##VIDEO ID:nMYTtaiJ3l0## please take your seats the meeting is about to begin remember to speak into the micro phone 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 uh my name is Laura Dominguez Mii Beach commissioner and I'm chair of the public safety and neighborhood quality of life committee and with me today is vice chair David Suarez and Committee Member Joe magazine we also have assistant city manager Mark taxes and uh Deputy um City attorney Rob Rosenwald and the fabulous Stephanie Ray Brooks um thank you everybody for being here and with that we'll get started with the meeting uh the first item we will hear is number two all we have just a couple of announcements really quick we have two items that will be deferred item number five discuss options to address drones or other aircrafts that engage in illegal activity and item number nine discuss regarding sessions regulations and layouts to ensure that sufficient areas remain available at all times for public enjoyment of the beaches so we'll start with item number two discuss the school board joint use agreement review regarding Miami Beach Nautilus Middle School fence request at Polo Park hi uh good morning everyone John rebar Parks and Recreation director we just wanted to bring this to the committee's attention um state law has changed as it relates to the security of school campuses and if you're familiar with Nautilus Middle School Nautilus Middle School is adjacent to Polar Park Polar Park is the city property and they also utilize it for PE and other outdoor activities and the School Board needs to um create a a secure perimeter but we also want to maintain some Public Access so have that security that we all want for the student students but also have Public Access specifically to the children's playground which is heavily used by the community during the school day and the tennis courts um and pickle ball courts there was a meeting with the school board um a walk through on Friday I don't have a drawing to give you today because we're still working this through but we're very optimistic that we're going to be able to come to a compromise that could provide exactly what I what I outlined and that is a secure campus but still have that access to a a city park do you think you'll have a compromise by the October meeting I I can I would hope so I I cannot control the speed um which I hope so because it is a priority this this went into effect I believe August 1st um as a mandate on the school so they are motivated to get this done so I will try my best to push it through but I we do need information from them oh and they're also willing to pay for it because this is the security measure that they need but the offense would go on our property but they will they will pay pay for it and maintain it colleagues do you have any comments mment is there any public comment no public comments at this time Deputy City attorney would this go to commission or would we uh hang on to it here at committee I think at this point you hang on to it and see uh what agreement comes out and then you would move it after you've heard what that is and discussed it because I don't I don't think that anybody has any real idea at this point what the school board is going to come back to after hearing our proposal okay um thank you very much then we'll move this item to the October meeting to hear this again and um next item we will hear is number three item number three is discuss the implementation of Project Blue Light program authorizing Private Business cameras to have a direct feed into the realtime intelligence crime Center and this will be presented by police hi good morning Madam chair uh good morning Commissioners um here today to discuss uh a new initiative uh requested by the mayor uh this was a referral to the this committee to discuss uh Project Blue Light um which entails bringing Private Business camera feeds into the realtime Intelligence Center so we've been uh researching this item there's a lot to uh unpack there's a lot of uh ways to to implement a project like this um I'll go over a couple of the concerns a couple of the issues that we're going to need to resolve and uh deal with maybe get some ideas from the the committee and uh hopefully come back with a fully fleshed out recommendation so uh this idea uh began with a project in uh apparently in Detroit many years ago where uh they were having a serious crime problem and uh some private IND businesses such as convenience stores and gas stations uh asked the police department to uh uh have their video uh feeds uh brought into the police station um so uh that was done and uh it ended up uh working out in their in their environment and uh that was the start of this idea um so uh some of our some of our uh some of our uh research has indicated and we've talked to a lot of our partners we just came back from the second annual uh realtime crime Center uh Association conference and got a lot of ideas from there so uh the the one of the hardest things to deal with in this is that every business is going to have their own video systems um those are not necessarily compatible with our system so bringing them in is going to require some kind of technological solution that can be done by either us going out and finding a a single platform to connect all these disparate systems and bring bring them into our Sy Center as one platform this could be done peac meal by going to each individual business and configuring uh them separately depending on their um makeup and uh figure out a way to bring it into our uh to our crime Center um so we we uh and obviously there's cost differences with each one of those so um that's one of our one of our biggest hurdles is figuring out whether we want to do this as a single platform or individual um a second concern and uh I have the CFO uh the CIO here is the uh concern about Network traffic so this bringing cameras from uh all these disparate businesses and and outside uh is not part of our city Network so we're going to have to figure out a way to get all that Network traffic into our realtime Intelligence Center and that's going to require a technological solution I have a question actually have a question for Chris um this is Mayor miners item are you familiar with it uh do it it was listed here as a discussion item um how does the mayor want to move forward with this because this is a fairly new item it's from June good morning Madam commissioner uh candidly I I I know he wishes to go forward with it how exactly I'm I'm unfamiliar um uh if you give me a moment I can reach out and uh get better it sounds like a big Financial impact um and um configuring every single business to do it did he mean for it to be on a volunteer basis uh or businesses that already uh were compatible um I would like to get a little more detail so yeah if you could reach out and then maybe we'll move this to the bottom and then I'll come back to you great absolutely commissioner I appreciate it thank you thank you Chris all right uh uh it was the car um all right so now we'll move to num we won't close this one out we'll wait until Chris reaches out and we'll talk about this again later today um let's do number eight okay item number eight is to discuss the implementation of a text messaging system to facilitate reporting Code Compliance complaints okay and the sponsor is commissioner Fernandez co-sponsored by commissioner magazine uh commissioner mag uh Fernandez welcome thank you madam chair um and thank you for for for calling this item uh this is an item I placed on the agenda to facilitate the ease of communication between our residents and our government um I always get so uh so happy when I see our government communicate in new ways with with the public um it does enhance that level of communication transparency but we need to communication is a two-way street we can only deliver the best of services to our residents if we facilitate for them the ability to communicate to us the concerns that they may have and I believe that as a government we need to facilitate those lines of communication modernize them uh to the forms of communications that our residents are using traditionally uh when it comes to reporting matters of Code Enforcement it's been done by calling a uh I think before it was 604 city um I don't know if we're still using 604 City we are we we are still using 604 City with time we've also Incorporated an app uh which is a great app and we encourage everyone to use that app uh but not Everyone likes to download an app on their phone not Everyone likes to create create an account and remember the username and and and the password but the one thing I do know is that every resident text messages because I know because we as an elected body sometimes receive those text messages from the public when they have issues with code violations and that's an issue that is a regulatory matter that I really don't feel comfortable as an elected official being really too involved in the middle of and I just end up passing the text message over to hearnen or Tom catori over over at code enforcement the ideal thing would be if we allow the public to text code enforcement directly I think it's in the general public the preferred mode of communicating outwards and so I see we have our Chief Information officer Frank canana here and Tom and um hernon cardeno I'd like to defer to them Madam chair of you allow me to to inform us of where we are in the progress of incorporating a text to Code system sure good morning uh franking tnis the io with city um so after the you brought the item several months ago uh we engaged in an initiative with the code Department um to understand uh volumes of phone calls volumes of you know what comes in through the app so we understood uh where the sources are coming from and at the same time uh we looked at our portfolio of technology that we have to figure out what we had available to us today uh that was something that we would be able to implement within a reasonable you know amount of time or at a reasonable cost to be able to address this and I'm happy to report we have we are well on our way to implementing the ability to intake text messages as a way to communicate and engage with with our residents um that's going to be done um the plan continues at the pace that we're at that'll be done through a short code and we've registered one with the carriers uh the main delay at this point has been when you register a short code so for example you know text pound whatever and then a message that needs to be registered with all the carriers with AT&T with Verizon with T-Mobile and it's done by an agency or an organization that manages those kinds of relationships with the carriers um without that texting directly isn't something that you can do one often and ensure that it works for everyone the and so um Madam chair just uh what is the estimated timeline in order to complete uh that registration of the short code with the different carriers so right now we're about halfway through the timeline of that registration period we've submitted all the information it's supposed to be provisioned and we will be assigned that short code I would expect to have that up and running within the next 60 days 60 days okay so now let me ask you this uh because I know we have many different types of of interfaces that create automatic workflows uh for the assignment of of complaints M would this short code uh be able to or would it be compatible with inner goov so the way that it would work is the short code will give us the ability to move that text message that comes in to whichever call center or phone number is manned at the time um depending on the time of the day sometimes it's done at the 604 City Call Center sometimes it's done after hours so a traditional put a cell phone on someone's desk and have them just check that is is really impractical because we we flow our calls throughout the day depending on on Staffing requirements um that'll allow it to come into whatever the call center that's available at the time and that person will triage it make sure that it's for code and then be able to convert that into an actual uh ticket or an incident in the system um and the reason for that is many of the we understand from years of having the app and what people actually register for or what they what they um what they submit as an incident sometimes is something for public works or something for Parks or something for police right so for us to be able to automate that while it sounds like the best path forward and ideally we would do that it's going to create unintended consequences with the other departments to see it and say well this isn't really a code understood understood and and and frankly I frankly Frank I I appreciate uh the holistic approach to to it if we're going to have a number for for code it's it sounds great actually that we're able to centralize a number of other