking um stalked me he emailed uh every company that I own every board that I sit on demand that I be fired um you know like they're not taking a rational or um civil approach to benefiting uh from our community um you know which is look it's an expensive place to live if you want to be at Miami Beach um pay taxes rent a place buy a place here you know stay at a hotel but you know to think that you're going to um live off our shore abandoned boats you know there's multiple sunken boats I apologize for you're out of time uh go ahead sir go ahead oh I'm sorry I was I was distracted my apologies I want the council to recognize that there's a your name and address again please my apologies Wally Moran cruises rights network of North America out of Melbourne Florida there's a core group of Voters who are not represented by certain individuals who have been abusive of this Council and its members and some of the residents I've sadly heard today uh and to those residents I want to apologize for the behavior of those voters it was wrong it was desperately wrong and that does not is not representative of who we are the voters that I'm speaking of and I speak on behalf of are represented by Micah plumber here and these voters want to resolve the problems between the cities and the voters the memorandum r5q is vastly deficient in many many ways including violating State legislation if this Council passes it you'll find yourself in a Minefield of lawsuits there are over 500 boats anchored between 79th Street and Rick Ander Causeway including vessels up to 100 ft in length there is no dockage there is nothing there for them where are these boats going to go if you decide that you're going to evict them from the area it's a problem that's much larger than just this city or this County it need to be dealt with un unfortunately you only had one minute so I apologize I'm going to go next that quickly that's time flies we'll continue the discussion I hope because it need needs to be had thank you sir Dave please state your name you have two minutes name and address please Dave hello everybody this is Dave grizer um resident of um Palm View um Palm View right across the street um just a quick um thank you to commissioner Fernandez and commissioner Suarez for um c4m and r9w um respectively today um these are these are items that will help get the management of Pride Park back on track um back to the original um 2018 drb order for how Pride Park was designed to be designed to be facilitated for residents and we thank you for um helping support a resident friendly Pride Park thank you everyone thank you sir please go ahead Michael Plumber uh 1521 alen road I don't have time for the speech so it's actually would have been in your benefit to hear that one um but I just want to respond to James who was just talking uh I agree actually that we should pay to play uh I have a boat out there and and I think the price is irrelevant but the fact that we would have to actually move out of city limits to then be able to come back and use your facilities just makes absolutely no sense so the reason the contract is being fought over a lot of people see that price and they get upset but it's not that's not the issue the issue is that nobody will be eligible to sign up for this no matter the price even if it was $2 we still wouldn't be eligible so the real concern is uh your alas that you're proposing are going to be in a lot of areas surrounding and I don't know if you're familiar with what happened with Walkin Island but they made a moing field over there and they failed they didn't do the research they didn't follow through and now it is an illegitimate moing and all of the squatting boats went back and filled that space and now you're stuck with them if you create this ala and you fail on your moing field you will no longer be able to get boats to leave you will be stuck with them forever thank you sir our next virtual caller is Roy Roy please state your name address and you have one minute hi uh my name is Roy Samuel I am an Israeli American Jew uh I've been living on Miami Beach for over 30 years um and while it's very distressing the anti-Semitism that goes on uh across this country right now I'm actually a part of a program with the uh lead director of diversity at Stanford University to actually work on programs um I think when we group uh people uh unjustly um like Chief Jones uh as someone who is is not supportive of the Jewish Community um and his behavior is warranted to to fire we're not realizing what a friend that Chief Jones is to the Jewish community and that's really something we got to pay attention to because while it's a a hot button topic let's not group those that are really supporting us um because of one or two specific events that don't necessarily look like it's going our way so please treat Chief Jones with a little bit more respect thank you sir sir go ahead you have one minute state your name and address good afternoon my name is Ernesto rias 661 West Avenue are living on the board and here this afternoon uh to talk to you guys after a long time since the December I see no solution for the boarding situations I think in this is absolutely discrimination with the boat situation because um let's thinking in that if in from a Lincoln Road in the bay we put millions of dollars of boat with no registration no Motors I thinking these people from the building has to be very happy everything is about money here everything is about the view of my balconi nobody have approve of s in the in the water from the boat everybody talking about uh s in the boat in the water but no have no nobody have approv only uh Mr Suare have a fake pictures and then so you see all the social medias uh talking about that situation and nobody have solution about that the next virtual caller is Miriam Haskell Miriam you have one minute please state your name and address my name is Miriam hll 800 lenux I'm disturbed that not one but two blatant anti-protest efforts passed this morning unanimously and with without even debates where are the Skeptics on this commission where are the people who are willing to stand up for the First Amendment this commission shut down public comment explicitly because it was on a topic that certain members found distasteful it let residents be bullied by individual members not only is that unconstitutional but it does not reflect the city I want to live in this commission should understand that it represents constituents with diverse political views and various backgrounds including Arab Americans like myself and Muslims who are celebrating the holiest month of Ramadan right now something that has shamefully gone unacknowledged today despite a call for prayer earlier Commissioners have said the city is being rebranded as a city for residents but it's become painfully clear to us that they want to build a city only for certain residents apparently that means no one who is houseless struggling living on a boat or shares a political opinion that the mayor disagrees with thank you m so I encourage you to do a better job listening uh Mr McDonald Jim McDonald you have one minute State your full name and address please Mr McDonald please unmute yourself let's go to Wayne Roberts Mr Roberts state your name address and you have one minute Wayne Roberts sou the fif I want to commend this commission and uh his one faithful truth that for the first year in the history of my residency that spring break is not a murder capital it it there's control and what this commission is done in a short period of time is is to change the Dynamics of Miami Beach so that the residents that we lost by the way because of the insanity of the prior Administration um where we went from 990,000 to 78,000 over the past 10 years in in total residence was because of the chaos of the people that really want to make it continue and uh no it's not going to happen these people are are dedicated to making sure that we hold accountable the tourists the residents uh the uh Administration the uh employees accountable and I congratulate you for all your efforts thank you very much thank you so much our next virtual speaker has a screen name of iPhone 14 please state your name and address please you have one minute yeah hi my name is Neil Davidson I live on uh well I live on parttime on my boat um and I use my boat for my family and I take the kids out and we do a lot of sailing on the boat um I think these new rules are completely unfair giving none of the boats and people living on their boats any access to the docks yeah it's just really not right and it's not on you know this is all about money yeah and not about quality of life and giving people what they need in Miami that's all I've got to say thank you so much our next virtual speaker has a screen name of EG EG go ahead please say your name you have one minute a name and address please hi my name is Edward Gil I a resident of Beverly Hills California I am a what they'd call a snowbird I come through Miami Beach once a year on my on my boat and typically the marinas don't have enough room I can understand the big problem with with all of the permanent Li boards in the area um and I love the new the new idea you proposed but I suggest maybe lowering the limit um of thousand feets a little much you know if we can make it 250 feet I'm totally willing to pay I think it's a good idea and I think it'll clean up the bay thank you mayor all the original individuals who had their hands raised when sutnik was up have spoken great so sutnik is usually 30 minutes I allowed for almost an hour so just wanted to get that on the record that we went over and above to accommodate obviously it's important to hear from people and and we did we did that so let's go to r7a r7a is a public hearing adopt Fourth Amendment to fiscal year 2024 capital budget r7a good afternoon Tama Stewart budget director this is the Fourth Amendment to the capital budget it contains one items and it recommends appropriation of $5.88 million for the purchase of the building at 7605 Collins Avenue this is a companion item to c7d that was approved earlier this morning Mr Mayor I move the item item has been moved by commissioner Fernandez second and by Suarez it is a public hearing I have two individuals on Zoom wishing to speak Susanna are you here to speak on the budget Susanna are you here to speak on the budget if so please unmute yourself PJ let's go then to Joan mus are you here to speak on the budget item uh no I'm not I'm here to compliment the police of Temple Emanuel and Alan dwit thank you than you we called I apologize but we're on a different item Suzanna again I'm going to call you please unmute yourself are you here to speak on the budget item no I was going to speak about the borders I apologize thank you so much appreciate it we have no one else on zoom and no one in the audience commissioner Rosen Gonzalez um I just had one question on the funding I saw that it was pulled from the building department why is that yes as we discussed it fir when we unanimously approved was that we' be using the building department of reserves uh they have that ability to to fund that there was already a project in our Capital Pro uh Capital program we funded $650,000 in the 24 budget to purchase a building in North Beach to have a an ancillary uh facility up there I believe the building department already has one as a rented storefront so it was an opportunity to find we had a problem we have a solution we were able to marry those two together and there is the ability to as we discussed at FK um for other uh uses at at that facility the primary use would obviously be for the building department for licensing permitting uh more than likely you know the CRA currently does a sublet on the existing building department lease probably I would see them having an office there too and any other ones I believe commissioner Suarez has an item at neighborhoods I think to talk about usages there to see if there was any other you know ancillary uses uses that could be there and what we would do is that department or fund would then rent from the building department effectively if there is uh an interest in that as we go forward so the building department will technically own this the building fund yes the building fund is going to own it corre but we haven't even discussed if we're going to put the building department there have we as a group it was discussed Fork it was discussed for and everybody decided that that was just because it's the first time i' I've seen it it's the first I was just curious I I guess I missed that discussion at F but I would like us to have a discussion about what maybe there's something else that we're going to use that building for it's in the center of a park wouldn't it make more sense to have like parks and Bre I think I think the discussion of I may commissioner care you it's right you know adjacent to the also to the large parking lot that's right there you know it made a lot of sense uh because it was already the will of the commission when we started that through the 24 budget process to to purchase a building so that it was just that really that opportunity if there's another use that's determined you know to have an office or something else there there's there's that opportunity to to fund back okay I just wanted to talk to you guys about the the fact that we might want something in public safety there we get phone calls all the time about the bathrooms in the park about different issues that we're having not being able to police it so I definitely while I'm not opposed to having the building department there um is US using the funds from the building department is that going to be a problem if we want to make it like a parks and W facility or we want to do something else with the programming afterward Public Safety I think I mean if if it was the building department wasn't going to be utilizing it at all that I think that would we have to discuss perhaps with the the City attorney just to to check on that but you know that was the intention and the the vote of the FK that that would be the primary use that's why we're using the funds and the you the reason also was to not use let's say our our pgo dollars which we have are so limited and so finite we have so many needs you know as you may recall there was like $27 million in uh deferred maintenance uh that we didn't have enough money for our crr and Pago dollars so that $8 million we placed in the pigo fund uh back in November of 23 which was the Surplus rolled over from the 23 budget you know that's the primary way that we the city funds its uh Capital project so if we use six5 million doar of that you know that means uh there'll be a lot of parks and a lot of facilities that won't get uh the renovation of dollars this was I think found to be almost a win-win and this would not have any real impact at all on our uh multi-year Capital program it still meets the need that this commission has determined which was the building fund to purchase a site in North Beach so solution found a problem and uh that was the unanimous approval of the FK and So the plan is to just make it ADA Compliant like because it's a residential home how are what's the plan this is just to purchase it obviously and I think it works out well the commissioner S as an item at neighborhoods to talk about some of those uses and and I spoke to the you know the deputy city manager and the and the building uh team is that they're going to have to look at that get some feedback on what some of those additional ancillary needs would want to be and then they would have to because I think the plan is right now to include in the 25 uh budget uh some dollars to get that started because well have to do design and planning and permitting and things like that okay I think some of us should go see it after we close on it and make sure that we definitely want to put the building department there and not something else that might be a better fit no good point uh commissioner Fernandez thank you um and thank you for your comments I mean I I I share some some of your thoughts I do think that that this is a good use because not not that we're going to put the building department there but there is a North Beach satellite office that right now I would imagine we're using the building department Enterprise dollars to rent space so we're using taxpayers dollars we're giving it to a non to a private entity to house a department that now we can house in the taxpayer's property upon the purchase of of this property and so let me ask you this if the Enterprise funds are used to purchase the property could let's say if we if we want to have a law enforcement uh use there let's say we want to have a North Beach substation hypothetically could could rent be paid uh to the Enterprise fund for the use of space there for a North Beach substation yes okay and let's say we want to do a Parks use there let's say we want to do a child Care Center there could we do the same thing could we pay rent to the building Enterprise fund for the purpose of using that type of programming it it should be able to I I I think it only get a little questionable is if 95% of it was non-b building department so we would have to take a look at that but yes I believe that all those uses should be able to be in there as long as I think the building department is getting the ability for people to go in and file permits pay permit fees talk to to someone from the building department as long as that use is there they're could be chargebacks from other funds and departments that uh would make use of it of that home so by using this fund we're now using ouro fund where we fund other necessities other Capital Necessities that come up in the course of the year that perhaps are not funded in in the budget but we know these things come up there there there things we prioritize from the de so we're able now to reserve the the AO uh fund for those other needs so it's it's it's truly a win-win uh I was excited when you when when I agreed to the briefing you offered me on this and I was excited to support it at FK alongside my colleagues and happy to move the item today thank you I would just like to say before we vote on this that this is the first time in 10 years that I'm actively watching us purchase a property use taxpayer money invest in property in a park uh this is always the direction I thought we needed to go in I thought we never had enough land we saw saw that when we tried to find a space for the daycare and we couldn't so uh I hope that this is the first of many Investments that we're going to make in real estate in our own city um because I I do know that whatever we do purchase will definitely appreciate and grow and result in something positive so uh that does anybody else vice mayor commissioner bot is requesting to speak yes of course commissioner bot hi everybody um yeah I think and banking is is really a good use of our funds for for the city um and we did discuss and and and vote on this recommendation unanimously at the FK meeting uh a couple of weeks ago and I welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation about possible uses that our colleague commissioner Suarez has put on the agenda for a different committee meeting but the idea of using this space and of course it's going to need to be uh retrofitted a bit and we'll have to figure out how to convert an actual house into a working office um although making it kind of house could be Charming as long as it's ADA Compliant but the idea of having additional City resources walkable to North Beach especially as traffic gets increasingly erratic and terrible um it is really excellent uh we have a ton of people doing a ton of projects whether it's on their own homes or building projects on a much larger scale so building and code dep Department um a building department is is very useful um the code enforcement is a chronic um complaint and having code on hand up there with a home base I mean code officers are obviously in the field doing their job but having a a home base and a place where residents can go and learn about what is okay what is not okay how to address issues that may come up having um police presence literally adjacent to the park where we know we've got issues with drug deals and um people you know sleeping in in the park at night when when they're not supposed to be it is it is so happy making to see um some resources being dedicated to the residents of North Beach I know that every neighborhood is special and important um I do feel that that because North Beach has fewer resident associations they're not able to advocate for themselves as effectively as some of the other neighborhoods across our city so I you know in addition to land banking and and making sure that something onerous is not built there putting the land to use for our residents is the best and highest use I can imagine at this point Thank You vice mayor you have one individual wishing to speak on Zoom yes uh Ariana ug please state your name address and you have two minutes please to talk about the budget yes hi Ariana ran 7921 Byron Avenue and I'm speaking as representative of the new Northshore Alliance which has several doz members so far it's just started and I just wanted to remind everybody that neighbors fought really hard to get this house for the comments for the public and really not for offices but for Park uses and so I hope that you know I was not aware of this item in the neighborhood committee but I hope that there will be a substantial and robust as you like to say discussion with neighbors particularly the neighbors that leave within you know you know two 300 yards of this house and uh and and park uses to make it really a community uh facility so many people have talked about children and about other such uses so that it is an open space and it does not continue to be a closed space for offices thank you thank you so much there's no one else wishing to speak wonderful so then did somebody move this item already I have a motion by commissioner Fernandez a second by commissioner Suarez okay so is this just a voice it is a Voice vote so is does anyone have any complaints about this or does anyone want to speak or by acclamation so all in favor yes yes it passes 70 the item is approved r7a great let's go to r7d r7d is create condominium oppos position requested by commissioner bot Fernandez Dominguez brosa Gonzalez and Suarez actually if I might I I just want because you have the votes so um I just wanted to make two points about this one I do agree the condominium ab ab budsman position could be very helpful um two two points one I actually the my understanding is the state has funding for this position Spencer Jennings actually was our um budsman uh through the state and did a very nice job but unfortunately that position has been filled for quite some time after Spencer left um I actually recently had two different discussion including one in person in Tallahasse with senior staff from the governor's office asking them to fill this position and if they did that um I think that could alleviate the need for us to do it so um that would be the request the other thing is that we have not budgeted this position so my request would be if we can refer this to firk the finance committee meeting here it there in the interim we could try to get that position appointed since there is funding from the State and if not we'll we'll move forward for it because I think it is an important position and I would uh probably even support it but that that would be my request so my request is first of all we don't have a we don't have a budget we can turn it to to alinaa or budget uh or Jason at tamaa but we don't have it budgeted right now so this is uh usually we refer things to this is not going to be a cheap position this is I think a pretty uh important position um I don't know how much spener Jennings Made but um it's it's going to it's going to cost to get a uh a good representative as an um budsman so my request one I think proper process would be to refer it to the finance committee for for the funding and but the in the interim because that'll take let's say a month or so or six weeks I would continue and obviously you're all welcome to reach out to the Govern Governor or the governor's office and try to get that position appointed because my understanding is there is funding for it in the state budget that is what I've been informed and and but they just haven't filled the position and I'm trying to to get them to fill it because I think it is worthwhile and again I think Spencer when he was doing it did quite an admirable job probably four to six weeks I'm guessing I'll second it I'll second your motion can I move that uh Rafel procedurally so that would take precedence then there's a motion in a second to refer the item to FK it would require it's debatable and it would require a majority vote ask make the motion commissioner Fernandez thank you um and I'm find uh having a discussion at at at FK I want to make sure that however that we make sure that this is a Florida certified condominium attorney for for this because there are all types of attorneys out there uh as we know there are people certified for municipal law there are people certified for you know entertainment law there's people certified for all sorts of Law and this position if we use the taxpayers dollars to fund a position like this it should be for someone specifically certified in condominium law um and that's that's the only thing I just want to put on on the record and one of the other things I would put on on the record also is that you know the state has you know a number of of positions uh you know and so does the county but often times our our needs are so unique and certainly in in an area like Miami Beach I think the majority of our population of our tax of of our residents live in Condominiums um you know the State of Florida certainly uh does have a budgeted uh unb butman um I think it's a position that pays very little that covers the entire State of Florida um you know for for a uh dense Community like ours that has so many Condominiums I do see the advantage of uh of having a a properly staffed position like this so I just want to see if the sponsor of the item would be willing with the referral to amend uh the criteria so that be a Florida certified condominium attorney commissioner Rosen Gonzalez um I agree with you that it should be a Florida condominium attorney and second I think that we should have both onsman I think the city needs one and I think that they can work with our state Ombudsman if I tell you how how many constituents how many associations come to my office all the time with different problems we really because it is under state law there's very little that we can do as a city it's very frustrating so our condo Ombudsman would almost just function with in conjunction with the states to facilitate what any kind of Law and by the way because our Ombudsman is going to be interacting with associations across my beach will be able to actually inform policy at the state level if you would out for two independent positions but really do need our own um Ombudsman here uh I can't tell you how many times I I wanted to call someone but there was really nobody to go to and we would go to Legal Services and then we'd reach out to the condo ombudsman's office and and and we can't give our constituents answers so if it was up to me am am I at five minutes okay you're good okay so if I mean if it was if it was up to me I would fill this position and also reach out to the state you know with a resol I would pass whoever is sponsoring this I would make a motion to pass our our Ombudsman and send a resolution to the State of Florida and asking them to fill the position as quickly as possible so they can work in conjunction with our utsman to create better and informed policies and help our constituents commissioner Dominguez thank you mayor um I agree that we need to have our own utsman and should look um to ensure that it's funded it's great for the utsman to work in tandem with whoever the state appoints uh but with the density that we have in South the fth in West Avenue um part of the Venetian and uh going up through North Beach and condo Corridor it's really a critical need and it's something that I definitely heard when I was campaigning and continued to hear uh now being a commissioner and Mr Mayor if I may commissioner Fernandez and you know let's let's not forget the fact the amount of Condominiums being bought out by by developers who are looking to take advantage of of you know condo owners at their weakest at their weakest moment they need an advocate and we want to talk about reduction in population in our community uh that's one of the things that potentially we could see you know condominium is getting bought out being turned into into hotels and we need to do everything possible that we can to to protect our condominium residents so that they're not displaced um by the challenges the legal challenges especially in the in the post Champlain era when we're seeing all these new laws and complexities that condominium associations need to deal with and stricter restrictions that are unique in Miami date County from the rest of the State of Florida that a State utsman might not be familiar with but you know following the task force that Miami day County had that commissioner Regalado uh headed um you know we have very unique regulations here in Miami day County that would certainly justify us uh looking into this so those are my comments on just thank you and may commissioner bot is requesting to speak commissioner bot hi um so I I'm wondering I I understand the desire to refer to FK to figure out where the the budget will come from this but we are about to enter into our budgeting process and I doubt we're going to be able to hire anybody in you know the next month or so um so I wonder if that's actually necessary given the timing not that the intent isn't a correct intent so I'm not I'm I'm with you in principle but just because the particular circumstances of the timing of this particular item it might not be necessary but I I could beu um persuaded differently and it also seems like there is um enough of support to encourage that we actually have our own Miami each specific condo Ombudsman um I think when it comes comes to on budsman you can never have too many so having one for the state would be great um but it's probably not a priority for them to get that position filled even with our diligent urging and it is definitely a priority for us for the reasons my colleagues have already stated um you know and also because we are a very unique set of neighborhoods with unique rules um it's going to require somebody who understands that and doesn't sort of look at things from um a 30,000 foot view as to how to provide guidance and and to be clear the Ombudsman is not a condo association or condo residence attorney but he or she would be able to help that person or that organization find the resources or direct them as to next steps for them to find their care correct path and I'm not sure that somebody from the state would be aligned with the needs of our residents the way that somebody who lives and works here and understands our needs would be so with all due respect I would suggest maybe we um proceed as originally planned commissioner Rosen Gonzalez we can pass this today and refer it to committee for the budgeting process we can do both so I would make a motion that we pass and refer I'll second that well well before we do that we had a motion on the table that was seconded that's right so there's there's a a motion that was seconded to refer the entire item to committee and that's before you if that would require a majority vote if I if if that passes then the entire item goes to F if it does not pass then there is a motion and a second to pass the the the resolution as drafted along with a referral uh to FK okay so in a moment I'd like to call that first vote um commissioner Suarez here ah there you go but before that I have a question for the administration um so if it gets referred to FK that but either