##VIDEO ID:V6FD_4MGyek## for [Music] [Music] [Music] e for for e [Music] [Music] for for [Music] [Music] hey good morning good morning nice jacket oh yeah you like K yes real was the only I Found a Love for me darling just Dive Right In Follow My Lead actually that was good I found a girl that's that's that's low [Music] knew for me cuz we were just kids when we fell in love not knowing what it was I will not give you up one second H can you can you check the [Applause] [Music] choir can you go to the if it's two it should be you know where you marked it yesterday not too much lower not too soft need to he for the to get more of the base maybe exactly yeah the base we cannot uh yeah uh boss can you go to the choir so we can see the how hard it's going to sound in the middle I Found a Love that that's good for me daring just right follow my lead I found a [Music] girl you can talk to the microphone he's gonna talk to you you can did you did you mark it or no you canar yeah yeah I told him I told him all right it's just sounding a lot lower than what um we tested it yesterday at if it's not no big deal I found a love for me darling just di right in that's better thanks follow my lead I found a girl beautiful and sweet so this is just for here so that's good I see okay did a ah yeah it was it was nice it was a nice thing so you know which e e e e e e e e e e e e e for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for for for for e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for for e [Music] [Music] for [Music] we're ready sir all right good morning good morning I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome welcome everyone to the Tuesday October 8th 2024 Commission meeting as always it's a pleasure to have everyone here I welcome everyone to please take the opportunity to voice your concerns opinions or how happy you are with the city beautiful uh it's always an opportunity to do that we have public comment for everyone uh to be able to partake so with that being said I'd like to start off with the invocation I'd like to invite Reverend Roger Tobin again from St Phillips esal Church to join us thank you Father for being here with us thank you mayor and before I say anything can I just take a moment of personal privilege and thank all of you for your service uh to our community and on behalf of St Phillips in the city we are grateful for all you do for us uh and As We Gather here this morning a reminder perhaps for all of us as we take a moment to uh ask God to be with us that we should be mindful of what's going on on the west coast of our state our sister cities of Tampa for sure sure but indeed the entire West Coast we need to keep them in our prayers not just today but in the days and weeks ahead and indeed the victims of uh Helen and the coming storm of Milton let's just keep them all in our prayers from the days ahead huh let's just commit ourselves to doing that so with that in mind let us pray blessed art thou oh Lord our god king of the universe creator of all that was of all that is is of all that ever shall be send down upon those who hold office in this city council the spirits of wisdom charity and Justice that with steadfast purpose they may Faithfully serve in their office and promote the well-being of every citizen of this community oh heavenly father in your word you have given a vision of the holy city to which the nations of the world bring their Glory behold and visit we pray this city beautiful of Coral Gables renew in us the ties of mutual regard which form our Civic life enable us to eliminate poverty Prejudice and oppression that PE peace may prevail with righteousness and Justice with order and that men and women from many different cultures and with differing talents may find with one another the Fulfillment of their humanity and all of this we pray in your most holy name amen God bless you all God bless you thank you for letting me be father before you leave us I'd like to take a personal point of privilege if I may and ask for a moment of Ence yesterday I had the privilege of attending the um Shabad on October 7th and I think it's right and just that we remember the 1200 individuals that were murdered on October 7th in Israel along with the 100 individuals who are currently still missing U so a moment of silence for those individuals father I thank you for your leadership as always thank you for that may bless to have you here God bless you all God bless you Mr clerk will you lead us in the fledge please please stand raise your right place your right hand over your heart and repeat with me I pledge allegiance to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy andk you moving on to the first item on presentation and protocols I'd like to congratulate our passport director Miss Salas please join us and the entire passport office team for receiving a perfect score on the acceptance facility audit report from the US Department of State this is an incredible feed I have a beautiful beautiful Proclamation I was given to me to share with my colleagues on the commission and I'd like for you to please tell us a little bit more about this incredible award and the great things that your department is doing thank you thank you so much mayor and Commissioners for this recognition um I would like to invite the passport in up here with me um this recognition truly shows the hard work and dedication of the passport team and we look forward to continuing our efforts together we also wanted to thank um the department head Mr Ria the city clerk for the lead leadership and support thank you sir uh Mr Mayor really quick for the audit uh what it basically it's the US Department of State once every two years uh they come and they inspect every aspect of our operations uh from M uh you know Revenue collection to how we process applications and ultimately how we track those applications after they're done uh the team last year they processed over 24,000 passport applications which other than the Omni building and downtown is the busiest passport facility in all of South Florida uh and they do that with excellent service if you look at our Google reviews for our business we have five star reviews across the board and these are the people that basically make our city look good every single day for their hard work and dedication thank you I had the opportunity of touring the facility recently and I want to thank you for for the great tour and the opportunity to come out and see the operation um you recently moved and I think you did a great job of moving from your old facility to the current facility in the Minorca garage uh it's a great asset that we are providing our city um the passport process can be a little complicated and cumbersome for people uh but the attention that you all give our residents and the service that you're providing is incredible and when I heard the number of 24,000 applications that we're processing here a year uh it's an incredible service that we're offering thank you for all you do for us so a quick question to the clerk set you have a team of seven people right no in the clerk's office we have six we have six in passports we have 11 uh two full-timers and nine part-timers so that's thousands of applications per clerk per year yes sir ma'am sorry so thank you for what you do you great leader thank you one two [Laughter] moving on to item A2 presentation Proclamation de October 14 2024 as ew day in Coral Gables good morning good morning morning uh so yes uh mayor Commissioners uh this is a proclamation declaring uh October 14th as ew Proclamation day uh ew day international ew day and I want to give a special shout out to uh a young environmental activist Ana who I know emailed uh the commission and and the city manager she brought this uh proclamation to our attention uh last year and you all passed it and we're bringing it back to you again this year just to highlight a lot of the efforts that the city's been doing on ew uh from our recycling drive-through events we've had 19 now uh in the last eight years uh we have our next one on uh Saturday November 9th just to let the community know and we also do a lot of programming such as our battery recycling program which we've collected over 3600 lbs of batteries in our city facilities and also a special shout out to our it team because we are also practicing what we preach internally uh and we are uh processing all of our it waste um that with the electronic recycling companies and doing that as well and really leading on that effort when it comes to South Florida so this Proclamation is just highlighting a lot of those efforts and it truly is a team effort I want to give a special thanks to my team uh Diego and Nicole uh who are doing all the day-to-day on that and and um you know also what we offer to our businesses and our business recycling drive-through event yes which the next one which will be our third one uh since we started that program will be on Saturday December 7th so the first Saturday and that'll be open to our Coral Gables businesses to be able to bring in any old electronics that they want to recycle along with some other materials and through those events we've actually done over half a million pounds now of waste that's been diverted from the landfill so again uh I've been and Ana who uh unfortunately couldn't be with us today because she's actually in West Palm accepting a proclamation um she said uh via email to us that she was the most impressed with what Co Gables has done and is really leading uh when she's been talking with all the other cities so just wanted to share that with you go and thank you all for passing this Proclamation and uh continuing to support all of our efforts when it comes to uh sustainability this has been a great event that we all have been doing for for many years uh and it is a team effort uh not just all of you but also our Solid Waste team correct um and a bunch of different departments who participate uh and send staff out on this day to to ensure that it's a smooth process every year I know we have more people participating yes we also have uh Volunteers in the community who participate Marlin Ebert has been instrumental uh I mean I think she's the one that everybody rolls down the window to talk to when when they're driving in so thank you to Marlin for her efforts but I'll read the proclamation uh whereas International e-w Day is celebrated annually on October 14th and whereas this day is used to highlight the importance of protecting and preserving our natural resources and the work being done to make the world a better place by adopting conscientious living habits that will improve our daily lives and bring about a cleaner safer and healthier environment and whereas Coral Gables has undertaken many positive and successful waste reduction programs such as the 19 recycling drive-through events that have been hosted since 2016 where the city has collected over 222,000 lbs of ewaste and whereas an additional recycling drive-through annual event geared toward Local Coral Gables businesses was established in 2022 allowing the business Community to properly recycle their e-w and whereas Coral Gables expanded those efforts to include additional E-Waste recycling over 66,000 through an ongoing internal program with the IT department and whereas Coral Gables through the keep Coral Gables beautiful program launched a battery recycling program in multiple City buildings in July 2021 and has safely recycled over 3600 lb of batteries and whereas Coral Gables encourages allish residents to become involved in the different E-Waste recycling programs and events offered by the city and learn more about many res resources available and whereas the City of Coral Gables celebrates International E-Waste day to help ensure a safe and healthy environment and an improved quality of life for present and future future Generations now therefore we the Coral Gable City commission do hereby Proclaim October 14th 2024 as eway day in Coral Gables congratulations great work great work eight years continues to grow I have one one request because I had a couple of um individuals uh one elderly and one with with disability that has reached out to me I've typically helped them but we need to make an easier way for people to sign up from assistance to so someone can stop by and pick up their stuff and and bring it to the the site so that's something I'll speak about we're actually going in a transition right now more than likely going with a new a new ew company um so that's something I'll speak with them about I just know it's challenging for anyone to go on private property to be able to to do that so I'll I'll I'll speak with the company I'll see what we they can do um and then I I'll get back to you on that so what I'm really referring to is perhaps our staff can for those you know it's a handful of people that can't make it to just make an appointment pick it up bring it to City Hall and we'll handle it then I'll I'll talk I me I've been doing that for people my car has been loaded with other people's stuff um so maybe we need to expand this a little further and put it out on en if you cannot um in need assistance because there's some people that are in wheelchairs and so worth cannot uh do this type of recycling I'll speak with solid waste and see if that's something that we might be able to to coordinate thank you thank you man thank you Salange as always I appreciate your efforts let's take a photo I like it [Music] speci [Music] that was my request huh that was my request the pictures yeah I can't even use it because he moves it he moved it too fast right moving on to item A3 which is tied to H1 presentation or Proclamation declaring October 2024 as disability acceptance month in Coral Gables good morning mayor commissioner so every here the city with the assistance of the disability Affairs board selects an individual or an an organization that has made an impact on people with disabilities to receive the proclamation that declares October disability acceptance month in in the City of Coral Gables this year I can't think of anyone more qualified and better to receive the proclamation than Debbie Deeds Debbie is not only a coral Gable's resident but she has spent over 20 years advocating for the rights of people with disabilities she is the executive director and founding member of disability Independence group also known as dig Dig's mission is to expand opportunities for participation education employment and acceptance of persons with disabilities through advocacy litigation and training under Debb's leadership and forite dig developed the Wallet card the mission of the Wallet card is to provide tools training and resources that Empower individual with disabilities and police officers and other law enforcement Personnel to have safe and effective interactions with each other the city's Police Department was fortunate enough to uh partner with Deb with dig in this initiative Debbie is also a very active and involved citizen adviser to the disability Affairs board where she shares her knowledge suggestions and insights to ensure that people with disabilities are heard and prioritized in the city's decision-making process by proclaiming October as disability acceptance month and honoring Debbie Deets with this recognition we not only celebrate her exceptional contributions but also affirm our commitment to fostering an inclusive environment for all residents um I also um I I also want to bring up if I can Justine Chichester um Justine is um a member of our disability Affairs board but she is also an employee of dig where she is the development director for dig and I believe she also wants to say a few words about U Debbie deeds and about declaring um October as disability acceptance month for the city thank you Justine please join us good morning take your time it's always great to have you little slow sorry no apologies or ever [Laughter] need I um I'm so proud to work with Debbie in September 2014 I think you all know I suffered a spinal cord injury and I lived 39 years of my life as an able Ed person and entering Society the workforce um as someone with a disability was a unique and challenging experience and um I never thought I'd work again honestly and Debbie gave me a job she gave me a safe space to find my place in society again as a disabled individual and um she's helped me find my voice and my purpose and I'm grateful grateful to her and to dig for uh giving me a place as someone living with a disability and giving me a voice so thank you Debbie congratulations thank you debb please join us thank you so much I have watched many people get this award over the years and supported them so this means the world to me um and we love the work we do we work very closely with the City of Coral Gables um and our next event is November 11th we're having a karaoke dance party at Bay 13 we welcome you all to join us and learn more about the work that we do so thank you so much thank you well I I appreciate the the work you do I um prior to joining the uh Planning and Zoning Board I used to actively get engaged with uh various groups and trying to um bring accessibility to more areas but the employment area is probably one of the most challenging it's not something that I worked with but I lived it basically cuz my sister was disabled and you have the mental hurdle of putting yourself out there again and the acceptance hurdle of people to accept you in the workplace and understand that you can participate in a a f fashion that is very productive and provides Insight that um you know the abled body don't necessarily see because we go through that transition either as experiencing it like you you have Justine the transition from an abl bodied person to someone who has to the challenges of everyday life or living it with someone that has had to do that transition and it's difficult because people just they don't stop for you they don't open the door for you and all these little things that we need to do to have have some patience with other folks so um thank you again for what you do and I I'll read the proclamation and congratulations thank you so this is about celebrating you whereas National disability employment awareness month and end deem originally enacted by Congress in 1945 is recognized in October to commemorate the many contributions of people with disabilities to America's workplaces and economy and whereas the theme for National disability employment awareness awareness month for 2024 is access to good jobs for all to reinforce the value and talent of people with disabilities add to our workplaces and communities and affirm our commitment to increasing access to good jobs for all workers including disabled workers whereas the City of Coral Gables Embraces the diversity culture and contributions of individuals with disabilities and employment and in all aspects of City Life and strives to continue to improve the lives of people with disabilities by adopting legislation and imple implementing policies that enhance accessibility inclusion and equity and whereas the city of Co Gables reaffirms its commitment to become an inclusive Equitable and accessible City and a model for all others and employment and in all aspects of City Life and whereas the city together with this the Coral Gable's Advisory board on disability Affairs urges our re residents to join them in this annual Nationwide campaign to recognize the needs and rights of all individuals in employment and in all aspects of city life now therefore Ian slago as mayor of the City of Coral Gables and on behalf of the city commission and its citizens expand its commitment to raising awareness and acceptance of individuals with disabilities beyond the area of employment to all aspects of City Life do hereby proclaim the month of October 2024 as disability acceptance month in Coral Gables thank you [Music] [Applause] all so I ask my colleagues we could just take up H1 now and also have a motion on that item yes H1 is a resolution of the city commission declaring principles of inclusion for all individuals with disabilities and urging action by national state and local government's businesses and residential communities consistent with these principles I'll move it second all in favor I I thank you I would remiss as always i' like to mention very quickly uh Craig lean our previous City attorney who along with Raquel and all the members of the disability board uh you guys pav the way to make sure that we are the leader we're not just engaging but we're the leader in Miami day County in regards to making sure that everyone everyone has a shot here in the City of Coral Gables from the ball fields to any any facility to engaging here in the commission U you know individuals like Greg lean Mel have um even our vice mayor has played a major role in ensuring that again everyone has a voice so thank you for that thank you mayor let's take a picture and do it in appropri in an appropriate way figure let's figure this out yeah we'll take a picture right here we go to you yeah although I [Music] can over here in the middle [Music] congratulations it's more condensed you [Music] know thank you than moving on