services if someone has an issue with traffic in a neighborhood or someone has an issue with Public Works flooding uh a pothole to be able to that one number and as you mentioned be able then to uh assign it to the proper uh workflow right so you said in 60 days we should have the registration completed with the different carriers correct okay so what I would like to do is continue this item Madam chair if you allow me for 60 days but with the 60-day mark I'd also like to get from the administration a plan a plan for the administration of this number how it's going to be handled internally uh how the information is going to be sorted to make sure that we follow up on these complaints coming in by a text message and also the communication of it uh so that in 60 days we'll get your update of where we are with the registration of the short code but also the plan uh so that once it goes live we are able to uh follow up on those requests appropriately thank you commissioner Fernandez so um Stephanie will bring this back in November um commissioner magazine you're the co-sponsor did you have any comments to share no not to belabor this but I think anytime that we can get the public more actively engaged and I'm all for cutting out uh government bureaucracy uh so many times it is just uh our constituents don't know who to reach out to uh they send it to us and then we are just simply passing that message along all you need to do is look on social media when people see something uh they know it's out of place uh but they don't know where to go so I think this is a fabulous system to get our residents more engaged and and uh facilitate an easier process for them to alert us Stephanie any public comment no public comment at this time okay so we'll move this item to November and with that we'll go to number 10 item number 10 is discuss a resolution of the mayor and City Commission of the city of Miami Beach Florida directing the city Administration to explore the viability of creating Police substations similars to Police substations in North Beach in the Collins Park neighborhood at City Hall in south of fifth neighborhood and mid beach in order to make law enforcement resources incident reporting more easily accessible readly available for residents and visitors and to more efficiently address criminal activity throughout the city and further directing the city Administration to report their findings and proposals to the public safety neighborhoods quality of life committee at its July 10th meeting in ordered for the committee to provide its recommendation including the fiscal and administrative impact to the mayor and City Commission in advance of the fiscal year and um I quickly want to say uh thank you commissioner Fernandez for being here this is your item I also would like to acknowledge Committee Member uh Christen Rosen commissioner Christen Rosen Gonzalez and thank you commissioner bot for coming as well uh would you like to te it up commissioner Fernandez sure thank you madam chair So currently the police department has uh one substation in North Beach that provides in-person services for walk-in reporting during business hours I think one of the great things about the substation is that they also serve as a deterrent uh that visibility uh of having a station uh away from the centralized headquarters in South Beach whenever we get closer to the people that visibility encourages a level of deterrence of crime we also encourage uh through the community to be more in contact with their police officers and and likewise facilitate the greater presence of officers in those in those neighborhoods um this item uh was was for the police department to come back and with their findings and proposals I think we had it in May uh and I think we continued it to the September meeting so that the department could give us their proposals so Chief I see you're at the podium um excited and eager to hear the proposals that the police department has for the committee's consideration well thank you commissioner good morning thank you madam chair and thank you um all the rest of the Commissioners for allowing us to have this this conversation today as you know we are we are committed to enhancing our presence throughout the community as much as regly possible we believe in the business of community policing uh we do understand and appreciate the fact that Hing substation does allow for for some of that um but when we look at resources needed to do this we have to we have to sort of prioritize which should come first I can tell you one of the things I'm most excited about that in recent days we've been having conversations about the community center on Sixth Street which I believe is a viable viable location for us to stand up one of our units there and that unit will be used um to attract the community provide space for community members to do community events and other activities very excited about the possibility of getting access and and and activating uh the uh community center on Sixth Street um as far as other St stations are concerned we have multiple locations throughout the city that the that we do have current police presence we have actually in fact we have have up to uh five places through the city um that we have police presence now four of those five are discreet uh locations for reasons I'd rather not discuss openly one of those is the North Beach uh substation um and CH of priority we'd like to look at putting a substation here in this building at City Hall for host of security reasons um and so um whereas we're looking to put substations throughout other areas in the city Mr commissioner a preference and priority would be putting something here in this facility okay um so where are we with looking into that um today was to present the proposal uh for it so is there a proposal ready for to be considered by the committee today not one that's finalized um there is a potential space on the first floor that would mean displacing a current Department that that's there um my understanding is minimal build out once we do have that space if if that's possible um it really includes minimum security measures to put in place to include cameras U monitors being put in there workstations being put in there for the for the officers and their public saf safety specialist that'll be assigned to the space um but in terms of timeline if that's what you're looking for I don't have that for you today okay Vice chair um Suarez thank you madam chair um I think we're you know I guess I wouldn't want to see resources put into a substation in City Hall I think the whole idea or the whole intent and and I don't mean to put words in my colleague's mouth is that the reason we want to see substations is because there's certain crime happening in in neighborhoods and we believe that having a substation in those neighborhoods will will prevent that crime or or will deter that crime so for example in North Beach you know just yesterday we got a a notification that someone got robbed at knife point a couple um they stole his wallet his watch and then they fondled the the woman I I think that's where we need to have a substation where it and that's the resources that should be put not at City Hall you know I think we had we have armed security guards at City Hall already I don't really see the need for having a police substation here we're not really in a residential um neighborhood I mean I know there's palm view behind us but when when you look at some of the the crime that's happening I think it's best if we put resources where where where they need it commissioner could I just add one point um the proposal to put a substation in City Hall was uh in part initiated by the legal department in response to a discussion of the commission about the possibility of having uh metal detectors installed here at City Hall if you all all wanted to make the policy decision which you haven't made but which some have expressed an interest in uh having metal detectors here at City Hall we would need to find a legal path to do that and one of the only ways to do that that we found is to establish a police substation here so as part of that discussion you that would be the consideration that we would ask you to look at and thank and thank you for that and again I mean I think my Point still stands is that we we have you know we have serious crimes I don't think there's ever been a crime it's not to say that could ever happen but there's there's no there's no real crimes that happen at City Hall you know we we've had we've had serious crimes happen every day in in some of the most challenging neighborhoods and so I think before we we put resources into construction buildout personnel uh I think those resources are really better served in neighborhoods that need them the most and so um you know I don't think that having a legal workaround for the idea of having metal detectors here is it justifies the allocation of those resources yeah commission ma'am commission part of Reason um there was a desire to have a substation here was be goes beyond the legal work workr we have a number of employees that here reside in this building on a daily basis many of them have complained some of them directly to me about their concern of their personal safety and so this was sort of killing two birds of one stone I'll be honest with you um but if the direction is to rep prioritize our list of location happy to do that uh commissioner bot thank you um can you explain without the not talking about the ones that you were not talking about in public not talking about the substations that we're not talking about in public is there a difference in type of substation like can you if there's a need for one South Fifth for you know and it's got a certain set of um concerns is that a substation that could look xway and if in North Beach adjacent to um Alto delmare in that Park we have a different set of concerns does that substation look different or are they all they all have to be the same I mean I think all of us want to make sure that your your police officers are in the field and not behind a desk obviously um but so are there different ways of uh different ways to use a substation in a way that will deter crime and provide a resource for residents who need to have a visit you know ask a police officer or something yes there is that's an excellent question you know one of the thoughts we had um particularly when you look at the south of fifth neighborhood is not to make just a stalon sub police station but make it sort of a place where other city services can reside and provide Direct Services to the community send them a trip in many cases to City Hall saing them a phone call or an email um to uh uh administrators here at at City Hall uh and that would include um other departments sort of supporting uh the substation or um auxiliary location Madam chair thank you um we we received a number of complaints about Collins Park about the Collins Park area um you we've had individuals that have been killed in that in that area we got numerous complaints about about the the I think it's the CVS across from um from the W uh where there's a number of issues there uh we have uh not only are we making great Investments there because it's a cultural area but we also have a facility for children there and so there's need to to to address the public safety needs of of the Collins Park area to my colleagues concern about about North Beach we we already have a substation in in North Beach um but in um in Collins Park what did you guys look at Collins Park um what are the considerations that have been taken uh into into account for for for possible substation there so have looked at Colin Collins Park you know in North Beach one of the things we did in addition to a station that pre-existing on Indian Creek we partnered with the county and now they have a full-time police officer at the library in North Beach um Collins Park uh Library as well also has as a police officer there and so we can potentially collocate our substation in the library in Collins Park adjacent to the cultural um activations that are there okay um and and I don't know how my colleagues would feel about that I know that that the public Public Safety situation in colins park has been a recurring issue has been a recurring concern of of the city commission um and I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a greater presence of the police department in the Collins Park area um but I need a proposal okay this item was coming back today so that we could have you know something that we could review beforehand and the memo doesn't really give me that proposal uh and and so and so you know I like I like for this item to come back uh next month with an actual proposal I I don't know where where the balance of my colleagues would land on having something located or collocated in the in the cin Park area uh but with the amount