good evening everyone and welcome I'd like to call a special call meeting of the city council of Homestead to order today is Tuesday February 13 2024 and it is now 6: PM roll call Madam clerk councilwoman Bailey here councilman Roth councilman Cal anybody here councilman Davis here councilwoman abula here vice mayor Fletcher here mayor lner here all right our first item before us is um an addendum to the um agenda the addendum item was properly noticed uh it was just an inadvertent Omission from the agenda so um I'd entertain a motion to um add addendum one regarding a potential employment agreement to the agenda we have a motion to add to this item moved moved by councilman Davis second seconded by vice mayor Fletcher are there any questions or comments okay all in favor let me make a comment please uh before we do this I think it's a little premature um I have a presentation from a consultant that uh hires or looks for uh city managers and other government officials uh we haven't had an opportunity to look and see if anyone else would be interested in applying for a job because we haven't actually put it out there for anybody to hear so I think it's a little premature although I know the writing is on the wall that maybe we hear this presentation first and allow them to make a decision on if they would like to at least experience the process of going through a professional consultant that would be uh bringing applicants to the City of Homestead with all due respect uh I think a national search would be advisable um we have only had the opportunity to speak to one candidate and I think if we simply run with that candidate we are doing a disservice not only to ourselves but to the citizens of the city City to see the aware getting the most capable and qualified individual uh that we can hire for our city right well in that regard let me let me respond to that this is simply to add an item on that was noticed and was inadvertently omitted by the clerk it is not a decision on that item it is simply to add the item let me take this a step further it's more for for those of you who are here and who may be watching one of the few prerogatives of the mayor is the ability to call a special call council meeting and the parameters of that meeting are set by the mayor um others can call a meeting going through a process and set their own agenda um quite frankly I don't know how or why councilman's Roth's matter is even on the agenda tonight I suggest that it is not appropriately before the agenda and quite frankly I was going to call in in our next item of business to uh to delete that item or to to defer it because um I don't know a nicer way to put it but it's it's not your meeting um I don't believe that under our procedures you have have free reign to put this item on the agenda or even uh have folks come in and do a presentation now having said that as part of our discussion later on of whether to go forward with authorizing the attorneys to no go negotiate a contract uh with a named individual um certainly it's appropriate for for you and others to bring alternative ideas as part of that conversation um I have great misgivings over um that that item even being tabbed that way and quite frankly I think the whole preparation of this agenda by the clerk's office was not really thought through it it seems to have been done backwards and we're going to fix that it should have been a termination of city manager b um and a discussion and an action on directing the attorneys to go negotiate an agreement it seems that this whole agenda has has been done either with some intent to to stall or delay or with some bias toward one council member or another but the the order in which it has been presented to us and you know I'd like to be able to think that I can hand something to the city clerk and trust that it is properly handled and if there are any questions those questions would be asked those questions were not asked may can I speak please certainly I did not inadvertently left the item off the agenda every item that goes on the agenda has a call the items that were given to me from the city manager's office was put on the agenda I did not omit or left anything off and the Order of the items was also approved by the manager's office not by the clerk's office whatever we were given the direction we were given is the direction that we followed I gave you Direction I sent you an email calling a special call meeting and listing the two items that I wanted on this agenda now if you're challenging me and you want to have a conversation in the coming weeks and months about your future with the city I'll be happy to have that conversation but tonight we are here to address the termination of a city manager and the process under which we will operate to um identify and and hire a a new manager so I believe believe we have a motion and a second to add addendum one to the agenda and I would ask for clarification that that item be shown as item number two following item one to be dealt with which would be the termination of the manager's contract I believe councilman Davis you made the motion is it's acceptable vice mayor Fletcher very good so if there are no other questions or comments on that item there are Council Roth with all due respect there still seems not to be a true succession plan now I understand that this will happen but all I'm asking for is to allow for a few other options I'm not asking to stop anything but if if procedurally or process were to enter into a or or ask the attorneys to enter into an agreement terminate the city manager as of today that leaves us with no Captain behind the wheel at this point so we don't know that the person you brought to us is even going to agree to a contract with the city but yet we may make a decision to terminate the city manager leaving nobody else in control we've lost one city ass assistant already if we terminate the the city manager today we have one assistant still here I understand there's some timing that goes goes along with this but as far as the process for for this particular special call meeting I just ask for the the opportunity to listen to a consultant explain maybe the pros and cons of using their services as well to locate potential applicants to bring to the city for each of us to vet and I I just want to read one little thing out of the inclusion that I provided for all of us to see in our book and I highlighted it and this came from the city of B is and the council interviewed five potential applicants three of them had dropped out they interviewed the remaining candidates and they were very impressed but that Council still felt they would be doing their citizens a disservice if they did not look look at a few more candidates so adding this to the agenda I'm okay with but I'm also simply asking that we allow a professional consultant who whose firm does this has been doing this for many years to just chear them out before we make a decision to terminate in entirety Mr Estrada leaving the city with no city manager no Captain at the helm thank you thank you and I certainly can you know understand and appreciate your perspective which is 180 degree degrees from your perspective in uh prior iterations of hiring a manager but let let me let me correct some Mis misstatements if if I might I've had the occasion to read through the managers current manager current contract numerous times over the last several weeks and his contract provides that the effective date of the termination cannot be less than 60 days from the date that he waved a a hearing on on our preliminary notice so that 60 days expires March 31st so while we will take that action tonight the my item will will contemplo a termination as of March 31st now unless something has changed Mr Estrada has indicated to me his willingness to be here to help us through a transition position certainly whether he's here or not he'll be on the payroll through through March 31st so it is not really accurate that there won't be a a captain of the uh of the ship yes councilwoman thank you mayor on this particular item of adding the agenda I'm fine with adding it but I would like to see the the presentation as well if that's okay so we can discuss it as a whole and and again um as part of our discussion on what I propose would be the second item before us tonight uh to direct uh our attorneys to enter into negotiations with an identified individual um certainly any of you are welcome to uh to raise that issue uh my concern is is that I I don't believe it is as a standalone item properly on on the agenda and we'll have we'll have that discussion later so there's nothing further um all those in favor of adding the item as stated I three okay so we have five to two Okay six six to one in favor of adding the item all right with with an adjustment to the uh to the order here tonight so I'd like to open by saying as we begin this very solemn and somber business before us this evening I want to state to my colleagues to City staff and the public that contrary to what you may believe or the stories that are being circulated I do not derive any pleasure or satisfaction from either initiating the conversations to be held tonight or voting to terminate the employment of Mr Estrada my arrival at this moment has been a long process and is not made in haste or without a plan to move forward I do not celebrate this nor do I celebrate the departure of the three staff members who resigned in the wake of our preliminary notice to Mr Estrada to set the stage for tonight Mr Estrada's contract provides that it may not be terminated less than 60 days following may not have an effective termination date for 60 days following his waiver of hearing after this Council issued its notice of intent to terminate therefore unless otherwise agreed Mr Estrada is entitled to hold the title of manager through March 31st 2024 I ask for a motion to terminate as follows Madam clerk I'll give you a copy of these at the conclusion of the meeting but I ask for someone to to make the following motion as stated motion to terminate the employment agreement between the City of Homestead and Gerardo R Estrada Jr effective as of 5:00 pm March 31st 2024 which date reflects the contractual rights of Estrada further that the powers duties and obligations of the position of city manager s shall cease to be vested in Mr Estrada upon the effective date of the agreement to employ his successor if the effective date of his successor's agreement is prior to March 31st 2024 I would ask for that motion so moved by councilman cannibal do we have a second second by vice mayor Fletcher so I would uh would now open the floor for any initial comments or questions from my colleagues and then I will open a public hearing we will limit public comment to two minutes per person any public comment from my yes councilwoman aala thank you mayor it has been an absolute pleasure working alongside professionals like yourself or city manager the rest of the staff that I have had the honor and privilege of learning so much from who have guided me and in throughout the many successes during my tenure here on city council I I'm very sorry that it's come to this point um but I do you know I do have to respect the voters who have elected the council that they have elected and and I do wish to follow the lead of our mayor um I would be it would be remissive me to to not say the the the experience that I have had has been nothing but positive there's always room for for improvement and I would say that in any position any organization that I would be working in there's no such thing as perfect only god is perfect and so for us to ask Perfection from from anybody is wrong I'm not speaking on behalf of anybody else it's just my my position um Jerry I'm going to to vote to um in favor of of terminating the agreement but not because of the reasons that have been expressed here on the de but for the reasons of wanting to relieve you from the burden of having to work under the pressures of perhaps toxic environments toxic uh relationships and it would be my wish for my colleagues for all of us to work with somebody that we can all agree with I have had nothing but excellent outcomes for the items that I have brought up to this day is nothing nothing short of of what I have envisioned for events like the Veterans Day Parade U not not the parade the concert in the park um improvements that I have asked for Action items requests events you are a true leader and I thank you for for your stewardship during this time but I I don't want you to work under these conditions anymore Jerry and I appreciate you being willing and and able to guide whoever comes after you so thank you I'll rest there thank you councilwoman further woman Bailey thank you mayor well since I agree that things were a little bit out of order I just wrote one full thing about everything so um but I'll stick I'll stick to this one specifically for now and it falls along the same lines um you know we all deal with different issues that are specific to our areas and that's something that I brought up before anytime that I had any issues in the southwest um just the amount of care and the quick responses that I got and the ways that you were able to help me make a difference I will always be grateful for um I'll still be a no vote just because I'm not going to change it for this reason I know it is going through that does not mean that I'm not excited about what's to come or that I'm not going to work well with whoever comes in um but I feel like it would just be not worth it um I don't know what else to say except thank you and the best of luck thank you mayor thank you Council W any further at this point okay all right so I will yes vice mayor fetcher yes thank you and uh first let me say Mr Strada again this is nothing personal um I want to thank you for your long tenure service with the City of Homestead youve spent your career here serving the citizens of Homestead uh although we agree to disagree on some items uh you know my colleague at the end of the table say that you know Perfection is not the the answer but I believe Excellence is the answer and that's what we need to strive for on a daily basis and I don't believe we've done that and I believe our election has shown us that citizens in Homestead wanted some change uh I wish you nothing but well wishes uh I look forward to having a drink with you one day you probably won't want to have one with me but that's a decision you got to make but uh elections have consequences uh the last four years I said up here and had a couple of folks forced on me without any chance to to look at other options as well now that uh time has come along some changes are going to be made I I am very disappointed that some folks did leave I think there reasons uh for you know providing the the resignations uh were based off of former experiences with previous Mayors and Council I don't believe that to be the same uh issue at this point in time but I have to respect their decision to to resign and I wish them nothing but good wishes as well but with that it is time to move on and move the City of Homestead forward in the right direction and with the input of our community and our colleagues we're going to do that that's all thank you thank you vice mayor Fletcher so now I will open the floor to public comment and again if you would limit your comments to uh two minutes in duration come on down anyone wish to uh make a final public comment twom minute time limit and if You' please give us your name and address for the record good evening sir good evening Harold Ford 22 2225 Southwest 112 Place Miami Florida 33170 president of the South dat branch of the nacp I'm here because of the Injustice that is transpiring in this meeting that's the reason why I'm here I met with you personally Mr Mayor to express what the community had conveyed to me as it relates to a hit list of employees as it relates to the racial tone of your actions and I thought in that meeting that there was some level of understanding that things would be done differently and then even after hearing that there's other things going on I conveyed I sent a letter to each of you so now you got a face with a name letting you know that some of the actions that you've taken violate Florida Sunshine Law some of the actions that you've taken are violating people's civil rights and the the fact that you can sit in this meeting and decide to vote someone out knowing that they personally haven't done anything to violate the contract the date that you all agree to with the exception of those who were newly elected and I even said in my letter to you all if there's an issue with the contract revise the contract but don't sit here and tell me a contract is broadly written and you're going to use that now as your means of trying to get at this individual who really your Hit List includes someone who's not on the agenda but is in the room and we had that conversation as well who is also under City contract and so if your efforts are to continue in that direction I will tell this gentlemen if he feels inclined to come to the nacp for some level of support and to move forward we'll be more than happy to support him we're always in already in litigation with the city of Miami so so this is nothing new to us but at the end of the day God is Not mocked whatsoever you sow you will re thank you Mr Ford and I will challenge you as I did one of the officers of your organization that if you're going to stand at the podium and accuse any of us of criminal wrongdoing specifically violation of the Sunshine Law I urge you to take it wherever you need to take