##VIDEO ID:bnD_KqEO0Fk## a a please take your seats the meeting is about to begin remember to speak into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded for public record please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 1 good morning everybody my name is commissioner Laura Dominguez and I'm the chair of the public safety and neighborhood quality of life committee my members are uh commissioner magazine and commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and thank you commissioner Alex Hernandez for being here as well absent is uh the vice chair um commissioner Suarez and uh commissioner Tanya but will be joining us by Zoom later to present her items and also with us on the de is the fa ulous Stephanie Ray Brooks assistant city manager Mark Texas and Deputy City attorney Rob Rosenwald uh so I think we could take it away with any announcements hi so we have one time certain item which would be item number nine discuss possible installations of blue star and gold star Memorial makers at canopy Park and we have one item that will be deferred which is item number 17 discussion regarding Beach concessions regulations and layouts to ensure that sufficient areas remain available at all times for for public enjoyment of the beaches so with that we could start our meeting the first item will be item number nine discuss possible installations of blue star and gold star Memorial markers at canopy Park commission commissioner Fernandez this is your item thank you madam chair and it's such a pleasure to be at your committee this morning thank you for always leading this committee with such great respect to our community thank you commissioner Fernandez this is the last one with this particular group uh but starting next month you'll be my vice chair and looking forward to it and commissioner Rosen Gonzalez you'll be the third member of the group and we'll be The Power Team there you go well well it is a priv magazine you'll be the alternate I don't even think that's the case it's certainly a privilege to be at this committee this morning um last month I was contacted by the Miami Beach uh Garden Club to discuss a possible installation of the Blues star and gold star Memorial markers at canopy Park um and uh and I place an item on on the agenda to be referred to this committee as required by the city code the blue star uh marker program has been in existence uh under the ospice of the National Garden clubs uh for more than 79 years to honor the men and women of the United States armed services um they were adopted because they had become icons in world world world World War II and we're seeing on flags and Banners and homes churches and businesses uh for sons and daughters that were serving our country at at War um the marker that the Miami Beach Garden Club proposes to install at canopy Park was originally dedicated to Key West correct correct at the Terminus of uh us one and it was the first US I sorry it's the first blue star marker dedicated in the State of Florida and then it was gifted to you guys be Garden Club in 1980 installed here uh where the new blue star Now lies at the ter uh Terminus of Julia tutle and uh State Road 907 Alton Road and so the Miami Beach Garden Club refurbished uh uh that marker and that was placed at Julia at on Alton Road is that because there's two of them okay so we um purchased a new marker a new marker right decommissioned the uh the one from um Key West and now we want to recommission it as a historical marker um as it it is the U oldest surviving marker um known in and also the first one in the State of Florida amazing so there's a brand new marker in Alton Road and now we have to find house that's one by my house when I go let's say uh from Chase Avenue towards St Patrick's or Taurus a Tuttle people see it there on the median it's a beautiful Mark and at times certain During certain occasions in the year The Garden Club places beautiful wreaths absolutely made by Garden Club members yes and flags we uh we honor it uh that way every uh patriotic um holiday and so tell us about the vision about what's being proposed at canopy Park okay so uh the vision for canopy Park will serve uh a dual purpose it will honor the we will find a home for our displaced twice displaced um blue star memorial marker and origal one the original one the one from K West correct um it will find a home for it it will be uh displayed as a historical marker and um it will have a plaque honoring all of the service the the the service uh branches of the military and um it will also incorporate a gold star the gold star honors as you may know the um the Fallen uh those who have given their everything uh for our our freedoms so um we would have the old the historical blue star a gold star and the um a plaque giving the history of the gold star with the the insignious of the six military branches so that's want to thank you for for for your dedication and your interest in keeping this important part of our history alive uh it's so proper for this to be in the city of Miami Beach given our ties to the armed services especially during war when they were uh training here and I want to recognize our Parks director John rebar uh to guide us through staff's recommendation on this uh request from the Miami Beach Garden Club all right thank you commissioner um yeah the staff is fully supportive of this we think it's great that ties in with you know the Miami Beach's history with the military in World War II the VFW very close to the park um so we're fully supported this this plaque is we recommended to go inside the park not along the the f. rway so this is something that could be handled directly by The Parks Department and we we support um if the if the committee would like to support it we support taking this to the end there's a there is a a a a fiscal ask between around $115,000 what is that for that's to refurbish the plaques that they have and to do the installation but that's a very minimal cost yeah yes when we consider the sacrifice made by those who who we will be honoring with this marker $15,000 if I may add um it would also be um so there's gold stars and blue stars all over the country um however Miami Dade does not actually have a gold star dedicated so this gold star would be the very first one in all of uh dat and Monroe counties and that is something of significance that that and that would be great honor to to to City Madam chair I want to thank you for considering this item as the first item on our on our agenda as our Parks director mentioned the tie to Miami Beach to to to the the role that Miami Beach played uh during World world I where so many servicemen were were training and at this location appropriately situated right across from the VFW uh makes it so symbolic and so and so appropriate so thank you madam chair for considering this item I would appreciate the committee's support so that we can send this back to the city commission and honor this Legacy thank you commissioner Fernandez and um City attorney I would like to be a co-sponsor for this item if I could be listed um I'm fully supportive I'd love to hear from the other members of the committee yeah you have my full support this is a win all around and um I think it's a wonderful idea thank you commissioner Fernandez for bringing it forward and if you would like to move the item I'll second it I'm not a member of the committee oh you're not so I'll move the item I'll second okay and if I could be added as a co-sponsor I think this is wonderful and just H one quick question if I could Madam chair uh from a legal standpoint if there was a private donation uh to be made to cover the costs obviously uh uh small cost like that we can cover as a city budget but I had had somebody that just reached out about wanting to participate in there I'm not banking on it um so we'll kind of continue down the track as is but just asking from legal component is interested would they be able to make a private donation to cover that yes that you we take private donations and they're approved by resolution of the city commission okay let not Bank on it but uh in the back pocket thank you commissioner mag I may add that the verbage on the um on the plaque currently in Alton Road does say that it's in partnership with Miami Beach and this one will also say the same thing the gold one the gold star will also say the same thing thank you very much thank you madam chair thank you committee members for your support thank you commissioner so move by acclamation and we'll go on to to the next item C40 item number five it is discussed reorienting the city's Code Department to adopt a more proactive rather than reactive approach to enforcement and Community engagement and code will be presenting the commissioner bot on Zoom she is on Zoom all right let's uh allow her the opportunity to tee this up PJ if we can make her a panelist please good morning good morning um let me just Tout The Western medicine and Better Living Through science Mantra not that there's anything wrong with other medicine but from the way I felt yesterday at this time to the way I feel today at this time is like 180 degrees difference so um but I'm still I have one more day of being contagious so thank you for letting me call in to do the s want to give my cies to anybody even though they're on the on the outs um I wanted to bring this item um I think we have a terrific Code Department um they do incredible work um and I wanted to um have them come before us and and really talk about give a public accounting um for the work that they're doing and how much is inbound how much is outbound proactive if there are any opportunities to make things even better than they are um I I I feel like um despite the good work that gets done there is a lot that still needs to be done and I'm trying to figure out how we can make that happen um um is it changing the orientation of what they do is it possibly uh hiring additional staff is it cross trining people in different departments and empowering them to um uh if not actually issue violations at least to enter it into a database so that um um code can go visit the site to address if there's a violation that needs to happen you know we hear from residents all the time that they're not they don't see everything and that may be true it doesn't mean that it's not getting done but um I know I personally have used the egov app since it went online to report issues constantly um when when I see them and that's a really productive way of doing things but that's not um you know not everybody knows that um so that's why I wanted code to come I know heran uh the director of the department is out of town today but his staff is here to present so I'll turn it over I'm I'm not sure who's who's on top for that but let's turn it over to them and then take some questions afterwards thank you commissioner bot and I'll let code te it up yes thank you good morning um Stephanie Noah administrative services manager with the Code Compliance department so our research has found that in the last 2 years only 12% uh of our calls for service were complaint driven uh it is a sizable number but in fact it's a misnomer that uh code is um reactionary versus I'm sorry yeah reactionary versus proactive and as far as addressing uh complaints or um handling everything that we can obviously our main mission is to ensure compliance and we only have a small number of officers on a daily basis and that's why we rely on our residents to you know report to us these things so we can address them immediately and ensure compliance um and I mean we're open to see what other things we can do to to try to handle all the um things that we need to address uh to beautify our city um and with that I'm available to answer any questions thank you Stephanie in looking at the analysis that the Cod Department provided it was interesting to see that the majority 88% was uh proactive and um you had other statistics that were in in there uh 12% was complaint driven um I think this is good feedback to have um I'd like to hear more from members here on the day and uh visitors anybody have any comments before we check with the sponsor commissioner Fernandez yes thank you um so I do believe that there is a perception um that code enforcement in general regulatory matters whether it be building or other stuff you know in general this is just a general perception it's not just unquote tends to be uh reactive rather than proactive of the proactive engagements that code has done is there a way to get a breakdown of you know those proactive engagements having to do with noise are they having to do with overgrown grass is it is it related to graffiti like what is what is it because for some reason our residents feel and perceive that it's rather reactive and that is dependent on them placing a call and perhaps you know while a a you know a significant portion of of enforcement might be proactive you know it might be at a segment of violations that are not really you know what the rest in AR necessarily focused on so is there a way to see that breakdown absolutely i' be great that could be shared with the committee thank you of course thank you madam chair uh commissioner bot uh is it okay to close this item and get an LTC from code uh with the information requested by commissioner Fernandez um with your permission I'd actually like to continue it next month I have a bunch of questions um that I I um I don't want to put anyone on the spot because I don't think they're prepared to answer now so I would um prefer to have a conversation with um hernen and then have him come back and and present it to the full group if that's okay sounds good so we'll continue it our next uh Public Safety and quality of life meeting is February 12th um so we'll continue it to that meeting and with that we'll move on to it number two I'm sorry could you continue it to the next the next meeting after that I'm out of town that week and I would like to be there for it okay uh what is the date of the March meeting I will that up and I'll put it for the marchall that year okay it's on my calendar thank you all what is it it's on my calendar that I mailed let me see if I have it March 12 so we'll move it to March 12 thank you continue to March 12 okay okay item number two item number two is discussed take action on reestablishing a nuisance abatement board and this is a sponsored by commissioner Bop and commissioner bot uh T it up yes thank you so um sort of a similar kind of vein um this was raised to me um by a few different people and I thought we should have a conversation about it um to see if we have evolved as a city Beyond where this was when it was put into place in the late ' 80s we have different better mechanisms or if there's still a possible role for something like this in the city um and I wanted to have an open conversation with staff and and our colleagues um to get their input so um again this is in furtherance of trying to sort of clean up our Collective act and hold people accountable you know the people who are doing a great job at running their businesses um you know that's great we love it but um you know they they're being tarred and you know with the same brush as people who aren't and I'm trying to get us collectively away from that and hold the Bad actors accountable um so that's the Genesis behind this item and I will turn it over to staff hi again Stephanie hi good morning chair and committee members Stephanie Noah administrative services manager with the Code Compliance Department um so in the memo I was able to uh provide the history of uh a previous nuisance abatement board that we had back in 1987 until 2003 um for abatement of criminal nuisances uh addressed eally addressed um and I have uh the City attorney here that goingon to help me with uh this item City attorney Rothstein hi good morning all uh Madam chair and members of the board um this I work uh hand inand with uh Chief Deputy Rob Rosenwald on um it was disbanded back in 2003 as it was felt at that time that there were um other adequate measures that uh can take place such as injunctive relief our office at least has been successful on one recent occasion involving 1776 uh Bay Drive which was a party house and some other activities going on in the house and we sued for injunctive Relief so that's one Avenue and that's what was cited in the memo as the reason for disbanding it but certainly if this uh commission has an appetite to go ahead and reinstated it would be reinstated pretty much on the same manner that it was initially created in 1997 I'm just not sure that there's a need and I deferred to you guys uh for further Direction okay so the city attorney's office doesn't feel that there's a need at this time um I'll weigh in with some of my observations usually these kinds of boards where residents sit in Judgment of each other are not generally productive and it was disbanded for a reason the city attorney's office doesn't feel it's necessary I'd love to hear from my colleagues and hear more from commissioner bot uh on this item yeah commissioner magazine okay um thank you mad chair I'll