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heard uh you can either come to the podium and speak you can call in Via Zoom uh we also have opportunities to speak on every single one of the items not only uh during during the moment for public comment which is in section c so there's multiple opportun ities to to have your voice heard and if you'd like I think all of us have office hours mine are from Fridays starting at 2:00 and usually Ending by 5:00 5:30 6:00 so you're more than welcome to stop by and meet with your elected officials to get the day off started in a great way I'd like to invite our friend Pastor Jeff Sullivan to join us from the Granada Church Pastor it's always great to have you thank you um you know please lead us today in a benediction thank you thank you very much always a pleasure to be able to come and pray together um our prayer will be guided from Psalm 25 God says God leads the humble in what is right he teaches the humble his way all the paths of the Lord our steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his Covenant and his testimonies let us pray God we come to you with gratitude first of all because you have really given us such a beautiful place here in the City of Coral Gables it's a an honor to be here it's a privilege it's a joy and Lord you have blessed us with great um prosperity and Beauty all surrounding us Lord you've given wonderful people in our community uh so much human good and potential is here in our city and we're so thankful to you for that so God we ask that you would uh guide into our hearts a a spirit of compassion to care for one another help us to be good neighbors to love one another uh Lord grant us this humility that you spoke of in Psalm 25 as it is our Pathway to wisdom and to goodness and Lord into the way that you would guide us in our decisions today in Jesus name we pray amen amen pastors always thank you we s our best wishes to your congregation and we look forward to having you again appreciate that thank you thank you sir and by the way thank you for for hosting the governor uh last week it was it was amazing event great turnout and you made the city look great so thank you for that take care to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance vice mayor Anderson hand over your heart my pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all first item on the day presentations and protocol documents item A1 presentation of a proclamation declaring may 20124 as National Historic preservation month in Coral Gables good morning and we do have some members here from the and support of historic preservation I'll read the proclamation in and you can then come up and say some inspirational words to us about historic preservation and how it uh bestows so much value to our community and uh you're very timely on walking in Mrs caranel for this Proclamation so I'm glad you're here uh during this Proclamation we're as the National Trust for historic preservation has declared the month of May as National Historic preservation month and whereas the theme for 2024 is people saving places to shine the spotlight on everyone doing the work of saving places in big ways and in small by celebrating people saving places it will inspire others to join the National effort to preserve America's historic places for generations to come and whereas the City of Coral Gables has established a historic preservation program to protect and enhance the considerable historical and cultural legacies of the city now therefore I V slago as mayor of the Coral Gables along with the members of our city commission do hereby Proclaim May 2024 as National Historic preservation month in Coral Gables so um before we take some photos I know there's some folks here that would like to speak on this topic and about the value of historic preservation in our community so um clerk has uh Mr Yia do we have any speaker cards on the issue or does anybody we' like to join us you can fill your speaker card out after if you'd like you can speak first and then fill in the paperwork later well why don't I don't know would you like to speak first well I um I'm here representing the historic preservation Association of Coral Gables and this is um seems like it was just last you know uh just a few days ago that I was here and we had this presentation last year and of course of course um being a city that has historic in its DNA um it's very fitting that we we do remember each year and celebrate National preservation month so um it's a year-long effort year in year out but um it's good to to to really appreciate it at least this one month um that it's it's an important cause and I'll be here again I I think it's the next item which um I'll go a little deeper into um a celebration that's happening this month so with that thank you very much thank you our friends from the villagers good morning good morning mayor Commissioners thank you very much my name is Kelly Shield I'm here today with the Villagers the villagers has been dedicated to the preservation of Miami day's historic sites since 1966 when our members were in instumental in Saving the Douglas entrance which was to be demolished for a shopping center our group has awarded over $1.5 million in Grants to further our cause we believe that the conservation of landmarks in historic neighborhoods is essential both economically and culturally in fact the villagers founded Dade Heritage Trust in 1972 an example of historic preservation economic impact is tourism the number two reason people travel is to experience history and despite what you may have heard Coral Gables has a long rich and diverse story to tell visitors love your residential neighborhoods with wide Tree Line streets and historic homes as well as the builtmore Venetian pool and Mer house this year the villagers awarded over $100,000 in Grants to many worthwhile projects incl including a few in The Gables such as Maran house Plymouth Congregational Coral Gables Women's Club Coral Gables Prep Academy and the sanctuary for the Arts we know how busy you are and we would like to offer our services and resources to help you understand issues related to Historic preservation if there are any eligible historic sites that you would think would benefit from receiving Grant funds please reach out to us so we can assist them thank you okay so before we take a picture uh city manager and and um Mr had asked that by Next by next meeting we have an update on the historic preservation study for the north Pon area have have a has a contractor been retained have we have we set aside the money for for that item because it was about a year ago that this commission voted for that resolution that I brought uh to move forward and I'd like to see it reach fruition sooner rather than later I mean I you know this is not a huge area to study but historic preservation is critically important to our our city and rather than doing this you know one building at a time we need to have a a cohesive study done our staff doesn't have enough time to do this that's why we asked for it to be outsourced okay so let's with so who who of you are going to come up and uh have some photos taken for this all of them all of them come on we should probably go down there she can't come up yeah go not [Music] how are you what you doing back here here tce I haven't seen you in a while we don't we don't charge parking commission you don't you get a ticket bring it to my office I'll take care of serious seriously I'll commission me today [Music] okay yes first all right item 82 recognition of 2024 D Mo US national Symposium taking place at the University of Miami I'd like to invite kelia to please join us and I'm going to read the certificate of recognition into the record whereas from May May 29th to June 1st 2024 everyone can experience one of the country's richest collections of mid-century and postmodern architecture entitled streams of modernity post-war and postwar and postmodern 2024 National Symposium is a collaboration of D us and the damoo US Florida Chapter and whereas a symposium seeks to promote a broader understanding of the accomplishments of post-war and postmodern architecture and culture in a regionally specific context such as South Florida the Caribbean and Latin America and whereas the D US national Symposium is the primary event in the United States for professionals to discuss and share efforts to preserve modern architecture and meet leading practitioners and Industry professionals and whereas the Symposium was developed as a result of the Damo us Board of director's annual face to-face meeting D us hosted its first national Symposium in Sarasota Florida in April 2013 held annually participants in the city in the cities across the United States offering participants the ability to interact with and explore a wide variety of significant modern architecture and sites and whereas the 2024 National Symposium is a joint Partnership of D us and Florida Chapter along with the University of Miami School of Architecture Florida International University Friends of the Miami Mar Marine Stadium date Heritage Trust and the historic preservation Association of Coral Gables therefore I Vince slago as the mayor of City of Coral Gables along with the members of the city City of Coral Gables commission do hereby extend our warmest measure of gratitude to the Symposium and Damo for showcasing from Coral Gables to concrete the moderns of Coral Gables 1960 through 1980 kelia thank you thank you thank you so much um well first um as I mentioned uh it's national uh preservation month and this is so fitting that this year our uh doam Momo which is an international uh organization that um their advocacy is for modern architecture and has chosen Coral Gables to um to hold its annual Symposium so it really is an honor and I'd like to introduce Charlotte Van Moose and she is part of the Doom Momo us Florida Chapter and also a professor at the University of Miami yes I just wanted uh um I'm co-president of do Florida and on behalf of doomo Florida but also us I really extend our Gra it means a lot to have the support of cor G and also thank you for all your hard work for for Thea I certainly I think it is an honor for us and the the point is that Coral Gables is not just Mediterranean obviously we're many styles and we're we're very we're very diverse in our architecture and and modernism is really now coming to its you know just deserves so um I I just want to thank you and I hope to see you at some point at the Symposium uh even if it's just a hello so uh we welcome all of you the registration is still open until tonight so and there's some local discounts so if you're interested please look it up online s your information thank you you'll have compliments of us thank you thank you uh thank you first off gelia and and our friends from the University of Miami for being here uh you're always an advocate along with the villagers uh you know what you do for the city is to be commended and you're always front and center when it when we talk about any type of historic preservation uh so I wanted to appreciate you know being that force that all of you are all the villagers who are here the ones that are not here with us the the Coral Gables historic preservation Society I think it's incredibly important to make sure that that we acknowledge the efforts that that your your organization does along with the Villagers here in this community so I appreciate you bringing this to our attention thank you so much absolutely an honor to be here with you on behalf of the commission so thank you for that all right let's take a photo with the certificate we made there you go thank you item A3 presentation or Proclamation declaring May 2024 as National water safety month in Coral Gables thank you Mr Mayor it's a time of year that people start going out to the water and it's important to talk about water safety um recent events have shown us that it's not just about being in the water in the pool but also out in the ocean making sure that you're careful uh and uh always alert for watercraft and for people in the water um so whereas a City of Coral Gables recognizes the vital role that swimming and Aquatic activities play in maintaining good physical and mental health and enhancing the quality of life for all people and whereas the residents of Coral Gables understand the essential role that education regarding the topic of water safety plays in preventing drowning and recreational water related injuries and whereas a City of Coral Gables is aware of the contributions made by the recreational water industry as represented by the pool and hot tub Alliance National drowning prevention Alliance the national Recreation and park Association the world water park Association the American Red Cross and Jeff Ellison Associates in developing safe swimming facilities aquatic programs home Pools and Spa and related activities providing healthy places to recreate which contributes to the quality of life in our community and where as the residents of Coral Gables recognize the ongoing efforts of the Venetian pool lifeguards and the Venetian aquatic club volunteers who have dedicated 65 years to the prevention and elimination of drowning and other catastrophic aquatic events and to further educate the public on pool and spa safety issues and whereas the residents of Coral Gables understand the vital importance of communicating water safety rules and programs to families and individuals of all ages whether owners of private pools users of public swimming facilities or visitors to the city's very own Venetian pool whereas the Venetian pool and its lifeguard staff were awarded the prestigious gold International aquatic safety Award presented to only the top 20% in the world by Jeff Ellison Associates for consistently exceeding their criteria in aquatic safety and offering the highest degree of swimmer protection and whereas the Venetian pool lifeguard staff performed a total of 53 Active water rescues last year Each of which resulted in the prevention of a possible drowning now therefore we the city commission do hereby proclaim the month of May 2024 as National water safety month in Coral Gables Kina good morning how are you good morning mayor good morning vice mayor and Commissioners and city manager my name is kolina Vester I'm the deputy director for community recreation and with me here today I have my top leadership Jose Val at the Venetian pool good morning and it's also his birthday so I'm going to give a little plug happy birthday happy birthday thank you but I want to share with you guys this is a very very important initiative that we do year round and it's not something that's really credited to one individual it really is a team and we have two amazing teams here with with us today we have the Venetian aquatic club who has made it their lifelong mission to prevent drownings through swim lessons and they have been here 65 years they're celebrating their 65th anniversary this year with us they're a team of about 120 strong volunteers and they make it the priority to teach swim lessons all summer long and then our second team is represented by our lifeguards it's our youngest Workforce in the city of cor Gables and probably with the most responsibility in our city because they really are here not just to react to drowning but to prevent a drowning and uh I'll share a little quote and story with you guys not too long ago I was asked why do we need lifeguards we have one of the most prestigious and amazing fire rescue teams in our city with one of the most prestigious response times and I had to remind the individual I said the reason we need our lifeguards is because we don't have time for the response times it's 3 minutes before the heart stops beating it's five before IR reversable brain damage and we had 53 drown U sorry rescues this year two of which which required that our staff perform Medical Services to those individuals before fire rescue got there and we were able to initiate the transfer that's how important our job is and we couldn't do that of course without the amazing leadership of Jose and his team Anna and Darren Darren who's with us today too but if I may I want to invite the entire two teams with us up here for a photo course all right [Music] mhm you you [Music] [Music] there you go yeah [Music] it's great congratul happy birthday I appreciate it we I A4 presentation or Proclamation declaring May 19th through the 25th 20124 as Emergency Medical Services weekend Coral Gables yes good morning um whereas emergency medical professionals provide medical care to victims of sudden life-threatening injuries and illnesses often under stressful conditions and in highrisk situations to save lives and whereas Florida's residents and visitors benefit daily from the knowledge skill and Judgment of paramedics emergency medical technicians firefighters Educators administrators emergency physicians emergency nurses and others who Encompass the emergency medical Services System and whereas emergency medical personnel must rapidly assess manage and effectively provide care in unpredictable situations requiring life and death judgments and whereas Florida's Med Emergency Medical Services EMS teams unselfishly serve on the front line of Health Care when responding to man-made and natural disasters at the local state and National levels and whereas it is critical that the General Public be made of aware of understand support and effectively use its local emergency medical services systems and whereas recognition is due for the Emergency Medical Services System for its countless accomplishments and contributions towards the Improvement of Public Welfare through Health Care Medical Transportation injury pre prevention education Disaster Response Homeland Security and other initiatives reducing health care costs and saving lives now therefore I Vince slago as mayor of the City of Coral Gables and on behalf of the city commission to hereby proclaim the week of May 19th through the 25th 2024 as Emergency Medical Services week in Coral Gables thank you good morning Chief good morning mayor ladies and gentlemen of the commission uh I'd like to start by introducing our medical director for the last 17 years that join us today Dr Fred kff uh he is the Cornerstone of EMS uh from its exception we've always worked under the guidance and authority of a phys physician he is an emergency uh certified physician and he is a great guidance to our organization to Our Success even during covid some of you may remember that he took on being our medical Authority so I welcome him uh EMS week was proclaimed by President Ford at the time it's pretty interesting that in our lifetime we think it's always been around but uh provided it's really only a 50-year industry it started as a a study as an experiment to really mitigate deaths from motor vehicle accidents that at the time it had been noted that the same amount of Americans that died on the War uh theater in Vietnam had died in the roads of the United States and that was basically the Inception of EMS uh in the last 50 years we've gone from a industry That was supposed to help people that were injured as a result of traffic accidents to really being the primary health provider in the community uh we've seen facilitate Advan advancements like uh stemi alerts for those that are having active cardiac um heart attacks uh Strokes just 10 years ago if you had a stroke you were disabled for the rest of your life um through our assessments and treatment in the field right now most of our stroke victims are in in an Interventional facility in less than 30 minutes uh that's a significant impact to quality of life for those victims whether it's heart attack or strokes but a significant impact to our nation for health care provided that those individuals just a few short time ago would have probably been disabled and incapacitated to have the quality of life that they had before so in the last 50 years there's been a a Monumental Quantum Leap into what the original thought process for Emergency Medical Services was to where where we are today and it's a system that is uh benchmarked throughout the world so thank you for recognizing us today well deserved thank you Chief no anyone else all right let's take a quick photo thank you two have A5 so item A5 during EMS week every year we recognize one of our rescue crews that uh performed above and beyond uh the Call of Duty and had a significant impact on the community or a certain patient uh to introduce this year's crew I'd ask Chief Jones to come up who is our chief in charge of EMS good morning everybody it is certainly a privilege and an honor to be able to give the inaugural Dr Jim Hershman award today this award is designed to be given to individuals that has excelled in their medical performance as the chief has stated uh Jim hman was a longtime Medical Professional doctor that served as our medical director for over 20 something years and completely Innovative across the country for what we know today as EMS prior to giving this award I'd like to ask our current medical director Dr fedick uh kir off to give a few words about who Dr hman was thank you very much good morning do good morning Mr Mayor good morning Commissioners uh I have the pleasure of talking about Jim hman I'm your only second medical director Jim hman was your first medical director Jim was a card ologist by training he was an innovator for EMS at the time in the early 70s Advanced cardiac life support was only performed by physicians the paramedics did not do Advanced cardiac life support and they knew nothing about doing EKGs or Rhythm strips Etc Jim brought all that out of the hospital and gave it to the paramedics so when paramedics arrived on the scene they could do all those things that we take for granted at this point in time he was an innovator he was consistent he was passionate about EMS and we think it's worthwhile to have his name as the name of this award so thank you very much for allowing this opportunity to honor this group of paramedics today thank you thank you doctor and this award today specifically is being given to indiv uals that responded uh to a cardiac arrest call that occurred at Coral Gable's Hospital uh they it was a city of Miami employee who was taking a Physical Agility Test uh long story short he ended up in the Coral gaes Hospital they called us to transfer him to another facility uh while there this patient went into cardiac arrest our crews arrived assisted with the uh cardiac arrest and was able to bring this person back to life if you guys would recall a few months ago that individual came to visit us here in the commission Chambers so today we'd like to uh acknowledge these individuals as the 2024 recipients of the Jim hman award Lieutenant Musa Lieutenant Malo and firefighter Martinez firefighter Martinez unable to be with us today he was just recently uh married so we want to honor and congratulate these individuals today for their hard work and what they do for the City of Coral [Applause] Gables please join us for a few words absolutely well deserved good morning I just wanted to say thank you uh truly appreciative of uh Chief delosa he's always encouraged us uh to go above and beyond uh this is one of those calls where it's not cookie cutter it's something that I've never seen in my career walking into a hospital working hand inand with uh doctors and nurses so uh I'm just very appreciative that I have a chance to make a difference in this community and in that person's life and you know every day touching touching people's lives that's it conratulations anyone else can I one more one more I I want to paint a picture I'll take a moment of your time uh paramedic jumped on the stretcher of the patient who was uh in Cardiac Arrest straddled the patient and performed CPR paramedics took over the CPR and resuscitated the patients and the patient is not only alive but fully functional at this point in time so it's a scene out of a TV show you know cardiac arrests are stressful jumped into it jumped on to the patient and saved that patient's life so this is a remarkable thing that they did so hats off to you thank you [Music] the thank you the paramedics that's true rip two and thank you for item 86 I'll ask our stud attorney to take over thank you mayor and Commissioners thank you for allowing me a moment to thank and bid farewell to assistant City attorney Naomi Levy Garcia as today is her last City commission meeting as an assistant City attorney as you know Naomi has dutifully served the city of cor Gables for over 12 years from serving as an intern in then mayor kase's office to working under the manager's office and leading the city's legislative agendas and managing intergovernmental Affairs to finally joining the city attorney's office full time Naomi's contributions to the city have been meaningful and will have a lasting impact during her tenure leading the city's legislative affairs she has accompanied elected officials on numerous trips to Tallahassee and Washington DC and her he efforts have helped the city receive over $12 million in Appropriations and Grant Awards as a s City attorney she has drafted significant legislation served as Council to City boards and has been the legal Point person on various City initiatives Naomi achieved board certification from the Florida bar and City County and local government law and has been recognized by the Florida League of cities and the Miami day County League of cities as a home rule hero but Above All Else Naomi is a consumate professional who has tirelessly pursued the best interests of the city Omi on behalf of the city attorney's office thank you for your service and we wish you the best of luck in your next chapter but please know that you will be missed so we have a small token [Applause] heom if you could please join us I've ever seen on a single plan we' be honored to hear a few words 12 years thank you for your service oh my goodness it's been a long time may I think we started together almost so thank you so much Christina for the recognition I could not have asked for a better place to grow my career these last 12 years Coral Gables has truly been a second home I went from a law student to a board certified attorney from Young Wild and to a married mother of three I recognize how fortunate I've been to work for the city my jobs have been complex and demanding but I was never boxed in I was able to evolve within the organization and I was able to work directly with every single City department and with every single elected official since the time I've been here it's a rare privilege to leave a place feeling like you've made a difference but that's exactly how I feel together we've accomplished so much good work together we've negotiated new and Cutting Edge infrastructure we funded and secured Parks Salvador blue Road Toledo and aava Solano pra we've supported the business Community with the small business grants and enhanced downtown maintenance we survived zika streetcape hurricanes and a pandemic we brought back native orchids we advocated for historic structures like the Amic house and The Venetian even the gondola building we changed the educational landscape with the elimination of controlled choice and we championed better access for our most vulnerable students we fought hard for home rule something I'm most proud of on a myriad of topics from tree preservation to Workforce housing we've worked on countless ordinances resolutions contracts code interpretations administrative orders and yes so so many public records requests and hand inand with our elected officials over the years we brought back more than $12 million for Community projects something I think Bears repeating it's been a great ride I'm so thankful I'm trying not to be emotional I'm especially grateful for my colleagues and for my mentors past and present I've interacted with every single City in Miami D County and with every level of government and I can tell you that our team is phenomenal they're they're second to none and so even though this change is Bittersweet I'm super excited and I feel well prepared and I feel inspired and so I just want to thank you all for everything and my office will be in The Gables so it's not goodbye i' see you soon uh Naomi just a few brief words uh it's been an honor to work with you you uh you have worked hand inand with my office with the city attorney the city manager the city clerk's office uh we've worked diligently like you said in regards to a whole host of projects across the Spectrum everything from historic preservation to parks to Public Safety um but one of the things that I think was most important was the way that we collaborated work together in regards to addressing state representatives Senators the governor's office you know things that for a long time were not a priority it became a priority and I want to thank you along with members of my office for you know really delivering on pretty significant numbers over the last three years uh those numbers have made a real impact in regards to funding here in the city and I want people to remember that because as we budget every single year for example this year the city of corg only has $20 million for capital projects but when you're able to bring 34 million doar you know those are massive numbers that can really make a big impact case and point to Gonda Building building uh case in point you know windows for City Hall a lot of different things that we did uh that that you have accomplished um here in the city so I just want to congratulate you um I failed in my efforts to to keep you you know when you told me that you were leaving um but at the end of the day you have grown as a professional and you're ready to serve you're ready to serve in the private sector which I think is going to be very well received as an attorney and hopefully one day you'll transition into elected office because I think we need more people like you in elected office we need more people who are willing to serve uh and who are willing to give and you have the experience necessary uh to not only lead in the private sector but also to potentially hopefully one day uh serve in some capacity in the public sector as an elected official so I want to say thank you for allowing me the honor to work hand inand with you uh you've been you provided an immense amount of guidance uh you've always been patient uh you've always been thoughtful U not only with me but with my colleagues in the commission but more importantly with the residents um I don't know how many times we've done site visits and the manager would say listen I can't make this meeting go on my behalf uh to address this issue with some residents and they were extremely contentious issues and they're incredibly important issue because every issue is important to that Resident even though it may be an afterthought to some to that Resident it's important and what we're there to do is to make sure that we can be honest and we can you know reins still that trust that people want to have in public governance so I want to thank you for for always being present always being you know smooth sailing and never losing your cool especially under a lot of pressure congratulations on your next steps it's been an honor to have you and work with you hand in hand in the City of Coral Gables thank you thank you mayor mayor I just want to add you know my first couple years in office here you were amazingly prepared we went to Tallahassee you knew every single representative that we were going to go see and you could tell us you know what were what were the issues that were passionate to them and and how we could best deliver our message to bring back more for our city so I very much appreciated you know your guidance in Tallahassee although I had been to DC before for some of my clients I had never had the experience in Tallahassee so um you were amazing and you're going to be very much missed so thank you thank you vice mayor I want to if I may um to Echo the sentiment of the vice mayor when I started um you know you tend to gravitate towards someone that's approachable someone with wisdom and someone that really gets things done and for me that was you and I spent a lot of time in your office going through a lot of goals and issues that the city needed and wanted to resolve and not only were you always approachable but you always had this calm demeanor about you with a great deal of knowledge and your ability to multitask because not only do you deal with the local the city officials elected officials the administration the residents but the state county um League of cities you name it you were you're always doing it that's why I think you earned that name I gave you wonder woman because you really were Wonder Woman and you continue to be and I just want to thank you for making at least my first few years here at the city a joy and on behalf of the residents we are a better City because we've had you all these years thank you so sweet thank you I remember the first time we met Pat Salerno was still uh the city manager oh am um it was you had just started uh here at the city um and I got to work closely with you in the school Community Relations Committee as you were our staff liaison even after you left for a short period of time you wanted to come back and you came back with Salan and you guys tag teamed but a lot of things we got done school choice issue uh the literacy Festival a lot of that had your imprint in it because you worked with us to make sure we got it done so thank you thank you commissioner thank you very much looking forward to hearing from you hopefully uh you come back to the city and uh not only do get engaged but there's a lot of opportunities here to serve in the city in one form or another thank you let's take a photo yes of course please come I wanted to say that Naomi you were one of the first that I met with when we started um basically uncovering what the white way lights were all about and there it was so convoluted and the whole FPL agreement and you and I we sat and we went through all the different agreements and you dug up all these you know Wonderful reports so minutes from way back so I really want to thank you because you really made that whole effort really what it is today which is now we're they're all getting restored but without you and all that all that research um I don't think we'd be here so I really really thank you and and you're you have a really special place in my heart thank you good luck thank you one we have a an individual on Zoom so Mr Mayor Sam Joseph has requested to say a few words as well Sam good morning uh Mr Joseph if you could please unmute now you're still muted sir yep can you hear me now yes sir good morning uh Mr Mayor commission um and Mr manager and attorney I I'm sorry I couldn't be there but I did have to speak um on behalf of this item um ditto to everything everyone said I had the honor of meeting uh Naomi in 2015 right after the controll choice issue and the restructuring of the SCC um and the person that I met the thoughtful creative um absolutely brilliant um and dedicated public servant has only grown uh more and more over the years uh we could not as uh commissioner Fernandez says we could not have done a lot of the things that we did on the SCC without Naomi's guidance and we will miss you desperately in the city but we know we're going to be hearing of great things that you're doing out there and I do look forward to seeing you around the city beautiful um and the mayor is right one day um you're going to be sitting on some day making uh more lives uh wonderful thank you thank you for helping me and and for helping the city beautiful and I look forward to catching you and those beautiful children around town soon thank you Sam thank you very much let's take a [Music] photo for [Music] item 87 recognition of parking director Kevin Kenny on his retirement from the City of Coral Gables so today is not a two for one special it's not a BOGO by one get one free but today we're losing two incredible individuals here in the city of cor gaes um I'd like to first if I can Kevin will you please join us I want to read this Proclamation into the record so whereas Kevin J Kenny graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law and practiced law in Alaska specializing in contract and construction law for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC and other government entities and whereas prior to joining Coral Gables Mr Kenny served 13 years with the Anchorage Community Development Authority as the executive director while at the acda Kenny managed the public parking system for the city and over and oversaw the development of multiple residential and Commercial projects including a new $120 million convention center and whereas in February 2007 the city of corate was appointed Mr Kenny as director of The Parking Department in this role he manages approximately 8 ,000 public parking spaces a fixed Route Trolley service and freebie and the Coral Gables transit system transports 1.25 million passengers annually in addition he manages the block-by-block customer and custodial service program that operates in the business improvement district of Coral Gables and whereas during his Public Service career Mr Kenny has been an advocate of public and private collaboration in the use of public facilities and partnering with businesses to support quality growth and now therefore I V L as the mayor of the city of cor Gables along with the members of the city commission to hereby extend our to Kevin J Kenny our warmest measure of gratitude while wishing him many continued years of blissful life on a well-earned retirement um thank you Mr Mayor uh I do appreciate the recognition uh although I have to admit that uh this uh concept of retirement or obsession with retirement kind of confuses me U but it does help me understand the words of uh a great American by the name of Fred Rogers he uh Mr Rogers once said that uh I've discovered that the end of something is the beginning of something else and uh so you know life is life and so I I don't know that I'm ever going to want to stop living um and I I can promise you that the passion I've had for my responsibilities at the city for the last 18 years um you know on June 3rd when I wake up that passion will be there it may be for something else like my one and two and three-year-old granddaughters but that passion will be there and I will be passionate about what I'm doing uh what I can tell you is uh something similar to what Naomi said um the hardest thing is leaving the team uh that this city has I mean there's people back there that I've been in the trenches with for 18 years years there's people back there I've been in the trenches with for 10 years for 2 years there's a few that it's just been a few months or even weeks but it's easy for me to be passionate about what I'm doing because I'm working with people that are passionate about what they are doing and um uh that is really the only difficult part of this uh because change is good I mean change is normal um and uh you know the only thing for me is I keep telling my wife I'm not retiring because I'm not ready to stop I'm going to be doing something and uh I can promise you uh there's three little girls named Harper Hazel and McKenna that are they may eventually get tired of seeing their papa but but they're going to see him a lot yeah Soh so Mr Kenny if I may I just want to say thank you for your years of service uh to the city uh you and I have had the pleasure of working together for 11 years um I think we've done a lot of good in the city I think you've done a lot of incredible things and um you know one of the things that we always get complimented for while we had a seat on the TP was when I would speak to to other municipalities was our trolley service uh how impeccable it was clean how it ran on time uh that we were the model that we are the model I want to tell you that one of my biggest legacies you played a major role in you actually made it happen extending trolleys to Saturdays pushing new routes to University of Miami to the public across us one and one of the most important route one of the most important things that I think that I want people to always remember about you so one of the things that that that we faced together was extending the trolley across us one to our friends in the lolab be Walker neighborhood mhm and that was something that we worked on and we faced some opposition but we got it done you got it done and it's something that has paid significant dividends to a community that was underserved for a long time um I also want to congratulate you on for years we worked on you modernizing the way we people Park in our city from not only the parking garages but also to going you know paperless to for using being having the ability for people to use credit cards and transitioning from coins uh to a more modern system and it's an ongoing process as we budget for it every single year but you've had a long uh longterm uh you know Mark here in the city and I want to thank you because one of the interesting things not only do you work for the city but you also live in the city so when for example a commissioner or myself would send you an email about one one issue or another in the downtown that dealt with parking or dealt with a trolley um you were Hands-On you were always saying let's meet in person let's have a conversation I would I would see you walking up to downtown on the way to on the way to to meetings and that to me is what you know governance is all about um all our employees you know take all hand on Deck approach but I enjoyed seeing you walk through the downtown as I drove from one meeting to another or from lunch or from breakfast and I would see you engaging with businesses I would see you engaging with residents you know you were riding the trolley you wanted to see how things were going you were looking at pay stations I would watch you look at pay stations as you walk from one pay station to another and that's something that I always admired cuz you took your job seriously and you held yourself to the highest standards so I want to you know wish you the best of luck in your retirement you and I were talking outside about you know what what is ahead of what is ahead for you you talked about your beautiful grandchilden you talk about traveling you talk about um what lies ahead and you were excited about that uh so I just wanted to say thank you again for your years of service to the city beautiful we're a better place because you chose uh to join us so thank you for I will tell you that the walks around downtown probably will continue just because my dog thinks she owns the city um uh and she uh she believes she needs to go out and check things out um but I will say that uh you know the parking and Mobility system in the city of beautiful are the Envy of many uh we punch way out of our weight class when you talk about how we move people and how we how we encourage the Commerce in the central business this district and it is in good hands um Matt over the last year and a half has become an exceptional Mobility Services manager uh and uh bringing Monica in from the beach was uh a great move for the city and I I think there's only good things that are going to happen thank you let's take a picture uh Mr Mayor before you move forward we have members of the public ask to speak on this first uh Jackson rip Holmes good morning sir uh thank you all for giving me a chance to um try to pay tribute to Kevin Kenny um mayor I think you and I agree on this uh he is trying to bring us the safest parking garage in the entire country the Mobility Hub and um I uh could start crying if I start really thinking about how hard it's been to uh convince others to give us the safest parking garage in the country when our city depends on attracting female Shoppers to Miracle Mile uh who are going to fund our City's tax base 15% of it um but um I didn't realize I I had done the research that this the uh Mobility Hub if it's approved with the modern design the safe design the seethrough transparent design will be this I knew it would be the safest in Florida uh because it buts my property I have a reason to intensely research it but it was uh Mr Kenny who who clued me in know it's going to be the safest in the country thank you thank you sir U Mr Mayor I have on Zoom uh Mr Sam Joseph would also like to say a few words Mr Joseph good morning welcome back thank you very much mayor I appreciate the Indulgence um I I again uh the city is going to be at a loss we have a uh Mr Kenny is one of the most genuine human beings I've ever had the pleasure of being around um he was was it's not very often sitting on the school Community Relations Committee that you need to um meet with the parking director but we were having some issues at uh Coral Gables prep with parent drop offs and getting parking tickets from a lot that was owned by a nearby business and Mr Kenny came personally um to meet with us and talk through the issue and figure out how to persuade uh some very angry angry parents and residents and really made the situation uh just perfect for everyone concerned uh and anytime I've ever had the opportunity to talk to them or meet with them um it's just been an absolute pleasure I hope you enjoy Alaska uh and I look forward to seeing you walking around town also thank you Mr clerk that's it sir that's it Mr so we all we also have a small token of appreciation that hopefully you'll U place on your mantle whether it be here in Coral Gables or in Alaska over the fireplace so let's take a photo go over [Music] here one one two we [Music] [Music] Mr cler we'll move on to public comment uh yes Mr Mayor first Speaker today is Richard L Mr L good morning good morning Mr Mayor and good morning Commissioners thank you for allowing me to speak on a very important subject as this commission and the resident viewing online and in here personally at the last commission meeting item number F16 was discussed and this was a resolution to authorize the city manager to approve and issue a reimbursement to the actress Playhouse Productions during that meeting which was an ordinance or I should say a resolution that was sponsored by commissioner Menendez he referred to an urgent need as well as referring to uh the need described by him as to allow basically and mostly children with disabilities to be able to get to the second floor of the miracle theater and for context the city owns the miracle theater the tenant of the miracle theater is the actress Playhouse Productions Mr Menendez commissioner Menendez says he thinks there's a path forward to take care of this much needed assistance the actress's Playhouse is a party to a lease with the city and the lease provides that any Ada related issues including compliance are the responsibility of the tenant that said at the meeting the last meeting the only state of concern regarding this need to be able to access the second floor is that the current wheelchair lift didn't accommodate a larger wheelchair if it were powered that represented the extent of the facts that were provided to this commission to be able to vote as urged by commissioner Mendez to reimburse the tenant $41,000 to build a 24t ramp now mind you it was referred to as being a request for a reimbursement but the tenant never paid a penny so I don't know why it's being referred to as a reimbursement but that's how it was couched now this particular ramp happens to be one of the worst possible options for addressing what is an unknown issue because the tenant never uh appeared before this commission never stated why they have a need for a reimbursement or assistance of any kind but when questions were raised during that commission meeting none were answered yet at the urging of commissioner Menendez there was stated that there was a time issue as well as a need to address a concern that had never been actually voiced the city officials that were here at the last meeting stated that after inspecting the site the wheelchair lift if I can be indulged on a very important matter that after inspecting the site at the miracle Theater which involved Rising approximately the same space and height as these three steps that you see here before the commission Das the statement made at the last commission hearing was that the lift is obsolete it can't be fixed it cannot be modified and it cannot even be re uh replaced nothing can be further from the truth and let me state that the present wheelchair lift is functioning I actually attended the Friday night performance at the miracle theater of a rock sales by I also noticed that commissioner Fernandez commissioner Castro were also in attendance on stage receiving a few days after this hearing uh awards from the uh operator of the of the theater I observed patrons using the lift without issue as they have done for many years so with no specific or general explanation from the tenant as to why the city should fund any of this major project let alone Grant $41,000 of the taxpayers money without discussion or even an alternate bid all that was provided to this Commission was a single page saying $41,000 is due the ramp option discussed is not only the most expensive option it's also the most disruptive disruptive to the floor plan and potentially violates safety as well as standards for fire safety understand that if that ramp went in as proposed it would eliminate the existing wheelchair lift and remove half of the present stairs that are being used presently to enter and exit the theater even if we were aware of what the problem is which was never stated during this last M uh commission meeting $41,000 would still be horrifically overpriced for this ramp not even knowing whether it's viable or even needed a ramp The Logical and financially prudent option would be instead to replace or modify the existing LT whether the problem involves convenience ADA compliance who knows because we've never heard or seen from the tenant what the specific issue is nor was it raised by commissioner Menendez when he urged for a vote immediately at that hearing were the lift to be replaced or modified it would not only be the cheapest option it would also uh avoid disrupting the flow of traffic and it wouldn't disrupt the floor plan and it would also represent the safest way to deal with whatever this problem might be pricing for a brand new lift would be substantially less than the $41,000 that was voted on at this last hearing to be paid to the tenant for a ramp in closing the Commissioners who voted for this resolution in my opinion as a taxpayer again my name is Richard Lara and I live at 101 corway the Commissioners who voted for this have shown a lack of care in my view or concern for the use of taxpayer money once again they have not received or requested from the tenant a factual basis for the need of any payment of40 $11,000 and despite voting at the last Commission meeting that there would be two additional bids provided by today's hearing to my knowledge not a single alternate bid has been sought or received none has certainly been provided and indeed this issue is not on the agenda for today inexplicably payment of $41,000 assuming no other bid is provided to me under these circumstances will represent an abuse of the elected office and a misuse of the taxpayer's money I am available if anyone on the commission would like to ask me any questions today or after this hearing because I have visited the site and I know that there is a cheaper and safer and better way to go about this than simply having an urging of a unknown need and an unknown uh uh timing issue to justify the misspending of up to $41,000 I entertain any questions should anyone on the commission wish to ask me I do I have a question certainly commissioner since you were watching the same play that we were watching did you take the time to talk to Barbara about this I didn't have a chance to speak to barar about this but I did observe not only only patrons using it they were using it without any issue I watched people go in with the wheelchair took approximately 5 seconds for the wheelchair to go up 24 in and then go right to their seats did you have a chance to speak with Barbara yes I did and I recommend that you speak with her because some of the things that you're saying are inaccurate would you name any of them I would recommend you speak to her cuz I don't want to put on the record things that are not one 100% accurate but I do recommend you speak to her and I really really hope you didn't take this opportunity to really attack one of my colleagues I'm sorry I didn't hear you do what I really hope you didn't take this opportunity during public comment to attack one of my colleagues CU that really that's what it seems like well if you consider calling out what was a lack of factual predicate no basis for voting for $41,000 as an attack you're misusing the word attack I'm a taxpayer you you are an elected official charged with guarding and safeguarding taxpayer money I recommend you speak to Barbara and if you want next time come back and we can speak about this again today as in the last meeting I have heard no factual basis to support factual basis to support an award of $41,000 does anyone have a factual basis whether the tenant needs the money whether the tenant has the money whether the tenant has sought a grant or has sought a donation from anyone to put in a ramp do we know any factual basis other than the conclusion the conclusion that they want it so let's vote for it one 2 3 Barbara is the queen of donations before she would even come up to any of us she would look for other resources this was her last but if you could just take the moment to speak with her I think you would opinionate different well I I want everyone to know I'm a supporter of the miracle theater I am in full support of the rights of the disabled but I'm also a champion and a full supporter of ensuring that our elected officials do not misuse and misspend or taxpayer money nothing on the record last commission meeting and nothing today has changed the view that not a single fact has been put before this commission to justify that vote and if there is any that you are aware of commissioner that you're urging me to go speak to the miracle theater about why don't you just tell us what it is cuz I'm not going to put facts out there that are not 100% accurate well I agree that we need facts to be accurate I haven't heard a single fact though okay number one I wasn't the one who sponsored this item but I did take the opportunity to speak to Barbara and I do understand the necessity for it but um if you feel that $41,000 is too much you don't find me quotes that are a lot cheaper on that point commissioner M the specific vote that was taken as taken down by uh the City attorney was that by today's meeting there would be two alternate bids two alternate bids would be provided by today okay there has been no just a moment I speak without interruption there has been no bid provided today despite the vote requiring that there be two by today I do not understand why the tenant who is charged with coming up with a request supported by fax for a reimbursement has not appeared or provided the bids that you have voted needed to be provided today remember this is not a procurement that the city is undergoing for improving or purchasing a product a request was made for a reimbursement by the tenant who has the primary obligation to pay for it so to come before the commission and say I want $41,000 I will respectfully State they should appear and give cause some reason none has been given and you are now urging me to go find out on my own after two meetings without a bid I would submit that since the motion was carried and the vote was that by today two bids needed to be come needed to come in this issue needs to be Revisited and many more questions need to be asked and more importantly answered I have no further comments does any would have any questions thank you very much for coming thank you thank you sure thank you for being speaker is Maria Cruz [Music] [Music] here since I Haven introduced myself is Mrs Mar and I some people can remember I took the time to um have a Shir printed so from now on my name will continue to be Mrs Maria Cruz cuz my husband whose birthday was today will be very proud of the fact that I am still are Mrs Maria Cruz even though he's dead Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road uh Billy don't worry about the time because the previous speaker spoke way more than 3 minutes so please indulge me first of all this public comments have become campaigning moments campaigning moments I'm sorry we have have somebody who's a candidate who announc his candidacy here and today has started attacking the person he is running against wonderful I'm so glad that people can see that we're not interested in what's going on in the city we're interested in um let's see attacking lying um doing whatever it takes hopefully you will get the support of the establishment again so that people can show that that doesn't help once again Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road where I have lived since 1976 Maria Cruz the one that comes here to every commission meeting and when I've been unable to attend I have done him by Zoom I do not come here to announce my candidacy even though some people have asked me to do so because you know what I'm a resident I care about this city I'm not here to run for office to get the support from The Establishment I'm here to make this city back to what it was the best first of all I would like to thinkk and Mr may I would appreciate if you pay attention if you're not going to pay attention I'll stop have my full attention thank you and it's Mrs Cruz I'll have your full attention first of all I'd like to but you continue playing on your phone remember I was a teacher when teachers spoke people listened first of all I'd like to thank everyone residents employees uh interested parties who who take the time to watch the commission meeting and I've heard wonderful things from people that claim that they wish they could be here but due to the circumstances due to the bullying the threats Etc they don't think they should do so so I'm here to let you know that Maria Cruz is not moving away I guess um much to some people's disgust Maria Cruz bought that house to be able to be able to uh attend church even when I became disabled even when I have to use a wheelchair I will be there and I assure you that somebody will get me here too sooner or later we will be here and we'll make sure that we don't show up only when we want showcase what we want to be seen and known okay I think my name is very well known for good or bad for those that like me and those that do not but it's well known uh my mother used to say I couldn't come up with a good translation so I'm going to give you my translation and I saw m Kaplan around here he would tell you that I was his Spanish teacher so I will give you the best ination I can uh the best way I can describe it if the mayor pay attentions I'll continue is that paper will take anything you write on it doesn't make it right doesn't make it true doesn't make it pretty whatever you write on a piece of paper whatever you you print you color paper will take it and that's why I'm talking about this today our city continues to be in their smoke and mirrors face the residents the employees need to be careful when you read or listen to some of the elected officials continue to say everything is great in the city we have no financial problems I listen to the residents more development will bring more money more tax I want transparency and Clarity I'm here for you I'm here to serve you wonderful words wonderful words but don't forget because of me you were able to fix your NE your building because of me you're able to open today because those are