it and ask for a full investigation whenever you want we we welcome that review Mr Ford thank you anyone else someone online okay go ahead R ort R orto okay Mr orto go ahead two minutes hello mayor can you hear me yes we can hear you all right perfect first of all mayor counsel I want to uh thank you guys for calling this this special call meeting um this is something that the residents of Homestead have asked for and had been wanting for some time now and like uh vice mayor fleser said elections do have consequences and these are from the past elections unfortunately um many people who are in the audience now uh apparently they're not informed as to what's really going on within the city but we have a page that they can follow and they can catch up but that's besides the point mayor we you have our full support to follow through with this meeting I have several followers who concur with this we just want change and we want it for a very long time okay so at the end of the day I mean if what the People Want it not what every individual Council wants because all I heard is what they've done for that individual Council but what has he done for us the community okay there's a lot of issues that were ignored a lot of issues that have been looked over and now they have consequences and one last thing this goes to Larry rth Mr rth councilman rth you are a hypocrite okay because for the past two city managers you basically shoved them down the city Thro without a nationwide campaign none of that stuff now you want one you're a joke okay how's it feel to be irrelevant thank you mayor and have a good day thank you Mr order is there anyone else in the room wishing to make a comment on the matter before us think further yes Council baay thank you mayor um Mr orta you know that I like you I just need to say that there is a big difference in vetting someone that has worked for the city for 30 years as opposed to somebody that is coming that we're just meeting and there is there have been a few things that already happened tonight that are the opposite of what happened last time it was on the agenda so I am doing my part to stay true to that but I have to defend councilman Roth that is not the same thing so please take that under advisement thank you thank you Council wman um all right so I will now close the public hearing and ask for a roll call vote on the motion to terminate as stated effective March 31st councilman clment councilman Davis yes councilman Roth no councilwoman Bailey no councilwoman abula yes vice mayor Fletcher yes mayor lner yes the motion carries thank you our next item mayor yes Mr I'm sorry I have a statement if I can certainly thank you mayor and councel to say that I'm disappointed with council's decision goes without saying I knew that this was a risk I would be taking if I took the manager position position but I also realized the tremendous opportunity I had to do good not only for this community but the employees as well I want to say that it's been an honor and a privilege to serve this great City and its residence for over 31 years it's been an honor and a privilege to work with and Lead this incredible City staff mayor and Council you have an amazing City and staff here you have a staff that is dedicated to the city its residents and Council and performs admirably day in and day out I ask that you meet with the staff talk to the staff work with the staff and you will see that what I'm telling you is the truth don't listen to the few voices out there that say the other with that I wish you all the best Jerry I want to be the first to rise and applaud your career with the City of Homestead all right during our January meeting I disclosed my choice as as just one of seven votes as to who I believe uh should serve as our next city manager at that time his contact information and resume were circulated to each of the council members and it was also made part of the public record it is my understanding that as of this afternoon all of the elected officials have had at least one meeting with uh Dr iaba and many of us on multiple occasions or for extended lengths of time um Dr aak quaba has extensively toured our city and educated himself as to our projects and challenges the charter and code of our city provide this council with wide disc discretion which I guess is another way of saying very little guidance or guard rails as to the process for naming a city manager and I want to say as an aside establishing a more precise uh practice and procedure uh should be the subject of some Charter and uh code reform uh going forward our city today is faced with great challenges but even greater opportunity it is my opinion that we need to act quickly and decisively to hire one of the most respected best and brightest public servants in South Florida one who is knowledgeable and rooted in South Florida known and well regarded by those elected officials sitting on boards and agencies with which our city must have Cooper op operation collegiality and confidence I believe that Dr eaba will bring stability and accountability throughout our Workforce all of whose job one is to serve our residents by quickly and effectively implementing the policies and priorities determined by this Council his stature throughout South Florida will attract talent to fill the vacancies among the recent um as a result of the recent management and department head departures it is my privilege to welcome Dr E quaba and invite him to come forward introduce himself and make brief comments as he may wish following his presentation I will ask for a motion to direct the city attorneys to negotiate an appointment agreement with him at that point Council and the public will have opportunity to make comment uh and and public inquiry as to um the potential nominee Dr AA Welcome to our home welcome to the people's house of [Applause] Homestead good evening Council mayor and more importantly residents before I introduce myself I I would like to make one quick comment I want to thank all the employees of the city of hom stad for your service Chief You' done a good job Jerry in life there are tough times and there are great times you've done one heck of a job congratulations I'm your fan I'm not your enemy having made those preliminary comments let me start by saying that my name is Dr Zera Deputy City Manager for City of Miami I've been in the leadership of City of Miami for 14 years having spent seven years as Public Works director 5 years as an assistant city manager or sorry reversed 5 years as public War director 7 years as assistant city manager and approximately 3 years as a deputy I want to start by thanking you for the privilege and honor of speaking tonight and to present myself and confirm my interest to be your next city manager it is my understanding that you've had the time and the opportunity to take a look at my resume and perhaps you may have had the chance also to speak to people that know me in the industry in South Florida Florida I've lived in South Florida for 28 years continuously and my wife who is incidentally here with me in my immedate County Judge appointed by Governor DeSantis three years four years ago is here with me to give her support I fully understand that Homestead needs an experienced public administrator as the city manager not only to provide stability visioning and Leadership to staff but also to promote Life Safety promote public welfare and protect the public and improve the quality of life I stand here tonight to reassure you to reassure you that as a man of faith I believe in transparency I Believe In fairness I believe in treating people the way I want to be treated and I want all the employees that are sitting here tonight or watching on television to know that I come to Homestead with good intentions to do the right by everyone and to deliver excellent quality Municipal Services I will more or less State for the opting time that I would demonstrate without fear and favor Fidelity to the city Char and the city code I am no mon I'm no once your man I stand here as a man of honor and integrity as someone with a strong governmental background and professional and Technical expertise having obtained a doctorate degree in in civil engineering in 1996 and continuously practiced civil engineering and even having taught in universities I want to sufficiently state that I'm properly equipped and prepared to do this job having been involved in the management of a major American city city of Miami Florida my leadership style will call for open communication with elected body and the residents my my door will be an open door policy that would be my policy but I will demonstrate like I said earlier Fidelity to the city CH and city code as the deputy city manager at the city of Miami I supervise and oversee a number of City staff department directors I've acted as the city manager for upwards of two months at in a stretch and principally responsible for evaluating and preparing ing the city's Capital plan and I've done that for more than 14 years now approximately 14 years I'm also involved in identifying grants which is one of my strong points that Homestead needs to start looking for ways of generating outside revenue and outside funding we don't need to depend solely on property taxes that are paid by residents we need to go out there and look for County money state funds federal government not just cdb DG there are other sources of funding in Miami the residents voted for a Miami forever bond with $199 million for stor water improvements I put my feet down as a strong leader and says Commissioners do not distribute this money yet and of course those elected body the elected body saw with me the vision and the propriety of holding the funds and we used it as leverage to go for funding applications at the last count we generated additional $119 million to add to $199 if we had spent the $199 million we wouldn't be in where we are today so I promise you that we're going to go ahead and start looking for Extraordinary sources of funding for our projects while Miami may be considered different it is also the regions most it also has some of the regions most impoverished and economically challenged communities that required intervention of a c and a robust Community Development block grant like any other my experience in working in those two aspects will be useful when I assume the position of your city manager as I will be able to hit the ground running it is important to know that I also possess strong financial and budgetary skills I've been involved in preparing the city's budget reviewing it and presenting to council and twice in a row when Miami had this type of situation I Rose to be called the interim city manager and I delivered and discharged the duties and obligations of the office successfully regarding the qualities of city manager that everyone expects I feel sufficiently equipped with the right skill set and knowledge base to deliver on your mandates and policy Direction as a professional administrator especially one who has been in the trenches in a major city for years many will easily attest that I've had Integrity I have the experience I have the leadership qualities and I have the organizational talent that will provide the necessary stability for and to reassure our staff whom I always hold in high esteem as an administrator I was once one of the employees looking up to leadership for guidance and visioning I know what to do in terms of open open communication at all times with all employees I will reach out I'll be in the field I'll be in the offices I want everyone to feel that they can identify and feel as part of the city's Vision which is an imperative for organizational success one of my first steps will be to build confidence with employees this is critical and is vital it's going to be one of the key first wins that we're going to do to have open and Frank conversations about moving forward how do we enhance deliveries of min Municipal Services how do we identify and Implement best practices how do we adopt Career Enrichment measures that will boost morale how do we reassure staff that much as this is a new day in Homestead it requires all of us to take ownership and be accountable for the work we've been assigned to do my message to everyone today that who will be the drivers of the process that's my job and to my fellow employees my guiding principle is very simple just do your job and you will be just fine just do your job and you will be just fine On My Honor as a man of faith I share in the vision that City of Homestead is poised to Asser itself as a cultural vibrant City in leading the region in economic revitalization without dis respect to the city of Doral and other cities Homestead is the next best place where Stu will be happening in terms of development in terms of economic activity in terms of progress in the region it is my goal to focus on Forward Thinking policies and promoting responsible stewardship in restructuring our processes for better delivery of services and to deliver excellent Municipal services and quality of life for all again I stand here tonight to ask for your approval and support I pledge my commitment to honesty at all times honestly my heart they will have to deal with it I'm going to tell you the home truth I'm too big to be placed in anyone's pocket obviously no one's pocket is deep enough to place me I look forward to the opportunity of serving you as your n city manager thank you mayor losar for nominating me and finally my good friend this is well thank you and if you'd like to take the personal privilege to have your wife stand and recognize her please please do that and we were welcome and we were pleased to have you join both of you join us with some of your friends and family at our Black History Month event Saturday night in in the park um I'm glad that uh we could show you um the small town flavor and charm that we still have in a city of 100,000 plus I had expressed my appreciation to councel woman Bailey she invited me to that event we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves I went back to the office and I told folks something is going on in South Florida the newspapers are not carrying it I don't know why we need to do a better job to demonstrate that this is where stuff is happening no City that I know of in the past 28 years that I've lived in South Florida does stuff like that to celebrate cultural diversity to celebrate excellence and contribution of all segments of the society thank you Council and mayor and also for the administration for putting that all together that was fantastic thank you sir thank you and I'm now going to open the floor to any questions or comments by my elected colleagues uh who would like to kick off the conversation okay well vice mayor jumped in first thank you Mr Mayor and thank you Mr guaba for your statement uh I would like to say that I took the opportunity once the mayor provided us the copy of your resume to make contact with you and we've met no less than three times and talked multiple times over that and I can tell you U when I first heard we were looking at somebody from the city of Miami that was a big strike that was number one strike because of all the issues that they tend to have there and we see those you know played out on the national level quite often but I also did some homework and and made some telephone calls to folks that have done business with the city of Miami and attorneys that have represented Miami and uh city employees of the city of Miami who said basically our loss is the city of homesteads gain uh nothing but respectful thoughts were provided about Dr quaba the questions that we had and discussed as we drove through the city for several hours uh driving around he wasn't prompted by anybody to answer the questions that I asked him he actually asked me some pretty good probing questions that uh I haven't been asked before and I think that comes from the long background of service that he's provided to municipalities over the years I like to highlight he has a doctorate in civil engineering not an easy task and one of those things that I look at as I've looked in my career over the last 30 years is somebody who who looks at things metrically and I believe that Dr quaba will provide that that overall look as we move forward and he can provide some additional benefits to other departments that he's also uh supervised or worked in over his uh tenure through the county and the City of Miami I too had some conc concerns initially in regards to performing a national search but I also look at the cost of what that is going to be to the citizens of Homestead you're looking at 50 to 75,000 to perform a national search and time and interviews and and those things when I believe we have the right person in our own backyard willing and ready to take the hel at the City of Homestead he has promised me that he would be loyal to no one person he's told me he's going to give me answers when I ask him questions and I may not like those answers but we can have that discussion and work through it it's my privilege to welcome you to the city Homestead should things go in that direction and I'd be happy to make the motion as read by the mayor I didn't read it yet I thought you read it earlier no that was for determination okay well I want to get to that I will I will Reserve comments at this point in time to let my other colleagues have a discussion and topics but uh I appreciate you coming down and welcome Miss aava as well thank you for allowing your husband to come down here thank you thank you and councilwoman Bailey wanted to weigh in next thank you mayor um