I'd like to hear from the the sponsoring commissioner because I'll of course defer to her uh but with the city staff's recommendation um you know of course any place is going to go through its es and flows I do feel as if we're in a materially different place as a city than we were 18 months ago you you you don't hear that screeching of the tires 247 the the kind of anything goes crowd and it's important that we remain focused on that um and be nimble in the event that that starts peeking its head out again uh but I you know I I think I'm comfortable with the staff's recommendation but I would like to uh you know defer to my colleague uh that's sponsor and see where she wants to go okay uh commissioner uh Fernandez yeah so I just have a question I'm looking at the old ordinance from 2003 when the committee was disbanded and so a public nuisance was deemed any place or premise within the city that may be declared a nuisance according to Florida Statutes or that have been used on more than two occasions within a 6month period for and then it lists oh there's a there's a dog there that is not Sammy barking sorry that was Esme I that was Esme there you go she's even she's not with and and then it lists six six items that would uh classify an a location as a public nuisance a site of unlawful sale or delivery or storage of of controlled substances which which we've been able to shut down establishments for that in our city for example I recall there was a resident that called to complain about um an establishment on Lincoln Road two establishments on Lincoln Road and through an undercover investig a code was able to go in we shut them down we've revoked their licenses in fact now I think uh we we sponsored a commercial lease subsid grant for a new chew Rose and ice cream place that's going to be going into one of those locations so then another criteria is by uh by a youth or criminal street gang for purpose of conducting a pattern of Youth and criminal street gang activity uh for prostitution or solicitation of prostitution for illegal gambling for for illegal sale conception of alcoholic beverages or for dealing in stolen property my question is this are we stuck to these types of issues or can we change the can we change what the violations are it does the state mandate what these violations are yes it goes through back to the chapters that are cited right in the paragraph right above that Florida statute 82305 82310 and does the Florida statute allow other violations that are not included here I would have to go back and double check but I don't think that the list is all inclusive but it is limited to criminal activities and uh one that's not mentioned is like grow houses but the building official certainly has the authority under Miami day chapter uh 8 five or 11 to go before the Miami date County Board to shut down a grow house but if an establishment is deemed to or is found to you know be a nuisance in our community let's say while you could go through you know that County process would this be a more efficient process well right now we have suspension of btrs and shutting down businesses so for example illegal gambling we've had several of those type of machines are found in various areas of North Beach and um South Beach that police goes in with code and then eventually they get shut down so and so faster that's a faster path than going through a nuisance abatement board having um you know convene a board um fund the board um staff the board and do other things like that there like for example I know I recall I believe my Miami day County might have a nuisance abatement board City of Fort Lauderdale definitely does because I City of Fort lauderale and so what type of issues uh do they criminal uh criminal ones that are enum enumerated in the statute and so and so you know like for example we've heard of historically of establishments you know certain establishments on certain commercial corridors that you know have been known to be a place that you know might attract gang activity for example might attract drug activity how you know if if we have the ability to shut them down now without a nuisance of batement board why haven't we been able to it goes Case by case I mean as far as I know every time that they is an issue with um like illegal gambling I'm not familiar with gangs I'm not that in involved in anything or or currently pending that I'm aware of that has gang activities but certainly the gambling machines have been the most recent ones and the ones but I but I think like but I think we all know like there's certain establishments that we've seen historically on certain corridors that I don't want to name out and certain establishments that come to mind that I don't necessarily want to name out because I don't want to put anyone on the spot but that you know it's just common knowledge you know I wouldn't go there just because you know it's just kind of like common knowledge it's it's you know there's probably drug activity being dealt there there's probably gang activity being being being dealt there and there are areas where we've you know there are areas of the city that we've highlighted in the past as needing more police visibility because of the activity going on in these commercials commercial areas it's why we've deemed certain businesses as nuisance businesses and it's why then we've created these incentives to replace these nuisance businesses but you know even when we do do these uh legislations to declare establishments as nuisance businesses you know they become legal non-conforming establishments you know wouldn't this be an Avenue to help us weed out some of these problem establishments it would be but we also have a civil forfeiture State Statute that our office prosecutes on forfeitures if there is um illegal activity going on in in an establishment so we've done that with homes we've done that with businesses so there are other avenues so the question just becomes how how do you want the city to prosecute these type of um um activities whether it be through through civil court um circuit court or whether it be through a ense abatement board the manager has the authority to suspend or revoke licenses so it's really just the direction that that this commission chooses keeping in mind that almost a quarter of a century ago it was disbanded yeah thank you Mr Mr rothin other other jurisdictions are using it I if I were a voting member of the committee I would be inclined to to to support it because we don't lose anything testing another tool so always better to have more tools in the tool box because it doesn't take away from my perspective any Authority or any ability to follow any other process it's just an additional tool in the toolbox to go after problem establishments thank you madam chair uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez U I have a few questions will this alleviate some of the strain on um the special Master no because the special magistrate doesn't deal with criminal activities it's civil infractions criminal okay so civil and criminal and commissioner bot my question to you was uh what made you want to reconstitute this board just so that I understand where it's coming from Shan um my goal is to and I don't know if this is the right vehicle to do it but it was suggested as a possible option um I my goal is to try to I mean we have lots of different Avenues but for instance when I ask folks about a particular establishment that is known to deal drugs the answer is well we have to do an undercover sting operation and that and then we can't do anything unless we catch them in the act or you know and they know we're coming and and so it's it's really impossible and I know there are places like that that have been open for years in South Beach and North Beach and so I you know if if there is another tool available to us in the toolkit um that can layer on to what we're already doing that maybe um is just a different angle of of attack to try to clean things up I thought it was worth having a discussion about um and and you know maybe there's an opportunity to um you know talk to the folks in Fort Lauderdale and get a better understanding of how they're using it efficaciously I mean they're not uh a city to squander their resources either um I I don't know if there's I'm sure there's somebody from the police department um um in Chambers who might be able to to give their thoughts on this um would it help to to have um an an additional Avenue recourse to pursue some of the um sort of long-term constant um offenders few more questions and who would sit on this board just so that I understand the constitution of it I'm trying to find that here but I don't see it sure I believe it's appointed by the commission um I can't find my glasses so hold on so we each get an appointee of so it's residents it's residents um um it was let's see appointments to the board um shall be for two years any member may be appointed by the city commission for not more than three consecutive terms appointments to fill a vacancy shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term any member who fails to attend two or three successive meetings with without cause and without prior approval of the chairman shall automatically forfeit his appointment and the city commission shall promptly fill such vacancy for the remainder of the term so it's appointed by the city commission so it would be residents on the board that are looking at these establishments that have several violations and they would have the power to shut them down oh yes you know on one hand it does take the onus away from code who our officers are out there who might not want to shut them down look we have so many boards in the city right now I feel like every single agenda has more and more and more boards and I do know that it taxes the administration on the other hand I'm not opposed to this type of board because I do think that there's certain establishments that we could be more proactive about shutting down so I'm I'm I'm not opposed to a nuisance abatement board I mean this way we shift this we shift the owners to the residents the question is well the residents are they going to feel so pressured to you know shut down these establishment or over yeah I just don't know what's going to happen with that with that board so that board is comprised of residents who are making decisions on our code to shut down basic businesses and and the Le on to that is Code Compliance is going to serve on the board the police department too I mean who Steve would you be in charge of this board that would be up to my boss I I um through the I'm sorry I'm sorry Krist I thought you're down no I I I'd like to hear what you guys have to say I I don't have a suggestion at the right time commissioner Fernandez you know just as a suggestion it might be helpful because I I like the idea of this and one of the things that I see here you know with with code compliance and with Once something goes to um to the special Master it it all initiates with there being a violation with this the procedure for abatement it commences with an employee an officer or a resident who files a complaint or request for pers for prosecution with the city's nuisance abatement board requ regarding the existence on premise on premises located in the city of of a public nuisance so it it initiates at the time back in 2003 it initiated with a complaint that could be filed by the resident so it's not solely reliant on on code issuing a violation and something going before the the special Master which I think we should test because I think a lot of times the frustration that we get from our residents is that they're experiencing nuisances they're witnessing them they're calling them in they're issuing violations and then the violations you know get easily you know mitigated down they get you know waved whatever it may be and the nuisance persists and sometimes the violation becomes the cost of doing business and so you know to the extent that perhaps commissioner Bond as a sponsor of the item you may want to consider putting together draft legislation of what this newly reconstituted uh abatement board would look like it might be perhaps in the interest of the item to continue the item to give the sponsor the opportunity to put together draft legislation of what this new new more uh more more modern version of this of this board would look like so that perhaps the committee could consider that just a suggestion thank you okay um vice mayor a bot uh would you consider continuing this to the March 12th meeting yeah I I absolutely would um I will also reach out to Fort Lauderdale to learn more about how they're doing it and what their um parameters are I wanted to point out to everybody um that in the there two things I wanted to point out one was a little bit amusing that the fines um from the board that was constituted in 87 and disbanded in 2003 are basically approximately where the fines are today so I thought that was amusing um slightly disheartening but amusing um the think the more serious thing is that under Section 7232 conduct of hearings there is very clear outlining that this is not going to be a gacha board this is going to be a board conducted with due process with parties having an opportunity to present evidence and argument on all issues involved to conduct cross examination submit rebuttal evidence will be represented by Council um so of you know it's going to be less um iguana remediation and more Board of adjustments in terms of you know the seriousness and and um the the responsibility um of of the board and I do agree with my colleagues the concern of the proliferation of boards and and committees and all that but I think if there is something where we have another Avenue to deal with um nuisance businesses or Bad actors who would just process their fins as you know um cost of doing business or they don't really care or they don't understand the process well enough to even know what's going on this is another Avenue to do better by our residents and nobody knows their be their neighborhoods better than the people who live in those neighborhoods who walk the streets every day with their kids or their parents or their dogs or going to and from work or whatever um and so there are things that even though our code enforcement and police department are looking out for you know they don't live there and they don't see it all the time and our residents can um Elevate concerns and the goal is not to shut people down the goal is to get them to clean their act up we don't want to put people out of business we want people to do business conforming to the laws like everybody else does it's not that complicated um so that's why I want to continue this um this inquiry I'm happy to continue it to March and and uh I appreciate the support my colleagues okay thank you and now let's move on to item number three okay item number three is discuss a proposed ordinance to require notice to neighbors of impending trapping and extermination services and this was sponsored by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez Okay the reason why I brought forward this draft ordinance is because um there was an animal trapper in mayor D's neighborhood I don't know if he called all each of you to let you know what happened but while they were trapping an animal they took someone's cat and relocated the cat and the person was devastated because they took the wrong animal so he said what could we possibly do to prevent something like that from happening again so that is why this came up which is allowing notice and I know that this kind of it's a companion item to the one that I had I'm fully supportive comp to yours I I would hate for if somebody stole my cat I'd be devastated or my or trapped my cat by mistake or you know so I have no problem with these companies coming out and just they're going to have to register with the city what it says here is all owners of houses and buildings within the city shall provide notice by hand delivery or US mail to every residents within 500 ft 3 days prior to any planned animal Trapp trapping so that they can protect their animals I think it's benign enough it allows for no so that people can keep their animals indoors so that they don't get trapped unnecessarily or stolen apparently the the cat was taken and place someplace in Windwood or something and and and mayor D's um partner was searching for her cat for day she still hasn't recovered from losing her cat so um if if you're supportive of this um then I would just move the item okay I'll second you know we could add this we should really collapse this into your item and just make it well I guess they're they're companions but not trapping okay all right so uh commissioner magazine are you supportive yeah of course okay so we'll uh move the item to the full commission and then we'll go on to number four item number four is discuss take action on the dying tree population in North Beach ocean side park commissioner roson Gonzalez so this item was brought to my attention by Elizabeth latone who and several other people actually