to item A4 presentation or Proclamation declaring October 2024 as domestic violence Awareness Month in the city of cor GES I place this item on the agenda and I'd like to invite our friends who are here with us today Cecil thank you for being here with us it's always a pleasure to have you I'd like to I'd like for you and the members of of your organization to talk a little bit about the importance of shining a bright light on domestic vience thank you for being here thank you for taking the time to be here I know you're all of you are very busy professionals and it's important thank you good morning Mr Mayor Commissioners uh I'm Cil luri I'm the chair for the domestic violence oversight board and with us today we have Isabella Coro who's a vice chair and Elizabeth regalad is our uh executive director for the board uh a little bit of background uh the board the domestic violence avide board was created in 1994 to serve really an advisory uh and oversight capacity to the mate Board of Commissioners uh with respect to everything affecting and related to domestic violence uh two of the main aspect of it is to develop a plan for the use of the portion of the food and beverage tax um for the construction and operation of shelter and right now the board you know covers some of the funding for two of the four shelters in Miami day County and then the second part is ensuring that we have a Continuum of Care for victims uh that victims know about it that victims have access to it so we don't let people you know without help at their worst time in their life um the work that the board and all of the organization providing service is really essential because unfortunately the domestic violence is an epidemic locally at the state level nationally it's everywhere you know when you look at the numbers one nationally National numbers one out of three women will suffer domestic violence and one out of four men so if you look at this commission today one out of three women that would be one out of the three of you one out of the four of you that's two people today on these Das who would suffer in their life domestic violence that's a lot uh if you think about it that's entire family in shambles kids left without parents sometimes uh people traumatized for Life uh so National Domestic awareness months is really essential because that's a time not that we should do it every day but that's a special time to uh honor the victims the people who've lost their life but also to raise awareness about prevention and about the available services so number one we can reduce the incidents we can also then you know make sure people know where to go if they are victims of crimes um last year we we finished a study on intimate partner violence and in terms of Miami dat County not the government the you know the county itself the cost was about under just under 76 million uh for the cost of intimate partner violence from people missing work you know all those aspects so if we think about it like that it's really crucial to also you know diminish the incidence of domestic violence so we're very grateful you know that you're providing this opportunity thank you Mr Mayor for you know sponsoring the item uh because that's one more venue when we can come and talk and that's really crucial um the board itself was uh planning some events one was tomorrow one was Thursday the first one was at the University of Miami uh we're partnering with them and it was going to be a film screening so we had to postpone obviously both events since Milton had different plans for us this week but we will be rescheduling uh those events and hope obviously will be uh inviting you and hope you can invite your community especially to the event that is right next door so thank you very much if first off I if You' like to say a few words sure from absolutely thank you for having us and part of what we're doing as a committee is we want to make sure that we are uh doing Outreach and meeting the victims uh and the service providers where they are and so tomorrow was going to be the kickoff to to meeting in different neighborhood so we welcome the opportunity to meet with you come into your communities and really learn what you all need from us so one of the things that I was going to mention and I was looking forward to getting together with you was the discussion of you know a lot of people talk about domestic violence in a in a current situation but they don't talk about domestic violence in the past that's something that I was reading a little bit about um I think what what I would love to see and through through the leadership of our County mayor uh I'll have a conversation with her and maybe we can all engage in that conversation through an email and we can set something up is potentially offering our our employees CU again or our residents just the ability to come in and talk to somebody because at the end of the day uh one of the things that I see and I've spoken to people especially in the in the workforce I have employees who you don't you don't know the full complexity of their background and I think this service and what your organization is offering and that's why the idea of Outreach something that we had talked about the idea of Outreach is something that again it can be something completely confidential could be something that again it's a service that's offered and if no one takes advantage of it at the end of the day that's perfectly fine for sure but it's something that you know a 10-minute presentation with a proclamation is a great thing but at the end of the day we can offer this as a service through Raquel who does a great job human resources and and you know just an opportunity to put it out there and listen you can speak with somebody confidentially these are trained professionals come out and have a conversation and I think it would it would help you both professionally and personally which I think is something that again just another opportunity for for engagement with employees and residents whoever whoever deems it appropriate good morning Mr Mayor vice mayor Commissioners um I wanted to say as I sat there and saw Debbie Reed the proclamation um one of our roles is to work with partners and and she's our go-to person when we're planning events and when we're getting advice um because domestic violence is everywhere in the city beautiful all across the nation the world um so she's our go-to person and and it reminded me of the interconnectedness of issues that we all have and the input the necessary input we need to get from everybody um one of the things that made me also want to remind you is that we are we made a recommendation for the county to look at its domestic leave policy which is often uh referred to a safe leave policy um commissioner Higgins has taken that on and sponsorship we look forward to the changes because right now it doesn't benefit or strengthen the protections for employees so be on the lookout for that it should be on the County Commission agenda coming soon and we look forward to hearing from you and meeting with you and uh making some noise about domestic violence and the importance of awareness so thank you I'm going to read this Proclamation uh whereas domestic violence is a pervasive issue that affects individuals in every Community regardless of age gender economic status race religion or nationality and whereas the impact of domestic violence is wide ranging direct directly affecting individuals and families and contributing to other social problems such as homelessness and physical and mental health issues and whereas Miami day county is committed to support victims and survivors of domestic violence through prevention efforts Supportive Services and Community Education and where as the Miami day County Domestic Violence oversight board the DV OB and the community action and Human Services Department's violence prevention and intervention division work tirelessly to provide resources advocate for survivors and raise awareness about the impact of domestic violence in our community and whereas the month of October is recognized nationally as domestic violence awareness month to honor and support victims survivors and participants and to raise awareness about the importance of preventing domestic violence Dating Violence and whereas the contributions of Advocates like yourselves service providers law enforcement and community members are vital in promoting safety healing and hope for those affected by domestic violence and now therefore I Vince log as the mayor of the city of cor Gables along with the members of my commission to hereby Proclaim October 2024 as domestic violence Awareness Month in the city beautiful thank you for being here so I look forward to hearing back from you uh in regards to my questions about how we can partner how how we can really engage and and offer the services that I think that people people will hopefully take advantage of thank you thank you thank you let's take a photo you okay okay just [Music] last 1 one two pleasure thank you thank you so much nice to meet you item A5 presentation or Proclamation declaring October 2024 as National Arts and Humanities month in Coral Gables good morning good morning mayor vice mayor Commissioners kathern cathers arts and culture coordinator for the city this morning we have gianina Bergos who is the vice chair for the cultural development board she will be speaking and presenting on this item good morning mayor vice mayor and the Commissioners October is National Arts and Humanities month and we're excited to honor it here in the City of Coral gaes on behalf of the cultural development board we thank the commission for understanding and supporting the vital role of cultural arts that it brings to the community and we hope that with this Proclamation the commission will continue to support the Arts through funding to bring these organizations to our city more specifically the Arts strengthens the economy it drives Revenue to local business it strengthens the mental health and well-being of the community it drives tourism to our community it improves academic performance for those who are participating in the Arts it Sparks creativity and Innovation and it improves Health nationally and here in Coral Gables this year's theme focuses on celebrating Arts within you to inspire active participation in fostering positive change to promote a vibrant and inclusive Society through the Arts we ask that Rafi Maldonado the principal managing director for sanctuary of the Arts come up to say a few words introduce a special dance to honor this occasion and accept the proclamation this morning on behalf of all Arts organizations that provide meaning meaningful cultural art experiences here in our city beautiful Mr vonado good morning good morning welcome I feel like I'm with friends here so you are last time you said that you weren't on our email list so I took every single one of you check your spam from that time um I wanted to start off with a whole bunch of thanks I wanted to thank you for actually recognizing this month uh for all of the cultural institutions that work here it clearly affirms that you understand the value of the Arts in the city and what an artist rich Community stands for yes there's a a tagline for sanctuary of the Arts which says great civilizations are recognized by the art and culture they leave behind and we hope that that will be a mantra for the city beautiful because we really are working really hard with this um wanted to thank you also I was here last time uh working with cultural Affairs about the budget it is so amazing what you guys have done supporting the cultural grants program we have grown from last year to this year more than 200% because there are more organizations now that can apply for the cultural Grant and have been here alhamra Orchestra was here last weekend they had three soldout concerts which means 900 people in the seat 400 parkings that they're paying for and dinners and all of that and I have to thank you for that because we have put a call out for everybody to apply to this grant so people are coming from everywhere it enriches us I want to thank the vice mayor for introducing the resolution for the Strategic plan to include a focus on arts and cultur and I want to extend that thank you to a unanimous vote of support from all of you which has been something that as I travel throughout cities right now we next weekend we Sanctuary is involved in producing with the national company of Mexico a new production over there I'm working with the American ambassador with the Brazilian and Mexican ambassadors and telling them what you're doing which is literally working with the artist and they're like we don't understand that model so we have some work to do um thanks to that resolution um in less than a week 15 organizations got together and we created what is now recognized as the Coral Gables Arts Alliance those uh are directors people who are at the leadership of the Arts organizations here who want to work with you who want to work with cultural Affairs and economic development to make sure that we have a strategic plan that meets the needs that are real you know um we continue to have now which will be our third and I will reach out to you which will be our third state-of-the-arts of Coral Gables it is the second Tuesday in December and it has become now a staple within the Arts Community uh every year new leaders of the Arts are drawn to it and it also has to do with the business side of how to support the Arts to the benefit of the business community so we're very aware of that and I know you're saying it's rafy he's going to talk a lot so I promise not to um one of the greatest Joys that we have is we have a professional Dance Training Program which is very very select we are now recognized as one of the top programs in the US and Europe Latin America we have a uh 100% placement rate of dance companies around the world and so dance is now a part of Coral Gables and it is our gift to you thanking you and all I want to say is that the show is going to look better on that side I don't know if you guys want to sit on that side but uh if we can cue the music we're ready to go I do I want to sit on that side okay good this is this will be the better show for me darling just Dive Right In Follow My Lead well I found a girl beautiful and sweet I never knew you were the someone waiting for me cuz we were just kid when we fell in love not knowing what it was I will not give you up this time darling just kiss me slow your heart is all I own and in your eyes your hold in mind baby Be Dancing in the Dark with you between my y bare fooot on the cross listening to our favorite song when you said you looked at mess I whispered underneath my breath but you Hur it darling you look perect perfect [Music] tonight well I found a woman stronger than anyone I know she shares my dreams I hope that someday I'll share her home I found a love to carry more than just my secret to carry love to carry children of our own we are still kids but we're so in love fighting against all us I know be all right it's time darling just hold my hand be my girl be your man I see my future in your eyes bab [Music] I I Found a Love [Music] [Music] so Ralphie um first off congratulations as always I remember four or five years ago when Mike Edson sat sat a lot of us down and had conversations over a cup of coffee about his vision um to bring a sanctuary to the city you know I've known Mike for a long time and he brought you and you delivered on that Vision so let me tell you it is a world- class facility I've attend many of your events uh my parents go to a lot of them and let me tell you it's like being in Broadway you know it's it's like being better than Broadway in the sense of I've attended recently um a plays in London and what you put together is on par with anything that's out there potentially even better and what you're offering these young children is something when I say young children young ladies and men uh is incredible it's incredible you put us on the map here in the city in regards to we were always on the map for culture but you took it to another level so I want to congratulate you on that well I I just want to say that our narrative always includes includes the support that we get from the city um our most recent now uh resident company Believe It or Not Sanctuary has five resident companies now Miami Children's Theater just left their facility in Pine Crest to be with us uh because of the hearsay and it's the buzzword uh we have 10 collaborating partners and we have about 70 presenters this year joining efforts with you and I heard partnership before uh you have the tree lighting December 6th to help even make a bigger Festival the Cleveland Orchestra will be performing December 5th we are going to attach it to December 6th and Ural Symphony for the first time will leave the beach to do their wallcast here so it'll be the way that we're going to start celebrating with the city working with the city to make sure that your events are triple uh whatever we can do to support so you're a big part of this so thank you so much for everything you do to support us thank you ra you're the best thank you can we take a quick photo if I may rafie I think you want the leadership that you have brought to our city the the leadership youve brought to our city when it comes to culture is incredible the alliance I know is something that was a brainchild of yours uh and it's a way to not just help culture and Coral Gables but to help other organizations that are struggling with the finances this year since everybody's finances were cut by by Tallahassee uh it's an opportunity that you have created uh to cross Market yourselves and ensure that everybody has the resources that they need uh and that's uh hats off to you for for doing that I had the privilege of coming out and touring the facility and uh what should have been 45 minutes we were there for a couple hours uh talking about all the ideas that you have and all the work that you've been doing around the world and trying to bring different uh cultural events from throughout you know the globe uh here to our City of Coral Gable and appreciate all the work that you're doing and that you're investing in our community as our cultural Zar I guess we could say well rafy's doing it right you know but many hands make light work right so he can do a ton but we need a lot everybody including the city to help push this forward and bring the Arts to what it needs to be here we're excited so I I forgot the the proclamation so commissioner would you read us the procam absolutely thank you by the way the performance was exceptional and um it just brightened my heart a little bit more by the way my wedding anniversary is coming up can I borrow them a little bit for of course whereas the nation's 110,000 nonprofit Arts organizations the National Endowment of for the Arts the National Endowment for the Humanities the Nationals 4,500 plus local Arts agencies and the Arts and Humanities councils of the 50 states and the six us jurisdictions have regularly issued official proclamations on an annual basis designating October as National Arts and Humanities month and whereas the Arts and Humanities embody much of the accumulated wisdom intellect and Imagination of humankind and whereas the Arts of humanities enhance and enrich the lives of every American and whereas the Arts and Humanities play a unique role in the lives of our families our communities and our country and and whereas cities and states through their local and State art agencies and representing thousands of cultural organizations have celebrated the value and importance of cultural of culture in the lives of Americans and the health of thriving communities during National Arts and Humanities month for several years and whereas the Arts and Cultural industry also strengthen our econ economy by generating one 151.50 billion in total economic activity annually 29 billion in government revenue and by supporting the full-time equivalent of 5 million jobs and whereas the Arts and Humanities are a vital part of the nation's economy and the creative economy drives tourism Commerce supports American workers makes 4.3% of the annual GDP and 1.1 trillion industry and it's long it keeps on it's because it's important very whereas pieces of creative economy legislation would further support the development of this important part of the economy the create act the creative Workforce in investment act the performance artistic tax parody Act and the create art act and whereas the City of Coral Gables and our culture development board recognizes the organization is below for the extraordinary participation of the Arts and Coral Gables including the 2024 to 2025 cultural Grant recipients actors's Playhouse Coral Gable cinematic Coral Gable's Museum Gable stage at the builtmore montgomary Botanical center L's art museum in the University of Miami sanctuary of the Arts Adrian Art Center afro Roots performing group the alhamra orchestra ARA images area Stage Company Arts Ballet Theater of Florida City Theater Community Arts program at cgcc qu quat