oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] o [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] High [Music] [Music] take [Music] n [Music] you [Music] [Music] me take [Music] [Music] [Music] please take your seats the meeting is about to begin please stand by we are going on air in 5 4 3 2 1 [Music] hi everybody today is June 5th and we're here for the public safety and neighborhood quality of life committee uh and I'm Laura Dominguez I'm the chair of the committee along with me is vice chair David Suarez and commissioner Joe magazine um commissioner Christen Rosen Gonzalez will be arriving a little later and joining us today is commissioner bot and we have assistant city manager Mark Texas Deputy City attorney Mark Fishman and the fabulous Stephanie Ray Brooks do you have any announcements we do we have a couple announcements this meeting will be a hybrid meeting you could come in person or dial in by dialing 312 626 6799 or using the zoom account we also have a couple of items that were deferred by the sponsor I will read those items now we have item number four discussion regarding concessions regulations and layouts to ensure that sufficient areas remain available at all times for public enjoy of the beaches item number seven discuss the creation of Code Compliance area captains positions for South Beach mid Beach and North Beach item number 14 explore provide options for establishing a nighttime dropin Center in Miami Beach item number 15 explore and provide options for establishing live assistance for homeless Outreach Services during after hours and we have item number 18 discuss the potential implementations of a text message system to facilitate the reporting of Code Compliance and then and we have I think one more announcement yes commissioner um your Aid the amazing Aaron has brought to our attention that yesterday was a very very special day and we'd like to hijack your meeting for just a second because he brought you something out [Applause] right happy birthday what a great way to start our meeting off by singing you happy birthday happy birthday happy [Applause] birthday happy birth thank you everybody that is so kind um you're in trouble I like lowkey birthdays I keep it under the radar but thank you that's very kind happy birthday okay um well thank you no I'm rder than a tomato and item number six all right item number six is discussion regarding bashore Park positive affirmations and mental health signage this resp sponsored by vice mayor Dominguez okay David Gomez how are you you want to Tee It Up For Us sure this is brought by yourself to the commission for referral here uh it is a referral from the youth commission to install um positive affirmation signage in the Bayshore Park uh project which is currently under construction uh it consists of according to their recommendation I believe it was 12 to 16 uh signs placed somewhere near the butterfly garden uh and the idea is that either local artist or students from the school would develop the signs and then the city would install them this was a a beautiful suggestion that came from the youth commission and high schooler uh Audrey I believe was her name um sent an uh had an appointment with me and then the youth commission later sent uh a letter to commission and we also have been in contact with an organization that does positive affirmations um and poetry and other beautiful things for mental health and uh self-esteem and other positive things and they do that at no charge it's uh their passion is for the cause um and did you do do any investigation on pricing and or what they look like prototypes do you have anything to show us yeah um well there is as part of the uh memo there are some examples that the youth commission provided uh we did speak to the planning department and it would require a review uh possibly just for administrative uh approvals prior to installation to make sure that we're not violating any codes we did speak to the building department which will require a signage permit so that we can install these in the path um Prim arily for structural reasons to make sure that the that the signs are installed properly um and as far as pricing on the signs we did not have the opportunity to get into pricing or even if a consultant would be required for the permitting process what would be the next step uh the next step is to look at just that to see what we would require of a consultant for the permitting process and then what the cost of the signage actual signage would be we did speak to our parking Department who has a sign shop and they have the capability of printing it inhouse um so it's a possibility that the that the cost would be relatively minor okay and um do you think you would have that information by the June 26th meeting if we were to send this back to I believe we can get you a cost on that yes okay colleagues yeah I think this is exactly why we've been um cognizant of getting younger people involved right because some of the things that may not be on our radar and are important to certain members of our community this is is for them to bring to the Forefront so commend you on getting younger people in V commissioner you okay with it all right so we'll bring it back to the full commission and uh thank you Mr Gomez and number 13 okay item number 13 is discuss broader expansions of tree canopy in North Beach okay this item is commissioner magazine would you like to te it up go hi Amy thank you chair any updates um well good morning um through the chair and vice chair Amy nlls Chief resilience officer uh we took a look at this referral item um it's really an important item that introduces transformational change for North Beach I think we all know that North Beach suffers from an urban heat island effect there's very little tree canopy really due to old development approaches former approaches that didn't have enough right of way and plantable space so what we did as a staff team is I brought together our Public Works team and transportation