along the beachwalk we planted trees that then sarily all died uh which is very sad I don't know why they died I don't know if they were watered but what are we going to do about the the dead trees because so many people have texted me pictures of them good morning Madam chair Commissioners Lindsay pract assistant director of the environment and sustainability Department the North Beach Oceanside Park renovation included the installation of beachwalk trees and that was reviewed by City staff uh upon project close out at the one-year Mark since the project close out many newer uh beachwalk trees that were installed have not experienced sustained growth as a reaction to the constant salt spray that they experience being so near the ocean it's also coupled with the dune's hot and dry environment many of these trees have either died or exhibit moderate to severe symptoms of decline as a natural demarcation line where the most vulnerable trees receive close direct salt spray um they're also not protected by larger sea grapes in some of these areas or the higher elevation of the Dune system without natural protection gumbo limos and pigeon plums have experienced the most significant signs of decline the only species besides SE grapes that appear completely unaffected are the silver button wood urban forestry has been monitoring this item closely with the Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments um and the city has removed several dead trees in the intervening years since Pro close out um the first grouping of trees that were removed were 38 trees in October of 2024 and then staff also did a secondary inspection in November of 2024 where 38 trees were removed along the east side of the beachwalk in that event and 13 trees along the park side as well um a multi- departmental walkthrough was also conducted with vice mayor bot in mid December once most of those trees had been marked and removed by the city contractors according to the urban forry permit 376 trees were installed under that permit along the beachwalk and the survival rate of those trees is 300 over 376 which is 80% um for the trees closest um to the beachwalk in that area the next scheduled evaluation for these trees will be the end of the rainy or the end of the dry season right before the rainy season because we do expect some of these trees to rebound and have newer growth Within These coming months um however as of right now there are 180 trees that are currently defoliated with approximately 70% Leaf loss but no other symptoms or comorbidities so those trees will be um the main subject of that reinspection in May or June um staff observations as a part of these inspections and going back out over the last several months include using sea grapes and silver buttonwoods as uh protective species to proect protect some of these less hearty trees like gumbo limos pigeon plums um we can also use these trees as barrier trees um Clump them closer together install smaller younger trees that are more able to adapt and acclimate um many trees if they're installed at older or mature uh age they're used to being Nursery stock and they're not accustomed to these harsh environments um and then we also recommend longer watering and establishment periods for these trees um because again it is a very harsh environment uh we will also be reviewing the South Beach tree population along the beachwalk that does appear to be doing well to take some of those Lessons Learned so 70% of the trees have lost their leaves apart from the 76 that are dead it's um which would be like a 70% death rate so it's 180 trees that have approximately 70% or more defoliation that is about 50% of the total trees okay so um obviously we planted the wrong trees um you're going to have to probably remove them I know you want to wait um how long do you want to wait before you remove the 50% that that died we're waiting to do another evaluation at the end of the dry season right before rainy season is the landscaper at all responsible for planting these trees that then die they were all healthy at the one-year project close out so everything at the warranty phase um was at the appropriate health and who made the decision to plant that type of tree that then died because this was a huge investment on paper these tree should have done well all of the literature on the species that were selected show that they do well in harsh environments um but the in this area they particularly were not protected by sea grapes and showed a decline and what was the cost I just wanted let me finish my my questions and then okay what was the cost of planting um all of those trees that was a Capital Improvements project so I do not have that number in front of me I can definitely look it up and bring that back this was probably like a million dooll mistake um I'm not laughing about it I wouldn't call it a mistake because on paper the trees should have done well and with climate uh different things can happen with plant life um on paper the plants in my balcony should do well but I'm a black thumb and they don't so I mean things happen Okay um well we know that the SE grapes grow there well um what I like I'd like to hear from from all of you you about what we're going to do I mean obviously we have to wait a few months you're recommending wait a couple of months till like what in April that's for the next inspection so the dry season concludes at the May or June period so we would go back out at that time this item uh there's a similar item that the land use and sustainability committee where we are providing monthly updates on the geobond reforestation and we're including this update and that update as well um we're also happy to provide an LTC once we complete that inspection on what was found can you do they have watering mechanisms or were you just hoping that they would you know Thrive it depends on the area where they were installed along the Dune side you want that area to be as natural as possible um so that side did not include watering the trees on the park side did include a sprinkler system so the trees on the park side that were watered did they survive most of them yes they did have trees that also experienced decline um most recently in that November inspection 13 of the trees on the park side were removed so it's pretty much a question of water right because only 13 trees on the park side were removed versus I don't know 60 something that's that's one of them um they are also farther away from the ocean environment they're more protected by additional trees um so it's it's multiple uh issues okay as you know many people have complained about this yes I know that you mentioned that commissioner bot yeah vice mayor bot is online ready to speak okay yeah so um you know let's just um remember that the 70 trees that we're talking about reinspected um at the end of the the dry season are defoliated but are not dead necessarily and so let's not bury them before they've died to quote a Monty Python line from one of my favorite movies I'm not dead yet so um and that's from the Holy Grail if anybody wants to pick a up um but uh you know so these these trees look they're they're generally hearty and hopefully these little guys will be bound this is a very complex planting environment um uh it is a lesson you know lessons are learned um I think the suggestions that are made about um how to group trees how to bring in younger trees um to to prevent this from happening in the future is um is exactly what we need to know it's a shame didn't know it coming in and that's a different conversation for a different time um um but but you know we talk constantly about um the fact that we are a heat island and and we have heat Islands within our heat island and the idea of making sure that we protect our natural uh environment and provide additional shade without um blocking views and without changing the the complexion of of what the beach walk looks like um is a very valid and worthy and necessary goal um we have had pockets of success and we've had pockets of um of Lessons Learned and we will fix them and move forward I think to um throw the baby out with a bath water is not in anyone's best interest and I've I've had many many many conversations and emails and photographs sent about this as well but just because we didn't get it 100% right the first pass doesn't mean that it's not worth um working to to fix until we do commissioner okay so I I think we should leave this item on and come back to it in like 90 days and see the status of the trees and I mean I'm no arborist or tree expert but I would recommend in the future before we do a mass planting of 400 trees like that that we do a test period you know during one season and see how they thrive you know maybe you want to like try maybe between now and 90 days you want to plant like five different trees and see which ones are thriving the best you know and do a test do a test run um where you remove the other trees just so that in 90 days when you know as you're doing these inspections you can monitor something else I don't know if that's something that you guys have planned but I would go back to the drawing board and see because maybe you plant something that really just starts to grow like a weed and um you know and I'm sure there's more native trees that could potentially grow on a shoreline that would be my recommendation okay commissioner Fernandez thank you madam chair I remember back in August of 2023 uh being uh in the Redwood force and getting complaints uh from our residents about our beautiful North North Beach Oceanside Park uh being uh you know it it was sad what was happening there it was a natural a grown environment it was mature um so I just I just want to make I just want to make sure this is the work that was done there was part of what was it the phase 2 uh Capital project I'm unsure of the exact phase okay all right I think I think it was part of the of the phase to uh project that um that you know it garnered a lot of criticism due to the destruction of the mature foliage uh and I think at the time the concern was you know we were destroying you we were ripping out of the ground sea grapes uh mature sea grapes uh let me ask you something uh which is the type of plant that has shown to to have the most resilience in this environment uh the trees closest to the ocean that are experiencing the fewest stress symptoms are SE graps and silver so what we removed in essence what we removed in essence that I asked the city Administration by phone and in a memo that I disseminated in August of 2023 to not remove for the sea grapes and the ones that now we have seen that have had the less stress are indeed the SE grapes what we removed and what it had asked us not to remove and sometimes and and I say this all the time sometimes you know you look at manuals you look at things what they say on paper you look at what Engineers tell you yes but there's a void between what things say on paper and the reality of a situation and I think common sense just tells us SE grapes perform well if and my and my whole issue at the time was this is a beautiful park it was it it had a cooling effect in a heated area of our city that's surrounded by concrete and I was so saddened because it was one of these beautiful Charming areas of our city that was very overgrown that was very natural that was already mature and yet we're coming in and we were and we were you know ripping it out and um and I had asked and I brought forward an item and I asked the administration to put together a plan to restore to restore what had been removed and nothing happened with that it took Commissioners Rosen Gonzalez and bod to bring an item now about this so that we can determine that indeed what we had there originally is what worked we fixed something that wasn't broken and we created more damage and that is really what is sat here it was fine in its original state and now and now we spent not only the taxpayers dollars but we hurt a natural environment and so and so I you know let's let's go back let's let's let's fix this but just sometimes if something being overgrown and being mature it's fine and it was fine at North Beach o Oceanside Park and it was sad uh when it happened there and I think anyone can go drive by there now and say yes it looks beautiful the way that it is now and an argument can be made about that but that didn't mean that it wasn't beautiful and good the way that it was before thank you madam chair than um so I'm going to make two separate motions here my first motion is that we come back in 90 days and review this date of the hund and how many trees are approximately 180 of the 180 trees that are 70% leafless what did you call them uh 70% or more uh defoliation defoliated okay and my second motion would be and I don't know if this has a cost because it might have to go to the commission for you to do a pilot program commencing as soon as possible plant how many different trees do you think you need to figure out what grows along the beachwalk and what doesn't so we don't well we know that se grapes grow but you know maybe there's some other option but we don't know because we haven't done any sort of testing or Pilot plant why don't you in the spaces plant five different species of trees that are native that could possibly grow along the beachwalk and then at the end of 90 days come back and also tell us the status of those five trees do you have the funding to plant those five trees or do you need us to go to the commission to fund something like that so as part of the geobond reforestation project that we're planning right now and we're we're doing the community outreach with beachfront property owners the first phase of that project will include planting adjacent to City own properties where we can choose multiple species of native trees to see what would work um we would take these Lessons Learned as I've outlined clumping trees together using sea grapes and silver buttonwoods as barriers we could definitely include five native trees in those planting pallets um my one recommendation would be is as evidenced by the North Beach Oceanside Park at the one-year project closeout and warranty phase all of those trees appeared healthy um so at the 90-day period you may not see um full results of what is successful or not um that's a longer term uh study but you're you're talking about but it's very different to plant them next to a structure versus planting them on the beachwalk no so these would be as part of the beachwalk reforestation but they would be adjacent to things like city-owned parks parking lots um there are areas where these city-owned facilities lead out onto the beachwalk so these trees would be planted along the beachwalk so my my second motion and if we need money to okay I I understand that the SE grips and silver buttons work but why don't you pick five other species plant them and let's the second do you need do I need to bring that to the commission to plant those to get the funding to plant those five trees or can you guys handle that within the department and is that something that I'm allowed to do am I just this is kind of a study does this have to go back to the commission the administration if they want to do it can do it this committee cannot order them to do anything you can make a recommendation to the city commission if you wanted to make such an order but uh it sounds like uh what Lindsay is telling you is that they are willing and able to do what you're asking so it doesn't require anything further okay so we'll come come back in 30 days on the status of those other trees and we'll keep a pending to see the status of the other five trees at you know the six-month Mark too okay vice mayor bod has a comment yeah I I do think also you know we do have a lot of learning with what has been planted over the last year and a half um so while I'm supportive of more learning always um I'm not sure what F you know five different species since you know species were selected um by experts using science based you know determining what would Thrive here so um it to me it feels like we've already done that and we we have the learning um Lindsay did an admirable job of explaining um the things that they're going to be doing differently um I would perhaps say that before we start any further work on big um reforestation projects that you know that that is um you know the subject of all the conversation with the property owners um we make sure we really know what we've learned from this segment in North Beach so we don't repeat the mistakes but I'm not sure we're going to get that in you know 90 days from now or even six months from now I think it's a holistic review of what we've learned from this this experience and then apply that before we do you know anything else in in the other parts of the city and maybe do them um more phased as opposed to all at once I'm sure that affects the cost a little bit but um maybe that's something to think about as we consider the implementation stage of this and also whoever we get our trees from I think a oneye warranty is insufficient and that should be