Foundation the David Mary Albert Jewish Community Center friends of chamber music friends of Miami dat Public Library Greater Miami symphonic band mer festival Miami Center of architecture and and Design mainly Mozart Miami Children's Chorus Miami Jewish film festival Miami music project musical the Miami Symphony Orchestra the muri danoff foundation New World Symphony oh myami Peter London Global Dance Company rice K culture Productions South Florida chamber assemble emble South Florida symphony orchestra South Florida youth Symphony the dance now as assemble the last 100 the Miami Foundation as well as the Arts and Business Council of Miami books and books Coral Gable's Chamber of Commerce Coral Gable's chamber Coral Gable's Community Foundation Fairchild tropical Botanical Garden Miami International Film Festival Royal po sien District of Florida Federation of Music clubs and univer University of Miami Department of Art and art history and the frost School of Music now therefore I Vince slago as the mayor of the City of Coral Gables along with the members of the city commission to hereby Proclaim October 2024 as National arts and Humanity month in Coral Gables congratulations thank you thank you let's take a photo that was that was super long super long and Melissa it's no longer October thank you it felt like it [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] I have put them in the FR you can do that I didn't say hi very congratulations go back record thank you thank you too thank you Ser oh thank you always thank you very much was wonderful thank you item 86 congratulations to officer Peter Hernandez recipient of the city cor Gable's office for of the month for July 2024 Chief good morning sir good morning this is not the second dance troop I don't know if I oh my God come on up I love your B that's outstanding that it is the month of October bre cancer awareness and the stars that go with it and the Stars yes and I know some of our officers have the pink handcuffs I just didn't choose to wear those your your name badge should also be pink my what your name badge there one over here yeah I have to do I'll give a pink one of those I've got a few more years um today we like to recognize our officer of the month but also I want to take a chance uh you've heard over the last few months that me talk to you about the crime suppression team uh this is kind of the first time in front of this body that you've actually got a chance to meet the crime suppression team uh that have we put together and going to obviously expand because of the work that they have done with such success throughout our city on July 11th 2024 at about 5:20 in the afternoon officer Pete hernandz was uh looking for an individual as we put out be on the lookout flyers for from our detect detectives uh he observed the individual standing along the medi the intersection of alhamra circle and Salu Street uh the subject was actually riding a bicycle and had appeared would have a black T-shirt some sweatpants black sneakers he also noticed that he was carrying a public bag as he was leaving officer Hernandez then notified the rest of his team along with CST officer alate officer Hernandez as well and they started follow the individual which point he took off on Salo and began his R riding his bike uh in a Northerly Direction at from Novar and Salo with the assistance of the other officers on the team they were able to take the individual and detain him in the 200 block of Majora after he provided his full name and identification it was confirmed with the detectives that the individual was wanted in three additional cases within Coral Gables subject to his rights being read and the detectives responding the individual property that was on him was stolen from two different locations also in the Green pack in the green backpack revealed a pipe and some suspect uh narcotics which was later tested to be fentanyl the individual then later admitted and confessed after rights are said to the detectives of what he did and where he had stolen the individual's property was then documented it and return back to those at the sub at the public supermarket and the dgx dollar store here in The Gables it is crimes like these that we believe we have to inter we have to intercede on early on because they lead to bigger and better ones especially with the drug abuse that's going on by these individuals that are committing these crimes because of the Sergeant's nomination he feels it officer Hernandez should be recognized for the July officer of the month for his amazing work quick decisive action making the ability to combat crime and clear additional five cases because it was also wanted on a $10,000 warrant as well as drug possession because of these actions officer Peter Hernandez is your officer of the month for July [Applause] 2024 uh thank you uh city manager mayor uh vice mayor Commissioners um it's always a collective effort so uh all the credit goes to my team of the crime suppression team comprising of uh Sergeant Antonio alaman officer Christopher Hernandez officer melan aate and myself and officer Joshua DeLeon um I also want to recognize officer Bianca Torres she responded as well assisted with the investigation numerous pieces of property um and I also want to thank the chief the assistant chief and uh major Hoff for their continued support and commitment they provide us the tools resources and training needed to be efficient and effective so I just want to say thank you I appreciate it officer thank you for your efforts as always uh again your recognition today your team's recognition is is why we're blessed to have all of you representing the city cor Gables and the residents in the business community so thank you for your hard work going out of your way along with all the all the members who are here with us today and the members that are not here with us because we have people out on the street right now uh working uh issues here in the city working crimes and you know making sure that we prevent crime more importantly than anything so again thank you for your hard work it's it's a privilege to have you on the force thank you sir thank you sir appreciate it congratul ations thank you take a photo congratulations thank you [Music] [Music] ready thank you can I get a picture with the gentleman the [Music] offic I like that you [Music] [Music] Mr clerk moving on to approve of minutes B1 regular City commission meeting of September 10th may I have a motion move move it second damn choose which one you want to choose do matter all in favor I moving on to item B2 special assessment hearing September 12th I need a motion move it second all in favor I moving on to item B3 first budget hearing September 12 2024 I need a motion move it second all in favor I moving to item to B4 second and final budget hearing of September 24th 2024 I'll move it second all in favor I I thank you moving on to public comment first Speaker this morning Mr Mayor is Mrs Murray Cruz before we take that I just want to put on the record also we have the following items deferred item E6 F1 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 f8 and H3 thank you thank you sorry blind okay perfect thank you sorry good morning Mrs Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road this is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it not every day is sun and bright but every day we have we have an opportunity to make a difference in people's lives take advantage of that today Mr clerk Antonella Sano good morning good morning mayor and Commissioners I'm Antonella Sano I reside in 3121 Southwest 25th Terrace um today I just wanted to discuss my parking concerns specifically down Miracle Mile um I'm famili I just moved to Coral Gable so I'm not extremely familiar but what was your address again I'm sorry 3121 Southwest 25th Terrace okay um I'm familiar with the parallel parking down Miracle Mile and how um a majority of it is valet and the four parking garages that Center um Miracle Mile down like the median and I just just think I'm familiar with the fact that a lot of the times that I come down Miracle Mile it's a lot of the garages are either full or the parallel is valet for specific restaurants and it's kind of difficult especially if it's like for an appointment or stuff it's kind of difficult to find parking so a couple Solutions I just thought I could um present to you today are to implement smart parking um um so this could include technology that could allow for real-time parking availability apps that could help drivers um fine Open Spaces without having to drive around for you know a decent amount of time going in and out of garages um time limited parking which could introduce time limits in certain areas to ensure not only availability for Shoppers and visitors but also for turnover and lastly regular assessments um conducting periodic um evaluations regarding parking needs and adjustment strategies based on changing demand thank you missano I appreciate you being here taking time of your day to be here if if you'd indulge me I'd like to invite you to my office along with staff okay and we can get maybe the DCM to join us or the ACM to join us so we can talk a little bit about what we're doing in regards to parking okay uh we have a new parking director after a long time of having um Kevin Kenny as our parking director we also have Matt Anderson Who's involved for a long time and the parking so we can go over a little bit about what we're doing uh the vision in regards to the Future proposed parking in the city and you know again we always welcome new ideas and I think it's an opportunity especially to see it from a different lens a young professional like yourself who could potentially give us Insight in regards to you know what what is it that we are not that we're doing something wrong no what could we do to potentially enhance it yeah uh to make it more welcoming to people who want to visit our downtown cuz right now I'll tell you we have some of the cheap cheapest parking rates in Miami day County a lot of people get kind of confused we don't control we do issue parking tickets but we the parking monies go to Miami day County that money doesn't come to the city of C Gables entirely a portion of it does uh it's a much longer story for another day and I don't want to take up your time but I think it'd be an opportunity that you can catch up with not only myself but with staff and um other members of the commission if you're interested to to go over this yeah so I appreciate that thank you for being here Madam Vice May so um on when I was doing a tour with um our former parking director he may me aware of an app called Park me and I tried it before it wasn't working at that time the last time I tried it and I tried it again right now it is working and it does give you the rates I know there our future vision is to have Smart parking as well uh it's going to take some time to get it off the ground um I also hold my office hours on Friday so I'm on the opposite end of the hall if you want to stop by and say hello thank Youk so mrbr if you like you can come to my office when you step out you make a left we can make an appointment at your convenience and we'll we'll get staff there or you can stop by on Fridays during office hours it starts at 2:00 and it ends between 500 and 5:30 okay I just want to say in the short time you've been here great observations and great suggestions so if anything else you see in the City by all means uh obviously you pay attention and you're out for the best interest not only of the residents but of the city so thank you thank you and I appreciate that you took the time to not only come to us with a problem but with potential Solutions as well which I think is commendable thank you thank you very much Mr Mayor I have one speaker on Zoom Rafael seevilla Mr sevia the floor is yours can you hear us Mr sevia he is unmuted but does not seem to be speaking just give him five five minutes five seconds Mr Zia there he is again he's unmuted but well we'll close public comment um we're going to go on to consent agenda I know the the City attorney wanted to pull item D6 uh we'll come back to the gentleman uh if he's able to figure out the technical issues before the vote adopting the consent agenda uh is there anyone who wishes additional discussion or review of any other item on the consent agenda other than D6 not may I have a motion please I'll move it I'll second all in favor I thank you moving on to item D6 so D6 D6 is a resolution of the city commission authorizing a First Amendment to lease with bogy Grill LLC a Florida limited liability company for the city owned property 20001 Granada Boulevard Coral Gables Florida 33134 to amend the dates of possession rank commencement and to be open for business to the public establish in the lease um mayor and Commissioners there's one change that we're going to make um at the tenants request um the The Possession date was going to be changed to October 7th the tenant has asked that that be further amended to October 14th because she's not been able to bind Insurance given the storm um and I do ask that we in the resolution include some flexibility to the City attorney and city manager if we need to further amend that if she has further challenges binding insurance coverage I'll move it I'll second Mr clerk commissioner Castro yes yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor loo yes is a gentleman back on uh we can try one more time Mr Mayor and now we move on to ordinances and second reading Mr Mayor before we move on uh the fire chief would like to give us a update where we're at I'm just waiting for the gentleman to to the clerk to tell me one second uh Mr Savilla is unmuted but uh we can't seem to hear him all right so we we made the best effort that we could uh Chief please join us give us the latest news in regards to the storm and how the city is preparing thank you good morning Mr Mayor and Ladies and Gentlemen of the commission uh we attended the 8:30 national weather service advisory W uh webinar at this point uh hurricane Milton is a cat 4 hurricane moving East South East Northeast towards um the Southwest coast of Florida uh the cone is anywhere north of Fort Meers to Cedar Key which is right below the Big Bend and that seems to be the area of primary impact for the State of Florida uh we could begin to experience inclement weather today through Thursday some of the uh rain events that we've been experiencing uh through the weekend and uh today is really also part of a low pressure system that's unrelated to the hurricane but our weather uh will begin to deteriorate today and into Thursday morning we are currently under a tropical storm uh uh warning that means that we can experience tropical storm force uh winds within the next 36 hours uh the reason that we were placed on that is because the probability of us experiencing uh gusts and sustained periods of sustained tropical storm force winds has gone up to 20 to 40% as opposed to 23 or less that we were earlier in the forecast however uh our probability of experiencing the high-end tropical storm force winds and hurricane force winds is less than 3% so what we're going to see is uh periods of tropical storm force winds on the low end of the scale um em with our management staff have been meeting and providing briefings to all of you throughout the weekend um since then what the city has done is uh we've all departments are activating their storm Readiness plans uh the mayor signed a declaration that enabels the city for reimbursement If This Disaster or or we have effects of the storm um that reach a disaster point of view which is really not expected at this point uh we've established our Incident Management team which is all comprises of all our department heads as well as police and fire we continue to coordinate with OEM with Miami Dade uh attending the National Weather Service briefings uh we are continuing to do public protective messaging and we're going to increase that throughout the day today and into later days this week uh we're going to activate our EOC uh tomorrow probably in the late afternoon to a level two what a level two activation is is that we'll have uh representatives of all of our critical infrastructures so Public Works fire and police with some logistical support staff but it will not be a full activation of all team members as we would see during a hurricane uh specifically some of our Department's Finance is ready to open a project string to account for all expenses that are storm related Public Works is ready to start attending to other the flooding or a localized flooding that we may experience in our noted areas our tree contractors are in in coordination with us so that we have any tree events throughout the city as well as our debris management Partners in the event that they would be needed fire and police have enacted their their storm Readiness plans as well development services began yesterday to inspect all job sites make sure that they are storm readying their sites and emptying all debris containers or anything that could become uh scattered with high winds economic development is coordinating with the chamber to communicate to our business HR has been communicating to our department directors to keep all our employees informed uh parking has allowed for for those folks that live in low-lying areas or prone to flooding to park their vehicles at garage 4 with uh at no cost uh we're opening garage three for overflow if that becomes a higher number um fpnl representative is in contact with us and will be Staffing the ELC with us and I'd like to just point out that we're not going to experience the devast effects at the Southwest coast of Florida is uh we need to be cognizant of the storm and the effects that we're going to have specifically Wednesday and into Thursday morning but this is a good time for us to review our storm Readiness Plan um the best thing that I could tell you to do is for our residents to register to the everbridge messaging system that allows us to directly communicate emergency messaging to our residents you can register for that on our website we've placed a banner as soon as you uh log on to Coral gables.com or you can text Coral Gables to 888777 but um although we're going to monitor the storm and we should be vigilant of the effects that we're going to have uh the strongest message I think we should be sending out is that our folks need to be prepared that a hurricane season does not end until November and that they should log on to everbridge so that we can communicate with them specifically through all of their communication devices so mayor if there's nothing else that's that's my briefing thank you very much sir I appreciate it thank you thank you Chief uh Chief there was one resident who reached out about the um the 888777 wasn't allowing them to download wasn't taking them to the Coral Gables link when they entered Coral Gables it if you dial that number it'll take you straight to the everbridge website which is not the coral gables.com it's the specific website for that mass communication uh service that we have through the Florida Department of Emergency Management same if you go to the link on our website it's going to take you to the everbridge site got it thank you thank you very much I have to say our Public Works team has done a phenomenal job already um I submitted probably over 20 requests yesterday from residents on flooding and the trucks were out there um picking up cleaning up the the drains um they're doing an incredible job already so we appreciate their their work thank you Mr clerk moving on to item E1 E1 is in norance of the city commission amending the code of the City of Coral Gables Florida Chapter 2 entitled the administration article three boards commissions committees division one generally by amending section 252 qualification and appointment of members in order to offer members of City boards reduced Fitness membership fees at the Coral Gables war memorial Youth Center providing for repeated provision severability clause codification and providing for an effective date there have been no changes since first reading this is a public hearing item Mr clerk do you have any public comment no Mr Mayor I entertain a motion I'll move it I'll second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes moving on to E2 E2 is an ordinance of the city commission designating Patriot Day as an official City day of remembrance and amending chapter 1 General provision section 1-2 definitions and rules of construction of the city code to designate patri day as an official City Holiday providing for severability Clause repeal your provision codification and providing for an effective date there have been no changes since first reading this is a public hearing item Mr clerk do we have any public comment no Mr Mayor I entertain a motion I'll move it I'll second did we uh attach the resolution so that was there was a separate resolution that was adopted by the city commission when you all approved this on first reading that was urging Congress to do the same and so that um resolution was finalized with the draft of the