said too take everything from the source and when in doubt take the time to watch the videos and you can watch the commission meetings you can watch the town hall meetings and let me tell you it's very interesting to watch here sit here and every other word is i i i instead of we we we okay we're not a uh interested in saying what we have done but what I have accomplished whether true or not when you watch those videos you it may be an eye opener for you and may I suggest that you also look into asking for financial statements um because it's important to follow the money we're not in favor outside out of town developers but we certainly accept money from any developer that gives us to us and uh it is a very sad moment when even when the honor is talk we have to stop and say how I did this and I did that taking away from the people that really did and I'm going to tell you something the literacy fair was wonderful but it was very very shameful to have people waiting for the arrival of the king and it was very shameful to hear that only one person had something to do with the leaders Fair because some of us that have followed the school committee know that there were other people involved that uh marit ter roas had some part that the school system had some part that Ariel Fernandez before he was the commissioner has some part but of course we couldn't order those words because you know that would give credit to somebody who is not I the only thing that we talk about in this city and it's time for you all to wake up and smell the coffee it is not an i moment it's a we moment like we used to do and and let me tell you I'm tired of people blaming the new Commissioners well first of all Mr Menendez is not a new commissioner they forgot that so we talk about new Commissioners on the radio newspapers all the time the new Commissioners I guess you left and came back but the fact is that the new Commissioners the Commissioners that have seen what's going on here instead of criticizing them watch their demeanor watch their behavior and you will see the difference okay I'm sitting here and I'm watching them taking pictures things are being said I see people watching and I see somebody on the phone okay you know that doesn't show respect to the people that are here talking and I'm sorry I have the need to say that because I'm tired of reading listening and being told how wonderful one person is and not researching and not going back to the sources that you can verify how great and shame on anybody who comes here just to do his political campaign for free because that's what it goes down to one page in G magazine but you know what every time we come here to campaign the whole city SE said and that's wonderful because they see the reality so have a wonderful day I hope you Contin continue doing what you need to do and very grateful that you all take the time to do what's best for the city and don't worry everybody can see that smoke and mirrors has never worked it will not work again have a wonderful day thank you Mr clerk minutes and 49 Second I still have time Mr clerk Christina Vidal Mr clerk yes sir just to make sure we correct the record it was 3 minutes plus a 652 correct yes sir so it was 10 minutes Mr clerk you are you keeping tabs on how much I am not sir okay but when let's want to make sure we start keeping tabs so every I want everybody to have their fair share to be able to speak Christin good morning thank you for being here with us mine will be shorter uh so good morning thank you all and each and every one of you for your service it's a lot of effort and a lot of work and we really appreci appreciate every one of you uh my name is Christine I'm here with my Mom Diana we live at 301 alesio Avenue and uh it's a pleasure to be here uh because there have been developments in the community with regard to sustainability and it is inspirational uh since last summer an initi itative has been incubating and this is an ideal moment to build on months of progress by proposing a Coral Gables tree and Mangrove working group this working group is to be a collective inclusive effort to Mrs Maria cr's point that welcomes stakeholders and subject matter experts in a collaborative service to the community and to government in early March of this year a project concept note was issued by our family reporting on months of due diligence and answering to the need for an updated tree inventory which should be the immediate focus of a tree and Mangrove working group this concept note has been circulating and if you have not received it it is simply because making appointments requires time but we'll get to you the need for a tree inventory is an opportunity for the working group to contribute significantly to our quality of life and our fiscal well-being it can ensure that deep consideration is given to the tools and methods for tree stewardship natural Capital accounting and Associated ecosystem service benefits if these latter terms are unfamiliar it will be the purpose of the tree and Mangrove working group to make them meaningful and familiar so thank you all and we look forward to elaborating further on this beautiful initiative uh this is a pending project in the city and it's a great moment to do it because technology really supports us this time around so thank you and I look forward to seeing you all again and if you have any questions sure I look forward to seeing you too I I didn't catch your last name now V v as and Victor i d as and David a l and we've met yeah no I know we I've seen you we did the mangrove planting during the pandemic which was fabulous right right right yeah that really fun let's catch up yeah super and I wanted to thank you and your mom I know you've been working on this project for some time we've met a couple of times to discuss this uh and I think this um this is something we may be able to put on the agenda uh maybe not next meeting but in the July meeting to have a little time for everybody to meet with them uh so that we can have discussion um this is something that we've talked about since the campaign the need to have a real tree inventory uh where we can start planning for for future um issues that may arise um temperature changes that that could affect some of our our tree canopy uh and I know you've been uh proactive in trying to find the best way to do it um I don't know if you had an opportunity to meet with the manager and our Landscape Management team but I think that should probably be the next step Mr clerk if we can put this on the agenda for the July meeting I'd appreciate it yes sir so um we probably also have ready at that time some background work I've been doing on our uh State Statute and some proposed uh amendments uh to address some gaps that we have uh in order to be able to protect our tree canopy uh as well I've been as I know you all know working with our wonderful landscape uh um division on diversifying what our canopy is so it is more resilient in the future but uh to be able to prevent uh trees from and properly being taken out uh based upon the current uh State Statute and the lack of any opportunity for our city to be able to rebut um reports that are lacking proper Foundation is a major Gap that's reducing our tree canopy so I do want to forge forward on yeah it's a vast topic and it's going to be a lot of fun I think everyone's going to enjoy it first I'll thank you for being here if I if you would indulge me would you mind meeting with Miss Bell before you leave I don't think you've had the pleasure of meeting with her but she could go over quickly and just give you a little bit of groundwork on two things that happened years ago uh that were done already it's a tree inventory for all the trees on the Swale yes and there's also a tree sucession plan which will give you an idea in regards to what is already budgeted every year which I think is $200,000 a year in the budget I don't have the budget in front of me but from what I remember it's a $200,000 reoccurring budget to as trees are involved in for example an accident a car accident or or dies or lightning strikes that there's monies in place already in the budget to replace those trees especially the canopy so if you would um if you would be so kind to meet with Miss Bell and you can have a quick conversation with her and you can work together collaboratively on that effort because I think you'll be very pleased to see that there's already a lot of information in regards to um 40 plus thousand trees on the sale0 42,000 and uh I did actually I've begun all my due diligence began last year so I my concept note that you will receive and I'll sit down and happily discuss it with you was born out of a collective meeting October 5th of 2023 that included Green Space Management sustainability it GIS and other Departments of our city it's a very thorough very deep and Broad piece of research that took me many months but I did not do it alone I stand Here speaking but it is a collective effort that involves stakeholders and subject matter experts at FIU at University of Miami at Miami Dade and at the national level I'm interfacing with Scientists at New York City at Cornell Tech they are the leading experts in the field the designers of the tree folio platform so I am deeply deeply knowledgeable and what I'm bringing here is months and months of work countless hours interfaces meetings and yes I know Dena uh don't know her as well as I'd like to but uh but we'll get there so it's going to be a lot of fun and I look forward to working with all and it fits in perfectly for the city as a tree City USA 34 years running that's right we have we have every reason to lead 39 39 we have every reason to lead the way not only for our County but frankly nationally so it's a great opportunity well thank you for being here I appreciate your hard work thank bye bye Mr clerk Umberto Silvestri Mr syri good morning uh good morning good morning ladies morning Gentlemen of the commission uh thank you thank you for serving this is really tough uh you guys are just hearing us out so appreciate it um thank you for taking the time to meet with me Mr Mayor thank you for taking the time to meet with me Mr Fernandez appre appreciate your your message um I'm speaking on behalf of preserving the youth center Fields it seems like we've aligned on that uh I really appreciate that you guys have heard the community right have taken the time to understand the needs and kind of some of the things that we speak on um also Rhonda thank you for piloting and leading the Sunday effort to open the youth center on Sundays that's really awesome and I appreciate that we'll have that youth center for us for an extra day um so I just wanted to follow up uh it's a really great honor that you guys have acknowledged and so we've kind of uh communicated that in the petition that we started that we've been heard right uh we know that things aren't done right we're still trying to find an ideal place for the pick aall courts um our message is thank you for preserving the field uh we've met with the pickle ball Community we support them um while it's not really our place to dictate where the fields will be at we just support you guys in finding the best and optimal place that can be and we just thank you for uh you know standing up for the fields and trying to you know find an optimal solution for everybody um so I'd really love to hear somebody maybe your thoughts Ronda one-on-one maybe if I can meet with you and Melissa because it seems like from what I've heard from some of the commission we're aligned right and this city is continually used to be a place where we do 50 votes right we're all aligned and we're all unanimous so um I just wanted to thank you congratulate you guys for hearing us continue to work hand inand um I know it's not done right I don't want to take up too much time um but uh you know something that I think was a little outdated though um I think um from The Gables Insider uh when was the May issue uh um publicated was it like early in the month for the I'm not part of G's Insider okay I'm I'm not sure in fact I haven't even looked at the last few editions no you're good you're good um but it seems like there's really consistent messaging right right so I just want to make sure that that is across the board you know um so appreciate I now that you're up here I do want to correct uh Coral Gable's magazine did have an error in what they published it said that there was a 5 vote to approve uh a facility at the baseball field that is not the case we had never voted to approve constructing any facility at the uh at the youth center and like I talked to you and I've talked to many members of the of the community that have come out to talk to me um we've actually had several meetings over the last two weeks with the manager's office with parks with our parking uh uh director uh our community um um Coral Gable's um Chamber of Commerce uh to look for a place that works for everybody and I think the Chamber of Commerce was a great opportunity because our parking Department wasn't even realizing some of the needs that they had uh from some of some of the businesses who were there so we are working on this that's why it's not on the agenda uh today I have committed to everybody that I'm working behind the scenes to try to find options and then we will probably have a community meeting that's that's what I'm working towards so that we can work through those options and have a community discussion and get everybody's input thank thank you so much so if you the the uh young ladies that are in the offices are commission AIDS they can tell you when I'm available because I am available this Friday next Friday I'm not sure because I'm scheduled for jury duty so absolutely um just thank you guys thank you mayor for Le see you on Friday send my best to your father thank you you guys are great just thank you and we'll stay on it we'll be diligent take care clerk Lyn blin good morning good morning thank you so good to see you thank you lovely to see you again you bear with me just a second Lind blin 4330 Southwest 15th Street my home in little Gables for 35 years and I think I'm going to need an extra minute and a half if I may many thanks to those that answered my email regarding the exact language of the proposed straw ballot on annexation this is exactly what will be on the August 20th ballot non-binding straw ballot question possible annexation of little Gables into the City of Coral Gables would you support the city pursuing the annexation of little Gables the area generally bounded by Southwest 8th Street to the north Southwest 16th Street to the South Cortez Street to the west and southwest 40th Avenue to the east into the City of Coral Gables via Miami Dade County's annexation process and absorbing all Associated annexation costs yes or no at the February 27th commission meeting a discussion of costs associated with annexation was brought up you can watch it unfold on that meeting video item H1 scroll over to 7 hours and 4 minutes there was lots of hemming and Hauling about what the cost will or might be to the residents of Coral Gables for those that might not be familiar with this old-fashioned expression here is the definition hem andha means to speak in an evasive vague roundabout way to avoid responding to a question or making a definite statement it was then and only then that the last few words of the ballot question were added those last few words are absorbing all Associated annexation costs well from the November 14th Commission meeting presentation prepared by your staff on the line of total expenses it seems clear to me Coral Gables will spend 23, $594,000 for just the first 5 years if annexation were to take place I constantly read and hear all about the improvements and necessities and repairs that the residents of Coral Gables need and want and the expenses that go along with those improvements and necessities and repairs dear intelligent and fair-minded residents of Coral Gables do you really want your City to spend 23,5 194,000 on annexing little Gables when you need this money for your own quality of life please do go out of your way to vote no on this annexation question expanding your tax space to include little Gables will not be worth it to you in the long run that tax Bas ship sailed last year with the very loud rejection from high Pines and Pon Davis neighborhoods who resoundingly told Coral Gables to take a hike and that's putting it mildly I could say lots more but I know my time is limited my last item is a question for mayor logo I watched your interview of April 21st with Jackie nespr on Channel 6 you said something that I couldn't believe I was hearing I listened to it a number of times you were Speaking of meetings with the heads of the Dade County Fire Union and the Coral Gables fire Union this is exactly what you said and I'm bringing it up because I would really like you to explain this quote and I met with these individuals I met with the county at Cafe ABI and he told me you have two options option A is you allow us to absorb the City of Coral Gables fire department and I'll allow you to Annex little Gables or I'll ruin your name if you keep moving forward with the annexation process so how did my life my home my future and my neighbors and my neighborhood become part of this seemingly quidd pro quo Exchange who was allowing what to whom if these agreements and negotiations are actually taking place behind the scenes regarding annexation I think everyone should just stop immediately and take a good look at this so please explain option A when one can eliminate any and all injustices they will never have to worry about their name and thank you for your time let me respond to you uh first off this was already responded to with the gentleman Billy Billy mallister who's the head of the fire Union from the county I had multiple Witnesses he requested that meeting of me and I said let's meet aachi he wanted to discuss um what would happen in regards to Services um in regards to the residence of little Gables versus Coral Gables potentially taking over he was very clear and he threatened me on the record and said if you continue moving forward with annexation I will destroy your reputation I said listen there's we're here to discuss about the residents and what we as a city would like to potentially engage in the annexation process I'm not going to allow anyone to intimidate me I mentioned this this is the second time on this di that I mention it I said it in front of Mr mallister who was here this is old news it was not an issue of quick proquo even though I know you would like to Define it and probably potentially members of this commission would like to Define it as that but that is furthest from the case what happened was I was not going to allow Mr mallister to intimidate me now Mr mallister is also part of the recall effort he helped fund it and so did so did another developer in this community but at the end of the day the residents of the city of cor Gables will have a ballot they will be able to vote moving forward that was decided by commissioner Menendez they will move forward and decide whether to Annex or not it will be a decision of the residents so I always always am grateful for you to be here you always have a platform and opportunity to speak but I just appreciate if we not try to muddy the waters and we try uh to truly to truly tell the truth in regards to what the issues are he intimidate he tried to intimidate me at a restaurant and I put it on the record here in the commission and it was a question that was asked to me by Jackie nespa and I spoke on the record that's it that's what it is thank you thank you another another little thing the person that came up with the idea that we needed to display something on the the language that Associated to cost was me and I did push very hard for numbers to be there but there's an amount of there's a certain amount of characters that are allowed to be on the ballot that's one and number two I really really wanted numbers to be there even if it was only the numbers but Finance told me that um they're not 100% accurate and it could be misleading this was your presentation from November 14th I know thank you very much thank you have a nice day and you Mr Clerk Jackson rip Holmes Mr Holmes good morning uh thank you it's a great uh citizen public comment Forum uh I want to thank our new city manager Amos Roos uh he's the reason I'm here he he has uh reopened City Hall to the voters to the residents and this had story is uh before you came I wasn't here because it's like a torture chamber but anyway so um uh I want to get into two important updates that I think are uh of interest to every person on the Das I I said once in the past two great news items that uh citizens united could be approximately overturned uh there's a setback there I want to give you the update um and then I also said another great news item is that uh the governor of California um was suing uh big oil and so maybe we're not going to all drown after all by sea level rise uh if we can bank it's like a a a battle of survival who survives the oil companies or Coral Gables where we get flooded out forever you know uh and so our hero my hero is uh whatever else he does right or wrong is the governor of California suing Big Oil all right so we've seen the Supreme Court they have no what's a bad news update right but we got to stay uh concerned um is that the Supreme Court is worse than ever they actually have no ethics code that's applicable to the Supreme Court every other J judge in the country uh can be tossed or disciplined uh if they don't follow an Ethics code and there's none that apply to the US Supreme Court and they're acting like it uh they're more out of control than ever but my recommendation to you on the Das and to everyone listening that's concerned about citizens united is follow Sheldon White House on YouTube he's a senator from Rhode Island he has uh proven that that decision was the result of bribery by the Federalist Society there is a basis for overturning it and remember that's what's done our city in that that's the the worst cause of the developer ocracy we all face if we can overturn citizens united we don't need Superman Amos Roos as much as we do now without overturning citizens united the second update I'd like to give is uh relating again then to the lawsuit against Big Oil um I I don't think you all will be totally surprised that uh when I I I'll be finishing very shortly uh when uh the governor of California sued Big Oil uh is is this like cic cynicism lives in all of your hearts and my heart is it a big surprise to there was suddenly a recall effort against him I mean uh is is this a CO do we believe in coincidences or was the recall effort financed by Big Oil uh but the thing is uh what has he proven to us we could probably Sue Big Oil ourselves I think you know um we should continue to evaluate the option of suing Big Oil ourselves um so that's the update thank you very much thank you sir that's it Mr Mayor all right um I'd like to get a motion on the consent agenda move it second before the vote adopting the consent agenda is taken is there anyone who wishes additional discussion or review of any item the consent agenda no not all in favor hi hi thank you take a 10-minute break before we take the item F1 which is our first time sir thank you e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] to Mr cler you [Music] ready you ready Mr cler yes sir all right so welcome back I'd like to we have a Time certain let's do F1 which is a presentation by the Coral Gables art Cinema I place the side on the agenda and I'd like to invite our friends from the coral G art Cinema who are here with us today we had the pleasure of meeting two Fridays ago at open Office hours and I asked them to join us just to give a little bit of an update on something that we've been working on for a few years and Marlin has been carrying that water for a long time and I want to say thank you for all your hard work along with all the board members along with all the board members so good morning good morning everybody for the the record my name is Marilyn Ebert and I am a resident I live at 6510 San vente Street um I've worn a number of different hats in this city through my 35 years of living here but one of my most Pleasant hats that I wear is being the chair of the Coral Gables art Cinema um Cinema opened um in 2010 and uh we occupy a space in the parking garage on uh arabon Avenue in first floor and um I was there on opening night I've always loved the movies and I started to volunteer there and take tickets on Friday nights and lo and behold now I am chair of the board so you can really work your way up um we were closed for a long time during the pandemic and there were some question marks about Cinemas across the United States and um uh our wonderful staff has put together a 2023 impact report of our last year and um we have we have wonderful board members we have wonderful staff and when uh Michelle called me who's Michelle Costa uh Humphries who is our um communications director she called me one day and she said Marilyn we need you to write a letter and she said we need it now and I was leaving for Chicago and so as as happens to all of us I sat down and this letter just flowed it was it was just a joy to write it so um uh to really give you this impact report I want to turn the meeting over to uh our wonderful executive director um Brenda Mo so thank you marlin good morning Mr Mayor good morning Commissioners um uh esteemed guests in the audience um I would like to acknowledge uh Stephen crams the founder of Coral Gables art Cinema and our greatest benefactor and Mitch blumberg crams who is the chair of our children and family programming committee they happen to be married um Michelle um Humphrey is our communication director um it's an honor to be here this morning to stand in front of you and talk about um the good news from the cinema first of all I'd just like to acknowledge the unwavering support we have received from this city its residents and everybody up on the dis today um Mr Mayor you and I have been talking about the cinema for years um you are one of our um greatest supporters and I just want to acknowledge you personally and say thank you so much much for the work that you have done to ensure that everybody understands um the value of our organization commissioner Menendez you um are probably the commissioner who really understands the work that we do to a granular level um because of the monthly support that you provide with your own series thank you so much the work that you do and the and the value that you bring to our community by providing free mov um it really means a lot I mean I know you hear it from the residents when they come in but um it's such a joy to hear people talk about your movies so um and um commissioner Anderson the work that you have done to support all of our sustainability um initiatives uh you have personally sponsored these films you've put your money behind it um so I just want to acknowledge you and you've been a dear friend to the cinema so thank you so much uh we have an open standing invitation um please come visit the cinema um uh Ariel you've been there you've been in the projection booth it's really a special place to visit so we don't want to dig into um the impact report Page by Page um but I do want to is this the and it doesn't need to be plugged in then I can just I just Advance it this way perfect okay great thanks um so as many of you know we have been working on expanding the cinema to build a second screen um I am I'm so sorry I didn't introduce myself Brenda Mo executive director and programming director of coral cables art Cinema um one of my primary roles as I see it is to um propagate the Legacy of Steven crams and mij blumberg crams the work that they have done to create the cinema um create this Jewel that has been operating for almost 14 years is incredible they're uh the amount of time and money and effort that they've put in is inspirational and so part of that work is we need to be sustainable our our ouse needs a second screen and we've been working on that for some time so as that initiative gets closer Michelle and I were talking about how we can get in front of our community to a greater degree and we agreed that an impact report to show our community um Within These Pages the work that we're doing and so this is uh the the document itself part of what you'll see and I have extra copies for anybody in the audience that would like to take one please help yourself part of what you're going to see is these National Distributors that all that have quotes that are peppered throughout this uh report what's important about that is that your city the City of Coral Gables is acknowledged as having one of the most important art housee venues in the country the performance that we do with one screen is phenomenal um and so just pay close attention to to that um to those quotes let's move forward our letters Marlin's letter is really lovely you have to read it um so each page just highlights a little bit of the work that we've done in the last calendar year um so our programming uh the the numbers with our programming we screen 221 individual ual films in 2023 What's significant about that is that we only have one screen and so it's it really is the impact that we are able to make and um Michelle and I we have a an amazing team the work that they produce is phenomenal I mean it's not easy to book program get 221 titles on websites sell tickets um and manage that so I just want to acknowledge um the sheer amount of work that goes into that um with almost a thousand individual film screenings and then just the fun details about our programming are on that page our signature film programs um Family Day on Aragon which I mentioned m blumberg crams is the chair of that committee um ticket prices pay what you can and you're going to get free popcorn we know and we say children that have easier access to the Arts or happier healthier and smarter shouldn't shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg to take your family to the movies but not only that but we what we see is a multi-generational engagement grandparents bringing grandchildren um to movies that maybe the grandparents saw in in movie theaters it's really a special initiative and then this um this goes uh the signature film programs covers many more um and then we were Coral Gables was the only city in Miami or the only city in South Florida to have um Oppenheimer on 70 mm Celluloid 55 in individual screenings the the skill that it takes to project 70 mm is not a joke um the the work that we put in to making sure that these screenings went off seamlessly was incredible um and not only that but our HVAC system was down at the time so we had so there was an additional challenge there that we were able to get past thank goodness um and then the impact report goes into information about our top films and that and that performance 2023 by the numbers so we address total economic impact that we had in the downtown Corridor um Patron served and then everything um below that are you know it just it gives you an idea of the sheer amount of work that uh is happening within the within our um Cinema so building Community um these are uh initiatives that have not only helped us get out of our four walls but have brought important Partners in um one of those Gable's Cinema on the move funded by PNC Bank allowed us to take uh film screenings throughout South Florida to different communities and such an interesting initiative and exciting Overtown Optimus club for example was a an organization I wasn't familiar with until we launched cable Cinema on the move and um the work that we did with them and their children was inspirational and these relationships continue so um you know just know that we are reaching outside of our four walls we're reaching outside of our ZIP code and we're doing work um with important Partners in different areas of South Florida and the city and we touch on audience engagement um yeno derz he is the top you know I think number one Hispanic actor in the world we had him you know at the cinema Phil Lord won an Oscar for Spider-Man um he was he's a dear friend of the cinema and he was here Dr Christina Lane an expert on Hitchcock so um not only do we show movies exhibition sometimes can be a tough sell because people do think it is just watching movies but what we work to do is engage audiences in important tough meaningful conversations on to of the films that we're showing we touch on our expansion of course and take a look at that space and then we just cover who um who our leadership are and at the end you'll see we have to get into tiny type font because um uh during the pandemic I do want to highlight that we were closed for 6 months our membership increased 19% while our doors were closed um it's it's such an important number to us um because it reminds us of the value that our community has seen um that we put forward this year we're hitting 2,000 individual members that Rivals the arch Center um so just uh just know that the engagement that we have with this community is Meaningful and important and I know that you all are aware of it and I hope that this impact report helps drive that home um even more and I'm so grateful for your time so thank you very much for listening to our impact and seeing our impact report um I'd like to bring the crams up we had some other board members that were here with us uh Mitch Kaplan was one and um I know that someone that already spoke this morning um would like to say a few words from the community come on yes yes yes so she's wearing a different hat now too thank you I'm one of those tiny names on the membership list and I've been a member for many many years I go to the movies every single week I can walk from my home in little Gables and I think that the gables art Cinema and of course with books and books are the two greatest things that Coral Gables has to offer you have a lot of good things to offer but these are the two greatest and I am so thrilled to um have them in my life so thank you non-paid testimonial I love it um Mr crams will you join us so before we before we get there you know I appreciate you coming to speak a little bit about the impact report for 2023 the goal is now we're getting ever closer to having that second screen and I think that having the second screen is going to not I think I know I know as a as a matter of fact um the nice lady who just came up and spoke from Little Gables um there's the amount of people that have joined the cinema the second screen is going to be an opportunity not only for the current members but future members but I think it's also a good opportunity to continue the mission and continue the mission of giving back I think it's a great opportunity like we discuss with private and public schools charter schools of Engagement even further um just driving home the fact that this is this row this area of our city is is a cultural destination with books and books so uh I just wanted to say thank you and Mr crams you know please join us thank you very much mayor it's while it's true I'm the uh the founder and the president of Carl Gamble's art Cinema the cinema would not exist where it not for each and every one of you but each and every previous commission and mayor and city manager and everybody in this community when we first started this adventure the Carl Gables Community found ation became a major partner with a $250,000 gift and the city matched that gift and then the rest is history and so without the city there would be no Carl gbl's art Cinema and we are eternally indebted to each and every one of you and all your predecessors and thank you so very much for your help thank you it's a privilege to to be here and to be part of the cema and though it is my husband who began this I stepped along with him and I'm so proud of all the staff uh the executive director uh Michelle uh humph and our whole staff is just thrilled to be here and thank you so much for your support uh it's a privilege to be here thank you very much on behalf of the commission I know that my colleagues probably have some things they want to say but looking forward to that second screen it's going to be a game changer for downtown and thank you so much for all of the work that you've done throughout the years to we're almost there it's only taking a few years we're almost there we'll get it we'll get it done Madame vice mayor so I I don't get to come visit you as often due to my husband's medical conditions I choose not to uh leave him you know behind and and just come for special event events um but the economic impact that you make $2.2 million in the tiny little footprint that you have is you know an understatement of the contribution that you have to the community and I think is in line too with what we need to do in our community and promoting the cultural arts as you probably noticed the sanctuary of the Arts um um came over and helped support uh adding to our strategic plan the cultural because I think there's a a beautiful Synergy that can H happen um too often we always look for the economic impact on sport Sports have on the community but the reality is and I'm stealing Rafi maldonado's words here is a cultural arts actually has an even bigger impact than the sports we love sports I'm not taking anything away from new sport lovers but the cultural arts is a beautiful part uh of our our city and offers so much richness for everybody even in the little Gables too so thank you for being here I just want to add um the obviously the economic impact is so important but more important is the human impact and every time I have the opportunity to go to the theater the joy and the eyes and the hearts of the folks that not only are watching the movie coming out but the ones that are waiting to see the next movie and I remember growing up in Gables here years ago and we had the coral theater not too far from where you are on Pon and The Gables theator and that was what everybody looked forward to that was the way you came together with friends and family to create community and thanks to your Cinema people are getting to re-experience what they lost perhaps some years ago and it's that Joy of being together laughing crying being scared regardless of what the movie is but it's that community and I just congratulate you for what you all do and you are truly needed and a jewel and there's a reason why the Coral Gables theater don't aren't around they had one screen and economically it didn't work so definitely getting that second screen is key not only for you all but for our community yeah absolutely it was a great experience to come out and tour the facility I still remember the large Oppenheimer reels uh and how heavy they were so I can only imagine the work that was going going on behind the scenes to put those up and make sure that the movie continued streaming perfectly um but I think I echo my colleagues uh remarks the the work that the cinema has done uh for our community is incredible uh like the vice mayor was saying we're expanding in our cultural Arch here in the city on a daily basis um I know that there's other theaters in the area that are going to be shutting down soon for an extended period of time because of uh Renovations that are coming up and I've heard that uh sanctuary of the Arts uh actors Playhouse and Miracle theater and I'm sure the cinema have also started getting more requests for use of the space um so I think the timing is always right to expand when it comes to arts and culture and I'm really looking forward to to what you're going to continue to offer uh which your board has been extremely dedicated over the course of of the the last how many years is it now 14 14 14 years uh to where we are today and I'm looking forward to the future thank you very much thank you very much thank you appreciate it have a wonderful day Naomi is the senator here is the senator here she's on her way back but we can start with our lobbying team presentation and then um introduce her when she returns okay let's let's move on I just want to do H1 because I know that we have the there we'll come back to to uh f11 okay so yes do okay great hi again Naomi Levy Garcia assistant City attorney um thank you for taking a moment to hear our end of session presentation from our steam lobbying team we have a few Representatives here Nelson um Nelson R and Kate are here with us and Senator Garcia will Garcia will be joining us shortly as well and we do have a token of our appreciation because the senator has been such a steadfast Champion for the city um so we'd like to share this lovely seal for her office uh if we can please please bring up the PowerPoint presentation okay I'm going to invite our lobbyists up here we're going to take you through some of our highlights in terms of Appropriations and policy uh wins and policy updates from the last session actually Senator Garcia if you could please join us I'd love to introduce [Music] you thank you so much I was just singing your Praises for all you've done for the over the years and all of the uh wonderful appropriation requests you've sponsored for us and the projects that you've brought to fruition we could not have done it without you and so on behalf of the city and the commission we have this seal for you and we'd love to hear your thoughts on this last session and looking forward gracias thank you so much hello to everyone here today I didn't expect this this is very very nice I saw you walking around with him I was like that is very nice I wonder if they can they can give me one anyway always a pleasure to be always a pleasure to be here with you in the city beautiful I have the honor of representing you I share it with and very jealously by the way with uh Senator Alexis Maria kalatu and um always an honor uh we went up to the this uh to Tallahasse this legislative session keeping in mind consumer protections at least I did this legislative session uh for many of you that know me um like Rhonda knows me knows that my my heart is with foster care and with seniors and in particular the transition that my dat in as a whole is going through so uh we emphatically worked on different issues like um condominium associations homeowners associations trying to find different ways also to make the home um homeowners insurance situation also a little more um a little a little more digestible I think that you'll find that moving forward the the companies the few companies that are currently working in Miami D will not be raising your rates they're not supposed to be and then you'll start to find some deduction moving forward you'll also find that because of all the resiliency that we have done though at a federal level we have been downgraded and uh uh certain areas should be eligible for credits uh so I'm looking forward to seeing that because it's one of the issues that I find um is very particular here in the area of Coral Gables I don't get a lot of complaints in my office from the Coral Gables area on the contrary it's usually compliments and they usually call me to help someone else which I think is a great thing but you know the uh we understand that the homeowners insurance situation has been difficult um moving forward I'm looking forward to continuing to work with uh with you mayor and and uh vice mayor on the transportation situation I know it's been a very a very high concern with the the majority of developments that that are just going up everywhere it's not just Coral Gables it's the Bickle area I mean everything that encompasses Miami Dade County and um it affects our major roadways Miami D County wasn't created with a public transit mindset at that time no so we're sort of suffering the consequences of of being one of the most you know popular areas in the world right now Coral Gables being even nicer than Beverly Hills right mayor moving forward so um so yes um as you know in my office I love to do constituent work um one of the things that I think that we did very well this legislative session is working on the condo association situation um we did add additional funding to Mya Florida which is for um for mitigation for homes that might be needing some extra help with regards to um to fixes it's a grant process of up to $10,000 it's sort of a credit which sort of helps you when you apply for your insurance but we took an additional step with regards to the Condominiums so now Apartments won't be eligible obviously but a one particular building and Association can get a mitigation inspection and probably get up to $175,000 credit and we are prioritizing yeah we are prioritizing us uh um we we are prioritizing seniors we are prioritizing specific vulnerable areas because we want to make sure that we um that we help um the the underserved or even even the middle class right now is is struggling so it it is one of our our priorities but with that said once again the transportation situation the situation with cyclists being able to to to ride their bikes or their um electric Cycles around the area and it be safe you know a a a safe situation for pedestrians is is a is a huge priority I know for you mayor and for you vice mayor and and and with the Commissioners as well um I would imagine that you guys are as jealous with this area as as I am and very proud to represent it so um with that said thank you very much and if I don't know if you have any questions for me well no first off before we ask any questions I just like to say thank you thank you for your years of service to the city you're always a phone call away uh you and I meet on a on a constant basis uh to discuss the future of of our city uh along with uh State of Florida I want to thank you for the funding that you provided two years ago for the firehouse that's under construction um that was a that was a very very uh generous along with state representative Mooney but I know that you helped out in the Senate side and you played a major role in pushing pushing that forward um just want to say thank you for your staff always being present every time that we give a call to your office over an issue that's outside of our control uh whether it be a state issue or a County Road or State Road um you're always present and available uh to address those concerns and give us a little bit of of light or moment so that we can find find a way moving forward to address constituent issues so again this city is blessed to have you uh representing us um and it's a breath of fresh air and I want want to thank you for being here cuz I know that you have a lot on your plate you have a private sector job you uh you work uh and you also find time to to represent us in Tallahasse so I want to thank you for for taking the time to be here and and you know being just always always available uh and not only available but I think something that you do that's a little different is that you're willing to listen um and find a solution and say listen if we if we if we have a preemption that's in place let's find a way that potentially it's less impactful to the City of Coral Gables and we're dealing with certain issues like we talked about the trees uh you know styrofoam things that are important to this city to this commission um but I always we just want to say thank you and always being so available uh for for our staff thank you working with my office working with the Commission office and working with Naomi and her team uh and the manager's office it's been amazing thank you thank you yeah home rule is very important to me Madam vice mayor you said you so I just want to give you a special thank you you've always made yourself available we've discussed so many ideas and I know that youve agreed to take up the helm on some stuff that you know like the stocking amendments that we talked about you reached out to fdot uh they are following through I have another update for the commission today uh your support has always been there you're steadfast and you've helped out every single time and and thank you very much for all your efforts I think the only thing I have pending is the bus stops I'm going to almost we're working on that we're work we're looking we're looking for the the pot of gold somewhere to to help out with that but it's uh it's always an honor for me and uh and uh I look I look forward to continuing to do even more work um for the uh for the beautiful city of C Gables thank I want to Echo the comments of the mayor and and the vice mayor um I've actually had a couple of constituents show show up during office hours who have had a state issue called your office and I know within a week they've had their issues resolved so your team has been very quick to respond and we appreciate that cuz sometimes in government things just get caught up and it's just about calling your representative's office and having them make a phone call and see what's holding up the process your team has been very helpful with that I know you had an emergency we weren't able to meet when we were in Tallahassee but look forward to meeting with you in the coming days to to address what concerns you have as well from our community uh and how we can help you as well I appreciate that thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to come to today and it's extremely appreciated everything you do for us thank you yeah and I appreciate your patience on that I did have um I was enduring some some uh some medical some personal medical and I needed some downtime and and I appreciate your patience mayor and vice mayor you were very understanding the few times that I had to cancel and I appreciate that but moving forward I I I look forward and I like I said we I think we continue to do the work I think the most important part is just the communication and the relationships can we get a picture of course thank you today's a good day bring the SE a good day good day [Music] photo box Nai thank you again so much Senator um so we'll run through our presentation briefly um Nelson I don't know if you want to take the lead and and then we'll take questions at the end perfect good morning sir good morning Mr Mayor vice mayor Commissioners manager I appreciate the opportunity to be here uh but more importantly appreciate the opportunity to represent the city in Tallahassee uh for another year um we had a good year um I it's kind of hard to follow Senator Garcia but we'll give it a shot um and you do have some great representation in Tallahassee so I I know it I know it doesn't need to be said but it needs to be said you have good legislators fighting for Coral Gables every day during the legislative session and your constituents need to know that um more importantly also well equally importantly uh you have great staff with Naomi there oh you're right there um she will be sorely missed um it's been a pleasure to work with her for so many years here and um you have um an incredible asset in her and um hopefully she'll still be around somehow in cor Gables so um let me introduce Kate delos most of you have met her if you haven't Kate is part of our our cor Gables team with the Southern Group my firm Gabby and RA are with Ron books firm Ron is out of town unfortunately and we also have um Capitol City consultant Jared um is on his honeymoon so I told him he still had to show up but whatever it's honeymoon right so um so he wasn't able to be here but he will be here next time if you want to go to the not sure how to use this but this press the middle button so three projects got funded this year in Tallahassee um those are the projects those are the amounts the water quality is the nutrient management and water quality um assessment project um you guys put all these projects on our list some of them didn't make it through but these did the budget has not gone to the governor yet so we are still working with the governor's office on any potential vetos and and as soon as the budget goes to him now we're every week we're told the budget's going this week um so we're working on that as soon as and we've met with everybody in Tallahasse with the staff we've given them everything they need they've not told us of any concerns yet but you never know the other one is the Golden Gate storm water project for the flooding and the drainage project in the Golden Gate area and the last one is the Citywide the the sidewalk replacement for the some of the sidewalks that you want to change and some new sidewalks that you want to put in so all in in total you know you have over a million and a half dollars in in in Revenue there from the state to to continue making the city beautiful more beautiful so I'm going to let some of um the other team members talk about the policy sure and just um really quickly on the on the stocking uh changes that we had discussed previously we had some great meetings with legislators about that language didn't get any push back about the language itself but there were some concerns that it was too late in the process to tack that on to um a another bill that was moving so we are happy to work this summer on finding some sponsors if that's something that we want to look at doing as a standalone bill um but we did get very positive feedback on those requested changes all I did deliver and speak uh deliver a copy to and speak with Senator RC on that so you can maybe have a discussion with her and I haven't spoken to anybody in in the house yet so perfect we can work with you on that this summer okay thank you one of the other things that I know that uh the team wanted me to touch on was the unsafe structures Bill the version that they passed this year uh it is my understanding that because it uses the coastal control line uh Co Coastal con Construction Control line it does not affect the gables so we're very pleased with that development on it um I think uh when you all were in Tallahasse met with the division of historical resources and we have sent the staff um some of the grant opportunities to follow up uh for the city um so we're pleased with that and uh we are here for you and we're help we're happy to help you develop your funding requests for next next session and um look forward to continuing our work on your behalf and then just last note on grants um in addition to the historic grants the resilient Florida portals will be opening up July 1 uh and there was 150 million allocated I think to resilient Florida and another 100 million specifically to the Wastewater grant program so those are definitely ones that if if there are any septic to sewer or projects that um might not fit in other areas we could definitely go for those this coming year quick question on that front um I've been requesting from residents to compile a list of areas that are flood concerns and we've brought that up to the commission the commission is also providing uh guidance in regards to other areas that are concerns that information has been sent over to the public works director and the manager's office so we can build a repository areas that are low-lying areas that has to be studied more in depth obviously because certain low-lying areas will always be low-lying areas because in a terrenal downpour no matter what system you install a French drain catch Basin it'll never be able to consume the amount of water and the and the and the um excuse me and the SES can only absorb so much so much rain um one of the things I I was trying to do and that I'm proposing for for this year if it's possible is to to do a study similar to to to what we're doing right now in regards to the septic to sewer conversion study so that we could potentially move forward and have a study in an area that identifies the most pressing areas in the city in regards to low-lying areas do you think that that's that Grant or that Naomi naom is not going to be here but our new our new team member who's here I'm not sure where he's at um could potentially could potentially Aid in drafting that grant that would fit into that bucket I think so I I can take that question so I if memory serves correct corly I believe we do have a storm water master plan that was funded through a state appropriation I'm not sure where we are in terms of completing that plan I'm sure Hermes can give us an update um using that plan we can Target some projects that could be appropriate for submission for the rilian Florida Grant um program portal and Fernando who is in DC right now would be taking the lead on that and can work in conjunction with um elsc and the finance department but Mary I think it's a great idea we can use that plan to identify specific projects but there are I've looked at the plan and there's certain areas that that are not included for example we receive emails from a resident that says Hey listen yesterday it rained for 5 hours this area is this area for some reason or another is a low-lying area the water is basically ponding for 2 or 3 days you know we try to explain to them in C areas why that's occurring because if you have a torrential downpour for 6 Seven 8 hours no matter what you install it's not going to address the issue it's like a pool you know a pool it's only so much water that can hold eventually it'll over you know it overflow so we're I'm looking to to basically add on to that to that study and be able to address certain areas that are not addressed in the city okay like a supplemental plan yeah because I've looked at I've looked at the area of the the study and then I have other areas that I've sent to the manager's office which were included in a memo that talk about uh areas flood flood concerns that we're seeing in the city um again when you talk about sea level rise I mean the water comes from not from the top the water comes from below when the water saturated enough there's nothing really else you can do no matter how many pump stations you have no matter what the water's going to find the you know the path the least resistant so these are just areas that again sometimes you don't even sometimes and I hate to say this you don't really have an answer the only answer is to raise to raise uh you know certain platforms or certain foundations and that is again the cost is insane as we can see in myi beach so just wanted to see if this if that was the right Avenue to go after in some with some of these Grant monies because you know I'm always trying to find a way that we can save the city money I I do think so I think depending on the location in the area resilient Florida would be a good okay okay and to the extent some things may not fit in the resilient Florida Grant project um the next legislative session starts in March so there's a little bit of time okay you get a large amount of time in between some sessions so we've got some time one of one of the other things that in that regard that you might want to also consider is that if there's severe erosion of roadways that's a whole different category of grant that would also be something that we could seek okay roadway repairs Etc well there's nothing else further just wanted to thank all of you for uh all your help and we were up in Tallahassee um your teams were incredible Jared as well I know he's on his honeymoon and it's well deserved after what they've gone through um I think it's great that they're finally able to get away um but thank you for for all of your Staffing us up there taking us to meetings scheduling meetings at the last minute getting us in with the historical resources which to me was probably one of the most important meetings we had up there just because of the conversations we had and the the open doors that we may have there um Fernando our new um not our new Naomi but the person who will be trying to fill those shoes um I don't know if you've all had an opportunity to meet him but um he's somebody who I think will will work well with all of you what I have told him in conversation is to try to find