of investment we're making in that area with taxpayers dollars and the amount of Investments going in with private dollars and the number of complaints and crimes we've seen in that area I think anything that we can do to increase the police visibility there beyond the physical presence of police officers but actually having a substation there as a permanent form of deterrence could go a long way and I would like to know how my colleagues would feel about that um thank you uh vice mayor uh Fernandez um I almost see City Hall as an extension of Collins Park um the Botanical Garden is there and then Collins Park is just on the other side of the convention center so having a substation here I feel would still help and support Collins Park uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez my only concern is the cost of all of this we were just talking we're passing our budget right now we're saying that already you know we're spending X on police and fire so I think it all depends on what the costs are now if you can get space from the county for free and the reallocation costs very little that's fine um could there be a reallocation of resources instead of addition uh there can be uh I can tell you and no matter which location we add a substation to it won't be a 247 activation um because it's really hard to justify based on cost of service in any given given area um so there may be uh an opportunity to reallocate some of what we have and and there may be in some cases maybe a small uptick in the cost of adding Personnel but that that's the type of analysis we'll do for and bring back to you can ask question yeah commission okay and then I'll I'll pass I'll pass it on um I wouldn't mind well I mean if you're going to do city hall or cins Park I wouldn't mind both because really the library has become a hot bed of criminal activity and a lot of the issues that we've seen at the bass it's right there um you know if you could reallocate and station somebody there you know I can't see how it would hurt while I'm saying I mean I think it's gotten way better for sure um but it's still are you still finding homeless people there um and criminal activity yeah so we we have a daily um Outreach in three shifts into the Colin Park neighborhood so every now and again uh folks are caught doing things they shouldn't be doing or sleeping where they shouldn't be sleeping and and you have to take police action as a result of that yeah and it goes beyond sleeping though because you know we got complaints from people about people urinating in public we've had people killed there we have you know it just goes beyond the issue of of sleeping I think sleeping is perhaps the least concerning of the situation I'm more concerned actually about the safety of the individual sleeping there uh than uh than than anything else okay Vice chair Suarez thank you madam chair and and that again I think all my colleagues agree and that that speaks to my point I think if there's a substation in City Hall it's not really a deterrent right because there's no physical presence all the time when I think of a substation perhaps you know maybe we have a trailer um like a command trailer it's got Miami Beach Police Department logo on it uh Etc and you could put that in the parking lot of of flamingo of cins park for example um you know maybe that's an idea where you know it you can actually move it maybe maybe maybe go to North Beach and you have you set up substation there for a couple months um but I again I I I just don't think it's it's um that having a substation in City Hall would have any impact on on deterring crime because everyone knows where City Hall is and most people are not going to know that there's a substation here MH um I think one of the benefits of having a substation is it's physical presence and so I I think that'll just deter crime organically okay okay vice mayor Fernandez where would you like this item to well I like the item to come back uh next month with an actual proposal um I I'm not a voting member of this committee I kind of like the idea of having a presence in city hall because we do have large events that do take place at the convention center we're going to have a Convention Center Hotel at some point we're going to have a large investment of public funds in the Filmore to rehabilitate that building uh and hopefully with the added activity that we see hopefully on Lincoln Road coming from all of this it can help uh you know this substation could help that all all those areas uh I do think uh I like commissioner Rosen Gonzalez's idea of having a presence in City Hall and exploring what could we do in the Collins Park area in partnership with the library anything like that um what I need is is a well prepared item an item that brings back what was the request which is a proposal and this item did not bring me what I asked for in the main meeting it's very difficult for us to sit down here and to discuss this when the when the item doesn't give us what we asked for and so for the next meeting please give us the actual proposal uh the actual findings the cost the resources you're going to need because to commissioner Rosen Gonzalez's point where we're in the process of adopting next year's fiscal year budget so it's not going to we we're not going to be able to incorporate it into that but we need to start now looking at the resources that we're going to need for fiscal year 26 and we need to start that conversation now so we can do this responsibly understood commissioner magazine thank you madam chair yeah I think it's important when we're sitting here saying come back with uh different locations to First State out what our goal is for a police substation right it sounds simple but I think that's our Baseline where we start for me it is increasing the visibility and the presence of police in unactivated areas where currently uh that's what essentially facilitates uh crime or a feeling or at least a perception from our community of a lack of Public Safety you know we've talked uh at length about uh perhaps it's not upticks in crime but it's the perception that people don't feel safe and uh enhancing or increasing in in police visibility in areas is one way to essentially alleviate some of those concerns so when I think about where we're going to place substations it it's really helping increase police uh visibility in unactivated areas right that that's my primary goal so I like the idea of the Collins Park area even though we have one in North Beach are there other areas in North Beach where it would help to have an increased feel uh remote areas in south of fifth or in Flamingo Park um I kind of tend to agree with my colleague uh commissioner Suarez about City Hall where it's like okay well there this is already an activated area with people traveling in and out that that doesn't mean nothing could ever happen here but when I think about the goal of a substation is to enhance and increase that visibility in areas that are somewhat unactivated so that's what I would look for when uh discussing locations thank you okay commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and then we're going to wrap this up up one final thing that I wouldn't exclude is the fact that right now um taxpayers have given uh the bass a tremendous amount of Museum and they're building a whole wing it could be a small tiny room you just need something that you need to build out I'm sure you need to put like radio equipment electric whatever also we're building out those two retail spaces one of where Miami new drama is going and then a Jason you have the workforce housing that has an additional 2400 Square ft on the bottom floor if you work going to put a permanent substation in that area now is the time before we spend the money on that buildout to go in and find out what are the electrical and communication needs that you need for a substation how big is it going to be because it will cost us a lot less money to draw it into some plans right now and we were just talking about spending $7 million right so I mean if we could use the monies that we already have to include it in that we wouldn't have to um count on the light you know on the county or the library or imposed I mean I feel like it's a sad day when we need to add police to the library but it's just the whole area and the real estate um so if you wanted to temporarily move in to something like that you know but then have a long-term plan and we build something in thank you okay Vice chair Suarez and I I just want to get feedback from uh my colleagues and specifically the the item sponsor um would do you are you okay with u the police chief coming back with a possible plan on a mobile substation where we can move it toward you know after a certain area maybe sort of quot quote unquote fixed we move it to the next challenged area and so if that's okay with the sponsor I'd love to see what that quote would be sure yeah okay so the next meeting is October 23rd um if you can come back with that information would greatly appreciate it um all right so on to I just I just want to make sure Dad that that there's we're coming back with three with with three items the mobile which which I love the idea of of the mobile I love the idea of that uh colonist park somewhere in colonist Park and City Hall I just want to make sure that that that's what we're asking the chief to come back with okay so so City Hall is still on the table is that a yes okay very good got it it's just as an option yes sir happy to do it thank you all right uh next item uh number four item number four is discuss a resolution of the mayor and City Commission of the city of Miami Beach Florida directing the administration to develop a plan strategically Implement enhanced public safety measures periodically through the year and present the plan for the discussion at the public safety neighborhoods quality and life Control meeting on September 18th and this is presented by police okay vice mayor Fernandez thank you madam chair um you know oftentimes when we talk about high impact periods we think about uh spring break or we think about Memorial Day weekend the reality is that throughout the year we also have many other high impact periods um that during which we want to make sure that we continue that heightened level of enforcement that consistent uh and visible enforcement uh that we see during spring break and and other times of of the Year this resolution uh directed um the police department to develop a plan to strategically Implement these enhanced public safety measures during other critical high impact periods of the year and so uh I like a presentation on that plan and uh and how we can uh move forward with it thank you uh commissioner for bringing this uh you know um our daily Staffing numbers are are scalable and they're scalable for this very very reason that in a given moment's notice we can upssize um our officers on the street we can address any concerns that may not be planned for but can be addressed in an adequate way with regard to spring break R the weekend and the big holidays and high impact periods we plan for plann for months for um we do have other small events that we plann for throughout the year not very well publicized um not want to publicize them but but to give you some examples of those would be like Labor Day weekend we just went through incredibly enhan Staffing for that event itself throughout the the city on all the shifts um partnering with partner agencies that are here our LPR systems that we're so proud of and has has worked so well in terms of us preventing and uh solving crimes are working 24/7 um 365 every entrance in the city every exit out of the city is covered by the these cameras uh our camera system throughout the city's constantly being used um to uh detect crime and to to solve crime DUI checkpoints throughout the year are being used um to do the very same thing although again we don't highlight those things we have Halloween that's coming up that we have an enh handed Staffing for something we don't publicized but lots of cops dealing with a lot of situations Lincoln Road and the mid Beach area because of huge activations so our our plan is designed such that at any given moment we have the enough cops here on the police department we can call more cops in if we need to reach the department agencies if necessary um but that's what it's designed to do okay but that doesn't tell me what the plan is we asked for a plan uh my my I'll tell you why I put this item on the agenda I placed this item on the agenda because we have yeah you know spring break we have Memorial Day weekends uh and we have other high impact periods in the city um you know there is this this perception that for the wrong reasons we Implement a heighten level of of of police presence uh during during spring break and Memorial Day which is inconsistent with reality we're we are implementing a high