ordinance is adopted on first reading okay clerk commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes E3 E3 is an norance of the city commission amending the code of the City of Coral gaes Florida Chapter 74 entitled traffic and vehicles Article 1 in general by amending section 74- one definition and article 3 stopping standing and parking division 2 parking meters and parking areas by amending section 74-84 signage and other requirements in order to comply with recent changes to Florida law governing Vehicles parking on private property Florida statute section 75.0 75 providing for repeated Provisions cability clause codification and providing for an effective date there have been no changes since first reading and this is a public hearing item Mr clerk no public speakers Mr Mayor perfect I'll move it second Pi one I'll move it vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor logo yes um E4 E7 mayor this is should we do um the the teamsters contract first H2 all right well let's do this maybe it'll take a little bit longer unless you think it's quick I think it should be quick it's it will be up to time start 10:30 and I want to I want to make sure I follow this should be should be in two minutes okay perfect unless there's a lot of questions from the commission want to7 the resolution has to be first the resolution ratifying the collective bargaining agreement H2 yeah correct okay H2 is a resolution of the city commission with attachments ratifying the collective bargaining agreement between the city of cor Gables and the Teamsters Local 769 affiliated with the International Brotherhood of teamers for the period of October 1 2024 through September 30th 2027 so good morning again mayor Commissioners I'm very pleased to report that we have reached a tentative agreement with the teamsters it's a three-year agreement from 2024 to 2027 the union ratified it on last Thursday so it is now before you for ratification um the agreement contains important Provisions including you know competitive salary adjustments that reflects the contributions of of our employees retirement improvements that bolster the retirement benefits of our employees ensuring long-term Financial benefits or security and other enhancements that address um other needs that were identified during negotiations uh we believe that this agreement represents a fair and balanced approach that aligns with both the needs of the employees and the operational goals of the city um and so um we are recommending that it be ratified by the city commission I do believe that David Rena which is its Teamsters business agent would like to say a few words I think he is via Zoom yes okay Mr Rena good morning good morning can you hear me yes sir thank you uh for allowing me to participate uh via Zoom I'm currently in the disaster relief Logistics uh that hindered me to be there wanted to uh say good morning to all and mayor vice mayor uh Commissioners and residents and uh wanted to piggyback off of what was recently said the union Teamsters Local 769 on behalf of the general employees have recently ratified um an agreement and with that agreement that allows us to move forward and let's move forward in the right direction continue to ongoing communication and ongoing support of the general employees and something I learned a long time ago is you know we really start preparing for the next negotiation session you know right after the the collective bargaining agreement is ratified so uh we look forward to a continued partnership through this duration thank you for all involved and we'd ask for your support not only on the ratification that's in front of you but the pension ordinance as well thank you thank you very much Mel do you have anything else you like to add no Mr cler do you have any public comment no Mr Mayor all right so we'll close the public comment I'd like to briefly just say thank you to Raquel thank you to Mr Rena for working collaboratively together on on coming together with an agreement again this is a long time coming and it's a great thing you know that that uh we finally are are able to address some of our employees that have have been in serious need for such a long time so absolutely thank you for your hard work on that excellent work and I'd be happy to move it forward nothing yeah nothing could make me happier than sitting here right now hearing this thank you so much for all your hard work we're all happy I know this has been a a lab of Love um and I thank Raquel the manager and the entire team for all the the work and the hours that have been put in as well as the folks on on the teamster side I know that there were um a lot of questions going back and forth and issues getting to the end but we got to the Finish Line I think both why both sides worked very collegially together on finding resolutions and this is a contract that that put some of our hardest workers in our city uh in a much better place going forward so thank you I agree I think just it's a win-win across the board so thank you all for the great work thank you for your support I'm very happy thank you so we have a motion in a second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor L yes moving on to item E7 e7's an ordinance of the city commission amending chapter 46 of the code of the city of cor Gables and pensions implementing provisions of the 2024 to 27 Collective Bing agreement between the city and Teamsters Local Union 769 amending sections 4626 compulsory participation section 46-27 purchase of credited service section 46-29 City contributions section 46-34 employee contribution section 46- 253 normal retirement income and section 46- 269 deferred retirement option plan and providing for severability Clause repeal your provision codification and providing for an effective date this is is a public hearing item Mr cler do you have any public comment no Mr Mayor all right thank you just if I may mayor so this this ordinance obviously implements the retirement changes that were um just recently ratified in the collective bargaining agreement and it does so for both the employees represented by the teamsters and also the similar changes for the uh General employees as well p a motion I'll move it second second Mr commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro absolutely yes mayor logo yes thank you um I'll take a 5 minute break when we come back we'll deal with eight which is a Time start 10:30 E4 E5 and E8 thank you very much told e e e e [Music] [Music] for e for for e [Music] for which are all related in time certain for 10:30 a.m. um good morning E4 is in ordinance of the city commission amending the future land use map of the city of cor Gable's comprehensive plan pursuant to zoning code article 14 process section 14- 213 comprehensive plan text and map amendments and small scale Amendment procedures from commercial mid-rise intensity to commercial high-rise intensity for Lots 1 through n and from single family high density to commercial lowrise intensity for Lots 17- 21 Block 14 cores Craft section Cor Florida including required conditions providing for repar Provisions cability clause and providing for an effective date E5 is an ordinance of the city commission making zoning District boundary changes pursuant to zoning code article 14 process section 14-22 zoning code text and map amendments are mixed use two District to mix use 3 district for Lots 1-9 and from single family residential district to mix use one district for Lots 17- 21 Block 14 cor Gables Craft section cor Gables Florida including required conditions providing forar Provisions cability clause and providing for an effective date E8 is a resolution of the city commission approving a mix use site plan and encroachments pursuing to zoning code article 14 process section 14203 conditional uses for a proposed miuse project including live work units referred to as 130 Al Mar on the property legally described as Lots 1-9 17- 21 and 39-42 Block 14 Coral Gables Craft section Coral Gables Florida including required conditions providing for repear provision severability clause and providing for an effective date we will consolidate for purposes of the public hearing hearing and this involves qual judicial items so we ask the clerk to please wear in anyone who will be testifying today those who will be testifying on this item please stand and raise your right hand do you swear affirm that the testimony you'll provide today will be the truth and nothing but the truth thank you good morning sir good morning uh good morning Mr Mayor Commissioners it's a pleasure to be back before you I want to thank everybody again for their support on uh first reading to allow us to be here on second reading to hopefully obtain approval of this project one that we have worked very closely with the community on over the last several months um this commission gave us a directive to address certain items that you wanted us to uh make sure that we uh had addressed and um had updated for this meeting and I'm happy to report that I believe we've addressed all of those I'd like to just quickly go through them uh to make sure we captured them all uh one of the items was that the commission wanted to make sure that this park would be dedicated to the city uh so we have updated the conditions of approval in the uh current staff uh recommendation report to require obviously that the applicant will develop this park space and upon its completion dedicated to the city as a public park and that has been updated uh in your staff report uh we have also worked diligently with uh the neighbors and our architect to reduce the unit count on this building um happy to say this morning that the unit count has been reduced down to 118 units so we're below the 120 that we had committed to drop below um we also and I'd be happy to show you I know that the commission wanted us to enhance the ground level materials that we had on this project so we have an updated material board that I'd be happy to show you but essentially it's pavers along the sidewalk area and also Natural Stone is now being incorporated into the facade of these uh of these elevations along the public Realm we also um in response to some comments that were made by some of uh the residents who came and spoke in favor of the project regarding short-term rentals we now have a condition that will be incorporated into our covenant that prohibits uh short-term rentals on the property so there'll be no short-term rentals um I think one of the aspects that we addressed last time was the building on ponds that this project will preserve and it's going to preserve it by a essentially removing all the F and density out of that property so there'll be no economic viability to redevelop it but we've also further added a condition as part of the staff report that will be put in our covenant which ties any future development or any building that's rebuilt on that property to the elevations of the 2701 ponds building so now we have an additional layer of protection uh and that is one of your conditions now in the staff report that we will put in our covenant um regarding uh the EVS parking requirement I know that uh currently under state law it's no longer required but we are committed to providing it that is also a staff condition uh we're starting off with 10 spaces but we're going to have the capability to have the infrastructure in place to increase that and then uh lastly was in addition to the new materials that we have at the ground level we've also added a condition as requested to make additional improvements on the streetcape along Alia to make it more pedest friendly and try to ad add additional trees to it which was both sides of the street yes correct thank you we're feasible and one thing is that you know we want to make sure the parking on that street is so critical so we do want to beautify it but we also want to be sensitive of the businesses that are in support of our project across the street one thing that they've always mentioned to us even during our future construction is staging and things of that nature not to impact those spaces so the conditions there and we will work with your public works department to hopefully work with the community on where the ball pouts are located well yeah our uh landscape architect is amazing and she can find something that can fit in some pretty tight spaces one of the things that I wanted to make sure I put on the record we are happy to make these improvements obviously they're costly but one thing that we've done on other projects is when we put the bulb out there is uh technically a provision in your code that if you lose a space you have to pay for the space but um in this case case since we're essentially removing the spaces to have bul outs on the other side of the street that are not impacted by our project we'd want to make sure that that additional fee doesn't uh apply if we lose a parking space as a result of the required streetcape improvements I know that uh our beautiful landscape architect can uh find something that's narrow that can fit even within the sidewalk area so we've done it before where currently the way they're designed there may be n and then some of them you move them around and you still end up at nine but I just wanted to last time we had a project where we didn't clarify that so so the point kind of prevented us from doing it so the point was sometimes you don't need a ball outout so again work with our landscape architect to see you might need need a ball out for one and in between you can put in something smaller that can be cut into the sidewalk we will um definitely explore that I think all options are on the table um but just if a parking space is impacted we would just like to clarify that what do you need from us just to make sure that I would because we are require we're asking for it and if the result is to move the parking space it's because of the request correct so what do you need something from us when we go to vote on this yes I think if we could update the conditions of approval where it talks about the um the offsite public realm improvements just to clarify that as part of the work that we're doing along gallano um and aliria and the bulb outs that we're proposing along aliria if there is impact to public parking that the uh parking fee would not apply that's a reasonable request but I would say on the opposite side of the road not the ones that were the ones that impct those are those are us commissioner yeah this is the opposite side of the we discussing I'm good with that just want to make sure the language is clear good clar ification um and then lastly uh we have committed to work with the city to underground the utilities along the alley uh which is a complicated process but we have committed to work with the city and FPL a lot of things are outside our control uh one of the things that we have um started to look at is that there are several Power Poes along seevilla where we may need to put some of the infrastructure I'm not saying this is a massive structure but some of the facilities within the park space to be able to underground those those lines serve some of the residential across the street some of the commercial uh as well as uh one of the abing properties so what we would like to do is with respect to the current condition of undergrounding utilities to have the ability if FPL says it's required to come back to the city commission to be able to locate potentially a Transformer or something within the public park that will be have a question because the last design I saw what was available for for the park obviously an active park with equipment for the kids and then the other side either passive or pickle ball if it is a passive Park personally I rather if if it's required fpnl i' rather have it in an area away from the playground equipment so if there's a passive Park area for example I'd much rather have that there and as far as away as possible from the kids yeah no I think that's a great idea I think our idea would be to obviously try to uh locate it uh and if we have to move you know right now we have the kids park in a north south Direction but if it has to be an East West location we could uh one of the things that's in our conditions is that we're going to work with uh the city and the city Commission on the ultimate design of the park so at that point we could figure out by the the reason I tell you is from experience a couple years ago there was a um my son was at a soccer practice outside of Coral Gables at a park and had rained and I guess one of the light poles wasn't grounded something happened and when he approached he got a shock wow and uh thank God it was a minimal shock but I immediately we called at that point it was the city of Miami and they had it shut it down and there was puddled to water uh you know kids you know you all understand but that's from my experience um as far as way as we can from the W any the activity with children would be the best Mr Naro I just want this is one my only comments for the for the for the project you and I have worked along with the applicant for over two years to deliver on this park MH I've mentioned it many many times this is a critically important component of what I believe is going to redefine how our downtown looks this is one of five new projects parks that are coming to the downtown and I think it's the first recreational park in downtown so my my opinion is and after speaking to the residents in the neighborhood um again if you want to make it half passive half active it's perfectly fine but I want to be very careful very careful about the usage that we use in that park because again across the street is a residential community so there's a lot of noise there's a lot of people coming in to the facility it's a little bit different than then and you have actual parking capabilities there you have on street parking where people can come in it's not like just a neighborhood park so we have to be give it a lot of thought when it's being programmed with staff to make sure that it's something that again is conducive to the neighborhood because I had I got a few phone calls not a few a handful of calls from residents and they told me look we're all excited about the park I think it's a great idea we love the project we're in favor of the project we have no issues with the project uh we like what you know that that the applicant has collaborated has collaborated extensively with with us along with the architect their only concern was the active portion of the park I know it's going to be something we're going to program later and I think that this type of this is why we worked on it for over two years to make sure that you could have redeveloped that piece of property and I I'm so grateful that you didn't that you heated you know our advice working together on this just like the other project across from nordr which I think was critically important also to leave a green space there along with the one we're doing in Publix and we can keep talking about our downtown I think is going to be transformational for our community I just want to make sure that we build a park that elevates the quality of life of the neighborhood not becomes with all due respect a nuisance in any form um because this is going to be a major investment that we're not undertaking that you're undertaking because you're going to be programming this park no and and and uh and to that point I mean you know in our minds this is a community park uh obviously working with you and the community on uh you know the concept of a park there that was very well received by the residents and most of what they have said is I think uh to commissioner men his point is a kids park the neighborhood needs that there um what the other component is I know that we did meet with your Parks Advisory Board and they did like the passive uh Children's Park component but one thing that we have built into this uh it being a community park and for the residents is that we will do some sort sort of community meetings to get a final decision as to what goes in there uh and then bring it back for your consideration and that's what they talked about when you when you really uh one of the main things to said obviously we're going to have Community meetings but one of the things they liked was for example the small Park field that they had ad Jason to the Vicky Bakery project yeah where the large Oaks were were moved um you know giving instant shade which is something that again those those are specimen trees that are just spectacular so again a developer there you know really you know collaborated with the city cooperated with the city on that front I think it was something that again was is going to be very beneficial for the city as a whole so I I think that when you look at this piece of property I think there's we really don't understand how how incredible this piece of property is going to be especially for the downtown and for the business Community obviously for the residential Community it's important but for the ability to have a true open space that is accessible and you don't have to cross for example ponds to get there it's about