so specific to your contract yes that was something that was important to me because Homestead is a unique place place and for me that was the most important thing but I just want to say um I have such high respect for everybody here on the dis I look for guidance that's related to legal education PD mortgages from each of you um we each bring something different to the table and just as proof was asked of the naacp's concerns I have to say that I thought that was a very unfounded and uncalled for comment to our city clerk I think that we each need need to respect our opinions that being said um I'm never going to vote a certain way based on the way anyone up here is voting it might not be the right decision but it'll always be mine I was very impressed with Dr zary's um interview that we had I had many questions that are of high priority to me um not only did I feel like he understood the specific issues that we were having here in Homestead but I also appreciated the examples that he gave from programs or other initiatives that he has started before uh these range from everything from arts and education funding to Planning and Zoning issues and at the top of my list of questions I want staff to know was how he planned on building up staff morale and what his plans were for making any changes within our department we do have amazing staff and to lose any momentum by any more hiring firing or quitting that benefits No One National searches were brought up last time and for the reasons of not wanting to lose any more momentum and because of being thoroughly impressed with Dr Zer which was the same reason that I did not vote for a national search with jeria Shada I would be a no vote for that um I feel like it would Pro prolong the vacancy and as I mentioned all of all of my concerns I really was impressed with the answers that I received thank you mayor thank you councilwoman councilwoman AA thank you mayor Welcome to our city Chambers I want to thank you for giving me over an hour of your time today I told you I would call you in the morning and it was well in the afternoon by the time my agenda was able to catch up so I appreciate you dropping what you were doing and speaking to me about uh my concerns even though it was over an hour we really were speaking very transparently we cut to the chase on many of the items can you remind me what some of the top concerns were for me thank you councilwoman AA I think we spoke about communication Frank honest and consistent communication who spoke about employee moral we spoke about planning and zoning issues which you are a champion I respect you for that matter of fact I watched a couple of meetings already where you took charge then I realized wait a minute she's into real estate we spoke about building confidence and how to manage different personalities especially on the Des and I made a promise to you about confidentiality that I'm someone who doesn't disclose conversations that I've had with any of you to the next person when I spoke earlier I made a couple of statements about demonstrating Fidelity to the city Char and the city code if you ask anyone here who does business in the city of Miami they'll tell you that they call him Mr Code Compliance I don't violate rules no matter who is involved I would rather bring it to councel for guidance I don't bow to pressure or coass nobody Coes me matter fact there is a wise saying in Miami that nobody can mess with Zary I've had a city manager before God bless his soul late Johnny Martinez calls me big Zary there's a reason why you're big because nobody takes stuff past you you're like the quarterback we spoke a lot and it was intense it was we took a deeper dive on so many issues and I gave you my word that I would rather leave the job than to mislead the cast and I've told quite a few of that in private I have an honor I'm a man of faith I do good by all I met some employees when I was at the black history event a few days ago and I spoke I think uh I may have mentioned it to ACM Zachary please tell employees to stop quitting it's not good for the good of the cause why because you have a perception who will have best practices we'll get some workshopping with subject matter experts from within the city and outside the city to provide guidance obviously we don't know what the outcome of those Workshop where it's going to land us the one thing I'm coming in to do I'm not coming in here with preconceived buyers and we spoke about buyers most of the stuff we spoke about were essentially revolving around human relations and I told you point blank even though you wouldn't have seen my facial expression or body language that I treat people fairly at all times and I will treat everyone fairly it's a promise I'm coming here to do a job it's public service thank you Doctor what I want to um maybe help remind you of is you got one right people in process with our Commercial Business Development here in the City of Homestead has been a priority in streamlining the the way business owners can open and the way for development in our commercial districts to to thrive there's two other ones that start with P and I'm going to I want to see if you can remember so we talked about permitting right we spoke about permitting and I told you listen there are tested and approved methods of enhancing permitting process in the city that we've done it aside from development you got to remind me I parks and police parks and you told me what's your pet parks and police are my number one not just parks and Poli they're all three Parks police and people in our process they're all in number one so please keep that in mind as you move forward and I want to um I want to say mayor I think that you did a great job in bringing his application or his resume to us I was impressed as I read through it my conversation with him um gave me a lot of confidence in in the reasonings why you recommended him um I am still interested in hearing the presentation if you'll if you'll entertain with entertain us with that item um but if it is the will of the council to have you as our next city manager I look forward to working with you and to not skipping a beat but just keep keep in mind my my peas please thank you thank you Council woman councilman Davis well doctor thank you for being here today it's a delight to hear your presentation and welcome to you and to your wife as well thank you for coming ma'am uh I will tell you that I I very much appreciated our talk the other day and it was a quite a lengthy one too and during that talk um you know I peppered you with everything I could every question I can think of and everyone you fielded everyone that you came back with your own with your own um uh uh uh piece of it as well that uh how are we going to make Homestead uh a greater place and I walked away from that uh meeting it was I was very impressed with the vision that you have for Homestead and bringing us into the next 20 years into the next 50 years and that's the place that we're poised today and I very much appreciate our our talk it was quite a lengthy one um I'm also impressed by the things uh that we talked about as well that your resume and and our and our discussion brought it out that you are professionally and AC academically well prepared you've done your part you've done your homework um and I admire that it takes a lot of work to get that done but you also have the leadership chops to put it all together and coming back from my background I respect that very much uh I very much look forward uh to uh working with you uh as as has been fielded by our by the other uh members of the council to work closely with you to to look for the betterment of our of our city as we move forward and I for one will be delighted to vote on the mayor's uh motion as it's brought up thank you sir thank you councilman sure go ahead councilman Ro thank you mayor so one decision has been made tonight sitting up here is not always easy but we took this job and we do the best we can with it I met with Dr Ziri everybody's gonna call him Ziri because his name is almost um not impossible but very challenging to pronounce and we sat for if I can recall over two and a half hours together going over right there was no Super Bowl that day it was the Sunday before that um going over all kinds of questions scenarios philosophies of Life philosophies in management and as I told you sitting there that day towards the end of our conversation that I I couldn't support you at that moment because I hadn't eaten at all the restaurants yet meaning that there may have been a potential for other applicants to come our way I too feel like you are a very special individual you've got a lot of experience not only in management but in your faith as well I don't come across these situations and make hasty decisions but if the mayor will allow me to um cancel my presentation so long as no one up here objects to that then I will withdraw my presentation tonight and we'll move this city forward with your leadership as the next chapter in the history of our city saying that there's a lot of pressure that comes with this job as you know um maybe not as much as what the city of Miami can put on you with its over 400,000 residents um and I'm sure there's a few people that throw stones every once in a while um and hopefully and I can almost assure it you won't have to deal with a mayor and Commissioners that put their city in Jeopardy almost every day our Das is is pure it's honest it's transparent as is our staff our outgoing city manager who's been extremely professional throughout this entire process and I do agree with my colleague alila that you no longer have to go and suffer under what pressures our city has put you under and we thank you for your 30 plus years of service our city staff our chief of police our clerks our linemen our development services our city attorneys Carlos I'm not going to forget about you over there in procurement and finance you're you're coming into a a family we may not always see ey eye we may not always agree but the one thing that all of us up here want to do is protect our city as you see we have a lot of residents here today I don't know that they were expecting to go through this process with us tonight they're here for another item and I can assure you and them that we will have their backs as well tonight and if we can come to an agreement with you via of our attorneys in a contract I will welcome you with open arms we'll work with you as I did with my city manager he'll always be my city manager but we will work together as we spoke about our philosophies were very similar and I pray that we can just continue to move our city forward thank you mayor thank you councilman I just want to say I think you made a very very good point that unlike the city of Miami and other cities where we have our own seven unique Styles and perspectives but but I never once doubt that we all have the same goal in mind we're all traveling to the same place we just might take different roads every now now and then so you our next city manager will find seven and very engaged concerned and proactive individuals who all want to get to the same place and you know we're the second oldest city in this County behind the city of Miami which is a good example with your background here tonight and as far as I know in our 111 111 this this January 111 years of existence as far as I know we've only had two elected officials indicted the same can't be said from where you're coming from in the last uh last year so you know to use an old time expression we may fat fight like cats and dogs we can walk away from this dis and shake hands and be collegial and friendly and aren't plotting against one another because when when those plots happen it's not for the benefit of the city and in all of our unique ways we are here I just want to make a comment benefit of the city can I just make one quick comment on the record City of Miami is still a beautiful place to live to drive and to work whatever you read in the newspapers is not reflective of the excellent professional administrators the city of Miami have they have just like City of Homestead the EMP employees are great doing honest job on a daily basis I agree an individual's MH shortcomings of FL laws or pce perceived shortcomings is not reflective on the residents and citizens and employees of the city of Miami still a wonderful place to call home we recognize that and although you know we also recognize that at times in in your situation that the bad acts of a few elected officials are projected upon staff but we we know better you know all of us having the benefit of of sitting in leadership positions in our our prior vocations and here we know that's that's just not not the case so let's get a motion on the floor and then we'll take um public comment and here's a motion I would would ask that be made um a motion to direct the city attorneys to negotiate to begin negotiations for an appointment agreement between the City of Homestead and Dr in in aaba for adoption by the city council with a start date to be termin to be determined as the circumstances dictate set agreement May vest all powers duties and obligations of the city manager as of a date prior to March 31st 2024 and the agreement shall provide that upon the earlier of April 1st 2024 or the earlier resignation or relinquishment of the title of city manager by Mr Estrada the title of city manager s vest and Dr awaba the initial expiration date of the agreement would be March 31st 2027 now just to to reflect what this reflects is that as we stated earlier Mr Estrada is entitled to hold the position of uh the the title of city manager through March 31st there will be a transition period And if we we adopt a contract during the transition period Dr eabo will in effect be the city manager without having the actual title of city manager I kind of call it a a self-executing transition from whether it be temporary or interim city manager that that upon you know the earlier of Jerry relinquishing the title or March 31st Dr awaba would then become would have the hold the title of city manager so that's a motion who would like to make that motion yes I'll make the motion without all the legal e however well it's important that this be in here for the parameters of the contract motion so moved all right moved by the vice mayor second seconded by councilman Davis so I'm now going to open the floor for public comment uh so come on down again a two-minute limit while the first uh contestant's coming down I'm going to hand the clerk the uh the Motions that have been vetted by our City attorney so that she'll have the exact wording for the record all right is there anyone online all right going once going twice we'll close the public hearing and ask for a roll call motion on the direction to the attorneys to uh o negotiate a an employment agreement with Dr awaba councilwoman aula yes councilwoman Bailey yes councilman Clemente councilman Davis yes councilman R yes vice mayor Fletcher yes mayor lner yes the motion carries hey thank you so this concludes I believe the uh the special call agenda um what I'd like to do is um take a 10-minute recess once we adjourn this um I say uh to Mr Estrada if you wish to uh take leave tonight and let Mr good handle the agenda certainly understand if you want to sit in the seat and continue we we welcome that as well it's it's your call and then we come back if there's no objection I'd like to take up the landfill issue first I know we have a lot of residents here in the audience so we will we'll deal with that so so you can go home while we continue here on the rest of our business so we have a motion in a second to adjourn the special call all in favor any opposed and we will return at 7:25 thank you all good evening everyone and welcome I'd like to call the City of Homestead committee the whole meeting to order today is Tuesday February 13 2024 and it is now 7:28 p.m. roll call Madam Clark councilman Davis here councilman Roth councilman cannibal councilwoman ailo councilwoman Bailey Vice man Fletcher here mayor La here all right um Mr Good do we have any additions deletions or deferrals tonight no mayor thank you all right good our first item is car number 4163 and that is the Atlantic civil presentation good evening Melissa tapz with Law Offices at 200 southf g Boulevard Miami I happen to be here on January 24th and heard no one has ever voice I will be the presenter good evening everyone loud enough thank you thank you uh my name is Melissa excuse me I'm gonna make you laugh I'm Gonna Make You Dance it's all good uh my name is Melissa tapenz law office is at 200 southb g Boulevard Miami I happen to be here on January 24th and heard um much of the comments about uh a landfill coming to the City of Homestead of course that made me think hm who's the best environmental attorney in town who would be working uh for a landfill company so I'm here to introduce you to Tom Robertson uh he's one of my partners at the firm and he's been representing Atlantic civil for some time now I thought it would be beneficial uh for the council the mayor Administration as well as your residents to hear directly uh from Mr Robertson regarding the proposed plans um I hope that in the spirit of transparency and just facts and education um you all don't hate me too much for doing this I recognize after meeting with many of your residents that it perhaps was not such a great idea but here we are so please be nice to Mr Robertson thank you thank you very much for the opportunity to come speak with you tonight um and I apologize that I'm actually here speaking to you about this