different ways that we can get creative with finding grants uh in Tallahassee and in Washington um maybe things that we are a little outside the box that we can consider um but you all were phenomenal this year when things were looking dire you stepped in you made sure that that things got done and we really appreciate all of your efforts all your input was exceptional and I couldn't be any more thankful I'm very happy with what we did get compared to other municipalities I think we did really really good and I'm proud of all of us and I just want to say that one of the key aspects of being successful is being able to speak frankly on issues and not sugarcoat things when you need to speak frankly and you all were and whenever an issue an obstacle roadblock came up we were all able to collectively pivot thanks to your leadership and your guidance and I think uh the city's efforts extremely productive but they couldn't have happened without obviously your amazing work and the obviously our legislators in Tallahassee so thank you thank you very much great work thank you all great work I look forward to working with you this coming year thank you likewise I'll have some more um possible amendments for you to push through great moving on to item f11 time turn 10 a.m. f11 is a resolution of the city commission authorizing funding in an amount up to $500,000 as matching Grant funds to the cor Gables Museum for completion of certain Capital Improvements good morning by three minutes time three be like an auctioner um first of all I'd like to thank everyone uh mayor vice mayor Commissioners for um all your help and all your support for the museum throughout all the time um I realize the uh or we realize the city has many issues regarding the historical properties and we're one of them um we I would also on the I would also like to thank uh SAA she has been a godsend to us at the Museum she has been been a true trooper and has um you know really helped us along with the whole process so I would like to uh thank her um she's been tough but fair and and we like that and our issues which Elvis I'm going to turn over to Elvis to discuss are very serious issues because we rely on borrowing when we do an exhibit we have to borrow whether documents or art or pieces from other museums and our reputation in the museum world is not good at this moment uh there are organizations uh in town that we rely on borrowing that will not lend to us because of the water damage the leaks the not being able to control the humidity in the museum and now to top it off um it has not gotten out and the city has been very responsive by the way but we have termites so to tell people who have loaned us works for an exhibit that they're going to get it back having have exposed to termites is very serious so what we have done is we had done a an analysis of the work that needed to be done and the amount of money that would be needed uh the city independently did their own and we pretty much agree on most of the things of what needs to be done so Elvis is going to be doing a presentation on some of the items uh we have an opportunity to apply for a grant from the state and with a matching fund from the city we have an opportunity to be able to get a million dollars uh for the museum so um Alvis is going to be making a presentation but again I want to thank you all because um I understand that we're not alone in the historical buildings of the city that the city needs to fix but you know ours is a very serious problem in the reputation of the museum yeah well thank you so much for the opportunity and I want to thank every one of you H including also ER Mr city manager Amos R Jr visited the museum in the first week after starting in the job and so I really appreciate um the support that we have received so I'm going to try to be very um um quick H we have a a presentation yeah okay here so um since it's opening in 2010 cor mum has never addressed the issues of the greater facilities due to Teran wear of Windows steer wall ceiling water damaging floors and walls and due to leaks agent fixures and Equipment such as hbac system ceiling lamps oil and andfunctional bathroom and kitchen fixtures damage flooring in our offices Etc H these issues have affected the museum operational capabilities in particular related to the conservation of artif fats its image has also diminished as um our chair was mentioning giving the impression of being an institution in this repair which is why it's so important to renovate andr s of our facilities the city of corago owner the building has tackled the problem of roof leaks by repairing the roof over the historic building last year however no work has been done in the fuel Gallery ER we now we now have a much more controlled situation but the historic building is far from being watertight and th we have identified potential Capital Improvement Grant from cultural facilities from the the Florida Department of State which requires a matching fund one to one with a a cap of $500,000 this is what H Mr bad was mentioning we believe that we can make the case for a successful Grant application given the historical importance of our building and The crucial role that corag museum plays as the only Museum devoted to celebrating the Civic Arts and its history in the region all of South Florida we are very grateful for the city commission continued support for the work H that we have been doing for the last two years and we only strive for serving our community better H Al s Florida Premier H for Civic Arts um we're growing our collection of artifacts that reflects the mission and development program to expand our knowledge of K Gable's history leading to the Centennial of the city beautiful next year a major step is the acquisition of the phas space collection for which we're currently preparing a fundraising campaign and several other artifacts such as photograph architectural drawings memorabilia and epimera and original artworks related to our City's history or the subject of Civic Arts the museum collection also lacked a appropriate storage facilities and display cases as our galleries do not have adequate climate control and monitoring system this created a problem in terms of conservation of our permanent collection Holdings and the ability to receive temporary loans from other museums and public collection for the purpose of presenting an exhibition of interest to our community likewise climate condition in the galleries where we present original artifacts including permanent collection items are less than ideal with some areas exposed to sunlight While others have high levels of humidity due to poros stereo walls on the other hand our visitors have less than ideal experiences in public programs such as concert talks film screenings due to insufficient condition for adequate Acoustics lighting or professional level equipment in the community meeting room and other in exhibition spaces nearly half of our visitors 47% come to the museum to enjoy public programs of great variety such as concert artist Talks panel discussion and our workshops most of these take place in our community meeting room however this room has suffered from water damage and Floors walls and windows so I'm going to just go very quickly about the items let me let me interrupt a sec I yeah I'll try to move this faster for for the benefit but this is what the museum looks like right now the walls of the museum that are just M infected and there's a lot of water seepage coming in and the city brought in someone to say that the U to do an estimate on resealing the museum which is a process that needs to be done every few years and hasn't been done in 20 and the estimate and it's a city's estimate is $342,000 so continue go to the next Elvis uh the next is the AC equip equipment the AC equipment of the museum is has outlived its life uh it needs to be replaced um there was an event where we had a an well you were all there where was an event for uh Dorothy Thompson and um the AC all went out now it's leaking so it needs to be replaced now that's $127,000 then we have next is the uh the repairs and the fuel Gallery the roof when the roof was replaced the museum and they say that the roof in the museum was replaced it's not accurate part of the roof of the museum was replaced not all of it so the fuel uh Gallery the uh ceiling the roof was not replaced and the floor also needs work because of the damage from all the leaks of the of the ceiling that's another seven $20,000 uh the community meeting room the floor is coming up uh you've all been in there uh we've tried to fix it you know as make it look as best as we can but again the floor needs to all be replaced that's another $440,000 um and then we really need an emergency generator as a backup art you cannot and documents you cannot have without own without um temperature control so that's one of the items that we're also applying for and then the renovation of the um the bathrooms and the kitchens which is um in a terrible terrible shape and that's another $345,000 and you know the next is the uh the lighting system in the fuel gallery that needs to be redone and acoustical patterns put in that's another 49,000 and then the uh window shades going so and then you know false walls construction and other items but the the ultimate is that the total amount comes up to a million1 a million 179 a million 179 and this is where we're going to be presenting to the state and to you all and um and if we get the commitment we before we can go to the state we need the commitment from the city and that's what we're here for uh pleading today yeah so if I may just want to ask you a few questions I don't have an issue with the requests I just want to make sure that it's done properly so there isn't any issues later with procurement who's handling the procurement of of of of this supper say that will be handling the city will be handling the whole thing so then that s you want to come up cuz you're saying no no no she is she's handling the whole the whole good morning mayor Commissioners yes um so they are uh working on their Grant application um we still have to review the Grant application we're doing this right now in order to be able for them to have the resolution in hand to submit with the grant we still need to review all of this and then um whether the city is going to cond if the city conducts the work then it'll go through a regular procurement that we conduct to do the work if they're going to conduct the work then we we we don't want to it's a city's building it's a city's project it's it's so if if that's the case then it would go through a regular procurement uh process through Public Works and and and the maintenance uh the general services department so I've walked the site I saw the exterior u i saw the interior I've seen the issues I think everybody has it needs I've even walked on the roof uh when the previous director was there for his passing um this is a long time coming all I care about besides obviously preserving the building is that it gets done the appropriate way and that all procurements get followed correct you know you know and the city going tole that now that this now that we have on the record because I got two phone calls about how this was being handled second thing that I want to make sure okay and this is your you're going out to the grant thank you for that that's great you're going to be investing this money in a city asset I think it's beautiful um let's make sure that we have a sufficient amount of money in in a contingency because as projects you know project costs have gone up and down up and down up and down if they go in our favor and they go down great we have money for other things that we could use to restore the building to restore the building but if they go up make sure that we have a little bit of money maybe at 10% 7% 6% 5% in contingency just to cover an increase uh in labor or material cost or whatever that may be that's just my recommendation that's it we agree okay we agree the only uh we feel very comfortable with SE handling the process everybody feels comfortable with say and we have and we have had you know as long as she's involved I we don't want to have any responsibility for for any of one of the issues that I may have missed when I stepped out to speak to the police chief to meet with two residents was when we walked aside about a month and a half ago I mentioned that there was some electrical work in the plaza some downlighting that was that was uh missing that you had the wires exposed there that was something that we talked about also there was some so was some landscape lighting that was also not working and missing want to make sure that you consider that kind of stuff uh before because that could potentially be you know Big Ticket item it could be $10,000 $15,000 there were some issues there uh that that we brought to the attention of Staff the manager was there uh present um when we discuss uh those issues and and they were they were on the stairs as you go down you have some downlighting that is there and that those were missing and they weren't working there's no doubt that this building needs improvements and I'm totally on board with it I want to just clarify for the people that are watching that this money that they're asking for is coming from tdrs right yes ma' right so that's what we're going to be matching and maybe you can explain a little more about the state Grant like what are they requiring it's a match and what else what are the requirements yeah that's yes so H one important part about the this grant is that of course we have to provide proof that there is a matching fund available um and is one to one for let's say regular institution um and what is interesting also about that Grant is that it allows for not just repairs but also upgrades and not just things that relate to the structure or to fixtures Etc but also equipment so what we're thinking is is a combination because the city from my understanding of the the the way the tdrs and monies is to be used it has to do mostly with repair maintenance Etc is but the the the fact that the state allowed for the other you know upgrades renovation Etc then we that's something that we can that will allow us to cover H some of the basic NS that we have right now and and how long would how long would the application process take is there well time limit the the state Grant this state grant that we're applying for now is due on June 1st first and is for the year 24 25 I mean sorry 25th 26 so it's next year actually and the the state H fiscal year St in July July 1st so it will be starting July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2026 we're going to have to we're going to have to see if once we get the grant approval how the grant gets paid and then we're going to have to come back to the city and work on you know the funding or how it gets done we're going to have to come back when uh when we figure out how we get the money and how we're going to get the city money before we begin anything but we'll do that through uh through say then so through through the mayor uh just wanted to thank you all for coming here to do this presentation I know commissioner mandez and I have been uh pressing for a number of years to try to get the TDR funds uh to this Museum to take care of many many issues and uh the leaks and the windows and you know the rock parcity as well as all the other maintenance items that you have addressed and um you know this is one of our crown jewels as well as the cinema and all the um Cultural Arts areas that we have available in our city so I appreciate your stewardship um on this this front and the partnership together with commissioner Mendez and making sure that you know we take care of this this funding going forward we're we're very grateful uh we're very grateful and um we appreciate everything you're all doing um I understand that we're one part I understand this building has priorities I understand there's other things that have priorities but and that's why we're trying to do our best with a magic Grant and TR I just want to if you don't mind um since we had our legislative team here a little while ago and since this is a city property and we are dealing with the state on a grant issue um I don't know if the scope of service for our lobbyist team Ron books can perhaps provide if needed guidance or advice in Tallahassee to sort of help on the grant presentation and and the application I mean they do know Tallahassee better than pretty much anybody so if that resource is available even in terms of providing advice uh I would like I think we collectively would love to provide that knoow uh if needed to your group to your team I think like you said it's a team effort city property you you know what you all do is needed so why not expand the team even further that'd be great yeah in fact I want to add that this type of Grant H so it's not uncommon for this type of grant for cities and governments to apply because if if the you know a city like in this case owns the building h they give the possibility for the city or us to apply that's the the only important requirement is the matching funds and that is that is available there so the more help we need I mean the more we can get the better I just want to we all want to improve the odds of success all around so that might be a good step in the right direction to do that thank you Mr clerk do we have any comments from the community uh yes sir Maria Cruz mayor while she comes up can I just clarify one point the resolution as drafted does not um state that the funds the funding the matching funds would come from the tdrs it just provides a commitment by the city to fund up to the amount of the grant if it is um awarded it should come from the TD yeah I think that was we we haven't allocated the funds for TDR we were going to do it next Commission meeting because it's the second reading of the second amount of tdrs so we wanted to make sure that the the the ordinance had been got heard on second reading in order to then allocate the funds I don't foresee any issues at all so I at the end of day the funds are going to be allocated so I mean I I'm fine moving forward with that Elvis and I had a meeting um I guess about two months ago three months ago with u different opportunities to obtain grants and we've been going around and seeing what opportunities that were available and we do get a state Grant but we had a a meeting with them two of us with them to see what other opportunities there were and that's how this this came up okay all right I just before will I just want to invite you all and everybody you know here in the city that we're opening this Friday a new exhibition of Kora Gables artist it's the first time in the history of the museum that an exhibition is made about just artist residing in Kora Gables H so it's called Visions from inside the walls the idea of the you know the this sort of like Island that is so amazing K GES and the soora gave artist today so you're all invited 5:00 p pm. on Friday thank thank you very much Mr CL thank you Maria Cruz once again Mrs Maria Cruz and um Mr clerk I think my card says Mrs Maria Cruz it doesn't say Maria Cruz and I know it's very hard to pronounce the mrss period it's not a four-letter word there's three letters on a period And I think I made it very clear here thatth that is how I would like to be addressed and I think I'm entitled to us to be addressed like that and it's going to be an issue I guess um Emily post would say that I should say my name is Mrs Emilio Cruz Leon is that that's the better choice I will start using that from now on I will be called Mrs Maria Cruz whether the mayor likes it or not and I would appreciate if you pay attention all right good news well I can't he doesn't he refuses to pay attention so uh please don't start the clock till he pays attention the good news is there's some good things happening today and the museum very well deserves everything that you can do for it and I'm sure the most of the people will support it but please don't let it happen like it happened with City Hall that we had the money and then we didn't have the money okay this money is for the museum period the end made it make sure that he makes it there and it's not necessary to be pulled to do something else thank you Mr clerk that's it Mr Mayor perfect I'll entertain a motion I'll move it second CL we have commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor L yes all right moving on to item 2-1 thank you very much thank you have a wonderful day good afternoon sir thank you mayor and thanks everybody else to all the Commissioners that voted unanimously 5 to approve our homeowners board our Waterfront South homeowners board we're also called out there in the street the 25% Club because of our contributions to the city and it's been a 100 years since we've been recognized and we're not here to stir up the waters pun intended we're just here to be contributors and we appreciate your consideration in formatting and making this board a reality now there's two items before you 2-1 actually we sort of cornered vice mayor Anderson and she sort of agreed to be a sponsor of this one which is a name change from uh conflicting to another Waterway board I was told that you guys don't need a sponsor you can bring it yourselves thank you very much so that one is one that would like to have it approved uh at this time so we would we would need direction to bring bring back um legislation to accomplish that so I just want to make sure we don't have a we don't have a Mr clerk we don't have any comment correct not on this item sir just want to make sure now if I may on also uh make a statement on on resolution 2-2 do you mind if we finish 2-1 go ahead sir just want to make sure we finish that when we get so Madam City attorney you're telling us that we can't take action on the we you you could um well I'm hearing that the vice mayor would would be a sponsor of this this would require legislation to change the name and so we have to bring it back this is their request was what's on the agenda today I'm I I'm seeing that the commission is in favor of that so we can bring back the legislation for next meeting this again you know I hate to say the word I but this comes forward because I sponsored through this gentleman who brought me the idea to build this board does we really need more legislation to to change the name if if they want to change the name we just change the name I know you know kind of perun but it would probably one of the easiest things we could potentially you do all day I I don't disagree mayor but we'll bring it back next and my only question was if you were okay with it because this was your your idea so I don't have an issue I want to I want to do what makes you happy that's what I want to do so will you sponsor it does sound better soor it doesn't matter to me okay we can I just happened to be asked to come to the meeting and I was asked you can co-sponsor it you can whatever I was in a hot seat I just want you to do the I just want your group to get together because it's important and you make a very good point about 25% club and there's a lot of information that the intent of building and putting this together and we worked on this for a few years is to Garner information and get these very active very intelligent people who want to serve involved in the community so that we can listen to certain areas that in my opinion are neglected why because they're behind they're behind Gates and a lot of people say hey look they're behind Gates they choose to be there they don't need anything from the city and that's farthest from the truth so and I love what you guys are doing you have had two meetings and I appreciate it you're taking your you're taking over your time everybody's super busy and you want to put together an action plan thank you appreciate that very much and also uh I'd like to see some of you attend those meeting as well for your inputs that you have Mr Mayor and so has Vice May Anderson so what we're going to do is madam City attorney you we're going to bring it back to the next commission meeting where we're going to bring the name change back okay perfect but we don't need to take action as resolution no I I'm we're good all right so we'll go on to 2.2 sir thank you on 2.2 I like uh instructions from the commission to remand it back to our board because we need some fine-tuning on language and some more definition of the procedures of how gate houses work so ID like to have the uh the issue brought back to our board and then it comes back again like a boomerang to you so so if I may I know people's feelings get hurt when I use the word I but I'd like to have this gentleman come up here because we been working on this see I didn't use the word I the word years for 10 years happens to be that nobody was in the commission for the last 10 years so would you this is since Craig lean days sir will you join us please I just want to make sure as as The Advocate that we've been working on this for so many years and now that you're working hand inand with our dear friend gonal Sania here I want to make sure that we bring this back for a final Landing that we just don't don't defer this and then we don't bring this back this I'm ready to move today if I need to move that's how that's how I'm certain but I want to respect Mr sonavi I want to respect the police chief and I want to understand how we can bring this in so it's effective so it's effective are you okay with that yes I'm okay with that and whatever we need to do to work out and meet uh you know on the details of implementing this it's fine Miles morono by the way uh 6230 Dolphin Drive Coral Gables and it's good to be here and thank you for serving all of you um yes going back to about a decade ago with Craig and then Miriam up until the time she left we've had numerous meetings uh I think we can wrap this up here um and if it means whatever it means if you all choose to do that today or to defer it either way whatever details forthcoming I think we can accomplish and uh keep it simple because at the end of the day we don't want to change the ordinance it's 100% stays as it is we just want to have the balance of ours excuse me sir can you point the microphone up please yes thank thanks Billy sorry so the balance of hours is it that's all that's it nothing else changes nothing so like I told you and I told the City attorney I've been working on this for with you for years I'm ready to be a sponsor on this item I will be the sponsor of this item moving forward but I just want to make sure that we have the board crosses all the te's do dots all the eyes the police chief addresses any concerns and we bring it back to the commission is that okay yes yes and with with out of respect to the Chief and to uh the City attorney and assistant City attorney we can you know we can go forward meeting and work in those details out that's fine okay so we are remanding this back to the board perfect we're good anything else no for the of the order and thank you for being part of this obviously a big Public Safety ISS it's my pleasure thank you very much thank you Mr s thank you very much I appreciate you as always thank you um let's go on we have a Time certain item at 11:00 and they have been more than patient I apologize so we have a Time certain agenda item E1 E2 E3 E5 E6 and E7 which are time certain mayor if you'll indulge me so I can read them the record and we can consolidate them for purposes of the public hearing E1 is in ordance of the city commission amending the future land use map of the city of C Gable's comprehensive plan pursuant to zoning code article 14 process section 14- 213 comprehensive plan text and map amendments and smallscale Amendment procedures from commercial lowrise intensity to commercial highrise intensity for Lots 8 through 21 less the West half of Lot 8 block 29 Craft section together with that portion of the 20ft ploted alley lying east of lots 11 and 19 of said block 29 Coral Gables Florida providing for repeat your Provisions cability clause and providing for an effective date e2s and nor to the city commission making zoning District boundary changes pursuing to zoning code article 14 process section 14-2 2112 zoning code text and map amendments for Lots 8 through 21 L the West half of Lot 8 block 29 Craft section from mix use one District to mix use 3 District providing for repeated provision cability clause and providing for an effective date E3 is in norance of the city commission approving the vacation of a public Alleyway pursuing the zoning code article 14 process section 14-21 abandonment and vacations and city code chapter 62 article a vacation abandonment and closure of streets easements and alleys by private owners and the city application process providing for vacation of of the 20ft wide alley which is approximately 155 ft in length lying between Lots 12 through 18 and lots 11 and 19 in Block 29 Craft section Coral GES Florida providing for repeal provision severability clause and providing for an effective date E5 is a resolution of the city commission approving receipt of transfer of development rights pursuing to zoning code article 14 process section 14- 204. 6 review and approval of use of tdrs on receiver sites for the receipt and use of tdrs for a mixed use project referred to as Pon Park residences on the property legally described as l through 21 less the West half of Lot 8 block 29 Craft section together with that portion of the 20ft platted alley lying east of lots 11 and 19 of said block 29 Coral GA Florida including required conditions providing for repeal Provisions cability clause and providing for an effective date E6 is a resolution of the city commission approving mix use site plan encroachment review pursuant to zoning code Artic 14 process section 14-23 conditional uses for a proposed mix use project refers to as pwns Park residences on the property legally described as Lots 8 through 21 less the West half of Lot 8 block 20 9 Craft section together with that portion of a 20-ft platted alley line east of lots 11 and 19 of said block 29 Coral Florida including required conditions providing for repeat your provisions of varability clause and providing for an effective date and E7 is a resolution of the city commission approving the tentative plat entitled pwns Park residences pursuing to zoning code article 14 process section 14- 210 platting subdivision being a replat of 42543 Ft into a single tract of land on the property legally described as Lots 8 through 21 L the West half of Lot 8 block 29 Craft section together with that portion of the 20ft platted alley lying east of lots 11 and 19 of said block 29 together with a 1,318 ft portion of University Drive that runs north of the Malaga Avenue rideway and west of the ponon Boulevard rideway and dedication of 1,725 squ Ft Coral Gables Florida including required conditions providing for rep provision severability clause and providing for an effective date all individuals who will be testifying um in in these matters should be sworn in by the city those who will be presenting the item please stand and raise your right hand do you who are affirmed the testimony you'll provide today will be the truth and nothing but the truth thank you okay Mr K do we have any public comment no Mr Mayor okay I'd like to close the public comment if possible um Madam City attorney in regards to the matter of the vacation of the alley can you provide some clarity on the record I had two residents that contacted me asking me about uh in regards to the vacation what was what was allowed by the law could we could we sell the alley uh to the applicant and I wanted to put on the record because this is not the first time that I get this question and I think there's a little bit of confusion uh in regards to the law and also what can we do in regards to a city when it comes to the vacation of an alley you know what what what what what res you know restrictions and what what are we confined to in regards to the city and why is that reason so mayor as we've discussed um the city does not own title and fee simple to alleys and other rights of way um that's why we go through the vacation and abandonment process for for alleys or rights away when there is a request um alleys are dedicated for the public so the city doesn't hold title to them but we are the stewards of the of the rights of way and so pursuant to the process to request vacation or abandonment staff reviews and if the you know the the right of way is no longer being used for a public purpose there's no need to continue to use it for a public purpose or it hasn't been used for that public um or intent purpose and um and if it meets the other standards of review then staff would um recommend um approval as I know staff has done in this case um or supported approval um but again we cannot um demand a purchase price because we do not own title to the rights of way okay good afternoon sir Mr Mayor Madam vice mayor Commissioners good afternoon for the record Javier Fernandez here on behalf of RC Acquisitions KP ponds and J J J&P design excuse me the owners of the S your property I will be brief today uh you had a full presentation from us if you have any questions I'm happy to take them uh there was one uh question that was posed to us I think at the close of the last hearing um which related to possibly working with the uh historical preservation Association of Coral Gables I'm happy to report that we have I've spoken to G carbonel we've agreed to work on locating a historic marker somewhere in the RightWay uh near the project what exactly we are going to to recognize it maybe the history of the craft section or or the historic master plan that'll be the subject for for conversations so we like to profer that as an additional condition I guess it would be the resolution probably exhibit e related to the site plan um and with that I believe that addressed the one open comment I think that we had from the last hearing I want to thank all of you for your patience for accommodating us last meeting at 6 o' allowing the public to speak uh and I just want to share for the record we are in agreement with all of the uh recommendations from staff and we have worked very closely and I want to thank the city manager planning staff the City attorney and her staff as well for the work we did on the conditions related to the park improvements that were profer the last time we are in agreement with all conditions that uh a company uh exhibit the resolution in exhibit e so with that any questions I'm happy to address them I just want to add one statement because you just covered at the end you know I want to commend you and I want to commend Mr Morris um for for your efforts you got my vote because of the very simple fact that you committed to spending $2 million on on the park and that you we through negotiation we were able to get a commitment from your client to ensure that any cost overruns in regards to the $5.3 million budget for the city that you would address as long as it's obviously within you know confines of of of the design and we don't ask for you know anything over the top but that to me was pivotal in getting my vote because it it ensured to me your commitment you brought the you brought the building down but to me investing in a city asset like the park finally getting it done and ensuring that it gets done in the private sector for much cheaper for much cheaper than I expected um is going to be something that again um is going to really be a driving force in that Community because it's going to make an open space that for so long has you know been screaming for attention and could be so sorely used by so many people in this sorely needed to be used by so many people in this community that you know your commitment to ensuring that anything any cost over runs over the 5.3 million and your $2 million commitment was was was basically the game changer and the deciding factor in me voting in favor of the project so I wanted to commend you cuz jav you made you made it happen so thank you thank you Mr Mayor and again just to be clear we will be bringing back uh an agreement these conditions kind of late provide an outline yes for reimbursement agreement so you all are clear we'll be working with your City attorney to and staff to draft up a formal reimbursement agreement which you all have a chance to review and approve at a subsequent meeting but thank you for the compliment sir no all well done if there's nothing else I'll entertain a motion unless you have some more El just wanted to once again thank you for working with the historic preservation Association of Coral Gables uh I think for them the vacation of the alley was a matter of concern I think this is a way to kind of pay uh homage to the the vision George Merrick had and I'm glad that you were able to sit down with them I know they're they're very happy that that something will will happen there that that'll pay homage to to the original Vision either the craft section or the entire master plan so I really appreciate that also you know one Echo the mayor's comments Pon Circle Park has been something that's been needed uh for for renovations in that area for many years and every year we seem to be putting money in that bucket and the the that line keeps getting further away from us this is an opportunity that we had as a city to to make it happen sooner rather than later and really make our City Central Park what it should be uh and a place where people want to go out to um so I appreciate the openness that that your client had to do that and the process that was followed to get here because I think a a lot has to be said about the first iteration of this project and how the community was totally against it and the current iteration of the project where the community was entirely behind it and I think that showed your clients's desire to work with the community on something that they were happy with that they were going to be living close to and they could identify as a marker for what Coral Gables should look like and we really appreciate that thank you sir I just want to add that um echo my colleagues here uh what stood out to me is we're watching the process obviously the first time um the a project was brought forward we all learned a lot in the process and the fact that this chamber was filled with residents who live right there that live and breed that area not just supportive of the project demanding that we support the project which is rare I hope going forward in the future every and all projects that come to the city whoever is involved take a step back look closely what you all did how you learned from the obstacles and the issues that you faced and how you came and you got a 50 vote and you had overwhelming support and it wasn't I how to describe it it wasn't just uh sugar coating or little bells and whistles you really engaged the community they they were involved they they feel it's their project so I encourage all projects in the future not only yours obviously but others take a look at what was done here and try to replicate that process because going forward I think that'll make Coral Gables a much greater Community much greater City because we're all on the same page so thank you for being part of that thank you for your comments you so I'll just Echo some of those comments but add to it because two years ago you know the the folks that came in and supported were so against the project and the most important thing that happened was the developer listened and instead of being development as bad for the area became development is great for the area and it wasn't just a tweak of the project it started completely over we met first with the residents and then it came together from the ground up so that ability to turn and change the approach and the way that you you address the residents and listening to what they want and bringing back something that they are not only happy about but are excited that it's going to be coming into this community and improving the area is just remarkable um I mean if there's no further comments I'll be proud to move this forward second I move it we have a motion on E1 in a second I'm sorry who second it thank you commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes moving on to E2 can I have a motion do we already have a a motion E2 E2 did you move yeah do we have a second yet you not I'll second I know you guys like we play we we can play pickle ball back and Marie's back it's not it's not pingpong anymore commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes moving on to E3 can I have a mo move a second vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes mayor L yes moving on to E5 I'll move it second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes by vice mayor Anderson yes mayor log yes moving on to E6 I'll move it second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes moving on to E7 I'll move it second commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor loo yes thank you very much we look forward to getting started on this wonderful project with all of you have a good day thank you thank you thankk you sir congratulations moving on to item E4 ordinance on first reading E4 in ordance of the city commission providing for text amendments to the city of C Gable official zoning code Article 15 notices section 15-12 notice to require door hangers as an additional notification for required public information meetings for multif family and mixed use projects providing for repeated provision severability clause codification and providing for an effective date Jenifer Garcia P official good afternoon um so this is coming back to we went to P zoning I believe it was last Wednesday May 8th or the week before May 8th I think it was past May um there were some concerns we discussed at last meeting about um you know security uh also as far as the um I guess the result for developers have to pay for this extra um type of notification um so the vote was 51 I believe um not in support of it but here we have first reading we did Implement and put in some uh language about the 48 hours after the meeting happens that they would be required to remove those as a an attempt to um make the security issue um not an issue anymore but um are here first reading so let me know if you have any comments I think before second reading we're going to meet with um Chief Hudak hopefully and his team and really um fine-tune the process of this and letting them know when it goes forward having the applicant notify I guess police and make sure making sure that they're coordinate as far as um what's being posted at these properties yeah this is something we spoke about um during last commission meeting and I think there was support on the commission but let me know if if anything's changed I guess so my question for you my support hasn't changed my question for you is why did why did the Planning and Zoning Board overwhelmingly opposed it was it just was it the same the same emails that some of us had received about you know the hangers being there and the concerns over security I I heard I heard that concern from some members and I heard other concerns as as being a burden on developers that's that's kind of two themes I got I heard that too I that it was putting more work on developers I mean it's just within the what, foot range at times, 1500 ft but usually 1,000 yeah I know I mean sorry sorry M no I mean no no go ahead I mean we have we have little hangers for tree trimming we have little hangers for Yard Service we have hangers for lots of different things that come on on properties and um one of the complaints that you know you hear from folks a lot of times is they didn't receive the city's mailed notice and as well demonstrated by the full tray of return letters that the city had mailed out you know I see that there's a need for this because people aren't getting noticed so the intent uh prior uh amendments that um you know I sponsored in for making sure that tenants were notified on Miracle Mile or something coming in because the owner who might be in another state or a different city is not telling their tenants about what they plan on doing with the property or developing a hotel or whatnot and attendants need to know so I'm in support for those reasons uh I think the 48h hour removal period is reasonable um um you know these this is not for every single project that comes through the city just the 20,000 ft or more projects if it was for something below that then I could see where it would be an owner's burden on on everybody on on people with smaller projects so one of the items that they mentioned was that these door hangers are going to be picked up who is that still is that still part of this legislation or the the door hanger is not going to be picked up after the meeting date wayed today within 48 hours after the meeting it be on the applicant to kind of survey so how are we how are we going to hold these people accountable what's the plan for that so that when they install the door hanger how is there some sort of document that needs to be sign that you know with that that they're being yes they're already required to have a sign affidavit whenever they mail notices it be part of the same sign affidavit that they've comp complied with this just want to make sure because if you know we did get a few phone calls on the issue I don't have a problem with it the more notice the better um but at the end of the day there there are concerns from residents and there are concerns obviously from the board what I would add is that it's been working for Parks uh very well for their Community meetings uh in fact at the literacy Festival I heard from some people who had found out about a community meeting on Philips park because of the door hanger so I think it's uh it's a way that we can get the information out there until we can improve technology so that people will be able to see it I think this is this is the way to go uh we just finished complimenting a group on their efforts to engage the community on a project that impacts their neighborhood I think this is right along that same theme of doing it I'm glad between last meeting and this meeting it looked at the issues tweaked it took a lot of things into consideration but this is yet another step forward to engage the community so they feel that they're not on the outside looking in but they're inside with all of us um addressing these issues this is a great step to to fix that communication barrier that a lot of residents are complaining about so I think this is a very big step forward a motion I'll move it second Mr Mayor before the vote is taken I have a member of the public requesting to speak on the item waiting for you I was waiting for both of you Mr Mayor Mrs Maria Cruz that's what I said ma'am my you know everything about me 100% support for this Mr clerk vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor logo yes moving on to H6 H you said as in Hotel yes ma'am H6 H6 is a resolution of the city commission authorizing the application for a matching Grant from the Florida Department of Transportation local agency program for the doto fountain Improvement project and authorizing the execution of contracts for same Mr clerk are there any comments no Mr Mayor pretty self-explanatory can I get a motion move it second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes yes mayor logo yes moving on to H7 H7 is a resolution of the city commission authorizing the city manager to execute an interlocal agreement between the city of CES in Miami day County for the maintenance of decorative pavers and irrigation conduits installed by Miami day County under an intersection Improvement project located at the intersection of coralway and Anderson Road Mr clerk do you have any public comment no Mr Mayor I'll move it second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes mov on to h8 h8 is a resolution of the city commission relating to Security Services assessments within the sunrise Harbor security guard special taxing district estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing the finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice in connection thereof providing for severability and providing for an effective date Mr clerk do we have any any um any comment no Mr Mayor move it second um I think she has a presentation not a presentation just if to answer any questions excuse me Diana Gomez Finance director what are the changes explain this yeah yep I can tell you in a second I'm sorry had to run upstairs but you had to make sure you got your steps in exactly okay um so there is no change in the proposed methodology however the fiscal year 25 assessment rate is proposed to increase from 3,00 $345 to $3600 per improved lot and from 15727 to $1,800 for vacant Lots this increase is needed to fund Services provided including increases in Security Services can you tell me again what was the increase and and not from what to where the actual amount the increase is $565 46 this is a significant increase and you're saying this happened why so the special taxing districts provide the services that are um uh required per required per the ordinance to provide the services and so those Services they have increases throughout the years they're usually iners because um for example we're setting the rate today the for October 1 starting next year oh next fiscal year and so we don't even know what the actual costs are going to come out in the current year for the remainder of the current year so always in AAR so there have been um increases in security cost Services rates increase there's increases in all kinds of services and so those fees um are passed through to the security guard District so the the residents of the district have agreed to pay the cost of the services provided if if I may man Finance director these are all private contracts um well you have the sure and we have so we have we have we have a company GMS who does the managing of all the special taxing districts for us and they um contract the services of the security guard Services the any repairs or maintenance to the guard houses any um uh janitorial anything Landscaping anything that's happening there they contract with them and they pass through the you know they they send us the the invoices to pay in so we pay it with the revenues generated from the special taxing district so the city general fund or anything like that is not paying for any of this this is fully funded from the special taxing district revenues that are assessed on their tax bills every year so we're not UPF fronting the money so we we do upfront the we do upfront the money from the special taxing district fund so um we have uh um so in some cases not in all cases in most I guess there's 12 however many there are I think it's about 12 5 six seven eight yes so out of 12 um as of 9:30 2023 um nine of them are in Surplus positions three of them where we have had to front some fundings because of the timing of construction so one of them for instance there was timing of construction of a guard house we always um the direction that has been when we assume these special taxing districts we incur the costs and then we get the payments from the um special taxing districts we assess the levels and some of them when they have a surplus what we do is we may lower the rates for one year to kind of eat into that Surplus because we don't need to hold a surplus of that level um and some of them when there's construction there's unforeseen costs things like that that you can't uh necessarily um predict in so in so far in advance so we front the money to construct it and then we recoup it over a couple of years from the special taxing district payments the direction that has been given from the start of this has always been to try not to significantly increase the rates to the residents if we can kind of move towards that that's what we try to do and so but we always will recoup the funds from the tax rates that are charged to them and so in terms of the funds the funding total for the special taxing district has an overall Surplus so it's not it's just it's a receivable on our books until we get the tax revenue after assessing it does that make sense I think I think I think we're we're we have to explain is that this is something that's been going on for years yes and that the simple this is nothing new and the simple fact this gentleman who we've known for a long time is the one that's been running the program this is every single one of these organizations in our city as you can tell the different the different locations their board meets and they say we want this amount of security cuz it's there's not mandatory HOAs no there's not but they meet but they meet in most cases and they have conversations in regards to Landscaping in regards to beautification in regards to security and this is where it goes back and forth and they have they say okay last year we spent a little bit too much we're seeing a cost increase so these are this is the way you get to the numbers and they deal with this gentleman here and they come up they come up with a budget a strategy correct they come up with a budget and strategy and this is basically the city has to pass this resolution to continue moving forward to offer the services that they requested entities have requested yeah and if they for example next year they if they're unhappy with the service they contact this gentleman and they say listen we're not happy with the janitorial services at the basketball courts for example correct I don't think there's a basketball court but I get whatever whatever you want at the pool whatever it is whatever whatever common area they have and then they just move forward and they move forward to addressing it the following year to make sure that they either cut or increase Services depending on the need of the community may can I just can I just add so these are security guard districts um or Security Services districts some of them are roing some of them are are guard houses and their services have been established by legislation so those are the services but then with the the changes in the in the budgeting or in the the the assessments have to do with changes in the cost to provide those Services is 500 the most one any of them are going to increase no is there one that's going to increase maybe 3,000 yes okay can you explain to me how that wasn't budgeted for so so and I going start and then I'll turn it over to Paul if necessary so in that particular guard house that that's a brand new dis uh brand new guard house construction where we um we started to assess in order to uh create and build a guard house so we collected what we believed based the estimates based on WE collected for 2 years a certain amount and then we reduced the amount thinking that that would have been sufficient it was not so the construction was uh came in over about $120,000 and then on top of that because of the as I understand it because of the permit that was required because there was a road closure it required that we provide 247 Security Guard Services two guards so those costs were never contemplated that all happened this past year so we didn't know about it in time remember I'm now starting for next years so when we set the rate at that time we didn't know that that was going to be the cost involved so we had to incur it the district was created for the purpose of creating this guard building this guard house and the residents had agreed to cover the cost of the of associated with the guard house and so um we went forward with construction um because that is the directive of the ordinance to do the so the residents were notified that their increase could be up to $3,000 so right now they are we are passing the maximum rate that we can charge and then before when the trim notice comes out it will be on there that's where they will be noticed we will also send them a letter since there is an increase we are required to send them a letter to say hey your assessment this upcoming year that's going to be tax on your November tax bill will increase by $3,000 so yes they will get that notice how long would it take us to cover that for the city to cover that yep so if for that one um if I needed if I wanted to recoup every the expenditures to date I would have to raise it by $10,000 a little over $10,000 again the direction that I have been given from when we started this was to not make such significant increases in any one year and that is the direction that I have been working with and so it would take about three and a half years for us to recoup that um for us to recoup it but again the general fund is not covering this this is being funded it's a receivable on our books and um uh the the overall special taxing district fund has a surplus in total do you think you can provide me after this meeting with a comparative budget to compare to to last year's budget what was exactly budgeted to what's really happened sure please sure thank you absolutely and I I think we would have all benefited from having that information before coming here to just vote I know in the past a lot of times these changes aren't a whole lot so it's easy to vote on these but a $3,000 change is a substantial change even though I if we're in a rear 10,000 per property that is a problem uh but it should be addressed with those homeowners before we vote on something to approve a $3,000 increase it's not pocket change that that's a substantial change and I agree it is a special taxing district they agreed to be part of it they agreed to create it at the time but you're expecting us to increase these people's monthly or Ann annual payment by $3,000 you know that's something they haven't budgeted for so so I think I would like to see the background on all this even this one that that just came up from 334 to 3600 it's almost a 20% increase M so I know the costs are going up I know that there are things that that have changed obviously the staffing has uh expenses have also changed but a presentation on each one of these I think is merited going forward and if you could send me the same information you're sending commissioner Castro I'd appreciate it if I may if I may can you give us some background on how the residents were notified and how this came about yes for the record I'm Paul Winkle John vice president of GMS uh Municipal Services the the gate particularly is obviously the biggest topic and I'm well well aware that that's something we should all be sensitive too uh backing up real quick the residents that are the lead in that have been with me every step of this project they're well aware of it I asked him Point Blank how do you feel about you know another 3,000 bucks he said don't even think about it we do not want to drop service so that's a so going back this District was uh initially created in 2016 that's when the budget was set so a construction project set in 2016 that finished in 2023 of December this last December being up 30% is a miracle actually in a good way it just reality of our funnel of setting this year's or next year's assessment collides today it's your first real opportunity to to hear about it to look about it to to understand it because it it just funneled in this late in the game and as we've talked about through email when residents have contacted me and we've gone back and forth through Diana these budgets are constantly in flux when you're talking about especially a guard house which is a pretty significant large ticket item yeah the residents I just want to make sure because it's being made seem here as if the residents are going to be caught off guard they're not going to be caught off guard they're 100% aware of what their fee is going to be uh this is something that's been going on for years they know before this comes to commission