a lot more inviting I think it's going to be something special in the downtown yeah well um I think the key to this is the size of the park too where we could multi-purpose that Park to serve different functions um and that's what's pretty exciting is that usually a park has to be for one thing I think here we have enough space to uh make it a full and and in in that area we have obviously Pon Circle Park and it's activated and it's going to be even more activated down the road and I know they plans to renovate the entire park and that's really I think a lot of adult events so this is the perfect compliment to Pon Circle Park to have something dedicated to kids and you know I think they kind of flow together because you have the event program park within you know something that we have a lot of young families that we all know have moved into the Gable starting their family so timing for this is fantastic so I'll just uh follow up I mean you have a big Advantage here as far as um you know if you need to locate uh an fpn Al um Transformer box and that is you have an alley on on this block and that's what fpnl wants is they want to have ready access to it so it could be placed up against the alley so uh just want to make sure you have the flexibility to come back to us to get the approvals that you need and of course the balloting process to make sure that the uh residents that live closest to that Park have the have the uh the strongest voice and what's going to be across the street from them that they can walk to Fantastic project I think this is going to be an amenity to the area and an improvement to the walkability of the area as well so thank you are you done anything else um just I had one more condition um one of our uh we've been very close with our neighbors on the other side of the alley um they have asked for us to put a condition in our construction staging just saying that we're going to have in the afternoons a dedicated Personnel to uh sweep and clean the alleys and uh make sure that the parking is is not blockaded is not blocked during during uh non-construction hours so um I just wanted to put that into the record and we'll work with your City attorney and staff to put that in there thank you oh it's part of the code as a matter of fact already in regards to the cleaniness of the job sites okay perfect thank you how are you hi good morninga F and zon director um so I think the applicant did a good job of going through all the changes they're on page two for your information on your cover memo um just to clarify for the parking across the street we did Analyze This beginning of the year actually um we we identified two spaces on North side that would not impact parking due to the amount of curb cuts the existing parking lot has on the South Side so the whole block shouldn't lose any kind of parking with the additional uh two bump outs on the North side um and then the completion of the park would be substantially complete before TCO temporary um certific of occupancy and then fully complete and convey to the city prior to uh the co that's it thank you Mr clerk do we have any public comment no Mr Mayor I'll close the public comment um unless there's anything else I'll move it um I I just wanted to thank you for all the efforts that uh the developer has put in uh to making sure that the community had all of their concerns addressed um countless hours in meetings and making concessions and bringing us to a point where we're not going to have three Mega buildings in this block we're down to one building with a reduced height with improved uh quality of products uh in this building a reduction in the number of uh units that you could have uh put into this building so I appreciate all of that um I Echo the comments of the mayor I think the uh the park needs to be something that the community decides on what they want I know we have a need for pickle ball courts but that may not be the best place to put pickle ball courts um one of the things the mayor said actually brought uh something to mind if the residents in the area are concerned with the noise level from the park maybe inverting the location of the passive area of the park with the children's play area and it's actually going to be more protected from the street correct so that's something to consider as well um I have no issues with the Transformer I know that FPL would like it closer to the alley but it's not a very wide alley that you'd be able to take up a lot of space with a Transformer there um so I can see the need to to put it in in Park um I appreciate all the the concessions that have been made I know that there was an issue with the cleanliness of the alley during construction I know that's an issue that we have with many of our projects so I appreciate uh you working through that my only ask is a lot of these concessions let's just make sure they get done y just make sure I put it on the record the multiple residents that I spoke with and that I visited with as I walk the neighborhood their concern was is a very simple one it wasn't the noise of the park it was the issue of of a certain use in the park which I don't want to mention because at the end then I get stated that I'm in opposition of that use so I have to be very careful what I say on the commission floor cuz later it's it's used against me which I am by the way for the record where's the camera I am 100% in favor of pickle ball God willing we have many many many pickle ball courts uh in the City of Coral Gables I'm excited I'm actually playing my first pickle ball tournament uh with Ronda it's going to be something spectacular uh but I think that at the end of the day at the end of the day the residents here have a concern about a certain noise no and that could be certain noise I'm not saying it's that use I'm not saying it's that use because that could get me in trouble and I want to be very careful but maybe you're saying that or maybe somebody else on the commission is saying that I said it I have no problem agreeing that I I didn't say I won't say that because you know I won't say that because and then they say it was me so at the end of the day well if we both say it nobody will say I won't trust me nobody will attack either of us I promise I promise you commissioner uh I will not even uh the last thing I need is the blogs all over me so the point is which is a occurrence so my point is my point is that um remember this remember this this is an opportunity for once in a lifetime our downtown will potentially never have the opportunity to have a 15,000 ft lot that's why you and I work so hard on this just like Publix 20,000 ft these are forever forever opportunities that will only raise property values and the quality of life in the city so when you look at for example what what the vice mayor did in reference to that Park that you were involved in uh with with your client the ability to move those trees there is transformational for the for the neighborhood that neighborhood had very limited large specimen trees and the few were in areas that if that area is redeveloped it's going to be very hard to keep them there a beautiful oak tree that's in the middle of a sidewalk that's going to be very very difficult to keep closer to Lun M uh these these trees are in the middle of this park now and it's going to be something just to Marvel at in the future as you drive by and as people in the neighborhood enjoy enjoy those trees so I just want to I want to make sure again what we talked about and just make sure that the residents have have the last the last shake at this because they they're concerned about it's you know nice to have one very nice park function right rather than dividing up the park into so many different uses that one suffers you know so yeah you have a beautiful large Children's Park that you know look Salvador is a perfect example of how you can really blend the two together you have children's mixed with uh passive areas um and they're all combined together it's not like you have to have two separate areas you could really combine the two and and make it something really nice where the parents and the kids can be in the same area enjoying their their space if you like if You' like to see an example if You' like to see an example I use the park all the time the blue Road open space it's the perfect example of a children's park for smaller children I know speak and it has an area where they can ride their bikes M has beautiful specimen trees actually fruit trees that provide great shade and those were two lots that were combined that we purchased on alhamra and adjacent to Blue Road and they're beautiful those are basically almost the same size of this lot those are a little bit bigger it's probably about 20,000 ft but you're talking about this lot is almost the same magnitude of that it's those are special lots that are very very hard to find so I'm going to add to your celebration CU um your client down in the industrial area for that particular park has agreed to move two large pigeon plums that are existing on the site and these are magnificent trees these are large specimen trees as well it's that type of commitment that's going to make our city Shrine so again thank you for working with us and yes and you know we're committed to uh working with uh your City Landscaping Department to identify trees within the surface parking lot uh in the AL Maria side to see which ones could potentially be transplanted by the way George while I know you're committed there's a massive cost associated with that i' like to put that on the record because you don't have to do that and you he the advice on this case obviously is the vice mayor same as your previous other client and you attemp time to do everything you possibly can you know to leave these type of you know examples in our city so you're setting the example for every other developer and you've had multiple clients who have done it and I want to commend you on that so thank you George um to what commissioner Fernandez said about U the safety of the playground closer to the corner having as I mentioned before lived at that site for 14 years that's where I lived when there were houses there um that I remember now going in the way back machine uh every once in a while that intersection there were accidents and cars would actually drive into the house that was in the corner so I point of reference if you could flip the children's playground equipment away from the corner just because as a child or growing up I remember hey how interesting Do's a car yeah my neighbor's lawn definitely we can definitely I think that's a that's a great piece of advice and the other thing and again um it's already been mentioned and I'm saying it because it's not about you it's about anybody else listening that has projects in the pipeline it's so appreciated so much appreciated that you all engage residents that live especially in the mediate area and it's not window dressing it's real conversations real discussions discuss issu issues and find Solutions solutions that work for everybody I'm saying it because you have your team have has done it but I want anyone else listening that has a project in the future go this is the path forward this is the way it always should be and at least from my perspective I'm sure with my colleagues it's the way it will be as long as we're here so thank you for doing your part thank you and to that point I just want to uh mention that we are going to continue our dialogue with the community especially those that are within that five block radius and and keep uh open line of communication and this dialogue going throughout the extent of this project thank you I'll entertain a motion move it so we that'll be for E4 yes yes ear I had a motion from commissioner Menendez I'm sorry who second it I guess I'll speak okay commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes mayor logo yes moving on to item E5 I'll move it second vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendes yes mayor L yes moving on to E8 I'll move it I'll second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor logo yes thank you very much thank you all just on behalf of my client and our entire team thank uh thank you for your support and also for the Neighbors who have spent so many months working with us thank you all thank you Mr Naro thank you Mr bear uh we have item our next item is time certain for 12: E9 so we'll take a break till then and we'll come back and hear E9 thank you very much e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e yeah e all right all right so welcome back to the Tuesday October 8th 2024 City Hall Commission meeting we have two items remaining on the docket uh the next one is a Time certain agenda item E9 Madam City attorney E9 is a resolution of the city commission approving mix use site plan and conditional use review pursuing to zoning code article 14 process section 14-23 conditional uses for proposed mixed use project referred to a 33 all hammer on the property legally described as all block 15 Coral Gables Section 1 Coral Gables Florida including required conditions providing for repeated provision severability clause and providing for an effective date this is a quasi judicial hearing item so I ask the clerk to please swear in anyone who will be testifying today those who will be appearing before this item please stand and raise your right hand do you swear or affirm the testimonial provide today will be the truth and nothing but the truth thank you Mr Mar how are you everything good thank you good after afternoon good afternoon good good afternoon Mr Mayor and Commissioners Mario Garcia SRA with offices at 600 Brickle Avenue here representing 33 alhamra propco the owner and developer of the 33 alhamra project I'm joined today by Mr hores SEO of mg developer and also accompanied by our project Architects The Glenn Pratt and David Fuentes of bellan Pratt and Fuentes architects who will soon present the project to you however first let me familiarize everyone with the site and also tell you what has changed from the project which we proposed a year ago on this same property and if Carl Gable Stevie could bring up the presentation please there we go and go to the next slide so here is the project site outlined in red it's boarded by Alhambra Circle on the Southeast Minorca Avenue on the Southwest gallano on the west and navari on the North the site is a little over an acre in size it's entire city block and it is zoned MX2 the project which we proposed last year uh was proposing a rezoning of the property to MX3 or in the alternative a code amendment to allow for a taller height that project generated controversy and some opposition so we withdrew it and went back to the drawing board and redesigned the project so that it complies 100% with the sites exist existing MX2 zoning this project does not require any change in zoning or variances it is completely based on what the zoning code presently allows and is even less dense than what is presently permitted we now have a 78 unit and 8-story condominium building plus a penthouse with retail uses on the ground floor and office uses on the second floor this slide here entitled highlights of the 33 alhamra projects list what we think are the highlights of the project and we'll go through it briefly as already mentioned it complies 100% with the existing zoning it's only using approximately half of the allowed density the allowed density on this site would be somewhere around 140 units and we have proposed 78 units and more than double the required open space 4877 s ft of open space is provided while 1,3 excuse me four there's the typle there isn't there yeah uh We've expanded the landscape areas on the uh ground level and we also have an overall Mass reduction in a 10-ft step back around the entire building uh there's been a significant reduction in height uh from the previously proposed project previously it was 12 stories it's now been reduced to eight and of that height that is at the 97t height uh Mark only about 25% of the building is actually at that height the rest of the building is at a lower height than the maximum height of 97 fet we've enhanced pedestrian access and pedestrian experiences and there is a historic structure at 42 navari which we are proposing to preserve and adaptively reuse so with that said I'll ask Glenn and David to briefly go through the uh architectural plans and elevations all right uh thank you Mario Glenn Pratt Bellon Pratt and fent Architects 301 eliria sweet 210 Coral Gables and David FES uh this is will take you quick quickly around the project I know that everyone's uh kind of pressed for time but this is the front elevation of the building U as seen from alhamra uh you see that the pedestal um is the three stories uh we have on the ground level uh is is all commercial space on the second level uh we have a liner space that conceals the parking garage uh from views on on both navari and uh and and Minorca as well as alhamra to create a lot of um animation on the the second level the third level is the parking uh and the ground level is again going back is is retail the fourth level starts the units and uh there's some as we take you around the building you'll see there's large Terraces that open up uh from the units uh that that those uh fourth level units have very large Terraces as as well as on the uh west side of the building um we have uh other amenity spaces and and amenity Terraces uh this is an elevated view from uh looking from alhamra uh We've concealed all of the mechanical equipment in a parit area on within the roof uh so that no mechanical equipment is is seen uh from the street or from uh from any of the units um there's other the the there's two large units on the roof that um uh will be the premier units of the building uh they they're the penthouse units the other remaining space on the on the roof uh is the amenity space and and you'll see as we uh go around the building uh on the front elevation um there's the large uh Terraces that are on the North side for the unit and on the and on the south side for the the South unit uh and then there's a large space that divides The Two Towers uh where we're proposing to have a pickle ball court that would be utilized on the roof uh we we put it on the roof to try and keep the noise and and uh um the associated um noise levels from from the adjacent neighbors that are lower buildings uh This Is A View From the from alhamra and navari uh that gives you a view of the the facade and as it wraps around uh because the building is a full block we felt that every elevation is a is a primary elevation and so we've uh given each elevation essentially a treated it as a front elevation we'll go to the next Slide the uh you'll see that U one of the things that we we really wanted to do was to Anchor the building and and in each of the four corners of the building we have this feature that goes from the roof line uh down to the to the to the fan level uh with a flare at the bottom uh so that it creates the the volume that all of the other pieces clip into um you see also the in this next slide you see the the liner unit uh with the office space that's at the second level uh that wraps around the Vari and so that and then the third level is is the parking level with with minimal uh openings that will be a mechanically ated garage um with no fans on the outside that all of the fans will be uh contained within the parking level so that uh you don't get the associated noise uh this uh navari elevation from above um you see the the little historic building uh one of the things that that we always appreciated about this project is is that structure it's a very unique little building and and just really a gym um it's it's like somebody walked out the door in 1929 it's it's untouched and it has a lot of really beautiful features that we took quite a bit of inspiration actually from that that little historic building um and some of the features that we implemented into our structure uh one of the things that we also felt was that uh it was very important to leave it enough breathing room so we've created an open space the landscape area that is to the the north and west um so so that it doesn't feel like really squeezed in um one of the other things too that and you'll see from this elevation uh is that we intend to make a green wall that will be uh lining the parking garage uh behind it so that essentially the the green wall will will create a really nice green background and and uh to just green out and so that the building has a much more prominent feel to it uh from this elevation you also see the the the large open Terraces that we have on the amenity level on the fourth level uh and then from the previous project uh when it was a taller Tower we had enough room to put the pool and some of the amenities down on on that uh pedestal level uh in this version uh to get it to with within the 97 ft uh we've moved uh the amenity things up to the roof and so that the pool and and the open Terraces for outdoor barbecuing and and meeting and and uh some other Associated Spa spaces and and so forth for the building will occur on the