way if it's passed today or in the future how is this position uh the person who' be selected how does that happen what's the process I believe the way the item is crafted the position reports through the city manager so we would craft a job description and we would advertise and we would hire an individual after the position is funded in the budget okay thank you uh so let's we have a motion in a second on the for the motion and the second is to refer the entire item to to FK on the on that just how does that and what was the sponsor of the item suggesting just so that I understand so that the the motion in the second is to refer the entire item and not adopt the resolution today to refer to FK um if that does not pass then the motion and the second is to adopt the resolution as drafted along with a referral to to FK um to identify the funding and and address that I mean for example I think the outcome is I'm sorry Mr Mayor no no please go ahead no I think the outcome is pretty much the same except you know today we're saying that we do want to create the position and then we're saying we're referring to fer the dollars like where where where are the dollars coming for for the position um you know I I would say I would I would say I feel more comfortable with that because there is uh there is a need uh for this we all get asked you know when we run for office you know what are you doing in terms of Condominiums and the worst thing that um that that our residents and our elector like want to hear is saying oh well we're preempted by the state we don't have jurisdiction over the matter and they feel like we're just kicking the can down the road and something like that I think saying today listen we want to create this uh this this position uh in our city I think it makes sense and then referring as as has been I think suggested by everyone to to to for the discussion as to the funding and the funding source uh and whether it's you know mid year in 2024 or or in uh 2025 you know those are the things that I think we could discuss at at FK uh once we decide to actually create the position yeah I mean to me the concern is it's this is quite a unique item there's literally no amount of how much this person or as we just heard from our city manager it's going to be put out to bid are we talking about 60,000 100,000 200,000 I mean that's why we refer things to the finance committee to make those determinations and we haven't done that here so I I just think we're not in good process here it's not a big delay i' it's important to me to know that information I think you have to call the vote let call the vote we have a motion in a second to this is on the referral alone to FK all in favor I anyone opposed so I have commissioner Dominguez opposed and I have commissioner vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez opposed so that is two so so the majority can well just just for clarification Which F meeting is this going to ail April FK okay and it comes back when May 15th May May May 15th okay I can do with that so the the referral passes to the finance committee for April and this is as amended making it a Florida certified condominium attorney was add an amendment ever ever No that could be discussed at first well then I you know for me if we're going to discuss this at FK I think we need to determine do we want because I think that that that that's going to affect like the caliber of individuals so before we refer this you know I think we should know what are we talking about do we can it be any you know a personal injury attorney an ambulance Chaser can it be you know uh you know a construction attorney you know or like do we want an attorney actually focus on condominium law I think we need to know whether the sponsor of the item is willing to accept that Amendment before we send this to FK so that we can really discuss the details of that FK yeah and I think you're I mean to me you're actually proving my point because we don't have the answers to that and I think what you're raising is is is actually well but I think the sponsor of the item let me just let just finish I think what you're raising is is a good point obviously personal injury attorney would not be appropriate for this position so I'm not and and I I think you're it's probably what you're saying is is true but that's the whole point we don't even know what we're we don't have criteria set out here we don't have the amount the person's budgeted for and that's we need to let's have that and then we can bring it back here for the full body's vote but I just want to know if if if if I may Mr I just want to know from the sponsor from commissioner bod if she approves amending her item so that this position be a Florida certified condominium attorney yes I do so the motion that we just adopted to refer this do we need to resend that motion uh and do a new motion on that so the mo the motion that passed was a referral of the entire item as drafted to as drafted not as amended F not as amended okay so unless is okay with that he made well there was a motion and a second for the referral so unless it's by acclamation um the what was referred was the entire item as drafted since I I mean Mr Mayor I I don't know since you made the motion do you do you accept the amendment to to the motion so that so we clarify that you know a minimum this has to be a you know condominium certified attorney I'm not adverse to that but I I have not looked into that because that was not part of this item and I I would just like to do a little due diligence on that I I don't I don't quite have a full understanding what that what that constitutes at this point so I don't feel comfortable accepting I think it makes sense what you're saying but I'm it's not my area as an attorney it's not my area of expertise so I don't know if what what that entire in it means in its entirety commissioner Rosa Gonzalez I think it was confusing to people that commissioner Dominguez and I voted no we were not voting no on the condo Ombudsman position we're voting no to taking an extra couple of months because we want the position filled as quickly as possible you have four sponsors to the item so you know that it's passing I mean you can drag it out as long as you want but I would really like to have an onsman for Miami Beach our residents as soon as possible and the process already takes so long so why don't we um commissioner bot I I think that commissioner bot did you vote to just refer or did you want to also pass it and refer it because I think at this point it has for sponsors I mean it's passing so to not have it passed and to go to committee I don't understand why it's controversial it's not controversal position to help condo associations that is desperately desperately needed so I don't understand what the controversy is I think we should all just pass it and refer it at the same time don't you agree mayor well we already voted and passed it so so we passed it so it's passed meaning no the referral I'll let our city well why don't we speak to commissioner Bach because we never even heard her vote on that I voted no it's been done we voted it's did we vote did you vote no to passing it today commissioner there was a vot we didn't hear Comm commissioner bot we did not but but there was a vote to refer the entire item as drafted to FK are you but commissioner bot did you vote to refer it to FK without passing it or did you vote to refer it to FK as passed there was only one vote there was only one vote and that was the refer you needed to vote no on the first one and then yes on the second and then it would go to FK and it would pass I voted I'm I'm not going to fall on my sword on this I'm very fond of the notion of measuring twice and cutting once so if their strong feeling to uh send it to firk in the next few weeks and have it come back in in um either the April or the May commission meeting I'm fine with that I want it to get done done correctly and done as quickly as possible um so I'm happy to do either way and I don't think my my vote matters one way or the other because I think the vote passed with a clear majority Mr may it was it was a 5 to unless unless there's going to be some am uh some change we've already voted and this item's passed just just and just and just for clarity because you know the F committee is not the full City commission uh commissioner Bond I I don't recall whether you're you're in FK or not but since this is your since this is your item will you I I assume you are accepting um the amendment and we are in the sunshine so you can amend your item now because this is your item uh and correct me if I'm wrong Comm Mr attorney it it it's it's not commissioner that that there was the the O the item did not pass um the what passed was a referral the referral but but but but this is commissioner bot's item is that correct the underlying item which did not pass and was not amended and was has been referred to FK it's her item it it it is she is the sponsor of the it that is a true statement yes okay she so as a sponsor of the item she can choose to amend an item or not to amend an item not at this point after the matter has already been referred to FK and it's no longer for her I just think I just I I just think if we're going to use taxpayers dollars to create an um busman's office and we're asking the finance committee to analyze what is going to be the budgeting for disposition I think it's only proper uh and true to the Integrity of the office that we're creating to say we want to make sure that we're looking to fund a position that is you know for a condominium certified attorney but I guess we'll be discussing that at uh FK commissioner magazine Mr Mayor if I might if I might make a comment yeah and then commissioner magazine but remember item in entire it is going to per in its entirety and we will talk not only about um the funding of this item or and whether it is something that is Midstream in 2024 or that we plan plan 4 and 25 we will also uh talk and I will work with HR and other relevant parties um to put some more clear parameters around what we are looking for specifically so we can have a more robust and informed decision or discussion rather at firk and then bring it back to the commission body as a whole commissioner magazine thank you uh Mr City attorney would there be any anything that precludes us from accelerating it and hearing at the March FK if by acclamation you'd like to refer to the March 22nd uh firk then that's certainly something you could do now let's do that that work okay so acclamation is going to March 20 second fork okay okay let's call r7e R r7e is terminate RFQ and prepare RFP for single waste hollers requested by Commissioners Dominguez and sparez r7e sponsored by commissioner Dominguez and co-sponsored by commissioner Suarez actually if we could just wait a moment I's our city man yeah we we need to get our city manager and our why don't we why don't we call can we can we call r7f in the inter room yes sir r7f is approved fot fots request 44 for Street D transfer r7f sponsored by public works yeah and Mr Mayor I welcome Joe yeah thank you Mr Mayor this is an item that had been on a consent agenda and I had pulled it because I had concerns and since then my concerns have been clarified uh and so right now I don't have an issue with this item and I actually shared some I don't know what your specific concerns but I had them as well and I think mine have been clarified as well so I'm happy to move the item we have a second yeah I'll give you one right now commissioner Fernandez and seconded by commissioner Suarez second it and absent are Commissioners Dominguez who else is absent Dominguez okay so all in favor I I so one absent the item passes r7f made it easy for you Joe thank you sir all right yes I think maybe restroom yeah the uh since we're not at our usual City Hall the uh the the restrooms are a bit of a walk from from where we are right now so can't believe we're head I think each one of these items is going to require the city manager and commissioner Dominguez they comeing in the can we take a commercial break let's let's take a two-minute break we'll go offline uh while we wait thanks no we have not e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e please take your seats the meeting is about to [Music] begin please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 two one great we're uh back we took a short intermission to make sure everyone was present and so let's continue with r7e for the record I'm G to read the item again is terminate RFQ and prepare RFP for single huler it's uh commissioner Dominguez and Suarez it's okay mayor commissioner Dominguez uh thank you mayor um so this item has been on here for a little bit and uh the motion on the table is uh the cancel the RFP or anything that's still out there for a multi- hauler system uh to move forward with a single hauler system and one and at on that same motion refer the item to FK to develop a new RFP for this thank you I'm sorry was that a motion yes okay just to repeat exactly where second for discussion commissioner Dominguez can you just repeat exactly there was two parts so the motion is um cancel any RFP that's currently out there for multi- hauler system let's move this to RQ R RF for uh the multi- hauler system uh move forward with a single huler system with a referral to FK so that an RFP can be created for this okay thank you you commissioner Fernandez okay thank you um I think that uh I I I I support this what I would like us to see is you know we've heard a lot from a specific segment of our community on on their desires for there to be an exclusive system uh and and what it stood out to me is that you know it's it's these commercial uses uh commercial customers in a specific part of our city specifically in the more historic part of our city to me it seems like there might be a dynamic there that might be different than in other parts of our city one of the things that I think perhaps FK should consider is do we want to perhaps consider having an exclusive model in a geographical area of our city that perhaps may have specific needs uh perhaps because of the Dynamics of the historic district the Alleyways the limitations in space uh and that type of stuff it might make sense to have an exclusive model there but then in the rest of of the city perhaps have non-exclusive and I think it's something that F should consider uh if we if we approv this today mayor the motion they have on the table commissioner Dominguez thank you um so I want to move forward with a single hauler system uh we have single hauler in our single family homes and it works well when I met with the city Administration they said it would not a single hauler does not mean one size fits all it means that there would be a menu for the different types of character and buildings and alleys that would make sense um for our residents and also for the haulers uh cuz are providing a service so having an exclusive system doesn't make it um a cookie cutter we can tailor it to the needs anyone else want to be heard commission Suarez thank you for U so what is the administration's last position um for recommendation based on on on the item we had recommended non-exclusive sir is that still your is it still the administration's opinion or position this is still our I'd like to hear from City man um thank you commissioner for the opportunity to comment obviously um both models have advantages and disadvantages we spent two years listening to at committee and at commission what the commission's priorities were as a result of that we drafted an RFQ for a multi- huling system and it was our recommendation and still feel that there are benefits to a multi- huling system in a city like ours all that being said we certainly understand what the potential benefits could be of an exclusive model and we are again more than more than open to discussing that and I believe that that discussion was already referred to committee for purposes of develing developing the criteria the critical part in all of that is to make sure that as that criteria is developed that it's really really tight because then you run the risk of of a potential 2-year transition to a completely different business model you have an ordinance currently that has defined the business model for our city for over 30 years and you what once you once you hire one company to provide service for the entire city you are committed to that one company and so you have to make sure that the way that RFP document is drafted is very very specific and guarantees um the protections that I think all of you intend to provide for our residents and for our businesses and that is very tricky and that has tremendous risk associated with it so again is the position of the administration is to still go with multi- hauler we have an RFQ we have responses that have come in we are prepared to open those responses at the appropriate time and to continue on that path yes okay I'd like to move the item or second it I think it's been moved seconded already did I a I think commissioner Fernandez had seconded yep if we could call the vote commissioner magazine um and maybe we may discuss this Mike okay um happy to discuss this in finance uh done extensive viewing of all the other previous finance committee meetings going back several years where I think and if you ask all seven of us you're probably going to get seven different opinions so I understand we have to come to some sort of consensus for me it seems like after following but not really engaging uh too deep in the weeds with staff and uh other stakeholders would be some sort of system where single family homes single family districts maybe historic districts and multi family up to a certain extent a certain size would have some sort of uh exclusive single huler and then commercial would have some sort of uh non-exclusivity uh open that up to two to three haulers um I'm unsure y then I'm just oh okay um right so I in full disclosure I've never spoken to a single individual from there I'm just using this entity as an example uh because they're iconic they've been in Miami Beach much longer than I uh I go to somewhere like Joe stone crap I say nope you can't use the hauler you've used for 40 years you have to use this one that I've chosen I don't I don't know how I feel about that so um I I think where I land I'm happy to explore and be an open book on this uh at finance committee but I think from uh the research I've done that's kind of the uh methodology I'd be leaning towards is have an exclusive um because I get the benefits for uh single family and multif family up to a certain size but then for larger commercial properties uh maintain some sort of flexibility where they would have some sort of say between uh a handful of different operators Mr Mar can I just clarify one thing commissioner Dominguez I was just gonna say I did do my homework I did speak with the commercial operators and many of them are demanding this demanding single hauler just as just the same I just wanted if I can call on our city manager well the only clarification I want to make is that our single family um contractor this this does not involve our single family residential service that contract is completely separate and apart from this franchise this franchise is strictly a multi- um multi- hauling um business a multi-dwelling n nine units and above M yes yes so I I just want to make sure to clarify because I don't want there to be any confusion this single family residential is a completely separate contract commissioner Fernandez thank you and I you know thank you commissioner Dominguez uh as a sponsor for for highlighting the fact that you've done your homework that you've met with members of our community because the very concerning insinuations and the report that we received at 10 o'clock last night it it's it's to it's it's to me insulting to this body that insinuates you know that we don't that we're making decisions unaware aare of the the implications you know insinuating that we you know are not receiving information and we're making decisions without receiving in information without taking into consideration external stakeholders that we engage with and engage with on a regular basis that isn't accounted for uh in that in in in that report uh and so thank you for for for putting that on on on the record uh because you know we are hearing from stakeholders we've heard from a lot of stakeholders um who who who certainly uh prefer um you know one model over over over another and I'm going to be supporting you today anyone else want to be heard okay let's call the vote this is on item r7e cancel uh issue and refer to FK all in favor no anyone opposed no it's going it's going to cancel issue a new one and refer it to FK so all in favor yes yep no one opposed it passes 70 our 7 okay we passed r7f right we did yep let's let's do r7g r7g we got you up here Joe thank you sir r7g accept recommendations adop storm water master plan r7g good afternoon mayor Miner vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez honorable Commissioners city manager Hudak City attorney p and city clerk Granado Joe Gomez Public Works director uh today I'm here to talk about our storm water modeling and Master Plan update PJ if you would please if you can put up the agenda yes sir that was it's got March 13 they can't bring up their presentation are we waiting how long we're having some technical diff difficulties with the presentation if we can't get it going we'll call another item yeah okay let's uh take a Hiatus Joe don't go too far no sir I won't I promise thank you I we call R9 a actually we we have a Time certain why don't we call that item yeah David you want to hear that oh we can't call presentation okay r9a board and committee appointments so r9a and r9b are everyone on the Das has a green piece of paper uh all the all the appointments that are here have no competition so it may be done by acclamation we have for the ad hoc permitting process Improvement committee we have Damen Gallow we are pending H and this is for the permit expediter uh we have two vacant seats and two nominees uh Mr Gallow has not provided his application so once he provides we will double check but you may appoint Mr Gallow and Mr tillet Mr tillet Mr tillet does comply uh so you could do so by acclamation if you so wish by yes great so you also have for that same committee residents who have built uh SL made improvements to their home we have a nomination for for Mr s gross and Mr Jordan Ronson Mr s gross provided his application this morning uh we will double check that he meets the requirement but you may appoint these two individuals by acclamation if you so wish by acclamation yes we have uh for the same committee uh general contractor member with permitting experience we have Nicholas Cari uh he meets the the qualifications uh he does not live in the city so you would have to be voted by 57s vote so if you approve it by acclamation he would qualify um I personally I pointed uh him Nicholas is actually does a lot of work in our city very knowledgeable um has actually offered um over the past several years a lot of good ideas about how we can make improvements I think he'd be uh U significant value added so we could do some acclamation if you so wish so having no objection by acclamation he's appointed for affordable housing uh Maria Paulson is nominated for appointment for the banking mortgage industry qualifies we could do so by acclamation yes and for the design review board Laura L Luen uh has been nominated for the Water Management expert category meets the qualifications uh water management expert you okay with that resident of Miami Beach attorney and also uh water management experience undergrad Under Pressure your mic I'm fine I guess I'm fine with that I I I know our our colleag commissioner bond is working on an item having to do uh with with the members of that specific category but I did meet with the individual and it seems like another young individual from our community that wishes and desires to to do good um you know my preference would be maybe to see what happens with commissioner bot's uh item but if the support is is there I'm happy to uh support her does she want to be on the Next Generation council did you I I I I met with uh this girl oh sorry through the chair if I could um in fact just uh the Water Management expert is just icing on the cake for that I think uh the rest of her resume is supremely qualified uh whether it would be for the water seat or not so even if she would fall into the general category Mr Mayor yeah commissioner bot bot um so my sorry my video isn't on um so the the item I'm working on is if in the event that we don't find somebody who's qualified as a water management expert we can um go to just a regular resident without those qualifications but if we have somebody who is both qualified and a resident and has water qualifications in particular then that's a trifecta so I don't think there's a need to wait okay I'll support so if that's the case we could do some acclamation uh for the health advisory committee it's they're trying uh the CEO of Miami Beach Community Health Center is being uh requested to be reappointed Mark Rabinowitz we could do so by by acclamation it's for the his own seat so having uh there's a physician category uh Dr Jacobs he is being nominated by commissioner magazine he qualifies we could do some acclamation so done now uh Karen freed has been nominated to has been appointed to the education of Mi Beach uh committee quality of Education she does not have a child in the school so this is to to do the ex exception for someone who's qualified but who doesn't have a child if we could do so by acclamation and the appointment of the Housing Authority the mayor has nominated for appointment John Novak for the tenant commissioner category the state statute requires that the mayor nominate but the commission approve the nomination if we could do some acclamation so done that concludes the board and committees thank you great have we worked out our technical difficulties yes sir okay if you can call that back up Rafael yes sir we were doing r7g which is accept recommendation adop storm water master plan thank you Mr Mayor So today we're here to talk about um our update to the storm water master plan PJ if you would go to the next to the agenda so we're going to cover um a few things we're going to cover project objectives our approach to the storm water master plan neighborhood Improvement projects propos storm water quad uh infrastructure summary water quality treatment approach critical needs which is uh something that we've added to the storm water master plan and our implementation plan but before I move on this is the culmination I just wanted everybody to know this is the culmination of 18 months of very hard work by a very dedicated team and I do want to recognize the work of our city engineer led by our city engineer Christina Ortega who's here today our assistant city engineer John Carlo Peña our planning and design manager and project manager for this assignment and a a very good model in her own right Teresa camrra and last but not least our consultant project manager associate vice president for aom Eric Alanta who's also here next please so in terms of a update of the storm water uh the storm water program so um very important the last storm water master plan that was done for the City of Miami Beach was uh 2011 so and and and since 2011 there were two updates two important updates that were done to that 2011 uh master plan in 2017 the the uh the city adopted a new level of service before that we were doing the 5year 24-hour storm since since 2017 we have been using as level of service 10 we adopted the 20 10y year 24-hour by commission approval and in 2020 three significant reports were included as part of the of of the of the 2011 uh Stone water stone water master plan and that's the blue green infrastructure analysis the road elevation strategy which sets the tone for how we're going to deal with sea level rise and the neighborhood Improvement projects which were approved by the Commission in 2020 several projects I did want to point out and highlight that several projects since 2011 since the 2011 storm water master plan have been have already been completed uh by the city to a total of $103 million and those include pal and hibiscus Indian Creek Drive uh from 26 to 41st which is a joint project we did with fdot West Avenue Phase 1 which included pump stations at 10th 14th and 17th 11 the 11th Street lower North Bay roads Sunset Islands three and four uh to name a few so these are significant and meaning that the storm water master plan that was done in 2011 um did carry forward a lot of a lot of good work for the city we're now in the process of updating that storm water master plan to the Next Generation next please so in terms of tasks um we started off with a notice to proceed with aom on October the 20 of 2022 our data collection was very very intense uh including surveys resident complaints that we were logging in that we had database of of Resident complaints on in terms of areas that are that are susceptible flooding uh all all the recent studies were also included we then proceeded to the analysis phase which uh prioritized uh the crit critical needs one new tack that we've taken in this storm water master plan is that we're approaching it similar to how we've done the water and sewer critical needs we realized that to accomplish the the neighborhood Improvement projects the robust projects um that that the city approved in 2020 there's over 50 of them would take decades to to complete so in order to address some of these storm water uh flooding issues what we wanted to do was identify critical areas that would provide some level of relief for our residents and we're going to be presenting those to you later in the presentation we' also engaged the public we held a public stakeholder meeting uh and we also developed what we call a a a toolbox of of of critical needs a drainage toolbox for the critical needs projects how we going to address these critical needs projects we then move to the Crux of of of of this uh project which was to update the city storm water model obviously a lot has changed from 2011 to where we are in 2020 2023 2022 when we started uh sea level rise projections have changed um uh a lot of a lot of other issues have have been addressed so we included all that and then we also included the city's uh neighborhood Improvement projects as part of the development of the of the overall storm water master plan next please oh that's good that's good right there PJ so so then we we developed a a technical memorandum we then moved to Prior prioritization of the capital program the the prioritization of the capital program is very important because it has two parts one is if we were to bring the entire city addressing all the 56 50 plus neighborhoods that were approved as part of the nip program to bring him up to the level of service that the city has approved which is the 10 24hour what would that cost be which would include the road raising as well as um water and sewer infrastructure and above ground improvements that would have to be done so that was that that was part of the assignment and then also coming up with the CIP CIP program for the next 10 years to address those critical needs we then conducted public Outreach we had a a in a workshop that a a workshop that we held back in October of 2023 where where folks were able to attend both virtually and in person where the team uh had interactions with with uh with residents about their so M issues and then we incorporated all we also then moved to the fur committee and we presented our findings to the F committee and at the October 2023 fur committee meeting uh the the the FK gave favorable recommendation to move forward to to the commission hence why we're here today and then here today to hopefully receive favorable uh an approval to adopt the the new new sto modern master plan so next please several uh we incorporate several recent and ongoing studies the three that I talked