for ratification that their fee is going to be in the ballpark of you know this to this this is what the numbers are going to be and why it's there's a reason why there there's for example in this case here's the number for the guard house you have to provide the formula how it's going to be paid back and it's got to be done through the special taxing district because it's the mechanism that's in place legally to be able to deliver on What the residents want for they're the ones asking for this we're not asking for this this is not a city-run project this is a resident driven investment in their Community I just want to make sure that that's something because it's made being made seem as if it's as if as if the residents are potentially being caught off guard and you know this is not something that but it's not this is like they're driving they're driving this are they being CAU are they being so yes and so not caught off guard so this is the process that we follow in order to set the maximum millage rate today we set the rate I'm telling you that this is the cost that is NE necessary for us to recoup the funds based on the process processes and the procedures that we have been doing since we absorb these um taxing districts we come back in September September 13th I believe is the date where we finalize it so from now until September we need by Statute to send this information to the residents to let them know but if you don't set the maximum rate we have to because the C if we don't set the maximum rate the rates from last year stand and then we won't recoup the funds that have already been spent okay so we set the maximum rate today we go through the process process of the trim notices that the residents get the letters that I mentioned earlier that we will have to send out to let them know and then we have a public hearing September 13th September 12th 12th I'm sorry it Chang it's all around that it's always around the same date that we come back and we have the final hearing and that's the rate that gets put at um on the actual tax bill now we cannot increase the rate at that point in time today we set the maximum rate that could technically be set and then should you need to change it downward we can but I'm giving you the rates that we have talked about that we believe are necessary in order for us to recoup the funds in the manner that we have been doing for services that have already been provided and if you look at this District prior to this past year there was no deficit in this we didn't know the there were unforeseen costs that happened with this one that's going up by 3,000 that I'm talking about you know if we want to recoup it all at once which I don't know if some cities do that or most cities tend to recoup it little by little to not harm the residents so much we would have to this year increase it by $10,000 $10,100 Madam director that's the point when he just said he had a conversation with with with the residents that he represents and said look this is this is what we're for this is the forecast this is what we're seeing these are the costs these are the deficits that we're having this is what it's going to cost to do what you envision over the next 2 to 3 4 5 years depending on whatever the scope is and they have to forecast moving forward to be able to address it you you ask you ask you ask the individuals and they make a decision do either we take one bite of this or do we take you know we divy it up in quarters you know in thirds how do we address the project or the outstanding debt I just want to make sure that we're clear that not every resident is spoken to I don't we don't have I just want to make sure that the record is clear I just you know because somebody say well I never heard of that before I understand if you're not involved in in the different meetings that happen I can't necessarily but I am required to send out a notice to let them know that it will be increasing so they will know what will H what will be increasing yes sir yes so I I obviously knew who to talk to right away to get a to gauge the temperature of the water and and that was my earlier comment my next strategy was to pull this project a piece by piece apart and verify that every possible thing that could have been done was done I'm very confident to report to you there was not a thing that could have been done to make that happen any differently the the next part is I always go face first into these problems I will meet with any Resident which I always do who wants to go through any of those details and I I'll let them you know go through it happy to share every detail and use my time per you know on this on this behalf to say Hey you know this is what it's going to be how would you we can cut the budget we can reduce it there was a time when the county put a cap on it and they lifted the gate arms and they pulled the guards because their finances they didn't want to catch up a big mistake and they were way past that and the last piece of this one that's really important to understand there's only 49 payments and some of them are vacant Lots which are half so you don't get a lot of money off of each unit and that's really the divisor issue in this one the good news is construction's awesome people are building like crazy and this year right around I think it's June I get June first I get the lot count what what is new uh improved Lots versus vacant lots that that's a pretty big jump if a couple of those swing onto the tax roll but that'll happen so I think the newest one for example that's the best way to become a little bit more educated on the topic is h18 h18 was one that I worked on for 5 years with Coco Plum you were there Coco Plum phase one it was all new additional lighting they took a vote you had to take a vote on the proposed scope you had some people that were in favor of it some people that were against it at the end of the day it met the threshold to be able to commence a special taxing disc District the project was completed and this is the outcome ratifying it every single year to make sure that we continue to fund the lighting the energy that's required to pay for to pay for that lighting that the organization that the organization wanted that doesn't mean by the way that doesn't mean that someone who is a big proponent of the lighting project is not going to move out of Coco Plum and there's going to be somebody who's going to move in and say hey I don't want this anymore but the works already been done either they they funded it they funded it in a form that you have to pay back that debt right so the special taxing district still continues has continues to have to exist in one form or another yeah and this might seem flip but the most difficult thing I deal with that's the latest one we've done right I think yeah is I I have to fend off the residents wanting to pay for everything literally they they the Banyon Drive have offered to pay $300,000 in landscaping upgrades they want to rip it out and redo it uh like that's just that's reality of these projects um just so you have a good perspective so I guess my question this year this is the process we need to vote on this today anyway for next year would it be possible to send out a notification to the residents in these areas prior to this meeting informing them I don't do we normally send them the financials of the special taxing district what the expenses were for the previous here absolutely okay I personally when does when does that go out uh well this situation is a little unusual ual they they got end of year financials at the September 30th financials they all receive those I usually do quarterly uh so I would have done a February March but that's when this process started uh I gave those out to most of the residents the Banyon people we we had to wait a minute you know that it really caught us a little bit too but that's how so that's up by email uh yes yeah I so I I guess my question would you be able to send something out prior to this meeting letting them know what the potential changes so that when we vote on this on first guess right I I want to make sure they're aware cuz you know some people may be okay and the people you're talking to may be okay with the $3,000 change but others may not I want to make sure that they're aware and any issues that could could arise and where there needs to be a change we can try to get it alleviated before we get into the process as much as possible absolutely okay but I mean even you know like I said we were I know you have your limitations what I like to see it is one of the weirdest Finance processes in government that we making decisions from 18 months from now and things are very limited on what you can actually use the money for yes words and I do it for 300 clients in the State of Florida and it's never makes sense is there any deficits in any of these districts so there are as I mentioned before there was there's three out of the 12 that are currently in a deficit um right so as of 9:30 um and um so what the the one that we talked about the the security the $3,000 increase it's going to take us about three three and a half years to recoup that if we just do the $3,000 increase um the other two um uh the other two they're as of like May um one of them the deficit is $3,000 I'm not it it'll flush itself out the other one um as of May it was about $1 199,000 $220,000 that too will probably flush itself out in terms of uh the the increase that we're doing here and in the next year's um uh you know when collecting the the fees so that's why I am doing some increases in order to be able to recoup that over time additionally there's there's there's um uh districts that have surpluses that in the current year we had reduced their rates last year for now so that way we can eat into their surpluses and then we have to now go back up because it was a a one-year decrease or maybe a twoyear decrease and I would have stated that on the record last year the year before that this is a temporary decrease in order to just start eating up the fund balance and some of my budgets that are attached to the item I say the deficit will be funded with available surpluses because we don't want to hold big def big surpluses and then there's things that like so for instance we have a new guard house um yeah The Gables by the seat it's brand new it had we you know we it's brand new it's come to us they expect us to make uh improvements they expect us to replace equipment and do all these things so yes we have to incur that expense initially and then recoup it because that is what the promise was made when we were taking it over that we were going to treat them better than the county had done so that did involve putting in the the additional funds up front and then getting the recouping of the funds but at the same time the direction had been given do not increase it so high well at this point this one the it's a significant increase I can't justify oh not doing an increase on some of these because then we're just going to make the the whole bigger and for what purpose they've agreed to these Services Services have been provided if they don't want these Services they can they can abolish the TA could you provide me with a financial statement for each district so they're yes they're in not the financial statement but the budget is attached to the each there is a budget that tells us what the revenues are expected what the expenditures are spent and whether or not we're going to have a balanced budget or we're going to have a deficit or we are um or we are um sorry um or we are uh eating up um eating up the deficit or if we are trying to replenish a deficit that exists but let me ask you a quick question just sir that I think we unless there's any other further questions I've only had one person in 11 years years come to me and ask me a question not even a complaint it was a question about an issue how often do you get complaints about the monies and things like that uh really never had a financial reaction to be honest we' we've been pretty pretty good about that because of just the the way we've done it we built up a surplus they bought they got all their projects paid for everybody was super happy financially speaking complaints are a completely different conversation yeah I'm not talking about complaints about whether somebody likes probably they're not Financial like whether about about them having to pay into you know it's not that's not a typical reaction yeah to be honest yeah it's typically how many more services can I talk you into that's the nature how can I do you know alarms what more can you do for us and that has been they have petitioned to do additional services in several of these districts and these and these and you have you know financially audited accounts everything is done professionally so I've only gotten one one kind of complaint but it really wasn't a complaint it was not about the payment it was about the scope of work that was that they weren't that they just didn't agree with it and I said but listen but this has already been voted on I can't remove you from the special taxing district this is not the way it works and you were you help me kind of navigate those Waters along with the legal team explained to this person that listen we have to move forward it was the entire Community voted for it yeah it's highly constrained in that respect can I make one comment uh just I want to let you know that everything your Finance director said is absolutely accurate about one thing I lean a little further than she likes me to into security equipment particularly cameras yes we found out really hard that if you don't have the the best possible image you can't execute uh the the legal process and we've had great successes and the detectives I was on the chat today with FWC and the detectives working on the boat incident because we have cameras and the quality of those cameras had to all be brought up to the this what I call the police city of cor's police standard which is what we do and I know that a lot of people live on the water there and a lot of people who live in those communities the entire commission knows when you talk about Public Safety they listen we'll spend the money it's not an issue about that they they want they want extra redundancy I call it in elastic so we have a motion on f8 excuse me f8 mayor h8 just uh you know and I I'll make the motion but thank you for attaching the budget sheets for each and every one of these you know I've looked at them I think it's fairly um clear uh you know what the desires are of each one of these districts you know from Landscaping utilities um and everything else it takes to to run these districts these are folks that want the extra security and I think they deserve the extra security and are willing to pay for the extra security and if they have a problem with it uh I'll hear a complaint but I've never heard of a complaint so that's that's my job was this was this audited um so in what sense audited um I so we um the it's how can I say it we it's not a I don't know if you have um extra uh Auditors come out and audit your the books because the books are have you had a request for an audit right the books are kept with um uh with GMS the day-to-day books they provide us their financial statements and we go through it um we know the amount of money that we get in from the county we know the expenditures that they request to get reimbursed for um tracked twice basically right um but a financial statement audit no because there it's not an entity they're individual districts so they revenues and expenditures so it's not and all of this is provided to the to the residents that's it yes sir they're all there it's a moment you know the click away for all the residents so I mean and and again in terms of like you know obviously my accounting staff they we we make sure that everything is better balancing and that we agree and then if we have questions we work with um gms's accountants and we make sure that we're in agreement um so but an actual audit I don't want to mislead you to think that there's an actual audit that's done it's not an it's it's we don't do individual audits for these yeah does I don't see it to qualify but you know if we want to do something then we're just going to have to charge the districts more money in order to C to to pay for an audit the city should not incur cost associated with providing these Services they are solely borne by the residents who have chosen to make these districts happen so we should not incur additional cost for the purpose so I would have to add a line item in each of them to say let's get a financial audit in there and we can if it if that is the will of the commission I will happily start that process and the residents get literally a check registry yeah they can go through every expense anytime they want I have that on speed dial so to speak to them I'll second I've never got a complaint so we have a we have a motion in a second all right commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes moving on to H9 H9 is a resolution of the city commission relating to Security Services assessments within the Snapper Creek Lake security guard special taxi and District estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing the fin is director to prepare and updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice in connection thereof providing for cability and providing an effective date Mr clerk do we have any any comments no sir a motion I'm sorry who second it Anderson Menendez okay vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor Lo yes h10 h10 is a resolution of the city commission relating to Security Services assessments within the pine Bay Estate Security Guard Special taxi and District estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing the finance director to prepare and updated Security Services assessment Ro establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice in connection thereof providing for severability and an effective date Mr clerk do you have any comment no sir I entertain a motion I'll move it second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor logo yes moving on to h11 h11 is a resolution of the city commission relating to secur Services assessments within the Old Cutler Bas security guard special taan district estimating the cost of the security services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing the finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice and connection thereof providing pability and effective date Mr clerk do you have any public comment no sir I'm moving second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner mandes yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes h12 12 is a resolution of the city commission relating to Security Services assessments with the Kings Bay amended security guard special taxiing district estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing the finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice and connection thereof providing for superability and effective date I'm move it second commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes moving on to h13 h13 is resolution of the city commission relating to Security Services assessments within the hammock Oaks Harbor security guard special taxi and District estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing Finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice in connection thereof providing for severability and effective date Mr cler do you have any public comment no sir I'll move it second vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor L yes h14 H1 14 resolution relating to Security Services assessments within the hammock Lake banion security guard special taxing district estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing the finance director to prepare and updated security service assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice in condition thereof providing for severability and effective date Mr clerk uh no public comment sir move it on any of them on any of them okay I'll move it second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor logo yes moving on to h15 H5 is a resolution relating to Security Services assessments within the ban and drive security guard special tting district estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing Finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing provision of notice thereof providing for secure severability and effective date have a motion I'll move it second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner cast true yes mayor log yes age 16 age 16 is a resolution relating to Security Services assessments with the hammock Lake security guard special taxi in District estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing Finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing public hearing directing provision of notice and connection thereof and providing for cability and effective date I'll move it I'll second commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes 87 H 17 is a resolution relating to Security Services assessments within the COC Plum Phase 1 security guard special tying District estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing Finance director to prepare an updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing directing provision of notice in connection thereof providing for cability and effective date I'll move it second vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor logo yes moving to h18 h18 is a resolution relating to the provision of Street lighting Services facilities and programs with in the Coco Plum Phase 1 Street lighting special taxi District estimating the cost of Street lighting Services facilities and programs to be assessed with fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing Finance director to prepare or direct preparation of an updated Street lighting assessment rule authorizing public hearing and directing provision of notice and connection thereof providing for severability and effective date I'm moving second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor logo yes h19 h19 is a resolution of the city commission related to Security Services assessments within the gables by the SE Coral Gables security guard special taxing district estimating the cost of Security Services to be assessed for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 directing Finance director to prepare and updated Security Services assessment role establishing a public hearing and directing provision of notice in connection thereof providing for severability and effective date I'll move it second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner mandez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor Lago yes and the last one by the way thank you both to both of you very much the last one before we go to lunch J1 city clerk item j1's a resolution City commission urging Miami County to expedite the designation of a publicly accessible website to host legal advertisements and Public Notices pursuing to section 50. 311 of the Florida Statutes Mr clerk do we have any public comment no sir I'll move it second commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor loo yes see you at 2:00 thank you [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] w w [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Mr CL you ready yes sir H2 H2 sir yes sir yes ma'am I think we need mayor that's the uh police department I'm not sure the chief is out H3 again wait for uh is it working that's oops Alissa you're up drop good afternoon thank you drop H3 so Melissa desas Transportation division manager we actually have a presentation for this [Music] so this is just an update that we have for a project um in corway and Granada um this project has been designed it's gone to the historic preservation board who gave us some comments we addressed their comments and now we're going to be starting construction soon so the history of the project is it's a signal hardening project so what's existing right now is a um traffic signal strain pole um you have two strain Poes they're made out of concrete we're going to be changing them to Steel the locations are going to be the same um we're going to be adding crosswalks ped signals supplemental traffic signals drainage improvements and some land Landscaping this is what it looks like now so if I made a little bit of our history um these Pro got generated the county um if you notice that intersection you know you basically one of a few areas you have the lights hanging by a wire um that does not meet current hurrian standards so the county came to us and said we're going to put Mast arms at the location and we said no so we started working keeping Min score away a county road so we started working with the county we final Alterna we actually got a grant to fund these projects so now went from being a county project to being a city project so what mice is presenting is the best alternative to what the county was being proposed and just just imagine the horror having those four huge masss um at that at that intersection so how long how long has the city been work working on this project um would say at least two to three years it predates Melissa being here that's when the county came to us um originally I believe ased Santa Maria was around and Jessica Kay and I just want I just wanted to put into context of how long that's how far back that goes when the county came to us and I I I probably had just started working here I remember being horrified like no no you can't do that here so that's that's how far that goes and there were a couple iterations it wasn't just the mass arm there was another configuration that they wanted um four strain poles instead of the two that are right there and it was going to give like a box of traffic signals hanging by wires in the middle and that was another one that the city rejected and now we have this final design so as you can see we're not going to be having the confusing cross crosswalk striping that you know is present there right now we're going to have our high emphasis crosswalks we're going to reduce the asphalt a little bit as much as the county would allow us because you still need to have enough room for a car to be able to go around the people that are trying to make a left on Granada so um we highlighted some key things on here even though it's only shown in one section like you'll see that pedestrian traffic signals that's actually at all four corners so you're going to be able to push a button you're going to have a p signal and there's going to be traffic lights mounted on top of that here's another picture of the plan view you can see that we're going to be adding sidewalks on three corners on the Southeast Corner we couldn't go around um but you're going to have access through the park it's a very life Stree at that location that will not allow us to complete that side connection so that's it this is just for us to show the park is not necessarily for a vote unless you you know you have something to add but just wanted to bring the proor attention um we're about to put it out to bid and we're finalizing permits following to to going out to bid and obviously that's a very visual location so we wanted to bring the pro to your attention um before we proceeded I think it's great it's much needed we've have sidewalk issues there for a long time uh people have been complaining for a long time about that Crossing there so corre I think it's a great opportunity to finally deliver on a product that for years it's been T I think as a followup to the whole Vision the thing I think this is this would be quite an improvement especially for people who want to crosscore away I think this is tremendous pedestrian Improvement folks who want to do that I could I concur on that I've tried to across there many times you have to run across to get through there it's uh almost impossible and it's nice that we're going to have uh push buttons there uh to be able to use so you know my question is going to be which one which kind of push buttons are you going to have they're not going to be audible they're going to be just regular push buttons for now but if we want to look into audible push buttons in the future we can do we have a bus stop nearby we do I believe so yes okay so I would say we need to look into the audible ones because if someone is blind and they need to use the bus how are they going to know when it cross so so you want us to add audible buttons to the pr is that that's my suggestion that we need to do that any place you have a bus stop you know people that have site issues can't drive so they're going to need to use the buses and they can't get to the bus if they don't have an audible button that should be a fairly minor revision so we can all right defin thank you for bringing us commissioner I have a question could you show the image because I drive through that intersection a lot um the LA one of the last images I think my question is what are you doing on the northwest corner can we please have the presentation back so I don't know if you want this picture or if you want this whichever one this one will show the sidewalk it's showing the ramp because I know when you come from the let's say the Granada um cor Country Club going south yes the Northeast at top yeah top yeah Northeast but I'm looking at the Northwest so they're coming south so are we looking the top is North the bottom is South I would imagine right yes MH it's a similar configuration as far as you have two lanes basically no because when you approach uh Coral Way going south a lot of cars you know there's a red light and stuff there a lot of cars there's a lane sort of space for you to go right on to Coral Way going west and I know much needed sidewalks uh is that lane going to be changed or adjusted so if you can look at this picture you'll see that if you're looking at the southbound going to westbound it's striped off as a Gore area that'll still give some space for people to be able to navigate about the cars that are going south so that they can make a right um that was one of the conditions that Miami day County gave us yeah because otherwise it bottlenecks exactly and that's the last thing we need obviously and the sidewalk I know there's like a historic wall in that part the sidewalk goes in front of it and behind it or it's going to go in front in front right so you can see it's like a curve around it okay no was good I just wanted to make sure that we don't bottleneck I'm just happy to see after 3 years that this is finally coming it's going to get accomplished we've been talking about this for a long time and it's going to be a good addition to the neighborhood so thank you thank you to staff thank you uh moving to um H2 actually if I could ask one question um County was working on the light that was uh not operational there have they been able to fix it oh I I thought we got a fixure that's that it was all right perfect I I'll I'll double check okay Chief good afternoon mayor Commissioners good afternoon how was your lunch uh quick yeah it's easy for me to eat salad when you're this big that's what you have to live off of trying to get right I have to fit in 100% polyester sir so I'm just trying to you have any dessert oh I might have had some small good afternoon we're here to talk about and just kind of give you a report on something thing we we've been doing for a long time is our homeless initiative here in the city so part of the uh the program that we have been going on since the 10 years or nine and a half years that I've been Chief if we started our partnership with Camila's house we continue to have that we' brought in a lot of resources I I we probably don't talk about too much here as far as the police department is concerned but I really thought in meeting with the manager that we should give you all just an overview of what happens every day and what we are really doing so feel in indulges for a quick 10 minutes uh major Hoff who's in charge of the uniform Patrol Division as well as sergeant jenin who's on her way in and officer Cordo one of our neighborhood safety AIDS and Risa Garcia who is our victim Advocate is going to run you through a quick presentation major well good afternoon everyone um and here basically we're going to talk about what we do in Patrol as when we get a call um to for any type of Holiness encounters whether is we get a call whether an officer sees one as they're on the downtown bike riding you know might riding the bike or as an officer is doing a foot patrol so on here um it's just an explanation of what we do and everything how we handle how the police department handles any home this encounters um if you can go to the next slide um initially when when we get either a call for service right here I'm sorry that one perfect I'm so sorry um initially we either get a call for service like I said an officer U makes contact with the homeless usually we approach them first and foremost to see their well-being um to see their well-being how are they doing you know sometimes we get calls for service because they might be making a disturbance or anything like that so we go to assess our well-being we make contact with them see who they are what their name is get any information for them see if they're need any medical attention we also see if they're missing sometimes we run them to see if they're missing or wanted and then from there we would act accordingly or take the appropriate action if that information comes back um after we do that we go to offering them services so the first initial service that we always offer them is a place to stay overnight so we have three beds in Camila's house that the City of Coral Gables does sponsor and those beds are for our use at any point in time um right now currently we have two beds occupied one is empty at the moment um that's our initial we tell them do they want to go to Camila's house at Camila's house they can get additional services such as medic Medical Dental heal Mental Health Services uh prescription all of that assistance is offered in Cam's house once they are inside a program so they have to make an initial step to be in the program but the first step to that is always getting them a bed for the night um if they don't want that if they refuse that they don't want to go into CIS they don't want to go into a program or into a bed we still continue to offer them Services we have um what is called the path team and they come every Thursday and we try to make an appointment like we have services that we can come bring to you which will help them get any of the services sometimes they help them get IDs they help them get Social Security they help them get assistance for food or anything like that and we'll make we'll say like okay if you don't want to come to come us or come into any Services we'll bring them to you name us a place in time and we'll be more than happy to meet with you so we have facilitated many meetings between St and the homeless to get them Services um from there um they can either say yes I want to make a meeting or I don't sometimes they really don't they don't know I don't want services at the moment our first encounter is not always the last encounter and we can't we would love for them to say yes at every moment but they don't um from there what we do is we document the whole encounter we do a field contact report what their name is what initiated the encounter what was the result of the encounter and what services we offered them so we do that in documentation just to know what we've done and then once we started encountering the same person over and over then now we track them in a different way because now we buil built a report with them we know their name we know where they're at so from there we developed a heart form and it's for the homeless encounter resource tracking form it's a form I'll show to you the next one there it's a form they'll say their name uh the picture of them as we last saw them we'll update the pictures periodically they're social as much information as we can find for them and then if you see at the bottom we'll say resources offered we'll continue to offer them resources always and we'll in the note section we'll continue to update every contact we've had with them this is just an example but this we have um I want to say probably in our drive we have probably about 10 to 12 people that we constantly keep a hold of some move on so we don't have in our city anymore but we keep that documentation and so that's a way to track but at that point once we encounter them a lot it then they go to the neighborhood um team leaders which is the uh portion of the nsas that everybody loves the neighborhood safety Aid These Are the officers that work in that group as well and now they step in and they start to be build report again this is for this part when they get involved it's more of more encounters than one um these are some of the supports and resources that we have for them like I said earlier first and foremost we always offer them the ca's house and currently as a 516 we have one Veil available um we've had people that stay there for a few months we have people that stay there for one day and don't want to follow the rules or we have people that have say continuously the the goal is to move them out of the bed into some type of housing program and that does happen um right now we have two long-term they haven't left yet but they have we have two people in the bed right now that are working towards getting into a housing program um the other resource that I mentioned earlier is the path which is a project assistance in transitioning from homelessness and they come out once once every once a week along with the Lazarus team which is a mental health resource and they come every Thursday they go with officer Gordo onto the field to whoever we've dealt with in the last week and they try to again Reach Out offer them resources when they come out with kind of step back we kind of take the police element out of it and it's now the you know the resource they want to help they they talk to them better we just stand by we direct them to where they're at and we leave them to to do their their job there um the next is field contacts what I mentioned earlier of what we how we document to your to date we've had 86 encounters that doesn't mean 866 people that just means 86 encounter it could be the same one three times could be a person one time only they're never here again they're just passing by so but that is documented to date on those Field contact UM reports we have 86 encounters for 2023 we had 208 encounters and for 2022 149 and again they're not 149 people or 28 people it's just we document every encounter we have whether it's one or 10 um additional resources we have which is the Coral Gable victim Advocate she works closely with all our victims and everything another resource along with the pat team that will bring them will bring her down and she'll talk to them again maybe leaving the police aspect out of it make them more um open to receiving Services we also go to the community resource guide there we have they have lots of listing lots of um resources that we can ask offer and we do um we work with the Miami day Public Library System it's this project called Behind the Walls and we work with them as well it's in conjunction with South Miami Pine Crest with dealing with all the homeless issues or the quality of life issues that they have there uh other resources Miami recovery project which is the substance misuse assistance same thing we refer to them if we see that it's more of a substance abuse issue and then for veterans so these are all the resources that we tap into when we're dealing with um homeless encounters the second thing uh these are some success stories we've had um here we have just five that we rounded up um I just put the a small synopis of what we're done but we've had everyone here has accepted housing or is on their way to get some type of housing or is in a program in Camis um like the last one's a female 30 years old we she secured employment and obtain Miami d section 8 voucher all with the resources that we were able to offer her um melon is 40s he's seeking full-time employment he's being referred to Rapid housing so these are success stories that we do have um that we can at least you know say current stories that we're working with now current cases these are it again names we're not going to put their names out there but these are the contacts that we've made with them attempts that we've made with them and uh we're working to again get them comfortable to accept resources and sometimes we we do make a connection with them sometimes they don't want anything to do with us but we step back and we let um individuals like Risa the path team the Lazarus team to the chis um group to help us out and um last our commitment is to dedicate we're dedicated to treating every individual that we encounter with respect dignity while guiding them to available resources and that's what we do on patrol so as Commissioners as I said before uh we don't have a quote unquote homeless problem we have homeless that people that have problems and the philosophy within the police department has been from it from 2014 uh has been to offer the services with compassion regardless of race Creed color denomination and we continue to do that every day uh the one thing that we've always asked for and you've heard me say it is that uh when our residents see someone in need they just need to call us and I know all of your compassions as you sit up there and people are letting you know and it the only reason why I'm not trying to take any burden off anybody's plate but these are the kind of resources that we can get to them immediately and again the the the the safety of of sleeping on our streets is something that's realized by everybody that we've come in contact with and that's not me just telling you that that's what the people that are residing on our streets although temporarily come to and that's part of it so I'm very proud of of the work that the men and women are doing it is a a total commitment to doing this to the entire department aren't four or five people this is the culture of the officers that work here and what they do every day and we continue to really respect everybody's dignity including those that are residentially challenged I have a question um averagely how many beds are occupied is there ever three beds that are occupied yes so do you think three is sufficient that that we sponsor three has been on an average we've had them where they're all empty we have them when they're all full um CIS does a great job at accommodating us when our beds are full and they try to help us out with one that might be empty on another end um they'll help us out and say we have some empty General beds we can put them there they usually help us out we've never been turned away okay we do have a line item for one additional bed it's uh on average about off the top of my head is about $43,000 a year uh originally what we the first time when we got into the three beds I believe it was then vice mayor Casada that uh brought it to me and we paid for the first year in the pilot program out of uh faf funds which is the forfeit and assets it's now part of the police department's line item um it's not high on my priority list right now because if I have the funds if we if we see an uptick we can actually move funds within my budget to to increase the bed but we have had a lot of success in partnering with Camila's house that as the major said if something opens up we're able to get them a bit I want to if I may um through the mayor um I appreciate the fact that you put the cases the success that we've had and the ones that are in the works I think is important not only for us but for the community to see that the the end game of the program is to help these people regain their dignity and their life back so I think the fact that we've had success even if it's two three or four or five it doesn't matter it that's the essence of what we're here for and I agree compassion is the key um two or three things one is if Chief if you may we've had the discussion on some residents don't understand that their laws there's case law uh court rulings that limit the city City's ability to move someone who's asleep uh you know a sidewalk uh we just can't go in the laws are limiting uh because of cases that have happened years ago if you could go a little bit into that so that the residents understand that we are abiding by the law as it is today correct um to to a lot of the phone calls that we get obviously is someone and we call creating a disturbance um it is not illegal for any other resident you know than a homeless person to sit on a park bench in the middle of the day and and we get that quite a lot I don't want them to sit there well that that's that's not the law and when other municipalities throughout the country have taken Draconian steps at times to move people because of their residential status uh that came out of recently down here was the pottinger uh which was a decree where there's only so much you can do now um you know in anticipation for what we're doing in the police department is as the underline comes being built through uh I know We've joked and I said it tongue and cheek but part of the horse Patrol and is to be up high underneath the Metro Rail to see that but we are already taking steps for our Outreach to anticipate other people walking under the underlying looking for more places to reside um it is two sets of people can sit on the same bench one person could be a shopper and somebody that lives in The Gables another person can be a homeless person or a appearent homeless person uh we are not and we cannot tell both of them to leave uh you know different situation where if we see uh Uber eat drivers that are sitting there if they're if they're sitting there for a Commerce reason we have moved them along because of of the traffic issues and implications so uh we do have this conversation and again it's not because uh we are they are doing anything wrong it's so we can offer services and in the mornings uh you know we have a very strict uh anti-panhandling law and all of our residentially challenged people actually know that so in the mornings you'll see them going out of our jurisdiction uh we've had people pass through there was a a u concerted effort by a nonprofit group to relocate people out of downtown Miami and they were coming through and we knew that they were coming through our city to go back to downtown Miami that's their comfort level so um you know we try and explain that on the phone when people are calling us uh but it still starts with the phone call on our Communications operators actually actually to survey what the situation is a suspicious person or is it somebody that we believe is in need of services and that's how it goes and we've been very successful with that yes yesterday we were in communication because a resident reached out to me the two individuals one obviously that was on Salo um sort of uh camped out um and they were concerned and you know you were very I didn't know you were out of town I believe I reached out to you didn't mean to interrupt you but thank you for responding and and uh you know receiving the concerns of the residents on that it it it is and again I know the new word which is coming out of the stage statute is the encampments and and people with all of their worldly belongings on top of a wheelchair is not necessarily an encampment and what happens is you know these are everyone's worldly belongings to them whatever that may be uh and we assist with that but as long as they continue moving there's no violation encampments is when they are permitted either a municipality or or a private entity allows people to establish more than one or two days places to for these people to reside on the land so to speak that's what's what's not allowed by the statute we have not made any of those arrests we are going to avoid those as well as long as I'm Chief because I I believe the process and the work of what these officers have done has really done a great job and and and kind of helping these people along I have a quick suggestion um now that we're I'm listening to everything we're all listening um perhaps we can have and maybe we already do something that we can provide the residents the basic ABCs of what we do and what we can or can't do because we're going to continue receiving calls and if we could have something basic even if it's on a web page or a flyer that says this is what the city does and this is what the city cannot do I think with with our social media pi working with the city's communication as well I think we can do almost like a talking headpiece about what we do and how we address those issues and public parks Andes thank you I've seen a substantial Improvement yeah so thank you m vice mayor I just want to say that I've looked at other departments and looked at their programs and we have you all have a very robust program and a very compassionate program and I want just wanted to thank thank you that uh I think you all are on the right track and I've said it when we met uh I'm so impressed with this program that I I hope you take time to document it and send it up to the iacp or because I think this could be the National Standard for dealing with those folks suffering homelessness no I I concur with that and I've occasionally when someone is one of your team is interacting with someone that's uh dealing with homelessness I observe the compassion and it's much different than it was with the way the city dealt with it 20 years ago it's clearly a compassionate type of helping hand uh approach and thank you for all your efforts there so I said this before Gable's police officers are one of a kind always have been always will be and I think that's what makes this a great place okay thank you well thank you so um thank you Mr Castro um just you want to Chief here for AC process no that's R Rook is supposed to be here R's not here all right well we can bring her up but uh she supposed to be procedures are being held right now okay well uh Mr manager is Rael available for F9 now com no F9 I don't know cuz we're short a couple members of our commission just trying to choose the next item to call she's on her way up okay or we can just take a you know a 10-minute break anybody want to yeah we could do that go ahead and take a 10 minute break then no one needs the huff and puff going up the stairs car for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] w [Music] Mr clerk you ready yes sir thank you very much all right let's move on to item H4 H4 is a resolution of the city Commission relating to the provision of Fire Protection Services facilities and rent programs in the city of cges Florida establishing the estimated assessment rate for fire protection assessments for the fiscal year beginning October 1 2024 directing the preparation of an assessment role authorizing a public hearing and directing provision of notier providing an effective date who's presenting in regards to this yes age four I apologize okay good afternoon Diana Gomez Finance director so this is the fire fee assessment there is no increase in the fire fee assessment every year we do assess um the um the all the properties within the City of Coral Gables a fire assessment fee this goes to supplement Capital purchases in the fire department but there's no change this year Mr cler do have any comments uh we did Mr Mayor for Mr rip Holmes but he just walked out so should wait for Mr Holmes oh Mr Holmes you're up no worries had my enumeration wrong what was about homelessness if you'd like to say something yes go I I appreciate it um I I think the city is doing a great job uh Chief Hudak didn't realize I was trying to praise him um the um I don't know about you all but uh um homelessness for me is almost like a religious item because uh when I drove in the city of Miami where they homeless are allowed and I found out some of them are the best people you can imagine uh I thought well G if Jesus Christ came back for a second coming would he come to Coral Gable where there are practically no homeless or would he come to the city of Miami where you know there there are and you know the answer is Jesus Christ would go to Miami not Coral Gables but the fact Chief Hudak that uh we are treating the homeless compassionately uh is a tremendous relief thank you very much thank you sir do any other comments that I entertain a motion motion second vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner mandez yes mayor yes moving on to H5 H5 is a resolution of the city commission relating to the collection and disposal of solid waste in the City of Coral Gables Florida determining the solid waste cost and Solid Waste Service assessments for the fiscal year beginning October 1 2024 directing the preparation of an assessment rule authorizing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice thereof and providing an effective date good afternoon Diana Gomez Finance director this year that we are proposing an increase to the solid waste assessment fee there are three components in this year's recommended fee increase uh the first is the annual pass through of County and waste management tipping fees um the second is additional staff um being requested for the department and the third is for additional safety equipment the rates for fiscal 2425 are proposed to be if they make the early payment there it's going to go from 804 to $838 which is a $34 increase and um the regular payment if paid on the tax bill is going from 938 to 976 so 38 increase all residential property owners will have the ability to pay their Solid Waste fee in full at the discounted rate before August 15th of 2024 and therefore it will not be on the on the tax roll if they don't pay pay by that date then it will be put on their November tax bill how many members of our community pay early would you see the percentage approximately 72% um pay early are there any other cities that offer the early versus a regular are we the only ones that I am not familiar with any other city that offers an early uh discount any how many cities um have a separate fee as opposed to including it in regular taxes oh I'm sorry I don't have that information I I don't know um you're saying if whether or not they have an actual Solid Waste Fe the county has a solid waste fee um I'm I'm sorry I don't have any information on any other cities yeah I mean I know at one time this was part of our regular tax roll and mhm you know and it it got pulled out as a fee as opposed to a tax but in essence it really is a tax right so we're putting it in the tax bill as a solid waste fee as a special assessment but we do give people the opportunity to have a discount yeah but it was in a regular millage rate before and it was collected here in the city of that I am aware of no I don't know that it it was maybe many years ago many years ago yeah and then it got pulled out and charged as a separate fee just like the fire fee was pulled out and charged as a separate fee right I mean we we've talked about lowering the the M rate um as a way to bring residents with the you know the most needs uh some relief uh lowering the M rate gives a break to every body but gives a larger break to those that are have the larger more expensive properties but this isn't is a way to even the plane field and make it the same reduction for for all and we can take it into the um the regular tax bill so I know that uh we were asked last year to lower the M rate you know by Pedro Garcia um and I'd like to have a discussion about this because uh the Rel the relief is needed so um I think the discussion it may not have been last year it may have been the year before regarding moving the garbage fee into the regular taxes and I think the issue was that I honestly can't remember what the the disc it was it was prior to our time on the on the commission may even prior to both of your time on the commission I know the mayor has worked on this in the past I had a conversation with uh the manager and the deputy city manager um I had had the conversation with the prior city manager and it never moved forward about giving us options as to how we can ensure that the garbage fee is being assessed properly across the board to everybody um in conversations I've had with our folks from Solid Waste there are homes that have one garbage can that is put out on a regular basis there others that have six or eight garbage cans that are put out um they're obviously producing a lot more we have residents in the north Gables who are in their 80s you know they have that one garbage can that they put out families like mine of three we put out more garbage um so what I asked for the ACM and the the city manager to work on was options where we can see how we could Implement charging it by square footage of the property and a different option where it could be assessed by square footage of the home uh because obviously if you have a larger home you have more probability of having a larger number of people living in that home and that may apply across the board you may have a larger home in a 50,000 ft lot uh than you have in a 200,000 ft foot lot I'm sorry 20,000 foot lot um so there are different parts of the gables where it applied differently um the DCM said he would work on that for us now this approval that we have today is the final rate or is this similar to the others that we approved earlier which is that we're setting a maximum and we can work our way down from there so you could the only issue is that in order to allow people to pay the early payment discount I need to send the bills out I try to send them as early as possible mid to late June and so once I send the bills out the people who take advantage of it they start paying so I guess if you don't reduce the early payment amount and you just maybe reduce the full payment amount that might not be as much of an issue because if I right now the early payment we're saying uh going to 838 and let's let's just argue that I send out the bill for 838 and they pay and then we lowered to $800 I have to go and refund I have no mechanism I mean it would just be a lot it's 11,000 properties that we bill um it's a very you know it's labor intensive and I mean could we do it sure um it's just it's very difficult of a you know to do that so that's why we set the rate here yes technically in the September hearing that we will have you can lower it and should that happen we will then refund if the early payment was reduced but if it's just the the L the regular payment that's reduced then I wouldn't have to do any kind of refunds or anything but I guess realistically we wouldn't be able to change the process this year because technically there will be homes that will be paying a higher amount than what appr any changes would not apply until the next year this time next year so whatever plans we start working on now for changing it would would be going forward but I I agree with the vice mayor cutting the millage rate will be the largest impact for the largest Property Owners if we're able to alleviate some of the uh of the cost here this is where those who most need it are going to feel the impact so I started this discussion and we actually you know before you uh came on a dice we started doing the discussion on the garbage fees and there were several you know votes I remember at least two where we did not increase the garbage fees because of the Everest escalating so the money comes out of the general budget as a result and when the middle rate discussion was had you know this Pro uh topic was brought up as well you know there's other ways that you can slice the bread if you want to continue to do