level police presence during during uh during those those those weekends because of the crimes that we experience and the influx of individuals that we experience during during during those those weekends um but but I think we need to show that we're not just concerned about those two weekends we need to show that there are other weekends during which we are uh dealing with a heighten level of people and that we are going to consistently that we're going to consistently enforce our laws whether it be open container or whether or whether it be uh you know issues with expired registrations or whether whether it be possession of marijuana in public whatever it may be and that requires and that requires coordination with other agencies yes unfortunately those other agencies we're not tapping on them on these other weekends Halloween Halloween has traditionally been a very large uh weekend but but we're not calling on them to come in and and support us so these other agencies like Miami day County think we're only focusing on spring break and Memorial Day weekend for all the wrong reasons yeah and so and and so and so this resolution asked for there to be a plan to strategically find other periods during the year during that you know might not rise to the level spring break but during which we may still need that level of of support m to reach out to ask them for their support so that they are aware so they are aware that we are actually enforcing and doing this consistent level of of police work during other times of of the year today I was expecting a plan today I was expecting for someone to come here to tell me what is that plan what are those other weekends and I don't have a plan in front of me so So the plan is is ongoing commissioner we've always had a plan and the truth to be told um the perception that you speak of I agree with you it it's wrong we activate all the time every major activation we do we go through a whole Litany of of things we consider before deploying resources and configuring out how much police officers resources we need to address it uh Halloween you mentioned for example uh the fact is that's that's a plan that's in place that's tweak on an annual basis although there's a lot of people that we have to address and pleas the need doesn't arise to the point where we need to have other outside AES agencies support us uh there are times throughout the year where we do for example uh details on uh DUI details where we partner with other agencies here in the city uh because of nature of those details uh there are plans for example during um the annual uh football game that happens in December in the city uh not County chief I need to I need to interrupt you because what I hear consistently is that we're overworking our police officers this is this is what I hear consistently okay and the reason why why why we hear this is because we attract events events that bring in you know well-known performers and that bring uh a large crowd size and that increase our hotel occupancy and that and that puts a toll in our in our officers but quite frankly you know those those weekends are not just limited to to to Spring Break and and Memorial Day weekend and and if our officers are being overworked the way that we're being told that they're being overworked we should be reaching out and we should be asking for the support that we could be providing our our officers so that they're not as told as they are and because we're not this false narrative has been created that we're only targeting spring break for all the wrong reasons and so when I ask for a plan I need a plan when the city commission when the City commission passes a resolution saying that that it wants a plan you can disagree in with it and you can give me your recommendation but I need a plan understood commissioner I'm not disagree with the fact that you asking for plan I don't want to provide you plan what I'm saying to you commission is that we have a pre-existing plan on a ruling basis that we we employ when when absolutely necessary I'm saying respectfully I'm goingon to I'm going to request for this item to be deferred and we'll have a conversation offline about this because there is there is a Mis a miscommunication here where where where where there is a failure of understanding that yes you have an ongoing plan but I was asking for something specific and what I was and what I asked for was not provided for me and we are the city commission and when we ask for for something I expect for it to be provided and then I'll listen to your professional recommendation but what I asked for in this resolution was not provided and and and I I I appreciate everything you're you're you're telling me but you're not giving me what I what I asked for understood okay okay so we'll defer the item to October 23rd and now I'd like to go back to the blue light item number three um Chris mcclenic do you have more information because I want to make sure uh we get it right good morning K and yes to answer your question we do have a little bit more information information wonderful I had an opportunity to speak with uh Blake Goan the the uh deputy and of course again with uh the major um it is the mayor's intent that this is a voluntary basis through all of the businesses um that there is uh minimal if any cost to the city that they're looking to have this program go into effect U maybe early next year after the real time um crime Center is up and running and um that it goes through the individual businesses internet systems thank you uh with that uh updated information um do you have uh comments how should we move forward with this item uh yes uh Madam chair this is a good information this will allow us to prepare a fully fleshed out plan uh including uh perhaps a marketing plan to get the businesses to understand what we're doing and uh hopefully we I'd like to if it's okay with you I'd like to keep this here and come back maybe sometime early next year with a fully fleshed out is coming back next year uh too long would you like something shorter no that's that that will suffice me okay so for January January will be a good Target okay thank you uh item number 11 thank thank you okay item number 11 is to discuss the potential implementation a of bicycle Lanes on the west side of Collins a as part of the upcoming Florida Department of Transportation resurfacing restoration and Rehabilitation project on State Road A1A Collins Avenue from 63rd Street to 75th Street and transportation will be presenting vice mayor Fernandez thank you madam chair uh this is an item that's on the agenda um that it's it's here since FD reached out to the city um they're going to be doing a future resurfacing restoration and Rehabilitation project on Collin Avenue from 63rd to 75th Street and they provided us with the opportunity to partner with them and explore whether the city wishes to expand is bicycle connectivity in this portion of of the city there's many pros and cons that comes with this clearly we want to provide multiple ways of of connecting uh throughout our city in including through through bicycle links while also providing uh for the parking needs and travel needs of of our community and so I want to uh recognize if you if you allow me uh Madame chair uh Jose Gonzalez uh to chime in and give us uh his recommendations thank you commissioner good morning Madam chair committee members Jose Gonzalez Transportation Mobility director and interim parking director uh the last time we were before you was in uh May and where we we presented this this uh proposal that was presented to us by fdot to include bicycle Lanes on an upcoming resurfacing project that they have uh programmed in the ve in the near future uh along Collins Avenue from 63rd Street to 75th Street um based on our analysis and really based on ft's analysis as well because of the configuration of Collins Avenue it has three lanes traveling nor Northbound it has uh parking Lane on the west side and no parking on the east side because there are a lot of uh driveways but based on that configuration the only way there are only two options to being able to incorporate a bike lane along that segment of Collins Avenue and that is to either eliminate one of the travel Lanes or eliminate the on street parking Lane on which is 75 parking spots eliminating option two would be would eliminate uh approximately 7 on street parking spaces on the West Side commissioner Rosen Gonzalez aren't we in the process of building a a a parallel bike lane on the beach path so in in my opinion that's it's repetitive because we're going to allocate our resources there and you're going to take away all of that on street parking which might not seem important to us there's a lot of uh small businesses there that people Park go in very quickly um in my opinion if that should take care of that stretch yes um let me just check any voting members interested in speaking before I I just want to clarify I chair it's okay daveid is fine um the are you talking about the hard pack sand yeah that's where are we with that we put money in the budget so that our staff could and correct me if I'm wrong Jose we place money in the upcoming fiscal year budget uh so that I think it's actually our environmental team aiming NS uh is supposed to be uh reaching out and seeing the feasibility of it okay um and just and just one more thing and you know parking is obviously tight in North Beach I've got that um but you know it's not it's not out of the realm of reducing a traffic lane and I and I'll I'll explain um that the idea of of reducing a traffic Lan because when you when you sort of reduce the traffic Lanes I there's three now right yeah did fot recommend this let me let me finish so right they don't recommend it okay okay well I was just going to say that when you when you have narrower Lanes the speeding just organically slows down and so I know we have a lot of speeding concerns on cins and so oh here's Amy um Amy would you mind through the chair speaking about the hard packs in and where we are in the process sure and good morning Amy noes Chief resilience officer so it's actually within the um the the budget for next fiscal year to do a feasibility analysis to gauge our ability to put a hard pack um you know east of the east of the dunes um and that would be for pedestrians that's what the item that was put forward through the resolution uh commissioner bot um so you know it's I love this item um because Jose and his team and lots of other people in the city have been working on this sort of octopus of a problem of how do you get people from place a to place B safely in multimodal um manners without compromising parking or travel speeds for other people you know we met with um with fot in a different part of North Beach and had a similar conversation about instead of reducing a full Lane of traffic so going from three to too and and to accomplish one of the many things we're talking about is there um an opportunity to narrow the existing three lanes of traffic because one of the things we also deal with up there is speeding so we don't want to take away parking because we don't have enough of it we know that traffic is a disaster up there by the way not to take Kristen's one of Kristen's method um devices of speech which is such a great one by the way um um uh if we get more people onto other modes of transportation we will alleviate some of the traffic and parking congestion so it's this vicious cycle but if we reduce the lane width to whatever is the bare minimum if there's any opportunity then traffic slows down a little bit and um we might be able to also then Finagle a little narrow bike lane in there that is that is more than a sherrow so commissioner that was one of the options that we brought to fot we had a very in-depth discussion with fot to try to look for way days of squeezing in this bike lane without affecting the on street parking uh or a travel Lane for that matter and one of the options was squeezing the lanes so we learned that the lanes are already 10 to 11 feet wide there's actually two 10-ft lanes and one lane which is 11 uh feet wide which is where the the buses travel on and that's actually the minimum with by standard for a state road we also learned that uh this portion of Collins Avenue has 40,000 over 40,000 vehicles per day travel on this portion of Collins Avenue which is why when fot looked at the potential of eliminating one of the travel Lanes the corridor would just fail it would go it's it's practically failing now during afternoon Peaks it would go to level of service f++ if a lane is eliminated so um we had a conversation with the district Secretary of F and she expressed that they would not support eliminating a travaline okay commissioner Rosen Gonzalez I've had a business in that Corridor and I mean it is literally a parking lot and during high impact weeks like bosel it doesn't move at all it's actually one