because I know there's a lot of misconceptions and I appreciate mayor losner that you would allow me to come here and discuss this I think it's an important decision and I think that having the correct information is helpful and let me start out by saying that what we are looking for is not a landfill it is not defined as a landfill in state law or in County ordinates it is a construction and demolition facility where most of of it is recycled it is then disposed of yes there on that property so what we are talking about is something wholly different where is it located it's located south of the udb line it is 211 Acres it is as I said outside the Urban Development line it is going to be in the city of Florida City it is directly south of the homestead border now this is what I want to talk to you about what does a CND D facility do a CND D facility is where demolition debris from either a construction job or a reconstruction job is brought to be processed and most of it is removed and sent for recycling see what do you get you get concrete you get asphalt from roads and from roofing shingles gypsum which is is the most prominent part of drywall Metals bricks glass you get Salvage building components and you get trees stumps and Earth specifically from the clearing sites okay so this is not like Landscaping where they can bring anybody that wants to for a CND license you can only bring material that comes off of the site where the demolition has occurred there is absolutely no food nothing is to Decay nothing that will cause odors or attract when you think about a landfill you are thinking about a class one landfill such as the one that's at the South day landfill that landfill accepts all materials and as a result there is odor there are birds in fact all of the birds in the South Dade area feed at the South day lanville and so they hang out other places what is the significance of a CN D CND D is 35% of the municipal wav stream this comes from the Department from the uh FD directly off of their website in fact that particular picture is available by going on to the Florida Department of Environmental Protections website that's what a CN is it's 35% of the total waste stream for Miami day County why is that important right now there is a CND facility that is just outside of oh I forgot one thing a CN facility recycles 75% that number right there comes from EPA you can go find that exact thing on the EPA website right now and that was from 2018 since 2018 they've begun to develop methods to recycle asphalt shingles roofing material and so my suspicion is that number is higher right now but I can't say that how are we going to access I'm sure a lot of you are concerned about trugs and I don't blame you but as you can see the access is going to be along Southwest 137th Avenue to Southwest 352nd street that particular access will also accommodate the existing CND facility as you can see in red right right to the near the Air Force Base there is an existing CN facility that facility is about to be topped out what does that mean that means it's closing during the time it would take for us to permit the CN facility that we're working on that one will close and so that volume of material that would otherwise be going to a CND facility will go to South a landfill until there's another available CN facility what does that mean to the South Aid landfill and the prices that you pay for solid waste disposal taking CND D material to a solid waste facility such as the South landfall is a very tragic mistake and so not having a facility like this in the area where local business people can take material of this type is a tragedy what this is going to be doing is replacing a facility that will be closing between now and when our facility can be coming online this is from mayor cabba's report to the County there is right now a crisis in solid waste management for the county and I'm sure that that's going to be reflected in the rates that you pay in the future the 100 excuse me the 1 million ton facility in deral has been lost completely and so the county now has the problem of dealing with 1 million tons of garbage now they say and it is correct that they can make up for it by having contracts for capacity and they currently have contracts for capacity but those contracts expire this year you can imagine what the price of transporting municipal waste is going to be starting with the new contracts that are going to be entering before the start of 2025 and so 35% of what it needs to go into the municipal Solid Waste stream can be handled locally as it should be and can be handled efficiently what is this you say that's the first stage of constructing this CN facility facing the homeowners is going to be a landscaped burn it will start out as being 50 feet high as each level in increases the side facing to the north will constantly be kept grasped and covered same will be true for sequences of construction so that ultimately what will be seen is a grassy side then you say well what happens when it's full well grass covered slopes is all that anybody will see but when it's full it gets converted to a park in Broward County off of Griffin Road there's an old landfill a landfill not a CN D facility and that is now a city park if you've ever been to it's a very nice city park this particular one is in fresh kills Staten Island New York again this was not from a CND facility this was from an ual landfill another one in Cedar Rapids Ohio Iowa excuse me and this is the one in Broward County that I just told you about right off of Griffin Road now this is the future of what will be going on with this CN D facility When It ultimately closes in about 22 years now what do we we been what are we doing with the county the county gets to make a consistency determination because there's been a zoning application in the city of Florida City and there's an interlocal agreement with that City the county makes a determination on whether it's consistent with the comprehensive plan within the county code there is a 10,000 foot area where landfills are not allowed now the county code specifically says that the state statute on definition will be adopted here and that state statute says that C and D facilities are not landfills so this while we are outside of the 10,000 square 10,000 foot radius we are not a landfill and so we are not it does not implicate from the county code Stanfill you'll see that the current Atlas CND facility is actually inside that 10,000 square foot excuse me 10,000 ft distance the facility we are offering is over 18,000 ft away from the Air Force Base what you don't see in that is the landfill the South Tade landfill which is only 13,000 ft away and so the facility that we are doing is further away than is the South Day land Phil excuse me 16,000 ours will be at 18 the existing CN is only 5,000 feet away so in conclusion this project is going to have minimal adverse impacts we think it's very important to be able to have this and we believe that the County Commission should approve it but I will tell you that if this County Commission does approve it there is another opportunity because the city of Florida City will then have to hold a public hearing which is for the compatibility as opposed to the consistency so you will have the opportunity to go to the city of Florida City in front of their commission or councel and speak to them so I'm here for any questions anybody might have um please don't throw anything I'm not a very good catch well let let me let me ask you um curious what what would be the maximum height 200 feet 200 feet which is comparable to the existing Mount Trashmore uh no 12 Mount Trashmore would be higher it would be comparable to what the CND facility at Atlant uh the Atlantic Atlas excuse me uh councilman cannibal how you doing sir good sir thank you let me tell you something the foundation of any successful proposal lies in the ability to address the concerns and needs of the community it seeks to impact it is not just about presenting a vision but also about forcing a genuine understanding of why this change is necessary and beneficial for us unfortunately I believe you have fallen short in providing a compelling case and the acry of the community is very very clear I have received tons of emails outlining the reasons why you shouldn't be here however I have yet to receive a single okay one explaining why you should be here I work for for those people okay who email me as such I will be voting no not only will be voting no but I will be attending the board of County commissions where you IEM will be here next month and I will be advocating for you not to become part of this community [Applause] okay will believe me I will not help you in this thank you so let me let me again jump to you know we have quite a few residents here tonight did this presentation change any of your minds okay well no no don't don't speak from the peanut gallery please you know if someone wants to come up and and make a statement or ask a question you're welcome to do so but we can't have the the chatter from the peanut gallery it's hard for us to to Wi through um so there's an appeal of the prior finding by the county of inconsistency correct yes sir and that's pending on February 22nd at the government center downtown what time is that noticed for it's scheduled for 9:30 depends on what item we are on the agenda last time we were heard we were actually heard at 35 right all right uh Council aala thank you mayor you're very brave that's for one and you too Melissa um but I can tell you that from my position my standpoint as you were having your presentation we saw the mountain getting higher and higher the the shock and Terror on their faces was it just was obvious um you know I love Florida City too much to try to be silent on an issue like this even though it's not within the city limits they're the gateway to the Florida Keys not the gateway to you know whatever trash Mountain you want to call it uh we want to see Horizon in our backyard not these types of facilities so um I I don't wish you the best of luck because I don't want this to pass um but I I do thank you for taking the time and trying to you know share some information and kudos to your client that picked the right person to do the job but I don't think that you're going to see you know or receive any any kind of support here from the deis I would hope no one on the deis would support this and from the residents of the City of Homestead I think we all stand firm in our opposition against this item sorry but not sorry thank [Applause] you councilman Davis and then Council Bailey right thank you sir thank you welcome to Homestead right here you go uh uh I'm looking at your at your last slide and it says on the bottom Homestead uh's concerns for safety are legitimate but this project uh improves the situation for them I want you to go back like like two slides if you could please this is a test for an old man see if you can work this uh one more there you go so if you look at the if you look at that map uh uh and you say that it it lowers the safety concerns for Homestead the base has what are those safety concerns that it lowers the safety concerns that Homestead Air Reserve Base has talked about is buzzards actually vultures but we colloquially will call them buzzards and those are attracted to South Dade the overall region because of the South a landfill which does nothing to try to mitigate and or reduce the Buzzard population Atlas c and d right now which is dramatically closer to Homestead Air Reserve Base than our facility would be initially had a buzzard problem why you might ask because there's no food evidently anywhere you place slightest hump in the ground creates heat waves and the birds like heat waves so they get up there you you can go over golf courses you'll see them you can go over the speedway you'll see them frankly over Homestead Air Force Base itself because the heat coming off of the um off off of the tarmac they in fact at the Air Reserve Base have three full-time biologists Wetlands biologists because most of Homestead Air Reserve basees a wetland which attracts birds and because they have the same situation that we would have where than any CN is the heat now how do you accommodate for that well they will tell you that they mitigate for it how do they mitigate for it I don't know they won't tell us it's secret but we have a company that at airports around the country country it's called The Predator company manages and mitigates for bird strikes and specifically for vultures how do they do it it's kind of draconian frankly to me they buzzards evidently respond to Effigies and so they get kill permits they put up a buzzard nearby and other buzs won't come in there they use firecrackers they basically wander around just chase them off and it's effective because at the atlas CND facility they were experiencing over 200 buzzards a day and that has now gone down towards five or six and we would be doing a similar from the similar type of program from the start so there wouldn't be the buildup that had occurred at Atlas Atlas has been there for over 40 years there has been a CND facility in south dat at Atlas for over 40 years and that's going to close in the next three years and so the guys who do construction work the guys you know you think of demolition you think of a whole house but it's not just that for the person that does Renovations they have to take that they take their material to a CND facility because the Tipping fee at a CND facility is much less because of the recycling so the local business people who are working as contractors who have to do demolition as part of that contractor or your demolition contractors themselves need a place to dispose of their material and do it at a price dramatically less than at at the South a landfill but but I I'm sorry we're we're getting off Target we're talking about the landfill not the safety issue and the reason I keep coming back to that during my tenure at the base I I saw two bird strikes one to an F-16 one to a C130 and uh particularly impressive when it hit the C130 it got hit by a prop and it got shot back into the wing and left a big honk and hole in the C130 is very powerful when that happens or with your an F-16 driver and you ingest a bird you know or or it hits the cockpit or something so it's a big deal the reason I'm bringing it up is this I'm sorry I'm long-winded tonight if you look at the if you look at the orientation of the Airfield correct um you'll uh you'll see that you are uh mount Trashmore is what to the north of the base you said it's like 13,000 ft away uh but it's it's to the north uh and uh east of the of the base so when the planes launch they launch they go south they go over the they go over the Florida Straits and they and they take off to wherever they're going to train and do brilliant fighter pilot stuff um this one is directly in the flight path and so we can talk about mitigation and I understand the concept of mitigation that you know that they scare the birds away sometimes they kill them whatever whatever is necessary to protect the protect the pilots um and the airframes but as the Bas read into this I think that if I was a wi Commander I'd have my hair on fire knowing that there's any kind of a because you're right about the updraft that's what they do is what was what they do uh being right there on the approach that's where they land and that's the approach that they come in and now that um potentially increases the danger of of in the apcs as well because as you know the planes crash landing or they are more likely to crash as they're Landing or they're launching so now we have that problem as well when the um alert Jets launch they launch directly over that site when they when the alert Jets take off and they can take off at any time you know 247 that's their job um uh I got to tell you I side with our I side with our community there there's there's there's just no place for that here and um uh when you when you look at the things sometimes we squabble with the base we're like a good Southern family you know um and then we just don't talk about it you know um but the bottom line is nothing will shut down that base quicker than having any kind of a of a of a impact threat for those Jets or for anything else that's land in there and that's what that brings with it I'm sorry you talk about Atlas and I understand I've driven by that uh several times um but it ain't in the flight line either is it you know what I mean it's not it's not it's not where they approach and it's not where they launch so this is this will just this can't fly it can't fly [Applause] thank you mayor and councilman you're absolutely right and you may not have been on the on the day at the time but we did have representation from Homestead Air Reserve Base that did a presentation provided photographic evidence about the major concerns that they had and it's it's no secret I'm a military spouse my husband works at the Air Force Base and you know the birds are a problem and I can't imagine and as much as I would love to to believe that things would be done to the tea with making sure only recyclable construction material I doubt if they demo a building or they demo a a hazardous location that they're picking out the problematic pieces that wouldn't qualify or that people aren't you know getting things in however they get in to be able to dump trash at this location cheaper than everywhere else we have the problem where people are dumping in our around our city bulk trash all the time time and they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing so no