roof level um and we feel that that you know it'll be really a incredible view from up in that from that eighth level um this is a view from navari and uh navari and and gallano uh you see the open Park and the openness of the that's given to the the historic building um we can go to the next slide this is a view from gallano that you see the the the landscape Terraces that uh that open up on the we do have some amenities the spas and and massage and all of that that will occur on the on that fourth level in the center and that large Terrace opens uh really opens up for the amenities that do occur on that for floor um and as you can see also this is the only elevation that where the parking garage is exposed on on the two levels that are above the retail we go to the next slide uh one of the things that we felt though that was very important for the retail is that all of the the base and the the pedestal level U be very activated and and have a lot of movement and and a lot of um and so that the arcade that we've created completely wraps around the building you'll see that in the site plan uh this is a view from uh from monca looking and alhamra looking back at the building in the front of the building um and again as as I was saying all four corners of the the main building um have this expressed uh detail and again this we're back to the front elevation of the building uh this is the the site plan that we're uh seeking approval for uh the site plan consists of of an arcade that totally wraps around the building uh with the exception of the historic building and and the garage parking entrance uh we also have a poo that that runs through the building that connects the alhamra and gallano streets um we also have uh the retail that that we're we shown that that you know there at this point we're not certain as to um what the division of those spaces would be whether they would be we've had uh several uh discussions that they would be potentially either a large restaurant or or we could also subdivide them into smaller spaces that uh that would be um smaller retail tenants the the just a quick we have a the separate core is set up so that the access to the um to the office space that's on the second level that makes the second level liner for the garage uh is access from from the garage as a separate gar a separate elevator uh system and that from the residential component we'll go to the next slide this is the second floor that uh contains some parking and and you see the the office space that wraps the the the alhamra and navari and and Minorca uh this is the third level that is all parking this is the fourth level that has some of the amenities that open out onto the amenity dech and then the other uh remaining space is is given to the units themselves this is the typical floor level that uh has the the condominium units this is the roof level that has the two uh premier units on the penthouse as well as also the the open uh Terraces on each of the on ends of that and then also the uh parking I mean excuse me the pool and and uh and the other Associated amenity things and it also you see the the pickle ball court on the uh on the east side of the of the open court this is a roof plan that just shows the the the containing um the containment of the all of the mechanic equipment uh this is just a quick elevation that shows the use of the materials that we're proposing with the with nice light fixtures Barrel tile roofing uh different textures of Stucco uh natural stone for um on the ground plane and we're using a pre-cast Stone on the on the upper molding levels we're using RW iron and and and rails um and specialized uh railing for the handrails uh this is just a quick section that shows you how the the building steps pack for the uh to meet the code and comply with with the code uh and that's this is just the last View and the end of the presentation thank you very much Glenn and uh David Mr Mayor and Commissioners this project has been well received by the city boards that previously reviewed it most recently Planning and Zoning Board which recommended approval unanimously 6 to0 staff is also recommending approval uh in response to certain neighborhood input we are also proposing to further buffer the pickle ball court on the amenity Deck with landscaping and uh at the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board we are also in agreement with prohibiting any use of the pickle ball cord after Sunset I think there's probably going to be some additional comment uh from from Neighbors regarding the pickleball court and we're ready to discuss that to try to figure out ways for this to work uh and there's a couple other conditions of approval which we would like to talk to you about incorporating sort of feasibility viability language in there sort of similar to a discussion you had underground utilities on the last project and that's just making sure that some of these conditions of approval such as the underground utilities one streetscape Improvement in particular and the tree relocation pickle ball court can be done and done well so I'll let staff do their presentation now and we'll hear from the public and if I could just have a few minutes of B to try to address anything that comes up thank you very much good afternoon Jennifer Garcia uh Pony's own director I could have the PowerPoint please just one second I know they got this morning thank you appreciate it all right so as we know the location of this property is bounded by uh four streets navare hmer Circle Minorca and gallano and it composes the entire block it surrounded um mostly by um residential buildings the north east and south um it's on the edge of the CBD district um it's AB budding the North Pond Conservation District so it's kind of a transition property uh between the CBD uh denser downtown area and the north ponds the north uh City conditions right now are multif family buildings as you know the property was rezoned about 7 years ago and so the property right now is being used as multif family with multiple uh buildings on site uh in this image you can see that there um you can see the downtown uh taller buildings that are on the left side closer to the heart of downtown and up to the to the right side is our our North Pond Conservation District so the mixed use site plans proposed today includes uh the Adaptive reuse of the historic building on nvar a small uh dogs Park um just uh adjacent to to that historic building uh particular entry and exit is off of navari um ground floor commercial Flex space along a homra and also along gallano as well um AO cuts through the middle of the building and then a a small uh 2900t open space uh Park Plaza space on the north side of the property so um they are well over the open space requirement which is 10% they're providing a little over 20% um their density is actually 70 70 units per acre um with you know within a CBD which is elemented density uh the height is 97 ft um eight stories plus a pen house um the f is 3.5 they're right at the maximum uh they meet the setbacks they meet the Upper Floor stepback requirements providing 146 parking spaces and 22 bicycle parking spaces as this a view looking south of the proposed building you can see the corner Park Plaza in the bottom uh right of the image there's adaptive reuse of historic building that's facing navare uh the ground floor commercial Flex space that turns the corner along Hal Hamra um office space on the second floor that wraps the parking and and then the residential units that are above um the office space so DRC reviewed the project in May of this year uh they met the Neighbors in SE sorry in July this year uh B Architects approved the med bonus and the design of the building in August they later later met with the neighborhood again the end of August applian Zing recommend approval last month they also were reviewed by the school committee Relations Committee uh later last month and here we are for this meeting so letters are sent to Property Owners within 1,000 ft within Coral Gables and also included uh some properties in the city of Miami as well as required by code um letters were sent to Property Owners within um sorry four four times for both neighborhood meetings PCB and City commission uh the property posted three times um as well as the website um the website posted uh four times um the newspaper advertisement twice and emails to whoever subscribed to our our email notification um was sent out twice so staff determine this application is consistent with the comp plan with the goals dment policies H does comply with the finance of fact which is located in the staff report of attachments and we recommend approval um sub conditions of approval and that is locate in exhibit B of your um packet um highlights are uh hmmer Circle sidewalk to be open during construction as well as the school pickup and drop off unaffected during construction as well so that we'll coordinate with the school as far as what they need to be able to um facilitate correctly uh the shade trees and Mobility Lanes as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Board um the crosswalk on Al Hamra Circle and then landscape bump outs on both sides of all the adjacent intersections uh the and arcades would be public publicly accessible at all times um a minimum 75% of the ground floor retail be at least within one year after the last TCO of the property as as much as applicant can do that as far as advertising and trying to make sure that ground floor is being um leased and unoccupied uh construction parking plan to prohibit any on street parking to have locations for those construction workers contractors people located off Street and um theal use to we sure to only uh Dawn the task that's it thank you thank you very much Mr cler are there any comments yes Mr Mayor okay first speaker is Rafael Sevilla good afternoon sir are you I tried to speak uh earlier on soon but it was not possible for you to listen to me I'm certainly worried about the overdevelopment again uh closer to Philips spk this is not the first time again and again and again we hear the same type of proposal which is a nice one but I believe it's in the wrong place uh there are two schools nearby there is one park there are quite a few developments that are either approved or in consideration to be approved and then we hear all of you in campaign saying about overdevelopment and then back again here in the podium sometimes approving the pro the project which I agree with some but please let's have a plan let's don't consider all the project at just because they have some green space or because they have some pickle court is because what is the plan for North P what is the plan for gallano what is the plan for that area because enough I mean we still are in the same situation that we were 5 years 10 years ago that every developer comes here and almost every development is approved under you know reviews and so on but still there there is an overdevelopment particularly closer to Philips park there has been quite a few ones being approved already and we are concerned it's not me it's the people so please do something because otherwise you are not fulfilling your promise that you made in the campaign and we are still back to zero I'm not saying this could not be considered but is not in the right place that that is my public opinion thank you thank you sir Vicky Rua good afternoon I had a a two page but I'm going to keep it simple I think the project it's very pretty and I was against this project for many years it's a given Rafael that we're going to have a building there because they changed the land use and the zoning so we have to accept my big concern and the concern I am so sorry I live at 50 Alhambra Circle right in front of 33 Alhambra and I have 27 petitions of the 36 owners of that building we are concerned with the picket ball picket balls should be in places that are commercial in places where there is noise I get it in andalu next to late June but not on top of and I don't know if you can see where the picket B will be but it would be in the front of the building facing our building noise travels and um I in fact I I read that it's 75 to 80 DBS so that's it's and it's the constant it's the you know it's a constant so a lot of us work from the house we have balconies and we have accepted the building it's it's happening but I urge you not to have the pick a ball it's not the place for it and not only I'm going to read the last paragraph that I was going to read which it says we request that the city take our concern into consideration and give us an opportunity to understand what are the benefits and risk Association associated with approving this because as I said to Mario and to the attorney the project gets built beautiful mg developer will sell that project it's quality you don't need a pick a ball to sell it it's uh it would only affect the area the noise continuing the plan rooftop concept at the city parking garage the one in Andalusia it's something that the city can easily undo if it turns out to be a problem but approving the removal in the future on this proposed Residential Building rooftop picket ball courts would be rather difficult so with that said I'm going to leave the information I I am hoping I am really hoping that you understand that it will affect the area which is a residential area thank you thank you that's it Mr Mayor okay um Madam vice mayor so so before you I don't know if you want to respond first sure I can be brief and then I can yep address and so from from the objections that were expressed the first one had to do with quote unquote overdevelopment but this project is very important to point out this property is within the city's Central business district and and so that is where developments intended to happen even more important to point out as I did before this complies 100% with the existing zoning we're not looking for any sort of increase in zoning or increase in height we're doing what the law permits after having previously tried to attempt a rezoning and increase height and so forth we came back from that we decreased the building by four stories in height and so we're now doing what the law allows us to do and again within the central business district then the pickle ball court is has been an issue that has traveled with us as we've been going through the approval process and we want to be good neighbors we also want to have good amenities in the building so we have and actually Glenn if you could come up we've sort of looked at the Acoustics of the pickle pickle ball court and Glenn will describe it to you how Sound Works and how we're proposing to buffer it and we are open to considering any other sort of measures and perhaps we don't figure that out today but we bring in an acoustical engineering and so forth to try to figure out how this pickle ball court can comply with city code because remember the city has a noise ordinance and we have to comply with that noise ordinance we don't want anything that violates that noise ordinance nor do you and I think that's sort of the measuring stick or the measuring Point by which we can decide whether we can have pickle ball here or not by our looking at the acoustical study that's prepared that Glenn will describe in more detail it looks like we are in compliance the pickle ball activity on there especially considering that it's only going to be part of the day since we've agreed not to allow it after Sunset would comply with city code yeah we we're going excuse me we're going right now to a a slide a study that we prepared um using acoustic uh principles uh we would also like to get you know an acoustic uh consultant that that is a specialist and that that uh would confirm this but this is uh in a slide we prepared uh that you see it's a section of the building where the pickle ball court is on the roof um and is there's a 6t 7t I mean a a 6' 7 in parapet wall that is on the the outside edge of of the pickle ball court is there a way to zoom in I'm sorry is there a way of zooming in so we can see a little clearer I'm sorry I didn't hear is there a way to zoom in on on the graphic so that we can see it a little bit larger uh yeah I think the if the it can can zoom in to the thank you and that we studied um actually David prepared this study and I'll let him do the discussion to make it very simple and very clear we are doing the study based on the How Sound diminish and travel within the space right there is a a law that says that the sound reduce twice uh uh the decibels uh I'm sorry six debel twice the distance So based on on that in 170 ft that is the distance from The Source we start like uh Vicki mentioned start at 70 85 DB when when you hit with the racket the ball but when it travels 170 ft then it reduced to 22 DB something around that which is very barely uh not noticeable so again like Mario and GL said we would like to consult with a acoustic engineer and make sure that our assumptions are correct but we have a pretty good feeling that is up on there if some sound is going to travel down it's going to be minimal most of the sound is going to travel up because we have paret and on walls and whatever sound travels down it's going to be normally reduced to the point that is affect more the car Crossing by and the pickle ball over over there uh in addition uh well just to kind of a explanation also of this diagram is that the building on the lower right hand side is actually the 50 Alhambra building in terms of the height and and location across the street the the right of way from um from our project uh and so that and you can see that that in the Shaded area that would be uh the noise that would be um reduced because of the parapet wall and and noise generally travels in a straight path it's it it doesn't really go around corners very well uh it it gets diminished so that that's really the the point of of the diagram is that the noise that will be produced by the pickle ball quartz is significantly elevated above the adjacent properties and as well as also uh by the parapet wall on on the East uh and in addition uh because we're also very concerned about the adjacent uh residential units that are on our roof line as well as the the the residential units below uh so we're proposing that we and maybe you can go back David to um to the overall view that what we've done is in that in that Court area in the center of the building we've carved out niches that we were proposing to use uh Mass loaded vinyl which is a sound deadening uh absorption material as well and then hiding that with uh with plants that would be within these Recess Recess niches um that will deaden the sound also and so uh we're we're we're very serious about trying to make the the impact and the noise uh uh uh impact um both for ourselves or for the project for the the the condominium owners of of the building uh as well as the adjacent neighbors and so on on those walls that um it's not uh so well maybe I can just explain it but in the in the in what would be considered the court area there's a close to 7t 6' 7 in uh parit wall uh the remaining walls that were these these um recess niches with the sound dampening material would be located uh those are are 12T High walls and so uh there the the area is completely contained um on the other three sides so uh we don't feel that uh that there'll be any or we're looking to try and minimize as I said the that the amount of impact the noise would have on U our project as well as adjacent neighbors so the point of the pickle ball court on the Underground utilities certain streetscape improvements and the relocation of trees because there's three mature trees on the site that we're considering potentially relocating we only have so many facts before us right now and based on the facts that are before us we feel that we can proceed with this but similar to your previous discussion and other discussions that we've had in the past we need I think language in the resolution making clear that if we come across something that is not viable that creates an undo hard ship that is anticipated that it might violate code that we can come back and revise that either with staff or if you feel appropriate we come back here and uh and discuss it but I think it's a sort of practical way to to try to proceed and and address these issues and order would you like to say something perhaps about those topics thank you George armg developer thanks for having us first of all um it's my first in front of you guys um so please take it easy on me um I've you probably have more experience with mg developer than I do been with them for six months um what I've seen so far and I think you would agree the the adjectives that come to mind are things like Excellence Beauty attention to detail and our responsibility to the community I think we've seen that in previous projects and you can see it in this project as well I think um where I know developers often get a a bad reputation trying to milk every last little bit out of a project and it it's nice to be recognized when um we try to do what's right uh and I'd like to read you some of the comments from the uh public um um