of the most frustrating corridors that we have when it gets impacted so I wouldn't support this also you know we have some NASA business activity in that area that's wonderful like the motch everybody has to go because we're building out these businesses people are investing in that Corridor and I would hate to take away um any parking that people could just go run in and get some food because I mean it it's busy and it's Trucking along and it's getting Investments so um I would not be supportive but I would like to expedite this hardpacked bicycle path um as long as I have you here and we're talking about the path uh I had somebody ask me and this is for Jose if you're over 70 could you use an ebike on the path because we have a few older seniors who like got ticketed for using it and they have to use an ebike could that be something that everybody could adopt so that a few of our seniors that are using their ebikes don't get a ticket for using the path so anyway as long as I have you here maybe we'll work on that together and how what do realistically timeline wise how long Okay so just to set the context you know our state statutes have a lot of regulations about what we can do east of the Coastal Construction Control line but Surfside has one Surfside and is a is a very different situation because they created their Dune system and their paths in a very specific way that was permanent by the state just as we created our beachwalk and our and our system in a specific way that was permited by the state so um we have to deal with what we have here we can ask for the ter for the permission to do this hardack um east of the dunes however we know there are a lot of restrictions so for example because it is sea turtle nesting habitat the sand has to be kept in a way that you know sea turtle eggs can be can be laid um we have to make sure that it can be rebuilt easily after a storm event they're looking at Major storms and we don't want to put anything there that is going to cause like destruction and something that has to be rebuilt so this is something that um we that's why we will be hiring a feasibility analysis and that's probably going to take a year because it's it's a bit of a it's a challenge and we want to try to get to the state to a yes okay yes if you if you get the just two things and commissioner SS I'll see you um you the feasibility analysis one year if we get the feasibility analysis I mean will they how long from that point I mean just ballpark sure I mean I would say probably two to three years because we would have to go through their procurement we would have to bring on a consultant they would have to do the design and permitting and work through the all the state approvals for that and right now and this is my final fin question CU I had a few questions about this is this a completely separate path or could you just wouldn't it be easier to just say we'd like to add on four rows of pavers to what we currently have and just call it an extens like a mini extension so that you can avoid all of that and we could start it because we already did the feasibility study in that area you understand it's already built out it probably I mean we've already planted stuff and you know dug up around there wouldn't it be easier to just it's pavers right how how much do you need for a bike path i' prefer to just instead of saying we want a whole new path we would just like to um it's safety you don't want to I you're going to have pedestrians there's a marked path yeah I mean we could do both technically I mean but for the interim they just need to mark an area where you can bike you know and and that way we can enforce so so Vice chair uh Suarez followed by commissioner bot and then we have two callers thank you madam chair how about we sort of split the baby here where you know we don't sacrifice the parking spaces we don't give up a lane but how about we have better markers along uh Collins Avenue that really delineate that show this is a shared path I know we have we have it all over the city it's white it's sort of like faded everywhere but if if you have it if you have better signage to show that this is a Shar path I know it's not the most uh ideal situation for cyclists or ebikes or scooters um but you know there's always a conception that you know why are they on the road they shouldn't be on the road uh you know they're taking up traffic lanes and so if we just have perhaps better signage to to let the community know that this is also to be shared by micromobility uh uses how does my colleagues feel about that because apparently you know we're we've got we're going to say no to this but I would like to explore better enhanced signage um or if not cins Indian Creek can we do it by path there if it isn't already finished okay commissioner bot so part of this octopus project that we're working on is already contemplating two of the things that you guys are suggesting which is um great to hear that you're interested in this um not not all the way to extending the beachwalk for whatever pavers is wide all the way up but because in some parts the beach walk is actually quite wide but in those really narrow bottl necky areas we're looking at sort of reclaiming a few feet from our planted areas so that we can build out a little bit so it's a little safer it's not the full solution but I just wanted to give you that information and then also David um sorry commissioner sarez your Royal Highness um Vice chair Vice chair is good I will never remember Vice chair I'm sorry David um um part of this octopus also is um evaluating all the the painted signage on whether it's a green bike lane or sherrow and going back and there's money that was approved to do this um if I recall correctly uh and go and do the worst ones first so that at the very least people know to your point that that cyclists have a right to be where they are okay so we're going to hear from uh vice mayor Fernandez and then take the callers sure and Alex is just fine um I just I just want uh to um to to highlight the fact that south of 41st Street we have uh conventional bicycle Lanes uh that that are coming in south of 41st Street on Indian Creek Drive and on Collins Avenue then uh from 42nd Street all the way to 63rd Street we have a conceptual uh plan for for bicycle lanes that that has been adopted that FDT is going to be using in it's sign for for for his resurfacing project uh from from 41st pretty much all the way to 63rd that's correct and so we've created this connectivity all the way to 63rd and now what's going to happen is that from 63rd Street on North we're not going to have any real connectivity from the roadway and that to me it's just a concern because we need to con we need to create a grid if we really are going to encourage in individuals to get out of their cars and use their bicycles and other forms of mobility and so and so we can't tell people take their bicycles up to 63rd Street and then leave them with nothing all the way to 71st Street to me well but the thing is then at 71st street we have bicycle Lanes conventional bicycle Lanes on 71st Street telling them go to the beachwalk for something that for a year we won't know if it's feasible I don't think it's good I think we need to plan we need to have a plan that provides the connectivity I think temporarily if we have this opportunity with FD at least temporarily we should be adopting it and then if it comes back from our resiliency Department that is feasible to do the hard pack on the sand well then at that point then we can go back and I don't know Jose if at that point it would be feasible to tell FDL you know what we don't need this anymore because we found an alternate way of accommodating the bicyclist but I what I do want to make sure is that we maintain a level of connectivity from South Beach all the way to North Beach because right now we're going to end up with a gap between 63rd and 71st Street and actually all the way to 74th Street uh that it's going to be remain up in the air at least for a year until Amy knows and the resiliency team is able to hear back on the feasibility of that thank the feedback okay uh commissioner magazine yeah thank you madam chair a couple thoughts Jose one can you just brief uh broadly reintroduce the item exactly where it goes from uh where it goes to what we would be eliminating whether it be a lane of traffic parking spaces um and and then also why we would do the west side of the street versus east side I think you touched on this in in a previous meeting um I just think it's such a like we live in a Beach town so the barometer for like what makes this a nice place to live with families and and individuals is it's pretty lwh hanging fruit that you should be able to get on a bicycle or a scooter and just ride from the south side of our city to the north side right uninterrupted I I don't think that that's asking a ton um I don't mean a cyclist I don't mean Lance Armstrong or the tour to France just getting on a casual bike and feeling safe you know riding south to North in our city uh and then if we're not able to thread this needle we certainly have a lot of uh possible Redevelopment along this uh Corridor on Collins Avenue here uh we should think about some sort of comprehensive Vision or I hate the word master plan but master plan uh when there is this Redevelopment to essentially include um some concessions for a public right of way in some of these potential Redevelopment projects so I know I threw it a lot at you if you just reintroduce the streets that we're talking about what exactly would be eliminated and also one thing I'd be concerned about is not so much what we're eliminating but where I've really seen traffic back up in our city is when you're going from one structure to another so a bottleneck that's created so when we'd be going from three lanes to two I think you know we'd rather be largely indifferent if we had three lanes or two lanes but where we could really see a traffic backup is actually managing down when we go from three lanes to two if that makes sense sure uh so uh commissioner in summary in summary the The Proposal that was presented to the city by the Florida Department of Transportation is the the potential to include a dedicated bik Lane along Collins from 63rd Street to 75th Street as part of an upcoming fot project along that segment of of the roadway but given the existing configuration of Collins Avenue which has three Northbound Lanes highly utilized portion of Collins Avenue over 40,000 vehicles per day um the only two options are to either eliminate a travel Lane one of those three lanes in order to gain the space for a bike lane however F do essentially uh they will not support that that option at all so that one is off the table the other option is on the west side of the corridor there's on street parking the idea a would be to uh repurpose that on street parking and where that on street parking currently is that would become the Bike Link why on the west side and not the East Side the east side has numerous multiple driveways that's where all the condos are and the hotels and and so that presents a lot of conflicts for cyclists on the east side so that's why the west side is proposing the last thing I'll just say is as as uh was described by by the vice mayor this segment that we're talking about 63 to 75 critic piece of the bike uh Network puzzle in particularly you know in in North Beach uh there will be at some point in the hopefully not too distant future there will be bike Lanes from 63 Street down to 41st Street and as we speak fot is actually building bike Lanes from 41 Street down to 26th Street so it is part of that bike bicycle Network yeah I appreciate that Jose you know one thing that uh this isn't an absolute statement um but in uh a broad sense a lot of these businesses along the west side of colins Avenue from 63rd to 75th actually have uh dedicated surface parking lots within kind of their um commercial complex when I think of where Rita's Water Ice is and things of that nature they actually have dedicated parking there uh the publ for example yes it's nice to be able to uh park out front and run into the pharmacy or or liquor store if you're my friend um but uh they have dedicated parking right so it's not as if we are strangling these businesses yes you're giving up a little convenience but like I said I think uh connectivity and transportation is critical so I I would be in favor if we have three options one is do nothing two is takeway traveling or three is takeway uh parking when we're talking about just that confined area between 63rd in 75th I think a lot of those businesses actually have uh parking in their kind of corridors uh so I I would be in favor of the option uh of removing the on street parking there in uh in favor of better connectivity thank you commissioner magazine so it's 75 spots that's a lot and we have two callers that have been waiting