a separate fee but if we're really looking to bring down taxes and give relief to folks the place to do it where it's even across the board to where the people in the smallest houses get the same dollar reduction and not a lesser dollar reduction than folks in the larger houses is to absorb the garbage fee itself we clearly need more employees we clearly need upgrades in the equipment I'm not saying that that's not true we are short on people we are short on staff and we need to take care of these items as well but if we're going to be doing budgeting and we're going to be having budget meetings now it's better to plan how much we're going to be charging now whether it's going to be a millage rate reduction or lowering the garbage fee do it now instead of asking staff to scramble in September so that's the point I'm trying to bring up here now and my suggestion is that we absorb the garbage fee and give an even across the board relief to all residents what is the impact so the rate that we current arly charging still does not cover the full cost of solid waste right so the city even with the rate increase the city is subsidizing about $4.4 million that we're already covering the the G the the fee the fees as we're um proposing them and based on the 72% collection of the early and and the 30 uh% of the um of the regular fee generates about $9.7 million um the total costs of the services are about 14 and a quar million do so to um we can't I mean I don't see how the budget would be able to absorb um that expenditure um in the current state of the budget I I don't see how we can do that um because this is occurring every year um so it's not it would have to be funded with recurring revenues so um so let me if I may mhm I've been talking about this for few years now um I'm in favor of also not increasing the garbage fee I have voted against it in the past the idea of doing it per square foot of home is a is a good idea but it doesn't really discuss the main issue that we're facing here as a city we're facing a shortfall like you said of $4.4 million and a lot of it comes from Landscaping millions and millions and millions of dollars come from Landscaping before Gable's Insider hits an article say that I want to get rid of trash pits I don't want to get rid of trash pits they're great you can have your trash pit I got rid of mine I'm not asking to get rid of anybody's trash pit what we need to do is we need to stop absorbing that $4.4 million because that is not realistic we have we have a garbage fee that is not not real it's a number that does not represent the actual cost it's not that's not appropriate number two I have four people in my house I probably put out maybe one small bag of garbage a week to not take into consideration Landscaping which is the largest amount of waste or green matter or anything that goes into the waist stream uh to me I think is not appropriate especially when we've had studies here done by previous individuals in our in our Solid Waste Department talking about the amount of illegal dumping that we have here there is way there is ways to resolve the issue uh you can do a container let me be very clear before it gets published that I want to now do curb side that's not what I'm saying you can do a container where you can put your green matter into it and it can be picked up in the back just like our current situation and and uh and you know wheeled over to the to the front by our incredible staff and a truck can pick it up there ensuring that nobody can dump illegally any Landscaping I've taken many many videos I have them on my phone I've included them as a public record where there's illegal dumping happening all over the city in regards to landscape and we turn the Blind Eye because we don't want to tackle the big issue the idea that North Gable's residents and their 4,500 ft lots and 5,000 ft lots are paying the same amount of garbage fee as homeowners in a 12,000 foot lot or 15,000 foot lot 20 25,000 one acre it's disingenuous to say that they produce the same amount of landscaping they don't you've seen how Lush our city is so if we're really going to discuss this issue it's talking about garbage is a minor minor aspect to it the real the real thing that needs to be addressed here is the land landcaping and if you want to keep your trash pit keep your trash pit you can have it there on your sale it's perfectly fine you can use it for whatever you need to throw away if it's a TV if it's a couch you can you can do whatever I put it next to my curb I don't have a problem I've never had any anything and my neighbors in front of me do the same thing they've gotten rid of their trash pits and it works perfectly for them but if the community thinks that trash pits is something that is that is appropriate then we'll leave it there I don't have an issue with it but if we're going to really address this issue I've mentioned it before doesn't just start with garbage and end with garbage it starts and ends with Landscaping because that is the biggest issue that we're facing and we have to get our hands around it I'm not asking you to force your landscaper to take all your Landscaping debris I'm not asking for Weekend Warriors like myself who prune who prune um I know the vice mayor does the same who prune their trees and do Landscaping and Gardening around the house which I enjoy doing to not have a trash pit but there has to be a way using a container that can be wheeled by staff not by the resident so before they say that I'm talking about doing something that they do in the city of Miami or Miami day County if we're going to really tackle the issue let's tackle the issue let's not use misinformation uh in an effort to scare people so so I'm going to I'm going to add to that because I had a recent update conversation with one of those providers on turning our yard waste into soil okay and there might be something available online and August but I think this is a you know a discussion that we have to have because the best way to make that work is it has to be clean it has to be just yard waste so we need to have an honest discussion about that now did I use those types of bins at my father's property that is um is basically three lots and was I able to manage it with some special pickups yes I was and he had an immense amount of mango trees that needed trimmed every year and so forth so it can be done and then we won't have all that stuff that's being thrown in from beer cans to dog waste bags to kitty litter bags to everything else you know in the construction debris and the unloading of the construction debris by drive-through dumpers and it's happening throughout our County but if there's a pile it invites it so you know it's an honest conversation we need to have my main purpose of bringing this up though is we're looking a way to bring tax relief to folks millit rate is is not Equitable for those who need to help the most so on on that point on that point because you mentioned the the military I I met with the proper apprais this past week Mr Pedro Garcia and he we talked about where we stand as a city and the county we're going to see a reduction in income from last year we're not going to have a 10% increase um the letter will be out in the next week Jun 1st yeah um probably 6 or 7% the county needs minimum 4% to continue moving forward at the cost of living just to give you a little bit information last year we had $400 Million worth of permitted construction work in the commercial areas this year we're going to have 190 we're we're trending in the wrong direction direction we're going down these are not my numbers these are his numbers I'll be provided in his letter I took them to breakfast so before anybody says you know winnner coming these are his numbers we're not trending in the right direction um so it's going to be less money and the cost continues to go up so we need to find efficiencies on how to make up $4.4 million so that we can use that money for other things for employees for salaries for insurance if it goes up again this year which I hope it doesn't go up this year again and a few other issues I I am in favor of lowering the millage rate he's going to recommend lowering the millage rate again but I'm also in favor of lowering the garbage fee because I think that you can do both and the garbage fee should not be $800 across the board for every single person if you live in a 10,000 ft lot why should you pay the same as somebody who lives in a 2 Acre Site it's just not I know I know the argument on the other side is well we pay more in time taxes and I understand that argument I understand that but we have to come face to face with a $4.4 million Delta that we've been talking about and I've been bringing it up for year after year after year after year and at one point we're going to have to deal with it because if you look at the cost the cost of the way that we do business in between the trash pit maintenance the Delta all these things at one point we're not going to have enough money and the finance director Shake her head because she knows that I'm right so we can either continue to turn a blind eye on the issue or we can actually address the issue with with a plan with a plan of action so a couple of questions what is the total Financial number of the increases that are uh proposed here today so for the early I'm sure if I'm understanding yeah yeah so what's like the the the $30 the $38 and the 34 total amongst all the properties what is the the financial change that we will see as a city oh so um if we do the increases based on the collection rates it's going to generate an additional $370,000 roughly okay 375,000 okay so I guess along the lines of what the vice mayor was saying if let's say we approve maintaining the rate today what is your final deadline for us to make changes to that number for those early so you yeah so um so if you you set the maximum rate M today um and then I'm going to send the bills out I hope to send them out the second week of June they have until so that I try to get it out before July 1st and in past years I've only been able to get it right right around July 1st gives them 45 days to pay by August 15th this year I I want to try to we have a new Financial system I'm going to try to get it done earlier because I don't know you know it's first time billing 11,000 invoices and so um I'm hoping to get start that process in mid June at the latest so to get those out into the mail so they have until August 15th in order to pay but I think if we set the rate now um I can't I don't think that I can put anything differently unless you change the rate officially so I'm not sure right so if if we direct the manager to come back with a plan on reducing the uh the garbage uh fee by our next commission meeting of if we have an option that the commission's favorable with moving forward I guess in theory I can wait to start trying to P print the bills until that point if that is the will of the commission okay but I'm I'm just I just want to make sure you have enough time I don't want I don't want us to say let's let's let's approve maintaining the rate today and try to figure out a plan moving forward on how we can reduce the the garbage fee and formulate a plan maybe have a couple of op options presented to us at the next commission meeting with what the financial impact will be because then we can start working backwards like the vice mayor said on the budget on this is how much money we need to find in the budget to compensate for the difference and so I don't know and I'm I don't want to speak for solid waste or public works I don't know that they can come up with any I don't know if they have ideas or things that they can come up with in this short amount of time I don't know if that's enough time to revamp the solid waste fee I honestly don't know if that's enough time I can't speak for them so there's a representative I believe here of solid waste but in terms of the billing I mean right so I come to this meeting in May so that if in fact it doesn't happen I know I still have the June the next June meeting to get it by by the June meeting I have to have a rate set or it will be it'll stay at the rate that it is because the county is required by me to give I have to give them the rate that was set and I believe I don't know what the date of that is I don't have it right in front of me but it's sometime around that same time frame so by that meeting I need to have had a rate set okay vice mayor my my suggestion is to be realistic on providing relief we need to lower the rate that we're charging and um my feeling is 500 550 um and this is effectively giving the tax decrease that we've been wanting to give to Residents right but then that difference has to be absorbed by the recurring Revenue budget of the city I understand just want to make that very clear because so decrease I'm sorry so it does a millit rate decrease sure this is a this is an effective way of giving uh help where the help is needed the most so it's 4.4 plus the other the other amount the 375 that this is yeah well the four in the 4.4 it includes the increase so if um if we were to increase the rate the the the subsidy for lack of a better word is about 4 4.34 so for I round it up to 4.4 but yes that already includes if we were to increase the rate and if we don't it would be almost 4.8 right so what is the consequence of not approving this it would be that the the the rest of the budget will have to um we'll have to find the funding within the existing the next year's existing budget so in the regular budget we have to then fund these expenditures because we're not cutting the services we have to we're not cutting you know we're not lowering the services provided the service these are the costs of the services we have to pay those costs well I but I've I've spoken to our state representatives both in the house and the Senate they want us to provide tax relief this is an effective way to do it for the you know that helps out those who need it the most you know if you have a house that's 1500 square ft or 2,000 square ft compared to one that's you know 10,000 square ft it's not fair that the burden is taken up so much heavier for those who have the smaller homes so this is an effective way here's our first step and we can get get into a more nuanced way of calculating it in the future because that we're not going to be able to roll out in this short period of time and bring the rate down and yes we're going to have to find the money somewhere else just the same as we would if we did a millage rate decrease but at least now we're giving the relief to the folks that have the smaller homes okay that that's my feeling on this I I agree with you I think that this is the moment to do it um if we're looking at reducing it to 550 which is what you said we're probably looking at an implication of roughly almost 5 million $45 million bu if we were to reduce it to 550 as the vice mayor had suggested um suggested I guess this would be you're talking off the early or the uh do we get rid of the early payment and we just make it all 500 on the tax bill to guarantee or we're going to then give still a discount from that 500 if they pay it early so the discount just so I mean the way I understand it is in the past we used to do quarterly payments and so if you chose to do quart to do quarterly you didn't you had to pay the full rate but if you chose to pay it all in advance you you got a discount then when we went to the tax bill at the the then commission decided not to reduce that early payment but again so if we're going to reduce it significantly are we reducing it and everybody pays the same free and and eliminate the early payment I no I would I would say the 550 would be the early payment and then you could have a higher amount for if you want to put it on your tax bill so with all due respect we're talking about budget now oh I I I understand but I'd rather inflict the pain now than since September so it would be remissive me not to at least give my recommendation so I do not want to discourage in any way you know your advocacy for the residents and for what they pay um and I understand the um the concept of reducing the solid waste fee is an immediate relief to the to the single family residents for the most part right um however reducing that fee and absorbing the cost by the general fund um essentially puts more burden on the commercial and on and on the rest of the properties in the city because property taxes are paid by all of our properties not just by the single family so you're then you're then reducing the ability to fund services with our general fund revenues right so if we reduce the fee let's say we just reduce it in half right we generate n 9.7 million now let's say we just reduce it in half you're now going to uh generate just under 5 million that that difference is going to be absorbed by the general fund and that just means that I'm going to have $5 million less to put towards new needs capital projects and services with that exist within the city now the only reason I'll disagree with you on that is because a 6% increase on let's say that it's 5% that we increase on our our general revenue from taxes this year could easily absorb that I understand there's going to be additional costs that need to be contemplated and we're going to have to make decisions up here on how we allocate the funds but to the vice mayor's point if we are going to to supply the relief to the residents who most need it in our community this is really the only way to do it and I don't want to take away from that conversation by any means um but I calculated a 5% increase to our property values just a straight five based on what we had last year and it's under $6 million and so we already know that our regular cost right so we're contemplating Union contracts we're contemplating salary increases to to other areas that $6 million gets us there it's you know you have so you're saying you have to find another 5 million right so you know there are other revenues in our general fund there are other fees that we have but s you know if we only go up by 5% which was our which previously was our normal percentage increase anywhere from 3 to 5 the the county the county puts in their budget a you know 4% from what I've talked to I believe I'm being even a little above conservative with 5% I would I really hope it's it's greater than that and that we do have some new construction I know mayor you know we we don't know yet right we'll know on June 1st mean I can I can tell you I mean look everybody on this commission knows in 13 in 13 months we've had two projects come before here and get approval those are the major projects those are the ones that have to come here because they're mixed use in one form or another not because they're asking for a variance or asking for anything if you're a mixed use product you have to come here as a result of what's required by by the zoning code so you don't have large projects coming here that are paying large tickets in regards to permit fees so I'm not saying not to consider the the solid waste fees or making changes to the solid waste fees I would just hate to negotiate something on the floor that hasn't been thought through and costed out and then later come to you on June 12th with a number that is you know much less than in years past right so on June 12th we're going to talk about capital and what the what funds are available and so I'm not saying not to contemplate a fee change but I think that it should be thoughtfully done I think that it's a little more complex than just cutting a fee I think that we should look at a realistic solution to what those fees should be but just cutting the fee impacting the budget and then figuring out in the long term with the appropriate fees I don't think that it would be the best decision but I again we defer to your decisions and how I just it would be remiss of me not to make that recommendation and just put that on the record Madam vice mayor I can't continue to ignore what our state representatives have asked us to do and that is to provide some tax relief and this is a simple way to give those who need it the most some relief okay I just can't continue to ignore it plus we need to actively start looking for ways to dispose of our yard waste which is the bulk of this more efficiently because and one of the representatives told me and I won't name the city that they that particular City used to grind it up and offer it as free mulge and they don't do it anymore lot some cities have stopped doing processes that could reduce the Tipping rate you know and we're a city that needs to take some proactive steps to do so we were supposed to be running a pilot project I understand it was delayed because we have you know the vendors weren't ready willing and able at the time to do it but coming August they're supposed to be ready to have a site ready for starting to roll out this take let's take the green waste and not have to tip it anymore and that's and Madam vice mayor you know we brought this two years ago I brought this two years ago from from the from and they're doing this already in Tallahassee y they're doing a Tallahasse roll out already and it's an opportunity we talked about 72nd Avenue to being able to use that site to take the green matter over there and instead of taking it to the county and reducing all these tipping fees I hate to say this but for a long time we talked about it's it's very comfortable just for the for the for your budget to pay $4.4 million and they just eat up and we've brought how many times have we had meetings here where we talked about illegal dumping illegal dumping with all the green matter and the the spike just continues to go like a hockey stick at one point we're going to have to deal with it and and I I to me not only do I Believe In cutting the garbage fee but I'm also going to be presenting a reduction in the milit rate because that's something that's forthcoming from Pedro Garcia he's also recommending this year a 3% reduction in the in the in the military as for my breakfast with him uh there has to be relief for the residents I know it's going to impact our contract our numbers it's going to impact um you know cost it's going to impact some of the programming but we have to find a decision and be more efficient you want an efficiency $4.4 million it's right there slow hanging fruit we just have to figure out a way to do what other municipalities are doing you're seeing it we've been talking about this for two years Tallahasse is doing it and my understanding was that Miami County was moving in the direction of also applying for a pilot program um you know we've had multiple meetings with different vendors who provide this type of service and I wrote a memo about it I sent it to my colleagues on the commission I shared it with staff and I don't know where we are on that I'm a little skeptical in slashing the the garbage fee I think we need to think of another way so that it wouldn't affect the budget as much yeah maybe not provide 100% relief to some properties that maybe won't feel it as much but to provide it for for properties that maybe are a little small you can't do that so you can't you can't provide my correct if I'm wrong the tax you cannot tax and reduce taxes by you know not the mill but the garbage Fe could but at the end of day I mean I I think that if you're going to cut something across that really like you said hits home this is the perfect this is the perfect opportunity and especially when you're talking about people who live in 5,000 foot Lots you know do you have any ideas to bring forward regarding that idea that I just put up so um as far as so as far as um making the operation more efficient or reducing the cost of the operation that I would rely on our public works but as far as providing some relief you know there are other ways of getting there last year we did you know a small Grant per se right a payment out to certain to certain homes there's you know the ability um we don't have a mechanism to apply for some kind of financial assistance towards your um garbage but I think that which is why I say that rather than trying to do something like wholesale that we sit down evaluate other opportunities and see how else we can get to what you're trying to achieve but what my understanding is maybe I don't I don't want to speak for the commissioner it's something that we've been talking about for years it's not a Band-Aid MH we need an answer for $4.4 million you want reoccurring Revenue here's $4.4 million of reoccurring Revenue There's an opportunity to address it it exists we're not the first to be to do this other municipalities are doing this we even have the facilities on 72nd where we could even use proportion those facilities um could be an opportunity to do something which could reshape the that we do garbage here in the city so I'm going to my current role I have to I I'm just I'm just sh I'm sh I'm just giving you what I what I think I'm not looking I don't want a Band-Aid I want something like to really address this issue once and for all cuz if we're going to continue to do business the way we do it in the sense of a trash pit you know and those kind of things let's let's let's have trash pits for no green waste let's put people to put their green waste in a bin and the bin gets taken out by our by our great team so we eliminate illegal dumping and if you need a special pick we can call for a special pickup there has to be a way to not skimp on services and to provide the same Services the rear pickup but just to not allow millions of dollars of taxpayer money to go out the window we could use that for so many other things so I'm going to clarify I'm not saying not charge for the special pickups so when I trim my Three Oaks every two years the same 450 or whatever dollars that you get for the green waste that's filling my driveway from those trees you'll you'll still get and a special in the fees for hauling a mattress or an appliance which you know we you will still be able to receive that but we really need to move forward on having that green waste recycled okay you eliminate the Tipping fees there and this will provide you know a great incentive for for industrious development of these ideas to reduce our our tipping rates we can mulch this stuff up you know you're going to be picking up tree trimmings you know it's clean because that's all it is uh and be able to do that I believe commissioner Mendez want to add to our thought process here thank you vice mayor um looking for yet another possible option uh a balance but again I know there are legal constraints as to what we can or can do in terms of identifying who gets discounts and who doesn't or reductions um I know the tax roles you know the properties there are all kinds of homestad exemption Widow exemption there's exemption for seniors um would it be just another option on the table to identify those properties that have the senior exemption and apply the garbage reduction to those properties that are already qualified for senior exemption that way at least we target we know a group that definitely could use it and then that's like a baby step but a first step and it sort of gets us in the right direction but perhaps the the concerns the ramifications on the other end aren't as strong I'm sure there are plenty of folks in Coral Gables that have the senior exemption and it's not shouldn't be that difficult to identify what those properties are we were able to identify those properties when we did that Grant last year it would be based on the County's tax role as of a certain date and whatever number that is then we would apply we could I guess in theory we could pull out those invoices and just build those people maybe a lesser rate if that is what as long as that's legally allowed um I we could do that in theory I think it fulfills the spirit I think of what we want to accomplish um it's in the spirit of what we're trying to do I don't know are you talking about the $600 the $600 senior no discount that it gives in the county no no no so I'm saying saying that we could identify those residents within the City of Coral Gables that have the senior exemption the homest said senior hom set exemption and those individuals we could then what he's saying is um to apply a discount to them for their Solid Waste bill so let's just argue for sake of 100 individuals have that senior exemption I don't know what the number is but let's just say it's 100 then we would then pull those 100 customers out if they are property owners and get assessed because some of them may live in in condos or things like that they apartments that they don't um and so and then maybe build them a lesser amount I don't know if that's legally able to be done that's why I started with that legal could theoretically identify them and then build them those rates so I would I would want to look into this a little bit further but I think that there would be a way even if perhaps it's not through the invoice of perhaps a special Grant or or some other method that can be it can be accomplished that way and if you if you want to explore that what I would say is we can do those numbers when we get the June 1 estimates because then we'll have sometime in June we'll have an updated list we can bring you that cost and then you can decide decide as part of your budget process if you want to include that that in to our budget Grant and last year it was 263 households something to that effect I don't remember I'm sorry remember the criteria specific that we selected last year so I I I see what the premise is but I think the vice mayor's point of there's an expectation on us to find some sort of tax relief for our residents and I think if we're just providing it to a very small group it it won't really have the effect that that that it would need to have here's a suggestion let's approve not touching the mil the the the rate today with the ability to put it on the agenda next Commission meeting to have a more thorough discussion and make a decision at that point as to what it should be and I'd like to see real concrete numbers you know if we reduce it to 550 if we reduce it to 600 if we reduce to 650 you know I want to see what these numbers are and what the implication would be on the budget so that we can make a decision based on on hard numbers and I think the vice mayor had even said it's 500 give us all those numbers cuz obviously each household Works differently each one of these would count count count into different categories to when people pay um and I would say base it off of a percentage uh reducing to 550 is about a 34% so maybe give us 35% give us 30% give us 25% give us even 40% just to see what these numbers would be so that we have options to um to choose from from I think there's an appetite here to get this done um I don't think anybody here wants to affect the services but we do want to provide the relief to to Residents the best way we can without eliminating services in the long run do we need I'm ready I'm ready to vote today that that was my question do we need to vote on this today or can we defer for next meeting so as I mentioned before you can defer for the next meeting just because um then just the bills will not go out as early as I was hoping to get them out um but we I always have that meeting I had that meeting as a backup if this did not get approved but at that meeting it does need to be approved because I believe there's no other meeting before the date that I have to submit the rate to the county okay another question would you be able to get come back with numbers at the end of this meeting just giving us I'm let's see how long the meeting is we can try I don't I don't know I'm just I don't think so but I can I mean we could see and again so based on the direction of just trying to get reductions so for instance like while we were standing here I said okay $500 for the early payment $600 for the regular payment and so that would generate a total of $5.4 million of Revenue against the 9.7 that we are generating it's a $4.3 million difference so there's a deficit another $4.3 million deficit on top of the 4.4 that we're already car carrying so any reduction is the number respectfully it's detrimental to the budget as a whole it is again but I will what you ask us to do we will we try to do but recommendation wise we need to charge the enough funds in order to to cover the costs we need to and as uh the finance director that is my recommendation you need to charge actually you should increase it because you need to cover the costs I understand that we don't necessarily want to do that um because the increase will be right so that would be roughly either $1,300 all One Rate no discount or would be roughly 1443 for the regular rate and 1227 for the uh discounted rate right so um that's what we should be charging in order to cover the services provided and I'll say that period that that is what we should be charging I understand the sentiments I really do but from the purposes of a budget we're we're subsidizing um costs but why don't we why don't we do this I I don't like the term subsidizing we the general fund is subsidizing the expenditures of the Solid Waste Department why don't we come back in an hour M everyone can think about it you know the numbers the numbers aren't going to change they are what they are it's pretty simple math come back in in an hour or whenever we finish uh we have about I think we have like 10 commission items that we have to discuss we can finish these and we can and we can finish the day off with making this decision and I'll let you know if we maybe we won't have been able to come up with anything and then we'd have to Def it and I would feel more comfortable deferring it and actually having time to think this out this is not just any any question we've been talking about this for how many years now oh it's it's it's been it's been years you know we're we're going to have to be uh creative and move forward in a Direction that's going to be more sustainable for our future future uh because the way we've been doing it is not very sustain sustainable and the costs are just going up and up and up every single year okay I mean that's that's my attitude to it we've been asked to lower you know taxes this is a tax to me and so we should do that and if we have to absorb it in other areas of the budget then we have to absorb it in other areas of the budget uh there's only so much can go around or are we going to start charging fees for something else we'll have a police fee we'll have a you know a roadway maintenance fee and pretty soon all our taxes will be fees so let's not call it something that it's not it's a tax okay so you want to we'll com back in an hour we'll have a conversation sure thank you thank you moving on on to item F2 update regarding options for Inspector General General Madam City attorney yes mayor so following the last commission meeting I've had a conversation with um the general council's office for the county IG um I got similar feedback that the manager and I had gotten from the county IG which is um they they would love to find a way to help um even if the city were to fund Staffing um there was a capacity issue at the management level because there's one County IG of course and his obligation is to Miami D County but they're going to continue to have conversation and they're they're open to continuing the conversation with us so we can do that I also POS the question of perhaps a different model um rather than having a you know a permanent Arrangement so to speak that if the city had on a case- by case basis a matter to refer to the IG if that's something that we could to the county a if that's something that we could explore like I said they don't have that model currently we could continue to explore if that's something the commission is interested in and then the other kind of option um or or general um bucket of options is um setting up or establishing our own um inspector General's office um there's different ways of doing it of course it can be done through the charter can be done by ordinance we um my office has a call scheduled later this week with Miami Beach because they do have their own Inspector General there so we're going to um kind of see we can learn from them and and their process and how it was established there um but you know we can continue to to explore both Avenues or if you give us Direction let us know what you would like what I'd like to do is is I'd like to put it on the next agenda again uh obviously we don't have any answers here I would like to find out what the cost is for Miami Beach we do have so so just we can find out for Miami Beach what their cost is sure and I know that Paula last meeting gave um a very general estimate of what it would cost us to establish our own yes we can find out I would like to do is have Miami understand what Miami Beach does and then have a final discussion in the next commission meeting to decide moving forward how do we handle the IG and what is the cost that's going to be associated with it and what are the options and what is the will of the commission okay would you like I want to make sure I want to make sure it's a resolution or an ordinance I want to prepare all the documents that we need to move forward so we can vote on it at the next commission meeting and would it be to establish our own office 100% okay Circle that with all my colleagues get their input and we can move forward no concur it's something we have to do there's been you know considerable push for it in the community um in order to maintain the level of transparency I think this commission wants that's something we need to move forward on but uh yeah by next meeting hopefully you'll have some more information for us okay um item F3 Mr Mayor before you move forward I had members of the public Sor ex go ahead uh first Speaker Mrs Murray Cruz Mrs Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road by the way I did have some comments on H whatever we just finished the the waste uh and I was not called because I guess we didn't vote I didn't understand that but I do not understand this either I guess I'm getting all and U uh confused I hear the mayor saying I would like this I would like that there's five people here was there a motion did anybody move to do this or just because I want is that how we do it I didn't hearo motion I didn't hear anybody say y or nay so what are we doing here today in order to do something you all are here I think parliamentary procedure will require a motion to either postpone it defair it whatever the case we're doing things without following any process whatsoever that's why I'm asking I'm very confused extremely confused um all I heard was the mayor say I would like the staff to do this and that and bring it back next meeting did I hear a motion or does he get to say this is what I want and this is what we're going to do I thought we were still in the United States of America and we do have a voice okay and I'm sorry I the process and I'm surprised that the attorney went along with it without saying hello is there a motion was it seconded did we vote how can you get orders from one person out of five I'm confused you respond so M um Mrs Cruz the mayor has expressed his interest in sponsoring a resolution next commission meeting that's all it is if there was another member of the commission that had a different direction a different suggestion a different idea they could have obviously brought that forth but I have taken the direction from the or the request from the mayor frankly to be a resolution next meeting that he will sponsor and the commission on next meeting correct so they are all entitled to bring forth legislation and put items on the agenda individually he brought it up for discussion here if anyone else had a different suggestion or idea or contribution it could have been made um so I at next meeting I will bring a resolution sponsored by the mayor and the commission can discuss it and then vote and so no no action has been taken it was just a request to bring back a resolution and if I may add something to that again I maybe through the clerk I think I said make sure you get input from the entire commission and you circulate the legislation correct I did say something to that effect yes but on that of of course because of the sunshine we can't have different members of commission collaborating but you can send it to them in a one-way communication so that they're prepared for the for the for the conversation and in the interm if another member of the commission has a different suggestion that can also be put on the agenda and after today between now and the next meeting if a member of the commission wants to go in a different direction they can bring their own absolutely uh legislation after today absolutely yeah okay okay and may I ask why I couldn't say anything about the discussion about the ma'am it's not that you couldn't speak the discussion was not defer it was tabled so when it comes back later on before the commission votes we can accept your public comment let me let me tell you something because once again I'm going to say I'm confused we've had people here today talking about discussions and talk and say and whatever I I think what I have to say is important enough to be heard before we move on and I mean how many people got hit they didn't even have cards and they were able to express their opinion about anything I heard it several items were discussed without any anything now I'm saying I have something to say about the solid waste issue before now we're asking them in an hour to come back with things come on guys something is wrong with our process [Music] Madam City attorney can you uh Enlighten Us in regards to something's wrong with the process so mayor if you want to hear from her now on that item you can or if you want you can just you can take the public com public comment later it's really up to up to you I'm of the belief that when we hear from staff then we will hear from the public then the commission will have further discussion and then we can come to a decision uh we're moving on to the next item but has there any has has any laws been broken have we have we no May or no action has been taken there should be an opportunity for her to be heard everybody will be heard we're going to come back in an hour and we're going to have that conversation and and have the staff look for something that may not be necessary that's what I'm saying we we're we're telling the staff in an hour to come back with figures that I mean if you listen to the conversation that happened here today it is impossible to come back and give you real facts in an hour because how long have we been talking and we haven't come up with with any agreement so what we're do this is an exercise in in futility we're just trying to exercise the vice mayor had perfect idea of how we could solve this but we keep beating around the bushes because we don't want to accept the fact that if you you know this is Beverly Hills now everybody you know we have the most expensive properties then they should be paying more than the people that do not live in the most expensive properties but that's okay you don't want to hear it we'll hear one Jackson Holmes yes sir uh thanks so much for letting me uh speak up um I lucked out um we know that Joe centorino is the Inspector General over Miami Beach um and so I um he's helped me more than he's in the top 10 of all the people in my entire life who's helped me so i' I've lucked out just even knowing him but anyways the reason I mention him is you want authoritative information when you consider this Inspector General item and I have it because what what he told me is that on Miami Beach um they decided they wanted um mayor logo An Inspector General but one who is independent and who can you know you say well you you got to investigate the bear but by the way the bear can eat you um but so if you have it independent that needs to go to uh the that requires a change in the charter so what they did in Miami Beach uh long before he ever considered applying for the job was they decided they wanted an independent Inspector General they put it in a charter Amendment and and if you want to know why I'm taking up your time we need to put this in a charter amendment I I think there's one going out and my recommendation based on my discussion with the guy who's the Inspector General of Miami Beach is put this into a charter Amendment because he said otherwise it becomes somewhat toothless you know you pass a resolution now but then the next commission says well we're canning that uh we're dissolving that position if if you want somebody who can actually do something who who can investigate the bear without being eaten by the bear um it needs to go in the charter um and forgive me for adding here um our our great governor and I say that a little bit sarcastically has now neutered to some extent the uh ethics Commission so so we're down you know it's not like everything is normal you got a problem with the public official who go to the ethics commission I think that's kind of like in the past and that's why I I personally personally I support the appointment of a of An Inspector General just to fill the vacuum uh and there is one final remark if you'll allow me in the um uh original authorization for the ethics commission it says that uh they can discipline somebody for lying and I think I would urge you I would beg you to make that part of this uh so that we bring this issue front and center uh and that the inspector General will have the authority to uh investigate whoever it is is caught lying thanks thank you sir s sir all right moving on to item F3 update on discussion on Forensic audit welcome back not sure if I should say thank you um so at the last meeting um mayor you asked that we come back to discuss the option for um audits in the city um so as you know we have an internal audit division that reports through the manager's office um and we perform audits throughout the throughout the year of City processes um so the request that you had um mayor was a forensic audit of all transactions performed by the city and so just to kind of reiterate some of the discussion from um last meeting in order for us to perform that which is an unusual ask right an audit a forensic audit of all transactions in the city um what we would propose is that we would do an RFP uh for a firm that would come in and the first part of the scope of service would be that they would need to identify all of the transactions of the city um cuz in order to determine what needs to be audited they would have to compile a list of everything that we do and then they would have to come up with an audit plan for a forensic audit of all of the transactions um just honestly doing a very high level estimate that's anywhere from $3 to5 million and I think that might even be conservative um the first phase of it doing a review of all of our transactions would probably be a a smaller portion of that because they would come in they would have to interview yourselves they would have to interview staff um maybe some of the business um Community to find out all of the transactions that we do and then put together an audit plan um to move forward with all the transactions um so that would be the first option which is what you requested um and so just to preface my next option there is many options of audits that you can do right but may I ask a quick question absolutely you said the first part of option A was to identify transactions and then they would come in and audit so would that be part of the 3 to 5 million or that would be additional that would be part of the 3 to 5 million I don't know what that cost would be we would have to C we would have to have a company come in and tell us what that would be um we did and that would be option A we do do a risk assessment we did one several years ago and we are um and our plan was to update our risk assessment which would be similarly we uh do an RFP for our internal audit process um that company will come in they will do a risk assessment which means that they will meet with each of you they will meet with Administration um some staff members and they will evaluate processes that we have predetermined and they will identify the level of risk of each of those um having some manipulation per se and so they will come in um give us a report let's say um all cash managed in the city um um our franchise fees we audit our franchise our franchisees our rent agreements um they'll they we have a list of processes that we handle that they would come in identify uh the risk of of each of those come up with a multi-year audit plan um through that process we could also ask them to identify a areas that they feel a forensic team should audit rather than their regular audit team so a forensic team implies that they are looking for some criminal mishandling we have used the forensic team um for a couple of audits just because not because we F felt that there was criminal activity but because sometimes they have a more detailed perspective and they just look at the information differently and are able to provide a different recommendation or different perspective so through that update of our risk um our risk assessment coming up with a multi-year audit plan which is what we typically do and maybe asking them to put their forensic team on areas where they feel are most vulnerable um that um that to me would be a more manageable expectation um probably more even appropriate um there are many of our transactions in the city that don't require a forensic audit necessarily that I I think are simple transactions um and so I think that that would for me that would be the recommendation that I would make what would be the additional cost of that so in the last few years we have budgeted between1 and $150,000 for our audit plan the cost of doing our regular audit plan I believe will be somewhere along the lines of 150 250,00 ,000 in the in the coming years um and then that risk assessment is part of that cost cuz it is something that we planned for in our regular budget in that risk assessment they are they are going to meet with each of you so if there are areas of concern then you can bring those to their attention at that point and then that would be part of the development of their plan of what we should look at my third option would be if there is a particular process proc that you feel needs to be audited then we can explore or process or processes then we can explore having a forensic audit of that process um independent of this depending on the cost that's something that we may be able to do within our purchasing Authority within the within the year within the next six months but that would be specific processes that we identify and we say we haven't audited these processes recently we should have a forensic team look at them but I would need direction from the commission as to what those processes would be and then I would be able to determine specifically how to approach that so have you gone out to actually get pricing in regards to a forensic accountant accounting of the entire city have you gone to a professional firm and done that I have not gone out to get pricing however we have a firm that we use and our average hourly rate is about $500 an hour that's not just just for one individual it's for portions of the team like a lawyer's office bills um but in order for them to provide me pricing they would need to know the magnitude of what they would be doing and so in order for them to evaluate that they would have to have identified all the processes in our city so when I have reached out to our audit team they said you're asking us for an order of magnitude that's unspecified and so to come up with that cost and no firm that I have talked to has gone in and done an audit of all processes at this magnitude of a city okay so what would you recommend for an outside firm that could provide forensic auditing services to areas in the city that they deem appropriate that are potentially areas of um of concern where where where you have possible Malin where they've seen in previous municipalities or in businesses that a high uptick in regards to corruption in regards to a high uptick of of Malin in regards to areas where they can tangibly say look we've done 50 audits 25 audits in the city and as we do as we blanket the city and we do specified forensic audits you know these been these have been the hot spots thoughts that we have found as possible areas for consideration so specifically asking what other cities have been what other processes in cities have been audited we have not done we can do um my recommendation would be that we proceed with a risk assessment which would give us that information of what we do and then they would apply their expertise but don't we do a risk assessment every year anyways no we don't do a risk assessment every year we did a risk assessment several years ago and we were going to update it for this coming year when did we do it I think it was in 2017 okay do any of my colleagues in the commission have any other during last commission during last commission meeting you said 5 million to 15 million where did you get those numbers from no three to 5 million so um over the last s years we have performed um about 6,000 hours in Audits and I would say that that is a very small portion of the transactions right so we identify specific transactions to audit based on that risk assessment that we had and so those 6,000 hours over 7 years is maybe 20% of our transactions so if you apply and then our forensic audit that we' auditor that we've used in the past is approximately 5 $500 an hour so if you apply that and you maybe double and triple it cuz we're talking about all transactions that's where you're coming up with that number and again it's it's really a guesstimate right it's just based on some information some data some information that I have to really get an estimate I would have to go out to to proposals at something that this large I wouldn't just call around asking people what they would charge because that would prude them from from later on being able to participate in in any kind of a procurement process um if there's a scope that I'm able to give right so if you tell me and I'm just going to use this as an example because it's something that we did that we are concerned about what's happening in the country club and we can go out and audit the country club then we can get proposals for what that cost would be and do an audit that particular one fell within our purchase Authority we were able to do it outside of our contract with our existing contractor um and so if I have a specific scope if you tell me you're concerned about XYZ I can then go out to firms and say we are looking for an audit in these three areas and what would that cost be and that's something but to say all transactions right if I come up with a list of transactions myself I'm going to miss something they somebody would you know show short of me taking away from the budget process and interviewing all of Staff everybody and doing it myself typically you would bring in The Firm to come and number one identify all the transactions and then come up with a plan of how they're going to go about auditing those those areas um and so that's a significant task that somebody would have to come in and do I think something we need to keep in consideration is are we going to budget for this is this going to take 5 years where is the money coming from I mean we're we're talking about $4.4 million do that we're absorbing for for um for Waste Management what about for the fact that we cannot even pay police officers more right now but we're discussing millions of dollars on an audit I think we need to be a little more mindful of where we're putting the money because safety does come first and if we were to allocate at least as for me money to an audit I would give it to the police officers first so so let me respond to that because I think it's it's that's very disingenuous the police officers were in the process of a negotiation so I don't think it's appropriate to be talking about that up here number one the officers are going to get a very good contract and it's going to be a record-breaking contract that's number one number two when you when you have a brand like Coral Gables the last thing you want is to tarnish your own brand and when you say there's a cesspool of corruption the ways to answer it are twofold number one with an audit and number two With An Inspector General or sort so it's very simple this is about getting to the bottom of statements that were made here in the commission we have we want to lower taxes but we also want to protect our brand we also want to give the general employes we want to give the police what is fair in regards to a contract so you know let's not mix apples and oranges we're having we're having a discussion about a forensic a forensic audit and if you notice by the tone and what I was stating before I was saying listen I'm more than willing to move in a direction that is not as expensive I'm more than willing to have a you know do something that again is you know in line with a little bit of a more affordable affordable opportunity you know there's no need to go so rash and immediately start throwing stones so as I was saying before you know I think there's an opportunity to do something here you mention a third a third option third option I would ask like I don't want to make any rash decisions about an director General I want to understand what's going to happen with Miami Beach I want to I want to understand so we can make these decisions next month excuse me the next two weeks just like one of the Commissioners said maybe they bring up an idea that that they believe is a better idea and we can go with that idea I'd like to see what the prices are for the second and for the third option and understand what are the impacts financially so that we could go after and have a deep dive into areas that again a a professional company and outside company that is not controlled by anyone will say something to the fact of look we've done this and I'm not I don't want to mention any cities because they say I mention a city and one of the 34 municipalities we did this type of audit and we focused on a b CDE e FG because those are the areas that we think are the most critically important that's what I just want to hear I want to understand that better and I don't want to make any rash decisions because at the end of the day it's money and number two we want to do something that's effective let's use a scalpel I don't want to use a baseball bat the mayor Mr Mayor I actually have a fourth option um I've actually set up a meeting with the uh for the city manager with um my budget Advisory Board member um who believes there is another uh type of assessment that could be done that would not be as expensive either um I'll be meeting with them um be happy to have the manager bring that back at the next meeting as another potential option if they think that's viable um but it's something that has been used by Fortune 500 companies to try to find areas of of of concern and basically uh do the forensic audits as you had said in specific areas so uh there there is potentially other options uh and the cost would be a fraction of of what we're talking about here so um mayor yes ma'am um couple points um and just do tailing in with your comments commissioner um police are already voting on the contract so this is no effort to take away from them but we do need to Route out any corruption if it does exist uh we the city has had issues before just like any organization we need to be vigilant on uh finding opportunities I've heard rumors well as well on you know there are matters in certain