something that we um that we uh you know bring to the for it as we discuss with them right now we know of two species I would like them to find five different species that we know Thrive along the beachwalk and I don't think there's anything wrong with letting them experiment a little bit more and by the way I'm not asking them I mean I'm asking them to apply more science you know Lessons Learned no I more Lessons Learned so I understand um those my two motions um I don't think there's um are you okay with those motions yeah I have could we could we repeat the Motions CU we're a little bit unsure we I I first motion to come back in 90 days to report on what I want them to come back in 90 days to report on the status of the 176 trees that are 70% defoliated right now okay and they said that they were going to conduct review in May or June you want them to do something earlier than what they were planning on doing February March April yeah why not it's just a quick status update so just bring it back and then the second one is to try some different trees this is just you know and if that we we're not doing it we're just doing that conversationally and we're not doing it and report back on that in six months I just can I make a comment on this Madam chair of course thank you I you know I think this is an environment that's been established way before any of us were here we know what works here we there is just common sense you know there are there are certain trees and plants that have been existing in this area for decades upon decades upon decades upon decades we don't need to test this again test some introducing something new for what for it to die again and we waste staff's time time and money and so I I think it's commendable what you're trying to do and and I I you know I don't I don't want to you know say it's a bad idea I just think you know it's just common sense look at what Nature has allowed to prosper there and build upon what Nature has done and we don't need to we don't need to you know reinvent the wheel here palm trees actually grow really well there the sea grapes you know grow really well there and and there's just a certain set of trees that have shown to prosper there just build upon that and and and it's and it's not complicated and next time let's not destroy it you know we we we spent the taxpayers dollar to Deforest an area that was mature and well and I asked our city to stop it and we only deforested it then to come and reforest it with plants that then dried out and uh and lost their foliage so let's just build upon what we know the succeeds there all right with that I'm done thank you Elizabeth Laton if you could please unmute yourself you have two minutes you're still muted hi can you hear me okay I'm unmuted I first of all I appreciate you all uh addressing this because it is a really big problem um and and I agree with commissioner Fernandez um also I'd like you all to take a look at the application uh the original application that was sent to the forestry service for the United States government um I'm going to send that to you all because uh there are not any trees to be planted between 41st and 74th uh I think that there's information that that people are working off of they don't have the full picture but I did a full public records request going back all the way to the history of this this whole debacle and I think I'm going to send that to you all so that you can study it before you plant any more trees um and also I I don't understand the whole Northshore open space Park cutting down every single thing up there and then planting you know the buttonwoods and things like that even in Allison Park they're dying um which nobody's addressed but I just I wanted to say I appreciate you all taking the time to address this and thank you very much is there an issue Madam chair with this vendor like did we procure these plans from a vendor that you know for for for this amount of trees even if it's if it exceeds the warranty the warranty it's only a legal term on you know on a document that places an onerous on the provider to replace if they die but if after that warranty we see a pattern of them dying it might there be an issue because now we're hearing from a resident that in another area of our city uh in another Park something similar is happening uh are these being procured from the same vendor the two projects that were mentioned no it's not the same vendor it's a diff it's a different vendor okay so maybe we learn from this and you know we don't continue putting these along the coast along the along the Beach Walk y Madam chair if I could um I'm going to stay in my Lane I'm certainly not an expert here but just I'm asking for my own personal feedback I guess if anything what is idiosyncratic or unique about this specific location did we plant a different type of tree or plant that we haven't planted elsewhere um I get what you're saying about the rough elements and it may have looked good on paper um I guess I could look good on paper and be a good catch but look how that's worked out right um but uh uh for this what why is this area unique right is it a different type of plant um there could be very sight specific elements that are different in North Beach than let's say South Beach for example North Beach is an erosional hot spot it tends to have a narrower Beach it has to be renourish more frequently whereas South Beach is a very wide accretional Beach it has 20 foot tall dunes and elev a so there are more protective areas of our beach um so the trees that are doing well on South Beach could be better protected um this area is also known to be a wind tunnel so it's not as if we went out and tried some experimental type of species this is a type of plan in tree that has worked elsewhere didn't work and this isn't like finger pointing but you know mistakes this uh this consequential we we we can't make them you know simple as that um I don't know of a good way to mitigate that but uh that's not finger pointing that's just all of us collectively wanting to do better and be good stewards of taxpayer money okay uh Mr City attorney where are we with the Motions can we move forward uh I the first motion yes you can come back with a report on the condition of the trees in 90 days the second motion to uh I I guess would be for them to come back in six months and report on their agreement to test five uh plantings of a tree if I understand that's what they intend to do okay so let's see here um June 18 for the six months report uh commissioner Fernandez should we be planting these types of trees where we don't have irrigation what we're proposing as part of the lessons learned is to do a longer watering period um so we have the contractor who's installing these plants come out more frequently for longer periods of time to make sure that we're supplementing the irrigation that is not present within the Dune system okay thank you okay with that we'll move on to the next item uh everyone clear with what needs to happen Okay number one item number one discuss utilization of 7605 Collins Avenue is a potential base for operations for ocean rescue this respond Ed by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and Co sponsored by commissioner Schwarz uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez if you'd like to Tee It Up this idea came from North Beach residents who are um who've been very upset about one of the West Lots being taken by the fire department um it's been a temporary location that they've been in for almost a decade and you know it it it's doesn't look so great it takes away the parking that people need in North Beach and so we thought that a simple move over of you know we went with the fire department um and the Lifeguard Union the CWA and they love the space um we already have Surf Rider there I know that the space was purchased with building department funds but we thought that we could do a simple lease for a small amount um in order to um you know accommodate oh by the way if we did move the Lifeguard um the CWA and lifeguard to the to that space we wouldn't have to um reconfigure the inside of the space because the general public wouldn't be um going there so I don't really know how you feel about this I'm I I you know either way um I was trying to find a solution because even though they are building new headquarters for the lifeguards there it's many moons away um when we spoke to Capital Improvements it was it they haven't even really started to configure the project and it's part of a larger project with the county so I thought in the interum we could move the lifeguards off this lot free up that lot um but I'm not wetted to it either way so I mean if you guys wanted to make it for the building department that's fine but it seems like this house is an odd location for the building department um it's a residential house um and I don't really see how you accompl it so that the public will enter it in in a normal kind of Commercial Way um and we would save a lot of money uh if we move the lifeguards there because uh we wouldn't have to make it you know all of these accommodations so um where are you guys on this do do you want to speak let's hear from the city okay uh yes good morning everyone vid SE house building department director and building official uh the purch of the 7605 Collins Avenue house uh does have a building department use uh it's not necessarily for all the public it was going to be a North uh Branch if you would we uh we have it earmarked for our call center and for a remote office of which we currently are renting a commercial space at some great expenditure whereby we can use this space and limit that expenditure uh on a regular basis and now have an asset um that's said there's also a meeting for the public um scheduled for February 6 at 4 pm uh and again my understanding from previous discussions with fire is if they didn't get the whole house they were not interested so I'll defer to my colleagues in the fire Services okay good morning Madam chair and committee members uh deputy chief Laris um back in November we went out and looked at the property we also went out with CWA president and the fire chief and um viewed the property and it is quite small to divide the area inside is quite small to divide the 18 Personnel that we will be needing in there if if we had to divide it then we' probably would rather defer um and we also have um some other notes on on the trailer area that that we are currently using right now where we would uh have a plan to reduce the footprint that we're using by 4500 square ft which would give us approximately 8 to 12 parking spots to help alleviate um parking for the residents in that area so that's where we were at in November and really nothing has changed so we're looking for some direction from you guys so what I would recommend is that we just move this item to the March meeting and see what happens when we have public in put and then after that meeting I'll report back to you guys and let you know what I found uh one of the other reasons that we like this space is because there has been a lot of criminal activity in that Park so if you put lifeguards and firemen in that area um I think it will probably reduce the attractive you know the the appeal of homeless and criminal activity in that area so that's a second reason why we wanted to do this so if it's okay with both of you let's wait for the community meeting we'll see what the community has to say about this and um and Vince if you'd like to meet in between so I could find out exactly what you're paying per month um on the building department lease um I would like to understand that too so that you know we're not um because I S saw that storefront it didn't look like a very expensive storefront I can't imagine that it's that expensive current uh Florida prices are are not inexpensive I could promise you that uh but yeah I I'll look at the budget and we could definitely uh have a meeting and go over what those numbers look like and because first of all it wouldn't be a a permanent thing anyway it would just be until their headquarters were built okay which would free up that lot and by the way it would also give you an opportunity over the next few years to draw up how you really want to reconfigure the inside um of the property if at all I mean it's it's the building Department's asset and possibly I know Fire doesn't want to pay uh one penny to do this move but we can find out what the lease is that the building department is currently paying and possibly find out if that would not be a huge expenditure for us to take from the general fund to reimburse the building department in a lease do you understand in the interim until they get their permanent headquarters I I understand uh what you're asking and again I would have to sit down with legal as well to verify that we don't run a fou with any Florida State Statute specifically 5538 that ah okay 553 53.8 zero of course I'll get into the weeds if you want with the other subsections but that's the general one uh and again I'll get you that information with the lease and and we could discuss those items in in further detail okay I want to make everyone happy I'm not looking to kick the building department out it just seemed like an easy way to remove these guys from the trailer for the time being free up a parking lot the neighbors surrounding have really I'm not BL there's no blame for the park but it's very unsightly um and those lifeguards have been in a trailer for a decade and if you go in and you see the circumstances that they are operating under I think that putting them ocean front on the east side of Collins Avenue in the middle of a park so that we have a public safety um component could it's just a win-win so I'd like to speak with you and get you on board Vince in some way so that you're happy and we're not violating iy 3.80 okay 55 3.8 55 3.80 okay and we've alluded to uh the community meeting it's February 6 from 4: to 6:30 it's iners only at 7605 Collins Avenue okay wonderful and we'll and vice mayor Bach has a comment I just had a quick question for chief laras um what is the plan where are we on getting a new permanent home for your guys up there it's from what I what I understand it's taking a little bit of time um additional time obviously um is there a plan in place though we had a meeting there is actually geobond funding and the the new headquarters would be part of a larger County Complex if you go up there and you see where the county is um has its equipment they're building a large facility there but they are at the very very beginning I would say they have not even commenced to the they're just at the beginning of some sort of conceptualization as as you know commissioner bot uh because there's several agencies involved it could be an additional you know five to 10 years before everything done even when we begin that facility we don't know that the Geo Bond funding that we got in 2018 is even going to fund that so in the spirit of you know um we like the we also liked the idea that the lifeguards and the Miami um surf sorry the lifeguards and the Surf Rider testing the water were also in the same facility that was another um Synergy that was a positive one um I just have to I see here convince our our building director that this would um be somehow a positive thing for the building department and find out what they're paying in commercial lease and how we can somehow mitigate that if possible and by the way know that this would not be a it's not a permanent fix but it's it's better than a trailer you know and there's a lot of added value to it so let's see what the community has to say and come back in March if that's okay with everyone okay so we'll uh move on to the next item number 14 item number 14 is discuss possible suggested building department process and connection issuing building violations for small older and or historic buildings with goal of reducing C cost this is a building item and it was sponsored by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and co-sponsored by Dominguez uh 14 and so uh we initially commissioner were going to have a sunshine meeting on it and then it uh didn't come to poition because the employee at the time left and uh so here we are to discuss potential processes here um so Vince would you um would you like to T us off Vince and let us know what you feel about this well legally I have to be consistent with the application of my fees and with the application of fines keep in mind that fines are the uh the stick that keep Society in line uh I would off reference a commission uh agenda item r5m whereby you're actually going to be adding more enforcement so this is kind of discombobulated or or or at ends with with with that piece of uh proposed legislation as well however in light of some of these uh identified issues uh the building reprieve program for violations has been approved uh and it is in effect uh we are already reducing the recertification um fee for these uh existing buildings and we've made the um or actually you all passed the the reduction in fees with any