matter no matter what process process or or or um um you know system that's in place people get around it it's just not a risk we're willing to take um and necessity is the mother of invention if they're running out of space maybe the solution is not building more landfills and they have to figure out a better way to get around this you know this you know problem so thank you for bringing up those items Davis thank you thank you Council woman can I say something May with all those respects here and we love the Bas okay I'm not concerned about the base I'm concerned about these people over here we don't want you over here that's it so you need to take that that business someplace else please [Applause] okayy thank you mayor um it's unfortunate that this is the first we hear that there's one one of these sites right by the Air Force Base that we could have visited if this is truly an effective way that we could recycle um then I I just really wish that we would have heard heard about that sooner um I really respect marava um but it's yeah it's we're past the point of uh of seeing you know the flight path alone I think that is uh that one concern would be a no for me but just just wanted to mention that that this is a huge a huge proposal you guys should have come and explained this much better before we started forming our own opinions and not had any representation from your company well I apologize we weren't here earlier but I'm here now I know and I appreciate that I do I do but I just wanted to mention that thank you Council Roth thank you mayor so even though Atlas is out there it's not near any residential communities and when you look look at the one you want to put in Florida City which is probably less than 100 yards from a very nice Community it doesn't make a lot of sense and to use to use your two words that stuck out to me during your conversation that if the atlas gets closed down and they have to take that to the landfill it would be a tragic mistake it's going to be a tragic mistake if we allow this landfill to go just south of the keysgate community so it's interesting how you laid out the process if the county does approve this then our next step is to take all these people that are here today and go to Florida city and sit in their Chambers and talk to them about why they want to put this landfill directly south of the keysgate community because if we can't stop it at the county level we're certainly not going to let our sister city put something something like this in our backyard thank you mayor and before I go to the vice mayor he'll have the last crack at it as this is you know his home home District uh just want to say you know I've gotten a lot of emails why is this on the agenda did you put it on the agenda has the city changed its position no we have not but they're come you know our good friends at at the law firm ask us for the opportunity to make the presentation and I think it's impressive the number of you who came out tonight to get the firsthand information if you didn't have that in the past um again should have would have could have maybe they should have come and visited you earlier uh put it in context remember we only have two County Commissioners who are in any any way accountable to the people of Homestead the other 11 can deal with us with impunity and with no accountability so you know you've done your the right thing with your city council you've reached out scores of you have reached out to each one of us over the last several months you know in the runup to the hearing I would encourage you to make contact with commissioner um McGee Commissioners McGee and and Cohen Higgins and uh you know going to the county is always a crapshoot there no no other way to uh to put it you know it went one way before and there's now an appeal pending and we'll see where where that goes but you know to to Echo you know several of my colleagues here tonight it's about the base but it's about what our residents don't want want in their backyard and we have to be reflective and respectful of that and we have been and will continue that again I want to thank um and again thank you for coming into the lion's den tonight um I know you're a veteran at it but you know a new cage here and uh you know we we appreciate your your forthrightness and and the opportunity to to to explain and and give us the applicants position and the global picture of of what's going on here so with that vice mayor fler thank you Mr Mayor and uh I too want to thank my fellow residents that came out to uh support support not support this item tonight um prior to the election we were noticed at the county that you were going for the initial approval uh at that time uh my myself and a few others put together a petition that was signed by over 5,000 residents of the South Dade community saying we don't want this in our backyard some of those are residents of keysgate where there's over 4,000 homes and an additional 1,200 that are getting ready to be built right next to this facility they don't want to see it again my colleague said it very clearly earlier they want to see Horizons not a a a refu site as you it uh just a recycling site but it's it's refu it's gar it's it's construction garbage basically we don't want you're also looking at putting a commercial facility you know within a 100 yards of homes the road that you had identified here coming in off of 137 Avenue would be traversing right next to 12200 new units that are going in at the keysgate community this facility would uh be a detriment to our community there's lots of land elsewhere in Miami date County at this facility if you're going to be dumping stuff at the South End of the community it's going to cost more money for traversing with vehicles we can find a place off of chrome Avenue that fit this much better that's not next to residential areas so with that I will also be an attendance whether I able to talk or not uh at the County Commission meeting on the Fe 22nd I will be there with several of my residents in strong opposition to this [Applause] application I have reached out to many members of the board of County Commissioners to let them know what our feelings are our community is also uh flooded County government with emails as well this is not what we want there's better places for it I'll rest of that Mr Mayor thank you thank you just clarify for our residents um it's not certain whether or not the commission will take or allow public comment at the appeal and that will not be known and so if you're planning to going be prepared to only be able to you know somehow signify you are there in opposition without actually speaking and to clarify I think vice mayor Fletcher's comments when he says somewhere on Chrome we're talking Way North Chrome Way North North Chrome again thank you sir thank you for the opportunity to be here thank you thank you all right next item tab two is the approval of the January 16th committee the whole minutes do have a motion to approve approved it's been moved seconded all in favor any opposed next is uh motion to place car number 418 on the agenda co- designation of a portion of Southwest 6th Street as Bishop Willie L Scott way is there a staff report on this Mr good yes sir staff recommends the mayor and city council consider C- designation of Southwest 6th Street from Southwest 9th Avenue to Southwest 10th Avenue as Bishop Willie L Scott way as the request conforms to the application provisions of the naming renaming or close designation of City of Homestead streets and the provisions of resolution 2021 12160 the applicants request States Bishop Scott is a homestead in Florida City Community pillar serving the needs of others for many years he was a chaplain with the Homestead police department and treasurer of the southeast Dade ministerial Alliance Bishop Scott coached a youth baseball team as a tool to minister to to the youth he continues mentoring at least a dozen ministers who significantly impact the South Dade community the historic preservation board recommended approval of the proposed Cod designation request with a 40 vote after January 31st 20124 meeting please note that per criteria nine of the policy for naming renaming or co- designation of streets a um Council super majority must vote in favor of the resolution in order to name the street after a individual who is still living and I believe that there may be um a individuals here on behalf of the applicant anyone on behalf of this item okay oh very well those of us who have been in and around this community for a while full well recognize that name and and the face and and and his contribution and participation so do we have a motion to to forward this item moved by Council Bailey second by councilman cannibal all in favor you opposed next item uh car number 4135 request for waiver of usage fees Mr Good Mii date County Public Schools is requesting that mayor and Council authorize the city manager to approve a waiver of usage fees in the amount of $1,000 for the use of lner Park on April 27th 2024 for an event called a in D9 which focuses on community engagement recognizing achievements and offering resources to students and families the event also features an award ceremony that spotlights the remarkable efforts of students and teachers from all 46 schools in South dat the event has become a Cornerstone of community unity and I believe that there is an individual here on behalf of Schoolboard member uh Louisa Santos anyone here on behalf of this item anything to add you want to come to the podium awesome um good evening mayor losner vice mayor Fletcher council members and Homestead staff my name is Seline I am the constituent service coordinator for Schoolboard member Louisa Santos um and I'll be representing the office today board member Santos sends her regrets as she is right now in downtown at a Schoolboard meeting um but shares that she's grateful for your continued partnership and support for our Homestead schools and our students and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have good council members any any questions Council Bailey just a commment thank you for bringing it to Homestead and moved yeah absolutely we're we're honored to have it here um take the message back we'll trade the usage fees for the classrooms and student stations that are uh really short I'm sure that'll be a fair trade all right it's moved in seconded all in favor any opposed and the date uh April 27th April 22nd very good thank you wonderful thank you guys much all right next item now on to the fun stuff motion to place car number 4154 on the council agenda call to artist for community theme mural on the rear wall of the simol theater this is an informational item intended for the mayor and Council to discuss and provide guidance regarding the commission of public art the city has allocated up to $100,000 in public art funds for the commission the city's internal selection committee shortlisted three finalists for city council consideration for the seminal theater Community themed mural the three finalists are Kenny Maguire AJ Davis and blackbrain group the artists are recommended based on previous artistic accomplishment public art experience and approach to the project the shortlisted artists uh will are here to present um at this meeting each of them have created an approximately five minute presentation and are available for questions and answers very good so we'll uh start those presentations in no particular order but first our apologies and condolences for having you uh endure the last uh two hours three hours of uh of our meeting tonight so who's up first Mr Kenny McGuire will be presenting first all right is he online or is he here oh there he is good you already have the edge you're not trying to talk to us from somewhere else welcome evening um my name is Kenny McGuire I'm an a 54 year-old muralist and artist uh I've painted murals all over over the country and especially Florida um I want to tell you a little bit about what inspired my idea for the theater um I was born and raised up north and I moved to Florida in 2008 I moved to Key West and um during the trip down here um we stopped in Homestead and it was 7:30 p.m. maybe Sunset and um I I was asleep in the car and my first experience of Florida was waking up in Homestead that evening and getting out of the car and you could smell the ocean and see the the trees and and and that image of Florida that was stuck in my head uh was kind of what I wanted to do to the back of the theater um it isn't necessarily more about um an individual uh thing it's more about the that painting the Everglades on the back of of the theater I think has a permanence to it um they've always been here they're always going to be here I'm sorry about that um painting the Everglades back there is a is a creates a sense of permanence I think and also with the park and based on the call to artist that I read um the things that you guys want to do with the park back there and interact with that public artart um I feel like having a nature theme and celebrating the fact that you guys have the everg grades right here in Homestead I think is the way to go so that's my my idea and I'm open to any questions or comments or thank you questions comments from Council on H this concept gler concept I just want to say this is the one that caught my eye um no offense to the other artists I I really like the the Panorama effect on the the true real wall it kind of reminds me of a very well-known local artist well he's not here any longer Phil Capen is very famous for his Everglades and Bahamas type watercolors um and I also noted that uh you are within the the established budget um my only question and it may be in the reproduction of colors here and I think you you call this Sunrise of Everglade Sunrise um would would the actual implementation of the rear wall uh be a little bit brighter than is depicted here I mean it is sunrise not sun sunset well I typically don't like to do renderings for my murals because the renderings never look as vibrant or bright or any actually in many cases that doesn't look much at all like the finished mural because the only medium I have to work with in design or the the the tools that we have the computer and the and the the drawing board but the paint um the mural itself yeah the the colors will be way brighter than what they appear in the rendering good thank you anyone else well I'm actually I'm glad you brought that up I use acrylic um and it it has a very long life um I I recently was down on the Treasure Coast and I or up on the Treasure Coast and I looked at a mural I did back in 201 um right on the water facing the sunrise and it still looks really good I was really impressive very good all right Council yeah just a thought um it it says in the description a community themed mural and although the Everglades is a very beautiful place I don't know that it's captures the community when we have so many different themes in our community with not only the Everglades but agriculture we have uh the Air Force Base as we spoke about in length today we have Homestead Miami Speedway we have the cultural diversity inside the city as well so if it's to me I was envisioning more of of the community theme versus an Everglades theme and I was wanted to see everybody else's stuff before I made that comment but that to me would be what I would Envision I mean this is beautiful there's no question and um I just think that it doesn't it really doesn't match the theme of what they asked it was a community themed uh mural that's all thank you mayor well and and not to your point but at least my thought and and you know it while it did say you know Community themed this meshes with is and to me and there are two proposals that include Everglades motifs they kind of compliment the theme and the idea and the concept of the park that they're not a whole different subject or or or incompatible um you know and it occurred to me in looking at at some of these other proposals and and some of the prior work of all of the artists that I know something near and dear to uh our Council both of our Council women are commun are murals throughout the community and and and I foresee the potential uh for some of these to be very coste effective and and we would have the opportunity to incorporate some of those those other um motifs and other locations as as the fund goes forward it was interesting I don't I don't know how many people remember but the seminal theater did have a mural on it at one point prior to the renovations I believe and um I think that one was kind of that theme that I was talking about that was more suitable towards the community but yeah I mean if we're going to this this is this is breathtaking to look at I'm sure in real life when you stand AAR and you look at it you it almost Blends in to especially if those trees are actually there it becomes part of what the the art is and and it makes sense that way yeah it makes it makes perfect sense that was the idea not to interrupt you but airo like and having different items in the uh mural the only thing I may I I may want to do is put Homestead on somewhere identification for the city so that Instagram internet whatever that may be the only thing I would want to do differently but with a mural I think it has to be not only does it have to fit into the environment that it's in but I think it needs to make one big impression immediately as opposed to having a lot of things in there look at and a lot of things I mean that's important to have obviously things to look at but with public art it's about making an impact that's an encompassing impact I