so Stephanie take the call Madam sh may I just say one thing one last thing on with regard to the loss of the on street parking what we would do is we would do a blogby block analysis to see if there's any way to mitigate some of that some of those 75 on street parking spaces along the side streets within that segment from and we do have the beach walk and that's where people can safely travel on their bikes let's take the callers please okay if we could please un unmute Charlie's iPhone and if you could please give us your name and address thank you uh yes hi I'm Charles Fischer I live at 635 uclid Avenue um thanks for thanks very much for this discussion I think it's been great I love hearing a lot of point points that some of the Commissioners have been making I think the framing of this the framing of this conversation there was the same thinking that has got us in this traffic gym nightmare that we're currently in so too much traffic not enough parking and the best and cheapest way out of this problem is to shift a portion of people from their cars to the bikes additionally every study on this shows allowing people to get to businesses via bikes increases business I personally have biked from South Beach to Cafe Bernie I will not uh drive there because the valet is too expensive but I will bikee there if it and I will bike there more if it's safer uh for bike Lanes I hear a lot of concern of the travel time of people passing through the neighborhood in their car but I don't hear any concern for the safety of those who don't own a car or don't drive a car and needing to commute so I know lots of people who have the means to get who don't have the means to travel in a private car and use and they use bike as their primary way of traveling and the commission needs to be concerned about their safety as well not just the travel time of people driving through thank you hi good morning this is Matthew ganof address is 125 Jefferson Avenue I'd like to thank the committee and the members of this as well as the sponsor of the item vice mayor Fernandez for the forward linking item forward looking item that was brought forth today that was also discussed back in May and was discussed previous time as well as many of you are aware fdot's been planning this project for over two years and time is running out if this is going to be endorsed and I just want to stress that as you know this is on our master plan the city's adopted bicycle pedestrian master plan and last meeting back in may we went over a lot of the good reasons to support this so I hope that you all consider endorsing this idea or at least letting it go forward to the full commission and not uh and and taking advantage of this tremendous opportunity that the city is being given at no cost don't forget fot is going to pay the full price of this project and it would add tremendous value and safety to everyone in the city so again thank you and I hope everyone keeps an open mind and allows us one way or the other to proceed to the full commission thank you so much thank you okay Vice chair s thank you madam chair um would it be possible to defer this and in the meantime reach out to the businesses um that would be impacted of the on street parking and just get their feedback hopefully they're Buy in because I would like to see this project move forward I would like to see um you know a a a path where a path uh a path or a lane where the city can implement this program uh because you know it is it is a great idea that if you want to start from South the 5ifth go to North Beach you should be able to do that safely um but I think you also mentioned the last time you spoke that you're you're you're possibly looking at even reducing further some of those spots uh commissioner magazine brings up a really good point that a lot of these businesses on the West Side have dedicated parking lots surface parking lots um perhaps we just defer this one more month and just get Buy in from the um neighboring from the businesses that would be impacted so that it's not necessarily a shock and that they're brought into the discussion so I I don't know how my colleagues feel about that I am fine yeah I'm sorry yeah yeah and we're going to wrap this up yeah and I think if we're if we're going to be doing Outreach I think we need to also hear from the residents of the area um I I fear that if we reach out only to the businesses we're going to get skewed feedback there uh Park yeah because because in um in in the businesses you know clearly if I'm a business owner I'm not going to want you know the parking space in front of my business taken away but if we hear from the General Community there might be residents that don't want this but there might be residents that will say listen I'll feel more comfortable and safer getting on my bicycle on 71st Street and making my way down to Colin sa might go to the businesses because I have a safer way of getting there so I think we're going to do Outreach we need to do holistic Outreach um and maybe we can defer two months so that we can you know do that more holistic out reaches okay so we'll bring this back in November and I do want to reiterate that people can get from South the 5ifth to North Beach safely on the beach walk on their bike so I do want to say that okay so we'll move on the next item that we will hear at the request of Vice ter Suarez is number one okay item number one is discuss extending metered parking hours for spaces located adjacent to North Beach businesses Vice chair if you'll see it up yes thank you madam chair so I brought this item as a result of the new North Beach parking pilot program um and there was there was a lot of concern from the businesses that I when the meters end at 6:00 now that um there's a residential parking program we they would they were asking to extend the meters to a a little bit of a later time to accommodate restaurants that that serve food until you know into into the evening hours and so um Jose if you could speak a little bit about what uh what what your thoughts are and what your possible plans are sure I'd be happy to thank you um so um commissioner as you were pointing out the uh the residential parking permit program for north beach is on the cusp of rolling out uh the pilot program will roll out on November 1st uh residential permit programs are intended to prioritize residential parking uh clearly particularly after hours after 6 p.m. when residents uh come home from work and it just facilitates finding convenient parking for the residents uh we understand that there may be unintended consequences you know with that because there's only there's a limited parking supply in North Beach so um one of the things that that we've been doing and trying to accommodate the needs of the businesses both from the perspective of their employees as well as their customers and their patrons one of the things that we've been uh doing is reaching out um just last month we uh conducted an electronic survey to 170 plus uh businesses in the you know within and adjacent to the res the proposed residential parking Zone unfortunately we did not get a lot of feedback only about 11 responses were received however of those 11 all of them stated that there would be impacts the residential permit program would uh have impacts on their employees and their customers so there's 170 businesses there um do they have surface parking lots some some do commissioner um it really depends you know there's most there's a mix of most have it or no um I wouldn't say that most have it a handful um I don't have the number off the off the top of of my head but one of the things that was clear that we need to do is engage oneon-one the businesses that are affected um you know by this program so um we're teaming up with our Communications Department and next week we're going to be doing door Todo to engage the businesses to try to understand a little more about their parking needs and their hours of operation so we can tailor um the the expansion of the on Street metered hours uh to meet the needs of the North Beach Community and this is from 71st to 87 it would be from 65th Street on the south to our northern city limit so when you go out you can kill two birds with one stone for the previous item and currently just for the record the uh the meters in the in within and adjacent to the uh Zone Zone 26 which is going to be created the residential parking Zone um essentially the the the meters are enforced up to 6 p.m. so after 6PM the meters are not enforced no one has to pay they're available to every everyone to the public and everyone but the the idea the thought is that as we implement this residential uh parking permit program after 6 p.m uh currently you know with the with the uh hours of operation of of of the meters of 6 p.m. what'll happen is that some of the residents may find some of these metered parking spaces to be convenient if they're close and then they'll park there and customers uh and employees of the businesses may not have a place to park okay commissioner Rosa Gonzalez yeah oh I just wanted to I just just to follow up with with Jose thank you um this is this is a this is a theory not a theory but this is a a a a tried true tested method that we that works everywhere in the city so for example Washington Avenue abuts uh Zone 2 Flamingo Park you know Flamingo Park has a residential parking program and Washington Avenue which is literally a has metered spots that are open till 3:00 in the morning yeah 3:00 a.m. and so it really is designed to Silo um the the the use of parking so there's residential parking and then there's commercial parking there really shouldn't be a mix of the two and so this is why I wanted to bring the item forward so that uh as Jose said you know some people might find it convenient to just park in a metered spot um um you know after 6: p.m. because it's closer than than the residential spot those are some limited cases but you know in reality we already do this AC Citywide against right against every um residential parking Zone okay commissioner Rosen Gonzalez that commercial Corridor are you primarily talking about Collins or whole it's wherever it's so the residential parking program is 65th um North okay to to City Limits so anything any commercial Zone within that um within that geographical area is where this would now again as Jose said he their City staff's going to go door too to decide maybe some meter spots only need to be open till 8:00 you but for example an Ocean Terrace the owner of sushi beachi reached to me saying hey look you know we love this he's like look I love I I live in North Beach I love the idea of a parking program for residents but I just don't want it to be abused on the commercial side and so this is why I reached this is why I brought this item forward okay so here what here would be my ask that entire area since the doville uh was vacated and demolished is like barely Trucking along it has been a long haul for businesses who have been there many years the juice bar could give them a heart well they're not it doesn't affect them at night but the few restaurants that we do have that are doing well like Fifi uh there's a nice Italian place along the corridor that has really H has a following I'm not sure what the impact would be on them but my ask would be to please not touch that commercial zone or regulate it at all until the dville gets built then go for it then they'll be flesh with people maybe they'll have a red development but for right now it's very sensitive I think we have to be giving them incentives I would be unregulated that area to incentivize people to go there more easily or if you do decide to regulate this then the city needs to subsidize $5 valet parking in those commercial corridors at night um if that's what you wanted to do but kind of like Windwood you know you drive up you give the $5 you you know it's they have the best technology ever so if you're going to do that have to subsidize the valet commissioner I I think the intent is to protect the businesses on this item it's not to over regulate it's it's to protected so that in the evening hours if someone is going to come for dinner they can find a meter spot and they can park next to the business can you exclude that area Collins from from this program well well it's it's a metered spot it's not part of the program okay so the idea is that it you're silent in commercial parking spaces for Comm for commercial but after 6:00 anyone can use it whether you're a residential parking anyone can park there for for any extended period of time you don't have to be part of the residential parking program so this the the intent is is to protect those businesses because if you're going to U you know if you're going to FiFi for example you should be able to park in front of Fifi you shouldn't be competing with anyone else or the business shouldn't have to be competing that parking space