about earlier the road elevation strategy which sets the tone on how we're going to incrementally as as the the years and the decades progress how we're going to uh approach sea level rise in terms of raising the roads uh the the nip program which was uh which was approved by the commission back in 2020 the blue green structure things like biooils rain Gardens and things of that nature and also our sea seaw wall prioritization plan are one of those some of the studies where we have an aggressive program to replace the five miles of the 55 miles of seaw walls that are within the city of Miami Beach that are city-owned approximately 50 miles are privately owned 55 miles are are City owned so we're aggressively approach uh moving forward to raising those seaw walls as well next please so stor water master plan approach it really has three components to it it's a combination of the the the neighborhood the overall neighborhood Improvement projects water quality projects which are very important we'll talk about those in in a few minutes and then critical needs projects again I talked about we're approaching um this storm water master plan and addressing critical needs um and trying to do that in a in a much shorter uh period of time than than the neighborhood Improvement program would would be able to carry out next so what's a neighborhood Improvement project it's it's really a holistic it's it's it's really taking and and improving the entire neighborhood bringing it up to the the the level of service but also improving all the other infrastructure within that that entire neighborhood and again just as a reminder there were over 50 neighborhoods that were were prioritized as part of a study that that that Jacobs completed for the city and which was adopted by the Commission in 2020 which then uh addressed uh how those neighborhoods would be ranked in order of of priorities and so so it includes very important I do want to say that the only way we're going to Long address long-term and sustainable uh address an approach a sea level rise is really the holistic approach of the neighborhood Improvement projects because you not only have this flooding that we have to take care of but we also have the the increasing tidal inundation that's caused by sea level rise however we recognize again that there are projects that that could be done sooner to be able to provide some sort of relief in those neighborhoods and we'll get into in a minute into in into those projects next please as you can see the the nip uh projects that we've already recently completed uh Indian Creek very successful from 26 to 41st Street that was a joint project that we did with fdot uh the West Avenue Phase 2 which is currently under construction right now the pump station is currently under construction as I understand from CIP uh they should start working on on the first road segments towards the end of this calendar year uh the the FD Alton Road uh project from Michigan Avenue to 43rd Street uh do is is is the lead agency since it's a state road however they are addressing U our infrast our water and sewer infrastructure through a joint project agreement and then there's other sections later on First Street uh project um that that's a project that's currently it's at 60% designed we've stopped the design at 60% to provide an independent cost estimate and there's a referral to to the April FK uh committee meeting to to discuss the a path moving forward and finally Northshore d uh that's in the North Beach town center area where we are currently at about 15% we're developing the basis of design report and then moving on to to to to design that project has a $10 million for the resiliency grant that was awarded to to to the to the city how many slides do you have uh now you're doing great it's just uh I think one of the main things we have I think you have a slide with 56 projects yes sir I think I think well yeah we already passed the the 56 neighborhoods but we're going to get into the the critical needs okay great so I'll I'll move it along okay thanks okay level of service so as I discussed this was uh in in 2017 the city moved on to its level of service of of 10 year 24hour which is what it's adopted and that's to what we designed to this day roadway resiliency so when you when you design and reconstruct a road you you try to have a a useful life for that road that that will last you for at least 30 years before you have to go back and reconstruct the road you may have to resurface it every 10 years but really you don't want to spend a lot of money in in having to go back and invest sea level rise projections um this is based on the Noah um the Noah curves that were veloped and most municipalities in in in South Florida have have adopted this we we've adopted the third curve from the top which is the orange curve and that's called the Noah intermediate it's not as drastic as the the Noah extreme uh but it it is it is the our guidance moving forward and if you look at the the little table below it has what what we what we address as the the elevations of the pavement in in increments of every five years how they would have to be increased next please so in terms of stor water infrastructure summary um which is what uh when the model was developed uh currently we have 48 existing storm water pump stations um 33 would remain and then an additional 83 over the course of of everything doing everything within the city would be added to for a total of 160 uh pump stations including adding 104 miles of large diameter pipes to be able to convey the water in 2024 all in doing everything to bring the entire City to current level of service the estimated present day cost is $3.7 billion yes B with a billion um next water quality treatment approach this is very important because it it is something that's very important to us we're surrounded by water so it it it essentially um the old systems really only had um the if you go to the the second one which is the bar racks and then we moved on to what we call Cyclone Vortex which takes out the sediments and the oils we're introducing now additional treatment which is called a membrane filter and that what what that does is removes uh nutrients um which are which are critically important because nutrients are what cause a lot of issues with the bay and that that introducing that alone will will be able to double nutrient removal uh going forward then we finally the pump where the pump then discharges through an energy dissipator and through a through a seaw wall out into the bay next our ongoing water quality projects we have Pump Station 24 um which is in in in lower North Bay Road uh we're adding two uh injection Wells for additional water quality treatment um are portable pumps that we put during the the storm season and that uh probably sometime around May you'll start seeing those portable pumps going out there by durm requirements we have to now add a treatment tank next to that portable pump in order to be able to discharge into the bay obviously those are portable and temporary and once we do some of the improvements along the way those temporary pumps would then no longer be needed Park View uh alall water quality improvements uh we've got $200,000 to do water quality improvements to about 7 to eight outfalls in in Park View um that's currently in in design right now with an estimated $2 million construction cost uh we've got also Pump Station 30 32 which is right next to canopy Park where the wells that were put in there were connecting the pump station to the Wells for additional treatment and last but not least in the Nautilus area we have Pump Station number 10 to do odor and water control uh treatment next so a critical needs project what is a critical needs project so if you look at that the the the the graphic up on the screen you'll see the blue outline that's the entire that would be the entire Nautilus neighborhood be ranked number 36 in the neighborhood prioritization plan what we're doing as as part of the critical needs we know that 44 Street near the connecting to the mus Park area is the lowest area within that so our our approach is to be able to build infrastructure um that will Al alleviate the flooding in this lowest area and this infrastructure is not throwa away so I want to stress that whatever we're building as part of this is going to be augmented in the future where as we do the neighborhood Improv Improvement so none of the what we're proposing is throwaway and it includes a variety of tool boxes Mr May and I just have a question on that if just on that piece that means when you say augmented that infrastructure you're installing now can then be connected to the larger infrastructure project that you would be doing later on in the future AB so and so that investment in this temporary Band-Aid we can say uh will be will continue to be used when the bigger project is done yes sir that that's correct so very quickly here are some of the things that we're using to address the critical needs some regrading uh we have a lot of undersized pipe in the city older pipes that that are are by today's standards not not not acceptable 12in pipes things of that nature we're we're increasing pipe sizes connecting drainage areas that are not this that disconnected adding catch basins water quality treatments and things of that nature next very quickly I'm almost at the end Mr Mayor um priorization of critical needs so we we developed a a a ranking system in order to be able to H come up with the 20 projects that we've developed and obviously the highest rankings were areas where we use temporary pumps because those are the lowest areas that are affected uh the the topog where the Topography is low and we have a title inundation flooding complaints or we receive a lot of flooding complaints um constructibility how how easy is it to be able to build this first phase pH neighborhood where it ranked in the neighborhood so we want to be sure that anything that was up in the neighborhood Improvement program wasn't getting preferential treatment um over over over neighborhoods that are really low in in the in the ranking but are suffering for from flooding next please here is the recommended critical needs projects there's 20 of them we currently have two under design right now Nautilus F and Nautilus B and I'll show you the map in a minute uh those are right now on the uh on the design and they're scheduled to go to construction anticipated Construction in 2026 the current present day cost of the 20 projects is is 66.5 million if you escalate it out to the year that it's constructed because these are staggered in in in two-year increments it's it's about $95 million uh represents about $95 million next and then so we've developed a schedule it's I know it's hard to see but the schedule on the is the continuation of the neighborhood Improvement Pro uh projects based on the current schedules current approved projects that we have the second one in the middle those are the critical needs projects and those are we we're anticipating two years for design and permitting it takes about a year to design and about a year unfortunately to to to go through the regulatory process to permit and then a year and a half to two years for for construction so we' staggered them throughout um uh for the 20 projects so that takes us out from 2020 26 which is the start of the first two projects in construction to sorry I don't have my to 2036 I believe that's it and then we have the qu quality projects Below in in the schedule as well thank you Joe uh before I turn over to commissioner Dominguez just wanted to first of all thank you for all the work you're doing and uh I actually we have Aspen here and and this has been a topic of conversation and really UPG and fortifying our aging infrastructure is so important clean water reliable sewers flood prevention the health of biscane bay I mean they're all intertwined with exactly what you just uh presented and what we're trying to accomplish so I may have a couple of questions but I'm going to turn it over to uh commissioner dingz um I lost my Chain of Thought let's see waste water thank you so much for your presentation I really appreciate it I know that I've um reached out to you and met with you on uh the First Street project a couple of times and we have a meeting next week with sna um so that's very important another critical area is upper North Bay Road and when we were doing our briefing I was happy to see that they were third and fifth on the list to get themselves completed um with the road raising I think that as long as we don't put private property at risk and we're working with the homeowners and businesses to harmonize that's uh very important and one thing I forgot to ask in my briefing uh um are we using pervious Concrete in any of these projects that's a perme permeable type of concrete where uh helps prevent flooding we we typically do not use perious concrete on public right away ma'am um perious concrete there are advantages to it uh I know that it um in in parking lots it's it's used because it since a parking lot is is is totally imperious um and and it so when it floods and typically if there's flooding that that lasts for let's say for 12 14 hours um a lot of those parking lots are used for commercial purposes so the the water has time to recede and and it it works pretty well for for public rights away the the the issue with previous concrete payment and I and I did work with a lot of prvious concrete pavment in in my career is the maintenance that's required so if perious concrete is you have to have a very aggressive maintenance uh program to Main maintain the paracity of of that concrete now I know there's been advances in perious concrete and we can certainly explore that uh moving forward thank you if it's just something that will help um with the flooding and uh as we're upgrading our our storm water but thank you so much I really appreciate it thank you commissioner Dominguez does anyone else have um does anyone have anything they would like to add I I would like to congratulate you on this plan um you know over the past decade I I watch what we've done um a lot of our plans got put on pause because they were just too dramatic change too dramatic of a change for a neighborhood so these smaller projects at three and $4 million that are addressing the hot button areas instead of the $50 million $100 million projects that just remain stalled even now as we speak I think West Avenue is finally starting but it took how many years 10 year eight years 10 years to get done first street is just as controversial because people really don't like this transformative neighborhoods I was here when we when we were supposed to do all of North Bay Road and that was you know years of arguing and stalling so this new process is I'm very optimistic about it because it shows that we are addressing these needs but we're not going into this controversial area of the rising of the nabd to ridiculous Heights higher than homes so I mean hopefully we can get this started and approved and you know everything shovels in the ground as soon as possible now to 2036 anyone else have something that they would like to add yes commissioner sparez I I think Laura touched on First Street and you guys are having a meeting next week next week there's been a lot of concerns about raising the roads on on First Street you know because some of the businesses their fear that they're going to get flooded um you know this past um summer I I was around I think it was August 1st when there was a big brainstorm event in Sunset Harbor and every single business got flooded um in in Sunset Harbor and where I had a road raise in front of it the business was flooded and then I quickly went to South the fifth on First Street no businesses were flooded and so know what just briefly what what is your plan for for the First Street um well that that's why we want to bring it to to to FK um the the the current plan for for First Street um is really to um it it it requires a a major Pump Station at the intersection of of of Washington and first uh to address the the southern part of of the South Point uh uh neighborhood um it also in includes um as we've as we as we proceeded in the project it also includes adding Wells along Washington Avenue and Alton Road the project um when we stopped it at 60% to give you some background commissioner well one of the things that that the the the pledge I made to the community was we were going to stop at 60% and go back and and do an independent cost estimate to determine a if the cost estimate that that the consultant our design consultant come up with was a good cons a good um estimate and B how could we then phase the project so that it would not be as impactful to the community and our our consultant that did our constructibility analysis has come back with the with the plan that that actually provides phasing uh which is also important because right now that that there's a huge funding in order to build the the four phases there's a funding Gap so um is there is there a plan to raise the roads on First Street currently as so how much uh average I would say about two feet foot and a half a foot and a half a foot and a half so and just for reference what was Sunset Harbor raised that was before my time I I I think Eric up up to 30 Ines so about 2 and 1/2 ft right so you could understand the concerns that absolutely you know we don't want to make the situation worse uh for for First Street and again when there was a major rain event on First Street I don't see the type of flooding that I see in Sunset Harbor Comm commissioner I I I know the technolog has changed I know it's before you and I'm not not me like talking down to you I'm just simply saying we want to make sure I think commissioner bot always has a thing that's you measure twice cut once you know we want to make sure that before we rip up the ground and put two feet in front of a business if we even want to do that it's not going to negatively impact absolutely the long-standing businesses on First Street absolutely and commissioner bod is requesting to speak to Okay commissioner bot hello um I just want thank you I always am a fan of measuring twice and cutting once especially when it comes to engineering projects um but I I do want to reiterate the comments that commissioner Dominguez made about using per permeable um technology that continues to evolve every day um I know Joe you and I Ted talked about this before as well and one of the concerns about it is that um it has uh high maintenance issues and it doesn't maybe last as long as more traditional materials but um if we are replacing Road surfaces every 10 years anyhow then then um it it definitely needs to be looked at I mean we need to look at every possible tool in the toolkit and new technologies being Advanced on a daily basis on this front and and you know I know you are engineering colleagues who read the journals and and um know more about this than all of the rest of us combined can attest to that but I just want to reiterate that wherever possible thinking outside of the box and and you know even testing maybe on on a smaller project some of the new technologies so that we can use everything available to us to help uh deal with these issues would be much appreciated thanks two two points that I just wanted to make um and commissioner Dominguez you had asked about the the and commissioner bot the impervious p uh impious pavement um in the First Street project we're actually proposing to add for the for the parking area so that that I just wanted to let you know and to your point commissioner Suarez um regarding harmonization if you look at Indian Creek Drive the 26 to 41st project that was completed that's an example of the harmonization that that I believe is is is better suited uh if you look at that the harmonization there um going into the the properties along Indian Creek Drive uh very you don't have the the the vertical wall situation so it it it it can it if harmonization is done right and we try to harmonize always try to harmonize with in the rideway that's important but if we can't then you know what to what extent are we going to affect and to your point you know obviously we want to be sure we don't create a negative impact to to the resident or the businesses come Rosen Gonzalez um what I would like to do with First Street is wait until we finish West Avenue which sounds crazy but when you do these transformative large scale projects like this an entire neighborhood is transformed um we want to see I mean there were lessons learned from Sunset Harbor you know what started out as being like $7 million swelled into 25 million 30 million probably with all the different change orders and but we learned from that now we're going to West Avenue and while you know we put in a lot of work it's not going to be perfect and we're going to learn lessons there so rather than commit the same um mistakes on West Avenue like you know on on First Street that we are going to commit probably on West why don't we stagger them or add First Street to the critical hotpots kind of like we're doing with the other projects like do small projects 3 million 4 million non-transformative but that keep the streets dry um instead of this contra because nobody wants to remove the parking I don't think there's consensus about the pump station going into that one parking garage there there's a lot of different it's very controversial you're right you're raising the streets well I'm glad only a foot and a half and it's not that I don't want to do this project I would just rather wait because why wouldn't we we can doesn't have to happen right now no well today we're not going over First Street we're accepting the storm water master plan which I think is great but since he was talking about First Rate and I'm here in an audience with him I just thought I would tell him how I was feeling um I I commissioner Suarez I think um you know Laura has a meeting with Joe like I have a meeting with sna next week Joe I think let that process play out this is Laura has obviously taken the initiative on this and I'm going to respect her um you know and and we'll see by April 3rd if um if anything comes out of that and then we can have this discussion I can I can certainly put it on if if if commissioner de doesn't decide to yeah I I listen I think it's a neighborhood thing we created a neighborhood resiliency committee didn't we recently I think commissioner Dominguez created a committee didn't we created yeah we just uh extended it okay so we extended that committee so we have residents looking at these neighborhood projects right and the prioritization and everything well I think it's amazing it's going to take for forever $3.7 billion doll but we are actively working and I think we need to show this for insurance purposes corre so that we we stay insurable our bond ratings are high so we know we have to do this and and um let me just I I promise commissioner magazine yeah thank you Mr Mar and thank you for everybody on this I think we all uh ran campaigned on moving forward on resiliency projects and we're the epicenter here this week is the epicenter of that with the Aspen climate Summit in in town uh actually in this very building so I do think it's important we're moving forward I'm excited to hear about the West Avenue uh been critically uh engaged in that for close to 10 years now um I'd be hesitant to tell a brain surgeon how to go about his business for the same reason I'm going to be hesitant about uh shaping out how to do engineering projects but nonetheless I still will um I do like commissioner Rosen Gonzalez's idea of take the easy wins where we can get them uh if there's not immediate consensus for how to proceed on some of these large transformative projects in area it doesn't mean we just totally abandon the neighborhood move on we take the small winds where we're able to get that uh fortify the dam and uh you know move on to Mission critical so thank you for all the engagement uh perhaps uh commissioner Dominguez I'll leave it up to you I don't want to step on your toes but uh perhaps if that sofam meeting was able to be I'd be interested Mr Mayor Comm I promise commissioner Dominguez and commissioner Fernandez uh I was just going to talk about the ca so 3.6 billion but I know that during um my briefing you mentioned the number of grants that you apply for and funding that we can get from the federal government so keep up the great work on that thank you commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor as I'm looking at the item one of the things uh that I see here is that the recommendation is to commence a part of the recommendation is to commence a rate study of the storm water utility to determine Financial capacity for the storm water improvement work proposed in the master plan and that staff alongside the engineering consultant will present The Final Storm water modeling and Master Plan update it is there the potential with the adoption of this for there to be an increase of rates to our consumers I think I've been called up to yeah thank you uh mayor vice mayor Commissioners Jason Green Chief Financial Officer uh with the adoption of this plan you know as was mentioned this is overall a very long time right this 3. some billion dollars is beyond the window of our our Capital program it's something that we're not going to be financing now immediately uh the one at hand is the $95 million I believe critical needs just like you have in the water and sewer I can tell you that it looks like uh we should be able to afford the 95 million over the 10 years with our existing rate structure we'll obviously have to keep an eye on operating expenses and construction costs but we believe we should be able to afford that but obviously the big dollars are in the new neighborhood Improvement projects so we need to look at this holistically and uh yeah so by engaging with the rate consultant they're going to look at this long-term capital program look at our existing rate structure and see uh if it's affordable based on that they'll come back they'll do the analysis on the capital side they're going to look at all of the revenue and expenses of the fund run a financial analysis effectively and then see if the existing rate structure supports that it might come back and say it is completely supportable or there's a recommendation uh to adjust rates to uh meet this this Capital program things can obviously be adjusted with schedules and things like that but it's possible but this is starts a very long uh process this this is the start so under the 95 million you're so what you're saying is that our current rate structure the what the consumer is paying uh is not going to be impacted by the 95 million the 95 million that we're approving uh for the neighborhood projects that are going to address those 20 areas for for the 10 or 24hour uh storm that's that this this approval is not going to should not be affecting our our rate structure but it's the other projects the larger uh master plan for which we could potentially see a rate uh increase or or adjustment no I don't want to say increase but adjustment basically yes commissioner this rate analysis will confirm that but based on some work with our current financial adviser it does appear that way but again schedules actual construction costs and things like that so those 10 projects we're estimating to be 95 million cash flow uh inflation indexed uh but we don't know how it'll end up being but it's important to go through this whole uh exercise again 95 million 3.5 billion there's a lot of other projects play of course and so I just want to make sure that uh when we conduct uh this rate structure analysis and whenever that um consultant comes back with their recommendations uh they were fully briefed on on on the structure how how are commercial customers uh being charged as opposed to residential customers and non-commercial customers to ensure that there is fairness um so that's something that as part of this analysis I think we should look at and whenever that comes back I want to make sure that I as long as as well as my colleagues are fully uh briefed on that just want to make sure that we look out for the little guy uh especially our residential customers AB absolutely and this would go to FK is this a referral FK to or it would be a referral so we' have a new referral but this would when when the time is right this would come back can get referred to FK and FK will vet this whole thing and how far away is that what uh through the chair what do we anticipate the timing for that to be do we anticipate to be this year next year commissioner I I I think um we'll probably um sometime in the fall as one we'll probably be able to bring it to Ferg okay so sometime in the fall yeah is this a consultant we've already hired or is this yes okay great thank you Mr Mayor okay thank you uh think we're ready to take the vote thank you so much as as you see from our the amount of time we took on this and the work you've put in in our commission comments this is a top issue upgrading our aging infrastructure really is a public safety issue uh which is a common theme from our commission and ultimately if we don't get this done it's going to cost us a lot more in the long run if we uh if we keep waiting so thank you for that we ready to take the vote I I don't have a motion I'll make okay I think commissioner swarez made the motion T commissioner bot uh seconded yes sir so if all in favor all in favor so the item passes 70 unanimous that was r7g great thank you now we'll get to our time certain r5q r5q is an ordinance of the mayor City Commissioner of the city of man Beach Florida amending the code of the city of man Beach chapter 66 entitled Marine structures facilities and vessels by amending article 3 section 66- 107 entitled maintenance of public peers to allow extended dockage of dingies and tenders at City Pier at Maurice G park with a valid dingy and T tender dockage agreement with the city and authorizing the city manager city manager to enter into dinghy and tender dockage agreement on a form to be approved by resolution of the city commission providing for a repealer ability catification and an effective date this is a first reading r5q this commissioner bot co-sponsored by commissioner Suarez yeah through the chair I'd like to give my presentation great is commissioner bot may I comments first since this is my item yes commissioner bot so this is not a lane that I would normally be traveling in I would um be attentive of course to all the residents needs both on and off the water but this was not something that I would be um getting deeply deeply involved in and since um we took an action in December with unintended consequences I found myself in this Lane and so I want to be clear as to why I'm here and what I am hoping to accomplish um you know this meeting today started off with quite a lot of spicy rhetoric um a lot some of it was is way out of line uh in my view I am on a number of different topics I will say that um how our city has evolved how the laws have evolved governing our state our city um need to evolve with the times and so just because something was away 150 years ago doesn't mean that that way continues to be the best appropriate way when somebody raised the fact that the you know this is how it's always been well there weren't people living on the shores when Waters were being lived upon by voters so we need to find a way to find Common Ground um no pun intended I think there has been an inordinate amount of harassment in multiple directions most recently even this morning residents private residents have um been contacted not elected official offals and not um you know people who are um proclaiming that they are representing one group or another but private individuals have been contacted and threatened which is wholly inappropriate it is very okay to have different opinions on a matter and maybe never even agree on how it's handled and you know that's not the desired outcome but that is you know that's a consequence of living in this world with other people but to threaten each