departments where fees are charged or something and you know those fees aren't being collected because you know someone's using it for their own personal business purpose so these are the types of things we need to be vigilant about uh we don't need to have revenues that belong in the city's coffers being taken advantage of by uh certain folks um and you know that's why a forensic OCT is important because it's not just looking at the budget numbers it's it's taking it to this the the step brother as well um if we have allegations that there's aess P of corruption other than just being an allegation we need to dig deeper and we need to take care of these these items um you know I just uh and I'll follow up on some other research I've done here um when we get back to the Le Bill to the mayor's request so mayor to your request so option two was and all transparency option two is something that we are going forward with as a city regardless right so as part of our internal audit process we in the I'm Sor interrupt you I'm I'm sorry I apologize can we put put together through the manager's office so we have something a little bit more concrete a simple two or three slide presentation that talks about option two option three and whatever commissioner fernandz is is is bringing to the table and just put things there as options so we can have them on a slide and that people can see them and it can be memorialized properly because I'll give you an example you know we were talking before about an audit I've always heard 3 to 5 million commissioner Castor heard 5 to 15 million I don't want there to be there you know people saying that the the numbers are if it becomes a public record and then you can have you can have it given to the clerk and the clerk can disseminate it whoever asks for it I can certainly do that I want to be I'm just through the manager through the manager Office I just wanted to be clear on what we're talking about are the options right is the forensic audit of everything under the sun option two is a process that we are going through anyways which is updating our risk assessment and um and developing the audit plan for the next few years okay and so my proposal would still be that we're going to continue that option three what I I believe I said it was option three is I would need to know I would need direction from the commission as to what areas of concern you would like us to audit because option two is my process for identifying areas for audit outside of that I don't have specific areas that I have identified or that my Auditors have identified should be audited so I would need direction from the you know the commission through the manager as to what areas are there are concern and that should be audited and then I would be able to come up with an estimate of what those audits might cost um so I my option three right now would be please provide areas of concern so that we can develop and my response to you option and cost and my response to you is that we'll give those we'll give those we'll give those to you but I also need a little bit of information from you mhm I need you to tell me what are the areas that handle the most money right cash okay obviously it's probably the individuals who are collecting the change from The Meters right or or something or there's actually a very small amount of meter collection I'm just saying I'm just giving you an example just give me an example right what I can provide to you I think would be helpful is the last risk assessment that was performed and that identifies different processes and what our Auditors determined were highrisk so I I would like to I would like to have that information provided through the manager's office to the commission if possible okay and then we can come back at the next commission meeting and we can finalize what this what the commission will decide in regards to an auditing process that is extensive that sends a strong message okay yes and again just to be clear my regular audit will be included in the budget as is every year and that will be part of my proposal but and and just you know I just don't like to mince the words and just be just to be clear just to be clear yes this is not about just your regular audit right I understand there are very very strong statements that were made on this commission floor very strong I'm not going to reiterate them because it only hurts a city and at the end of the day I need to send a message that that's never been the case and we don't need to score political points in an effort to hurt somebody on the on the city's on the city's back okay so at the end of the day we move forward we move forward so I look forward to this coming back on the next commission with the information it would be great be great I know it's tough you have a lot on your plate if you could disseminate this maybe like two or 3 days before to the manager and then get it to us so that we can have just a little bit of time I may need like two days depending on my work schedule just to be able to review it in depth so I see everything because this is not going to be as easy as for example a garbage fee is this much we lower it by this much this is what you're this is what you're costing the budget do you understand has a lot it has a lot more moving parts thank you yeah every commission meeting I've disagreed with this and I will continue to disagree agree with this we are going to deal with the teamsters now we need money for the teamsters they've been underpaid for way too long you know I opinionate the same about police and I don't even think this is adequate to just clean your name or to it doesn't weigh the same to me my colleagues can disagree but I stand firm in what I believe in okay thank you Mr Castro I agree that we need to move on to the teamsters as well um but if we are losing revenues because of improper conduct on some on the part of a few employees it's something we have to Route out we have an obligation to do that and those revenues then go back into the coffers for our city budget I I I see where you're coming from I wouldn't disagree but it's going to take years to complete this audit and I think right now the teamsters and the police really need a lot more relief I think it's something we could do more immediate then budget and take money from money that we're trying to save to give to our people our employees if I me if I may just just want to just add some clarity add some clarity the the statement was made that uh an audit would take years and depending on the audit would it take years to do an audit it depends on the I'm asking a question so I would say it depends on the magnitude and the number of people that are put on to the audit right so I mean if if we put it all in and ask them in a year they're going to bring a team here you know and do an a full you know opening of all the drawers and see what's going on um so it could take more than a year um I don't know how many years it depends on how many processes they identify we typically perform an audit over but we do them in pieces so it shouldn't take a year number one one and number two always remember you know when you have things like a triple triple bond rating it took prior commissions including the commissions that I saw on because when I got here we had a double double rated Bond we did a lot of belt tightening and we were very very careful to make sure that we spent the money and we save the money to be able to get a triple bond rating which has helped us get significantly reduce bonding rates to be able to do projects and to incur debt which has helped us with over $100 million just alone for Public Safety so when you when you have a strong financial backbone and you go out there and you say that there's no corruption it benefits you but if you go out there and you say those things War gets out and you know rating agencies lose trust in you if you're out there and and it's and it's perpetuated out there so we have to make a make a statement and show that the city is as strong as it's always been and it's only going to get stronger in regards to our fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities okay let's be as candid as possible if we were to budget this audit and how long do you really think we're going to be starting it so we would have to go out to RFP I think that between developing the RFP putting it out getting back bids um anywhere from I don't know 4 to 5 months between one thing and another you would get the audit team in they would have to interview everybody um and then we would would we have to give a retainer we would they would um we would pay them as they go so we would start paying them as soon as we began the process yes so we would have to budget this money we would have to budget this money and usually how long does it take to budget a significant amount of money such as this so it depends on what you're asking me to do if you're asking us to start an audit before October we would have to identify funds for the first portion of the audit and then we would have to budget for the next budget whatever that comes back in and I'm I'm I'm saying if it's not a minimum $3 million I would be surprised because if you're talking about having a team come in and audit every single transaction that you do right what commissioner Fernandez referred to option is is something different it's very specific it has a a very clear scope this is more of an open-ended type of of request so I can't imagine that it would be something in in expensive so we would have to we would have to put a placeholder in our July 1 budget for $3 to5 million and hope that it's enough and then reevaluate it in September when we have um when we hopefully would have pricing if the direction was to go out to bid for this commissioner that's why I'm being very thoughtful before I rush into making a decision I'm asking for this is the third meeting going to the third meeting asking for more information to make sure that we do things appropriately so I'm asking you through the manager please for the for information coming up on the next Commission meeting uh so that we can make a decision and move forward in a direction that again gets the best bang for your buck sends a strong message in regards to the city and hopefully delivers a little bit more clarity Mr Mayor can I uh interject real quick Paula wouldn't it be a good idea or if you think so go back and look at the risk assessment that was done six seven years ago identify which areas were high risk that were not audited and at least that gives us a starting point rather than to have to do a second risk assessment um so for the purposes of the of the discussion of having a forensic audit then I would say that that could be a good start for the purposes of our regular audit plan I would say that it would be wise of us to update our audit plan our risk assessment because there are processes that have changed over the last few years and to make sure that when we do our multi-year plan and that we captured all of those but that could be but that would be my first recommendation to look at the existing risk assessment and for the commission to say these are areas where we so that's one of the things that we discussed as that you going to come back and give us information so I want you to take a look at that in detail and provide your guidance on that front and I would say on that presentation the mayor asked for option three base it on that risk assessment okay right thank you very much Mr Mayor before you move forward I have members of the public requesting to speak on this Mrs Mar Cruz okay uh Mr Jackson Holmes how are you sir uh thank you very much um uh this what you're proposing mayor and please forgive me for my uh confrontational uh language is a coverup audit um when the phrase has been used that Coral Gables is a cesspool of corruption um which I I affirm but I I want to explain what needs to be investigated what what I mean when I say that corl Gables is a cesspool of corruption and it's you know you can play with it um it's the in citizens united uh enabled and legalized uh developers buying City Hall I mean I'm I'm exaggerating a little bit right but at least I'm trying to keep what do we need to audit we need to audit uh developer influence in Coral Gable's elections and uh forgive the expression uh what if anything do they get for their money and and I I need to um clarify for anyone who might be listening uh particularly City staff uh what you're saying is let's investigate City staff I they're not the problem I I let's let's let's forget what you're proposing you're proposing a coverup audit and excuse again my harsh language uh what we needs to be investigated uh and you're the one who brought up this thing about the Cesspool of corruption and and I temper my use of that word but but the developers have undermined democracy that's why I use that trigger word corruption because what could be more corrupt than to uh destroy Coral Gable's democracy what's the consequence of of the uh Cesspool of corruption Coral Gables is no longer a safe place to raise children what could be worse than to make that than Coral Gables is no longer a safe place to raise children from during the 18 years from birth to when they reached the age of 18 and can live independently what could in this whole world be worse than the fact that between citizens united uh mayor ra Raul Valdes Val's first ter and unfortunately mayor your term uh is no longer a safe place for children that is my definition of corruption and that's what needs to be investigated and I'm placing the blame uh where it belongs it's primarily on citizens united for forget investigating the staff they're not the problem that's that's a coverup audit let's let's have an audit and I can find uh the maybe the best in the country who can do this I've been making calls let's do a real audit it's it's not a a forensic audits it's to study it's what has been the effect of citizens united if you will in terms of developer influence on who gets elected and how the city decides on development do we really even have a democracy that's the only audit worth doing cover up uh audits as you're suggesting forget about it don't do it it's a waste of money it's a cover up thank you sir that's it Mr Mayor that's it okay thank you we're going to move on to item F4 update regarding temporary speed tables mras is on our way in as well as Mr Diaz and uh I asked staff to bring back some information um so we can determine what costs are determine if this is going to be something feasible to provide residents relief while they're waiting uh whether it's 3 months 6 months 9 months or a year for uh speed tables to be installed so the floor is yours to educate us what's the weight times what's the cost how much effort does it so we got a price from an individual vendor um and the price that we got was $47 $0000 per device not installed just the device itself um how much $4,700 it it comes in like three pieces on every location you know and then they did offer that they will train our people so our own staff will potentially install it um it's possible if you buy enough of them the price may come down a little bit but you're looking at a few hundred savings you're not looking at you know $1,000 less um as far as timing um right now we're we're getting ready to just uh zone three which is the we have about 11 no we have we have nine we have two that are pending one in zone one one in zone two and then we have an additional nine in zone three right so so so in total we have 11 and in the stuff the score program our current contractor weather permitting um it takes about a week kind half to do a speed table um this is a significant Improvement for when they started when they started they were taking a month there a there a little bit of a training curve um as they go through it so this 11 that we have right now ready to go ready to be installed they should be done anytime between the next 4 and a half to six month so as far as any time or Time Savings for those I mean if if we do purchase some of this probably looking about we probably have to go through a bid waver process couple of weeks at Po and I think they told us it was like three to four works so so we're looking at about a two to three month saving uh in timeline for the ones that we have right now for the larger botch that we have coming down the pipe a part of the original program we have total 44 left 18 on Zone 4 and then the reminder on zone five the ones for zone four uh we're currently in the process of um getting new Consultants um because you know the contracts expired so we should we should we probably be coming to commission sometime soon to get the new bachom construction approved the idea is for them to have all those designed and be ready to construction for zone four towards the end of this year and then for zone five we're still pending the um public meeting which is due which we'll do on the fall usually in the summer we've been told not to have public meetings because people got out of town um we're looking to get new contractors on board also uh we're working with procurement on that um so we're hoping to have more crews out there doing some work um at that point sometime next year maybe if we buy I don't know how many you will like us to buy 10 20 H we could start doing something okay the next batch that's more than six month away we could do those well let me just ask a few questions so the we're all on the same page um the process starts with your public meeting like you're going to have for zone five yes then you have the shield six data to determine if it's going to meet the minimum threshold to order a traffic study MH then you order the traffic study after we have a certain number because we each time that you have to go out there there's a mobilization fee so we try to get about 10 to 15 that look like they're going to qualify before we ask for official data yeah great so you you do the traffic study and then you do the balloting then we do preliminary design preliminary design so people have something to vote on so because they want to know if it's going to be as a speed table in front of their house or their neighbor's house and the signs and design whether it's a big one or a smaller one hopefully when are we going to get that one back from the county I'll reach out to the county and see if we can get a date to L hopefully we can get a date uh this summer hopefully so we can get these going well those we were only going to use those where we had a conflict and thankfully we really haven't had any more conflicts um so yeah I think we had a conflict in a 500 block of area so my real question here is from the time you have balloting and you know that that block wants a speed table from until the time you start construction how many months are we talking about anywhere from 2 to 3 months probably because the once the preliminary design is complete since we've already designed so many of these um the design process really shouldn't take that long okay so you're only talking about a two to three month period of time for the design but then we would have to schedule construction yes okay no no no let's go back to my question then from the time you have the answer on the ballot that you know folks want it until the time you can begin construction how many months are we talking about so so for example um the let's let's say uh zone four which is the the next one going to tackle let's say we have those design ready to go at the end of this year so with our current contractor no other problems it takes about a week and a half let's just say two weeks for the second run number 18 speed tables 36 weeks divided by four you're looking at about 9 months nine months to constru that that's that's if we do it the way we've been doing it now we just have one crew one contractor we're working with procurement to see if we can get additional Cruise additional contractor we're hoping to get maybe two three four crws um at any given moment we do expect at the beginning to take a little longer I don't expect for these folks to start from the beginning and take two weeks to do the speed tables when these people started it took about a month so if we now take those same 18 um tables right for zone four divided by four four and a half and let's say each takes a month I mean uh to do you're looking at five month so it all depends of how ability how many crews we have available uh how quickly do they take so in in our current way the way we've been doing it with a single crew throughout you're looking at about 9 month if we get four crews to do it and let's say even if they take a little longer it could take four to five months that that would be that will be for 18 right so the more you get the time so it would be six months to a year goes up basically because you would have to add the design Fin and and and keep in mind that in addition to to the ones that are previously programmed we have about a 100 that now cuz a lot of people who were not paying attention they're seeing them built and then they're saying I want one too well yeah know I I realized we're going to have that and we're probably going to be starting all over again correct so I'd like to see if we can get more crews yes that that's something that we're working and get this down to a three to six month period of time if we can get it down to 3 to 6 month buying the temporary tables may not be necessary so so we're looking at what four or five month for the sign balloting and the whole thing well once once the balloting is complete it should be about three months two to three months and then with construction on top of that so so if we get enough crews out there and and like I said that's something we're working with procurement we could our goal is to get to the point that we can get this batches done in six months no more than six months at a time that that's our goal but that's we we need to work towards that because right now we just don't have enough crws available to us to really make that happen is there any other option other than these um temporary speed tables to help slow things down maybe a cone put a cone out there they're not they're not really uh you know there's things that are appropriate in a parking lot they're not necessarily appropriate or I guess you want to call it street legal that's probably not the right wording but I I I I say Christine I don't know you I don't know if you no we've had some creative residents uh create some slom patterns for folks to go around to help slow down uh the traffic but you know a cone in the middle of the street tree roots no just kidding tree roots no we have some of those those work very effectively so natural speed table so so if if you all decide to for death question well something that two or three months isn't really a big uh a big impact but I had talked to the manager and the DCM about the possibility of Expediting the design and balloting process for all the pending um speed tables so that we can then purchase the ones for the ones that are going to take more than say 6 months and start putting those in for the year or year and a half that they're going to be waiting for those speed humps to to come in cuz that will alleviate a lot of the traffic concerns that we have and I think all of us the biggest concern that we get from residents who are already waiting is have to wait another 3 or four years for it I'm I'm having the traffic problem now so is there a way obviously it has to be done in the fall because you still haven't done the the community meetings for zone five yes for zone five to expedite that process of of balloting design and balloting for the remainder of what we have left and try to purchase these to put them in the locations where those would go in once they're ballot and approved so so what we could do um we can spread further we're going to get five Consultants now five new Consultants through through the process and we can spread the the signs among all of them it will cost more right because the there the s minimum that anybody's going to charge you to do anything and these speed Tables by themselves they're not that big right so the more you give somebody the cheaper it's going to cost you and until I have those consal B I couldn't tell you exactly what that's going to be but it will cost us a little bit more and then instead of giving a consultant uh let's say we have 30 to design instead of giving it to two Consultants we can give it to four right and then that will excuse me Mr Diaz um yes so when we were buying them before and they were $2,000 it made a lot more sense obviously when you're talking about it costing the tax and everything almost $5,000 per and this is not with the installation correct that's just no okay so you're just it's a pretty significant number you need you need two you need two speed tables per Street correct no just this is this is for one location $5,000 that that 4700 it's a set they just come in pieces you kind of build it together like the one that was done to built more happened on billmore Drive keep in mind we we looked at you know this is one vendor right we could what's the price what is the price for the installation of this of the speed table um oh so for a speed table it's like 12 to 14 12 to 14,000 now with our current unit prices now we're going to be going out to bid again those prices May the price will likely go up you know I don't know about that I'm I'm seen prices going up and I'm I'm actually seen I've actually I've seen concrete you know it went up a little bit but I think there's there's uh there's a lot of hunger on the street right now you're starting to see it so maybe star to see it I mean look those weren't my numbers the 400 million to 190 was was our was our property appraisers numbers you can see the amount of it's a significant drop in one year in construction permanent so I'm seeing it already across the board that people are starting to call me and say Hey listen do you have any work available do you have any work I have a I have I have backlog finishing 6 months I want to start working on the next thing so I think that we're going to have an opportunity to get some good pricing not in it's not going to be amazing but we may be able to get a little bit of a reduced pricing I just find it hard to swallow to spend $5,000 on an item that we're be spending 12,000 on one that's permanent we just I know you want I know we want to alleviate the situation but imagine how many how many areas would we be buy we EXP all of these and and we were able to get all of them approved and then how many we would buy what 30 40 50 of these so so if if we follow we were talking to I was talking to perum a few days ago about this um if we go through the bid waver process which would probably be the fastest way we can get them um I think we're limited to $100,000 so we're looking about 20 that we go buy through that process give or take um so you know 20 where if you there at 12,000 it' be it' be $240,000 so you're almost at you're almost at halfway the price on something that's permanent versus temporary so while it makes a lot of sense to push something and get it done quickly trust me I want to get it done quickly cuz we're all tired of hearing from so are you hearing from residents hey I want speed calming I want traffic calming I want traffic cing I traffic but this is something we have to think about it in this instant if whether the Valu is really there the the biggest the biggest um that we hear is from people who are they're seeing it done I know they they were not part of the orig remember Milan right how long how many meetings do we have in Milan until they finally got their traffic coming this a few months ago right correct so so so those are the ones that we tell them well you know it's only fair that we finish the one that we already had in the books before we kind of go back and and and get to those right uh but I think with additional consultants and additional crew I think we can uh expedite the construction uh and and and get the there a little a little one of the things that um and really is the the the reason we can't have the conversation because if there were a number of traffic circles especially in zone one that the residents voted down um because if those traffic circles hadn't be voted down we would really have no money left to really even expedite anything but because those traffic CES were voted down now there's some conversations now they're asking us to look at alternative we're looking at possibly doing um speed raise intersections so we'll probably end up spending that money in a different way eventually down the line but if if if it wasn't for that reason that money will be gone and we will even have without additional funding really any option of of doing any kind of uh um so so I think I mean again I agree you know I we want to get it resolved but I think that spending on money on permanent on this front is is going to be something that is a little bit better bank for your buck especially if you're telling me you're almost at 50% cost when you run the numbers at 50% cost does that 12,000 include installation all in yes yes so okay I could even be wrong it could be over 50% corre because the 5,000 doesn't include installation right yeah the idea is that if if we buy those it would have to be our staff who which by the way what's the opportunity cost you're taking them away from something else right correct I mean okay so we I'm just saying again whatever the will of the commission is because at the end of the day the city's going to look good we're going to look good when we address the issue with traffic cing with the residents but we're also not going to look so good when we spend money on things that we have to take away and um we have to we have to replace them eventually with something that's permanent and I don't want to use that money so you said we have 55 left to do 40 including in w z three four and five we have 55 left yes on the original batch and then how many requests have we had we have about 100 but I could tell I that doesn't mean that all those locations that do qualify I could tell you right now how many of those actually do are we going to do the same thing we did with the in the county a few years ago when we went over there and we with with with uh Craig lean and we had the approvals the blanket approvals that we're doing the same thing or do do they or they fall into the no no they fall with they now I just didn't know if we had to go back no and so resubmit the 100 like we did that time we submitted all the if you meet the criteria we don't have to go to the county as long as we're within within their the criteria within local we don't have to go back to the county so so and we I apologize have we looked at I don't for have we looked at most favorite Nations to make sure that we haven't lost the opportunity to maybe be a little more aggressive on the traffic calming front because if other cities were able to get something approved we can apply most favorite nations in our contract and our agreement and be able to get also that benefit so so our our traffic caling a we really have locations that are qualifying for traffic C where there is barely any sustain speeding at all very very minor you do get additional points for lack of sidewalks and school so we have a very lenient um uh process already to begin with I'm just saying just in case you never know so but you know we can always look around and see but I think our process you know we were looking actually at the the uh the original list when when we started collecting data some of which goes back to 2012 when when go regions request we had like 280 and we looked at the average 85th sent out speed out of the batch and it was like 30.3 miles per hour and a good Chun those go back to a time where the speed limit in the city was 30 m per hour so so there's a few areas where yes you see a significant speeding and just because you don't have a consistent speeding problem doesn't mean that you don't have the occasional speed s right so what is the total funding needed to complete what's what's left I will have to get back to you you want come back to and if we talking your speed tables the just completing the the the the traffic calming uh plan that we currently have let us let us get back to 55 or whatever that we have left just so we have an idea going into budget because maybe that's something we can try to make a priority and if you are able to find right now additional uh contractors who can get the work done that's something that we can move the money to to to get those shovel ready projects done then that might be the a different approach that we can take so what I was expecting to hear that these were significantly cheaper we're talking under $1,000 so uh that's what I was expecting now don't forget we have some of the projects that we've had done or approved had conditions of approval where the developer had to pay for the speed tables and those include the ones that are slated to go on uh palmo and Catalonia those are are coming from the developers dollars on M right M also has has an agreement M yeah you're correct that one as well so you know that those are again opportunities for us to uh find the funding on projects is not forget that that is something that um although projects are coming in there's a way to ameliorate some of the speed here and yeah I would like to see if we can speed up the process so to speak I know that um sewer installations are going to add an additional wrinkle to this which is why I was looking at the temporary ones to begin with uh to find a way to if we're going to be digging up the street again for a sewer pipe in a short period of time to have some option for folks but um yeah let's see if we can move this along for folks do you want to vice mayor do you want to put this on the next agenda again so that the director and the assistant director can provide us a budget number for what's left in regards to the 50 or 50 plus uh traffic calming areas that need to be addressed yeah no we need to do that we also need to talk sidewalks we're going to do it now we're going talk sidewalks now yeah let's let's let's talk sidewalks because you know we we do need to move that along I was hoping that we were going to have that I have it on F6 on on the website uh to let people know where where we're heading next on on sidewalks too because you want to you want to talk F5 which is your next item and then we'll talk sidewalks which is F6 yeah yeah since uh we have the team up here right now okay on past present and future city transportation projects and the latest update I got from fdot um was in response to an email that I sent after our letter went out addressing uh Bird Road because um a resident reminded me that they had in the pipeline a reduction uh request for a speed reduction there the response I got back uh just this past week um there states that they're pleased to inform us that they're actively addressing several of the requested items by the end of the calendar year four electronic speed signs three three for westbound drivers on Bird Road near sovia Street University Drive and Santa Maro drive and one for eastbound drivers on Bird Road near Al hamper Circle will be installed the existing posted speed limits will remain unchanged this talking about Bird Road but the speed feedback signs will improve compliance with a posted 35 M and our speed limit so in my email to um fdot regarding Bird Road I pointed out to them in One Direction it's 35 mph and in another Direction it's 40 so this is what f fdot um plans on doing now perhaps the feedback signs will give us more data and information to work with hopefully it solves the problem on bird this project also includes a no leftand turn eastbound on uh Santa Maro drive so we're moving forward um Mr Zas is has worked very hard on trying to give us a history cuz I know sometimes it seems like we're not moving very fast but the history of what our city has done in traffic calming and where we're heading so the floor is yours presentation please so we were asked to put together a presentation about what we've done in the past um what we're working on right now and the projects that we're going to have coming up so um this slide basically has a list of all the devices that devices and projects that we've worked on within the last four to five years um we've completed all of the traffic cing well all the speed tables and cushions in zone 1 and two except for two and those will be completed within the next few weeks um we had 12 steeps speed tables that were installed over at Red Bird we had a mid block crosswalk that was installed on Aragon um by the museum we had um the traffic calming on Aragon and H which was four-speed tables and two raised intersections we had the intersection Improvement that was done uh recently on North Greenway and Granada we had the Speed cushions that were installed on billmore drive and um a couple speed cushions that were installed on salono pra we had the asphalt path that we put in at the golf course and um in addition to all of that we've also had about 11 miles worth of sidewalk repairs what I did was I basically divided up um the projects that we're working on based on the different phases so in engineering you have a planning phase you have a design phase and you have a construction phase so right now our planning phase that we're working on is um on buil more way the Flagler section and Manisha Terrace which we'll talk about in the next and before you move on um we are we're we're trying to get started on the design from M way um we're negotiating a price for design for for those improvements so this is it's it's moving in that direction Flagler section after we did a whole traffic study that the county request requested for the improvements on on ponds they're asking some additional um studies done which unfortunately we canot do until the fall CU now we're entering to the summer um so and then ventian terrorist I think there's a separate discussion on that one so we can but we expect it's we're going to go into more detail with venan terrorist but we basically expanded the study area because of what we um feedback we received from the residents at the community meeting um we requested Shield data basically at 25 different locations to see if any of these locations would qualify for traffic calming so the projects that we have in design right now we have one traffic circle well one traffic circle in zone one and several in zone two um those need to one of them is moving forward the ones in zone 2 still need to be balloted we have a raised intersection and we have some intersection improvements um we have the alhamra circle sidewalk and traffic calming which will be talking about you know on the next item the Pano Avenue sidewalk and the South alhamra bike Lanes um the South alra bike Lanes the design is basically complete the only issue is that we have some utilities that um we're working with FPL to see if we get um some help with getting some of the uh an there some anchors thaty to they're out of the way we're working with FPL to have them moved out of the way those basically wires the correct that's M that's the only thing that's pending there for us to put that Pro out to bed okay so so that one should be starting construction soon and then these four the design is complete but I still wanted to put them in the ongoing design because we just finished design and they're not necessarily starting construction they're not in construction right now but they will be starting construction very soon because they're either in the permitting or in the procurement phase so pawns phase 3 and Last Mile Transit right now out to bid um corway and Granada we will be going out to bid very very soon we we you discussed us earlier today and I think that one is spending some do we have permits on that yes it's right now with durm that is and and and that's a fairly uh benign quick so that's going to go out to bid very soon the next couple of weeks yes and then blue Road sidewalk we got the approval from Miami date County right now we're going through the tree permit you know with the county because blue Ro is a county road so we're working that with the county but we've already reached out to the contractor for a proposal so that we can start construction as soon as we have that approval so ongoing uh projects that we have in construction right now we have um the 600 block of Mendoza we and if I may add I'm sorry to interrupt you these are the projects that either we're working on right now or we're literally just about to start with the next month month and a half just keep that in mind so they're just literally on the costs of so the 600 block of Mendoza we were supposed to be completed yesterday I still put it on the slide because we were working on it we still have one left of Mendoza then we're going to be moving to the 300 block of alesio and then we'll be going back to the 400 block of Al Maria before we move into the rest of the um traffic caling devices that we have in Zone 3 we are um completing University Drive sidewalks there's some Tre uh tree plantings and swells that we're working on and we're going to be milling and resurfacing um the roadway as well we hope to be done within the next 2 weeks um but we're working out some details with the county regarding some traffic Loops that are going to be removed as part of the milling and resurfacing of the roadway um and these are the sidewalk repair locations that are imminent but it's an ongoing list and we just keep on addressing them and keep going as you know as they get addressed so future projects at you know are currently going to be in the planning phase very soon D soda fountain which was one that you guys voted on earlier today um one of the other projects that we have had feedback from residents that they would like to see some improvements would be another intersection on corway which is corway and Columbus we've had residents reach out um that they would like to see some pedestrian improvements because it's very difficult to cross at that intersection so you know that's one that we've also asked for some um additional funds this year in the budget to hopefully start planning and design the Commodore Trail that's a project that we're actually working with um Miami Dade County and um city of Miami um our portion is very small but it's in the planning phase right now the Granada Boulevard sidewalks um all the sidewalks and projects listed below the Commodore Trail are all ones that we're submitting for this budget season um so it's very preliminary but so the blue the blue Road sidewalks they're not funded at all yes yes this is a different location this is west of Riviera oh yeah I have a quick question um these future projects they have the green light no some of them no the SoDo Fountain um we used got uh this commission's blessing for us to apply for a grant um which if if we do get the grant that will be the effective green light um commodor Trails already been funded I think everything else those are things that um we're asking funding for through the budget cycle and my only other comment or question and then a comment do you is this available to the public because we always get a lot of questions as to well the city's not doing this or doing that because maybe in their area they're we're not but we are covering in a lot of areas is this kind of information easily accessible and if not can we do something like that so somebody maybe can work on a condensed version so people can see where we have projects some of it is I I think we can make it easier right toess perhaps on the short term just email this presentation to all of us absolutely and then we'll work out someplace on the website to have more ongoing information because it would make it easier not only for the residents but it make it easier for this entire commission to be able to answer questions that residents have point to that and some of those points that you brought up you said like 18 are currently in the works if you can give us the locations of those as well sure uh that would be great absolutely so is the Granada Boulevard sidewalks that's from the bridge so as part of the blue Road sidewalks we're going to be doing from the bridge to Blue that's going to be something that we just add on while we're there what we were looking at was um maybe looking at bigger projects from bird to blue and then blue to us one so we're we're we're not we're not even planning there's no budget there's nothing for that these are just things that proposed correct well I think that's a great project I've said it before much needed a lot of a lot of these are great projects and but we also need resident buyant you know my conversation with fdot when I had the meeting with you all president as well uh and I had learned at a prior point in time that fdot was going to put the sidewalks in on um Bird Road on the South Side they then added to that well we still have to have resident Outreach I said well what if we go door to door and we just get signatures just keep this Expediting and get this sidewalk in because what we're trying to do is we're trying to get kids to school safely we're trying to get all these things done safely so I think it's really important you know that we have the resident buying and if there we have residents in those areas willing to go door too and get the signatures just like we had for the South alhamra bike linee it's going to really help move these projects forward because we can't afford to have another instance where we get a grant and we are going out for grants for these things um and then reject the money because residents didn't speak on whether or not they wanted it so yeah I I think that's important sorry to interrupt no um so future projects that will be you know entering the design phase very soon um we spoke about zones four and five those will be entering design as soon as we get this contract that you know we'll be putting that we have out um Columbus Boulevard from coralway to Anastasia Avenue that's actually a project that we got um some funding for from the state it will be a milling and resurfacing and drainage project the the roadway there is pretty bad condition um but we need to look at drainage improvements there and we'll be doing some milling and resurfacing so we've already reached out to a consultant for a proposal we should be designing it should be designed very soon they said they can get it turned around pretty quickly and then we would be starting construction um and then University Drive sidewalks from compano drive to Pano Avenue there's a map there in the bottom right corner it's basically along compano Drive where the sidewalks end we would be continuing That Sidewalk going around the corner to where the bus stop is we're going to be reaching out to Miami day County to see if we can get a midblock crosswalk and then we would be continuing along the east side of um Pisano of um University Drive to Pano Avenue that Columbus Boulevard is a major need that's probably one of the worst patches of road we have in the entire city and the edges of the road sometimes have about a foot of a drop into the sale yeah so it's dangerous for for cars to drive into the the Swale because of the the Deep so unfortunately there was a time countywide really you see this throughout a little of area City of Miami even here that for some reason the practice was you just overlay roads with Ming correct and then over time you got several inches I I I did a job in Miami years ago where we actually removed in of asphalt y um you'll probably have at least that there so so so yeah those are and that area it's it's and and and that's the end result of we don't do that anymore um yeah I mean it from a road raising standpoint it might seem like it makes sense but then if you just dump additional soil in there you're burying whatever landscaping and trees are on the side not only that you create an issue where now your sidewalks become the facto gutters because now all the water runs off correct and he pulls on the sidewalk and then it creates a different problem altoe so Coral Way was like that it Coral Way is like R boots it's absolutely and and and corway has that condition then that'll be one road the chicken will never be able to cross just too high there's my joke for the afternoon okay so these will be the projects that are going to be entering construction soon there's going to be some of the some of them on this list are ones that you already saw in previous slides but the reason that we put them on there is because they're going to be starting construction hopefully this year if design goes through quickly so Citywide traffic calming we're going to be working on zones three and four hopefully this year we'll be in four three we anticipate will be completed by this fiscal year um and so four we she'll start construction towards the end of the year and at that point we'll have to make a call do we really want to start working during Christmas or not but you know we don't we don't have to make the decision right now but depending on when the uh when the design has the construction available we can have that conversation Columbus Boulevard from corway Anastasia the the uh the consultant has committed that they would be completing the design quickly however we're hoping to start construction very soon it's a little bit tricky because we want to time it with the times that schools out since St Teresa and Sevilla we don't want to impact that but um we're actually talking about facing the job about maybe doing some areas during the summer and then leaving the rest for later but just just things that we're we're discussing a way to make that a little smoother we also have 4th of July mhm that's something El you wouldn't want to time it around 4th July right details I know yeah so Pawn's phase 3 is going to be starting very soon like I said it was out to bid Last Mile Transit is also out to bid cway and Granada will be out to bid very very soon a HRA Circle sidewalk and traffic calming if we can decide on which option we want to move forward with to take to the residents um that will start our construction the the traffic calming portion of it um is dependent on which option we go with because the county would like to see where we're placing the sidewalk as part of that project so can we talk about that really quick I know I will have it on my item at F6 but we might as well just address it now what's the next step what do where are we at we need to make a cause to where we're going to put the sidewalk okay I I think that's have we already have we reached out to the residents not yet the idea was for to have this discussion and then reach out to them later we do have a couple of slides on a separate presentation then then we'll go we'll go wait for the next one if we can do that but I mean this is the last slide right so I think I think we're done um okay so blue Road we're going to be starting construction very soon um just the tree permits Pisano Avenue we should be conting starting construction this year um just working out a few little drainage details that need to be worked out South alhamra it's just the coordination with FPL that's holding up that project Valencia Avenue bul bouts that when the design is complete we've asked for a proposal so we can start construction and then we're going to be continuing with our sidewalk repairs and milling and resurfacing that we have good stuff okay so you want to move on to what sidewalks and mode let's do it let's do it yeah I'd like to see so F6 presentation please been years I think we have a blue road we've already discussed benisha we've already discussed um let's talk about our hambush Circle and Pano and Granada we talked about too I mean Granada is a no-brainer there's barely any houses there it's you know since the lots are so big on Granada right and I've gotten a lot of residents who are in favor of it obviously you have to ballot them but a lot of them told me they're interested in it and the lots are really really big so I think that that's a great opportunity to uh to stretch a nice we get the presentation so yeah I most I you know we spoke about you know some of the options that were discussed during Sunshine meeting and the response that the county gave you um could you fill in the the rest of the commission so they're all up to speed so we reached out to the county about and you're going to see option three which is basically putting the sidewalk for a humra circle um on the east side that would require a crosswalk at salvatera and one on the Northern limits of the project we reached out to the county sent them an email um and based on meetings that we've had with them conversations they don't think it you know that that's something that they would approve they're concerned with the limited visibility that you have as you're coming off of the bridge um and they just don't think it would be safe for P for pedestrians to have a um uncontrol crosswalk at those locations so this one's option one option one is basically the curb and gutter option um no no gutter just curb sorry type D curb so the reason that this option was first brought up is because we were looking into um potentially narrowing the pavement you have sections of pavement that are like 23 to 25 ft wide so if we hold the edge of pavement on the east side and offset and shift the crown of the road um basically you're going to have the sidewalk um maybe encroaching foot into where the sale is some portions some areas not even narrow it down to 4T if we have to because of the tree roots so this would seem to be the least impact to the existing tree since we have mature trees that um make it a little bit tricky to achieve the slopes that we would like we had our surve go out in the field take elevations at each of the tree roots we calculated some of the slopes option one um so this is a very similar look to what's in front of my house yes correct the same thing that runs you get a curb and a on a sidewalk that it's abiding with a curb in some areas where you have proximity to certain three routs That Sidewalk might need to narrow to up to the minimum required by Ada um based on on the need 32 um for a distance of for a foot but W have to it won't have to be that narrow uh probably 3 to 4 feet um that would be sufficient um so so that's one option um option two we looked into um Shifting the sidewalk to the RightWay line um it basically produced a winding sidewalk we would have to wind back towards the engine pavement once you got to the intersections so you could place the crosswalks you know close to you know where people would have to make a left or a right for visibility and P you know safety for pedestrians um there was one location where locations there was one there was one location there that that was kind of tricky the one where they asked where it met the the driveway well yes correctly two locations we have two so so one location and the following slides will show I'm sorry not you'll see it AG comes with that's bigger much better those are two different those are two different you can just give us your back if you look at tree number eight keep that in mind um on the upper side you're assuming I can see that oh sorry um is that Tona Drive Right sa I'm sorry the second tree to the right of saer okay and then tree number three right yes which is the third one to the right of trino and then they're going to be some following up uh slides that those areas are uh problematic um with the roots so this is the first tree that was mentioned this one's close to salvatera hey because see that that and we and we talked about because that area is perfect to do it behind it because the property line you see the property on the wall you wouldn't bother anybody and it's just but then you see that scenario and you're like the issue is the roots look at those roots and there's nothing we can do with that huh look at the roots and then if if you look at the red line the payment at that location is 25 feet which means that if we narrow the pavement the sidewalk is pretty much going to go over the existing pavement where the roots have already grown under the paper so so so so that's one location that the sights and the the height of the route it's it's problematic and the next one is is a similar situation and and we did the same thing here that's the that's the driveway where the the pitch would be so aggressive correct so the only alternative will be to cut down that route which I think Dina will probably you down have a contion over well we don't we we don't want to lose the we don't want to lose the tree I mean and this these these are some of the the few that are in good shape and and that route is so high that to put a sidewalk over we don't have sufficient slope to meet Ada as we approach all the way back down to the driver that you see and if you look at the red line on the payment that's the approximately back of the sidewalk because again at that specific location the payment is already 25 ft wide so the sidewalk most of the sidewalk will be over where you see payement right now um that does not mean if we go go back to the previous one this is the one that concerns me the most I mean obviously they both concern me but this is such a perfect location to put the sidewalk behind the tree and we would have been able to run it all the way from the other home if we would have zigzagged right this property and then we could have run it all the way to the bridge and would have been behind the property so if we go back behind the tree excuse me if we go back to the plan view right on right at the intersection of sa I mean if we could meand around those trees if if the desire is to stay away from the edge of the payment were feasible so you have one location by the intersection and then we P Meander back and then the same thing um on the trino right where we have to go on the edge of payment and then go back with the curb obviously because the moment you get closer than 6 feet to the of payment now now you you need a curve right that's the threshold so um and then the third option which we wanted to show even though the county didn't really give us uh their their uh stamp of approval stamp of approval when we talk to them but that that will be the option where you get to cross the streets and and the concern is not so much a sidewalk itself but the location of the Cross parar and the visibility you have some large trees blocking visibility as you happen to be on a curve just just north of that location so so that that's really what their their hard run is um yeah is just really just crossing the street um well we've had that issue before we when we talked about pathways on Granada uh Golf Course Etc these types of Curves they would not allow crosswalks in those locations so that's why I pretty much knew what the answer was going to be the moment it was suggested because of the the speed that people come in off of Bird Road there and then you have that tight situation with the bridge um we have enough problems there already we don't need to invite more so what we like from the commission is to give us Direction whether you would rather have the option that is just along the edge of payment with a curb or the option where we're going to stick to the back as much as we can as much as we can with the understanding that some of these areas intersection we're going to have to go back to the your payment with a curve and then get back inside and then depending on that choice we could create some exhibits uh ballots the design will have to be completed and the county going back to the question about the traffic cling the county wants to see what are we going to do with a sidewalk before they give us their final approval on on the traffic cing we will require a Miami the County permit for the