mean it's not necessarily about the items in the mural as a like the birds or whatever as opposed to the overall color and the vibe and and the overall scheme and that's why I went the way I went I actually went and tried a couple other ideas and thought I'll add some other things in here like some avocados and and I went kept going back to this because I believe that this has the most overall impact vice mayor Fletcher yes thank you and U one thing again uh the mayor did point out that this was the only proposal that was well within the budget the other are quite extensive if you take a look at those cost factors um one of the things as the chairman of the Tourism Committee is we're trying to determine an identity again for heste setting come up with that catchy phrase right now we're you know the gateway to the national parks and I think this plays perfectly into that but one of the things we're going to be reaching out to our my colleagues as well is we need to come up with another catchy phrase for the City of Homestead um it's time to start branding ourselves and marketing ourselves for that this I think is a good start I like the others as well but uh the cost not so much so let's uh we'll hear the other other applicants as well but yeah thank you anything further for this uh Council if I wait a minut don't don't say that it does price does matter excuse me um mayor and Council if I may I do want to point out that as I was reading the agenda item I spoke the amount allocated is $300,000 not $100,000 okay yeah it does say 100 all right very good yeah Council Bailey thank you mayor so I also o leaning towards this one the only thing is that I feel like we're missing an opportunity that is our historic seminal theater and to be able to pay some type of of homage to the seminal tribe um if you ever go on an Everglades tour you can see some of the villages that are still being lived in um my ask would be that that is somehow Incorporated just so that we can continue those stories and that it ties into the seminal theater would that be of course I'm not opposed to doing anything that tweak things here and there and add or subtract or any of that so be careful you have seven Architects here seven artists you know but I was kind of sold with your Alice piece it's my favorite all right which who's next uh David who is the next presenter the next one is AJ Davis welcome Mr Davis welcome good evening Council thanks for having me um yes oh thank you yeah initially uh this proposal was supposed to be for 300,000 so I think uh all of us artists had that in mind um obviously that's an extensive budget for a mural and I think there are absolutely ways that we could negotiate Budget moving forward with my design as well um I chose to I I presented two different options here each kind of exploring a similar thematic tribute um the tall wall on the side of the seminal theater um is an Everglade tribute I wanted to highlight local Wildlife um and ecology and really focus on um this sense of of dawn um Sunrise I'm working with the Thematic tribute throughout the whole building the middle wall um in both both proposals seeks to honor the history of Agriculture and the community that thrives here today um both um acknowledging the Citrus and avocado production here and um working with local Wild life as well as pollinators and this third representation is uh you know I've I've been spending time in Florida for the last five years coming down to Art basil and my sister actually lived in Homestead for many years and I would come down and visit been to the Everglades in disin Bay many times um I chose to highlight some tools that the natives would use uh the taquesta in both a shark's tooth and the second proposal being a con sale and I recognize that this um this representation of kind of the Miami Skyline is a bit out of what I would consider moving forward with I think this is mostly just a road map of where we can go and um I have been making my living as a professional artist and muralist for the past decade I've traveled around the world and worked with municipalities and committees um to focus on creating site specific murals that celebrate their land culture and Community um and alongside that I realize that there's conversation I'm willing to you know engage in conversation and find the right design that works for us um I use all spray paint in my work um I don't know if you've had a chance to look at my portfolio highly specialized in rendering this type of work in terms of its surrealist realism paired with kind of the graphic abstractions um yeah in terms of materials I use the highest quality spray paint on the market and I always clear coat my Works um this specifically we're looking at a marine grade clear coat anti-graffiti um can be power washed thousands of times and ensures the longevity of both the paint and the surface underneath the paint um yeah Sherwin Williams makes a great Marine coding that I highly recommend for all mural work moving forward in general yeah in terms of the maintenance to back yeah that's just uh essential for maintaining you know cleaning this wall cleaning the mural and and ensuring its longevity um I was really delighted to to find that in lner park there's an invitation for the ever Glades Homestead Safari um AR experience and uh for the last three years I've been activating most all my public works with ar and I think it's an amazing opportunity to further uh offer engagement educational resource and just a fun um technological um addition to the work you know especially considering the cium I I visit there today and just adding another level of tech to this mural is something that I'm really excited about and I assume you've had a chance to look at these Works um I have a finite degree in sculpture um I'm well versed in CAD and graphic design I've been doing animating for years um I often take CAD files and integrate them into my AR work so that they're you know um they're really something special that that really offers the chance for the mural and the animals and florals within them to come alive the budget obviously is uh 300,000 it's up to negotiation I understand that the city um you know there's other ways we can allocate this um I considered a lot of different aspects in this budget including a lighting plan um there's an artist photonic Bliss he works in a variety of Public Works and burning man sculptures he's an amazing LED wizard um with programming skills like none I've seen and a good friend of mine um and we've talked about how we can creatively light and engage this mural for um you know nighttime events and just Lighting in general yeah my resume obviously shows my experience working with this kind of work thank you quick quick thought before I turn it over to my colleagues you know the the lighting plan I think is is very important and you know it's something we don't pay attention to you know I can't readily say if there's light on the back wall or or at least the north wall but I think a perhaps a means to not bust the budget um there's quite a bit of money left from a request that was made for the benefit of lner Park and this council could elect to you know if that's within an amount that remains to to implement you know an appropriate lighting plan to light up whoever mural we we place on that building so uh you know we we have other means to uh to go just you know and there may be others but that's that's the first that came to uh to my mind I will tell you that you know your your package was the first in our agenda package and I was really drawn by the the vibrant colors in the of the great blue heron and of the uh the Citrus and avocado um one thing I I first key on is that I'm not really interested in in highlighting the skyline of downtown Miami in Homestead at all and maybe a little picky about there hasn't been a citrus industry here since the late 70s early 80s when we had canker um certainly we've got aladas Lees that are colorful and perhaps Tomatoes just you know some some some potential adjustments but uh in overall I think your the vibrancy is something that we we can consider here as as well continuing with with the Everglades and and the historical um motifs there and even uh to councilwoman Bailey's point on that side panel that has the great blue haon and somehow um integrate the the seminal in the in Heritage there I like the ghost orchid and the the butterfly that are that are components of that as well so we've got some some tough decisions Council another further yes Council ralo thank you mayor um I I think that I want to see all of these pieces all throughout the City of Homestead I think that um we have that beautiful backdrop behind the seminal theater that um I agree the serenity of the first artist mural kind of Blends in with the overall Park but I would love to see this color pop and wake up the city especially the downtown area um so I think there's room for everything I don't know how to get it done but well and and not to and not and not to dismiss the final artist we haven't and I and I brought this up to Mr Good earlier is it you know as we sit here now I'm kind of partial to the panoramic view um of the first proposal on the rear wall and again this is going to have to be by artist agreement I like to see the great blue heron in this proposal on the the north wall the side panel that that also faces the park but it is uh along the side of the seminol theater that I think I think those two could really be um the yeah the Everglades Heron uh those that could be I think again the guy that can't draw a straight line with a ruler um compatible with the the Panorama type the the everglaze sunrise on the I think that this is also in the position that it is in it's not obstructed by a lot of landscaping and the modern um aspects of this art is is this to me is more instagrammable than and as you're driving South on Chrome Avenue to go to the keys or go to the Everglades if you're a visitor boom that is there that pop of color is in your face and and while we got off on the Weeds on on my thoughts you know some of these proposals also contemplate a panel on the southide but remember we own the properties between that panel um and the roadway and at sometime in the next five to seven years there's probably going to be development there that would obscure that artwork and maybe to make our art dollars go further we consider not really doing anything on that wall except you know a nicer paint job and straighten the light poles and do some nice Lighting in that Alleyway um but I think putting a mural there right now is really the proverbial putting the lipstick on a pig kind of thing when you're on Maly looking through the back alley and and the wall there and given you know the long held beliefs of of some height that may go there on our properties the front malie that I'd hate to do that and then obstruct that piece of art with with the future development again that gives us more opportunity to to really do it right on the the Westerly and Northerly panels just a thought Council uh vice mayor just just to throw it out there again you know we have that big ugly Square building right across the street the parking garage and I see he had some renderings in his package that we could also I know it wasn't part of this particular called artists and I don't want to take away from that but but you know we need to look at that as a whole to try and move these things forward not to mention this monstrosity across the street it's a huge canvas we have a pretty good size art budget let's start looking holistically I know we've been doing single things but let's let's go big yeah and I know we'll be they'll be bringing the some more Chrome renderings next month or this month um I believe I don't know that we'll be ready for this month most likely for next month on the Chrome piece this real forward progress Council cannibal did you want to join okay were you finished yes okay counc Council Roth oh I'm sorry no you know I I really like the eagle picture too and this one here and and I agree with you on the Citrus aspect of it too that maybe those could be turned into mangoes and it looks like those strawberries at the bottom or those the tomatoes at the bottom Tomatoes tomatoes so he me he mentioned you mentioned the tomatoes in there too so I really like this piece and not that it's going to fit in in the seminal theater part but as we as we picture different you know venues for artwork um and I'd still want to see the third one too let let them do their presentation because um I think I think the way it's going we're going to like one of everything it looks like and maybe we make decisions based on on that too so but I really like this Eagle picture for sure absolutely and as I said earlier I think there's so much opportunity there with their with the bodies of work and Council and woman AAL I'm sure you keyed in on that that Park wall after the sunshine meeting we had a couple of weeks ago about some vision for the sports complex and I mean that jet coming at you in Flight is just you know almost gives you chills really really interesting and mayor if I can add um in other municipalities throughout the state when you drive around their cities on their Transformers or their big boxes they have around those are full of Art and I don't see that in the city of homestad and I would love to see you know things um you know giving a nod to our our Parks our Everglades the I love the manes in the third proposal here as well and I just think that there's opportunity throughout the city to sprinkle art everywhere to just light up what it is to live here well and even thinking bigger with you know whatever licensing and issues there may be we talked about banners big banners you know I could see this Eagle that that eagle Motif printed on huge uh light pole banners but really really opportunity to Brand ourselves and make and make that statement thank you oh yes thank you mayor um I just wanted to say I absolutely love your colors and the style like if this was for my house this is what it would be but um I have been waiting for this wall on the seminal theater to be finished to bring back Mari murals because as you are driving on marry you will at least see it that will be the first one that you'll see and then we have kicks at the end right we remember we've got the origami um birds with the change you want to see in the world and there are a ton of different businesses everything from the Mexican American Council to artsy Haitian churches to this huge ABC distributor I don't know if you saw that building but that one is just screaming for everything Everglades we can fit anything that we can imagine about the Everglades on that building um some of our longest standing businesses like Louis electric and um Plumbing I'm drawing a blank the plumbing no but next lessers yes lessers Plumbing um so for those businesses and those organizations to have a conversation with us as far as what homestead means to them I feel like if you drove down that road you would get a true sense of what of what Homestead is so if you are not chosen I plead that you come back and uh and consider hopefully doing one of those when we when I bring that that marry murals uh project back because I think that a lot of the things that you have all expressed tonight on the day is is really along those same lines of what I've kind of envisioned over the last couple years thinking about this so very good thank you have one last sure go ahead I just wanted to clarify mayor that uh I did include Lighting in the budget just to say that one more time for this wall and yeah thank you all for the amazing feedback um I think this this proposal offers a bit of everything in terms of the agriculture wildlife and to Quest a nod and I'm open to the conversation of making adjustments to really uh suit your preference but thank you for your time thank you tremendous work thank you and again I'll say I'll say it publicly I have privately to the committee that vetted these I asked them for all of the submissions and I just want to again publicly commend them and compliment them I really think they pick the three best to bring before us so good evening sir how's it going Ariel I did want to say before we even start that I want to thank you guys for the honor of being able to Showcase in such a an official capacity because seeing like the the grit and like the the intensity of like what happens you know behind the scenes in the the public office really you know uh right next to presenting the art really showcases how serious you take the art for the future of the City of Homestead you know where it it can't sit next to such like serious you know inner workings because uh you know in the future even like when we look at the historically when we look in the past when libraries burn and cities fall the only glimpse of what we have of like the people that live there is the paintings and art that's on their walls and the structure that they left behind so let this be hopefully the beginning of you know the future and the legacy of Homestead thank you guys so much um with that do I have the remote I want to start up and uh the I want to introduce black brain group this came from a solitary Endeavor into a group uh group Collective of of artists a company of artists and with the Mantra of go fast go alone go far go together and that's really embodied a lot of how we've been approaching all of the projects that we've been taken one of our most recent projects has been installing at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland and for this for this program we actually partnered with a