other because you don't agree with what may or may not be proposed is nonsense um I I do appreciate I'm going to call out a gentleman named Michael Rayfield who made comments this morning I appreciated his sarcasm and humor and I take his point um and what I'm going to propose here uh I'll let uh commissioner Suarez go through the details I will suggest that um he and I came about this working independently from each other on on items to different items that overlapped significantly um and so we decided to put them together um the guidelines are not in my view perfect they are based largely on the um the guidelines that have been set forth by the proposed moing field and vetted by by a number bodies who govern these things so for those who are claiming that uh we are setting ourselves up for lawsuits I mean I guess we're la country we can sue anybody for anything but to claim that we are ignorant as a city that our lawyers are not doing their jobs that the officials who govern moing Fields um at various levels for various entities don't know what they're doing is not accurate um I would suggest that we after commissioner Suarez makes his presentation and we hear from our colleagues and members of the public I would very strongly suggest that we do um either let let this travel to the the scheduled meeting to fine-tune some of the details that are not those that come directly from the moing field guidelines like whether or not you can have dogs on the boat uh what the appropriate um limitation is if it's 1,000 feet 500 feet um and what the costs are because those are details that can be discussed nobody needs to make threats to each other the costs are what they are because it was um reverse engineer to figure out out what it is going to cost to cover the Staffing of this of this doc um so I am not a believer that multiple wrongs make a right I am a believer that we try to get to the best accommodation we can and hopefully it will accommodate as many people as possible and I'm very sensitive to the folks in the voting Community who say there are a lot of us who do our jobs pay our taxes want to work with the city and do the right thing and and somebody pointed out that like any neighborhood or any condominium or any group of people there are always going to be bad actors and I would suggest that those Bad actors who are claiming to represent the voters are not doing anybody any good so we have opportunities to refer this to Burk um I believe it's already on the on the schedule for uh Public Safety neighborhood quality of life committee and we can continue to vet the details there but to continue to either make Draconian changes and not care about what the consequences the unintended consequences may be or to continue to bully each other in multiple directions those two options don't seem correct so I do believe that this is a good start to finding a a compromise that most will be able to live with uh including those who live on the land and um and are dealing with the consequences of these actions and I want to reiterate that there is a difference between derelict boats which are the ones that cannot move are half submerged or fully submerged that have been abandoned that cost between 50 and $70,000 to to retrieve after the state has gone through the good faith efforts to find the owners which are a huge issue for our Bay and all public Waters versus calling people derel you know they're they're adjectives they mean totally different things in those cont contexts we know for a fact that Miami Beach has um violated the trust of keeping biscane be uh bay clean with illegal dumping but again multiple wrongs do not make a right um I think there's a false narrative that um of that there's only one thing to do something correctly and I don't subscribe to that so without I'm not going to proze anymore about this I'm going to turn it over to my colleague to go through the details but I really hope that we can work together through this meeting and the next one or two committee meetings to get to the best possible version of this to make it workable foremost thank you thank you commissioner Suarez PJ can you pull up the um timeline presentation please okay over the last decade there has been a growing population of permanently anchored boats that have decided to commandeer our public waterways of biscane bay for both private and commercial use as you can see from these images our waterways are being clogged more and more each year by these permanent anchor outs that get to live for free in our public National Park this issue is growing exponentially for multiple reasons and I'm going to show you why PJ can you please pull up the um shter rental okay here's a listing on Airbnb for the swan song this one goes for about $3,500 a month is located just west of Miami Beach and pick up and drop off location is at the seaw wall end of Lincoln Road uh the captain there is named James I believe he's here in the audience um and here you can see that the pickup location is at the seaw wall and Lincoln Road okay so this one okay here's a listing captured on Facebook Marketplace from one of the boers um and here you can see that they're renting this boat for $1,200 a month there's a one-time non-refundable deposit for $500 when you sign up so 1,700 when you move in our sailboat is right next to Lincoln Road close to Star Island local Publix and um this is not this is not a luxury hotel okay here's another one for $1,000 a month and again they reference Lincoln Road and a Public's Market okay um here's an interesting one this one goes this is this is one that got bought and sold here so what's interesting about this one is that this was relocated from Melbourne Florida so what does this mean that means that there is an incentive to bring over these boats to to our waterways for commercial use and and by the way the Lincoln Road reference is important because it correlates to the increase of illegal activity at the parklet over the last few years to the increased number of anchored out vessels off of West Avenue just ask Nancy Duke how things were going in her neighborhood over the last three to five years this clearly shows there is an active effort to import more of these junk boats to our waterways for commercial use PJ can you close this slide colleagues what you're seeing here is a new clever Marine Hustle by purchasing cheap antique sailboats for pennies on the dollar permanently anchor them in our waterways and selling them or renting them on a monthly or nightly basis unfortunately it doesn't end there PJ can you pull up the charter boat please another hustle caters to unlicensed party boat chartering one of these boats named Marbella on the bay uses his personal anchored out vessel to Charter party events his program includes dozens of balloons alcoholic drinks and plastic cups and lots of loud music near Monument Island another vessel named Frosty anchors his boat off bellile and uses moris skid Pier for pickups and drop offs for his reservation here's a picture of him chartering Spring Breakers this past weekend with no onboard help and questionable Life Safety conditions you can close this folder PJ lastly I'd like to show you a highlight of the current conditions of many of these anchor out boats PJ can you pull up boat conditions please most of these boats are not seaworthy they haven't moved in years when they sink we the taxpayers have to spend anywhere from $10 to $20,000 per vessel to remove them right now there are about 200 of these anchor outs off our shore if God forbid we get hit by any hurricanes this year many of these boats will sink or pose a severe risk to both public and private property if just half of them sink that means our residents and taxpayers will have to spend over $1 million in fees just to remove them this does not even take into account chemical or Fu leaks from vessels being submerged you can close this folder PJ what's going on in abis Gan Bay is a ticking Time Bomb while we're on the subject of sinking boats it turns out that Miami Beach had a survey completed by Rees resource Environmental Solutions to collect data on the amount of junk and debris that is currently sitting on our best in our bis biscane Bay just west of us PJ can you pull up the exhibit other one [Music] it turns out there are dozens and dozens of large debris items littering the seaf flow right now in our precious Marine Sanctuary this trash ranges from makeshift Moors beer can coolers sunken boats engine parts beach chairs you name it we all know where this trash came from you can close this one PJ another major concern is privacy boats that anchor so close to our Shores have an advantage at night to peep into our resident homes with binoculars at night at any time of the night also land-based residents and their families are forced to watch the personal lives of these anchor outs and their shabby contents every time they look outside their window Public Safety in terms of Public Safety we have no idea who's accessing our lands when you rent or buy a condo you go through a background check to make sure you're not a criminal or worse sex offender there is a process that we landbased residents have to follow for a safer Society in Miami Beach and that's not the case of what's going on in our public waterways it's obvious what's happening right now in our public waterways is no different than someone getting a worn out RV parking in the middle of Flamingo Park and deciding to claim our public space their rightful home this is nothing more than a trailer park in our waterways these are not boers or sailors in fact most true Sailors and cruisers contend with these clogged anchorages caused by Li boards PJ can you pull up the um Cruiser form recently there was a posting from one of the local Li boards that made a thread in a well-known Cruiser form to support their cause at our Miami Beach City commission meeting just today and it backfired I'm going to read them to you honestly I'm surprised it took Mii Beach this long to do something about the problem they are faced with unfortunately there are too many anchorages in Florida that are turning into floating dumpsters and those of us who work hard to do the things the right way bear the burden while the idea of living free on the hook has great appeal problems arise when these flotillas turn into little more than a floating group of vessels that barely float much less function safely I get it people are looking for a cheap way to live but this isn't the answer stop being surprised when the rest of us don't support derck vessels thanks for the info Joe although I would I would bet it is an underestimate it does seem that sewage is not the biggest issue I would maintain my objection as noted by a couple other posters that individuals do not have the right to Commander public spaces for private use just as one cannot build a Shack in a public park and no it is not their home it is a boat in a public water way they may be living there but it is not their private space and they do not get to determine what is a reasonable rate just like the millions of others they need to pay for their services they consume it was pretty jarring to read the demands of a dingy do and a pump out service and they say they should be the determiner of what is reasonable for them to pay and do they expect water ambulance services have medical emergency while aboard I could go on but the point is made the homelessness problem is a real serious one it can be very hard to distinguish people who wish to live on a boat from people who want to spend money on other things from than rent to those who are destitute or desperate a civil and just Society Demands a lot from people and it is their duty to meet the demands just as importantly I am deeply skeptical that the deric boats are a proper Humane and solution for True homelessness it gets better as a Florida cruising sailor I have I have to add my voice V voice and support of the moing field and doing away with Anchorage deric Anchorage for deric boats you are not a sailor or a boater if your vessel has move hasn't moved in more in a year or more you dump sewage into environmentally sensitive water you have 2 inches of barnacles on the bottom and you create an isore for those living on land you are a homeless person you have the right to live that way as long as you are not infringing upon others rights sadly that is not the case you've anchored off someone's most valuable property in the United States if I owned a 5 to1 million waterfront home in Miami Beach I would be raising holy hell if a bunch of people anchored neglected boats several hundred feet off my yard and created a homeless Camp it's not a scenic view when people are hanging their butts out of the stern to do their business throwing beer can parties at all hours of the night and discarding garbage into the water don't blame the government for not enforcing the rules blame yourselves for ignoring them no one owes you anything no one is weeping when you say your boats will be replaced with nice vessels that actually travels places I'm normally liberal but sometimes close to libertarian but here I'll sound like my late father if you can't afford to a Marina and you can't maintain your boat you need to have a job so you can don't be a burden on others David we we've actually been over time you want to hear see I'll bring it in um look right now we as a city cannot regulate the duration or distance of anchoring within Municipal Waters but what we can do is regulate access points from the water to land okay um all that being said both commissioner bot and myself have put for a compromise and an attempt to bridge the gap of the needs of the anchor outs and the landbased residence of MIM Beach this is the proposal we're going to create a dock Master at the morrice Gibb Park a position that will maintain Law and Order at the public at the public ramp establish a contract for permitting process for the anchor outs under the following conditions a $750 monthly fee which comes out to only only $25 a day this allows regulated access for dingies and their anchor outs main vessel must be 1,000 ft from shore of Miami Beach main vessel and dingi must be registered and insured if it sinks we're not on the hook each vessel must provide proof of pump outs the main the Miami Beach Marina has won for just $10 any commercial activity is strictly prohibited each vessel must meet a certain standard Aesthetics no gas cans punching bags worn out engines visible on deck and with this I would like to bring up um Chris from our Public Safety enforcement liaison because I just recently found out that he was a municipal prosecutor in Hollywood and they have a serious uh deric boat problem there and I'd like to have him share some of his concerns about what we could be looking at in the next couple years and I I think it's going to highlight a lot of this and through the mayor I'd love to I'd like and by the way this is this is the mayor's new position um and and I thank you for your time Chris mcclan glad to have you up here thank you uh Mr Mayor good afternoon good afternoon Commissioners Madam manager uh other members uh through the chair yes thank you um yes commissioner as we discussed uh prior to taking the position here I was the municipal prosecutor for the city of Hollywood uh candidly approximately 6 months before leaving that position I was introduced to the first case that I had to prosecute uh in reference to uh an issue like this uh Derick boat or a boat that had been abandoned uh within six months of after that incident or having to prosecute that case to say we were inundated with cases like that is an understatement we were averaging about 20 a week uh with various is issues pertaining from uh abandoned boats to uh pump out situations uh tying dingies off to uh mangroves and destroying city property and etc etc um and candidly uh as you and I discussed uh from a personal note and actually from a a a work rated note I I commend you on taking action as soon as possible uh because it's my experience that if nothing is done it will uh as you stated grow exponentially and uh it's not something that can be ignored thank you PJ can you pull up the 2,000 boat slide please real quick through the chair this is this is Salem Harbor this is about 2,000 boats out there there is nothing stopping this from happening in bis Gan Bay right now okay that this this can very well be the model of boats in the next couple years in our Bay if we do not act right now and it's just as Chris has said you know U he sees what the future lies and it exponentially metastasizes and it can get really bad and so what and you can you can close it PJ thank you what I'm what I'm doing is I'm looking into the future and I I I I foresee a problem here and I I want to get a handle on this I want to have respect for our residents who pay taxes who vote and I have every neighborhood association in favor of this item I have Venetian I have uh Venetian homeowners association I have Bel is homeowners asso association I have Sunset Harbor in favor of the association I have West Avenue in favor of this I also have all the sunset Islands so every single neighborhood association that abuts the water is in is is in total favor of this unanimous support and um and if I if I can I would just some of the members from the Sunset Harbor Association are here and and one person from Wavo wasn't able to speak and and I would I would humbly request the mayor if they get allow just a few public comments sure we because I think we have the vote through the chair uh I commend you for all the effort Direction leadership you've showed on this it's uh you've been laser focused it's I don't want to say unanimously supported but incredibly heavily supported by the residents I'd like to make a motion to move forward with this and I I back your motion here second seconded I'll make a comment commissioner Dominguez thank you um so I am supportive of um making sure that there's no pump outs in our Bay um the boats that are out there have been raided multiple times and they've not been found to be dumping anything into our Bay when I read through this proposal I found it insane I thought there was a typo because it I thought it should be 750 a year not 750 a month the reason why these voters are so upset is because we made a decision in December thinking we were voting for Derick boter but it affected all boter we cut them off cut off their lifeline and access to Land Food Water doctors and um it's been very difficult to see and that's why you see them so angry but tah hasse didn't pass this we absolutely should regulate it Miami Beach will not turn into the last picture that we saw saw that was dotted with sailboats because we have a moing field that's been approved and is getting designed and built but I don't find this particular item to be a compromise it's very Draconian and I think we could do something better commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor so I I met with a number of of the of the members of the boing Community because I meet with anyone that wants to meet with me if you email me or reach out to me US Monica will try to respond and give you meeting times so that we can accommodate and listen to everyone um and dealt with individuals that seemed very reasonable but it upsets me now to see individuals commercializing and profiting from a national park biscan Bay National Park I mean that is like our largest park our largest park is not Flamingo Park it's not South Point park or the new Bayshore Park that we're building our Region's gem is biscane Bay it is the equivalent of our Central Park it is it is so important to to to us not only for us uh being emblematic with our community but it's also a source of import tourism uh Eco tourism and and and it's just it's just important to us to see someone profiting from short-term rental activity from it and not just profiting from bis game Bay but operating utilizing public property commercializing our street end the street end of Lincoln Road to pick up individuals I want to know Mr attorney is isn't that a violation of the city code uh yes it absolutely is and I thought that operating uh commercializing commercializing activities like that doesn't that require BTR uh yes it does and do they have a BTR do those have we investigated those listings to see if they have a BTR with the city uh this is the first I'm hearing about them but I uh assume when commissioner sarez said that they were unlicensed that they don't I mean left and right you know our residents are complaining about about illegal short-term rentals their impact to their quality of life and now here not only is an impact to their quality of life it's it's an impact to our environment and that is what this is what bothers me about it that this is not what the individuals who I met with presented to me they seemed like reasonable reasonable individuals who were just going about their normal lives not individuals commercializing from bis Gan Bay from the street end of Lincoln Road and I even asked them please you know when you come when you come speak at at at commission be respectful to my colleagues my colleagues are trying to work with a community trying to find Solutions be respectful to my colleagues and like all that I see is individuals coming Ming forward not to advocate for themselves but to attack to humiliate to you know insult and it's just it's just not productive commissioner Suarez you've got my support in this you've got my support in this uh because I I just find it offensive that it's offensive when individuals do the short-term rentals illegal short-term rentals on private property that's offensive it goes against the interest of our community and we've heavily advocated against that in Tallahassee but now it goes to step for forward individuals utilizing the taxpayer's property to engage in personal profits illegally in violation of our C city code and we're being told not to do anything about I I support this today as a first reading I do think $750 you know docking fee could be you know maybe that should be looked at but let's be real to park at our parking facilities I think it's uh about $150 to park in our parking facilities for a monthly card holder that's just for a c to go into a garage there's not the Ripple effects environmental you know impacts that would be associated with a marine Vessel and so and and so and so I do think it is proper to to to to to look at a robust fee to make sure that we have how do we fund a marine uh code enforcement that's something that we need these dollars should be directed towards that how do we fund the proper Environmental Research to make sure that we don't have elevated levels of nutrients affecting the marine life and the and and the and the Sea grass and the B of biscan bay these dollars could go towards that and so while I while I might not agree with a $750 figure and I think that there's work to be done I I am going to support you in this item because it does go against the priorities that our residents have asked us unequivocally to fight against and and amongst them amongst those is short-term rentals so thank you Mr Mayor commissioner Suarez um just the $750 a month I mean didn't just come out out of nowhere it's um you know I asked I asked Parks hey what's it going to cost to do a um a dockmaster there at a position they gave a breakdown analysis came out to $269,000 a year and I divided that by uh 12 and then um you know I think it came out to 25,000 and then I divided that by 750 and that comes out to roughly 33 boats because that's what I'm assuming is a rough number of of Vats that would take advantage of this there are over 200 right now and so if just 33 take part in this we're breaking even I don't I certainly don't want our I don't certainly don't want to lose money on this I don't think that's the right thing to do um I'm certainly willing to move on the price especially it depends on how much Buy in there is uh from these anchor outs um and then I just also want to mention something that uh commissioner we do have the votes well I I want to I just want to make clear that the only reason that this bill didn't pass in Tallahassee was because well one Senator had a had a had an issue with this who's heavily bought in by the boting lobby it went through every single committee it actually went through six different committees it had unanimous support except from one person who had the who was the rules chair of of the rules and regulation committee and that's why this uh item failed so it's not like everyone in Tallahasse thinks this is a bad Bill and so if again Mr Mayor I'm very passionate about this I'd love to have Adonis and Sarah and Amy talk about it they've been waiting here for an hour to speak if you can give them some time that'd be great andk commissioner bot is requesting requesting to speak commissioner bot and we got um I um would very much like this to when it passes make a stop between now and and second reading at the committee that it is already scheduled to go to or have a discussion about so that we can in a public respectable respectful rather Forum deal with some of the I think there are only three things that may not be um completely vetted by the Moren Fields regulations so that we can get what we need done done I would also like to say that um in the last commission meeting on consent there was an item that I put forth that passed on consent unanimously um to um and and I'll ask for the legal team to refresh my memory but um to uh sort of crack down on people using public land for personal private business gain which is currently illegal um and and I'll defer to the attorneys to um clarify that if anyone has questions because I don't have my notes with me in h on that item um and lastly we can um there is a question about if our land use regulations regulating sdrs extend to um water that that's still open for debate and I'm going to close the loop on that but what we can do um uh and hernand cardeno our director of Code Compliance and I are talking about this um contemporaneously is cross reference existing btrs that are in our system versus is um short-term rentals that are listed and if they are operating without a BTR that that is going to be a problem for them so that is one thing that we can start doing yesterday vice mayor would you allow uh public comment sure um Adonis thank you um Adonis Garcia 1701 Sunset Harbor Drive um I sit on the on the neighborhood that quite frankly on the association Sunset Harvard which is most affected by this proposal I think um in our neighborhood you know we we where morice good Park is where we have the dock where all these things are going on and quite frankly I I thank your leadership commissioner Suarez and commissioner bot on this issue and the rest of the commission I understand the compassion that commissioner Dominguez and Fernandez have about the the numbers and I'm sure that'll be worked out but I will say this that the most important thing that I see in that issue is the dock master that without a doubt is the most important element as far as I'm concerned that will regulate the people who are going in and out and making sure this happens currently you have the park rangers that are trying to do the best they can but they're not dock Masters so I again let me just say that we are we are unanimous on this vote um we want we want to be able to work with our neighbors we want it all to work out but we want it regulated and we appreciate your leadership on this issue thank you hi Sarah Sarah I'm sorry there's also people on Zoom if you want me to go back and forth oh okay um can we since Sarah started can we go to Sarah and then after that go back than Sarah oh okay sorry U Sarah theia Sor Harbor neighborhood association President we have been discussing this for a while I've been discussing this for I think two years ago before everything that is being brought up here and my major problem is that when I moved in 25 years ago there were five boats there I watched it through my teris we sit out there and we have today 36 votes when when the show happened a couple of weeks ago the taxi had to go in between the boats finagle themselves so they can actually park on the floating dock to let people out now Sor Harbor has changed we have evolved the park is there we have kayaks we have uh paddle boards we have the Marine Patrol we're going to have the fireboat and we're going to have the water taxi every hour on the hour the uses that are being put into sunor Harbor into that small space and the base in there there's way too many boats in there number one for the fire department to navigate when there's an emergency two from the Marine Patrol to go out and go chase somebody or something that they have to go out in an emergency and three it's the it's the safety of a water taxi that we are your you know the city invested to see for a year a pilot to see how it's going to work so besides all this on top of all this then we have what we have there and everybody has spoken about about it and and Laura you're talking five 10 boats is okay according to according to the morning field it said that in that Santa Harbor Basin there were only going to be about 10 boats that's all right now we have 36 beyond the bridge I see it behind your your Bell Island I see 50 boats right from my window I don't know what's behind you know the the the buildings because I don't see it behind the building but this is what I see so we has grown exponentially that is going to get out of control we need we can control the water but we can at least control have some responsibility in what's going to be Happ and an ordinance to help out than you Sarah thank you our next our first virtual speaker is Carlos Leon Mr Leon you have two minutes please state your name and address please hello my name is Carlos Leon and my address is 920 Jefferson Al to be honest I we just went there and we were talking about the harassment about the drones and everything and one of the Commissioners just showed photos of of using a drone so guess what the the harassment that we were saying today at 1:00 that my wife was naked inside and there was a drone outside it was um uh Suarez with his drone so you I'm going to go right now to the to the police station and we'll report him as a harasser because that is not correct to use drones and be be taking pictures of us so when that lady saying that we were peeping guess who's the real peeping Tom the Suarez is so uh Fernand commissioner Fernandez if you want respect you need to tell your Commissioners to stop harassing us passing by our boats uh uh taking pictures of us and and doing drone pictures so yes every time I see commissioner Suarez I will save my two cents because he's an abuser he's a harasser that's what I think about him because he's taking pictures of people that are are are not doing anything and and now we have now we have uh evidence of it okay thank you sir please go ahead state your name and address uh I I have my two-minute statement but please I just wanted to address something about the $750 fee Amy Leos resident of West Avenue um I've been to moing fields around the world uh from the Caribbean to uh uh Australia Greece Croatia and $750 which comes out to about $25 a night is the going rate so that is not an unusual amount of money and so I would just uh like to say that I believe that that is fair all right so now my statement I would like to approach this issue uh about living on the water from a different tack pardon the pun uh this is not an issue in my estimation of a lifestyle choice of living on the water or living on land it's really a a matter of civic responsibility so for example um it's clear that living on the water comes with different responsibilities and living on land and what I mean by that is that when you live on land you're paying taxes property taxes which go towards paying for civic Services Civic services that all of us use including those who live on the water that is police Marine Patrol fire rescue uh roadways schools libraries um and then maintenance of our beaches and even our seaw walls so um I say that even today here before you we have spent a good