traffic cing because these are not um the interal part of our interlocal these are these area it's um it's difficult to say the least and then obviously we like to get going on construction as soon as possible not only because of the sidewalk but we've been holding off on the Milling a resurfacing which is another area where the payment is in condition because um you know it makes sense to do them together no it it does it's it's really bad it's been bad for many many years right you know if you ride that on a bicycle you'll get to feel a little more but yeah it's it's been needing done we actually completed some drainage improvements in the area ahead of this um several months ago so let me ask you a quick question to move forward can we can we show the residents once again the two options that are feasible because now that you mention the the issue with the roots and the pitch on on the driveway and then you also mentioned the fact that we can't go in the rear on that property that it makes complete sense because you have the prop you have the you have the property line where the wall is that's the that's the most easy one to accomplish where you where the homeowner I don't think had an issue as because they have their their fence lines right there right um can we I want I want to get support from from the residents and but I'd like to show them both of the final options that we're going with so so if you prefer um my my only concern is that we're going to get maybe we get I don't know maybe maybe they all Argent why they want it it's not an issue but I mean I think there's only like five residents in that area I mean we could give him a option one option two do the what I would like what I would like to see is you know send it to them I wanted them to have it in their own you know time to review it and you know they can resubmit it they can resubmit it to the city uh in regards to what their opinions are we we kind of adjust the line to show how we're going around the tree in those area so we we will do some you know we will add that so they can visualize it so they can understand M where where would where it would go and hopefully we can build consensus and finally get this done what concurrency would you like us to include 50 plus one uh what is what is required 23 so so if you follow there is a there is a uh 2017 resolution that the commission passed but that that resolution was intended for a resident even process which you know this was initiated by us right that resolution has an entire process where the resident will have to go and get uh some concurrency with the resident come to the city that requires a two3 concurrency a two3 concurrency of um everybody or return ballot you return ballots return ballots um it will really be up to the city commission whether you want to keep that or you want to make it a smaller threshold or well another suggestion might be if we're presenting them with two options are we able to do live balloting in person where maybe you can have a meeting with these five residents present the two options and have them vote in person well the problem is getting everybody out there well I think we got everybody out there last time we we met all five homes were were were were represented at one point we could try I think sorry you're right there was one that wasn't because it was a new owner I think people want to people want to review it take their time get an understanding plus there was you know you want to make it so that it's a a situation where they can review it on their own time some people have very tough schedules and you know let them make the decision I'm I'm fine with whatever threshold you want to put in regards to concurrency I just think it's time that we get something done so I'm going to suggest that we use the same thing we do for traffic calming which is 50 50 plus one I remember a few years ago concurrency came to the parks and wreck Advisory board for this types of matter and there was a resolution was 50 point 50 plus one plus one back then it was back and forth and then and it was a resolution to the city so I remember even a board was supportive of that it's a public safety item I think we need to move forward Yeah couple of weeks okay yeah okay we can do that ready well just if you can just through the manager's office just keep us all aware of what's going on U because I'm getting calls from residents we'll give him 30 days to respond that's fine we'll knock on the doors if need to and then I rather get a response or none yeah because I think I think we've gotten to the point here where we got to move forward with with with the milling and resurfacing and the other traffic combing that's going and I think that we can build consensus with a sidewalk now from the residents you know especially with the multiple designs that we're offering them and and and on a side note I don't know if any of you have driven by the the taragona site just just a block south of that location where we finished the seaw wall and then Dina we look consultant finish the Landscaping I think I think came out great beautiful we have some really bad weather now I hope now yeah it came out so nice but I I think we had a tremendous uh positive uh response to that I think that was a very nice project it has a nice Dina touch to it I think that when you do when you look at University you look at aamra it's going to be done now you look at Blue Road you look at camposano you look at the area around around doctor's hospital I hope that builds interest in people and say okay I can have this in front of my property I can have this in front of my house you know I I'm more that people are more interested in putting their sidewalks CU it's not as you know invasive or disruptive as possible I mean especially in University if you look at it really closely University came out really nice very tasteful and I think eventually you're going to have a connection to a brand new park yeah which is great uh real quick uh with regards to those five proper residents and I may have missed it we're going to confirm that they received the package just not it's it's fine I want to just confirm they received it I think we can mail them and then what we can do is that we can maybe knock on the door leave a card I don't or email them or call them make sure that they received it that way we don't lose time we have emails and phone calls for some of them I don't know that we have every single one of them but we can reach out to them and maybe encourage them to reach out to their neighbors just the same yeah I think it's important to get confirmation that they receive I don't know that we have every single person's number but the ones that we do we can absolutely do that okay the government all right MH Mr clerk Mr Mayor uh we have a member of the public requesting to speak okay Mrs Mar Cruz hi Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road Mrs Maria Cruz I have a question I heard University from camposano to Pano is that on the opposite side of the hospital or is that on the side of the hospital that's on the each side on the parking lot side yes okay and Pano where is that Pano is on the way side of the hospital across from um well the hospital who pays for this so the hospital is going to pay for the work on Pisano and they're going to give us $100,000 towards the work on uh University I believe that's what the agreement that we had with them question doing the sidewalks do you also take care of the street because there's a big big uh problem there with floods Pisano yes in fact Pisano Pisano and this is why it's taking so long CU started well it's going to be angle parking y angle excuse but we're going to do a sidewalk it's going to have drainage and and you know they have some heartburn about cuz the side the university side is higher than the doctor's side correct and and that's the problem correct so we're going to create a proper crown on the road we're going to have some drainage um and the entire payment is going to be redone um currently we're not planning to repay the university side of it no it's done so the university side was done and that's what created the flooding because it's higher than the other side right correct and you know with a water puddles that's what the portol keep happening yes so so this project will correct that it's not just sidewalk project it's a complete uh roadway payment drainage and Salk and the and the hospital is paying for the Pano work and what about um no uh my understanding if I recall that the agreement is that they pay for Pisano and they give us $100,000 towards uh University I am not I don't believe that they no the agreement was that they would have sidewalks all around we have to TR yeah the agreement when that prop when it was sold you know when they got the parking lot the agreement was the hospital will have sidewalks around I I believe it it was the work on Pisano right and then $100,000 toward additional s okay but would that $100,000 take care of camposano is what I'm asking then it's not going to be all around there's a side that you would't have think if unfortunately I'm going by memory but my recollection is that the $100,000 was for the area on University abing the parking lot that's I'm going by memory I could be mistaken but that that's my recollection suest onos is a very small sliver does not have par it's about half of that block it's about half the block so let's let's take a look to see what what what was the final because I remember that at the last minute there I requested that they pay for all the all the sidewalks and they include that into the sale and purchase agreement so just look into it because I don't remember what what the exact numbers were mhm okay because there's no sidewalk on the other side of kosan okay so that will be the only side it will be on the south side yeah right correct okay Mr clerk anyone else that's it sir all right we'll move on to item F7 update on police [Music] vacancies Chief good afternoon good afternoon and we thought today was going to be an early day good evening technically it's evening it's evening good evening how's the weather it's a pleasure the uh the cat two left past the fire chiefs here in case we don't have to open up the EOC um this is going to be an update on the police vac uh vacancies requested by commissioner Castro major Medina's in charge of the Professional Standards Division and runs a background unit from the police side and sergeant major is also with us here oversiz so with that we're open for questions if you have anything particular that you have to ask sure um vacancies are still 37 yes ma' and we had one departure and one one Higher One higher since last time how did that hire come about like did we like what plan do we have in action are we going how are we recruiting how are we recruiting well how did we recruit that one just so just last week we went to a um fa fnu I think it is it's a university in sorry uh University in um hiia so we target or we assist HR um with targeting um uh colleges um either presenting a table outside somewhere in the hallway or we try to actually reach the criminal justice majors in in the in the actual classrooms and we have another one next month coming up how is that going how is that going as far as applicants from those um events um I don't have those numbers that would be more on the HR um side um if we've hired anyone from those good evening commissioner mayor um yes so we have an active recruiting proc uh process we go to colleges fairs uh criminal justice fairs FIU Miami day County um applications are not a problem just this this calendar year we have received um close to 400 applications and then what we do is on a monthly basis we um invite those who have applied to have uh monthly orientation meetings in which the chief and the police uh recruitment staff also attends to obtain their supplemental packages and then they move on to the oral boards I know last time we had spoke about that somewhere in background or in training I wasn't I'm not sure what what what is it but from those people that were in that process is that process done how many are still there or So currently we have eight um officer or applicants in the background so each investigation kind of dictates its own it's its own animal um some investigations are quicker some are slower some have a lot of background that these background investigators really have to go in um they do a really good job they go very in depth um so they kind of take some time other speed bumps know pun intended it's um you're looking at those they got to pass um a Physical Agility Test and sometimes they they don't so they get a second chance so that kind of slows the process um in that sense um right now we have like five who are scheduled they're scheduled to take um additional Physical Agility tests um but we're just waiting we had one today they actually passed um so we did good there he's in the process he's passes uh um polygraph passes psychological um we're moving um along with him hopefully to get him and another body in the next Academy but cross crossing our fingers so the last step is the academy yes yeah so that means he's already passed background well so once they go to the academy they have pass backgrounds and they're officially hired they're city employees and we sponsor them and they go to the academy and like the major said we have eight in backgrounds and we have four scheduled for interviews this week that hopefully at least two oral boards uh oral boards tomorrow we have four and June 13th is the next orientation how many laterals do we have now total or how many have we well how many are we using now how many are we using now are we losing using how many are active right now laterals throughout the department I I have to go back I mean between FHP over the course of the conduct we haven't recruited the laterals yet because we're pending everything is pending the uh ratification vote of the contract and the approval by this body so we can't offer what we wanted to do we have been talked to them actively uh Chief handland has talked to a few of his ex- colleagues that are willing to start up but we can't offer anything until that's done so that's really kind of holding everything else up uh our advertising campaign is on hold as well because right now uh once the the contract is again ratified by the union approved by this body then our our numbers are going to change and that's where our push out would be from there uh we continue to uh I mean struggle like everybody else does I mean as of right now there's a bill on the president of the United States desk and it's it's the bipartisan recruit and retain act specifically for police officers throughout the country and it's it's a cops grant that uh we will apply for as well just to help uh clear the senate in 2023 to expand Community oriented policing services to help support the efforts of of recruiting law enforcement so it's a national issue I mean I think I'm comfortable in the fact that um you know we're on track but if you go through Linkedin if you look at any social media everybody every department is doing the exact same thing we know 30 left BSO and they're recruiting just as much um so you know this is the ongoing Norm if you will for for in police officers at this at this juncture once the uh again once the contract's done then things are going to start um because you know we've already gotten to the point recently and and we're going to go to impact bargaining on it is that we've had to go to mandatory overtime so you know contrary to what the residents have been told by anybody um our staffing numbers are still the same our first big Staffing challenge is going to be the 4th of July only because that takes the entire department and have I mean we're not going to be short staffed by any stretch of the imaginations but the officers are working I mean the ones that are here are working and they have to and we put out the new summer bid which we're going to continue to do uh we I've had meetings uh or had meetings with the president of the Union on Labor Management issues that we're talking about uh and myself and the HR Director have been available throughout just to see what it is that we can do I think the final proposal will hopefully be coming I think Thursday Thursday Thursday so we'll have an answer from the union on Thursday and I'm sure we'll we'll be sitting hopefully here to ratify that with you all and then we're then it's on because then we have uh our advertising kind of targeting we have done before U I can't say enough about our Communications Department putting out the videos you know like we we've said before our recruiting video was recognized as one of the best in the country and I think now we're starting to hear from other parts of the country that people don't want to come down here the only thing that's holding us up to really get running out of the gate is once we know what we can offer starting up and and and those uh nuances if you will in the contract but yeah the officers are getting tired I I I understand that um we're all pulling double duty everybody and but we're still continuing to training officers we're still we're still keeping up with all of our standards uh major Medina sergeant major goes every day not every week to find wherever we can I mean it is literally like a college recruiting she'll go to the PAT test which is the physical ability and if we see somebody we're going to go we're sending people to two acmis this morning Deputy Chief uh hanlin was at the brand new Miami Dade community college facility which is spectacular uh today was the first open house we're sending people there we're sending people to Miami so we're ready to go we're ready to go and I think uh by next month hopefully all things being equal if uh the commissioner if you want a report on this again hopefully we'll see more numbers uh coming in the laterals will be a little bit faster I know we have one or two in the pipeline uh the only other lad we have maybe a University of Miami officer that's close by we've got some of our Communications operators uh but you know I mean like anything else in this job we have two people on restricted Duty within the department for for investigative disciplinary issues so it's it's a constant moving you know so I but I think we're in front of it mayor if I may um one of the difficulties of Recruitment and hiring at least from my perspective is that you can get people to apply but then when they go through the process the and correct me if I'm wrong uh a lot of the folks get washed out in the psychological they get washed out in the polygraph not so much in the physical because we do give them an opportunity to come back then the delay of hiring as the major had said has to do with the background some people have a very in-depth background live five or six different states I'm not sure if you all use the rule of three when you do your uh contexts uh where they put three references and you ask those three references for three more and then you ask for three more to get to uh to a person that kind of knows you but isn't connected to you so it's a rule of three at least in the federal government that's what we use the rule of three so getting the people in the door I'm I'm not sure I think we're getting those people in the door the process just washes some people out and at the end uh you'll have if you go through the entire process and the chief and I sat down first couple of weeks I was here and reviewed our requirements uh I wanted to make sure that our requirements were uh equal to or better than most of the Departments around us here or so and we have good standards and good uh requirements for applicants so I think the chief is absolutely correct it's just the nature of the Beast and at the times that we're living in that we're having the difficulty to making sure people make it through the entire process and pretty much we hold our hands all the way through the process so uh but that's my perspective so there's nothing new to the recipe the recipe continues to be the same I'm going to give you two examples okay the city of cor has the highest standards in the last 3 months I brought two individuals to the attention of the chief I don't want to mention their names one of them is working through the process in an effort to hopefully in the next two years potentially meet the requirements to be a police officer they have the heart they have the interest and their only goal is to be a city of cor police officer very impressive individual and has the D to hopefully be part of this great team another individual has all the credentials amazing on paper I don't want to I want to be very careful what I say but the person met every single thing that this city would ever want we have the highest standards I don't know if it's changed of any Police Department in Miami day County this person did not meet the psychological requirement and and everything else about this person is exceptional I was not aware that this was and they don't understand why your team was incredible to give them an opportunity to sit down explain everything but when you look at them in paper and you look at them in regards to their education their involvement in regards to philanthropy their engagement they've never had a ticket they've never had a criminal incident they they're a perfect Stellar individual but they didn't mean that requirement for one reason or another and obviously like always the chief will not share with any of that information with me or will not share anything with anyone else but to make a long story short I thought this person was a shuing a shuing to be a police officer here and that person was not did not meet that certain criteria so it's a tough it's tough to see a candidate that you're like this could be a 30-year police officer in the City of Coral Gables and you know college degree great back back uh background great family but I I think it come to fruition to your point mayor I think we've always had the standards I mean we we were the first to City to require college credits to become an officer back in I'm going to date myself here 1991 and everybody else has caught up to what the requirements are um but as you have heard me say the Coral Gables police officer is a different type of police officer than every everybody else and and we are looking for that type of Officer that's going to interact not only safely with the bad guys but protect everybody else and it's not for everybody and I understand that and some people leave for a lot of different reasons but at the end of the day um you know I I think we have a damn good group of recruits and I I do believe that I would put my life in any one of their hands and if it if it doesn't or if they don't meet that it's my responsibility or the chief's responsibility to change that we have made exceptions that I can live with but we have never changed our requirements and with an exception comes an additional test so we are constantly you can ask them they are constantly in front of me and constantly with Rael to talk about what we're doing so this we took a low when we hit zero cuz we were at zero vacancies and the attorney general actually lauded us for being at zero vacancies and then everybody decided that you know at that three-year Mark that we're going to go um so we're in the mix but I I think we're going to be okay only because of the hard work of the officers that were here right now that's that's the reality of it is so there's too restricted really there is 39 vacancies I'm sorry so you said there was too restricted no no well there those so again if somebody has a disciplinary issue it wasn't necessarily a police office officer there there was there's Comm operators there's anybody that falls under my scope if there is an internal investigation uh certain internal investigations require them being on restricted Duty which doesn't mean they hurt our bottom line or they're suspended you know pending or relieved of Duty pending the investigation uh again I I we handle all the the serious investigations and employee conduct things like that uh so those decisions are made but we're doing it in the sense that it doesn't hurt the body count somebody's still able to do a job we have U maternity leave we have injured officers so we use those to the best of our ability to staff those positions whether it be the desk or whatnot so uh you know it it's it's an ongoing from day to day I've Internal Affairs has texted me twice since I've been sitting here so I'll see what comes when I get back to the office would you say the academy is 6 to8 months uh the the one in the in Miami date is a little bit shorter about six about six and then my about 7 or 8 U and then we have about 6 weeks of orientation and then three months on the road with an fto and then the fourth one is actually by themselves so their probation starts after so they're they're a probationary employee through the academy uh something that your police department does is which is a recruiting benefit is they get paid as a police officer the moment they go into the academy now there's certain things that we can do some reimbursables which people have paid us U and another department that's a lot smaller than us figures if they pay us the $112,000 before the person even takes the oath they're going to they're going to get that person back for whatever reason and a lot of those officers have have talked to me and come come through of why they moved on and again for right now as I said previously my my my my decision is not to bring people back that think the grass is green to come in but I'm I'm always willing to Pivot and I will leave that up to the officers so we are going to start a panel that will we'll talk to people that have left to see if they want to come back when the contract's done and if that's a recommendation they can make it to me but again until it gets to the chief of police you don't know what the internal affairs case has Raquel doesn't know what the IIA case is it's myself an internal affairs and maybe the assistant chief so you have to look at the totality of the individual both that we're bringing back and how we're disciplining I'm just trying to think of a timeline of when we would see that these vacancies would start filling up right so I'm here trying to make it it makes sense of in numbers so the academy is this long well I can't give you a definitive number on the academy listen we we're in August we have three coming out or two coming out in August two coming out in August they'll be on their own with within nine months from that pretty much so like we're looking like at 2025 maybe pretty much in that now now if we don't get more even more vacancies true and listen I think we're going to have some vacancies I've talked to officers that are even moving their family so I know there's more vacancies coming I know right now there's more vacancies coming because they've told me and unless they tell me everything else I I don't know um but the laterals is a 6 to 8 we turnaround and that's somebody who has done the job depending on where it is and that again it all depends on the contract depending on where we start them depending on what they know depending on what resources they have we could we could cut that down in a process I mean we have probably a dozen uh or slightly less than a dozen people that work for FHP and you know FHP is in the middle of a contract negotiation with their Troopers traffic homicide we've been we've talked about traffic homicides looking with somebody that has traffic homicides school which is an 800 hour school I think once we have an idea of of what our lateral recruiting is looking like and then I think the collective effort of getting people the younger ones that timeline will get narrower is my estimation right now so I was thinking like a monthly update for vacancies but I don't even think I think we'll have like the same number practically with I don't think it's going to change much if you want um we can send to the commission through the manager uh I get a a weekly report uh but if you want we can cons we can if you want with the um with the crime stat reports that you get month that goes weekly but every month we will add that monthly report that we have and that way it's public record it's out there if anything else changes through the chair through the manager we will definitely advise you as we go on and I will also communicate with you all when we change up the uh or when we put out our our next recruiting video with Communications thank you Chief you want to talk about since we're all here for the exit interview question because it's kind of the same it's the next is it the next one we can talk about F9 Mr Mayor well we have obviously uh we need to before we move on to F9 we have public comment yes sir thank you first speaker is mar Mrs Maria Cruz [Music] Mrs Maria Cruz um I just have a question from the chief as soon as you can actually another a question statement as soon as you can we need some help by Gable time it's getting every morning I thank God that I didn't hit somebody they go through only June yes only June they cross the street they cross bird in between the cars and the buses and all of a sudden you see somebody in front of you students bad bad and only June from bird going towards mer Park let me tell you there is the problem is not the kids the problem is that you know there you can make a right turn from bird to legun you can't do it when the kids are walking they start honking the horn and then if you don't move they try to cut around I mean I'm surprised that nobody has gotten hit there we we will we will we started a partnership with the with the school and and we will follow up on that they have a security guard there I know he's been doing listen they wait across the street till he pushes the darn thing right that has been working but the drivers yeah we we'll use the youth resource officers and some of our traffic we get them in there yes ma Jackson Holmes good afternoon sir good evening excuse me thank you very much um about a year ago we had a confrontational meeting over this issue and uh it had an for me an uncertain outcome where there was a disagreement between the uh Union president uh Chris challinger who was uh saying that we had uh a very serious problem of people leaving and uh the chief was downplaying that um and suggesting that uh Chris Challenger himself was a was uh encouraging people to leave as a I suppose some kind of bargaining Ploy um then a then what two months ago now was it uh um the there was another uh confrontation let's say only this time we knew who was right and who was wrong who was telling the truth and who lied to you on that very day and I'm sorry to say he keeps uh expressing his frustration that I'm calling him a liar you are a liar and it's proven on the tape uh from from that commission meeting he lied to you and to the public sir about let me finish let me finish I me uh the the what he said was that the the fellow who went to Coral Springs uh had just moved to Broward and took the job because uh he needed to be near his new home in Broward uh that was not true he said that the uh that was a reason that the officer left whereas Mr challinger uh uh contradicted that by saying that the the officer has always lived more or less for years and years and years in brow County and that he that he told Chris Challenger in the exit interview that he wanted to stay in Coral Gables and it was a matter of pay um I submit to you that what you should do uh is put in the next E news a one question uh survey if you will however you want to put it ask the people who are reading it who are residents of Coral Gables say the this the union says that they need a a minimum raise of whatever it is X number of dollars this to them you know as as a way of stopping the the outflow of of officers uh would you support giving that raise to them uh even though it means reducing City expenditures elsewhere I'm asking you to do that and I think what you're going to find mind I predict is that there'll be an overwhelming approval of that and then we should do it uh his plan does not work he's part of the problem the low morale uh has been recorded by the police Union 80% disapproval of his leadership as Chief we need to replace him uh because that's one of the reasons that we're losing officers and we need to raise the pay more than has been proposed thank you my turn mayor thank you Mr Holmes I think you may have your facts a little bit skewed uh but honestly uh I really don't appreciate the fact that you've calling out the chief of police and basically calling him a liar in public like this um I I think you you just need to do your research and get your facts straight before you start lobbying allegations but thank you chief chief sir I'll make it very simple I apologize on behalf of the commission for what you just had to go through I attempted my best to try to bring some control to these meetings I don't have control of these meetings okay at the end of the day nobody should have to be disrespected like that and I apologize on behalf of the commission on behalf of the city thank you sir I appreciate that listen part of no I do I appreciate the support uh um maybe not of the 80% of the department but everybody else but uh listen it's part it's part of my job disciplining anybody is not necessarily a fun part of it and if I get asked by this body to investigate the death of a dog because of alien invention I'm going to do that anyway no matter who the person is I know I know how it is Mr clerk what else we have that's it sir all right thank you very much let's move on to item F9 discussing discussion excuse me regarding the exit interview process how are you ma'am good evening again good evening so HR does have a formal um exit interview process we call it a separation um process so when we receive um notice that an employee has either resigned or is retiring HR sends them it's currently for the last two years it's been done via email so we sent that employee an email either to their City email or to their personal email and so that contains all the um instructions on what to do upon separating City employee City employment and that a letter confirming that we received their separation their retirement congratulating them on their retirement providing um when their last payouts will be any ACR leave that they are going to be paid out when that check is going to go out um we also send them out any retirement forms if they're vested any 401 or 457 forms so that all goes out in email in addition in that email there's a link to a separation survey and so if if and that that is optional and we obviously encourage all employees that leave to um complete the separation survey so it's a really simple separation survey and it basically asked um eight things you know I'm sorry we're on F9 it's f8 on TV this is item F9 we not yeah it was on F oh I'm sorry yes I'm on the right item I I think yeah the banner needed to catch up with us and so the employee um the separation survey um asked the um employees that are leaving the rate um from 1 to five on eight different areas you know what they felt the city's work culture was compensation benefits scheduling flexibility management promotional opportunities training development and communication of resources in addition to that it as for the separation reasons the type of Separation whether it was a retirement or a resignation and the lengths of service with the city and so that's sort of the city's formal separation process that we've been doing for the last two years now yeah so the questions should should be open-ended questions we do have open we both have quantitative and qualitative questions so we try to make it easy right first the first eight questions are just one to five and then we do have open-ended questions and they can put their comments and they can be more specific if they have any specific issues and some of them do some of them don't but it's both and usually that survey is to guide your interview iners interview and usually it's not your supervisor it is a person from HR or third- party company it wouldn't be you either because we don't do it right now we do it now via it's a survey and it's optional and the employee does it on their own time that is our current process um I I have a post-graduate degree in this in this topic in this subject and I had to go back to Old boxes where I had textbooks to actually review um exit interviews and um in my exper in my experienced questionnaires are the responses are poor okay and I wonder if people are really Frank when they're leaving a written record I would never recommend using this instrument alone I still like to sit down and get feedback using questionnaires to guide the interview that way we really know what's happening we're we have 37 vacancies we need to know where they're going we know where they're going well not only that we need to know why they're leaving how much more are they getting paid what benefits are they receiving not only not only police officers but everybody in the city I know teachers aren't get getting paid as well that that well either and um the culture of loyalty is not very present right now and we really need something strategic to guide us through the through the right path so I really really recommend that either we conduct like inperson interviews with somebody from h car or that we hire a third- party company to con I think I think that would be more fruitful actually because um the responses would be more more and not accurate but more honest right um what else was I going to if I may ask you a question when you say the word more honest more accurate cand why what is why would having somebody there across from you give you a more accurate more candid response I'm not sure the commissioner Castro is making that comment I'm not sure I don't I'm not an expert in this I just want to understand it so I know I know we used to do in person me just give you a response so if I have if I have one of my employees come up to me and who's leaving for one reason or another and they do an exit interview so if you're doing an exit interview and I would prefer not to sit down with somebody from staff I would prefer to sit down by myself and fill out the exit interview submit it through the proper channels through the portal or through whatever where I get a read receipt that says your documents were submitted to the following individual or the following department and I won't feel the pressure of having you looking over my shoulder and telling me or leading the witness in one form or another that's just my opinion but I want to know as as a nonprofessional in this industry what what's a what's a standard when people are leaving a job is it done the way that I the way that I do it the way that I do it in my office is somebody's leaving they fill out you know they they finalize everything that's pending you know you have your 401k you have your health insurance if you're going to be moving on you know and you have a family we cover for a certain period we give you a severance we give you your yearly bonus and then we talk about okay I like to know why you're leaving oh I'm leaving because I'm moving to Massachusetts I got a great job or I want to go to MIT or I want to go to California I'm going to goow wine for a living whatever it is no I'm leaving because I'm not happy here and that's happened before why aren't you happy well I'm not happy because for one reason or another they Pro I we provide them with with a actual document that document gets submitted online and it goes to our HR department obviously we're not a large institution like with a thousand employees like you know city of cor gaes but we have an HR department and that gets put into a system and it gets saved and then we can learn and refine our approach I just want to understand how how do you see most institutions of this caliber doing an exit interview and filling out all the information I I could answer that question I just want I want to ask from I want to have an answer from her so like everything you can find studies and different ways of stud U but I I think in the last two two years things are are um shifting to more of an online presence um just because the surveys are easier to do I think the biggest struggle we have just generally whether it's in person or whether we obtain that information which is crucial information we want to obtain that information right we do want to know why employees are leaving right we want to have make sure that we want to retain employees longer we want to have engaged employees so that information that we receive from separation surveys are critical but I think the biggest obstacle we have in obtaining that is that these surveys whether it's in person or via an email or an electron survey is is because it's optional it's it's it's very hard to um we probably get anywhere between 15 and 20% of surveys and that is unfortunately the standard if if you look at studies that is usually the amount of exit exit surveys or separation surveys that companies do receive can I ask you another question again CU I didn't know that 15 20% is there any way that or has have you ever seen an agency or an entity or a business tie to tie some sort of final compensation or a release or a release based on an exit interview or a you know review being finalized and submitted even if it's a name even if it's a name and that's it and then the day and they submitted but at least it submitted it no we have not and I think that's because we want to make sure for those employees that do submit a separation survey that they are submitting it you know honestly because they want to so if you tie something to it first I'm not sure we can definitely cannot withhold their last paycheck or their that we definitely cannot do right but even if you would tie something to it then I think it would be a little bit tainted right CU they're just filling it out because they're receiving whatever it is that maybe tying is the the wrong word but maybe something like okay look you're you're going to receive your paycheck on this day the last day we'd like for you to come in and and and fill out this document in a quiet room you know where you can just fill this out and then you come in person you pick up your document you submit your your your uniform your badge whatever that may be and then you say look here fill this document out and just sit in a room even if you just want to put your name on it in the date it's fine but at least you put we gave you the option and we asked you as you submitted your your your your final paperwork you were given one last attempt to to fill this document we we we can certainly explore different ways of doing it like I said this Co sort of Switched everything and shifted everything and everything became more online and automated and that's when um the city switched to you know automated um separation surveys but we'll definitely look into um how we can obtain more information have more of our SE separating employees um participate in those separation surveys and how they can be more um my last question do we have a list do we have a list of of cities and how those cities uh you know have an exit interview or separation agreement how how do they do it I do not have that but I can certainly get that information just I just want if you had the information ex exit interviews are typically done in person and it's a facilitate organic discussions and panded answers and usually human resources stresses to the to to the employee that is leaving how confidential it is I don't think it is that being done again public records would be an issue right so any notes that we take anything we have to tell the employee that it is a public record so unfortunately because of of where we have it is not confidential once notes are taken or an employee survey is done or when we used to meet with them and we used to provide them the actual survey before they used to actually write it was a written survey um we save it but if there's ever a public record's request for it it would have to be so you see where this is going where they're writing down what is happening and they're going to be scared then we go back to the Whistleblower policy as well but they're leaving they're leaving so they they're they're leaving so mayor if I may us follow up on a couple things um in addition to police we have vacancy issues in other departments correct I mean I I spoke to director necessarily I know we've had um I think we have a couple mechanic vacancies in public works department but we have um can you can you give us a brief rundown just in public works the types of vacancies we have and the impact on city services so so right now we have I think 26 vacancies um my department including that includes parttime and fulltime I think my department has about a 220 H I think in total that's right about the number so it's somewhere the 10 to 11% range um out of those 26 vacancies um fix six teams are Teamsters potential and then there four part timers that will be Teamsters if they were full-time positions so that makes it about 20 um we've recently had some success in hiring some mechanics but we still have two positions available that been really hard to hire um there's also a supervisor that's recently retired um right away jobs we we do tend to have a lot of um um what's the one looking for um we have go especially for some of the night shifts yeah we have the solid waste we have Solid Waste we have some folks who who who also you know tend to go to you know some of jobs other places um recently lost a plumber um which apparently got paid a significant high amount of money at the county so so we have we do have turnover and some positions um especially mechanics um and some others they are difficult to to hire so manager I did bring up to you the the teamsters contract that we need to get moving forward on that are we moving forward we have negotiations scheduled for Tuesday and um we've actually scheduled anywhere I think between s for the next month of June July and August I think we have like three negotiation dates scheduled each month we wanted to make sure we wanted to schedule them it's easier to cancel than to schedule especially in the summer months because it gets complicated with everyone's schedules but they're on our calendar I believe there's like seven dates already on and our first date is on Tuesday if it's not Tuesday it's definitely next week it's a day next week yeah and that that contract to my understanding is up in September expires at the end of this fiscal year September 30th of this fiscal year okay so yeah I just I know we have challenges because you have a lot of competition from the Private Industry on mechanics plumbers electricians landscape we're fully staff on electricians right now but to hire the one that we had it took it took I will say maybe a year so it's there certain positions obviously that are higher to find others now we're going to be show to plumber we'll see if mad Vice may this goes up and down this goes up and down okay and the city and the city and the city I promise you in the next year you're going to see a complete difference in our in our industry right now people are letting go people are laying off people people are laying off people so I'm telling you it's it's a different Market than it was a year ago two years ago it's already happening across the board so um a lot they're more competitive with salaries more competitive now in reference to employees so you're you're seeing a little bit of a different there's a little bit more of a of a of a of a more hungry work environment so see there's option some good news around the corner coming back around to the exit interviews uh I remember we had a conversation probably 3 or 4 months ago and there was an employee who was leaving and they thought that they had to have an in-person uh interview and it may be because of the changes of Co um is there a way to present an option where they can do an inperson in addition to absolutely the email that we send them provides that information because for some reason this person even though they got the email they didn't know that that was an option so I don't know if maybe there's a call from your team that can be set up to an employee that's leaving just to go over the process with them I don't know if that's already done and go over the options that they have of an exit interview um that may just simplify the process I think we we have to be careful when we say exit interview too right because exit interview is not only to obtained information right so it's a separation process there's a lot of information and to be honest the employees are mostly concerned with their retirement issues when they're when they're going to receive their last paycheck the Cobra uh transfers 41457 so I would say the majority of the conversation and the paperwork and the correspondence that goes or the phone calls that happen between HR and that employee are on those issues right obviously then we do add the separation survey because we want to know why they're leaving as well but we're very clear in the email and it does say you if you want to schedule a zoom a phone call please let us know we can certainly have the these conversations if they don't want to do it via email right this employee didn't actually this employee thought that they were leaving and they were actually uh they were U leaving the city and they were leaving on vacation they were concerned that they would have to cancel their vacation because they hadn't had their exit interview so you know just a simple call from your team might might simplify that for us we'll do Mel anything else for the good of the order I I just wanted some clarification and as far as what you were saying that um it was a public record right usually in other organizations they omit personal information as far as something that can identify the the employee right and the only thing that really has to in know another organization that mean you can correct me if I'm wrong right the only thing you really need to report is and criminal Behavior sexual harassment incidents of discrimination or other legal issues is that not how we do things I'm not sure I understand your question is that a public record I mean if we do exit interviews their name doesn't have to be on the interview that we're doing their personal information could be omitted is that correct you're saying if we don't ask for their name on the exit interview document or this exit survey this is for data this is for us us this is to improve our our system right their name doesn't have to be on the doc on the document well then how do you know in the future who turned who turned that document in everything is a public record any document that gets submitted to the city is a public record so I mean think about what you're saying if you if you have four or five individuals that leave in a week and you don't save their names on a document or put their social security number or their work number how you going to know who who was how you going to refer back to to to that document to be able to take proactive measures to be more effective do you like put a one do you put like a secret code name or something yeah you have you have to you have to put the person's name on it and and the date and we definitely would need data right because if we're going to use that data to improve and for employee engagement we want to know we want to see if there's issues in a specific Department in a specific area right so we need to know that area and remember these employees are leaving at the end of the day I don't necessarily think they care whether their name is on the the name of the employee is not the important it's the information that they have given I agree and so in our survey you do not have to put the employee we do ask for the employee name they don't have to put the name it's not a required field they can just leave that blank I mean we do ask not only for the we do ask for their name we do ask for their um job classification in the department they work for because again if all of a sudden we have five people leave from public works with the same issue there's an issue that we need to address and that we need to go in and you know and and fix it so we do ask for that information that information is a public record though if someone makes that public records request we do have to disclose it the same same thing if I if I sit down with you and I write down what you're telling me I'm going to use that data that information I'm going to use that's a public you don't have to write down my name I do not exactly but let me let me ask you a question since we're talking about that I mean you're going to get that data and you're going to give that data to an employee to use that data no there has to Human Resources is a person who uses is the department that uses that data but you other people you use that data across the board like when something Human Resources compiles data then that data is is used to make changes in the system across the boardre so you got to know that the data that you have is actual data that it's real data that it's not somebody who submitted 10 doc 10 10 documents says look everything is great everything is great everything is great you got to use it yeah but you don't I mean I mean listen I'm making Tom Wells laugh look at him he's having such a good time so my point is that so my point is that uh you you it's it's guys it's data at the end day but it's a public record if we need to work on the exit interviews and you and you have great ideas for the for the exit interviews let's let's apply those great ideas sit down with staff through the manager and do something productive I I I think that I welcome those especially we can definitely sit down I mean it's kind of awkward doing them here um I really appreciate it if we want I can certainly sit down with you and I value your opinion and any recommendations you can give I certainly you know we have processes and processes can obviously be improved and I welcome any any suggestion any improvements that we can make do we have a wellness and mental health department in the H in our HR okay we do and we have a wellness activities that we handle um that we have a very robust um Wellness event that happens um send that out you send that out emails all the time in regards to nutrition Wellness our we have a whole bunch of free apps we have calm we have um we have counseling we have counseling we have EAP we have all of that yes we do have that and usually you'll see emails go out on a monthly basis as to all the all do me will you do me a favor through the manager please just so you will you send her just copies of all the emails that you have sent out in the last three or four months that deal with you know psychology that deal with nutrition that deal with workout regimen that deal with calm that deal with all the things all the offers that are that are given to employees just to elevate their quality of life and to you know engage with them I think there was something that that monitored like uh uh health health and uh sleep and all kinds of things I I forget now but I apologize we had go 365 which was the app and now we switch to Vitality cuz they no longer which is a similar app we offer C free to our employees which is actually like the number one meditation app and it has a whole bunch of other good programs we have EAP we have um monthly seminars webinars yeah so I mean I think there's an opportunity if you could send those to we did the corporate run we do um a lot of activities um bring your child to workday those are just the recent ones yeah okay anything else thank you thank you perfect thank you very Rael thank you so much I appreciate you thank you uh moving on to f8 I think we skipped that one is Jennifer here no would you like to she's right there I didn't see her I was going to tell if you wanted I was going to see if you wanted to go to F10 that's all I was going to say good evening thank you Jennifer um so as you know we don't send out mail noes as f8 right yeah as know we don't send out mail notices for um um more Architects meetings right so in discussions with the commissioner we're thinking about maybe requiring it for whenever uh application is requesting met training bonus since since the board is actually granting um additional height additional F and at times additional density and so we brought before you to discuss and see um any thoughts or comments so the boa grants additional height or just dealing with just design as far as the med bonus yes but when they when they but but that gets ratified on the commission floor no the the board's actually the one that's granting that that bonus based on the design that they that they that they that they believe that they're meeting whether it's Med One or Med two M exactly so when something up by right I think it would be appropriate that we did provide notice to to the neighbors so I'm going to um in February commissioner Mendez and I sponsored a notice requirement um and I have a copy and I can have it you know sent to you all again it's ordinance number 20 24-6 and this and this was about the time that we had you know gotten the first in introduction if you want to call it to the the med Mediterranean Design bonus and I had mentioned that the board of Architects wanted some kind of notice to go out so this hits it at an even earlier point in time and the additional language provided an additional public information meeting shall be required prior to the board of Architects preliminary review for proposed buildings and structures on building sites of 20,000 Square ft or more U the other additional language in here says that the notice shall provide the website and QR code for residents to sign up for all future required notices to the property so this was in response to the the board of Architects requests as we discussed to have individuals informed of these projects at a very very early stage you have the the neighborhood meetings that happened before the conceptual design and we can get folks um information from that point forward we we have projects like Alan Morris's project that would serve as a as a very good example of that if it before it ever reached the board of Architects and they had the very first informational meeting uh people could just sign up to get the rest of the notices they could stay on board for that instead of having to rely upon an envelope that goes in the mailbox and maybe your husband doesn't give you I've had that problem um you know for a project down the street from me and that way I could have the emails coming to my inbox as opposed to uh any any other way so we will have the Mediterranean uh design bonus coming uh or I should say Mediterranean Design code it's not necessarily tied to bonuses per se coming back to us I hope sometime this summer Planning and Zoning is working on it right now um this is something perhaps you can mention to Planning and Zoning get them to weigh in at the same time they're discussing the various levels and design uh improvements that we had placed into that uh proposed code uh and I'd like to hear their recommendation and bring to them this one as well because there's a point where we've already covered it you know we're beating the dead the dead horse even more so this is 20 24- 06 we just passed it in February um and I think it provides some pretty early and robust notice uh for the exact same purpose is it happening yes so that that um legislation is for additional me to happen before it goes to board of Architects but only if it's required to have a neighborhood meeting I think the intent of this is to capture both the uh Coral Gables by right and not by right requiring commission approval projects there's