nonprofit that works with Hispanic youth and we invited two of their artists to come into our process and we mentored them throughout the whole thing so that you know they went very strictly with our our steps and procedures so that now they're actually showing alongside us at the Museum of Contemporary Art and if you look at their work you know you wouldn't be able to tell that they were noices because they really took to the the leadership and the the tutoring that we gave him uh here's a a little detail of one of the pieces I figured were so many police officers would appreciate some Chrome police uh another project I wanted to highlight was this project that we worked with the Museum of graffiti in Winwood Miami and this one was taking the historical figures of of American History specifically black history and showcasing them uh In This Very educational manner where every letter had different people of different decades with QR codes that got linked to websites uh to a website that gave you information and really made it an educational piece again here's a detail of some of the characters there the other one that I want to showcase was um specifically because of the the nature of some of the concepts is uh this was a gym where it was like over uh 2,000 linear feet of wall and about you know 20,000 square feet uh and this was a 12we project done in in Windwood and again you know we had our uh our wall of of birds and fauna the feather paradise and then can't can go can go without doing a flamingo or two here's another one just for the the sake of scale of some of the projects we've done where this was about 120 feet by 20 feet of Kobe Bryant and for this one we actually put um his Mantra as the as as the the all the different colors in his face are actually the different letters that create his Mantra and they create his figure as well but to get to the meat and potatoes uh wanted to share our implementation plan which is you know doing research Define design develop deliver and reveal and usually when we do this process uh it's very collaborative with the the committee or the the decision makers and and the artist team and in and in this this round because of the the the nature of RF RFP you know it felt very siloed um in the sense that you know we kind of made a lot of assumptions uh but uh with that I think I think what um I I think the the process yielded some really fun things you know so the with the first one was really looking at the history of Homestead from the agriculture to even like what the theater is named after the the seminal Indians and you know the the rich lore of of of of that history um that really helped Define some of the initial Concepts that we created and uh the feedback um that we took that we got was like really brighten it up and make it youthful because this is a place for you know a lot of kids come by that the park so we went through and Define and iterate uh and one of the things that was a really really interesting Motif for for um for like industriousness was the train and you know the transport of of goods and services so that was the one one of the directions that we chose and we were looking at with the initial with the initial budget of the was like 300,000 we we're trying to look at a holistic approach of of uh just not just the the mural creation but also engagement with the theater and their students to be able to have them partake in in some of the process and some of the things afterwards uh so with this is the the main one being the the train and and then uh doing like the jellyfish on the one side Flamingo on the other and then the rich faaa on the on the base layer which you had mentioned maybe is is lipstick on a pig but that's why we use a lot of black you know to cover cover that uh here's a here's a perspective walking through like the the huge jellyfish and you know we envisioned that the inside of the jellyfish filled with flowers you know to really do um do something that was a little more abstract or surreal here's a here's a view from from the from the bottom and then and then the the reveal we would imagine uh as as part of it is that all the partici participating artists that help with the insulation of the mural would be able to contribute a piece or two that can create some like huge or not maybe huge well depends but uh some kind of reveal or or art open that celebrates and commemorates the the finish of of the mural uh with a little art show whether it's in the seminal theater or it's you know open in the park with tents uh but really um celebrating the the completion of of the mural um and then if I go back like one of the so the the main the main thing with with our implementation process is that we can consider that we're in phase three and in phase three the the first thing that that we would that we would um address would be the design review you know because because it was very one-sided for how usually these things go it's like hey can we look review the concept and be able to make the changes necessary whether it's in budget or overall direction to to now be able to like construct something that's more in line with any changed Visions since the original RFP Last Summer started you know um and then from then we we get the sign off so that we can move forward and start creating the breakdowns of what the budget is for for paint equipment run to Insurance labor permits and Associated deposits and then as well as was a loose schedule of just from previous work we'd estimate that after the procurement of the materials insurances and permits that we would need 10 to 12 weeks you know um God forbid hurricane or something like that but uh to complete the work from actual like paint to brush or paint or brush to wall to final seal and I open it up to questions thank you tough night lots of decisions to be made here Council woman thank you mayor I I really like your approach and your overall um uh just art it's very new Edge I think that you could relate a lot with our younger generation and I love the idea of how we can collaberate with the youth in our community and um regardless of the way the vote goes tonight I I would like to to see if there's a possibility to connect with the cium to try to um you know Bridge those opportunities with your program I'm not sure how involved you are in South dat in general but um graffiti is a problem and if there's a way to um redirect that talent and that passion into a positive way that's that's a win-win for everybody so if there's a a way for us to support that kind of um initiative I would love to see if you're interested in doing something like that too but not to take away from this I think that um the railroad um concept is a beautiful nod to the community I would like to see some of this stuff maybe also on our triangle property project too um but for the lner park particularly it's not necessarily um you know what I what I think is going to go for tonight um and a train is probably a little bit of a um of a um what's the word of I'm looking for historical it is historical but it's also like a touchy subject like everybody wants the train to come South you know from Metro Rail to here and it's like there's your train REM yeah it's like a daily reminder of what we don't have but but I do like the idea of the railroad and and that that's what brought my mind to the triangle property too so um I think all the work is so beautiful and I think we're blessed to have such great talent amidst us to make these decisions so thank you so much for presenting and um kudos to your collection of artists that are working on your team thank you mayor thank you so let me ask uh Mr good what are you looking for what's what what are you looking for for us for what direction are you looking for tonight so tonight we would like Direction on which artist or artists you would like to move forward with uh if you have a preferred concept as presented and if there's any addition additional feedback that the artist needs to incorporate as we move forward um we'll take your direction tonight and bring back a contract or contracts uh we would like direction as to uh which artists to go with so that we can bring you back the contract for final decision yes and are you looking for feedback only on the laer park item or for example the other item in our arts master plan is the um the overpass on Campbell Drive Turnpike overpass I mean I would love to see some of this art there so is it just this item due to RFP reasons or so this was solicited just for this location um definitely we will keep that in mind and when the call for artists for the um for the overpass is ready that will come to you all as we have done in the past for your feedback before it goes out I don't know why it's so hard but I I feel like the personality of the artist kind of is driving me to where I want to see their art does that make sense to you guys and I don't know if it makes sense to you all we're excited about art we love it so I it's kind of difficult to say I want this artist just for this one without kind of knowing how everything else is playing out but if I had to make a decision tonight it would be our first presenter for the laar par space thank you I I would tend to agree with with that although I would like us to consider taking the The Blue Heron with the pop of color on the the north panel yes I forgot about the north panel side but I agree it's beautiful absolutely yeah that that's where I'd kind of like to go uh vice mayor yes I see Miss Santino wants to speak so if she wants to make her way down I'll make my comments kind of short but you know I'm kind of an old soul uh you know and I'm not big into the bright colors but I'm telling you that that last one really kind of hit hit for me but not at that particular location not locationally appropriate you know but one of the things I'd like you know if we haven't done this in the past you know there was a video that was produced back in the late 90s that that kind of just showcased south day you remember Paul deir was being uh you know interviewed during that and and it showed the old American flag on the side of the the theater and you know the the the sense of Americana that the City of Homestead had that's that's where my mind always goes when I think about murals I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination I'm going to lean on these folks down here who are more into it because Miss Santina knows my taste it's trees and coconuts you know that's what I tend to go after but uh I think there's a place for every one of these somewhere in the City of Homestead and I we need to to think about uh other locations for these things as well thank you um councilman Roth while Su is coming to the podium yeah I like the third one just for because I'm a little wacky when it comes to ideas and thoughts but the jellyfish mural on the water tower would be like an awesome thing I don't know if they can get up there that high and do that because I don't that takes a special person to get that high but but um to me and I and I think I was whispering here to the mayor about maybe potentially coming to come consensus here but having a workshop to identify other locations as well picking other art to start start putting it and placing it throughout the city as well so um because the colors are vibrant the I think the one the first presentation with the Everglade scene actually fits the location and I like blending in the second artist with the the Heron on the south on the North side um it just I mean it's it's exciting to sit up here and have these thoughts coming through your head saying there's other places we can do this stuff so um that's all thank you you miss stino we're ready when you are hi um Susan Santino you see this face I'm gonna talk about art um the first presentation I have a question for the artist um is that were those examples of your art on that rendering um it looked like from the rendering that the were was a huge sculpture of a bird in front of the wall and the birds are flying around with shadows made me think that there's sculptural elements so it makes me think that it's a mockup of what you would Envision generally for the wall and not really an example of your work that was just my impression on that also when asked about what what kind of paint he said acrylic I was moved by the second presentation um AJ Davis because he had a list of materials that convinced me that he's done this before a lot not just um you know Windwood wall but this is a huge huge wall and you want the materials to be the best and you want them to last even if a hurricane blows through here you want to use the best materials I didn't get to look at what you're looking at but what he um Mr Davis projected up there told me that the quality of the mural that he would do would be something that I would feel comfortable with um his his list of what he's done before again I didn't see it up close I just saw it projected um impressed me tremendously he does large large um pieces and has done them before I just felt more confident with number two don't be swayed by yeah the first rendering it was very beautiful Everglades that we all know you know um the the second one was just as wonderful and it doesn't have to be flamingos if you don't want flamingos I'm sure Mr Davis could do anything based on his other murals that he's done he knows how to render Birds he knows how to make a beautiful presentation so my my vote if I had a vote which I don't would be number two because I think the quality of what he'll do up there on a scaffolding up there on a cherry picker I would be confident more confident that he could do it okay that was my two SS thank you so I mean legitimate question is Mr McGuire you want to if you would come uh come to the podium and and kind of clarify that or respond to to the question hi um to answer the question yes it is my work um on the original rendering uh like I said I use digital to render my idea um as opposed to I can't obviously paint rendering um but the painting itself um has a much more vibrant look to it than the rendering does but yes it is is my work and the sculpted element is intentional um when I paint my murals I paint them as an anamorphic piece which is to say that it blends with the surrounding elements in the area and has a 3D element to it like you can see that I painted the building itself to look like he could step through it into a port hole into the otherg grades and I did that intentionally to give it that threedimensional element to it and I think the shadow effect was intentional kind of a a paint Shadow to give the illusion of and that's how it would be painted it wasn't just done for effect it was done because that's how my murals are done as well I paint it to look like the birds are flying out of the mural itself I have and then I think you mentioned that a mural you did near the water facing the sunrise had lasted 13 years at this point it's in pretty good shape yep okay Y how my I'm sorry to interrupt but my my um style of painting is um a lot of muralists will go and they'll draw out the mural and then they'll paint the bird and then they'll paint the sky and then they'll paint the the the water but I don't do that I paint my background completely I paint my elements over the background and then I paint my highlights over that so I end up with layers of paint um when I'm done with these murals they normally end up and I do it all the old school method with rollers brushes and sprays so um by the time I'm done it's five or six layers of paint sometimes I don't put I typically don't put a clear coat on my murals because I find that the clear coat becomes cloudy and in my experience a mural without clear coat with the highest quality paint you can use will actually have a longer life than a mural with a clear coating on it I can I obviously in the whether you can't guarantee much but um one of my murals I just completed is 13 years old and it looks great of course I would yeah my work's important to me so I would make sure that it looked as good as it could for as long as it could so thank you so I think Council Bailey I just wanted to ask real quick that that 13-year-old mural is done in acrylics as well sorry the 13-year-old mural you're talking about was done in acrylic I think yes and I included it in the um in my proposal I believe we included it it's the lighthouse um in Fort Pierce that's on Hutchinson Island and it's literally right across from the ocean and it's facing the sunrise so it gets the sun it gets the salt and the water and all the elements and a couple hurricanes have been through too so thank you well yeah certainly tonight has opened the Pandora's box of where can we put all of these these these different uh renderings I think the question before us is what are we going to go forward with for the the simal theater mural I think at at this point the conversation has been the first proposer on the west wall with the with the blue heron on the north wall perhaps leave that South panel blank at this at this point for now um and as I as I and I looked back at the the budget for the last and it said solar specialty solar LED lighting that sounds like right up the alley for a Federal grant for resilien resiliency and and so forth if if that you know could be a dual track if if not we could uh could go forward um with that I think they do whatever we do does need to be need to be well lit so certainly my S I think is is it the consensus that we go forward with the mash up of the two yes okay that's the direction that we need we'll go back with each of the artists um negotiate a contract and bring that all back