amount of money that is paid for at least in part by property taxes um just to hear this issue out so um all of these services in part or in whole as I said are paid by property taxes so living on the water does not involve property taxes um therefore those who are living on land are subsidizing that lifestyle um and I feel that this comes down to uh just being fair and that civic responsibility should be held by all um we all owe it to one another to pay our fair share and to do our fair share um unfortunately laws have not kep kept pace with lead I need you to wrap it up please oh all right um laws have not kept pace with new lifestyle uh choices and so I ask that um we take this into consideration as being a very fair thank you so much way to approach thank isue thank you our next virtual caller is Miami Beach Bo boat Association hello my name is Jana I already spoke today at 1 pm I want to ask commissioner David Suarez if he can please delete the naked photos he took took of me with the Drone I found it super harassing I don't think so none of the residents would like if there is a drone flying around their house recording them through the windows on the top naked and also the about the business we do rent to own yes because most of the people does have money to give you the money right now so we tell we show them the boat we tell them hey you have to stay six months and after we have to move the boat so we do actually help the bay to get clean because the boat we buy would either sink or drag in the hurricane how state so please stop the harassment and delete my naked photo Suarez please thank you thank you next please say your name address you have two minutes my name is Alex aonan uh 1661 West Avenue I uh just want to bring to the attention that U not all Vel are der ugly looking not every one of us does illegal activities like uh renting boats or chartering my wife and I live on a beautiful boat it's clean fully functional and uh I think that a clean sailboat functional sailboat is a beautiful site so I think yes I totally agree all this ugly deric boats with people just kind of like not squatting them but living there um should be removed and um uh I think that's uh that would be a good thing and um um also the uh the last shot of 2,000 boats uh together uh I think it was computer manipulated because um a boat needs the boats need to be a certain distance from each other because of changing tide and current and we kind of the boat swings and if they're that close to each other they'll be bumping on each at each other like crazy and none of our boats sometimes they bump into each other only if they lose the anchor because of the storm or a strong wind um but uh yes I agree that um there's way too many boats and way too many ugly boats but I think the city can clean it up and I'm all for uh controlling this particular situation just not like a Indian Creek there's some illegal Charters and there's some legal Charters let's get rid of all the charters well what about legal Charters they're not doing anything wrong my wife and I are not doing anything wrong thank you sir thank you so much sir our next virtual speaker is rsmb resident please state your name and address please you two minutes yes hi this is Richard uh s Tilly I live on Miami Beach 20th Street and I was just listening in to all of the evidence that uh uh Mr Suarez has brought to the table and I wish I had more time to debunk it because there's a lot of things that are just not true and um I'm hoping that there is a chance that we could have reasonable conversations and talk through every line by line and discuss the feasibility and the um the I guess the the possibility of even fulfilling some of these rules I mean the thousand foot rule is larger than any rule that ever existed on any Coast I mean if you look at the bay that we're talking about it's 2,68 feet wide you take out the channel that we have and and the coverage you need on each side of it it leaves less than 17700 feet so with thousand feet coming from each Shore you can't have any boats zero boats no boats at all how is that fair and and what about for the people who are not living on boats what about people like me who just want to Anchor a boat reasonably and safely and do it according to the law and manage all the right things to make sure that we're not violating anyone else's rights and just enjoy Miami Beach like it's meant to be so there's a lot of irrational rules that are in that bill or in that in that uh list that I think we need time to have to discuss them line by line and and have reasonable conversations to solve it thank you thank you okay we have a motion on the table from commissioner magazine do we have a second I'll second it uh commissioner Suarez seconds it let's call the rooll commissioner Bach I um I don't know how to phrase this properly but I want this to go to um at the same time that it proceeds uh to a second reading I do wanted to make that designated stop to the committee so that these handful of details can be vetted um and and worked through so that we get the correct distance um and other uh details worked out what committee is it does anyone recall should we send it to the L neighborhood no it's it's on here already it's I think it's the neighborhoods committee so you want it to be heard at at Public Safety before second reading yes the referral no there's already a referal so would you like the second reading to occur in April or occur in May I think it's already on this I think it's already on the schedule to be heard um when's the public safety meeting on the 20th okay so with that with with a contingency with a contingency that this be heard at Public Safety neighborhood before second reading uh commissioner bot are you in favor and commissioner Domingas is absent no she's here sorry commissioner Dominguez I believe there's a motion on the table with a referral to Neighborhood to discuss this and on first reading I will support it with that motion so it's but this isn't a referral to it already has a referral in neighborhoods there's already an existing referral correct so this will be come back for second reading after it's heard at neighborhoods assuming it's heard at the next neighborhood it probably can come back in April I Mr Mayor I just want I'm sorry because I know we're in the middle of for a roll call but I think we need to be very careful about procedure and I'm sorry to but I I think procedure is so important and it protects us you know we just got you know a report from the Inspector General like 200 pages of pretty much nothing uh but the only real substance there is um is is procedure you know pretty much calling us out about procedure but no real recommendations on anything else um the referral that was made to the neighborhoods and quality life committee did not include any specific piece of legislation the body at a previous meeting made a referral on a discussion that was the action of the city commission and the only reason why you're bring this up is because someday we could potentially face a legal Challenge and someone is going to question you know well what's process followed what was referred through a majority vote of this legislative body was a discussion on a specific matter but a piece of legislation was not referred Mr attorney correct me correct me if I'm wrong a piece of legislation was not truly referred to the neighborhoods committee to the public safety and neighborhood quality of life committee and so then we're saying we want the public safety neighborhood and quality of life committee to issue recommendations through which we're going to base our vote on a piece of legislation that truly was not referred over there so if the intent is for the Public Safety Committee to vet this piece of legislation and issue recommend ation the proper motion before the body should be a motion to adopt this in first reading with a referral to the public safety neighborhood quality of life committee before second reading the motion on the table was to pass it and to include it in an already existing referral to uh neighborhoods and that is a proper motion it could also be phrased the way you suggested it and there could be you could pass it with an independent referral to neighborhoods along with the uh I'm just saying let's just be careful because I either way is either way is fine so um just just so that we're clear our City attorney has has has stated that it is proper legal procedure uh of what's on the table and um are we at risk of being sued no okay okay the the discussion will happen to work out the few items that are on the table for the uh for the contract terms the price I've heard the dog mentioned there are a couple of other things and it can come back for second reading uh with the results of those discussions at neighborhood I I continue yes yes uh commissioner magazine yes vice mayor Rosen Gonzalez yes commissioner Suarez yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor Miner yes the item is approved second reading public hearing is currently scheduled for April 3rd that was item r5q R9 a R9 a is discuss take action City attorney selection process R9 right so I put this on we are losing a uh dear friend colleague um a superb lawyer Rafael pause we're uh we're going to miss you I think I told you this privately and now I'm going to embarrass you publicly you're you're actually one of the finest attorneys I've ever worked for uh in my 26 years of legal practice um no seriously thank [Applause] you your combination of intelligence temperament uh just actually just being a good guy to be quite honest so uh billson's getting a good one we'll we'll miss you and uh but now we discuss also even though we have you for a couple more months uh the next the next step and we do have a couple two internal candidates who've stepped up which we're always appreciative it's not easy to step up um especially it's a it's a it's a high-profile position it uh obviously U there's media coverage the City attorney certainly has to make some very important decisions so we're very appreciative of the two candidates who stepped up and that's what I wanted to open this up to hear from my colleague um I believe we have two good internal candidates to consider and and uh my own preference is not to send this out for a public search and just wanted to hear from my colleagues if that's uh if we're all on the same page commissioner magazine uh thank you I Echo the sentiments of uh mayor I miss you incredibly uh you've served our city well and I thank you for that I am incredibly optimistic about the talent that we have internally between the uh legal department as a whole uh and specifically the two candidate internal candidates that have put their name forward so I would be uh not only comfortable uh incredibly excited about moving forward with uh uh the process being between those two candidates and no matter which of them get the job I hope and I pray that they both play a critical role in our city going forward because they are both invaluable thank you and commissioner bot is requesting to speak commissioner bot so um I met Raphael at our City attorney P when we when I was advocating to try to save the doville uh sad days but the Silver Lining to that was that not only did I meet an incredibly talented lawyer and a fierce advocate for the city but also gained a good personal friend and um so I am very sorry to see you go on multiple fronts even though this isn't your um goodbye party yet and yes we will embarrass you to no end at that point but to the matter at hand um we have uh as as commissioner magazine said a deep deep legal bench um even though we will be losing somebody else as well um and I am very comfortable with both of the candidates who have raised their hands and um given all the other um movement happening in our senior level of of the city administ ation especially um in addition to all the other reasons stated I would be very supportive of keeping this search internal and um and I would be um well I'll leave it at that so yes anyone else want to be heard um I'm commissioner Suarez yeah I'm supportive of an internal um process and um you know I like that both Ricardo and um rob it is is doing the best they can to to get the uh the job and um you know I I had a an idea that I think by the I I I'm not sure if you're looking to replace in the next two weeks but maybe at the next meeting they can take shifts on the de and we can kind of feel them out um and as far as like a crash course if you will um I don't know if that's something you guys would entertain Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez and uh before you know I forgot I mean I certainly want to J Jump on the parade uh the parade of uh of number one to congratulate our our City attorney on his distinguished uh years uh serving us as our legal council it truly has been a a pleasure uh to to pleasure and it's been a privilege actually we've been so fortunate uh to count with your guidance uh and putting our our body and proper posture on on legal matters and certainly seeing the victories that you uh through your team and the leadership structure you've organized you know it's been a transformation in the outcomes the city was getting and the outcomes the city is getting today it's a much different position that we're in and that's through your leadership so thank you these are truly big shoes to fill I am very much um open to to to an internal process I think whenever in a in a position as critical as this one uh we can promote from within and show and show the uh the the internal team that there is a path for growth and the promise of being able to climb the the ladder and progress in their careers is certainly always great I'd even be be be willing to to perhaps consider you know H having some sort of public interview maybe maybe at one of the Committees maybe we can interview them at one one of the Committees for for the benefit of of the public maybe at FK we can have uh an an interview of of the two candidates that that they can present their their credentials or or we can do that at the at the city commission meeting um but uh but but certainly I very much favor an internal process uh one that uh shows an opportunity and a path for for growth to our younger attorneys looking to make a career with the city of Miami Beach thank you may could I oh you're here say a word so I just want to thank you all I'm I'm very grateful uh for the trust that you've placed in me and and in the entire team and and the fact that you would would be willing to promote from within is just the greatest vote of confidence and and we are a team and everything that we do is as a team and and so um you know thank you very much if the if the body you wanted to uh it sounds like there is consensus for this then we would open up a posting with HR so that the the two candidates could formally apply with HR and if you want to schedule additional interviews we could certainly do that if you wanted uh I think the suggestion of of uh that commissioner Suarez raised is an interesting one because I I served for 10 months as as interim with an on the job of audition for over 10 months if you're going to do that in one day and split it up half the day it could be that there's a single item that takes up you know the conversation you won't hear from folks equally right um uh so I don't know how that can be done in a in in a way that that really gives you that audition uh but if you did want to make a stop at at within you know within a public interview we can certainly accommodate that and and um just I'm very grateful that you would look to our office um to to you know to to fill this role and and I'm looking forward to doing everything that I can to support our next City attorney excellent thank you commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I don't want to be a skeptic on this and I also don't want to say that I'm not supportive of either Rob or rck as our City attorney but I would just want to wonder why my colleagues are so sad on not getting applications from everywhere else in South Florida I wanted to just understand why commissioner magazine through the chair thank you uh part of it has to do echoing uh commissioner bot's comments we do have some turnover at the senior ranks and I think uh where we can get uh stability stability is good especially where I don't feel is where we're sacrificing on Talent and also uh taking a look at both of the resumés if both of them would have come in from the outside I would look at both of them and say you know what that's who I'd want for our City attorney so I think uh you know it's been consensus across this commission I think one of the areas where we've actually distinguished ourselves from past commissions is demanding accountability from our staff but uh when it comes from that is also saying when you do a good job there's opportunities at the end I I think we have a tremendous staff and uh you need to reward when uh when they have made the sacrifices they have performed well and I think uh these two gentlemen have uh have certainly done that well if if we didn't only choose internal candidates we would just post the job and then anybody could apply and then we could look at the whole field of candidates and we're saying no we're not going to we only want internal and I could address that commissioner I think what what what I'm hearing the consensus is to start with an internal process and to hear from the the two candidates and if you have consensus then you could appoint uh whenever you're ready at the next commission or or you know a subsequent commission meeting but um if you don't have consensus then at that point then you can do a posting I know that I could see a member of the selection Committee of the city of Miami attorney uh is here and they recently uh posted a position and uh took applications and they had to start start over the process and are doing it again so um starting with your internal Talent is certainly uh something that that would you know make sense um and City of Miami I was just going to ask you that because I met somebody else who's a Miami Beach resident who happens to be on the city of Miami selection committee shouldn't we have a similar selection Committee just because right now you're pushing the onus onto us to choose between two people that we know which is difficult to do when we could could have a real and you're the process guy I mean you are Mr Fair Mr process Mr I want the best for the city so I would think that you would be super supportive of getting a committee having them V candidates from all over South Florida and then coming to us and giving us a report and then we make our choice why wouldn't we do that so I I'll explain why I am doing it looks like I we have six colleagues who agree with me or six total I I just think because they because I think you know sometimes when you're being told something you're saying you know okay I'm new this is what I can do but that's not really there's zero process in that so you know it's easy to say you know for the mayor to put something on and then have everybody else tell the you know fairly newly elected officials this is how it works but it doesn't really work that way well I think everybody I mean it can it can if we're being told something we all want to tow a certain line but I also don't think that that's uh the most transparent and I also you know would like some help in in being in choosing apart from just like test driving Rob and Rick next week which I think is wonderful um you know I I do think that there should be a committee and I think that that committee should have recommendations I think that the process should be open for all candidates across souare because you don't know what you're going to get you don't know which residents of my beach could apply you don't know who has more institutional knowled there might be attorneys that have more you know that have larger historical institutional knowledge we don't we'll never know yeah so if I if I may answer your question and you're you're probably right A couple of years ago I probably would have supported uh a full search like you suggesting I guess I've had a little bit of a metamorphosis just seeing the process play out when we went through the city manager process um which I actually was probably uh pivotal in in pushing for an outside search ultimately I don't think it yielded what I had anticipated and that doesn't it's not an indictment on any of the people who who applied or qualified it just it wasn't quite as robust um as with the the talent that I would have anticipated and then separately I know it's a much different position but when we knew that Chief Clemens was going to retire and I didn't know who our city manager would would nominate at the time I actually did a lot of research into looking whether it would be beneficial to have an internal candidate or an external candidate and I conceded police chief as a much different position than City attorney but ultimately found that uh whoever our city manager was going to select I thought that was the best approach because promoting from within I think would be the better option that there there's often uh a lot of issues that occur when you bring in someone from outside not always the best fit not always um the team is not always receptive or to to the person who's who's picked it could create a lot of problems and although it's not quite the same I feel that it's a bit the same here um our legal department I mean punches its weight in an incredible way and I say that and I and I've given uh Rafael a lot of kudos for example on the municipal prosecution team not being your background and and taking that with open arms but we have a very good cohesive um legal department and you're right it could be that we'd go outside and we'd find the the the super candidate and it's possible yeah we'll never know uh if we don't go that route but that being said I I think I I'd be surprised if it did we have good internal candidates who've applied and by the way we're going to open up to HR there could be an additional candidate right now we have two it's possible we got a couple more months to decide it's possible that uh more people internally apply as well and I just think that based on what I see from the legal team that it is such a good team and we have a deep bench that uh we it it it really behooves our city to make that selection within and and and I think commissioner magazine said it well um talking about sort of the stability um making sure morale is is picked up that people feel that they're appreciated here uh for the work that they do and that's something that I think we all can strive for and do uh because we want to we some sometimes a little bit of change and some is good sometimes people retire um that happens but at the same time uh you want people to be motivated as well to know that if I work hard and I do good work that it's be recognized and also with Pro potential promotion so for all those reasons that's why I think this is the better process for this point and that's what I'm proposing and that's why I wanted to open it up to everyone here to hear your views commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor I think if this were a legal department that we in trouble you know we've seen legal legal departments in other jurisdictions that that have face issues challenges um I think it would be a different situation um usually in senior positions like this what I've seen in the past is for there to be a path of internal uh you know promotions that lead an individual to the top seat um I remember when Bob quas was the county attorney and he was retiring Abigail price Williams became the County Attorney she then molded you know gave you know her Deputy the opportunity Jerry bons and Keenan you know to mold her and prepare her to assume the seed of County County attorney there was that line of succession and by and by consequence Jerry now is is you know well earned her position to be the County Attorney but you have a line of succession below her of Deputy attorneys that have that ambition who are being prepared for that because it is an organization that is performing well and doesn't have challenges and so you have that promise of growth from within I I recall from within our own organization you when Jose Smith retired rul AGA came in an internal promotion then when Raul retired Rafael came in because again it's an organization that is performing well and I think today is performing better than ever before when we see the victories being made by this legal department I think I think it it's it speaks well you know you know Rey Martinez when he retired we we we brought in Chief Overton who was already within within the department he got promoted what happened then then we went to the outside and it affected morale in the department and I will say I don't know if others will say but I will say it the fact that we went outside at that time and we brought in a celebr liy Chief uh in it affected morale and what ended up happening we had issues and he got pushed out and then we again promot promoted from within and we had Chief Clemens and now we have Chief oats and I don't think I've seen the level chief chief Jones Chief Jones sorry um he doesn't have as much hair f um but I don't think I've seen the level of morale that I see today uh in in years past within the department I believe that we should always give opportunity for internal growth because it sends a message to the members of the department that they are valued that they are respected if the situation in our legal department were different then I would say yes let's we need to go through a different process this where a legal department under Scandal under ethics investigations under bar investigations I would say we need to go out to the outside but we're not seeing in our legal department some of the serious challenges we read about from other jurisdictions and I think that that's something that is very important to preserve not only to preserve that level of Integrity but to also preserve institutional knowledge and Senior leadership positions we we need in institutional knowledge individuals that have already seen some of the operations the the complexities of our processes uh that have been involved in some of the negotiations of some of our very unique and complex deals that we have in this city uh and and especially when we have members other members of the office that are leaving you need that certain level of of continuity so you know I feel very comfortable exploring internal first and if we can't come to an agreement on an internal candidate then then we go outside but I believe the preference should start from within commissioner Rosen Gonzalez okay so we're gonna open the application process and we're going to have two candidates and obviously one of them is going to it doesn't have to be consensus does it it's just it's for it's just a a majority vote it's a majority vote and when will we be taking that vote it it could be as as early as the April 3rd City commission meeting and if you don't have consensus then commissioner then to your point then you can do a posting at that point is it only two us it more than just two well I mean how would we know if we had consent we're just voting on one of these people so one of them is going to win that vote so there will be no second opportunity right I I'm asking these questions cuz I think it's important in this process this one of our most important positions um you know I and and I'm not and I and I I I like both Rob and Rick and I'm going to spend some time with you this a very um Rush process I'm not sure what the process was when I think the only reason I'm asking is because I saw this complicated process in city of Mi me maybe it was because they had their legal department was mired in so many issues um I I I mean so okay I please don't Pro and Rick area gonna hate me because I'm asking these questions I just want to find out like exactly what you know what our process is going to a fair question the pro HR will open up the posting for internal candidates they will formally apply we will schedule one-on-one interviews with each of you if you'd like to meet with some of you have already met with both candidates and if you want to meet with them again or or if you have met with them and and you we we'll schedule that for you and then bring the item back on April 3rd and if you're ready then you could you could discuss and then vote at that time and if you're not then we'll take it from there actually to follow up I on something I think that commissioner Rosen Gonzalez was alluding to is if the there only two candidates there's a third option for one of us to vote for neither it it you would need four votes for a single candidate correct but let's say somebody didn't want to support either one of those cand then you then then you could say that okay yes okay that's what those uh actually I promise commissioner magazine then commissioner 10 seconds uh not the Bel list but the city of Miami opening is all the more reason why I think we need to move swiftly to lock things up internally uh I believe actually there may be one other municipality ref if you know that uh within just our small South Florida uh Miami date region that also has one of their top attorney positions open if I remember remember correctly there's multiple positions at the city of Miami open so to the extent that we lock up Talent swiftly internally uh because wouldn't be surprised if uh the city of Miami comes knocking on the doors because these are very distinguished individuals commissioner Fernandez and just for a purposes of you know the record if when HR opens up the position of City attorney for applicants this is not just limited this is not just limit to to the two uh candidates that we're aware of within the department there's other people from within the city uh organization that could apply if there are attorneys uh within the city organization but it's not just uh the two that have been mentioned uh in this conversation is that correct yes thank you for that clarification commissioner it would be an internal posting so internal candidates could apply not just the two that you've referred to okay all right so so there's other individuals in in in the city that want to apply that want to be considered you know we're not limiting ourselves to only two is there are you know other attorneys in the in the office of perhaps similar ranking uh that could apply if they so desire and we have other attorneys and other senior leadership positions within our Municipal organization that they wish to be considered as well this process would allow them but it it preserves that that institutional continuity institutional knowledge within our city organization um and so and so I think I think that that's something for us to consider great thank you okay so we we have direction if by acclamation if we could we could proceed and come back to you April 3rd correct and um okay yes thank you we have a Time certain for rda1 yes sir so we are recessing as the commission uh committee and we are uh reconvening as the Redevelopment agency of Miami Beach uh if we could do that by acclamation uh the first item is a 5:00 pm time certain discuss status Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel project requested by commissioner bot and commissioner Fernandez commissioner [Music] bot hello um so this Alex commissioner uh Fernandez speak as well but we um look at this site that is slowly slowly going through the preconstruction prep work we've had some very exciting and successful New conventions coming to the convention center and we know that we are fast approaching a deadline of um missing out on the kinds of conventions that this Center was redeveloped for and that this H hotel is being designed for if we do not make available um those hotel rooms that are adjacent to the convention center to book the kinds of um conventions that require that not all conventions do and even the conventions that do not all their guests stay in one hotel but I will tell you as somebody who has spent more time than I