with anyone else so you're saying that your M's St by the way this is so much easier isn't it a free and fair microphone system too soon CH too soon just feels so good and have some control cut you off okay stop it commissioner Dominguez or chair me guess um okay fine I mean I'm not sure that I absolutely under like understand what you're saying you're saying that you would continue metered parking yes so that PE the whole idea is that we're we're creating a residential parking um program for residential spaces so if you're like on byin or carile you have those are residence spots and those are going to be restricted to only residents but after 6:00 in commercial zones those parking spaces are not restricted to anyone they're going to take so they're going they could be taken up by anyone they could be taken up by residents they could be taken up by just people leaving their car they going maybe they're going to the drum circle or something so it it's it's it's the the reason I'm putting this is to protect those businesses and allowing uh people who want to park next to him uh should be able to now again this is for like the evening restaurants that want to you know and I have a question and then we'll go on to commissioner bot uh my question is um the item says extending the hour uh to what time so so staff I think they're going to go door too the intent is to find out you know some areas may need to go till 9:00 some areas may need to go to 8:00 okay commissioner bot so um there when you do the Outreach for the parking program in North Beach I hope that you could also include letting everybody know that by being a part of this program they or or making it so that they are automatically enrolled in the resident parking discount because when people have a nervous breakdown about paying $4 for a meter for per hour it's a dollar an hour so even if you need to um even if you need to pay for a meter for an hour or two when you first get home $2 is not for for I don't want to Discount people's economic hardships but it's not generally going to be Bank breaking however um so I would like to make sure that that communication is there that people once you're enrolled in the parking program you're also enrolled in the discount resident Park working program Citywide um on this particular item I support it 100% And I would actually suggest that it needs to go later than that in some areas you know some of the the best economic return on investment that we've had in the city has been in the in the North Beach area surrounding the um Normandy Fountain we have great not good great restaurants around there and more coming and cool stores and a great bar that is open I don't know till two at least maybe till 5 that nobody ever hears a preep out of because it's just a neighborhood bar we need to make sure Lan is up there we need to make sure that if you get a craving for lanu at 4:30 in the morning you can you know you can find a spot um not necessarily needs to stay open till those spots need to be um available till five but we've worked so hard as a as a as a commission as a community to get that part of the city reinvigorated and when the new doville 2.0 comes online that is going to be huge as well let's not you know limit our success so um I'm sorry only 11 people responded I think that's really distressing I don't know if you reached out to the Normandy um business Fountain Association um directly because I'm sure you'd get a good a good amount of information from them not just about their businesses but about the neighborhood um as a whole and um I I like the idea of going back and reaching out to lots of people you know individually and getting the information but we should absolutely be doing this we should absolutely be extending um by cleaning up the people who are parking illegally in north beach with this parking program anyhow in theory we will be finding more uh residential spots that are now vacant and and usable for residents we don't want to pit residents against the businesses that we want them to support and vice versa so I I'm not on this committee but I certain than fully support it yeah thank you okay vice mayor Fernandez thank you um Madam chair uh and I Echo a lot of the sentiments of commissioner bod of commissioner Rosen Gonzalez and of the item sponsor and the and the intent behind this is not loss in me establishments like Burgers and Shakes I think they're open till 5:00 a.m. or or allowed to to be open till till 5:00 a.m. you have the North Beach Tavern uh that has a 5 a.m. license Bob's your uncle you have a number of establishments that are open late and we don't want to get in the way of their ability to succeed um when we're investing so much in trying to to improve North improve North Beach um you know I look at South Beach at the South South Beach parking Zone the um the metered parking is enforced there to from 9:00 a.m. to 3 a.m. um in the Entertainment District in South Beach the meter parking is enforced 24 hours a day and if we look at one of these two models it would still allow the residents of North Beach who who participated in the program to park uh in these in in in the meter parking spaces is that is that correct uh Mr Sor you said it would do what exactly if in the metered areas if um right now it's 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. uh in North Beach for example once a residential parking program goes into place will a resident with a decal part of the pilot program be able to park there without having to pay for parking or will they have after 6 p.m. yes they'll be able to park there after after 600 p.m. with the current hours yes okay um you know and perhaps we could find a way where you know we follow the model that we have either in the South Beach parking Zone where you have um enforced parking up to 300 a.m or in the Entertainment District where you have 24-hour enforcement but if you're part of the pilot program and you need parking you can still park there and so perhaps there's a middle ground that could be found that I just you know ask you to consider so that we help the needs of the residents but we don't get in the way of the businesses uh that depend on this on this parking um the chair thank you um I I think the way for example in South Beach if you are a resident you have and you're in Flamingo Park you have Zone 2 and you want to park in a meter you have a heavily discounted rate I think it's like $1 an hour if if that you it does during the during during the metered hours you don't you don't you're not allowed to park for free in the metered spaces I'll say one thing I just sorry to interrupt you but we got an LTC recently that all of that's going up so the $1 an hour is turning to $2 an hour okay $2 an hour um but I think uh ultimately I would like to make a motion to have the administration have discretion on what what neighborhood what zones need to be extended to what hours because I I've talked to David seon and in the um Normandy Fountain area they prefer to have to leave it at 6:00 um believe it or not and this is why your Outreach is important uh however on near Ocean Terrace Ruchi beachi is they you know they are definitely requesting that the meter be go beyond 6 p.m. so I I don't think if it's possible I don't know legal can weigh in I I don't necessarily want to micromanage like what you guys suggest I want to kind of give you you the option to say all right you know bushan terce goes till 10:00 Normandy Fountain stays at 6 and you you you're the professionals this is you know why you get paid the big big bucks and and make that determination and and have discretion and if there is an issue we'll all hear about it right and then you know we'll discuss but I think for the sake of um uh streamlining this I think you guys should have the the discretion on ra on raising and can is that a possibility can I can we do that as a obviously this has to go back to commission but would it be possible to give them sort of cart blanch on how they want to extend hours in different zones uh we wouldn't give them cart blonde you would ask them to go out and do an assessment and make a recommendation back to you how they would do do we have to bring this to commission to back to the committee or can we bring it to the commission after they've had their um their analysis that's up to you you can do either commission then so uh my motion would be to have staff research all the different business zones um and come up with a plan for you know parking hours and in each Zone and bring it to the commission for uh for a first and second reading thank you commissioner so you and I will second that motion and as uh they're going out their door too to the businesses if they would do both items you know uh the one that we just heard about for the bike lane and assessing if they have uh parking in the back or not or how losing a spot would affect the business and then also for this item we'll ask those questions as well just one uh uh for clarity when we come back to the city commission one option is to come back with a with a uh code Amendment on first reading with November criteria and the recommendation of the administration yes okay then which commission October it would be the October 30th City commission you have enough time to get that done first reading with the parameters because the pilot program starts November 1st but it's two two months of education so that right thank you thank you all right so you have a conference call yeah okay um next item is number six item number six is discuss analysis and removal of all Place signage and objects that are super fluous potentially such as digital traffic message boards cone barricades and other Road signage and um you'll let me know if there's any public comment uh at any time and um I love this commissioner magazine you're the sponsor TI up yeah uh thank you madam chair uh Brad Jose thank you for this uh I've talked to each of you individually through some uh meetings but we haven't spoken comprehensively about this you know my standard for driving around the city or biking around uh should be spotless right in so many areas I I look out and I look at for years quite literally years and it's just like what is the purpose of this and and it really struck me uh Jose you know when you and I were talking about something and it was this speed table I I think they're termed or speed trailer trailers it was sitting in the middle of West Avenue uh full disclosure where I live so it's something that I looked at going in and out of my house walking my daughter across the street to the park for years and years and it served no purpose uh my huncher inkling is that we have poorly designed roads that essentially facilitate um bad driving for instance on West Avenue we have very wide Lanes uh we have in some places five Lanes across and what happens is if you're doing the speed cars will use the center median to pass and I feel as if we're almost mitigating um improper urban planning through just ugly Street signage uh you know correct me if I'm wrong there but when I look at on West Avenue or 17th Street we just have these speed trailers that are at times placed for years or down on Collins Avenue by Espanola Way we've had Orange Street cones in in the road for years and years we have people one that live here and two that travel all around the world to come here and see the beauty of Miami Beach and we all take such pride in our historic Art Deco buildings and our our natural beauty of the beach but we need to do our job of making our city look pristine and this is just some lwh hanging fruit I also want to tackle kind of um uh the signage that's on sidewalks uh we we'll get to that at a a different time but can you resp respond um it reminds me sometimes of playing the video game paper boy where you're just in the street and trying to navigate all these different obstacles and in speaking with you all it's not like we have this comprehensive uh planner approach I get the sense that some of them are just placed there and forgotten about and there's no sense of ownership so I'll hand it over to you where you can introduce this this isn't placing like a blame game this is just about getting it right going forward and and how we can really have a a visually and optically beautiful city sure thank you commissioner uh so through the chair and Brad and I are going to tag team on on on this item um because we work very closely in terms of Maintenance of traffic which we callot so signs have different they serve different purposes uh I'll speak first to signage and devices that are out there uh as a result of or in connection with anot uh so with there are standards uh if whether they're on a state road or on a local Road um there are different standards that may apply these standards call for certain devices that are required whenever there's a lane closure uh the devices need to not only be placed but they need to be