before you very good than thank you all thanks for everyone for hanging in there with us tonight very good all right next item is tab six is motion Place car number 4162 on the council agenda access agreement for Somerset Academy Homestead at JD red thank you mayor Somerset Academy South Homestead sash has requested the use of JD red Park as a location for students faculty and staff to congregate in the event of an emergency evacuation of their campus in exchange for the city granting access to JD red Park sash will construct a new pedestrian gate and Ada walkway staff recommends the mayor and city council approved the attached resolution authorizing the city manager to execute the access agreement for Somerset Academy South Homestead at JD red Park good do we have a representative here anything to add good evening hi iiam solar Ramos with officite 701 Bickle and I'm here on behalf of summerson Academy Homestead if you have any questions I'm happy to answer all right thank Council any questions comments yes Council woman thank you mayor I just wanted to uh make sure that we include in the evacuation uh process or or drills that whatever the code is to access because my understanding it's going to have like a code Locking System that that is absolutely part of the practice and the drill not just you know it I just would hate to have the scenario where there is an emergency and everybody's piling out to this location and they can't get through the gate because oh we forgot to make sure we know the code when it happens we actually thought a lot about what made more sense to have a key or to have a code for those reasons like where's the key right so we're going to have two types of mechanisms so if one fails another one's available um but yes to your point I'll make sure that they train everybody with the the right code to the right people thank you good thank you there's nothing further I than Council Roth moved it we have a second second by councilwoman Bailey all in favor any opposed thank you all right next item is pardon yeah tab seven as the placement of a car item on the agenda for the Curtis Ivy pal Jim roof recovery thank you mayor the Curtis Ivy pal Jim roof is in need of replacement and is part of the city's Capital Improvement plan CIP number 2383 Garland DBS Inc has quoted out the project locally and will be using rapid Roofing Inc to perform the roof recovery using the master intergovernmental Cooperative purchasing agreement contract number pw1 1925 with racing County Wisconsin and Omnia Partners public sector staff recommends the mayor and city council approve the attached resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Garland DBS Inc for the roof recover at the Curtis Ivy pal gym for the total of $750,000 670 in addition staff recommends authorizing the allocation of an additional 10% proximately $75,000 for an unforeseen conditions or changes required during the renovation and waterproofing thank you sir Council Council Bailey sorry I'm sorry Avala I'm looking at you sorry thank you um I it's just it's sad to see that we had four non-responsive three declined to bid um several being local you know can we sh can we talk a little bit about what what you were able to find out with regards to Garland's process with bidding these out and the specifically the insurance requirement that is proving to be burdensome to our local vendors being able to compete uh yes so when we go through the process with Garland um right we're utilizing a Cooperative agreement and what they do is they put this out for bid for us um so that's very useful as far as time and attention uh as far as staff right if we were doing this ourselves we would have to develop a scope likely hiring a professional right the scope on a bid can't just be replace the roof it has to say what material what type what method all of those things Garland takes care of for us in the bidding process so they go out um they reach out to a wide pool of contractors and we have instruct them always to specifically reach out to our local vendors that we um know are providing the roofing Services um the contractors who bid um on the RFP as produced by Garland they all have to follow um not only the city's um insurance requirements but Garland's insurance requirements um which for some of the local vendors are um is burn inome um but at the end of the day those uh insurance requirements do protect the the city as far and our facilities and our liability uh so once a lowest responsive bidder is recommended by uh Garland We review the proposal and um all the elements and bring it back to you all for uh the approval thank you Zach and while I see a lot of benefit in using um a tool like Garland's uh Services um and how encumbersome the whole process can be if we were to do it pecem mailed or within our own um you know our own house it one of the number one goals that we have repeatedly said as a priority and Dr jurri I hope you're listening is for us to make sure that the local people are getting these contracts um and so after asking roofers directly not particularly to you know in regards to an actual item that's out for bid but specifically asking them hey why aren't you bidding on these on these opportunities they cannot provide the insurance requirement that Garland asks for so if we continue to use Garland you will continue to not see local businesses being able to bid on these contracts so it's nothing that staff can do about it particularly there's no many doesn't matter how many times we email or put out in front of our our um vendors or in front of our uh businesses the opportunity they won't they won't bid on this if they if they can't um afford the the insurance requirements so we have to either agree to do it a different way um or or just continue to you know get what we get and don't get upset thank you and councilman if I may um I do know of a another recent project that I has not yet come back before you all for approval um but where we actually did get local participation um so it may also just be the a certain job a certain scope this is a very large and difficult roof it's a highly pitched roof so it may just not have been appetizing to our local vendors um but they do participate on occasion for that ice s yeah just uh quickly not to belabor this but if we could when was the last time we did a doing business with the city workshop with locals I know we did one it's been a few years and that's definitely something that that we can do um and I'm sure that M will be happy to to put that together as she has done so well in the past okay thank you yeah and you know that brings up and I've been contacted by with respect to some procurement issues on same day delivery for fuels and oils and lubricants that just in the industry is very difficult you know so again new eyes New Perspective the phrase that's the way we all we've done it in the past is going to get put in the trash can and and and we go forward and maybe maybe we need some clarification at least in this example why the insurance requirement is what it was stated to be yeah counil yeah because the the concern that no one's disputing of course when need to repair that roof but the but the way it looks now is we're spending three4 of a million dollars to re-roof a building that's value is three4 of a million dollars I mean how does that happen and and that's uh doctor that's one of the things if if you are here um we got to look into that because that just is um it just screams that something ain't right there's no reason for that to be that high mean how much and what I don't see in here and perhaps I I overlooked it but I didn't see the total square footage of the of the roof so you can say this roof is so is costing so much per square foot and I think if we looked at it in that way it'd be like holy mackel what are we doing with this contract and that's definitely something um I that I we can get to you I do want to point out that the value of the building is for our actual aial purposes is uh nearly $1.6 million 1. 595 um so it's inaccurate to state that the structure or the entire property no the structure itself okay just have one observation ra yeah I was I was kind of curious because we used a a I guess a sourcing person to find the contractor but rapid Roofing is a local contractor right yes from Florida City they don't have a office and Homestead but they are so I'm I'm kind of curious as to why we paid somebody to find somebody local when we could have just did the RFP ourselves and not and cut out the middleman if if if they were able to do that so I'm just curious about that so um as I was explaining previously what garland does is they develop the scope for us that's something that we would have to hire a professional to do um you know I know a lot of things but I don't know exactly what type of roof to put back on um so we would have to hire a professional to do that we would have to put out the project ourselves what Garland also does is they provide project management permitting and warranty for us um so ra they warranty both the product and the labor through Garland so you don't run into the um challenge of somewhere down the line you have a contractor and a materials provider pointing the finger at each other with there is you know a leak 5 years from now with Garland we get to go just back to Garland and it gets fixed and I was just informed the roof is 18,000 Square F feet that's 180 squares whatever that you know in roof terminology and mayor if I may just piggy back my goal was to highlight that I would love to see more involvement from the business Community local business community on these contracts so I'm I'm not trying to stall the replacement of this roof we need to move it forward it's a metal roof I think that um that building serves the community very well and deserves the investment and hopefully the uh the the roof will stay on for many many many many many years to come but um um it to to see seven seven contractors that didn't even bid for reasons we don't know one three declined and four non-responsive and several names that I I recognize that's just disappointing thank you yeah Council you bring up good points and and I'm curious who who sets the level of insurance that we require in a bid packages is that risk management does that or who who sets that par the parameters up for that yeah so the in the bids that we put out those are set through risk management and through the attorneys obviously working together to make sure that we are adequately covering our liability and that it aligns with the scope of work that's being solicited with Garland because they are part of a Cooperative agreement they also have certain uh there are also certain insurance requirements that have to be adhered to under the agreement that we're availing ourselves of as a cooperative right so I get that now this obviously another question for me um do we know what other municipalities and what other agencies require when it comes to those protective measures of insurance is so that we're not causing an issue where they'd rather work for another municipality because of just that one requirement so maybe we look into those situations as well so that we are you know we're not we're not um you know putting out our our vendors that the local ones especially that may not be able to afford that those premiums and whatnot to to bid the projects yes we can definitely do a survey of our three municipalities um that is something that we do from time to time just to make sure that we are in line with with the market thank you thank you may thank you Council can I move it and mayor apologize that I need to leave after this item please thank you all right it's been moved and seconded any further all in favor any opposed all right next item is Tab 8 the motion voice c number 4143 on the agenda well field testing thank you mayor staff recommends that mayor and Council approve the attach resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with inliner Solutions LLC to for to perform a well filled report throughout the city for a total of $329,700 of St Petersburg pipe gravity cleaning and CCTV inspections ifb 8385 contract number 255-507 this authorization also allows the city manager to approve a price adjustment increase of up to 10% if necessary and this is a requirement by durm for Wastewater collection system compliance unfunded mandate all right have a motion by vice mayor second by C cman Davis any further discussion no okay yeah all in favor any opposed okay um it's my understanding that our next council meeting is pretty light that there aren't any land use items on the agenda is there any objection to just taking Tab 10 and rolling it into the to the council meeting that's going to be a pretty lengthy discussion perhaps that's the agenda procedures we're on yeah I know but just okay yeah so we're going when we get to 10 we'll defer it to the council meeting so let's go to tab nine where we're supposed to be uh motion Place car number 4151 on the council agenda architecture and engineering services for solid waste facility Renovations thank you mayor the City of Homestead Solid Waste building has not received a major renovation since 1994 at the time the upgrade was converted from a shared space with Fleet Management this uh 30 years ago renovation enabled Solid Waste to move out of the double wide trailer After Hurricane Andrew and into his current space the current amenities have met the maximum usability and are in need of repairs and upgrades to meet the basic needs of the department staff recommends that mayor and Council approve the attached resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with bero aham and partners in the amount of $68,700 to provide programming and space planning for the refresh of the front administrative area the crew lounge and the redesign and reconfiguration of both locker rooms in an attempt to maximize space and function of the existing areas this project is part of the city's Capital Improvement plan CIP number 2492 and has a budget of $80,000 is adopted in the fiscal year 2024 budget this approval will also allow the city manager to authorize a price increase up to the budgeted amount of $80,000 if necessary for unforeseen conditions thank thank you questions comments Council woman very much needed and I'm happy to move the item thank you it's within the budget and on our plan have a second by councilman countable discussion questions all in FA okay all in favor any opposed all right uh do I have a motion to defer Tab 10 to the council meeting moved and seconded all in favor and finally tab 11 motion to place car number 4167 on the council agenda the form six litigation Mr attorney who's got that I'll defer to I'll defer to Mr Pearl on this one would you like me to read the staff report or we can just have sort of a general discussion okay General discussion um at the at the last meeting um I raised the issue of a potential challenge or the city's participation a potential challenge of the constitutionality of imposing the form six require disclosure requirements on Municipal officials um the My Law Firm has commenced uh processing a a complaint there have been more than a dozen cities that have joined as well as a number of individual um elected representatives from those municipalities um each each participating city has contributed $10,000 towards the cost of the litigation the resolution that would be presented it's in your agenda tonight would be on consent agenda if you decide to move forward would authorize the city's participation as well as the participation of any of you who would like to be included as named plaintiffs um we can discuss the virtues of you know individuals participating uh depends on how the litigation unfolds theoretically there could be a maybe a temporary restraining order as the um case Works its way through litigation and that may only protect those people who have been named so each of you will have to make a determination on an individual basis as to what whether or not you would like to participate in that fashion um if you have any questions I know I can briefly go through the additional requirements that are being imposed through this I I know that we've discussed them all I don't know if that's necessary here tonight um so at this point I'm really just looking for direction as to whether or not the city would like to participate um under the those terms um if so then we'll place the resolution on the consent agenda authorizing you know the commencement of the lawsuit and the city's participation for as well as each council members and I will meet with you individually and provide you with forms for those of you that are interested um once that has been passed to uh participate as name plaintiffs Council what's your pleasure yeah strengthen numbers I think we need to uh to go forward okay all right Mr attorney you had a request for a uh Sunshine meeting or a second session yes one quick second I need to request an executive session in the matter of waver City of Homestead it's case number 2007 01283 in the division of administrative hearings Office of the judge of compensation claims let's make it happen yes sir anything further Mr Good anything further the goal will be to have the executive session next week yeah he's just announcing that they'll put one together yeah next week it it would proceed next week's council meeting all right thank you all it's been a long night and again I want to assure staff things I want to say things are going to be fine things are going to be great thank you you all for a very important night move to seconded to do adjourn good night everyone