care to remember at conventions either at the booth as an exhibitor or Walking the Floor um when I'm just walking the floor I'm happy to stay far away when I'm at the booth I can guarantee you I want to be as close as possible so that when I have to schlep my samples or prepare my meetings or whatever I am as close as possible to the Convention Center where that work is happening and where my room is where all the stuff is stored um we need to get an update on what is going on and how to make sure it happens on a timely in a timely manner so that when um conventions convention organizers come to us saying that they need to have a room block guaranteed for their bookings in 2016 or excuse 2016 where did that come from for the for the next few years and they can you know because they planed several years out we can tell them definitively yep we'll be ready for you and that's what I want to hear about and I I will turn it over to commissioner Fernandez commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor listen this is we've invested a substantial amount of uh of taxpayers uh dollars uh into the construction of this of this convention center uh whenever I go to the meetings of the of the gmcvb um you know I I I hear the difficulties that they have in attracting the the best conventions to our Market to our Convention Center because we are missing the convention center hotel and this was supposed to be delivered two years ago and here we are we walk outside our temporary Chambers in the convention center we see an empty lot and so I've asked uh uh together with my colleague who's also sponsoring this item for an update where are we what's going on with the convention center hotel we needed not only for the convention center we needed to support the economy of Lincoln Road to make sure that we're able to to to to Really deliver on the promise that we made uh when we got 600 million dollars to redevelop this this convention center which was to attract true conventions not not trade shows that bring traffic into our community but true conventions that attract uh tourists and not tourists visitors conventioners who spend money in restaurants and stores and that's what we need to bring into the economy of of Lincoln Road that we're not able to do right now because we're missing perhaps one of the key elements to make us competitive with other markets which is the this convention center Hotel so uh I see that we have Representatives here of David Martin I see we have Brian May in the in the audience and Mr Mayor if you if you allow I'd like to recognize uh Brian for to to update us where are we at why why have we been delayed for two years how do we get this going uh because ultimately what's suffering it's the Miami Beach economy what's suffering by these delays so thank you for being here I would like to recognize you through the mayor thank you thank you mayor uh commissioner Fernandez commissioner baa and and all the commission manager uh attorney uh we appreciate the opportunity to be here I'm Brian May um with offices in Coral gaes but here representing teror group the hotel developer for the Convention Center Hotel um David Martin is not able to be here with us today physically he is uh overseas uh having to honor uh a passing him a dear friend so that's the reason he's not here but he is here virtually and we do have a PowerPoint presentation uh to give to you a brief one just to give you an update on where we are and uh and what's needed to move forward so um if you're okay with that we have how do you define brief uh it will be mayor if we're seven to eight minutes it'll be a lot so it'll be it'll be very brief I promise we'll move right along please thank you David the PowerPoint is up so please feel free to uh address the commission um hello everyone and uh you know thank you so much for uh you know the honor and privilege to speak to the RDA board um I've been um I take a big responsibility uh uh with this project uh We've you know been through uh some things uh like covid that has been uh somewhat challenged the project but I think uh around a year and a half ago we entered into an early Works agreement uh with the city of M Mii Beach to be able to start uh work and and and so today I'm hopeful that uh I can present uh really every fact about the project uh and the status and and and the the uh the immediate needs and the ability to be able to execute and start construction uh you know almost immediately so uh with that I'm just going to maybe direct the person controlling the SL just to go to the next slide and I just have some very you know you know quick points you know you know you know for for several decades you know the convention Center's been demanding uh this headquarter Hotel uh you know and and these hotels work in partnership with the convention center to service the onsite needs of of the most valued convention clients that are really uh you know that you know miy Beach is in competition uh throughout the country and the world and so you know virtually all of our competitors you know have developed headquarter hotels in response to this demand uh and and Miami Beach I think is on a path to Prov path to providing this needed element uh to its Convention Center these hotels include state-of-the-art rooms large public spaces meeting spaces ballrooms and they work hand and glove with the convention center to book High valued events for doctors lawyers you know Engineers teachers uh just to name a few uh and we've worked with the with the city we've worked with the county we've worked with the uh RDA board board RDA staff and and work with the bureau to create the ideal headquarter hotel to complement uh the the renovated the newly renovated convention center and so uh you know with that next slide you know want to just talk a little more um you know we've the headquar hotel is shovel ready uh We've um we spent uh you know over you know $25 million uh not only to get the site ready but also to demolish the the rehearsal theater and renovate the back of house for the Live Nation and all the events and doing that in a in a very difficult you know timeline and space uh and we were able to get it done efficiently and open it up for Live Nation and also carried a lot of the costs associated with that uh we installed the new FPL duck Bank we've you know relocated the storm water covert uh we've done you know all the FPL duck Bank work a lot this hotel is large it's 800 rooms and and so we needed to improve the capacity the electri electrical capacity and generation of this of this site uh and uh and we've also uh you know worked on you know all the architecture engineering drawings working with you know a team of over 30 Consultants to uh work with the city submit building permit drawings we basically today have our foundation permit uh and uh and we're you know and with that Foundation permit we could start construction immediately and our vertical P permit is is imminent um you know know so for us you know you know what we you know the the idea here is that the the the hotel is really you know ready to start and and so if you could go to the next slide um you know what what the challenges we've had is you know we've had broad you know Market forces right in terms of construction cost escalation an interest rate increases that have materially changed you know what happened when this hotel got approved uh if you see here the hotel was budget was $362 Million at that time and if you just look at the Hard cost line item we're talking about $187 million and and and and I'll tell you from an industry perspective we're dealing with this all over the county uh really all over the the state and and and in some cases the country I think CO's been an interesting uh you know psychology for suppliers contractors subcontractors in that you know they're able to produce less and charge more and uh we need to work on how we could create you know more capitalism and competition in order to be able to you know really do that but this the size of this project and scale of this project um you know we've you know competitively bid it we hired balur Bey who's an amazing contractor National contractor with all the proper insurances responsibilities a huge amount of credibility and experience in executing these types of projects um but you know the construction costs have increased you know over 67% and and the interest rates have you know come up from you know call it three and a half% when the project was approved to now 10% today uh so when we look at those you know just to put those issues in perspective our annual interest cost is going from $9 million a year year around $40 million a year right so it's almost an increase of four times uh next slide please David David and Brian Dave David and Brian can you can you tell us what your what Your ask is and then I guess I would like to turn it over to commissioner bot and Fernandez what direction they're seeking from bringing this item sure mayor we're happy to do that David why don't you take it from here yeah yeah so you know the you know the good news is that we we've been able to raise around $550 million just just under 550 million so if you look at this Slide the the basically what we're looking to do is is try to see how we could work with the RDA staff to see if there's a possibility to you know get some financial assistance here you know it's it's really not possible to raise you know any more Capital given today's current interest rate environments and and the equity investor returns requirements that we have uh and and honestly we're not sure where interest rates are going to go long term but meanwhile construction costs are going to continue to go up uh so you know what we what we need to do is we need to you know figure out a way if we could work with with with the RDA staff to kind of come up with a a way and a mechanism to kind of help solve this shortfall uh that we have next slide um you know you know this is just a quick rundown guys of the uh of the uh you know the the public revenues that that this this hotel asset generates you know residential office manufacturing assets they pay property taxes manufacturing creates jobs you know they pay income taxes but hotels pay property taxes create jobs they they create Resort taxes convention development taxes and sales taxes uh you know we also have like 1% of the room search charge that that that's going to fund convention center and hotel marketing for National events um and so we feel that the streams from uh from you know to pay you know that we're that this project is paying over the first three years you know is around $75 million just in the first three years and and obviously over the over 99 years is it's a lot is a lot higher and and so for us you know we just you know our goal is you know next slide if you don't mind um you know our goal is that you know the you know these these these large cumulative numbers can be overwhelming but if we just look at um if you can um next slide please um you know you just look at the first year that the hotel is open it's excuse me David we have a bit of a little bit of a technical difficulty here we can't get the no no problem I I'll just finish it because I I I want the board to be efficient I don't want to waste anyone's time uh you know but this is uh very important for us and and for for for the RDA and and the county and City and everyone so you know for me th these cumulative numbers are you know can be a bit overwhelming but the first year the hotel is open and you know it's projected to generate around $22 million in local revenues in less than three years 75 million this stream will increase every year as room rates rise or you know and will continue to provide you know impactful Revenue stream without the needed support this re Revenue scene just can't start so you know beyond the fiscal impacts you know the development of the headquarter Hotel meets all the initial goals and objectives right Miami Beach becomes competitive in a national scale uh these events become a hotel rate driver for you know more often throughout the year uh and this this hotel has a desired to contractual obligation to provide rooms to the convention center events uh for room pursuant to its room block contract so you know the additional event activity will will drive revenues of provide more funds to operate and maintain the new convention center and and and its development will trigger an addition $1.5 million doar annually from the from the county CDT to support the Convention Center maintenance so I really feel this hotel is a financial Game Changer uh the budget was 360 million it's 590 million now uh we've been able to get to around 550 million so I just wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to to update you on this very important project for for all of us and and my team we've spent a lot of hours getting this property uh permitted getting this property ready to be shovel ready um and you know you know the broader construction cost and interest rate environments has been a formidable vow and and and we just still you know we we've still been able to secure the $550 million you know way above the initial 360 uh you know back then but you know fortunately development development costs you know uh you know you know you know we need we have this Gap and you know we're just asking if the RDA can work you know with us or direct staff to work with us to kind of work out the details of you know you know how how the RDA can help make the project a reality I think I think the uh the r Board gets it I guess I'd like to turn it over to Commissioners bot and Fernandez this actually is a discussion item I'm wondering if what's what's the what's the goal well so I and and I see that David Whitaker the president and the CEO of the gncb I think the manager had seen him David is here yeah he's in he's in the audience uh and I know when whenever we go to our meetings um it it comes up it comes up as a as a frequent issue uh the status of this of this convention center Hotel um I'll tell you this I feel I feel that uh the the deterioration of Lincoln Road started the moment we shut down this convention center for for for the Reconstruction and that's when I started to see a change in the economy in in Lincoln Road one that we haven't been able to get back and why I think in part because we we're not getting the top tier conventions and the professionals that they were bringing to support the quality businesses that we want to see on Lincoln Road um can I interject yes I don't want to interrupt I'm going to ask for the third time what is the direction that you and commissioner bot are seeking speak well I think I I think we need to we need to direct uh our RDA staff uh to sit down with uh with um with what's the name of the entity that represents the hotel it's teror group and also ter okay to sit down with with terror group and to negotiate something to figure out how do they close the gap how do they close a gap that doesn't use City funds um and negot neate uh and and and negotiate something to bring back to us a path forward so that we can finally deliver the long delayed hotel that it's hurting our economy and I think and I think we need to uh put that motion forward uh so that so that you know hopefully sometime soon we can see a path forward I'm tired of calling David of calling his Representatives asking him what's going on what's going on and them not being able to close the gap uh in in in the finance because of the increase uh price of construction and inflation and lending issues our city is hurting because of it property owners are hurting residential property owners are hurting because of it the economy of Lincoln Road is hurting because of it and so it is in our power in our authority to do something about it and i' like uh for for for for this RDA board to direct its staff to to to work with the hotel developer uh to see how how we can facilitate uh helping closing this Gap and come come back uh with a plan come back with a W with with a plan so that we can finally uh move forward and get a hotel delivered I second that okay just a procedural question um RI can we it's a discussion item are we able to do that yes you can make a motion to direct staff to um engage with the developer okay great Do you have a timeline for this uh you know the timeline was April 2022 when this hotel was supposed to be delivered that was the timeline and then it was supposed to be delivered in a month from now April 1st and we still are looking outside these Chambers on an empty lot where the taxpayers of Miami of of Miami Beach were told that hotel was going to be at where Miami day County forfeited 600 million Miami day County the forget about Miami Beach residents the residents the 2.7 million residents of Miami day County forfeited $600 million that they gave to us and we haven't delivered on the promise to build that that that hotel that is important not just to us but to the convention center as a regional asset and so time is of time is of urgency here this was supposed to be delivered two years ago and our economy is hurting whenever we talk about really what is happening on Lincoln Road we have to look no further then this big empty lot right here that could be generating a lot of high paying consumers for for our economy so I would say the sooner the better we can bring something back for the next meeting uh uh or the following meeting I think the next two months uh I think certainly I know we're dealing with spring break uh so it's hard to to have these conversations uh over the month of March but certainly um if we can't have it for April 3rd I think for the following uh for the May meeting it would be more real we would like to work as quickly as possible okay yes great Rick just a question is there anything in the voter referendum that would uh be problematic with what we're proposing here there isn't the voter referendum provided no city funding the RDA is a separate legal entity the lease agreement does not include any restrictions other than the the city so this as long as the city is not providing the funding um there's there's not an issue now the board here will need to act as the RDA board and will want to act in the best interests of the RDA okay commissioner B requesting commissioner bot um David can you can you put together a proposal and work with our team and be back here to present it at the April 3rd meeting May yes may meeting no the April are you able to to do the April meeting yes if if if the staff is I'll be sensitive to the staff's all the workload that the that the RDA staff has but yes we we'd be ready immediately to work with with the RDA staff but but April we'd be ready uh if the RDA staff needs more time we'd be ready may as well Madame manager what do you think is an an reasonable time frame given the other pressing duties of March well April 3rd the agenda prints in less than two weeks so I would ask Jason and and Raquel in terms of the analysis that we would have to do um we've done a lot of analysis already but I I want to be fair and understand what the requirements are that are still pending potentially Jason yes I think I think April would be uh too soon uh we we're ready to engage with our financial advisor and bond counsel to do some analysis we have the data we're waiting for direction today uh there's a reimbursement agreement where you know the city Rd funds would not be utilized so there's some time that we need to be done with our financial advisor I think May the would be incredibly aggressive I think May is a much more likely but I would just say it will come as as soon as humanly possible okay so let's aim for the May the May meeting then and and and move this along commissioner Rosen Gonzalez so I have a few questions um what is our Revenue share right now on the profits of this Hotel do you know Rick or can we look at that because I think that it's fine but he there should be a larger Revenue share for us and that is what we're asking our to do this we'll be looking at all of that if I may but this is a deal with the RDA the lease is a deal with the city so I believe that the intention is that the RDA will look to see what benefits the RDA can can recover so the city won't get any any extra revenue from this don't know board member Rosen Gonzalez for Kell Williams one of the things being contemplated right now by RDA staff is to look at opportunities for additional public benefit that may come as a result of the discussions that we would have uh with the developer so we would be happy to come back to the board and offer some recommendations as to public benefit so then Tech Technically when we do open this up when we open up the RDA for the loan we can also at the same time open up the conditions of the original contract just to get the best deal in light of current economic conditions which might have shifted over the past four to five years and then that seems like it would be something that is that what we're doing if I may on my motion oh I sure yeah please because you're asking a question regarding the motion the motion is to allow for there to be discussions and those discussions should 100% definitely include public benefits to the city that doesn't that that we don't have now and and and I and and I guess when I'm hearing in between the lines from from from Mr Theo acting in his position right now as RDA attorney I would imagine uh is that is that right now we're we're acting in our capacity as RDA board members and we're providing direction to recel as staff to the RDA uh but I guess we could and correct me if I'm wrong Mr attorney simultaneously once we reconvene as the city commission do a separate motion um asking asking our staff to to to negotiate public benefits to bring back in the interest of the city commission as the owner of the lease I believe that we we're going to need to look into the tax consequences and it's a little more complicated than it may seem but you could certainly direct staff to look into what all the possibilities are and report back I mean my intent with this motion is we want to deliver the hotel we want to find out is there any way that we can help close the gap in the funding or help expedite anything to help close the gap in in the funding and if that leaves the city with any any added benefits that we we don't have today that we should be considering that but it just shouldn't be oh we're going to you know help you close the funds and then the taxpayers got nothing in return the whole intent is Let's help you deliver this project but deliver back public benefits to the residents and the taxpayers of the city of Miami Beach who owned the property I'm I'm in agreement I just think we should purchase this instead of a loan say all right but we're buying in we want a share of the revenue over time more a larger share and I think that's the direction that we should give I mean I you know how do you feel about that David what what exactly are you I'm just asking oh David Martin I was asking David Martin Sor you me and said David sorry commission David Mar anyway I would that that's what I would say explore several different opportunities number one if we get you this loan possibly is the okay so the RDA is an independent entity but could the city of Miami Beach own and the county own a piece of this hotel could we share the revenue can we do any of these things if we make this happen and we provide These funds well commissioner there are commissioner I through the chair Mr yeah if I could just speak real quick but appr wait wait wait wait one second commissioner mag commissioner magazine has the floor I would just say uh okay I'm not sure if the city is in the business of taking an equity stake in a Convention Center Hotel and just some of the brief nuances in that when you look at it's called a capital structure it goes from least risky to most risky and sitting there becoming an equity partner greatly greatly enhances our risk um I don't even know if legally we' be able to explore that but um we're gonz if I could Mr Mayor just uh briefly commissioner Gonzalez I think we fully expect to have a conversation around public benefits I think though we have to be sensitive that we're here um filling a funding Gap right so when we look at that what we have to avoid is placing any more pressure on the current financing terms of what we have in front of us we have $400 million in construction Finance committed we've got a GMP with a construction company bought out we have LP Partners at the table so what we have to make sure of is while we are doing this we provide public benefit but also don't Place more strain right where we're driving some of those interests away so I guess the answer is open to the conversation with that caveat that we really have to be sensitive it's a fr deal if it wasn't we wouldn't be here having this conversation so I just wanted to put that on the record I'm just asking these are just qu I'm just asking these questions you know why not I mean if if we are providing the land at this point because that is city land we are giving this money as a loan um you could as one of the options explore like you said an equity Partnership if possible let's just see all the possibilities and then we'll make it chice okay we had a motion right well if we're we're going to be putting I mean I was trying to be respectful of our staff because I don't think it's our job to be negotiating um but you know if we we we entered into an agreement based on I guess whatever terms were valid in 2018 and so you know let's look at whatever the terms were back then and see if we need to update numbers I don't know uh but I really do think it's not our job to negotiate from the things I think we got to let Raquel uh NE negotiate this as our as our staff and come back to us in May okay we agreed on May yep okay acclamation yes great thank you commissioner Suarez voted yes by the way great motion to reconvene the Miami Beach City commission do we have a second okay thank you uh R9 a dist transition from board members to Commissioners R9 you said am am that was moved to c4b so that was pass already all right did you read it he's saying it was moved to the consent agenda 9 am am as in am is discuss take action eliminate Amplified music yeah commissioner Dominguez okay thank you mayor um so this it um I've been working with uh Manny Marquez and uh the team there on btrs and different ways to make things better but then something came up I started receiving complaints and I experienced it myself where you're sitting on Lincoln Road and then down the block on the other side of Lincoln Road uh there's an artist playing music and it is very very loud you can't even concentrate or listen uh to the person that you're talking to and when I did some research on the matter it turns out that when you get an artist vendor license you can get amplification and so uh the purpose here is to eliminate that amplification and have it be for special events only they can get a permit for amplification if um they're doing something out of the norm but not if you're on the beachwalk or Lincoln Road apolog here commissioner Suarez is a co-sponsor but he's oh is he cool yep I don't know if he wants to be heard anybody want to be heard then we can call the vote sure we can just um summer what's the ask again uh so um to eliminate an automatic amplification with your artist vendor permits now you'd have to request it and have a if it was a special event if you're on Lincoln Road now which is commissioner can you turn your microphone on I'm sorry sir if you're on Lincoln Road now um and I've gotten complaints from people about this and then I experienced it myself um an artist can come with a guitar and attach a speaker to it and it's very hard to regulate I spoke to code about it the code director hernon and um it's because of the decibel um it's not something that could be easily regulated um and it's too bad Manny Marquez is not here uh because he and I have been working on this item but you remember that day that I called you and I've since gotten many other complaints from people um the artist vendor was down the block and you could hear him from where I was sitting right yes Tom welcome yeah Hern card no Code Compliance um so yeah so what happens is with these artist vendor permits some of them do have amplification whether they're singers guitar players saxophone players and whether they're stationed on Ocean Drive or Lincoln Road we end up playing cat and mouse games with them when we show up they turn it down when we leave they turn it back up it ends up disturbing our businesses and or the sidewalk CAF at Lincoln Road so what we're asking is that uh there's no amplification and as an automatic but rather as a special event exactly and they can request it for a special event and you're supportive of this item yes sir I'm ready to call the vote I think so I know we're missing one member but I'm you said he is a co-sponsor he is a co-sponsor okay so uh I move R9 am oh co-sponsor commissioner Suarez is back in the house eliminating Amplified music with the artist vendor program I think commissioner deing has moved it I second that motion okay call the roll yeah so all in favor of this item I I motion passes we will need an after the fact resolution on this thank [Music] you uh let's call R9 AJ R9 AJ disgusting action West Avenue and lower Alton Road speed mitigation traffic caling options I I appreciate Mr Mayor um as a West Avenue resident myself uh I've noticed with my own two eyes over the years and then also attending the various neighborhood association meetings which I know we've all been present at and I commend all my colleagues for how active we are with all the neighborhood associations um both at West Avenue and uh south of fifth there's been a complete outcry for just traffic mitigation issues I know for West Avenue specifically it's always been that that will be part of the West Avenue uh overall Road configuration you know we could be looking at 10 years there uh we've had people uh at the various neighborhood associations say that they've been almost approached and hit by cars in the sidewalk uh the lighting in that area is inadequate so while there's not specific measures here I'm hoping that we can engage with Public Works uh Jose with the transportation department thank you for all you do uh I think the world of you and the work um if we can start to uh get whether they be temporary or uh both longer term one of the things that I've thought of is elevated crosswalks uh I know in front of canopy Park uh granted that's self- serving uh is that's where I live but I see uh children at all hours of the day walk by um and another thing that I've really noticed on West Avenue there's some places where the sidewalk two people can't walk down at the same time uh without stepping onto the grass but we actually have five Lanes of traffic across two lanes where you're able to park uh uh one lane going north one lane going south and then a turning lane those turning Lanes uh are just made as passing lanes and it prevents uh presents in a very very dangerous situation so I'm hoping that we we I know we have longer term uh plans but I think we've all heard loud and clear from our residents that these are measures that we'd like to also Implement in the short term as well um another thought that I've had especially on West Avenue uh we've done a great job on Pine Tree Drive uh where you essentially just divert traffic just a little bit because West Avenue is Set uh Straight Ahead straight on like a Speedway so it really encourages some high speeded velocity there uh you don't just see it when uh actually do you see it at at rush hour but you see it when there's not many people around people out in the crosswalks um really would like to focus on uh pedestrian safety Public Safety and this really goes back to what we've all worked hand inand with with residential quality of life is there some is there a specific action that you were looking to take yes have uh Public Works in the transportation department to come back um work hand inand with the neighborhood over the next 30 days 60 days and and actually have