placed in a certain um you know Direction uh there may be cones that are or drums as well those are those orange uh you know uh looking devices the barricades as well so there are different type of devices that serve different purposes for different lane closures depending on where they are if it's a major thoroughfare if it's a local Road uh but these are required devices required by you know the agency that has jurisdiction over the road required by the city itself for liability reasons and so um for example you mentioned the Espanola Way and that's one that's very near and dear to me uh because these signs are typically construction signs and drivers and everyone associate these signs with construction yet there is no construction on Espanola Way it's a it's a it's a closure if you will or it's a it's a lane closure in in the case of Espanola Way we often times close the southbound right turn lane so if you're on Washington Avenue traveling south because we close Espanola Way for certain activations we need to close that right that southbound right turn lane into uh Espanola Way and that requires a series of cones and an arrow board uhon for uh from Washington Avenue yes espanol way is permanently I'm sorry well uh Collins and and Washington actually from from both we have mot devices on on well left turn on one right turn on the other we have devices on both um jur so if you're going if you're going Southbound uh it would be on Collins if you're going northbound it would be on Washington sorry I got my bearings uh mixed up there so um does not look pretty it looks like a construction zone because these are construction signs they're orange they're not in the best shape either you know many of them uh but they're they're part they're required as part of the permit that we had to um to secure in order to be a able to close the lane and activate Espanola Way that's that's just one example um you know we we try to get the best looking signs out there if you will that's not always the case these are construction signs and many times they're you know they're banged up um in terms of maintaining the area you know to for it because cones could be knocked down drums could be knocked down for example um you know we there are other departments that are responsible for that for driving by and making sure that the equipment is in good you know good state of repair in good order um but a lot of times so so let let me let me ask you a question on West Avenue and I'm using this because where I live right uh so I notice this every single day I don't five years there's a speed triler in the middle of the street there's no lane closures you didn't know about it you didn't know about it nobody body knew where it was why it was there and if I didn't bring it up Time After Time and say why is there a speed trailer sitting in the middle of a street where people are trying to cross behind it to go to the crosswalk it would have sat there for 20 years and the second that it was raised to police goes oh okay sure we'll remove it that's one example I I who knows how many other people's streets are being just littered with this stuff that is there for no purpose and we need some sort of invent and Rhyme or Reason for why that's there well why would a speed table a speed trailer so so for people to know what I'm talking about this is maybe eight feet high um takes up the entire median and it's my judgment or estimation that it's there so people don't illegally pass in the center lane and if that's the case that is a valid concern but we can do so in a much more athetic way than just having these intermittent turning into permanent fixtures that just absolutely visually litter our roadways right so while there could be examples of yes it's needed here and this is part of the lane closure I have an anecdotal example of one where it's just not sure why and it's just there so I think we need to do some sort of analysis of okay here's what's needed but here's what's not and start cleaning this stuff up and if it is for public safety concerns stop living in a state of purgatory I feel our city and not just with this so many instances we're just in purgatory we don't know which way to go um so if it is a public safety concern say you know what we're going to go out and create a median in the center of the street and have it visually appeasing or we're going to put in um one of the large flower pots uh like we have lining uh serving as bowlers on Lincoln Road uh people pay a lot of taxes here right they deserve something more optically appeasing than an orange Speed trailer in front of their homes or in front of uh a new park um to really live in a city where it looks like we have a comprehensive Vision we're just not living in the state of paralysis here's a comment that I'll make um I think uh maybe the commission we all need to get involved and let the neighborhood association know uh because we probably need their help it might be a staffing issue um I did a walk through a while ago uh with palm High biscus Star Island and they had redundancy of signs and they wanted it cleaned up and uh Jose and his team took care of it because the neighborhood association brought it to our attention so um maybe on our end we can mention to the neighborhood associations hey please take a look if you see signs that are redundant bring it to our attention so that we can then let Jose know cuz they will take care of it but it's a lot because they may not think it's redundant but us and the neighborhood associations do yeah I totally agree Madam chair thank you for the feedback I also think we need uh some staff that are proactive as well whether that sits in the neighborhood Affairs division instead of sitting in the office go out on a on a vesel or on a golf cart or on bicycle and just go around and be like that doesn't make sense that sign has been sitting there for 10 years and that serves no purpose and come back in conjunction with the neighborhood uh and uh the neighborhood associations and kind of have an all hands on deck effort but I feel as if there's a lot of stuff that's out there just because right yes there's some examples where we need it and and we can tackle that but there's a bifurcation about stuff that is just hanging out there and um I'll work with uh the chair uh commissioner Dominguez and maybe we could work as a full body but we also need some help from uh from the city and I I I hate just the sideload thinking that we have like we are all in this together right we're all in this together so whether it's uh the police that are patrolling that area park rangers neighborhood Affairs Transportation traffic when something doesn't make sense in the city it's incumbent on all of us to have a vested interest and set up you know stand up and say hey what's going on here right it has to be a all hands on deck effort because that's what community is right um and uh something that comes to mind our department has a vehicle that we have access to is um maybe having our two AIDS go out there um and maybe you I need to have a sunshine meeting and U discuss how we can help tackle this with the neighborhood Affairs committee love okay Madam chair if you'd like we can have neighborhoods um reach out and send that email out and get some addition the association thank you all right so um uh you're the sponsor what would you like to do with this item um you want to hear it again in three months um sure keep it here and uh either that or we could retired and create a new one it's up to you I I think it would be better to um hear it again in three months we'll keep it on the future to see what we've tackled exactly okay so um Stephanie we do that and uh I would like to be added as a co-sponsor for this item I as well if you need some representations to an ex fi love it yeah so Rob will you take care of adding us or whoever takes care of adding us as all right and um so with that uh we'll hear this in three months and uh we'll schedule something among the Commissioners and with that we have the last item which I love love love as well I want to be a co-sponsor of it's number seven uh Stephanie will you read the item of course it's discuss the creation of incentives to established Miami Beach as a local hub for World Cup 2026 and uh commissioner magazine uh and thank you this this isn't my item this is again going to be in all hands on deck we we have such an amazing opportunity uh one of the great things about Miami and Miami Beach in particular is uh we are just the arts and culture the sports the event epicenter of the world uh perhaps the the largest global event in the entire world we have uh coming to our city we're set um in 2026 to host uh I believe six World Cup games including the bronze medal match uh and while yes this is happening in Miami Gardens um anytime you turn into the F1 the Super Bowl the Orange Bowl uh Ocean Drive is the backdrop Miami Beach is the backdrop we are synonymous with Miami as a whole and the World Cup it is not just a onetime event it's a month or month and a half long uh event and really a festivity and we saw the amazing excitement uh soccer is just the lifeblood of so many of our diverse communities here we saw that with the cop of America had fabulous turnout Citywide um for the Argentina and Columbia game uh the events at Hard Rock stadium not withstanding um but this is uh this is just a great um moment for us to really seiz being on the world stage and I I've seen over the past few years these things don't just happen organically I saw the last World Cup and granted wasn't hosted in Miami beach but given the diverse amount of residents and tourists that we have here and they're all drawn to soccer there weren't the activations that I was expecting um and I really think that we need to start planning ahead to really seize on this opportunity the county I believe is actually uh uh set aside $10 million to essentially make Miami date County a host city um we have a uh uh let me turn it over to you for some of the things that are going on in the background but I just think it's an opportunity for Miami Beach to really put our best foot forward on the global stage uh thank you commissioner good morning um Madam chair Comm committee members lisante director of Tourism and culture and so 2026 sets us up for the year of sports uh we kick off with the national college football championship in January 2026 we have the Miami Marathon we have high Rocks coming uh water paloa in March uh and again we have so many events and leading up to FIFA in the summer so right now they're scheduled from June 15th to July 18th at the hardw walk in 2026 and they have other activations planned that include the convention center Bayfront Park as of right now the event organizers have applied for permit and the dates are you know between June and July it's very early so they haven't really you know shared any information with us as what they're thinking of or asked for anything so we would like to continue that conversation you know the mayor is on their host committee and see what are they envisioning right for Miami Beach as we have always been a host even like national college football is at Hard Rock but they are going to have their FanFest here so tomorrow the county has their final budget hearing they have the proposed 10.5 million for FanFest activities we can check and make sure that it goes through and then follow up with them I wonder if they're waiting for that to go through to then come back to us so I'd like to kind of continue this conversation I had a a meeting with the gmcvb um this week and um I asked if anybody could come and and discuss but it was still too prelimin because they were waiting on yeah the county um so when when should this item come back I would say give us a couple more months um November are you okay with that I think there's October 1 County Water kickoff right and we should know a lot more than there I was actually thinking about uh deferring it until then but just wanted to uh given a short agenda put this on people's radar so we can start getting excited start getting the talk out there and really uh letting the uh powers of the be know that we're Comm throwing a great event here commissioner bot I'm um and Joe can I be a co-sponsor of this item as well I did want to talk to you about that offline yes of course it all hands on deck oh I'm not even um because one of the things it's 202 six right so it could coinci coincide beautifully with um um things happening at at the Flamingo Park Track and Field and if there's an opportunity to do something specifically for kids and families who are soccer fanatics on our home field that would be really awesome love it um well so uh we'll bring this back in November thank you thank you to the city Administration and everyone who attended this meeting hi police and fire and thank you for always being here to support and with that the meeting is adjourned thank you