Planning and Zoning Board uh members on this project um M kerski said thank you for bringing the project down to a manageable size because I remember a year ago we were a guass at how large it was so I applaud your efforts to on on doing that Mr Paro said I have to commend you both the developer and The Architects and the land use attorney so I have to commend you because basically you have done what Alan Morris did you listened you went back and addressed the major points the massing the compatibility and it should be a beautiful project Mr Gabrielle said it's a perfect project I like everything about it I think the articulation of the facad you've done a very nice job separating the base from building itself and that articulation around the ground floor is excellent the circulation around the building Mr Salman first of all a wonderful job I think that it really is the right size the project for the site to fit in so much better with the surrounding so congratulations I'm not going to read you the comments from the um oh well chairman I stat said I agree with Felix that the developer the team the architect every everybody listened to what the community had to say what the board had to say and really came back with a good project I'm not going to read you everything the board of Architects said um but it was extremely complimentary of the design um so overall everybody seems to be happy with the project with what we done with it we've made made tremendous sacrifices to bring this new project to you uh in time uh in expense um delays that we've incurred um our award to our investors um we'd like to see the project move forward as expeditiously as possible and we like your help with that but we'll also like your consideration with some of these uh conditions um we can certainly look at things like the pickle ball court but this is a much smaller project doesn't have a lot of amenities we do need the amenities that we do have um things like the improvements we're already doing a tremendous amount of infrastructure Improvement around the building required by code what we're talking about are things that go above and beyond what's required by code we've agreed to some of those like the ball bouts uh on the intersection with alhamra um the one in the rear I I I think that's A Bridge Too Far we' We've made so many concs in the scope and size of this building and it's it all these things always seem it's just a little bit more it's easy but i' I've been around a little bit and I know uh a lot of things that look easy don't turn out to be so easy particularly when you're having to deal with existing conditions we've take taken a quick look at the situation there's drainage there there's water line there the water line is immediately very close parallel to the drainage line just a few feet so touching one affects the other um there's another drainage line that crosses all of this becomes um expensive the unknown things happen in the future and different things are decided and uh what we did today years from now are not necessary anymore uh the new developer comes in that uh has already acquired that block and says well you know this is not what we wanted um you know we why should we pay the previous developer one thing is to improve our side of the road let the other guy improve his own side he's he's he's already getting ready to submit to you um also want to point out remind you may I make a comment on that just really quick sure Mar will you will you mind please join joining us when you talking about infrastructure improvements like for example roads resurfacing of Roads do you think it's appropriate that one side of the road gets completed and the other side does not get completed and we have to wait for the developer on the other side to complete that that doesn't that doesn't you know you understand that that doesn't work it I'm in construction you just it's unfeasible right you can't Mill a road you could but you'd have a road that's uneven right you know wouldn't be in our in our opinion Coral Gable standard so I understand your comment I understand that there's certain things that will break will break a project because you're asking for too much and I get it I understand you know maybe you're running a sewer line instead of 100 fet 200 feet you're asking for 2,000 feet I get it you know it can break a project in regards to cost but um I think that when you have to when you resurface a road you've got to stripe that road there a lot of things that have to happen that you just can't do one side and not do the other so there's limits there's limits I understand that and I respect what your comments are but we also have to be feasible because once you're finished with your project who knows when that gentleman or lady whoever the developer is even going to start their project so um I think my if I just give you my opinion I'm not this is all I'm going to say about the project I'm ready to vote ready to vote this has been a long time I just have one concern one simple concern if the residents don't want the pickle ball remove the pickle ball court that's it walk away start the project very simple if the resident tell me that they don't want the pickle ball courts because it's a concern you walk away your prodct gets approved and we move forward I think that's a reasonable request and we're not going back and forth with residents here combative in this front so if I can dtail some of that and I'm going to since you brought up the both sides of the road you also have to look at it from the perspective of it enhances the value of your project and then we end up with these lopsided streets so enhancing both sides of the road are as a benefit to you as well as far as the pickle ball is concerned you know sometimes that's a bridge too far you were talking about doing acoustical studies and bringing them back to the residents and for the record I did speak speak to um the developer and and his attorney ahead of time residents are happy with it after an acoustical study you can bring this back for an approval later on to get this project moving forward in the meantime and not have the anxiety of of a potential pickle ball that may make noise across the street be you know the straw that breaks the camel's back uh acoustical studies will show you that uh base sounding noise deep sounding noise will travel around corners okay so we can look at a bunch of hypotheticals but really where the rubber meeter road is does a sound carry I live close to the central business district and it's hard to spot where the noise is coming from sometimes and I'll call it in because it's making noise and it'll ask me where is it coming from and I say I don't know you'll have to drive around with your windows open so I'd say let's move move the project forward this has been a long time coming um mg has made a very good commitment and is continuing to um work uh with me on relocating trees on other sites as we look for a a good location to put something that's healthy enough to move because it enhances your project because it makes the neighborhood better and if it enhances your project the value that your project enhances as well so there's a lot of uh wonderful things about this project it's not building to the max I can't roll back time and decrease what the zoning is Mr civia I I would love to but they are building less than what they could have the density is considerably less uh than they could have they haven't come in and asked for any increases to us it is it is close to Phillips Park and a lot of projects are close to to Phillips Park um you're you're doing wonderful things by including also the EV charging you're not required to do so but we understand that this is a community where folks who are looking for a place to live and looking for a place to rent are the folks that are buying the um electric vehicles now and the plug-in uh hybrids as well so you've done a great commitment for us uh there um one other question I had for you is about your green wall is a is it is it live plants or is it going to be those plastic things that uh there's something that will grow everywhere you just have to choose the right thing to grow in a more shaded condition no it would be a live green wall we we've provided areas for planting that uh would support the the growth of the plant but it would be a a true a real natural yeah a green well a real green that's that's great plastic so um those those are my comments uh about the pickle ball I'd like to see this project move forward um if I may just to perhaps make the proceedings easier I consulted with my client and we will eliminate the pickup all okay thank you thank you no comments my only other my only comment and much appreciated again what we were talking about earlier everybody working together it's a win-win for the community um this item is for a clarification to those who are watching if I'm not mistaken as of right basically what you're building you have the legal right to so we're not providing you any additional variances or or changes or this is what you're entitled to uh build and um and the reason why it's before us I think it's because of the 20,000 Square ft I believe correct it's before you on conditional use review so in terms they're not asking for a zoning change or a change in the highight pursu to a land use change but it is a conditional use review that is required and which is I strongly believe that's why you got the 60 vote in the Planning and Zoning Board and and I think a very good job of reading some of the comments from the members of that board as well uh I Echo those sentiments um you listened you made adjustments and we're here to basically you know approve something that I think is uh well done done in well taste but also very considerate of the concerns of the residents so to me this is an A+ thank you um Mr Sevilla you're 100% correct we do have a lot of overdevelopment in that area um but like the vice mayor said unfortunately that decision was made a long time ago and it opened the door for a project in this location of the scale the opposite end of the coin is the first time I saw this project it was a monster in comparison to what we're getting today so I have to commend the developers and the members of the community who have sat down with them to work through the process on a solution that both sides can work on I think today we've seen that last chip that was really holding the support from the the neighbors across the street has been taken off the table and there's no bigger proponent of pickle ball than me but I do realize and I think your diagram actually convinced me that they're 100% correct because there will be an effect of that noise we when I had seen it before I said well the noise will travel upwards but that study shows that the noise level will actually be going towards the neighboring buildings so I applaud you for taking action today and taking that off the table agreeing with the neighbors um Mr seevilla I think going forward we just need to make sure we uphold the zoning code in future projects um but as we've mentioned the project we just approved earlier today the State of Florida is now preempting us from certain projects and they've placed items on the table s sp102 with the live local act where developers are allowed to build to the highest building within their city as long as they're providing Workforce housing and it's taking our ability and as a municipality to defend our own zoning code and it's un forunate but that's the reason that we're up there in Tallahassee and vice mayor Anderson commissioner Castro and I are at the Florida League of cities we were there this past week advocating on behalf of our residents and trying to see how we can take shots at the Liv local act to ensure that we're able to provide some protections from our residents last year we were able to put in some Provisions protecting our residential neighborhoods from these projects but to long road ahead and I I what I ask residents is if you're concern about development reach out to your state legislators reach out to Tallahassee and let them know about your concerns cuz I think that's where we can make real change when it comes to these projects as for this project today I thank you for for all the work that you did and the community did I know Miss Ru has been heavily involved in this process since day one and put in many hours of her own meeting with neighbors trying to see what the concerns were and working with you and the and the developer on finding Solutions and um I'm happy that we're here today with a project that isn't maxing out on scale is not a monster that's going to be towering over our residential area we'll be preserving our historic building add some green space within that uh project and I like that tree wall I'm glad that it's actually going to be that green wall is actually going to be a live green wall and not something that's fake uh which will actually add a nice aesthetic look to that building I appreciate all the work that's been put in okay I myself live in a condo so I understand how important a amenities are especially when you're out looking to see where you're going to live um my question is have you even considered putting pickle ball indoor indoor indoor uh it would probably be considered F and and we don't uh have a way of of enclosing that um or we don't have the square footage actually remaining in the project to to enclose it um it you know potentially if that were discounted out or not recognized is is is f um you know that could be a possibility but uh at this point we we simply don't have the square footage in the building to do that okay so now putting on the table that you're going to take off pickle ball what are you going to put in place have you thought of that is it going to what's going to be in the area that's not uh it'll be an open Terrace area that would be uh used for for just for parties or for having uh you know different uh events um you know if if that whole area is all interconnected um with the outdoor cooking area and so it could be a place where you know for having a a child's birthday party or some you know anniversary event or you know it could yeah could be I heard a bad mittens making a comeback very quiet and that may be an alternative we'll we'll look at that'll very nice project 201725 it was actually it was actually ultimately the one topic that hasn't been disc discussed is the idea of maybe having some flexibility in those conditions of approval like the underground utilities and the tree relocation so that if issues come up as issues inevitably too we either go back to staff or or this commission like as far as tree relocation I'm always cautious about that because I don't want some small technicality that all of a sudden we're losing the tree um so that's what my concern is always when we're talking about giving a little bit of leeway with relocation uh of those trees and then it doesn't come back to us and we lost the treat so that that would be my concern when it comes to that can I allow your concerns CU I am a thorn in their side I can we designate her to make those decisions for no I I I work with staff on on that and we we go over it carefully and we look at you know U there's so much that goes into relocating a tree you got to be able to move it down the street you know you have to have the underground and mayor you had a point very simple because there was a point made about development and I want to mention something for the record I don't like to be ambiguous or vague on the record because it sends a wrong message that people who were here before potentially approve this project so I want to bring up four very quick points number one uh I adamantly opposed the doubling of the density in North Gables from 50 units to 100 I voted against that so in North Gables I was the no vote on that uh number two 2017-2 res resolution on this project I voted no 2017-2 the site plan I voted no 2017-1 142 the change of zoning I voted no so my record is clear in regards to this position I voted no so at the end of the day I want to make sure the residents because when you say oh the zoning was changed by the past you have to be very thoughtful very methodical and very careful when you're talking about people's reputations and the way they vote so I want to be very clear on the record that we are here today based on a three to2 vote that happened not once not twice but three times and then a zoning code change which increased the density from 50 units an acre to 100 units an acre which I voted no it was supposed to be 75 unit units an acre but on the dice they changed it to 100 and I voted no on that so just to be clear um I'm ready to make a motion or not myself but anyone else ready to make a motion we've cleared up the issue of pickle ball I think we're pretty clear on the trees did we clear up the what the request was in terms of the the conditional items we want to go over the pickle ball we want to go over the trees um the underground utilities also to have some ability to work out any issues that come up and you're going to do and you're going to do obviously the the issue of of the uh streets obviously the streets have to be done appropriately as per code right uh sidewalks all those kind of things are going to be taken care of so we're ready to go there's just there's one bul out on the other side of navari that interfer with drainage lines and a manhole that's the sort of category of thing that I think I have full faith and confidence that staff Hermes can figure that out with Millis we we've worked it out on some other sites so y we get together and and examine it so I'll make a motion with those conditions attached I'll second Mr clerk commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor L yes thank you very thank you very much a good day thank you to the residents have a wonderful day thank you for being active appreciate it thank you for engaging have a nice day all right moving on to the final item on the agenda agenda item F2 F2 is a resolution of the city commission approving laf the seevilla event is one of five events of the international cultural events program so if I may first off I I sponsored this item and I would like to thank belis and Olga and all our team uh in regards to our International cultural events programming uh a few years ago just to give you a little quick background uh I had the privilege along with my staff of of allocating funds in our budget to start a program which ended up giving us D muos and also gave us laf the intent was to have five events we've been very thoughtful very methodical we've been presented as buies will tell you previous events but they haven't been up to Snuff in regards to our opinion we wanted to find things that were up our out Val that were exceptional we also wanted to make sure that we dealt with contins that were located in the city or had or had some sort of relationship with the city um Spain obviously we could spend hours talking about the relationship of Spain George Merck Sevilla is a sister city so when this idea was brought forth and we had multiple meetings and we sat down and we had a conversation um I thought this was something that would again uh bring a level of culture to our city expand like when you see the mor those thousands of people coming here they have a good time it's a familyfriendly atmosphere then they go and they have dinner or they go and they have drinks or they go see a movie or they go see theater or they go to books and books and buy something it's an opportunity for us to really get our money's worth on this investment and get people who want to come to the city grow Gables and potentially come back after enjoying it so belis I would love for you to talk a little bit about this potential third addition to our cultural International cultural events programming and introduce by the way also we have we are I apologize should have said it from the beginning I just C myself so I'm sorry they have to leave so I want I want them to I also want introduce please with all due respect and we have our Consul of Spain here uh she has been amazing amazing to work with my office uh with the city take it away thank you um good afternoon mayor and Commissioners um so I do want to give Sophia Ru deoro the deputy Council general of Spain and El Marcos the director of the national tourism office of Spain um just a second to just say a few words because they do have to leave so Consul if you want to if you want to come oh el el thank you very much and I apologize for the delay thank you thank you very much for the opportunity and thank you all for listening this is a beautiful project that has been going on in the city of well in the miam day County for uh how many years five years um the F Sevilla is a very special event that occurs in the city of Sevilla in Spain and it has become one of the most important international events that we celebrate in Spain what we would like to do is to have a cultural approach towards the City of Coral Gables it has been very located in um Ki G and right now we think that it has to grow bigger and the cultural approach with be would be with the City of