some viable Solutions I know on Collins Avenue that we've looked at the rumble strips those proved uh they didn't work because uh while it might have mitigated speed it had some unintended consequences with the sound uh I would just like if you could examine uh I'll present to you three problematic areas I know we can all come back with what we've heard from the south of fifth residence so perhaps uh in the next month if you'd be able to help liaz with the uh neighborhood organizations for w would be viable Solutions okay then yes commissioner Suarez um so I think the is the root issue here is that there's a lot of speeding in in West Avenue and um you know I'd like to bring the chief up and and speak to that specifically about West Avenue because this seems to be a pattern of of speeding all over the beach um last time we spoke about this this was in Collins Avenue now it's on West AV and we just you know the traffing cing solutions could take years five years yeah and uh you know we want to make sure that everyone is safe including the the children walking to canopy Park so um just wanted to know if you had any measures in place to address speeding specifically on West Avenue because I I mean I've I go West Avenue all the time my Gym's there um I mean I see people just speeding by especially when people are in the crosswalk you know you have that stop sign with people you're not supposed to you're not supposed to cross if people are in the crosswalk that that's never obeyed um yeah you know if we can if we can get some sort of assurances that you know that's going to be looked into absolutely Wayne Jones police chief um Police Department absolutely commissioner um in fact I brought with me today Major Robinson who oversees our Operations Division and so by extension he that also includes U motor officers and officers to ride Patrol I know he's personally done some work on West Avenue to include um enforcing um people not allowing pedestrians across across the crosswalks of that he's assigned cops on West Avenue to address speeding itself and so that is working progress for us and yes it's on our top priority list um can Mr Robinson just give a few seconds to sure absolutely by the way I don't think there's there's nothing um secret about it right I mean if we're going to be there's there's no investigation meaning like you you can you can tell me what you guys are doing without giving it away to the bad guys I mean they're just Speeders are going to speed no matter what so it would be great to see you know if you're telling me that hey look you know in these days we're going to have uh motormen um you know we I think commissioner magazine and I would would like to be there to see that it's actually you know taking place so so commission one of the things we've done over the years um is conduct speed studies on West Avenue some major Robins we'll walk you through that and let let you know what that looks like uh so sir uh good afternoon uh Ian Robinson I'm the major in charge of uh the Patrol Division Miami Beach police obviously uh so since like 2018 um we've done various speed studies out there the most recent one we set up these speed boxes to measure speed set it up for seven days both directions out there because we get these complaints of speeding out there the most recent one we did I'm referring to my phone here um which was our report that came back from our uh traffic Lieutenant is we ran the speed study from February 27th um of this year until March 5th and what we found was that the 85 out of it actually counts cars um so there were 56,000 I'm sorry yeah 56,000 cars and change that went through there the 85 percentile the speed limit 25 is what I was given the 85 percentile of those cars was going 26.9 milph hour um is this do this take into account a certain time period of the day or is this uh I believe so sir that in the data it might have times that it involves more data sheets this is just a general overview it might have uh times in there as well okay and and and um and where exactly was this uh this was this first box was placed in the 900 block of West Avenue okay yeah captain and through the vice chair if I may I know I spend every day of my life on West Avenue it's not that you're going to catch somebody going 85 miles an hour down West Avenue sir but especially if there's a a vesa or dare I say golf cart driving down West Avenue at 25 miles an hour and that Middle Lane opens up you're going to see people passing and it's just a matter of time before a child is in that street or we've heard loud and clear uh from the neighborhood that we need better Lighting in the crosswalks um so while speed is definitely uh a factor in there it's just the overall kind of uh traffic mitigation that we need to do and I realize we can't have motormen you know out on West Avenue every single day and it's like I said it's not even people going 80 M an hour down there so that that those statistics actually don't surprise me much but it's the areas that are problematic we need to have some sort of uh temporary and then permanent Solutions in place to mitigate uh people are going to drive on roads as they're designed to right and when you have five Lanes of traffic people are going to use that Middle Lane to uh not only pass people but do so in a very dangerous Manner and so commissioner that's that's that's very accurate what what you're saying I've seen out there um like the chief referenced before um I myself have done some pedestrian work out there and I see exactly what goes on I do not disagree with you I see that and we enforce it the the best we can would you like to refer this to the neighborhoods committee right now yeah that would be great make a motion to refer it to neighborhoods I would like that second that okay and we have a second okay by acclamation are you coor that and a co-sponsorship by commissioner Suarez are you okay with that commissioner bot okay okay moving along so I get to call whatever I want r9s r9s is discuss take action stiens and Staffing for members of the city commission r9s so City attorney this is put on by the City attorney where is he right now he's not here in the room HR Nick I'm here if you'd like to have have the discuss yeah sure well let me take you through um the memorandum one second so the city Charter establishes the salary of the of the mayor and Commissioners the for Commissioners at 6,000 and for the mayor at 10,000 um the the the charter as as you all know requires photo approval prior to an increase in the salary um in addition to your salary there are additional forms of compensation which are which are provided which are listed uh which are listed in the in the uh in the memorandum at page 7 783 um the City attorney and HR Director uh for this memo prepared identified a couple of areas the commission may may want to discuss the first is an inflation adjustment um so so an adjustment to your allowances and stiens based on um uh you know based on annual increases in inflation um the second issue for consideration is the city's tax treatment of of um and and we're available to answer any questions commissioner magazine nick uh nhr how I view this reading through the memo and the briefings that I've had uh I know there's been a lot of uh hearsay back and forth but this essentially takes what was allocated for stiens and expenses in 2018 and simply makes a cost of living adjustment no more no less some of those recommendations to the chair Mara Alp R HR yes some of those recommendations before you involve thinking of this as cost of living to the stiens thank you mayor and I'll add to Dominguez thank you I'll add to uh commissioner Magazine's um comments uh so uh when Mark samin was was with us I used to keep his uh spreadsheet for the finances on what was spent if any tickets were given so that way when he got the quarterly reports we knew exactly what to report uh within seconds I've continued that process for myself and I found that last year I spent more money than the stipend and it's exactly what commissioner magazine said like I have it in my sprey black and white I spent thousands more um and so definitely there should be a correction uh for uh the future yeah and commissioner bot is also asking to speak go to commissioner bot commissioner bot please go ahead thank you um so in addition to what is laid out here you know running for office we know we're not doing it for you know to make a fortune we see what happens when public officials think that that's what they're supposed to be doing um and it rarely ends well for anybody um I would like to suggest that as part of this we add in an amendment or I don't know what the proper way to do this is but I would like to suggest that we for those of us who are not independently wealthy or don't have jobs that are flexible that we can do both this um public service work and another full-time job um that we hold that we are required to get an Ethics opinion for any outside um work that we do uh I know that for my in my own personal case in selling my house to be able to run for office I do have enough money for the next year or two but I will end up um probably driving lift or Uber going forward um and I would take that to the um appropriate body to get an Ethics ruling to make sure that's not a conflict if I take on any clients for my branding um consultancy I would take that to uh the appropriate body to get an Ethics opinion I think that is something that should be included in this um you know when when the stiens were set in 2000 in 1966 our budget as a city was 14 million it's now close to a billion um we had a population that was 2third of the population now of the current uh full-time residents and it we did not have special events that would swell our population to half a million On Any Given weekend so I think that um making these administrative adjustments to just keep up with with cost of living and and proper tax reporting um is a very reasonable thing to do commissioner Rosen Gonzalez commissioner bot could I suggest that I I'm not if I get any extra work like I have a I'm a licensed real estate sales associate I'm not going to go for an Ethics opinion every time I'd like to show a house so that doesn't make a lot of sense and I'm already gainfully employed um I would like to explore that independent of this I'm supportive of all four measures the inflation adjustment the treatment of the taxes on this simply because um I go to my account and after I get this stip in and it costs me almost as cost as much as a stip in really so I'd like to be compensated for that so that I'm not actually expending more money way more money than I'm taking in after spending 50 to 60 hours per week on this position I agree with the increase also in the vehicle allowances and um what is this the automatic CPI increases which I think are fair and um actually I think that this should be made retroactive to November 3rd when the election happened um when when we were elected because it's been languishing on the agenda I I'm this is about the fact that our salary hasn't been increased since 1966 and it is is set at $6,000 and since it has never been successfully vetted at The Ballot Box there is a stip in which is not which does not increase I would also Advocate to everyone here if you allow if we put this on the ballot in addition like in addition to this stien work that we're doing right now to really legitimize everything in at on this August ballot I would sell this to the electorate because I think that this needs to be legitimized instead of like the sipon over time just given like a specific salary like Coral Gables has done North Miami city of Miami every every other city has been able to do this except for us so um you know and and the county did something last year to kind of legitimize their position but I think that we need to just take this look at the electorate explain the fact of how hard we're working and that we're actually spending money given the different stipid um and and tax and and tax implications of all of this so I don't proudly supporting this and um you know listen I love what I do I love the hours that we spend here I think we try to be the voice to try to represent all of you and do the best job that we possibly can and I think that that deserves due compensation and this is not a large compensation I guarantee you a teacher makes more actually our legislative Aid following this compensation makes probably 30 to 40% more than we're actually going to allocate in this sient increase which is really a CPI I Cola um that just never happens mayor commissioner magazine just want to separate out there's a few things going on uh commissioner bot I actually agree with your uh ethics proposal I think that would be good to implement I do think we should explore that independently of here instead of co-mingling that and similar uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I can certainly buy into I see the time demands here but I do think we we kind of bifurcate this with this is just uh a cost of living for the stiens and expenditures uh that come with the job I'd be happy if uh to second year motion if it's retroactive but you know don't want to start getting into discussions of uh just compensation and what should go on the ballot I think we just look at these things in a in a bifurcated basis okay so then if I moved that and you seconded it then yeah so that that the motion would be for the inflation adjustment which is set forth in the memo is 23% um and as well as grossing up the stiens for for taxes based on we'll use the average federal tax rate of 24.8% with an automatic adjustment for inflation um each year thereafter and um and the mo the motion was to make it retroactive to November 3 uh 2023 then we can separately we can separately come back with you with a proposal for what the parameters would look like for an Ethics commission opinion it would be it wouldn't be for every transaction commissioner would be a one-time uh request for the ethics uh commission director to provide you parameters for your outside employment uh but we could come back with that separately as well as a charter question we could come back with that separately okay Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor um and so first and foremost I first want to thank my colleagues because earlier in this meeting there was a motion there there was an item that was approved with a consent agenda where I was requesting additional resources for the work that I do in the form of staff and I thank all of you because if the item was passed with a consent agenda and I'm very grateful for that um and I also under understand the needs that my colleagues have um and and and their important needs too uh and so and so I think it'll be hypocritical that where where where I'm granted resources and yet I'm not willing to support um my colleague when they're asking for resources themselves the only thing that I ask is for the City attorney just prepare for me an item for the next meeting where I can reject me personally for group three accepting those uh the stien because I don't want to accept it but I'll support uh my colleagues uh in in in their request we could do that commissioner thank you I might do that as well through the chair commissioner Suarez yeah I I donate my salary um to Pelican Harbor I love the seabirds um so I I would I would want to you know you know I don't I don't make a salary just to donate it to a nonprofit um you know I'd rather the taxpayers keep their money so when it comes down to group five I'd like to not be not to participate in that okay we'll prepare the resolution for both of you and um if I'm Mr Mayor yes commissioner bot um City attorney pause while you're preparing resolutions for the next agenda meeting if you could prepare one to I don't know what the appropriate terminology is but to investigate uh or to be prepared to take action on um ethics uh rulings for those of us who have outside employment yes we could do that commissioner thank you Mr Mr Mr Mr attorney I just have a question as part of the adoption of this item could I just request an amendment uh just to accept group three from it which is my group and perhaps commissioner Suarez that way we don't have to bring another item we just can now with the approval of this accept group three and group five you can't do that why not because then you're taking action on group three moving forward I think the the well no for for for the current term for the for the remainder of the group three term just yeah commission we I I like the way that you originally um proposed it for us to prepare a resolution that we put on consent the next decline it um we could note in the in the in the recitals that that you're you're intending to decline it uh but commissioner Rosen Gonzalez is is is correct that you know that if you're if we're exempting out two groups then that resolution would need to be amended the next time that there is a different elected official in in that group and that's something and that's something that can be done it's not there they they that that can't be done in the future well if you can accomplish the same result you could vote no onday that no that and we can exempt the if you want to exempt yourself then we should exempt no we shouldn't exemp that I just I just I just think just just just to be fair I mean staing we can so so we could reflect in the resolution that the current member of group three has declined to accept it so that it would otherwise apply after your service concluded yeah that's it the current member group yeah that's it okay same for me okay okay so group five as amended as amended I I need a second I I didn't second so commissioner seconds it all in favor I I'm going to register now reg so I have mayor as no that's it okay thank you 61 R R9 AB R9 AB is a scuss action pilot program to utilize block the Box cam requested by commissioner swarez through the mayor recognized yesion Suarez so uh everyone complains about the awful traffic on 41st Street and a lot of that traffic is a result of people blocking the intersections um on on 41st Street and so you know I I got to hand it off to the police you know they they cannot necessarily be enforcing the block the Box especially all over 41st Street you know takes away resources which are most likely needed somewhere else speeding for example um and what I would like to put forward and start is a is a pilot program for 41st Street where um we install cameras to give warnings of blocking the Box because unfortunately we're preempted from from Florida uh from the state of Florida to give any citations um for blocking the Box even though it's illegal an officer has to be present however you know if if if if this next legislative session in in Tallahassee if we can if we can get really good representation to to change those laws and incorporate blocking the box as uh that can be issued from a camera I I I I if we start now and by the time the next year happens I think we'll we'll be right in line of um issuing citation um and so I I'd like to te up to Mark Fishman if you can give a little bit more of a of a history on on the legality of the cameras and what you know what him and I have talked about hopefully we can change at the Florida State Legislature for next year through the mayor I'd like to request Mark Fishman to speak Mark how you doing mayor mayor members of the city commission Mark Fishman city attorney's office yeah uh commissioner far as is accurate um currently Florida law pursuant to Florida statute 31676 uh prohibits the use of uh cameras for any traffic enforcement other than for red light cameras and you all just did the speeding in the school zones uh so the cameras could not be utilized for the block the Box purposes for enforcement so one possibility would be to use the cameras to issue non-enforceable warnings ideally and I think you all know what block the Box offenses are of course that that's where a person proceeds through not on a red light but properly on either a green or yellow light however they do not uh when they proceed through the light there's not sufficient space on the other side of the intersection to accommodate the vehicle they're driving um so that's really the issue and that causes a huge uh you know I'm a resident and an employee and it just causes huge uh traffic issues you know throughout throughout the entire city uh in addition to the other issues with the bridges and whatnot so the the camera program is something that um could utilized to either identify areas where block the box is happening more often if it's not because it can't be used for enforcement but to identify areas of the city where maybe the police could go and do certain details or could be utilized potentially to issue warnings to motorists just Hey listen you can't be doing this and then hopefully that will uh alter their behavior and also if you can speak to you know I know I know Tallahasse is a hard place to deal with but you know we just got you know speeding in school zones and so you know if you could speak to you know if it's just one small change in in Florida law you know that that would allow us to you know moving forward issue citations and um you know how helpful would that be I think it would be very helpful and the the mayor when he was the the commissioner uh and some of the members of the city commission were here and there was actually a resolution to urge the Florida legislature and a group called Opa study to see about uh making a change and allow cameras to be utilized for vehicle exhaust noise and it actually got quite a bit of traction and opa actually issued a study gave credit to the city of Miami Beach commission within that study um and I don't know if they're going to do it or not but that's something they're looking at allowing cameras to be utilized for vehicle exhaust noise and this would just be another uh potential option for them to to look at but we need them to do that yeah so um this item is another I'm just I want to add another tool to the tool box of of traffic enforcement and quality of life uh especially in the areas that are most impacted by by by traffic so um i' like to hear what my colleagues have to say commissioner B's request commissioner Dominguez I'm very supportive I know what a huge problem that is not just on 41st Street but um down 17 on different areas of Alton Road uh people block the box I had that happen on my way to to City Hall today um so I'd be happy to second that item thank you Mr Mayor commissioner magazine yeah uh commissioner Suarez thank you for this uh thank you commissioner Dominguez for the support uh fully on board here and perhaps uh we can also examine to make it one of our legislative priorities for uh next year um lobbying Tallahassee to allow for measures that would be more meaningful enforcement of this um we able to do that uh I'm fully on board so thank you for the leadership here commissioner bot is requested to speak commissioner bot hello again um so yeah in you know this is a huge problem all over the city including in North Beach that um particularly gnarly uh Town Center set of intersections can get jammed up for quite some time my question and I'm very supportive of the effort my question is um are these is this a new purchase of new technology or is this at least um specifically for the pilot program is it uh using the existing I think it's 1,00 cameras that we have all over the city um and capturing what's going on at intersections with the existing technology that we have I I I think you know I'd have to probably defer to the police we do have extensive cameras throughout the the city including some red light cameras whether certain cameras could be programmed uh the software program to capture a Vehicles caught in the intersection or not I'm I'm not certain Wayne Jones please Chief um commissioner this is I I think an interesting idea one that I I support quite frankly if we can get a legislative change on this matter um it helps us work smarter and not harder uh replacing police officers intersection actually cameras uh with the hope of modifying uh bad behavior people actually blocking the Box uh major erog Garcia runs our Tech division and is responsible for the purchasing maintenance of cameras and is quite familiar with with um the red light camera system that we use and traffic cameras that we use as well so he's going to speak on this matter for me great good afternoon Commissioners May and Mr Mayor uh currently we do not have cameras on 41st Street 41st Street is one of the uh projects that's uh going to have cameras done when uh the larger infrastructure project is completed but right now we not we would not be able to uh which which project which project are you referring to 41st Street is being reconstructed there's a geobond project to uh side beautify beautify and like un like numbered 30 or something no it's coming up it's coming up and commissioner uh to speak a little bit to the technology um similar to what happened with the red light uh camera um it would take a technological change a technological innovation uh for a technology company to uh put out the uh cameras that identify block the box the same way that um speeding camera the speeding in the school zone cameras uh that's new technology as soon as the law was passed Technologies companies technology companies came on board with new Innovations and they they they will create the technology to enforce that yeah um right so like for example on 17th Street you know when I go on to Alton there's a camera there to take pictures I'm assuming you you guys would go to a vendor and get a bid process to to bid it out correct what we would hope is that technology would become available once the law once the law is changed to allow that type of enforcement that would specifically be designed to capture block the Box well in other states like for example Seattle they already have that yeah those I'm sorry those companies would probably come to Florida the minute that that's passed right but if we want you know the intent right now is to issue warnings right and then also possibly give Insight give give better insight to the police where this happens the most so we could we could still research and bid and have those companies that already do it in other states bid out here so the technology does exist the te if the technology exists which I have not seen yet but I'll I'll definitely look into it um then we could do that problem is we still run into the issue of are we legally allowed to use that information or uh install cameras in and use them in that way okay okay I'm going to let Mark speak to that yeah so I I think what um he's referring to is um obviously the camera would take a picture of a tag you know abc123 it wouldn't identify an individual uh the register own vehicle or their or their address so we'd need to use a system to take that tag abc123 and then converted to a name and an address for register owner to to mail them the the warning and that would require the use of one of the systems the the the police officers have access to probably the David system um and then the question becomes it's supposed to be David pursuant to the the agreement it's supposed to be used for uh law enforcement purposes and then you know we can't do enforcement because of the preemption we just talked about with the cameras so we do the unenforceable warning so there's a little bit of a conflict uh we and legal actually have a call scheduled for later this week uh finally with one of the attorneys U for dhsmv and hope to get some clarity from them before they were a little reluctant to to give us any any firm guidance but but that that's what's being referred to now okay so right now this is a this item is a resolution to explore this is a discuss so um allow me to make a a referral to uh finance and by the time we get to the next Finance meeting you can you would have you would have had that meeting already with the the D or dhm the uh Department of yeah and so I'd like to move that Madame vice mayor if I may Chris I have a I have a question and I'm sorry because I had to see staff on the side but so I haven't been following the the totality of the conversation um so my understanding is that right now state law doesn't allow us to utilize this technology for purposes of enforcement that's correct yes yes okay we're only able to issue warnings is that correct no not to issue warnings well that that's what we're what Mark was referring to that we're researching right then we're researching okay they have a they have a meeting with the Department of Motor Vehicles we we we could the the issue is not the issuance of the the warning itself the issue that that wouldn't be the problem the problem is utilizing the system the David system to convert the tag uh into a name and an address it's using it for that purpose when the warning itself is not enforcement it's not law enforcement that's that's the issue okay so can so so so you really but you can create a registry of the tag you can like get that data now and see if this is a um a frequent violator of block the box and so and so let's say if a police officer pulls over a driver they can see okay this an an habitual block thebox offender and determine based on that whether to issue a warning to someone or whether to issue them a citation and which way to to deter individuals from blocking the box I'm wondering you know could we could could we without converting the tag utilizing the David system into a name and an address okay we're not converting it into a name and an address so we're not using the David system for for that purpose but could we still create a registry of the tags blocking the box which is creating an issue I know after 3:00 I better not be home because if I need to get anywhere I can back out of my driveway uh because you know traffic is it's all backed up part of it is because people are blocking the box so if we now can create a log of of tags that are habitual offenders of block the Box can the officers reference that when they pull someone over to see okay is this a onetime person blocking the box is this someone that every day is blocking the box and determine whether to use her discretion to issue a violation or a ticket um yes commissioner Suarez um I think that's I think that's a fair uh idea um you know I I'll wait for them to speak but um you mentioned that you didn't get the totality so uh you know my intention is you know I think you and I are very engaged in Tallahassee um you you more so than me I'm kind of new to this um but I I I fully expect and and I even have an item on the agenda for additional um or new lobbyist uh in Tallahassee and I I I fully expect to have really good representation to fight for this very small change where you know this isn't this isn't big brother you know we're not talk we're not catching you speeding we we're you we're catching you being a very inconsiderate person by blocking the box and look I get it you know people do it I've done it I think everyone's done it but you know if the C is there I I believe uh it'll help a lot of traffic and I think it's not a tall task that tall task to ask the Florida legislature to change that and so you know I by the time we even get a camera installed it'll be 2025 and I have faith in you and I to to move that forward now to to his idea of running a database I look I I don't know that's up to you um and at the same time you you're uh Mark you're going to have a call with Department of Motor Vehicles and see if this is fine I when when I brought this to Mark I thought like I'm pretty sure there's services online you can look up a tag by the way you don't have to use the David system you can use um I think a paid for system and well let me let me have you guys answer Alex's question and then you can talk to you to about maybe a third party besides David say so I'll just answer commissioner have I'd have some concerns and obviously we'd have to discuss creating a database of uh violators that you don't know who the driver is you're just collecting tags for future enforcement I don't know that that's something that we would uh be in favor of I mean