repairs associated with building recertification when we discuss violations of the code let's be clear we're making an addition or an alteration to a structure all right generally speaking an aged structure okay without documents without plans without a design professional or a licensed contractor involved we can jeopardize and do jeopardize the public even if it's something very pedestrian like an outlet you can cause a fire so again trying to throttle back and I understand that that the public wants relief but at the same time they need to understand bad behavior will not be rewarded with a pass it cannot be rewarded with a pass if we make one exception or one appeasement we're opening the door and then basically uh we're losing all our power and again we have to be consistent across the board Vince when will the uh consultant be done with his analysis and provide information to the city commission related to the build the ad hoc committee recommendations we're already running with that those recommendations we've uh we're adding uh additional inspectors uh for the private providers we're having we're bringing back the walkthrough process so as plans are going through you have a face-to-face opportunity to go through those okay um again we've we're moving by Leaps and Bounds we have over 30 items that we've implemented based on ad hoc recommendations to go forward so again here's what I'll ask commissioner we brought this item back in September many things have changed and improved since then I think I would ask that uh somebody from your department send an LTC of uh an update what the latest improvements have been what has been implement it um I know I picked up a couple things that'll be on the February 3rd uh commission meeting uh and we close this out we can bring something new if needed yeah I don't love the idea of um discounting violations um I but I do understand the situation that our smaller buildings across our smaller historic buildings are facing um could there be certain violations that aren't considered you know like bad op or something that you find that you could discount are there like a certain set of like if we looked at all the different violations that you have is there any way that we could provide some sort of um Financial relief we're doing the research we got the okay we got the discount for recertifications and that includes these smaller buildings too correct yes ma'am and not only that uh keep in mind our our fines and our fees are consistent with Miami Dade County as well so it's uniform there isn't an additional bonus fee or fine just because you're in Miami Beach so it's consistent uh basically throughout all 35 municipalities in Miami day County um I would close this item out the only thing that I could suggest that we do to help the smaller buildings is possibly look at some of the data and figure out what are the major violations that you're issuing and then do some sort sort of community outreach to all of these property managers and say Here's what we're finding across the board here's what you can do to proactively cure this violation based on the new code you're smiling does that seem like something that you don't want to that's my second item with our consultant Bob Moran is correcting violations and avoiding getting into those situations it's generally work without a permit I what I would like to do is actually not not do the Outreach so much to the property manager as much as the condo associations um just I don't know how do we have a database of those condo associations that we could reach to create some sort of um so so you're looking at educating I think education is what's the what's the biggest violation that you find work without a permit oh and there's no way I was trying to simplify what work needed a permit and what work didn't did you ever go through any of that and find out like what might not need a permit chapter one of the Florida building code is is very uh very broad any alteration change of equipment demolition all those things require a permit okay all right so I don't to really see what we could do apart from apart from possibly giving direction that we do some community outreach based on top violations for condo associations I think that that would be something proactive that that way they come in they have access to Vince and his team if you brought the whole team in and they could have these you know conversations with you so that there's not you know so much panic and we're creating that course for the property manager so that they can't go in front of the special Master any longer and say oh we didn't know that we couldn't do this work without a permit because it's the property managers that that are suggesting that these associations do this work without permits probably correct in that situation I can't get to who pulls the trigger on on authorizing the work without a permit or or whatnot it could be a resident it could be the management company it could be the maintenance person I I'm not involved in that I just show up once the violation is is there uh and my inspectors verify that it's there and we cite it as appropriately needed are you guys already doing community outreach on the violations and there is a database by the way on the condo associations we use that to notice and we we also use that database when we're posting uh our recertification requirements now are we already working on a uh public information campaign like I said we do have Bob Moran the consultant that's one of the various uh public Outreach that we're going to do uh and again everyone that's been coming in with a recertification we've let them know any repairs associated with it are approved by the ordinance uh from last session uh with the 50% uh reduction in the fee and any repairs resulting from uh having to correct any issues with the structure or the electrical components or Life Safety components will be at the reduced residential rate so we are informing the public okay so I think we can close this item out if they're already going to do public out I agree and I still want the LTC with the update of what's been implemented so far and what's coming down the pike all right let's move on to item number 133 item number 13 is discussed the from the gecko initiative that aims to overhaul The Bu buing permit review process by ensuring that all necessary items are identified during the initial submission and review this was sponsored by the mayor this is Mayor Miner's item he is on vacation he still wants this item to be heard uh Vince if you could uh te this up absolutely oh Danny did you have something to say on behalf of Mayor Miner on this item yes hello basically he just wanted to hear the presentation that Vince and Maria you wanted the committee to hear the presentation that Vince and Maria have prepared thank you good morning um Maria Hernandez interim assistant city manager in charge of building um we have specified very specific things in the memorandum of what has already been done at the building department um and what's getting done in the next few months it is basically complete overhaul of the building department and this is something that we have to thank you all for um appointing the ad hoc committee which has been instrumental um in guiding us along the way also Bob BR who's been an amazing consultant um he's also a resident which makes him even better um he's been great to work with and it it has involved over 200 people um within the building department that have had our hours and hours and hours of meetings um and realignment of how the building department does business um and it's going to go from what used to be a very enclosed environment after covid to a very open environment back again um starting with the biggest thing which is that we're bringing back walkthroughs um and this is something that everybody has wanted I know um commissioner Rosen Gonzalez that you had a very bad experience with you know some spaces that you know of and I think that if we would have had walkthroughs available none of that would have really happened I mean it's just something that when you come to people and you talk to people you solve things it's just human nature you have your Professionals in front of you you can get it done so this is something that we're bringing back first as a pilot which is um which is getting set up right now and then is a phase two and this has been Vince's Mission because he's been Staffing the entire building department with all the vacancies that we've had for at least a year bringing back people um and working on that because you have to have a full staff in order to be able to bring the level of the building department to a different level a more residents first level a more customer friendly level um so it's all getting done um the HW committee who we thank um entirely uh has already sunsetted but um all of their recommendations we're taking forward we're even bringing back um a division for private providers which is very important even for the developers um and we're going to be helping a lot of the businesses also that need a lot of handholding especially when it comes to uh cosos certificates of use and BTR um and to your point uh commissioner we're putting together a whole ad campaign there's a video that's been put together um as well as a lot of brochures that we're handing out and we're planning to take some of this information on the road a road show like we did for the geobond um we're we're going to be reaching out to mbu and to different associations to show them what we're doing because if people don't know what we're doing it doesn't do us any good so we're going to be doing that too so a resident that wants to do for example I'm sorry I didn't even know to speak okay let's say I'm remodeling my bathroom right and I just want to draw it and I'm putting you know change of fixtures what are the requirements in order to to get that permit I mean do they need to get a plumbing like um inspector like a plumbing engineer just a plumber to pull the permit so that's going to be one of the work classes for an interior uh renovation of a bathroom uh or a kitchen all right and as long as there's no exterior work involved there are certain divisions within the permitting process that won't have to see it okay so automatically it's it's a streamlined permitting process that's one of the piloted work classes that we're going to be launching with the walkthrough program and to your question uh what you would require is first and foremost every permit starts with the application okay the C the cost affidavit okay so we could do the substantial Improvement substantial damage that we have to enforce both through the Florida building code our local ordinance and the nfip and code of Federal Regulation 44 so once that initial launch is submitted um then what we need is a drawing or a plan now dealing with a condominium we have something called condo docks so some of those layouts uh and floor plans are already generated there I can utilize those okay going forward and you do not have to get a design professional as long as those conditions are still the same any alteration from what you get approved through your walkthrough process will compel a revision okay now to your ends when you say a bathroom remodel changing fixtures and perhaps the most common is changing a bathtub to a shower because of you know mobility issues if you will as as we get older uh yes you will need a primary building permit okay and you're going to need a plumbing permit just to make sure that that liner isn't leaking to the unit beneath okay the drains are installed like okay let's say that I'm I'm resident I'm going in I want to remodel my bathroom in this walkthr would I be able to go in with this drawing get my master building permit and then just have the plumber come and get his permit to pull it and that's it he could even come with you wonderful that would be great and um for the electric part I know that before when you were trying to do like a bathroom remodel or a kitchen remodel you wanted even even though an electrician a licensed electrician was going to pull the sub permit I think on the master permit you guys were requiring um an electrical engineer to stamp that do we need that requirement if you're hiring a licensed electrician and you're just changing an outlet no a state licensed electrical contractor can do a load calculation okay they're authorized to do so they do have to sign the document all right provide their license number give me the information and and a notary has to verify that contractors are are regulated under Florida statute 489 all right engineers and Architects are regulated under separate chapters 471 for engineers 481 for Architects they have the ability within their statute on how to affirm sign and seal and protect their documents be it a ray seal rubber stand or a digital signature contractors do not have that hence when they do their calculations we need a title block or an information perhaps something on their letterhead that tells me a who you are B that you're licensed that you're current and that this signature is authenticated hence the notary requirement whereby an engineer architect has that rais seal that they just signed date and that seal or that rubber stamp affirms that it's them okay okay but let's say I live you know single family home I'm pulling the permit as an owner Builder I'm My Own contractor and obviously my Subs my plumbing and mechanical whatever they're all going to be permitted can we issue to a resident that Master permit so that they can be the contractor on that and they don't have to hire the expensive designer and then have those subs pull the separate permits can't are we allowed to issue that to a resident as an owner owner Builder first and foremost the exception for for Contracting is 49103 and that stipulates a value I'm I'm not laughing at you you're just so funny what is that 490 49103 it's exceptions from Contracting okay okay so to behave as an owner uh owner Builder there are limitations in the statute okay starting with value you have to occupy the resident the residence you can't be renting it out or have it for sale within a year so there are several criteria that first and foremost have to be satisfied before we even get there uh on top of that when we're talking about the design professional aspect again the exception provides for a value limit on what you can and can't do without a design without a contractor now a design professional again goes back to 471 and 481 those are the statutes that regulate those and there's also values and limitations onto what a contractor can design or an owner can design the minute you need calculations that's it you have to get a designed professional period no negotiation now if it's a swap out of a cabinet uh or again we go back to the the example of a bathroom perhaps a a tub to shower which is basically I want to say 75% uh of the work classes observed that can be submitted by a licensed plumbing contractor either in the State of Florida or a master contractor in Miami day County and again the criteria for them affirming the scope of their work I would need prior plans perh perhaps um that have been submitted that show the actual condition because that's the one thing we're not going to at that point start approving or verifying or providing a venue uh for less than scrupulous individuals from legalizing or after the fating non-permitted work okay I if so we need a reference document that's already been generated in order to avoid having to go the design professional route and there's a maximum amount of value there as well so I couldn't as a resident go in in the morning draw my bathroom um knowing that I have um like obviously tile per person isn't like permitted I guess that would be under the building okay let's I want to I want to remodel my bathroom and but I know that if I just pull my plumbing permit and the inspector goes in there and sees that I'm doing some tile work I'm going to get a building violation right and that's not what we want you'll fail the inection and comp I would like a resident to be able to go in draw what they're going to do and then get their different you know and then get the different steps we can't do that yes and no generally no you can't again it depends on the value that's one and that's the limit what is that value how much is that okay it depends if we're talking an architect that's $25,000 if it's anything but if I'm the owner Builder and I want my master building permit so that I can do my bathroom R re is that you get a reference document go to the microfilm record of your property okay and get the last plans that show that that condition is there that you're not moving the you don't need anything anybody to sign off on that again and then I need the person that's going to be installing or applying there could be a plastic liner they could be doing a liquid applied uh tub liner shower liner there's different things and again if we're dealing also with fire rated walls or structural walls how are you buttressing that are you there are several