two parts to this one to the one I was proposing this is just a discussion I will be bringing it back next well is it next commission meeting would it give us enough time time I think you wanted to go to Planning and Zoning first right is is is this one on Jennifer forgive me is this one and next we we'll discuss it with the board of Architects as well to get their input but will this go June to Planning and Zoning or we have to go in July to Planning and Zoning probably July July um is the Planning and Zoning Board can uh plan going to be covering the Mediterranean Design issue at the same time in June for June June so but we can try and and have a discussion with them at that time you know I think it it bears being mentioned to them so that they can consider it in conjunction with the language that they're looking at right now yeah and remind them that this is in place for the Project's 20,000 Square ft and larger and have them weigh in on uh whether the 10,000 and Below should also require uh that type of notice as well well any Med bonus requests or Med design because we require Med design in some areas without a bonus correct yes so that's my S suggestion that these be paired together okay yeah this this really came about with a big complaint that I got from from a resident in a condo that um a nin story building was going up you know the story Jennifer yes and um it was by right but then they applied for metab bonus there was no notification to any of the neighbors and this is a building that's almost nine floors so I think it's pretty significant that if a building of nine floors is going you know 60 ft from you you should get notified even though if if it even though it FS by right so the under the 20,000 just a question because you're talking about mail notice are you looking to also apply the door hangers to this we haven't spoken about that cuz if you're if you're going to if you're going to send it to to planning and zoning and boa for consideration might if if you're considering having that have them consider both at the same time I mean if this is something that the commission would have some appetite for I'd be more than open to it no I mean I have an appetite for it the door hangers well I have an appetite right now period So currently the I mean I tried I tried to do something like this two years ago and there was legal concerns expressed on the buy right stuff so we'll have to navigate this let's Let It Go to Planning and Zoning let's have staff weigh in on it the aoft hotel is the prime example wait for you to bring that up that I would bring up that should have had notice because if we would have had input we could have done a better job we wouldn't have building smashed up against Lun road with minimal amount of space to walk and we might not have a restaurant space facing where the exhaust fumes are from trucks iing and it might actually get used so you know I'm I'm all in favor of it but instead of pecem I'd like finding and Zoning to consider this at the same time since it's the same issue perfect okay ready to move on thank you very much Mr Mayor yes sir a member of the public requesting to speak Mrs Maria Cru you lost track f8 it's a problem we he did call me Mrs Cruz by the way problem is we can only do one thing at a time right oh listen there comes a point where you can true G but not do other stuff okay Maria Cruz Mrs Maria Cruz by the way today is my husband's birthday um I think having gone to board of Architects many time and listening to people I think this is a wise move because most of us when we get to plany and Sony Board of Architects we hear the ass off right so many times that sometimes we really question whether it is a fact or not I think we have made it clear vice mayor has been very clear on what Mediterranean bonus should be and if you drive around the city you find many buildings that have been granted Mediterranean bonuses that look nothing like they're supposed to so I think this is good and I I thought your idea was very good since you're going to do it for some stuff be you know do it the same way and that way there's no confusion you know if you do it if you establish this is the way we're going to let the people know using the door hangers then everybody knows that they should expect the door hanger instead of doing it different ways than you know did I get the letter did I not get the letter I thought it was going to be a door hanger well yes do both I agree mistakes happen that's fine but that but I do think that their door hanger is a good idea yeah okay is there any legal limitations to that well it's just an additional um requirement that you're imposing as always the more you add requirements to um to certain um requests or certain um approval processes there's obviously you know there's a spectrum of of potential risk and the reason I'm asking is because when you're putting a door hanger on a property a development that is by right who's covering the cost for that that would be you get what I'm saying or no what's the question for the properties that are below 20,000 ft and maybe they're already constructing by right it doesn't have to go through the commission who would be providing a door hanger for that so current currently under the ordinance that that was considered today there wouldn't be a door hanger requirement for those correct yeah the way we're discussing it um if I think before we're discussing staff would be kind of in charge of U mailing the notices for the actual meeting at that point then we're going to have to add on even more to the Met bonus um uh fee schedule to um accomodate that extra fee for um right but I think she's asking about door hangers so so the proposal ordinance that was considered on first reading today was door hangers for the public information meeting only not for anything else so what you were discussing was mailed notice for Board of Architects not doorhanger commissioner Fernandez mentioned well if we're already mailing notices we should also consider door hangers for this one is that a possibility is that something we can mention to the Planning and Zoning Board yeah we could discuss it yeah of course I just think that they they concern about you know having the door hangers remaining at the properties would probably be compounded if you're the more you're doing it for different meetings and and so forth use aoft as an example might make by how how sustainable are these door hangers by the way cuz we worry about the environment and printing and cost and stuff like that but I mean again the developer is going to pay for it so let them pay for it but how sustainable is it how sustainable is it though Jennifer tell me um I mean printing any paper is not sustainable way to get out um information interesting yeah but um the alternative is we end up with projects that could are bad or could have been better listen I'm not denying that I was I supported you on that I supported you on that uh on that issue but I think there's a there's a lot of other ways that you know we could not saying I'm not supporting this I'm supporting this but there's a lot of ways that we could do things with you know with with technology right and we are working with theice but it doesn't necessarily work for everybody exactly it hasn't that's been the problem we we can um if it's we can always add recycled paper requirement what I would love to do is I would love to be able to kind of be able to monitor if there's an uptick in response but then again some projects Garner more more attention than others yes due to the size due to the scope due to the location some areas are more some areas are more um more united certain areas you know that there there could be a way to do it we have a signing sheet in every single meeting we can have a box where do you hear about this uh about this meeting and we can put letter email uh and that'll give us data on how they're seeing that's yeah so what I was saying was if you could come back when you address the commissioner's items whenever we come back with some ideas of how we could track and get an idea of what's working what's working best I know that at the approach is obviously having multiple strategies if it's you know our program like today when you're advertising something whether it's on the website whether it's ews whether it's an email whether it's a door hanger whatever it is I just want to I want to get an idea I like data I like to understand what what um you know what's actually working towards somebody's personal fancy what are they what are the appeals to a certain demographic of individuals and then we can break it down I think that's break that down and say listen there's an older an older demographic or a younger demographic or you know let's see let's see who how how this works the best CU then we can potentially not say remove something but focus in a lot more on trying to drive you know interest we just got to maybe use that type of technology or that type of print media and see how it can work out just just an Ask okay all right moving on to F10 F10 is a resolution of the city commission establishing a historic building maintenance and restoration Capital project to be funded with an annual minimum amount of $50,000 $50,000 really is not going to do much but this is planting the seed to hopefully being able to contribute more and and the way that this was um drafted is so that it's minimum $50,000 and then we can go ahead and add a little more but this is for maintenance of um our historic buildings the the entrances I think that um as it is right now when like the water tower it I don't how many million dollars is it that that the water tower needs to be repaired if we would have continued maintenance to these historic um sides entrances pool then we wouldn't be stuck in the predicament that we are now so hopefully this would just be the start to a maintenance program for our beautiful things we have in the city no mayor uh we actually do spend more on that having it designated as a a separate fund is is not a bad idea but we are because I did ask we spent about $250,000 on maintenance you know just taking Strangler figs out of some of the um landmarks and stuff I mean it it is a continual process so I have no objection to this just reality is this costs more than $50,000 yeah $50,000 is just planting a seed but not but not a Strangler I knew you were going to say that Miss see hour I'll be happy to second I'll move it you're supposed to do it the other way around I know okay trying to move this along do we have any do we have any um any U public comment uh yes Mr Mayor Mrs Maria Cruz okay okay do you have a motion in a second yes Mark and roll commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner mandez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor logo yes U moving on to item F12 F12 is a resolution of the city commission establishing a tree of the Year program okay so um so some of the folks that worked hard on this or in the landscape uh Advisory Board another one of these committees that we have that have the same acronyms of others lab um and uh Miss carbonell came to us about a month ago with this idea in the landscape Advisory Board ran with it and it's a contest and we put in a rush to get it on this agenda so that we could start right away with the summer flowering trees and the the summer trees that um look beautiful we have U by the way the Royal ponana Festival coming up um I think the first event starts in about a week um so our Communications Department will be putting that out um you want to talk about it because I know that you just real quick Dena bell assistant Public Works director in Green Space Management um so landscape beautification advisory board really wanted to do something really special for the Centennial next year so when this idea came from corellia and through the vice mayor's office they loved it so they want to sponsor it and um it'll be a sort of interactive um program where we advertise on you know PN marketing for residents to contribute their vote for their favorite tree in Coral Gables the tree will will be seen from the street from the public rideway the tree can be in any public swell park or front yard of any residents and um we'll figure out with PR marketing how they can submit their vote online and then we'll close the voting period March of next year um and then the landscape beautification Advisory board members will vote on the winning tree and they'll announce it at the Arbor Day celebration next year for the Centennial and they'll decide what kind of award maybe or recognition to give the winning tree what are the qualifications to like to earn that like is it Beauty historic significance I think this is very subjective and um for the Centennial year I think the idea was just bringing awareness to the variety of beautiful trees and Coral Gables so the board did not want to um restrict the criteria they want to hear from the public what their favorite tree is and um I think the only requirement is they'll submit a photo and a location add dress or landmark and maybe put a sentence or two together of why they voted for that tree this may surprise you I actually have a favorite tree it's the tree at the corner of Riviera and University Drive at the corner of the parking lot of the youth center the big one right because it has carvings Sally loves Bobby from 1950s 60s and 7s generational you have to go up a little bit kids used to go up there and sit and hang out but you see people who are probably grandparents now with their names going back decades no no it's true it's really it's just supposed to be fun yeah no I I think it's wonderful idea I love it yeah is it just going to be one tree or are we going to do categories like flowering tree I'm just tree and your favorite creative with your criter I'll be happy to second okay I'll move it keep Strangler figs away that's all I say just no invasive trees guys I have a member of the public requesting to speak on this is Miss K gbon thank you for joining us kellia hi there everyone boy what a long meeting I was there this morning it seems like uh you know a week ago um I I did want to thank um the vice mayor for running with the idea and also for for Dena loving the idea and um and and I think it's going to be a lot of fun especially as we launch our Centennial um in January I think it'll really grow on people pun intended U but I I think it's a I I believe it's a national program and um through um Tre USA and so I I think the the city is I think it's the right moment and I just heard commissioner Menendez have a favorite tree and I think that's really awesome and I think most of us do have favorite trees so anyway I'm looking forward to to this and like I think someone said it's it's going to be a fun um you know especially that you know we know how how we love our trees here in the city so thank you everyone for um for approving this and I think it's it's going to be a wonderful addition thank you thank you kelia commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor L yes thank you Dina moving on to item i1 mayor I'm going to ask the deputy City attorney to give you a brief update on as to where we are in the charter Review Committee um I also would like to thank Stephanie for all her hard work that she's done um in getting this the committee going and setting up the town halls and um and making sure that we're we're making a good progress thank you Christina good evening mayor Commissioners um just wanted to give you a brief update first I just wanted to thank the members of our Charter Review Committee former mayor Nick Miss B Court miss moscovitz Mr Paro and Mr Wells who's here and I'm sure we'll want to pop up in a second since he's waited so patiently um so we provided you all with a memorandum summarizing what we've done so far we have had one initial meeting and two Town Halls we also provided a a list of sort of broad Strokes of topics that were raised during those town halls there may have been some particular proposals made or discussed but we made a sort of a general list for you all pursuant to the resolution that um put together this Char Review Committee we are to provide you with an update today and the next step is to have a joint meeting between the charter Review Committee and um you all as the city commission I wanted to if you'll indulge me for just a second to put up if you could um Billy we did create a website um it's under the city attorney's page Charter if you just type in Coral Gable's Charter review it comes up on Google or Charter on the city page we have a brief overview of a presentation we've made at both Town Halls about what the city Charter is what it contains what a Charter is generally we have all the transcripts from the 2015 meetings all the meeting videos from the ones that we held in December and the town halls this year a link to the Charter itself the resolution that's set it forth we also now have a suggestion box for amendments to the Charter name an email are optional but if um we will be collecting input provided um and providing that to the Charter Review Committee members as we move forward in this process we've discussed initially um you know getting direction from you all as a whole and then we'll proceed through the charter section by section um with any direction you may give the charter Review Committee so thank you um again to the members the meetings were fairly well attended I think um we've also received email feedback um that we've passed along to the Charter Review Committee as well so thank you to the city clerk and we will work on scheduling that joint meeting and I don't know if Mr Wells wanted to say anything but um he is one of the members of our TR Review Committee so thank you all hi say is I'm on the team that's why I'm here thanks thank you so I did I did have a couple questions I mean the the memo itself I didn't see it on the the website and it's not linked to the agenda so we can certainly put it on the agenda apologies for that but the list itself is on there it's was on the PowerPoint presentation given at the um last town hall and there were a few additions since then but we can make sure that the memorandum is uploaded of course and the memo just goes by topic it doesn't really yes and so the town hall meetings were sort of to solicit general ideas from the public we didn't have I think even members of the public were not necessarily familiar with what was in the charter itself before they came some members were and had very specific proposals some people had sort of General ideas some of which may or may not be appropriate for inclusion in the charter so they're sort of broad Strokes to the extent that we received specific written proposals those were also provided to the Charter Review Committee and can be linked on the website as well if they're not already the packet yeah so so that's some of the requests that I've seen is that they wanted more of a comprehensive memo uh detailing not just the topic heading but you know maybe some bullet points on those suggestions sure we we can do that I'm just the discussion of the Town Hall was very informal and I don't know that there were sort of specific it wasn't like I think we should change this may to a shell and 25 to 35 it was you know we should have have increased transparency in the charter right you know so some topics are easy to distill some are not and and as we go through once the charter um Review Committee actually starts doing its work and we start having the meetings where they're digging into the charter we will be going as as Stephanie mentioned section by section and that's when we can have really robust discussions and specific proposals considered and and fleshed out and so we can work on potential language or or changes and tweaks and and really get focus in the details during those meetings where at this point it's more like exploratory and and just um input Gathering and there will be public comment at each meeting of the charter Review Committee and any member of the public can check on the website and see when the next meetings will be we'll post the agendas for what will be considered at each Charter review committee meeting so if you have very strong feelings about qualifications or term limits or whatever section of the charter you can come and make specific proposals at that meeting we had a mixed bag of sort of specific suggestions about um like I said qualifications or just sort of General statements like we need to look at leas condominiums or leases yes and so we didn't feel like we had the ability to distill that into to a specific proposal because the proposals were not very specific if that makes sense we didn't want to interpret somebody's suggestion for them all right good okay I guess we'll be working through the clerk to schedule the next meeting yes and so we'll ask the clerk to work with the charter Review Committee and you all to schedule that joint meeting so that you can in reviewing the um videos the broad Strokes again um vice mayor those specific suggestions that may have been made are all in those videos and um to the extent that they were written ones we'll make sure those are uploaded on the website as well um and it's the next meeting according to the resolution is for you all to give direction to the Charter Review Committee if you have any specific areas you would like them to look at so that's the next step all right thank you very much Mr Mayor we have a member of the public requesting to speak on the item Mr rib Holmes thank you is he here or is he on on Zoom uh he's supposed to be here in person okay let's give him a few seconds well why don't we do this we have 15 minutes till 7 we have item H5 take a 15 minute break and then we'll come back and finish the meeting off with H5 all right for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] don't [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] sh of course of Mr clerk you ready Perfect all right let's resume H5 Madame Finance director oh Mr Mayor uh Mr Holmes wanted to make a comment at the last item go ahead you're very gracious with u I'm here to serve you the public let me turn my phone off here I'm certain uh you're gracious with the having promoted the public comments and with allowing people even to speak out of turn it wasn't my intention um I was charging my phone so with respect to the last item about uh the um Charter amendments I know I've already said it but I'm desperate right uh so because uh I just don't want to fail to to stress that if if we're going to go forward which God willing we will to please try to include the Inspector General thing and again the reason being that I I think we've lost the ethics Department M Mr danis basically said they they can't do their job that they used to so we need an inspector General thanks thank you sir all right Madam director thank you so again Diana Gomez Finance director so um I I was asked to try to come up with um different percentages reductions and what would it affect and so um been able to do a little something um again I'm going to give you rounded numbers because it's not an exact or whatever so um obviously one of the options would be to not increase the rates um and leave them where they're at that would we would have to then cover an additional subsidy of $380,000 roughly um a five % reduction to the current rates so the rates that are currently now in effect which the early payment rate currently is 804 the full rate is 938 so that's the the current rates a 5% reduction would take the early payment to um $764 and the full rate to $891 so a $40 and a $47 uh reduction respectively um and that would uh generate a loss or an additional subsidy of about $860,000 on top of the $4.4 million that we're currently um funding with General funds a 10% reduction um would be would take the early rate to 730 sorry $724 and the regular rate to $844 and which would be about an $80 reduction and a $94 reduction that that would be an additional $1.3 million loss loss for no other better way of saying it a 20% reduction would take the rate the early rate to 643 the um full rate to 750 um so a reduction of $160 for early payers and $187 for late for regular payers that would be a $2.3 million additional uh subsidy um 25% reduction uh would take the early rate to $63 the full rate to $73 so a $200 $21 decrease and a $234 decrease respectively to $2.7 to5 million so I've done it all the way to 45% reduction do you want me to keep going on them okay so a 30 a 30% reduction would take the reg the early rate to 562 or 563 and the full rate to 657 um so $240 $241 versus $281 reductions and that would be $3.2 million additional cost to the general fund um a reduction of 35% would take the early payment rates of $522 $523 and the regular rate to $610 so the reduction would be $281 you repeat the first one I apologize sorry five 35% yep 35% reduction the early payment would go down to $523 and the um regular payment will go down to $610 so it would be a $281 reduction for the early payers and $328 reduction for regular payers and that would generate a $3.7 million additional loss A 40% reduction would take the early payment to $482 and $563 for the regular pay so $322 reduction $375 reduction for for regular pay that would generate a 4 $125 million additional loss or again for lack of a better word and then a 45% reduction would go to um the early payment of $442 and the regular payment of $516 so it'll be a $362 reduction or $4 $22 reduction but it would be a $4.6 million additional um uh subsidy um for for the general fund I think I was also asked to look at a flat rate for everyone with no early payment um so let's just say we did a flat rate of $550 for everyone um it would be uh $550 would be what would be charged and it would generate about a 300 no a 300 $3.9 million shortfall or loss or sub additional subsidy how much I'm sorry um if we would do a flat rate and charge everybody on the tax bill um or I guess early but not different rates $550 it would gener it would cost an additional $3.9 million of a subsidy or loss or additional funding that the general fund would have to fund on top of the 4.4 yes all of these numbers were on top of the 4.4 that currently exists H that's almost $9 million yep wow so what is the will of the commission where would we take those $9 million from so the so um the 4.4 is the 4.4 has already been contemplated we already balanced our budget expecting that we have to subsidize that so the additional $3.9 million would have to come out of available uh General fund or other special Revenue fund dollars so any available dollars in the budgeting process so it just means not 3 Let's just say for argument sake $4 million less for other recurring needs for Capital could be it could be for Capital it could be for wages it could be for operating expenditures it could be for you know anything um that we use general fund or yeah that we use general fund or uh dollar for no unrestricted dollars for they're recurring dollars which means it's it's not like just onetime funds can be used to pay this down it's has to be recurring we balance our budget with recurring revenues cover uh recurring expenditures I I understand the intent to the commission 100% um I just feel like the burden is going to be so big on the city and so not significant for the resident and I and I also feel that we're not being fiscally responsible um with with this amount of money I'm I I would I would approve the increase of 38 probably remove the early payment option because we're not getting a discount from anywhere from getting that extra money and we actually be covering a little more of the 4.4 and um I would love commissioner mendez's idea to provide a grant to the 260 residents maybe with 50% deduction of there so so so la the last time we did the senior relief Grant there's about 260 uh individuals that number may go up or down a little bit um some people may of that 260 may live in a condo so they don't pay the solid waste fee so they wouldn't get the reduction necessarily if that's the way it's written um and so then they would um so yes and then we would do you're saying to give a grant um for whatever 50% like 450 what is it 450 4 something right right so um yeah so uh so roughly then that would be um it'll it would cost an additional about $115,000 maybe um and then removing the early payment would actually make us a little more money too because we're not really getting a deduction from We're absorbing that deduction is what I'm trying to say yes we are we are mayor of course um the directive that you know we've been charged with from and this is the second year in a row that our state representatives have pressed and urged and express disappointment that we haven't uh decreased our millage rate um this is a mechanism to do it in a less painful Manner and in a manner in which it gives our our budget staff ample time to work with the budget going forward rather than you know addressing this on what our first budget meeting is in SE September when we start uh discussing the militate I mean it's there's months here of of preparation so looking up what the 65 year old uh discount is on property taxes uh the last Amendment on that was in 20 um 21 and at that point the income requirement was under $20,000 per year yeah that's a very extremely low threshold for for folks that are struggling out there especially considering the fact that you know the cost of living just for food um can easily eat up I did some rough calculations on what average food costs are for folks is eating up about 5,000 $451 1548 per person per year okay uh medical cost $ 5800 per year you know you you can easily blast through $220,000 in a heartbeat for just basic living expenses we've been asked to give relief this is a way we can give everyone relief and especially those who need it the most um expecting everybody to navigate this application process for seniors um and seniors only okay because L not a lot of seniors need this so you have families of four or families that are struggling to make ends meet um on the food bills we might be a rich city but we also have folks that are forgotten and having a difficult time and have been having a difficult time paying is ever escalating garbage fees and this is a a great way to address that population so you know my suggestion the number that I felt was fair was 550 I still think that we can have that as the early payment option and if people want to pay it in their tax bill they can pay the higher rate uh and we could discuss what that is whether it's 100 over or 200 over uh the amount um so I'll have some thought on this thought I guess the question would be 550 would be what percentage and what would the correlating so 550 for everybody 3 3.9 million no no no 550 and then what will the correlating later late payment B so 550 so right it falls right in between so let's just say 562 right and between 35% is 522 30% is 562 so let's just say 560 2 as the early payment and which is a 30% reduction and then it would be 656 657 for the regular payment it would generate a $3.2 million additional loss or um subsidy but I guess what the vice mayor is saying is rounding it off to 550 where would that put us 33% maybe I would I didn't do the math on that I did it in 5% incre increments but so if my computer doesn't die I can try to do that um so you were roughly um let's see 80 $85 to $90 difference between one figure and an next I'm sorry I don't yeah I'm just 10 plus s% no 6 523 to 610 so um you're talking $87 difference between 68 6 8 50 6850 so 6 563 to 657 so um sorry 168 or we could just pick one that you've already calculated 563 is is close enough 5us one so it would be a um so it would be a um sorry sorry one quick second so it would be um I guess a 32% [Music] reduction yeah 32% reduction we 550 is the early payment give us 642 as the later pay as the regular payment it would be a $3.3 million 3.3 High million uh shortfall if I may you may um I'm I think it's good that we have more than one option that we're looking at thanks to your numbers it's providing a lot of clarity um I'd like to follow up on what commissioner Castro was talking about mentioning the seniors which mentioned earlier um on that path there is a way to expand the pool of residents uh I did some research and there are other exemptions that qualify in terms of what we're looking for people in need so besides senior there's permanent disability veteran disability exemption and exemption for if you're blind if we added those anybody who falls into any one of those categories then the pool grows from the 230 I I don't have the population though I'm not saying that you do I'm not asking you to find I don't know if it's it's 200 or 10 you know 500 or but it's more than what we have now under the scen yes yes and obviously you know we always talk about our seniors I mean our veterans uh always talking about folks with disabilities uh and these are things that they had to provide the county with the doctors you know verifying that they actually have a permanent disability so so I'm just saying along the discussion that commissioner Castro brought up in addition to seniors if this is something we bring back uh for a conclusion at some point next meeting let's say I would love to see you know your team could somebody could do the research how many residents would qualify if we added those other categories saying senior disabled veterans Widow did I get them all uh no seniors blind veteran disability and then permanent disability those are several of the different exemptions that Florida provides uh Property Owners so I'm I'm going to give you a little perspective one of the number one things that causes bankruptcy number one things that causes homelessness are medical issues less than a permanent disability dealing with some folks right now homeless and would never qualify under any of these exemptions right what we're trying to do is we're trying to give relief to people that need it the most not give them more Hoops to jump through we're also trying to be responsive to the requests of our legislators to give tax relief across the board okay people with permanent disabilities are usually those in wheelchairs um that's a small microcosm of what we have in our community and people you know trying to put food on the table this will put some money back in their pocket it's you know less harmful than doing a to a budget than doing a complete mill rate dis uh reduction and it's fair to everybody across the board but you mentioned people in need I think earlier there was a discussion that I think anybody could benefit from Savings of $100 but there are some folks that it's such a large net that dollars may be going to folks that really don't need the extra 100 and in this situation if you're filing an exemption for senior disability blind or veteran that means you file the exemption because you need the exemption and it's tangible and it's you can quantify it and it's already measured by the county and certified by the county so we don't have to interview anybody because it's already a permanent record right how we did it with this with the senior really um I got the the date from the county to say as of what date is that role that we need to do it by and so we put into the resolution the name of the role that they called it and it was as of that date whoever had qualified for the senior exemption they got that senior Grant so would you I did receive phone calls from residents who needed it but they didn't qualify under the County's parameters they were just outside that number so I I I see your point but I also see Tallahassee has been clear with us and so has the property appraiser they would like to see some sort of relief provided this is our way of providing relief without throwing everything out cuz a military cut right now is something that the city cannot afford to do just we cannot if we if we cut the millage rate we're going to have to remove money from the reserves we're going to have to uh stop making extra payments for for our pension things that have been set in course over the last few years so I think this is an opportunity that we have to provide the relief and and I'm I'm willing to go on board on 30% if that's if you're okay with that what's the number that was the 563 657 I want to when you say in the past people were talking about I don't remember anybody on the commission before this commission talking about dipping into the reserves and dipping into and underfunding the pensions I mean correct me if I'm wrong nobody said that said in course it was said before no I said that the commission has worked on before getting us to where we are today I was giving you and the the former commission no total opposite total opposite I was saying that we've gotten to where we've gotten let's take step back but we don't need to take steps back no we don't need take we can do both we can do both we can no we can't not not when it comes to the military listen to me we can there is there is ways to do it we just have to again do things the right way we have to be efficient we have to we have to finally address issues like a $4.4 million shortfall that we've been kicking that can down the curb for years and have never addressed that across the board we can lower the millage rate and we can also cut the cut the garbage today we're starting with the garbage so you're you're what would you like to do Madam vice mayor um I'm fine with the 30% at 563 I why don't we just leave it at 550 okay you want to make a motion so going up to 32% you're saying would you like to would you like to make I'll make a before one one second clarification please yes so one just want to make sure I have I have a motion on the floor give me one second but discussion wasn't over we're going to we're going to have further discussion I have a motion on the floor is there a second well we had an agreement at 30% you didn't there's no agreement well no the vice mayor and I but I I requested that we can go to 550 I think we're perfectly fine at 550 what's the difference between early 30 and 32% again so the the differences that I would the 550 that I gave you was everybody pays 550 no early payment discount just 550 for everybody that would hit have a $3.9 million hit and that's where I think we should be at and the 30% reduction where it's 562 563 cuz it's 562 with 80 cents plus you know and 656 with 60 that would be a $3.2 million hit to the budget list we sat here three months ago we contemplated a a $30 million Cola $30 million 28 million and change Cola Cola yeah we did we contemplated and we voted on a $28 million Cola that would have hit the city for 10 years close to what 4 something million a year oh I'm sorry your the retirement Cola I'm sorry I wasn't not in my head in retir problem problem it's yes tired we're all tired it's just no it's it's just that it's would have been I'm going to ask you for a number cuz I'm probably wrong on the number I remember it was about 28 29 30 milon if you give me a second I can pull it up and I my understanding was that it was close to 4 something million a year would have cost the city for 10 years something like that I can pull it up so we had the discussion and we went we went deep in that discussion and we're willing to accept that for 10 years and thank God that vote required a four fist vote and it didn't happen because the voters in the city would have not gotten a penny MH so now Madame vice mayor I'm in favor of 550 across the board if you feel comfortable with that you've been having this conversation I think it's late I think we've talked about this we're at 7:30 I'd like to have your opinion on on that's this is the first time I speak on the issue yeah no 550 is where I started um my only concern is if we have to put it on the tax roll there's a Time value of money and encouraging people to pay earlier you know helps I think the city out my question is to to the vice mayor's Point educate me does it help us does it help us pay it early yes or no I mean it's a it's a matter of two months I don't know that I'm going to the effort that has to go into the billing and collection and the costs with sending out 11,000 bills and making sure it's properly you know all that there's a you know so there's a cost benefit I'm not saying we do it every year and I'm perfectly fine doing it I'm just saying that if we're going to move towards a flat rate we should just move to a flat rate and get rid of the early payment discount we could give people the opportunity to pay it early and not get put on the tax bill but the rate should be the same so if it's just put on the tax bill waiting for the money is it an issue that's what I'm saying it's only 2 months I mean because we're going to get the majority of them in November at the end of November instead of uh end of August that's the point that's what I was trying to make it's not that much time other than we wanted to mail a lot of goodies in the with the men right that's another thing we're going to be mailing mailing but the postage costs money too yes it does we we already budget for those costs because every year I send out a tax uh a solid waste bill so that's there's no additional cost that's already budgeted for so we'd save that money in theory if we just put it on the tax bill but if we put it on the tax bill you know right so let's technical right I love to get technical because it there's always technicalities if we put 550 on the tax bill technically we're only going to get 522 because if people pay they get a 4% discount so that's why I said flat and the County charges me a one one to one and a half% fee administrative fee for for putting it on the tax bill so but that amount that I told you that I would be the subsidy is already factored bring that in so we charge them 550 I know I'm only going to get 522 at you know and so therefore that $3.9 million that I told you the deficit is factoring that in and to give and to give the individuals that don't remember or were not aware how much did we have how much did we have in debt before we put it on the tax bill when I got it was just under $4 million that people hadn't paid for years and years and that's why had certain people that hadn't paid for almost two decades their garbage fees and when we put it on the tax roll it forced everybody to have to pay of people yeah well you have to by with the tax sale but I mean it was brief quick yeah and we do that right now with the fire fee it goes right on the tax bill y so so just if I could so again flat rate 550 we talked about it would be a $3.9 million deficit a $600 flat rate would be a $3.4 million deficit a $700 flat rate would be a 2.3 uh million doll deficit so just going to also want to throw away different numbers or whatever throw out different numbers uh a 750 flat rate would be a $1.8 million deficit so if if I may mam Finance Mr Mr clerk do we have any public comment yes Mr Mayor he from the from the public uh Miss Maria Cruz I did have a question though we'll get it to now we have a we can be if you want doesn't want me to talk today I was trying to talk too yeah takes two votes Mrs Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road several years we've been discussing what some people consider the unfairness that we have with uh solid waste the landscape um pi up whatever it's called when you have a set price for everyone regardless of size really I don't like to use the word subsidy but the poor people are subsidizing the other people because the people that have larger families larger um uh property you know more trees more grass etc etc use more than the people that don't okay so even though I don't like the word subsidized because subsidized for me means money from someplace else when the money is from our taxes to alleviate us is not a subsidy it's moving money from this to this it's our money that you're choosing to use for something else nobody's subsidizing nobody's coming in from other City to give us money it's our money that you're choosing to use differently okay now so I say that given this having a set price for everybody is really the same thing that we're doing now the the the the people that most need the break are not getting the break for a person that lives in a how many million dollars cuz now we have people that live in more than $1 million lots of million dollars to save uh $300 a year is what not going to Burger King one day you know it's not a big deal for a poor person is a lot of money and this is what I'm I'm saying to you I know that it may be too late for this year but it you need to address the issue of charging based the same as the taxes every every other tax based on the property that you own that's it it's a simple matter you use more services then the people that live in a little house and have no no grass to CAU okay that's one one thing the other thing is when you're talking about um the exemptions you need to realize that there are some ex exceptions that are based on need and some that are not okay Widow is no need it doesn't make any difference senior citizen is based on need so that's a good one because when you are a senior and you apply for a senior you have to show that you're under whatever amount of money it is 20 huh 120 no no 20,000 that was my point it's an extremely heavy burden no because I looked at it and there's a there I think there's two senior exemptions one is based on listen one is based on need and one is not I think I think you're talking 96.0 75 additional homestead exemption for persons 65 and older under paragraph a says you get an additional 50,000 deduction if um you've attained the age of 65 and whose household household income not just that person does not exceed $20,000 it's a heavy burden I think that's but there there are different there are different things okay so you need to consider that because you know that $20,000 who can live on $20,000 that's okay all right so you need to consider that and I I'm sure that you know the handicap and and the blind or whatever that makes sense that's not based on need that means you qualify because you have a c cumstance okay so um once again I think it's time and and the millage the millage will not help the poor people the millage when you do when you is like salaries when you're at the top of the line and you get 10% you get much more money than the poor person that's at the bottom of the line so if you want and remember where Beverly Hills now we have lots of people with big price properties when they get a millage reduction they're going to save a lot of money the person that has the house that's what uh we have some people that have homes of what 300,000 is that the lowest uh that we have in the city oh low 3 400,000 what do they save you see what I'm saying so if you really want if the if the mission is to help the needy the Millers would't help them as much as they would help the other end that doesn't need the help so proportionately the wealthier homes or the higher price homes pay a greater proportion of the garbage fee how does that true because they're they're filling the Delta of what is not the um if you if they um but they do not pay the higher proportion of of garbage yes I do yes they do because if they if we have a $4 million hole to fill and these are the homes it has to be taken from the the homes with the less value fill that bucket less than the homes that are worth more but you can have as many buckets as you want for for recycling and for garbage you can have as many as you want trust me I've see people let me explain it so the difference we're not passing through as a garbage fee and we're assuming in the general fund is coming from the general fund which those properties are paying a higher tax so if we're moving these 3.9 million into the general fund those larger properties in essence will be paying more for the garbage that's so so let's do this let's have that's fine you have anything else you'd like to add well I I say that we need to move into and consider for the future the possibility of basing fees on prices oh well we'll have to do deeper study to do that today we don't have enough time okay no I know not today square footage or number of bedrooms or we can but that's going to take some time thank you very much Mr Mr clerk do you have anyone else no Mr Mayor commissioner Castro I completely agree with commissioner Menendez I think we need to figure out how to increase the population of the people that are in need so that the people that aren't in so much of a need are are receiving this this relief as I said when I started talking um I don't I don't I don't agree with the 550 and it breaks my heart to even say that but I don't I think um we should still be providing relief in a form and to the 260 and I would love to increase the population to the people that are really in need commissioner I have no comment commissioner Fernandez um I guess going back to the early payment versus the later payment there really isn't that much of a later payment difference because it's taken out of the fees that miate county is keeping um so it's a for they so the amount that they pay so if we say the the later payment is um 500 or whatever $600 and yes we are only going to receive at best well no I mean not at best we always um 95% of it because if people pay in November they get the full 4% not everybody pays in November some people don't pay till May and so we get the 100% of the amount that we charge but there is a a portion of it that gets discounted because they have that early payment discount so um so yes and it's it's very hard to factor that in so you know we don't necessarily I use round numbers just so that we know generally where we're at but it's a you know at the end of the day it's a budget it's an estimate it's how much we believe we're going to generate but it depends because for whatever reason maybe everybody pays early this year and then we going to get much less Revenue than we otherwise would have thought that 72 28% split is based on historical if for whatever reason 100% of people want to pay early the subsid is going to be larger because everybody would pay that early payment rate and the the 28% wouldn't pay the full pay but it has over time been consistent at that 7228 right and I think the argument could be made that the late payment is also more beneficial to the people who have less money because they may be allowing it to pass through to their mortgage because that's divide it up into 12 months versus having to pay it all up front sure I know there have been years where I myself have have found it hard to make that early payment because you have to come up with the $800 uh at at one time I guess question for you would you be a would you consider a flat rate of 550 with a 4% fee that can be added to it if it is uh assessed to your taxes to cover that difference I mean credit card fees are charged all the time this would be the equivalent of that so we would it would be 550 but there would be a 4% charge to cover that difference it would be the 5% charge because they also charge one 1.1% 5% charge if so it would be a 550 or 57750 if it put on the my my request is simple I'm ready to vote it's 550 flat early no late it's 550 that's it simple I don't want to complicate it it's real simple and so I just feel like I must State for the record again 4 million $3.9 million additional hit to the to the budget I understand completely and what what's the hit with what commissioner uh Fernandez just said about the 5% oh I mean so the difference would be it'll be a little bit less it would be um let's just argue hold on um I'll tell you right now uh sorry to if we charge the full 550 in theory or get the full 550 it would be 3.625 so it's just a couple hundred, different because that's the 4% the potential of that 4% last question 5% yes was what commissioner I I've lost track of all the options at some point the vice mayor and commission or Fernandez were sort of on the same page a little while ago yeah yeah I but I think the paperwork burden Etc it just not worth it 550 is the motion right now across the board without the 5% late fee right let's just make it simple so we have a we have a motion right I'm willing to second that motion we've had public comment I think we're ready to take a vote unless anybody else has anything else You' like to add personally I would like to push it to the next meeting it's a lot of to make a decision but we still can't even totally agree I would second that well we have a we have a motion in a second on the floor first let's take it to a vote Mr clerk okay uh just to be clear previously I had uh commissioner Fernandez as a second right but I get well yeah I had seconded the the the 30% it was a different motion right we had a motion to Second for that one you're the you're the so she would have to re you want to vote on that no I just want to do the 550 it's you know it's late a few minutes of eight right so do you want to strike you want to strike your motion then we'll move on with with the motion that we said before 550 flat we have we have the vice mayor made the motion and I second it Mr cler can we have a roll call vote commissioner Fernandez I would prefer to differ I'm still torn on that late fee component I have a question if this motion fails can a new motion be made okay yeah of course you can do you can defer you can do whatever you like you like to defer you're more than willing to do that I'm going to vote no because it's not truly 550 because it will be 522 in some cas commissioner hold on wait one second why why would it because if it's on the tax bill but it's on the tax bill but at the end of day it's the flat rate 550 is we only receive 522 we will not receive if it's put on the tax bill and people take advantage of the 4% plus the county fee it we would only we would only receive the equivalent of 52250 okay perfect that's what I'm saying yeah commissioner Menendez I believe we're rushing into this I would like it to come back so we can think clearly and and take into consideration the administration's concerns and find a solution that I think is more balanced so I vote no vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro no mayor logo yes I would make a motion if you just give me one second I think that the commissioner mandez wanted to wanted to make a motion he wanted to say something I'll allow commissioner Fernandez so I'll make a motion at 550 with a 5% late fee so 550 when it's assessed in your tax bill so 550 if it's paid early correct and F what did whatever I said um so 550 Plus 5% so about 57750 placed on the tax but which then they would get to ensure we get the they would get a 4% reduction if they paid in November again still a 3 3.625 is what we we understand yeah I would not be doing my job if I did not tell stress how detrimental this will be to the budget and so forgive me but I just want to make it very clear so we don't have these discussions for you I know there's a motion if you had more time would you be able would do you think we'd be able to find a way forward to lessen the hit to the city no I I don't there's no additional re this is taking revenues out of the original already existing uh general fund um lowering it to any capacity is going to be an additional hit could one you know could a smaller like not do an increase leave it the same and that's a $380,000 hit is that more palatable for the budget as a whole perhaps right perhaps um but again 3 you know $3.9 million on top of a $4.4 million is a significant detriment to the budget and I just again and I apologize but I just want to make sure it's very clear can I may I ask you a question yes and I ask you just because I want to kind of understand it in the context you're very adamant about this and we worked together for many many years how come you didn't take that same position when we were talking about over four four four million change in regards to the cola you were you opposed it but youer memo was very clear on your memo but you weren't this this public about it so I happen to not be here for that me meeting I was on a planned vacation at the time so I was not physically here I was out of the country for that meeting but my memo was very clear that we should not do it and I believe that that was the I think we came up with a possible solution because we hadn't fully allocated all of the extra payment at that time and I chose to not allocate all of it and leave it there in case the commission had decided to pay I think it was ,000 or maybe up to $1,200 could have been absorbed and so that was the direction I believe that the staff had talked about but then that did not happen but we were talking about a 10e window of almost $30 million not the what I was talking about what I was talking about was a onetime flat payment my recommendation per my memo was very clear we should not make this payment and I I was I am always adamant when I have those meet when I come to those meetings and letting this commission or any commission know that we should not do it so like Diana said she wasn't here that day but I was standing in for her and I believe that I was extremely adamant about not about the impact that that Cola would have when we did discuss that item we had found an option with one-time funds to give a one-time um a onetime lumpsum payment and so that was something that was more palatable because it was one-time funds that we were able to identify but the cola that was being proposed was something that I believe I can go back and listen to it but I believe that I was extremely adamant about our concerns about um about that passing and and what that would do to our unfunded liability so I think we have a motion on the floor do we have a second a second commissioner Menendez for the reason I mentioned earlier concern based on the advice of the administration on the impact I think we're rushing it um I vote no vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro no commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes all right anything else for the good of the order Madame vice mayor uh let's see royal ponciana Festival is coming up what else is coming up I know there's more stuff coming up but I got jury duty next week so okay commissioner nothing Memorial Day commissioner mandez I do do I have my photos up yes sir it is all right well since we are family people I just want to congratulate my daughter Lydia for graduating from college 10 days ago um it's beautiful to see your kids grow up and um do good so I'm a proud dad have many reasons to be proud commissioner Fernandez uh just wanted to thank our community recreation team our Public Works team everybody who was at at the literacy Festival this past weekend it was very hot uh but there are a lot of smiling faces a lot of people who were happy uh and I think it was a great event to showcase our community so thank you to our team for coming out and we have our um Memorial Day uh celebration uh at uh the youth center and that will be I forgot the time uh but it is on the city's website and it'll be on the e- news this week uh two quick things again I welcome everybody to the Memorial Day event it's going to be a wonderful event as always in celebration of our great country and remembering those who pay the ultimate price uh I'm also inviting you to please join me if you'd like uh for for the Miami Community newspapers uh coffee and pelitos event on Wednesday May the 29 2024 at 7:30 a.m. kakua I'll be the guest speaker if anybody would like to go please stop by you're more than welcome to come by I'll be putting the RSV information uh through my social media I'd like to hope I'd like to thank staff for doing a wonderful job today uh thank you for your service uh to the city everyone who attended it's 8:00 and we're out I hope everybody has a wonderful evening this supposed to be a short meeting right yeah oh it's under 12 hours e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e