or that we could even do we'd have to have a lot to think about I'm just wondering how how different is it than when we place license played readers to run tags to to to try to find in you know stolen vehicles uh you know the vehicle might be stolen but the person driving the vehicle might not be the person who stole the car you know the thing is this car has been used in in the past for for violation anyways you guys look into it I don't want to put you guys on the spot seems like you guys are doing doing doing research I like uh my colleagues idea okay if there is limitations on using the David system for collecting the driver's data well you know are there other systems out there besides this system that perhaps we can procure uh that um that we we could use to um for enforcement purposes no no notices yeah notices yeah I'm GNA I'd like to co-sponsor this item I'll just we've been dealing with the noise cameras quite a bit it's uh it hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd like I would just say that it we may have to give some direction as to how we want to proceed on this get to and I'll join as a co-sponsor as well because I do think you know we've heard from so many residents about this um I'll join as a co- sponsor and uh so we got commissioner Fernandez magazine me TZ okay I'll join commission okay are we good we have Direction so this was a referral referral to FK yeah yeah referral to FK by acclamation and did you want it at the next FK meeting is that what you requested or uh when's the next FK meeting the next Fork meeting is March 22 March 22nd that's not that's not enough time for you guys we I mean I'm not the chair so chair register me as a no on this huh yeah I just hate red light tickets I would never want to give red light ticket one yeah well a red L ticket or a black the Box ticket I understand that it supposedly educates people maybe if you wanted to do one intersection because frankly I really dis like seeing the intersection at Alton Road and 17th Street closed um it's infuriating sometimes to leave City Hall uh and I wonder why everything is so blocked up and then I see that it's because we closed it off and you can't even get to Bell Isle if you did this at that inter intersection maybe is that the intersection that you're proposing 41st 41st instead of here that's a pilot program you know listen listen you're very angry when they start to get those tickets and I'm going to say that I voted no I'm I think right now we're talking about a warning maybe you give them a warning maybe they get a warning I think that if you do this pilot program and we start to send out violations then the violations should be warnings because if you start to send out those $160 $250 tickets people might be inconsiderate but when you're in a fixed income and you get one of those tickets it ruins your entire month it can throw you off actually to some of our workingclass residents you know for the entire year so you know do it but don't make it uh super punitive maybe a $25 fine could we set it like that sure okay then I'll support it if it's if you make sure that the fine is minimal through the chair through through the chair just to be clear Kristen just to be clear there there is no fine right now because Florida statute prevents us from issuing any fines for blocking the box it is illegal to block the box if if an officer is present they can issue a violation but it can't be issued a violation through a camera but what Alex and I are saying is that you know through our efforts in Tallahassee I think we we would be able to get that change fix and then I think I'm not sure if if we have the ability to issue warnings first to to block the blocks offenders um but again and just just to go back to to to the finance chair Joseph magazine um would the April meeting be okay okay and yes Chief yes sir we we'll do the research and get back to you with an update April and um Mr Fishman yeah that's fine commissioner great commissioner Fernandez may I count you as a second yes then it's unanimous 70 great okay great thank you it's call R9 y R9 Y is discuss take action limit printed materials for Board of committees yeah yeah thank you for this Mr Mayor and the intention here is twofold uh as City commissioners and then also on our various boards we just get such a plethora and abundance of printed materials for all of the agendas um doesn't mean it's not useful but with technology today uh all of these agendas are readily available on on a computer and an iPad uh in no way am I telling people what they have to do uh but what I would like to default to is basically um by default an opt out program where we do not receive uh printed materials one from an environmental standpoint uh if you just look at all the paper up here and not to call any of us out but we all do it we we'll take it actually commissioner Rosen Gonzalez you bring it back to your office and maybe some others but a lot of us just take it and throw it right to the trash um this would not prohibit anybody from getting a printed copy but uh the default response uh from staff will just be to um essentially uh that we will be accessing these agendas on our computers or digitally uh so this is one a cost savings and then two from an environmental standpoint uh an attempt to significantly reduce the amount of uh paper that is printed for not only our city commission meetings but for all the board meetings as well Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez I 100% support the direction you're going in exempt the group three commissioner from from that I I am going to amend the item to ex I'm a paper person I need to because and in part also Mr Mr clerk where are we with the new agenda system we are testing it right now we hope to go live next month meaning April May April May yeah I I I am so excited that was one of the first things I don't know if you recall when I became a City Commissioner that I met with you about and one of the first items I sponsored on the agenda was you know updating this very Antiquated and slow oh my God accessing this agenda online people it is painful it is painful like I it takes it takes a like sometimes an entire minute just to open up you know the page for an item then you open up the page and you need to open up the the the memo it'll take you another minute to to open up the the memo and so like just to read an item like you're trying to access something quick to read something and you've got a resident on the phone that you're trying to walk something through with them and it's like okay hold up it's taking a long time and like you have Jeopardy music going on in in the in the background so we need this we need this quickly we need that new agenda system if we really want to go paperless uh because just just right now it's not it doesn't work in the interest of transparency when you have an agenda that it takes so long to open up the items it almost frustrates the individuals trying to use it and it discourages individuals from engaging and people just give up because it's impossible to read an entire agenda online is for every single item you're G to sit there and wait so um so for the time being I'm going to keep this until we get that new system I'm going to keep my paper agenda it's my safety blanket um um literally a night when I'm reading the agenda before seeing the city manager the following day for my briefing um but um and then I'll revisit my position on having this before you know once the new system goes up we currently have the ability to give you and I've been sending those emails so you can access it via novas itself what we did originally also some Commissioners prefer for me to drop it in the Dropbox so if you have a drop Dropbox account you could give me that and I'll drop there as well yeah and what I'm intending for this and through the chair uh through the mayor if I can um use this for Best Practices I understand that some people want to take physical notes uh through these go through these and in no way am I looking to prohibit this but just promote a best practices by default you will go paperless but if you want to essentially uh you know one time let the clerk know that you would prefer to receive all of these materials uh in paper then that's your prerogative to do so Rosa Gonzalez yeah I'm going to be paper based on this too it's just too much information and you're right it's frustrating to try to get the items online right now so is it opt in right yes okay listen aspirationally I would love to have everything electronically but the truth of the matter is that even though I detest lugging these books around and I can see look at you you have your stuff all marked up you're really going to miss getting a piece of paper and promote best practices that's the and and Mr Mayor I just want to make sure that like for example our planning board members our drb members speak some some of these are uh committees where they're dealing with large files of you know orders uh or or large visuals of plants and that type of stuff that might be easier to for some people to see the paper version uh I think let's allow them to decide let's get them that option one 100% this is optional but best practices is we try and promote paperless uh but to the extent anybody wants to do the uh paper they have the ability to do so and I know as you do from the planning board that actually gets sent to your house and you're dealing with a stack like this and after the planning board it goes okay right in there so to the extent people need to utilize uh in person on paper yes 100% they have that option but let's try and promote best practices not only with elected officials it'd be great if uh the department heads can uh uh there staff members that utilize uh agendas and things like that if we'd be able to promote digitally but of course uh same theme with staff uh those that wish to get it in paper can continue doing so by acclamation yes so all in favor I hi and we'll do an after the fact resolution on r9y okay thank you let's call up R9 AI R9 AI discuss take action convene meeting with large miambi Beach employers regarding improving traffic uh traffic ingestion um thank commissioner bot yeah thank you so um um there is a finite amount of what we can do to improve traffic we can't mandate everybody onto scooters we cannot build additional roads we can't control all the roads roads that are main thorough fares because they're County or state roads so I was thinking about out of the box ideas and one of them could be asking some of our larger employers to rethink the shifts in which they um have their their staff which are generally Around the Clock um come in and out so that you don't have Mount Si and the Eden Rock and the fountain blue for instance all um released their shift workers at the same hour or hour and a half since we know those are the majority of the workers coming in I think the statistic if I remember correctly was 45,000 people in vehicles crossing the bridges to come into work um if we could stagger those shifts by even an hour here or there and not instantly not like by April or May but we could have a meeting with those employers to talk through what some of the issues or opportunity might be do a pilot program you know I don't know what's possible because I don't think the conversation has ever been had so that's why I would like to with the blessing of this commission and staff get the um the largest employers and it could be more than just the Eden Rock and Fountain Blue and the monana it could be anybody who's interested in in learning more um have sort of a a city-wide neighborhood conversation about for businesses who who would like to engage in this and you know maybe let's see what what comes out of it maybe there's a way to incentivize it maybe there's just um people are eager to do this because it benefits them getting their staff in and out on time um more easily so that's the thinking behind this I'm supportive I think it's a good item a number of residents had reached out to me making that argument so I'm glad you put it on commissioner bot that uh perhaps we could facilitate the Staggering of shifts more than uh than is currently taking place and we have to like you say we have to look at every Avenue to try to mitigate the uh traffic any other no right look at every Avenue no pun intended um unless there's any other think it's a great idea i' like to uh make a motion to move forward second by acclamation I so direction is given has been claimed r7h r7h was established ad hoc City Sanitation advisory committee commissioner Suarez thank you mayor Miner um you know I've had a uh I've had a long last year going door too knocking and you know one of the one of the issues that always came up is um you know my streets dirty sidewalks are dirty um and you know I'm not not trying to knock on any sanitation employees I think they do the best they can I think Joe does the best he can um and and I truly mean that I think uh what's the the component that is lacking is a resident driven input of certain areas that that may be uh not not serviced uh properly okay or enough and so what I would like to do is I would like to set up a committee of mid Beach North Beach South Beach so we have two residents in each part of the of the beach so that they can put in their voice on any sanitation efforts they need so South Beach is completely different than mid Beach which is also completely different than North Beach and so you know I've had residents like Elizabeth Laton who says like look you know hey you know we we don't see anyone here cleaning up and so I think if we have a resident driven um input on on certain areas that need attention I think uh that's going to bring us closer to a resident Centric uh government so um I welcome my call my feedback from my colleagues commissioner Dominguez thank you I think it's a good idea um I'll throw out uh a suggestion because whenever we set up a committee and you and I had a conversation about all the Committees that we have in the city that the Administration has to man and it's ad hoc it's ad hoc right for a year but still they have to man it every month right and um there are so many active neighborhood associations can we have them do it and have mid Beach neighborhood association they have subcommittees have them set up a subcommittee for cleaning in a certain geographic area the Allison Park neighborhood association have them be in charge of another area there's a North Beach Alliance they'll have another section if it's in South Beach have Flamingo Park neighborhood association so that way we don't have to use City staff to be Manning another committee even if it's ad hoc but anyway just an idea I'm I'm more than willing to offer up my time to be the liaison for for the sanitation committee um I think it's important I look you know as as elected officials our job is very simple keep us safe and keep us clean and I want to make sure you know we do both and um I want to make sure that our residents have a say especially in the different parts of Miami Beach um you know I welcome your feedback for you know resident neighborhood association input uh certainly that that ad hoc committee would would um you know recommend applicants for for for the positions I'm hoping this only lasts a year and we only needed a year to be honest um and then sanitation will have I guess better Direction on on on problem areas and so you know I think this is the right approach and and making sure we we have a better service of government well thank you commissioner s just a quick procedural question City attorney um very generous of you commissioner Suarez to offer your time so appreciate that is that procedurally okay I mean that we don't need administrative staff there if commissioner Suarez is handling there are for commissioner Suarez to be the liaz on is that the I think that you could you could do that we have some Commissioners that are serving on committees themselves so that's okay commissioner magazine I think it's a great initiative there's some lwh hanging fruit that has a uh incredibly impactful feel on residential quality of life and coming out to a clean and safe City are some of our utmost priorities that we should be addressing and uh again no knock of yours Joe this is an all Hands-On deck effort I said it with the gum cleaning I'd be out there uh willing to take up a pressure washer myself that that was a genuine offer um so I understand that something like the cleanliness of our city we we all take pride that so let's uh anything we can do to move that forward um leave no stone unturned so I support the initiative okay all in favor moving it we have a second I'll second the vote all in favor I I anyone opposed passes 70 or 7h okay there were a couple of addendum items that um I want to go at least through the referrals they're referrals so I just want to bring them up and if there you I guess we have c4t is the first one c4t is are referral to land use and uh planning board residential units in B ale requested by commissioner Dominguez c4t any if you make the motion commissioner Fernandez is seconded and we'll take the vote to refer it okay any everyone in favor C4 c4t is referred okay next one is C c4u c4u is a referral to the finance committee for the March 22nd meeting bring sale GP event to manami beach on April 2025 it was requested by commissioner magazine c4u yeah second item so I have a motion by commissioner Suarez the seconded by commissioner Fernandez yes yep all in favor I so c4u is referred to March 22nd if you can put me as a co-sponsor on there commiss Suarez as a co-sponsor c4v was already referred yes sir c4w is the next one c4w it's our feral to which one neighborhood resiliency is that the ne yeah Norm Al traffic caling project moved by commissioner Dominguez the sponsor of the item second second lare all in favor I C4 W is referred C7 Z c7z is created ad hoc historic preservation ordinance committee commissioner Fernandez thank you Mr Mayor um I I'm just going to take a moment to just speak as to why I'm creating this even though it's on the consent agenda we've seen from Tallahassee the massive preemption it has created in some of our most significant historic districts in North Beach mid Beach uh especially as it relates to uh some of our most iconic Waterfront historic assets and now how how they're under the threat of demolition uh through State preemption uh and so now more than ever we have to look at our historic preservation code and see how can we facilitate preservation what can we do to streamline process what can we do to create incentives and make it more economically viable for developers to preserve these historic assets that were privileged to to have in the city of Miami Beach and that's the purpose of this ad hoc historic preservation ordinance committee uh is to be convened through September so that uh we can at that point receive recommendations and I urge each one of you to look at the ad large categories uh there you know we have former members of mdp a seed for a former member of mdpl we have a seed for for a living in a historic district we have a seed for for members of the construction and development community and other categories so that we get a true balanced perspective and true quality recommendations that we can consider as important amendments to the ordinance to promote uh most above all uh incentives for the preservation of these historic assets with that Mr Mayor I move my item I second that fan yep commissioner B okay and if we could you know please as if anyone wants to make nominations to the at large categories there let's try to bring them for the next meeting so that we can have a fully constituted board uh as quickly as possible all in favor I I all in favor thank you colleagues thank you c7a it is requiring all land use members to take mdpl Art Deco tour commissioner Rosen gonzale what I've noticed over the years and actually I myself needed this type of education when I first got elected I really didn't understand the importance of Art Deco architecture I hadn't taken the tour I found over time that we appoint um residents even from outside of the city sometime we will appoint you know a professor from University of Miami who doesn't live in Miami Beach I would like everybody who's going to serve on any of our land Ed boards to take this tour educate themselves understand why it's so important to who we are walk these streets look at these buildings because I think once they as an as an educator you know and somebody who's dedicated my life to this type of information I know it's going to influence their votes and they're going to be better uh members of the committee uh because of it you would think that everybody has taken this tour and understand it but there are people that we have on our land use boards even our historic preservation board I bet you right now if you went and ask every member of our HPB board there are members that have not taken the tour so I think everybody should be required to take the tour tour takes a couple of hours I think it will definitely influence their votes and uh our city and our historic districts will benefit from it no thank you Mr Mayor commissioner Fernandez I just want to throw out there maybe maybe we could do a group tour as a as a commission with our AIDS uh and you know I think I think it'll be cool uh if if if we Sunshine it and we get to do a tour the ardle district I nominate George ner to tour to head the tour I think that'd be so spectac by the way this was George nery's idea he came up to me and said you know after all all of these years doing this I think we really need to make sure that our land use board members take this tour and I said fine no problem that's what happened when I went to the Fuji Sawa dinner and now it's a we are you know making it happen right now and I don't think this is controversial and is anybody opposing this type of education no sorry we couldn't hear you commissioner bot I'd like to address this you have the floor um I love this idea I I also love the idea uh put forth by commissioner Fernandez that the commission does it I know for a fact that there are people serving on boards apping about what is valuable in our city who do not know anything about um our historic architecture and whether they not whether or not they find it attractive um at least understanding academically why something has value is I think an important part of of the education I would actually suggest that it is not just the Art Deco district that is included in this but it is also the mid-century modern District that starts from the Historic Hotel um District in the 60s on Collins up to um uh some further reaches in North Beach so maybe it's to tours because that's a lot in one day um but I I it's really important that we understand our character of place as we have fewer and fewer resources to safeguard it against competing interests it's really important that the people are helping us in informing us and Advising us on how best to proceed are all speaking from the same knowledge base when it comes to why things matter they don't have to agree but they have to understand why their things matter I you know you could make the argument that um that um nobody would have ever said that the South Shore Community Center had no value and I know that a a commissioner who's not among us any longer um said that you know it is not an important piece of architecture because it doesn't look like all of his other structures people need to understand why our city is is different from others so that they can make the best supporting decisions possible so I would not only support these uh um directions but in increase it to include the um the mid-century modern architecture as well does mdpl do a tour that focuses on that yes so they have they would have to take both of these chores okay I'm okay with that are you guys okay with that I just want to make sure Mr Mayor M Fernandez you know what's what's important I just want to make sure that it's not just you know when we think of art deco a lot of times we only think of the artco district and that collection that's on the National Registry of historic districts the 800 buildings um and maybe whatever tour is done with mdpl you know it considers you know some of the other areas that incorporates you know the moris Lapidus uh District or you know goes as far north as the alos delmare uh District that it truly is not just here in South Beach the postcard and the collection of buildings that go from Fifth Street to 23rd Street but truly considers you know the other uh historic districts that we have so that it truly is a full and encompassing and well-balanced um you know representation of what are our historic uh districts so that truly is beneficial to the intent that you're looking to have wonderful so maybe we could direct that the city um the city Administration organized with mdpl these tours right around the time where we're appointing to these boards or should we Empower um I guess as part of the motion to take the two tours I'm fine with that I really do think that people will take ownership once they walk it they see it they understand the history it's something that they've been seeing their entire lives but maybe nobody's ever explained it to them I think this will go a long way so thank you commissioner B for the added information I just got a text from Dana seral saying that's great so I would leave it for you guys to work out all of the details and if you did want me to include by the part of the motion as a organizing one tour for the commission I would also attend that to so we can find some dates for that too and mayor as part of this motion we'll also need a separate referral to planning board to amend the application requirements going forward for land use board members to have a requirement to take a tour okay okay all right all in favor great there were there were two items on the agenda that George that were pulled from consent last month I'd like to just uh see if we can get those referred r9e yes sir r9e is a referral to land use create incentives to encourage office conversions to residential yeah I make a motion okay all in favor I second I'm sorry I missed it r9e was commissioner magazine and seconded by Fernandez yeah and it's sponsored by commissioner and then co-sponsored by Commissioners magazine and Suarez I'm sorry commissioner B do you want to say something no I thought I I had Co I had um seconded but that's fine okay um did we vote I'm sorry all in favor okay r9i r9i is a referral to finance created fund for pro properly fitting uniforms for Frontline Personnel commissioner Suarez sure there's for some reason there's been a lot of controversy over an optional item uh for our Frontline workers to get their uniforms tailored totally optional um you know we see or I see when I'm outside especially in summer you know the our Frontline you workers like code parking sanitation you know they have these huge outfits um and sometimes it feels like they can get stuck in in Machinery so um I want to give them the option to get their uh suits tailored and you know the police get their suits tailored um I don't know how that I don't I don't know if the city pays for it or you guys pay it out of pocket but um I'd love to have our Frontline workers to also have their uh the ability to to to tailor their all their outfits and just a referral to f a second okay got a motion from commissioner Suarez second by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez all in favor for the referral I I I okay I think the last item of the evening can I can I nominate to commissioner SARS to be the fashion police R R9 a thank you for this Mr Mayor uh wa wait let the city Clark call it up R9 R is discuss take action alternatives to live local Comm magazine yeah thank you for this Mr Mayor uh never easy to discuss uh less than ideal uh news or to convey that um but we've all taken apart um whether it be commissioner Fernandez going to Tallahassee or all us lobbying legislatur is about trying to mitigate and battle the unintended consequences that could come forth of the live local act uh it's my understanding that uh the this bill has been amended in the house and the Senate it's waiting for the Governor's um signature and it will have an impact on our city uh it's been conveyed to us that there has already been an application submitted um with the expectation that there could be several a couple maybe uh a large amount that come forward and perhaps the best course of action here so we could have a more robust discussion is to refer this to land use um but where I'm going with this essentially is uh right now I don't know how much more we can fight back we've put together things that mitigate uh such as requiring setbacks and things of that nature we've uh brought height in areas uh more congruent uh with the compatibility of our city um but right now uh when the governor signs this bill and F is added back in uh they will be able to file applications so uh perhaps one available measure is we look to mitigate that um perhaps best discuss the specifics in land use and I'll make a motion to refer it there but I I think we have to get some sort of streamline process on the table commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yeah I just wanted to say I have some good ideas too uh you know listen I think if somebody wants to build something that's out of character with our city or out of scale with our city there's so many different ways that we can fight back we could spend the next 20 years ping ponging the legislature changing it every single time and that's what we're going to do until they finally you know so I I have a separate item that I think I I referred to the finance committee about our fees depending on what you know people are you know um supporting or not so anyway well for fortunately on this even with the live local act which presumably the governor assuming he the governor signs it there are height restrictions based on the zoning there are setback restrictions so hopefully even though the far increase has been uh significantly increased um hopefully it will not have as big an impact but but it's it's somewhat unknown at this point okay just say one thing rep Mr Mayor and where I was going with this is uh let's say on Alton Road the height for live local could be up to 150 feet and if we thought that that was out of scale or character with the neighborhood uh we could uh go out and say to a private applicant you know what if you would reduce um your parking or reduce your Workforce housing component and bring it in at 125 ft that is something that almost have our own version to counter the live local that makes it a little more adaptable to our city amazing so uh all in favor of the referral I I I thought I heard commissioner Fernandez make the second to me yeah commissioner Fernandez seconded the motion thank you to all my colleagues this was actually a very good agenda great items everyone quality of life I mean really covered a lot of good issues so really thank you to each and every one of you and I do want to get a shout out to our city Administration so far we've had an amazing Spring Break um we have a big test this weekend I know we're ready so and um hopeful that we'll continue so really to our city manager to our police chief and our Police Department really every Department Code Compliance Park sanitation I'm probably leaving off some it's been really all hands on deck our marketing department for the great marketing video that has gone absolutely viral it's been really a team effort from the entire city commission and a city Administration and I could not be more pleased so thank you everyone and and just may I may you know hats off to Monica thank you so much for parking thank you parking really I mean trying to trying to you know put two gallons in a one gallon jug and she's making it happen so good job Monica thank you good job Monica you meant that Monica but I was actually referring to parking as well for the job they've done for uh so shout Monica will take credit but yeah good job to the entire city staff meeting is adjourned e oh