components it's not a one siiz fix all now when you come in through the walkthrough process if if uh you hit one of those hiccups you're getting it from the horse's mouth right then and there okay so we could provide you the guidance hey look go downstairs real quick to the records department pull up any microfilm and we could see exactly what your condition is okay right and and that way you are getting ahead of I guess the curve if you would and you already have something to work from now again I caution you because as things get added to those Scopes you start reaching those thresholds after a certain threshold you are obligated to get a design professional and do the whole thing and you could still use that microfilm or that record request as a reference document showing hey we haven't moved the tub we haven't added a bedroom we haven't made any significant alteration okay okay um well are you answered this this is but this is the type of seminar that we need to do with residents so that they understand that they can come in pull the plans of their house a survey right all you need is a survey right no not a survey well if you want to just do a fence perhaps a survey but then you're going to have to go since it's something exterior you're going to have to go to zoning so it depends you depending on the scope of work you were talking about a tub I need to know the floor plan I need to know the layout what's physically there what's actually there that we're going to go and then prescribe and tell me what kind they take a picture of it and put that on the plan like I want to make it as easy as possible like if you can get around the state stat you to make it easy if they could take a picture of their bathroom and pin it to the you know and pin it to the application so that they don't have to pay the additional $1,500 to have that drawn that's a big difference between somebody doing something illegally and getting a violation or going and pulling I want people to say you know what it was so easy to renovate my bathroom I I understand our vents building director is so wonderful and accommodating there there's no getting around statutes those are the enabling legislature but I have a question yeah it's Minor's item I I I get it uh commissioner Fernandez yes um thank you madam chair so you mentioned certain State statutes and certain building codes these are these building codes in the Florida Statutes or is it a different document okay Florida statute get ready for another one 553 is the enabling legislation for what we we refer to as the Florida building code yes so the Florida building code becomes your administrative code the details understood so but there's a Florida building code commission yes sir okay and is it possible to let me ask you this is it possible to pass a local Amendment to the code to the Florida building code absolutely as long as it's more restrictive than the building code never less restrictive correct and is it possible for how often does the Florida building commission meet well the Florida building code gets adopted uh try annually and currently we're in a modification period for the 2026 edition of the Florida building code that would take effect uh December 31st of 2026 okay and have we sat down to discuss issues that might be unique to Miami Beach that we may want to bring to the attention of the Florida building code commission um that you know that we may want them to consider like for example I think what my colleague is is mentioning to help streamline like if you can do if this is something simple that you can do your own you know drawings for without having to hire another person is this is this something that we can you know send an urging that we can reach out that we could Lobby uh as part of our state lobbying efforts to the Florida building commission to consider there there's already so the framework of the statute it's that's the general enabling legislation and the details come to us through the code and there's Provisions in chapter one as to what requires a design professional and then the statutes that regulate those designed professionals have other restrictions and requirements and that's where those other thresholds come in and the exceptions like I yeah but when I hear restri requirements I hear red tape and bureaucracy time and expense for residents and taxpayers which we want to be able you see I would value you know you telling us what we could urge the Florida building code commission to change to help create a more efficient process there's things we can do locally but not everything is locally a lot of times we find ourselves with our hands tied and saying we're preempted by the state by by by you know 883 5 or by you know something else and so you know what are these things if you could help us identify what are these things that we might want to ask the state to amend so that we can create a more efficient process for our for our I I I trust and I believe that there is no legislature more committed and no state government more committed right now to making a more efficient process for homeowners and residents than the current administrat ation and we should use this opportunity to Advocate on their behalf because this might be one of those rare occasions where our local government and our state government might align in agreeing on something which is efficiency cutting R red tape and making a more streamlined process permanent process for our residents uh I'm definitely happy to sit down and and go over the uh minutia of the the several pieces of legislation involved and what we can try and initiate um the the the bad word of preemption does come up uh quite often uh but there's there's additional local requirements that aren't here in the beach that come through us through our our bigger brother bigger sister of Miami dat County for example durm uh is one that if you're doing an alteration interiorly over 160 square feet now you have to go to them and that adds an additional layer of red tape uh to to quote you uh commissioner so yes I'm happy to to you know sit up we could set up a meeting uh offline ton not bog down the committee too much and we could go over some initiatives that I think would would definitely push the needle uh in this direction and the the fact that the appetite is is here uh I don't think it's exclusive but I do want to remind everybody just as when I discussed the the violations um a lot of the building code unfortunately you may look at a black and white sheet of paper but it's actually written in a lot of accidents Bloods and disaster sure that's understood and that's the the balance that they're trying to our our our priority is always to to to look out for the safety and wellbeing of prioritized life and property correct and so and so and so understood that we don't want to do that but sometimes certain things get outdated sometimes in their implementation they're determined to at times even be redundant absolutely technology changes to go ology changes and so and so given that we are in this period of revision it will be it'll be a good time I feel for us to get together and see what what those efficiencies could be absolutely thank you Absolut Thank You Vince thank you okay I'd like to move this to the full commission and um that way we can take action there on future items and the mayor will be present to give additional input okay item number 18 item number 18 is discuss potential locations for the relocation of the sanitation department operations office which is currently located on the first floor of 17th Street Parking Garage this was sponsored by commissioner Dominguez okay so um as I've been a commissioner I've been touring different departments for the past couple years and when I toured the sanitation department I was quite surprised and so I'd like to hear from the um City Administration on their thoughts of what I witnessed and potential new locations thank you chair Dominguez and fellow Commissioners um what we brought back is um basically an opportunity here to look at um one of our existing sites where our operations location is for our utilities at 451 Day Boulevard um and I think the good part about that is uh in 2016 there was a potential plan to put a light car rail system there um so a lot of the framework uh for what we would need from an operational perspective there's a baseline that's already there so we have that site as one potential site and and in further discussions we had with Administration um we've also included um our site at um 2100 Meridian where it's currently parks and greenspace operational facility so what we would like to do at this point in time is uh utilize uh the consultant who did this light rail car study back then which was kimley horn and kimley Horn is a firm we use today uh we estimate the cost um of approximately $100,000 or less to do it and it basically would just you know provide updated and current costs and information you know for us to look at the potential to move the sanitation operation of uh Public Works Under One Roof at the operation and is that type of funding um monies that the department would have already or needs to be found through Finance no we we we need to make that the request is to uh for $100,000 so we can go ahead and and take this action okay so if my colleagues agree I'd like to move this to the full commission so that we can then refer it to finance for consideration in 2020 okay yeah and I I think that's why you know going with kimley horn will will probably be best because they've already had a baseline when they started this um you know Light Rail process and and involved that facility uh and we also put in the uh Green Space facility as another potential option so we can look at a couple things that you know may be able to get us uh you know where we need to be in terms of being able to move that operation out of 17th Street Garage okay so with that we'll move to the full commission and then go to number 18 oh I'm sorry sorry number six is discuss allowing multif Family Residence buildings to hold garage sales two times per year and this was sponsored by commissioner Dom okay so uh this item was uh brought forth uh by the Flamingo Park group um MCC Meridian Court community and I want to make sure that if any building is having more than one garage sale that it's the building that requests it because uh we wouldn't want this to get out of hand and I'd love to hear more from Manny Marquez uh good afternoon chair uh Commissioners uh currently the city code allows for one garage sale per 12-month period for single family home or multif family resident uh we could bring an item to the next commission meeting allowing for two uh the cap was one it's been one for many many years previous commissions discussed uh increasing it and there were some fears that some residents might try like to have like a flea market type thing on a regular basis uh I think this is something that could be brought simply it's just capping it at two per year we've had requests in the past uh for multiple garage sales in a year and we've told the residents no you can only have one currently we average approximately 20 garage sales per year for the whole city so I I think that um the city should not accept garage sale request from residents directly it has to come from the building because that would mean that that the board has approved and vetted that it's okay to have the garage sale on their premises I'd love to hear from our colleagues what they think about this if I may add through the chair um the building has to come if it's a condo association it needs to come from the condo association we wouldn't accept an application from a resident and need to and that's what I meant when I said building I meant the condo association has to make the request not the individual resident that's currently in our rules okay I have no problem with this I would move it if you wanted no okay all right so we'll move it to the full commission and then with that we'll go to item number 15 item number 15 is discuss a timeline for construction for Miami Beach Convention Center headquarters hotel and anticipated home date this is sponsored by commissioner Domingas and Co sponsored by Fernandez and we have I believe hi okay hi yes my name is IET Batista construction project manager at Tera and we're happy to inform that we have secured term sheets with the lender that is a big milestone for because it means that we have completed pretty much the financing right now we're in the due diligence process there's a lot that needs to be done to come together for closing okay so we're looking at closing toward towards the end of March but we're still going to continue with our plan of doing test files in February okay so test files February closing in March and uh foundations in April and then um hotel opening is still targeting November of 2027 okay so that's our that's our update uh okay and when in 2027 November 2027 Hotel opening okay so you've secured A lender the closing is at the end of March uh pilings are still being done in February foundation will be done in April and uh so right the the test piles in February then we begin building the foundation the the piles right in April yes after CL okay uh so when will there be a groundbreaking probably mid April okay mid to end of April we we need to get started planning the ceremony we were just talking about that earlier commissioner Fernandez yes thank you and uh it certainly is uh exciting news I hope I hope that closing comes quickly that we can move forward I'm glad to hear that we're going to have some movement on the side with uh pilings uh that means that now is the time when we need to be talking about traffic traffic plants and stagings and uh and you know that type of of activity uh because we want to make sure that as we move forward with this important phase of construction that we limit the impact as much as we can on the area where are we with the mot plan uh for this right we have an mot and Logistics plan that has been circulated and approved uh by uh transportation and public works so our city manager has already approve it's ready for City manager's approval as part of the prepossession conditions okay uh and to the city Administration uh by when do we anticipate approval of the MLT plan by by we have multiple items that we're working with the c man manager's office uh and that's is one of them okay uh how about uh the um you know the plan for offsite Transportation parking uh for construction workers and all that again there's another important aspect of this as we move forward I want to make sure that as we break ground we have visitor parking here individuals that want to come to city hall or individuals that want to experience activities at the convention center enjoy Lincoln Road so where are we with the uh parking and transportation plan for the construction workers right our plan is the same that we had in place for our foundation permit we have a contract with um I can't remember it's in directo it's a parking garage and and we have an agreement with them um that was signed for the foundation permit it's being extended for the hotel and it should be signed in the next uh week or so and will be submitted for the vertical um but we are we're covered for the foundation before you start work are there any eement agreements that need to be uh reviewed and executed between the developer and the City of Miami Beach correct we had a call with the city earlier this week about that we have five easts that need to be recorded before we start construction okay and where are we on that because I just want to make sure I don't want I I don't want us to find ourselves in a situation that you come back a month from now and we're told oh we haven't been able to move because you know there's an issue with the Eastman or there's a document sitting on someone's desk and we haven't received a signature yet uh we learned from other projects like you know dealing with other jurisdictions and things staying on people's desks and I just want to know you know want to make sure we move efficiently so um tell us what's going on with those e good morning Tere um the city's leaon um for the hotel project um so we've been meeting with the developer over the course you know the last couple years um very often at the moment the easements uh which is your question there are five easements to be reviewed by the city reviewed and approved we're in the process of doing that we had to hire a surveyor uh to do a peer review of what they submitted to us and that is expected to be completed in the next couple of weeks okay and does that need to come ultimately to the city commission for approval no these are easements that are pre-approved as part of the lease agreement so the city manager has the authority to do that these are things like the bridge right that connects the hotel to the convention center and that's important right but um for for example the staging area um alleway location they have right ofwe Eastman also and there's the hotel the the hotel Alleyway and all that um yeah yeah the the alleyway