Coral Gables that's a sister city for Sevilla and we have been working in the last two years to do many other cultural programs like um with a museum um a a fun trip there to know a little better how the architecture of coral gaes have has been influenced by the city of Sevilla and many other cultural projects I don't want to be longer with this but I would like to thank you again and please consider that you have all our support for this thank you thank you very much thank you um so I do want to mention the other individuals that are here we have danela Moreno K she is a representative of Lafia from Sevilla she is the one representing um Lafia Seva thank you so much danela for being here and she's here because there is an event that's happening at the consul General's house in relation to Hispanic heritage and so they're here this week for that timing could be you know a little off with our storm coming but um but you're you're still getting a warm welcome so I'm glad you're here um I also have Olga hudo she's the chair of the international Affairs coordinating Council and she is the representative for a sister city Seeva and I have Rebecca calvet she is the um founder of this event the through the xack club and I have the event planner as well Joanna dejong which is the um event planner for um the FIA Seeva and then I have letia pz from my office she's the international business representative so I am sharing my screen and I just wanted to give Ola a second just to tell us how we got to where we are very brief thank you Mr Mayor your Commissioners thank you for having us and and basically how this all started uh because I love my city I work live play own property everything I don't live my ZIP code they tell me about a restaurant opening and I said that's outside my zp Cod I don't live my city I love my city so because of our Spanish influence our sister city relationship to me it made no sense that we have an event such as this any other place but in our city so last year I believe it was 2,000 people that came we had people coming from other states we had people coming from Sevilla I mean it's a great opportunity to showcase our city it's a great event to bring to our neighbors it's a very high class event and I think you will agree once you see what belis is going to show you in videos and pictures you're going to see the quality of event that we will have if I may B just want to second I want to thank you go for everything that you do on behalf of the city I mean you're extremely active you're like many residents that are here that we mention all the time you know you make us look great along with bel's staff and I I apologize I didn't see you in the back of for Don on me um thank you for all the hard work that your staff puts in amazing work and this is a testament what we're doing today is a testament to staff residents electeds coming together and bringing something beautiful to the city that could only grow like what we've seen with a deal moros which is something pretty special thank you so I'm going to go through this really quickly but basically the expat club which is a uh club that was created with expats from Spain um they came to the United States and they were kind of missing that cultural heritage that that program caused so um they started this program 5 years ago in 2019 and they had a fedia theia um in kisan it is an international worldwide recognized event um it brought to life South Florida um expats to communicate and just be together for this event but it's grown now and so it's not just Spanish expats that go we now have um a good amount of even people who are American that attend because they're looking for that cultural experience um it has grown now to an event that helps to Foster economic growth and cultural exchange and mutual prosperity and we'll see that in a second how it does that but I want to show a video um and we can cut it whenever you guys feel I can interject that picture that you're seeing those are not pictures from sevilia those are pictures from the eventless year that's how people dress that's so people show up this is a video that's going to take you to YouTube and hopefully we can hear the music too oh it's not showing could you share my screen and I'm going to share screen again really quickly here here we go the video is loud so I'm not sure I'll air from here fore spee speech speech [Music] fore spee spe [Music] fore spe you got to get the men out there dancing too it's mostly women they were just standing there drinking there saana classes included by the way so I know they have to go those yeah I have to go and I I feel I feel terrible yeah I apologize um I just wanted to show you because I think it it shows you um what you're going to get it shows the quality it shows the level of of of person who's visiting you know the food where will it take place in it would be taking place on alhamra so it would happen from leun to Pon de Leon um again there's more things that are being um you know happening for this for this um for this year it would be in March March 8th um so that is a Saturday and um I'm just going to go through this now um how does that play with Carnaval uh no it's the first week the first caraval the the carnival in the mile is the first weekend of March and so this would be the second weekend wonderful so would this only be one side of Al hammer or would would it take both sides it would be both sides it would be both sides closing the entire street from from um alhamra to Pon ponon so basically the same place as burgerlicious yes okay except burgerlicious doesn't is only one block it doesn't go all way to the June um so basically because of our Centennial again um that we're celebrating in in 20125 the fact that we have a sister cities relationship um and we are going to have dignitaries from Seville as you see more coming as well um and we're going to have a lot of media impact as well uh with this event we'd like to bring it however um it's not on consent for you for a reason and that's just because there it has traditionally been a ticketed event and so we wanted to go over the value proposition for that ticketed event so this is something that we worked on last week in a meetings that we had to give an understanding to all of our cor G residents while we going to have people who come from other cities because they always want to come and enjoy our first class events here just like they want to enjoy our first class facilities we wanted to make it about coral Gable's residents and coral Gable's families so Bel right so um what the uh event organizer has proposed is that the admission includes a special activity for children there's a seana master class that you get as well so you learn how to do the um the flamco dance there's a live flamco show that lasts for hours um you will have uh horse carriage rides which are pending confirmation but last year they had horses from um breed from the Royal um um King's Royal um Fleet I'm going to say but I know that's not the right word know what you mean it's important got it um there is you saw in the video the attention to detail as far as the decorations are concerned um there's a discounted food and beverage prices so the vendors are not just you know uh charging whatever they want there's a set price for it and there's a dress code that's encouraged because it just adds to the uh experience and that you get and there's going to be some uh free giveaways and tastings available as well as applies last children would go in for free 12 and under and uh there will be a discount provided for residents they have to show their ID and the discount is what we talked about correct um I don't know if Rea wants to come up and talk about the discount if you want thank you for having me here in the commission and this beautiful City of Coral Gables that has so many Spanish Roots buildings so so uh regarding the admission tickets H I only want to tell you that this event has been sold out for the Last 5 Years the day before we always hang up the uh the sold out uh symbol and um we we still have people that come to the door and say I pay whatever is necessary to come in last year we had 300 people that arrived to the door had to pay $50 to come in nobody complained uh we started 35 that was last year I think this year we will start 37 we try to keep our our prices low and we will have a a discount for Coral G residents we were think about 20 20% discount for Florida for Coral GES I think it's $30 I think everybody can pay that we also when you come to the event you will have Tapas H they will range between $5 and $10 where can you find this in in Miami nowhere and the idea is that everybody taste a little bit of food from different plates now like P Pacho and they spend $30 and they they really get a lot of food the same with drinks we are in the range of8 to $15 eight for a beer $15 for a good wine $10 for a medium wine so we we really encourag it why do we do the ticketing we think that if you do tickets really people really want to come they dress nicely and if you you dress nicely you you somehow comport you nicely it's true it's like that and we have seen it in our EV so I can only say you it's always sold out last year we had 2,000 5,000 people this year we did it in kibis skin we want to get bigger I think this is a great location it's no it's no different and if I may there's no different from for example burgerlicious correct in the same location and I but what I really and I love and I'm a big fan of burgerlicious and I I always partake as a judge and all that money goes for a great cause but what I really like about this it's number one it's a sister city number one it's a centennial that's right also the fact that it's about culture and a lot of us are Basque you know you know a lot of us are GGO like my mom gang you know and they this is a lot of us a lot of people who came to this great country have can be traced back all the way to Spain so this is a great way to sit down and bring your kids my daughter's name is miru Baka you know my my other one is got kataline which is you know that we wanted to you know memorialize and pay homage to SP and and to the culture that we're so blessed to have in our blood so I think that this is an opportunity for us to to take ownership of an exceptional incredible uh event that I think will only get better and I will tell you this and this is my last comments about it is that if you look at for example I always go back to to um the comments of of De moros started off very small remember buies 100 people mhm small stage Small Program in and over the years over the last four years the Mexican continent has produced an incredible atmosphere for people to learn about Mexico you know original dialect speaking original dance you see and you see what is it what is there to Mexico than what we always think about Mexico right tacos and tequila there's a lot more to Mexico than that there is and we joke about it and I joke about it with a consulate because if you see the way the consulate comes dressed you know it's amazing they hire professional makeup artists they really take the time because they want people to understand the beauty of their culture and it's a lot more than what people think so people leave there with with an understanding of of that so I that's my goal to leave to leave an event that's something that grows to the community and I think it's also a community event we have all the family that comes together I mean the children with the grandmother the mother the teenagers even come because we we engage all the community we have at least more than 10 H flamco acmy that come here many of them are located here in Coral Gables so the PE so the children come to perform the the whole family comes to the event so I think it's a great opportunity and we really would love to to be part I was also last week in Seville in Spain and there's a lot of people institutions and companies that want to come to Coral Gables to the event because we want to also do networking we want to do uh meeting meetings and and they really want to come to the the fair so which I think it has a dual purpose it's not only the cultural we're going to showcase our city major corporations that are going to be coming that do the cettas like like they do in Spain that they you know so I think it's a dual purpose uh I think it's only a win-win situation for our city and for the residents and if I may B and and oga along with the consul please if with full respect to you and to your team consider and my colleagues approve it that you know this is going to be La I would love for it to be laiaa in Coral Gables and I'll tell you why because I want people to talk about Coral Gables in Spain when you mentioned hey look there there's going to be a beautiful you know F I don't want it to be Miami with all due respect to Miami I want it to be Coral G there's a reason why you're coming here the reason why we've been working on this and I think there's an opportunity to showcase all the great things that in our City so just just think about it there's no commitment I think I think we actually SP I want keep I want I just want to keep mentioning Coral GES as much as possible my we spoke about that AB that's what I mention I think this is phenomenal I thank you all for all the work that you've put in uh kibas G used to be part of Coral Gables so I'm glad that we'd be keeping it within the City of Coral Gables um Mr Mayor thank you for the work that you put in and and bringing this and creating these grants I think you're making a motion so I'll be happy to Second your motion Mr mayor so I just have a an ask and and when you do the advertising for it um also tell people where they can park um yes wait they're hard at work they T they time it that you include uh where to park the closest places because that's usually the the biggest challenge because especially when you have people that are not familiar with the downtown and where to park go we had a young lady come in earlier today and saying that there wasn't parking available somewhere but the problem is it's kind of nicely hidden CU there I think we we spoke about that as well to have like a map showing where all the parkings were by the way we have have we have in belies will tell you and you know this whole I have to tell you there's a brand new parking garage adjacent to a public safety building there's obviously the Aragon parking garage if we showcase that like on the back of the flyer exactly so when the person sees a flyer the invitation you know accept parking within two blocks people walk two blocks for good cheap protected parking the they also have the trolley and the trolley yeah and and the price of the parking is cheaper in the buildings and people don't realize that so that's it so we already have a motion in second and I'm good I think the presentation was wonderful the reasoning behind it that's a perfect fit I guess earlier we approved seevilla and now we're going to approve lavilla so seevilla is the theme of the day it is beautiful beautiful I like it very much I guess the next question would be where do we buy a dress I know there's a fashion show that's happening yeah um it's going to be March 6th so you can you can see the design that you want at that point so there's a lot of events that are happening as a result and now they're Happening Here in Coral gaes One Last Thing Before we take a vote will you will you and Olga and from anybody from the staff or the consul meet with me on Friday if possible just I want to make sure I have points when I meet with a Spanish with the Spanish consulate uh this weekend no problem thank you very much so we have a motion in a second thank you it's beautiful project commissioner mandez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner fernandis yes mayor loo yes muchas thank you thank you all of you thank youon excuse me thank you so much my name is Sophia R I am the counil of Spain thank you much graas well take for having us here and they know they count with all our support thank you thank you thank you everybody thank you very much thank you thank you thank you um Madame vice mayor any comments two things uh first I want to thank our firefighting team I gave them the contact for an individual that has disabilities and they put up their shutters today I got a thank you message along with photos of the team putting up the shutters for the the person and the second is uh M Mia we have a flyer to bring up about the pickle ball tournament on uh October uh 18th and 19th let's see if we can bring it up so the public can see could put it up so Friday the on October 18th at 6:30. m is a soft opening uh if any of you haven't bought your tickets you can uh do it now this is a great cause and the mayor has been a staunch advocate of the Ronald McDonald Charities uh and raising money for them for all the good that they do for uh children that are faced with many medical issues in their families and you know thank you mayor for you and I going to be partners on that right and um you know you were honored last year for the amount that you raised this is another opportunity for us to do this so Friday uh October 18th at the builtmore uh hotel in the tennis court area there's going to be um a temporary pickle ball facility set up and again on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. I wish my knee was in better shape I'd be um really eager to play with you but maybe we can do it again we'll do something we'll do something so hope to see you all there yeah I want to thank everyone that attended the National Police night out it was a wonderful turnout um you guys put a lot of work into it and and it was very apparent it was very successful event the other thing is that I know all boards are closed I think it was from the ending of today and tomorrow too uh it's going to be Wednesday and Thursday Wednesday and Thursday so through the manager I'm I'm going to ask that if anybody could work from home to please make that a possibility we've already uh instructed directors to allow those that are already authorized to work from home to do that uh this afternoon we'll make a determination whether we're going to do any additional closing of uh the city uh government uh basically I've received maybe a dozen or so cities that are closing tomorrow and Thursday but we're waiting to see what the county is uh the official day County policy is going to be before we make that determination I have rescheduled most of my meetings and if my colleagues are okay with it um at least for my office and it's with um vice mayor Menendez and and Ariel sure are our girls are are the as son if they could work from home I would be more than okay with that with the consensus consensus of you guys I don't plan to be in City Hall tomorrow I have a meeting off site yeah I have no problem with them working remotely okay perfect I just feel lot safer that they're not Community commuting in this extreme weather besides that everybody that's listening everybody that lives in this city and out of the city please stay safe I'll let you go first oh thank you um I Echo your comments about National Night Out I think uh since I've been on the commission it's probably been one of the nicest events that we've had incredible turnout I think the only issue that we had was a lack of parking I think we need to work on that for next year we've already had conversations with the University of Miami about adding parking options but the response we got from the community was incredible uh hats off to our team for putting the information out there through the E news through our social media our Police Department through its uh um social media as well I think the information definitely got out to people um regarding hurricane uh Milton uh once again if there are any down power lines any down tree branches uh the number to call is the police non emergency line which is 305 44216 that's 305 44216 to report any down power lines or down tree limbs or branches they could happen um we're not expecting a Major Impact from the storm but it's important to make those preparations and stay safe um I'll mention it next meeting for the community event obviously number one priority is staying safe with the um the looming hurricane uh that's approaching Florida but uh later in the month for Halloween I'll be showing I don't know if the posters ready I know Billy's working on it cable TV could share my screen The Exorcist for Halloween October 26th um you're free to sit in the back of the theater you have to be close to the screen it's a great movie they you know the reviews even today they say it's the scariest movie ever made yes so it's a perfect Halloween but um and you can get your free tickets and everything else but um I just wanted to mention it thank you all right uh thank you to staff thank you to everyone who joins us today in regards to a meeting another record short meeting um I hope everybody stays dry stay safe reach out to my office if you have any issues you have my cell phone you can get in contact with us on social media on email or through phone wishing all of you the best God bless and stay dry thank you thank you for