is one of the EAS the alleyway the cranes the bridge the temporary staging areas the temporary staging areas and then the FPL uh Vault and and switch gear okay all right are there any anything ending with the construction contracts your GMP our GMP will be signed in in the next week or so okay very good and there's a Certificate of Insurance already issued that is in progress okay that's not going to be ready until like probably like the day of closing to close but that's important because you know for the city and that ultimately protects our city our residents our taxpayers so having that Certificate of Insurance uh by you know why why is it that we need to so there's a builder risk and then the general liability right okay and does the city attorney's office feel comfortable waiting until the day of the closing to have uh the Certificate of Insurance no so let me just clarify that um we actually were having a conversation about this yesterday we're going to have them in contact with our Builder with our insurance Folks at the city to make sure that the documentation that they're proposing is acceptable to the city ultimately will go be revealed by the city attorney's office as well but this is in in progress It's not like at the last minute they're going to submit something to us for review okay very well thank you madam chair okay um we have our next meeting in a couple weeks but things change all the time in construction projects so I would like for you to come back and give us an update what's going on on uh February 12th February 12th okay same committee yes okay this is this is a late January yes that yep okay with that we'll move on to item number 16 item number 16 is discuss the potential implementation of a text messaging system to facilitate the reporting of Code Compliance complaints and this was sponsored by commissioner Fernandes and co-sponsored by commissioner magazine okay so who want wants to go first thank you um Madam chair this is an item I place on the on the agenda I'm so grateful to commissioner magazine for uh for for joining me and sponsoring uh this this item because I as we were speaking earlier uh in an in an earlier item um you know enforcement of issues is important and I feel the more that we can do to make our government accessible to individuals in their preferred means of communication the more efficient our operations will be and the better we'll be able to serve our public I think being able allowing our residents to be able to text message uh code enforcement is aligned with the direction which we're moving and for example um going to switch gears to police you know with police we have the technology and we're working with Miami day County to be able to incorporate uh the uh text to 911 and that and that is in the foreseeable future uh because we already have the equip for it Miami day county has has adapted their their equipment for it and all that there is a synchroniza synchronization going on with it um so the next phase is how do we uh get our other Regulatory and enforcement agencies aligned with this so I see we have our Administration here I want to recognize uh franking our Chief Information officer to tell us where we're at with uh with this item good morning uh franking donon CIO with the city of Miami Beach um so as an update on the technology side of it uh we established a pilot we while we identified a technology we established a pilot and did testing uh throughout the fourth quarter of last year to kind of work out the technology piece of that uh we registered some numbers for the short code texting which is what many of us are familiar with to register sign up for notifications and and those types of systems um and we're at a point now where the technology Works we've established um how to do the workflows that we would need to properly implement this um and we've done a demo you know with the Departments to show them this is you know what's possible and what we're able to do so right now I don't want to speak for uh for the code department but right now we're trying to figure out how that's going to uh be implemented operationally right because just because the technology works the department needs to be able to take in those requests and process them um and then yes so you're saying we could apply this across multiple departments not just code enforcement so our intent right even though this item is specific to code um was to to build it in a way that we can make it extendable to other departments as well so it's not a short code specific to Code Compliance and as time goes on and we kind of work out how it is that we can intake those requests and and how we pass that along it's built in a way that multiple departments would be able to use it over time which was our intent and part of the reason why we wanted to wait a little bit to do it once but be able to give the flexibility where departments across the city would be able to adapt this if if so you know desired sure and how far away are we from being able to lunch uh lunch not lunch I thinking is 128 I'm thinking of lunch to launch uh the service it would probably be within like the next few weeks within the next few weeks okay at least to start a pilot right so we have the messaging done and and we can do you know we can work with uh the code department and Communications you know if needed or any other departments and need to work on the engagement with their residents so they understand how to do it um and as time goes on if we decide to onboard additional departments we can change some of the messages so you'll you'll register with the system you'll accept that you want and then depending what it is that you put in uh we can um you know kind of send that to the correct department that would be responsible for addressing the issue I love this item I'll tell you our resident's preferred method of communication is text message uh which is why I have placed this on the agenda because a lot of times I'll get complaints from residents by text message and it's much easier to tell them rather than tell them download an app or email this this this person or call this number it's much easier to tell them the same text message you just sent me you send it to this other number uh and so and so Madam chair I'd like to keep this item open because once we launch the code aspect of this I would like to continue getting updates on you know number one it's how it success or you know if anything needs to be changed you know how it's being received by the public once it's not but also where we are in the process of then getting on boarding of other departments uh as part of this text messaging service and Frank and cod if you could uh meet with me because I would like a demonstration uh to make sure that it meets the expectations for the public yeah and I can certainly schedule time with your office to do that um the good thing is the way that it's built we'll be able to track the number of text messages so today we know how many calls the Departments get so we can start you know providing that level of detail this is how many we get uh how many requests we get through like the the app as you mentioned how many of them are in phone calls to our call centers how many of them are we texting and inevitably um we can have a broader discussion about what we do with our call centers with the city how we intake that you know from a 311 standpoint right um and we can talk about that so I think this is a much larger discussion uh texting is a portion of it but it's more of a strategic I love this item and and Frank thank you and your team for for taking on this this effort on these uh capabilities that we can expand not just in code but throughout our organization and to code enforcement for stepping up and being uh willing to adapt into this new technology I really appreciate it you're welcome thank you thank you so Madam chair if you don't mind keeping this item open uh yes that's fine commissioner magazine as co-sponsor do you want to add any comments no I just think is great the more that we could do to provide accessibility so often we serve as middle men and women for a lot of things you know in some regards we serve if this was McDonald's we'd be on the board of directors but then also uniquely serve as hamburger flippers right so it's like to try and facilitate just better communication for our residents and the people that are actually uh on the ground executing I think anything we could do to facilitate that is great okay so uh when do you want the update commissioner Fernandez um let's say a month because we're because there should be should be implemented within a few weeks so and I would love to do something big I mean this this is for our residence this is going to be huge uh and I think we should you know R do let's do something big to uh launch this and communicate this to to our community so let's get an update in a month great and uh City attorney I'd like to co-sponsor be listed as a co-sponsor I love it that'll be March 12th correct okay and uh so with that we'll move on to item number eight item number eight is discuss expanding City bike program this was sponsored by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez okay commissioner Rosen Gonzalez hi um after our traffic debacle during our basle I um spoke to Jose I did see commissioner Fernandez on an ebike although I didn't see him on a on the beachwalk on an ebike very responsibly running his ebike so what is this how can we EXP expand the city bike no um program that we have um so that more convention goers do have access to bikes when I looked at the numbers there was a healthy amount of people grabbing those bikes and I think the more that we offer um the better so I don't know if you've spoken to City bike and what what they said because I um I spoke to someone at city bike who told me it takes a long time to get those docks they have to order them and it could take you know years to a year to get them so I don't know what what the planned expansion would look like but sure thank you commissioner good morning Madam chair committee members Jose Gonzalez transportation and Mobility director and interim parking director um so just by way of brief background since the Inception of The Deco bike bicycle sharing program back in 2011 it has just grown exploded in popularity the program is currently registering approximately 1.2 million rides a year and that's with about a, about 1100 bikes strategically located at docking stations uh throughout throughout the uh throughout the city so given the popularity of the program we recently amended the contract and extended it for an additional 5 years so now it expires in 2029 as part of that Amendment uh it it provides for more electric assisted bicycles as part of the program for about about another hundred and uh and there's also a public benefit that's associated with with the amendment where it uh it's intended to incentivize residents who are currently not um registered as part of the program and also um a little bonus for residents who are already registered they get one free month every 12 months of of rides for for free um so definitely there's an interest in expanding it further as you mentioned commissioner during week we put an additional station out there right in front of the convention center and it was highly utilized um city bike had to have a person like constantly replenishing bikes there so it worked so then what can we do okay so let's say that we took that and we multiplied it for next year's bosel like times 10 I'm not J like I want a serious bicycle look at the amount of rides that we had um during Basel I think it was impressive so how can how can you expand it my expansion initially I was saying you expand it all over but like what what do you think you could possibly do at the convention center I think it should be permanent because I think that people from all conventions are just going to pick up these bikes by the way people during you know the winter months they're coming down here to South Beach like what more do they want they're in the sunshine they want a bike nobody wants to get into a car and once they see how bad the traffic is they're going to grab those bikes all over but what you need to figure out is where are those people coming like where are the Strategic hotels that they're going to grab the bikes bring them to the convention center can they dock them I guess it's more complicated then let's say that they get to the convention C Center and there isn't an available dock I do know that there's there aren't enough City bikes over by the fyen complex they need bikes right I would put a station there I would have like what are the top convention hotels for Bosa find out those numbers put stations the expansion should have numbers directly from ocean front hotels or to the convention center so do you want agreed agreed and I think you're right on point uh commissioner I think the next step here is to um dialogue with City bike so that the expansion it needs to be strategic as you're pointing out it needs to be targeted it needs to be strategic where um where there's a a lot of demand and and little Supply so I think that exercise needs to needs to happen in order to determine the scale of the expansion I will note that any expansion any significant expansion will likely require an amendment to the contract because unfortunately the current Amendment does limit the maximum number of bicycles to uh 1,200 so that's just about a 100 more than what's out there today so it's really not a whole L sorry could you repeat that last Point uh it's it's what limit is it to 1200 1,200 Bic currently we have about 1,100 Bic what limits it the contract so can we revise contract yes yes yes yes it can be amended you know at any time um but it it does for whatever the city manager had the authority to increase that I we do he's going to they're going to amend it and come back to us with something amended but you also have to take into account when you're doing this does the fountain blue offer their customers Bikes let's say that they get on their Fountain Blue bikes and they get to the convention center do we have readying docking stations where people can put their bikes I think this is a question of I you have to call the major hotels F how many bikes do you have and is there a need you know and you you're going to have to you're G to have to get on the phone and do some research and find out how many bikes does each Hotel have um are we competing with them if we're putting the city bikes there and do would they like extras and then you going to not just have to have City bike docking stations at the convention center you're going to have to have regular docking regular dockage for bikes right now do we have that I don't know that we do so this is a question of you know really figuring out how can we make our Convention Center bike bike friendly and by the way I mean I wouldn't discount you know the Washington Avenue look at it from all you know from from from every from every Point absolutely there there are definitely areas within the city that I think there's unmet demand where we would prioritize those areas but it would need to be in partnership with with Deco bike of course why don't you go so go to Deco bike this would be my my motion um laur's in the bathroom commissioner to is in the bathroom I'm sorry okay this would be my motion go do this little study that we're talking about about our largest hotels and where people are taking the bikes from go and speak to Deco bike and then come back with a plan um not but but twofold not just the the The Deco bike plan come back with a where we're going to allow people to dock other bikes from different hotels because I I see a lot of people around town that have bikes from their um hotels or they might rent a bike while they're here so I would make that twofold and how long do you think you need to do that because I really want to get this in place um for next season maybe absolutely so my team just advised that the conversations with City bike have already started in terms of a an expansion a targeted expansion I don't know that I have a time frame yet as to when we can come back I would say if you can give us a couple months 60 days you want 90 days0 60 days let's try 60 days because I would like us to place that order and have that in place for you know for next season and then you know really we're going to have to it's it's not just um the expansion of the program it's letting the convention center people people and all of the convention all the conventions that we have booked having them begin to market the idea of bicycles too to their convention goers hey by the way here's your biking option you can either rent bicycles here well we don't want to compete against ourselves obviously but you know we're going to have Deco bikes available you know and and and and let them know and give the convention goers a map of of where those bikes are so that they can pass that along to their you know conven it's a it's a it's it's easier than a different Transportation um modality but at the same time I think it's going to be effective okay we're going to lose Quorum in about 20 minutes so I'd really like to move things along uh commissioner Fernandez and I know we have public comment thank you and Mr director um as as you mentioned we have the new agreement uh with with City bike that that includes the resident benefit that I'm so grateful to City bike that they agreed to they also increased uh the ebikes to 10% our bike by 10% I think uh of what we had before has that new agreement already been signed by the city I know de signed it already have we signed it already signed it I believe it is still in being routed for final signatures on the city Side so that means our residents right now don't have the benefit that we negotiated for them I know the effective date is January 1st so with the date with the effective date being January 1st I would think that those benefits are already in place even though the contract has not been um fully ined yet okay and why haven't we signed that yet uh I think it's just being routed through docu sign we'll find out where it is and we'll please thank you I okay public comment public comment we have Matthew Gano you have one minute Matthew if you could mute yourself thank you hi good afternoon everyone my name is Matthew banov and I just wanted to thank the entire committee for discussing this item uh the number of rides last year was actually higher than 1.2 million it was one it was over 1.7 million and that's a number that has plateaued in the last couple of years probably because of the limitations on the size of the network so I think this is a really timely uh item that's being discuss in any way they can expand the system will allow more people to ride and more rides to be conducted and I also want to thank the commissioner for being the lead on this resident benefit the resident benefit that was previously mentioned it's a first in the country that provides no charge rides to residents of a bike sharing system so once it's up and running it's going to be a really exciting program so thank you very much and I hope that you can all work together to expand the system even further thank you if we could unmute caller and user one and if you could please introduce yourself give us your name okay you put their hand down all right so this item will come back to the March 12th meeting um and I'm going to skip around a little bit number 11 number 11 is discussed decreasing INF infrastructural Street clutter on sidewalks that inhibit the intent use of The Pedestrian right of way commission magazine magazine I appreciate it thank you madam chair um when I we spend so much time and effort and and brain power trying to beautify our city and the one thing that just once you see it you can never unsee it is so much Street clutter and signs and uh if I was like one of my colleagues I I'd have a PowerPoint presentation 100 pages long just to show I mean we have to just be more real istic right if you're on Collins Avenue and technology changed navigation has changed if you're in on Collins Avenue driving north you don't need a sign pointing North Beach this way that's just my fundamental view it provides uh this really leeway with uh the city bike discussion we will never ever ever solve our traffic problem if we don't do everything possible to get people out of their cars one way to do so is freeing up our s sidewalks of clutter Brad what what are some initial steps that we could take can we do some sort of analysis of you know block by block the street signs that we have what is important what is not even if you look right outside of City Hall uh in between the convention center um just within the past few months there's I I believe their handicap or city Only parking signs and they're placed at every single parking spot it is just Overkill it's aesthetically unpleasing it's fostering an unsafe environment we need to take better pride in presenting our city is a place that just looks uncluttered and uh enjoying the natural resources that we're blessed with so let me hand it over to you to see how we can start kind of implementing something like this I I think first on this matter uh the first issue is it's probably uh going to take a little bit of a combined effort between I would say perhaps Public Works parking and transportation collectively working together I think all of us kind of maybe touched a little piece of that so I think that's the first step in in us being able to get together and then kind of you know comply compile a list of you know all the things as it relates to signs we see out there I I I will just I want to mention one thing because I don't know that we've really talked about it um in in a public for uh as far as we talk about Street clutter but we in part of our initiative last year we were actually able to remove all of the news racks that were on the sidewalks and causing some issues so they're all gone from the city so that's that that's a positive are state law that kind of govern what you need sometimes for I yes I mean I would like I defer more to but yes we don't need to get into that here maybe Jose just an interest of time if you could just do a quick LTC about State loan I would love to come out there on the ground with you all and kind of just you know visualize uh how we can do better and then we could work in tandem about putting a uh plan of action forward about how we're going to kind of declutter some of the uh overs signage that we have kind of all throughout our city does that work sure we'll be happy to to assist uh Public Works in any you know site visits inspections needed uh there are signs that are required uh regulatory signs that are required but there are uh many signs that I'm sure are Superfluous that that if you could follow with an LTC about what those requirements are just so I have a frame of reference and as do my colleagues be very much appreciated and look forward to working with you on this absolutely number close that close out that one wait for the LTC item number 19 will be next okay item number 19 is discuss the potential removal of ball bouts at certain locations to increase parking and or mitigate traffic congestion this is sponsored by commissioner magazine Madam chair I'm fine to pull this uh this caught me off guard us the um um uh on the other side of things like this very much more pedestrian friendly um so this kind of uh caught me a bit off guard let me just um if you wouldn't mind defer it and I'll come back to you to see if I pull it uh entirely wait don't yeah wait sorry that was the mayor's item oh oh it sorry oh that's okay um I am in support of this uh for moving bul bouts and looking for ways to find parking and whatnot uh commissioner yes I think that removing the bul bouts on 40th Street are key to allowing people to make a turn and you will alleviate traffic tremendously so let's move this to the full commission yeah I would we would like to well do you want to okay okay all in favor do we know what we're removing can we start with 40th stre we'll discuss it again at the full commission thank you in the interest of time because we're about to lose Quorum and there's item number seven commissioner Fernandez yes start with 40 the street on the bulb outs we don't like those at all item number seven is discuss implementing A system that notifies residents if their vehicle is illegally parked to provide a reasonable amount of time to comply with the city's parking policies and transportation will be presented commissioner Fernandez uh thank you madam chair and there canot be a easier more more common sense item than this when someone's going to be towed they usually have been given a parking ticket already and there's usually a 15minute grace period between being issued a parking ticket and someone being able to be towed uh when that parking ticket is issued we should give our residents the courtesy of a text message Hey listen your car has been ticketed and you're about to be towed because the goal is not to tow the vehicle the goal is to achieve compliance and if we text message the person once that ticket has been issued we might be able to avoid that c having to get tote and avoid huge costs for our residents so I want to ask Jose uh where are we in being able to implement this sure and through through the chair um commissioner you you're absolutely correct there is value in notifying our residents if they're parked illegally and giving them an opportunity to to uh to correct that um what we did was we met with the IT department to see what it would take to develop such a system and it's definitely doable it's definitely feasible there is some information that we would like from the committee as we give this a little more more shape um factors three factors primarily the first is how long should a parking enforcement officer wait um after 15 minutes we're already giving them already giving them we're already giving our residents 15 minutes uh between ticket and toy my I believe just keep the same policy of 15 minutes but the moment you issue that ticket send the text message to to the resident sure uh in order for residents to receive text messages they have to be registered in in our system in our virtual system currently only only if the minority are we need the minority or the majority the well I thought it was 16,000 that were registered of about with a phone number out of the 22,000 6 out of all the register out of all the residents that are registered the majority have listed their contact information but there are many residents who are not registered and we can build upon that and and so right there would need to be extensive community outreach to let residents know about the and and it benefits residents because it provides discounts uh discounted parking for residents commissioner can we move this and I think it was a third item that he needed feedback on the other is the uh how many well how many times do we notify residents should it only be once they're notified once one text message you let them know and um and I believe oh and then the types of violations of course there are some violations that are very egregious and there are others that are not like if you're parked in front of a fire hydrant of course no but like if you if you were parked somewhere where and then they put a No Parking sign because it's being rented out for a valet purpose or a special event purpose you know there's life safety stuff and then there's non-life safety stuff and I think I think we would all agree non the non-life safety stuff is what we're you know where may I draw for one scenario the freight loading zones we are trying to to enforce Freight loading zones so that trucks don't have to block travel Lanes but I think you're still giving the resident the 15-minute grace period or are you not we currently are we and quickly because we're about to lose Quorum Sor yes no uh because for Freight loading zones there's a tow truck that follows the enforcement officer because we're trying to so you don't give the 15minute grace so in that case you don't anything that right now you're giving that 15minute grace period give the resident the courtesy of that of that text message because in those 15 minutes you might get the compliance quicker than what the to truck and get there absolutely and just the last thing I want to state is that there is an unintended consequence hopefully this privilege if you will is not abused um because has the potential of being abused if if residents know that they're going to be provided an opportunity of they they they they won't abuse it because they're still getting a parking ticket they're still getting that parking ticket placed on that wind on on their windshield so they're still being penalized with what is it $46 so you get a ticket it depends on the type of ticket it could be 36 tiet so there's so you know I I don't I'm not concerned about that Madam chair thank you for being willing Tove okay so we'll move that for the to the full commission is that with a positive recommendation okay by acclamation from there we'll move on to item 21 please item number 21 is discuss enhancing public transportation accessibility and efficiency at senior centers with a dedicated mid bus service this one is sponsored by the mayor and co-sponsored by commissioner domus um so uh this item if you quickly want to Tee It Up and then I'd like to move it to the full commission okay thank you madam chair um so we have been formulating a plan uh that would consist of a dedicated midsize bus that would serve our senior centers and pick up residents from those senior centers and take them to uh a destination uh one destination that we've heard or several destinations one that we've heard loud and clear from residents of the Stella Maris is the Walmart now as you know there is no Walmart within our city the closest Walmart is uh by 163rd Street in Aventura in the Aventura area so this this service would be uh leaving our city if you will uh so far that's the most popular destination request is uh Walmart uh so we're uh you know we're taking steps to try to refine think that's amazing I think it's great at least it's not the casino cuz I know that that's a popular stop that they like too I'd like to move this to the full commission are we all in support I'd like to co-sponsor it yeah okay from there we'll move on to item 12 item number 12 is discuss considerate coaming 17th Street in honor of Norman brayman commissioner Fernandez thank you madam chair and I think when we look around our our city whether you look at Pride Park and the artwork that's been donated there or whether you look the identity of our city how has been interconnected with art basil and the impact that has not only in the economy of our city but on our City's brand or even when you look at the incredible Memorial that we have with the Holocaust Memorial behind all of this uh is is is the generosity of of patrons of good causes like Norman bremond and because of that uh great contribution that he's done to our city I think it's always beautiful that we get to honor these these individuals while they're still with us when they get to appreciate the uh warmth of the community that is grateful for those meaningful contributions and um and in in that Spirit I'd like to uh request the uh co- designation of a portion of 17th Street in his honor because it is in the proximity of these great contributions that he's that he has done to our community thank you commissioner Fernandez um Norman brayman has been very philanthropic and he is spearheading and funding the expansion and upgrades to the Holocaust Memorial he's donated uh beautiful artwork the Mina sculpture that we have at Pride Park and um I'd like to move the item and if I could just Madam chair just one second also uh his contribution to Mount Si and if there's one issue that unites Miami Beach perhaps more than anything else is uh being anti-casino and I'm not sure if there's uh a bigger Catalyst than all of uh South Florida as to why we don't have a casino and Miami Beach other than Norman bremond so I think this is a great contribution yes and um Madam chair I just want to place it on on the record uh Mr director wish is the portion of 17th street that the administration is recommending to be designated so commissioner we're actually not not recommending uh we we wanted to know with the Committees um you know what what your recommendation is in terms of the limit it could be the entire Street or it could be a portion of 17th Street one thing I'd like to mention is that 17th Street is currently co- designated as Hank Meyer Boulevard and we know that because there are signs out there between Alton and Meridian now the the county um will or allows multiple co- designations on the street I would say from 17th Street to Alton Road um I mean from Washington Avenue to Alton Road that is the area the city center that is within proximity of a lot of the contributions uh that Mr brayman has done and I and I also want to Echo what commissioner magazine uh said even last year uh uh Norman brayman was willing to fill up an an airplane with Miami Beach Rus to take to Tallahassee to join in the fight against casinos uh you know stuff like that uh really helps keep the character of our community Beyond uh the actual contributions of physical stuff like art like the Holocaust Memorial like a new cancer center but you know continuing in keeping our city safe uh from the influences of something like casinos amazing okay thank you mad chair so we'll move that to the full commission and then um we're going to lose Quorum in two minutes and I think I item 20 which is the last item deserves a longer discussion can we defer it to the February 12th in two weeks which is that uh it is uh bicycle lane on the west side of Collins Avenue yeah yeah so for we'll move that one to February 20th I mean to February 12th um so with that uh thank you everybody thank you to the city Administration and the team here on the day is for another successful Public Safety and neighborhood quality of life meeting we'll see you again on February 12th excellent good