um and planning and talked through some of the things that we already have in terms of plans and projects that can help going forward and then introduced sort of some other innovative ideas I think for your consideration and I'd be happy to run through those yeah go forward okay through the chair sure so we introduced about seven different things you know one we do have a North Beach tree planting pilot which introduces planting um smaller to mediumsized trees at the base of the um diagonal parking it creates triangular triangular pits and um the benefits of there is that it requires little planting space um but the trees do have low chances of survivability because their root system their root ball just can't really expand right you're basically digging you know a hole in this concrete putting soil in there and really you know hoping that they they last for a while to provide some relief so that can be expanded and that's actually another item um on today's agenda another idea is this buoyant city um concept so back in I think it was 2020 or so the city commission adopted the buoyant City plan and that was done through the planning department and it envisioned how can we protect our historic districts in the face of sea- level rise and climate change and it had some really interesting uh ways to save trees including planting them in raised Planters where they could survive over time so as new infrastructures introduced as streetscapes change as roads may need to be elevated the trees could almost be more protected um so that is a really interesting idea we also have um the concept to select a location with defined boundaries and really stud it such as Parkview Island where um that area has probably less traffic um sort of less people and could we really look at that maybe hire a multi-disciplinary firm to re-envision it um maybe the streets change and and there would be a real change in the fabric but at least um that area could benefit from more green space there's water quality issues there and more permeability um I already mentioned a multidisciplinary firm so this would need landscape architecture roadway changes um parking changes maybe a multi Mobility needs um so what we really have the opportunity to re-envision again long-term transformation change but this could be a recommendations report that really focuses all of us um the next item is something that we already have on deck and that's the North Beach Town Center Northshore D neighborhood Improvement project so this is that longer term you know infrastructure and climate adaptation project where new utilities would be introduced you know new roadways there's about $10 million from our resilient Florida grant program for the design phase and what's really interesting here is that that project will integrate the um the better some of the better planting zonings that came from the North Beach town center so for example sidewalks have to be wider the trees have to be larger to make sure that there's more shade in the future so those are a couple things that are um on the Pike and then our planning department had some ideas there is some private property Redevelopment happening in North Beach and we could really urge more and better Landscaping requirements in that area so that they're planting trees that would better benefit the right of way in those areas so those are just a few things some options to present um for further discussion um originally when I had this idea I I wanted to mimic what we had on on Meridian Avenue with the calym trees um has there been any discussion about possibly making a canopy along Abbot where you know it it runs north to south through and through uh in North Beach and one of the most unshaded areas yeah I think as staff we can take a look at that in particular um in general what we've seen is that there will have to be a discussion on the streetcape on the typology of the street that we have to maybe give up things like parking and um really work with the sidewalks and ADA compliance so I think anything can be done it's just a matter of what are what are the trade-offs what is acceptable to the community um so we can get trade trees in it's just a matter of is is it acceptable and are we willing to to create more plantable space so I look I I don't know how my colleagues feel but I'm certainly interested in having maybe a uh consultant come up with a couple designs um renderings perhaps on what they can do with with creating a canopy um but knowing full well that you know we may be sacrificing some parking spaces um you know what I have as far a vision for North Beach is is sort of generational I'd like to have it tree canopy that's going to last the next 100 years in Miami Beach and so um I'm open to hearing what what my colleagues have to say commissioner magazine thank you all um of I agree with uh what commissioner Suarez is saying and certainly we have to also address uh the longer term and when I think about what North Beach could look like in 40 years I certainly uh am delighted at the thought that you know a tree canopy similar to Meridian Avenue would be possible but again that's longer term planning and I think as we tackle climate change and resiliency we have to look for innovative ways to cool our city and what better way than green trees and things of that nature so uh you know certainly addressing multiple issues with one solution but I want to see if we've done any Innovative exploration or thinking for things in the short and medium term uh when we were talking about the parking lot item up in mid Beach uh I did some research on more cost-efficient ways to essentially achieve the outcome that we were looking for and looking at uh things like living Urban canopies uh and things of that nature open-ended very creative just wanted to kind of get your preliminary thoughts on if things like that would be a possibility where yes we plan longer term for 30 and 40 years and our true future but if there's some small quicker wins that we can get that really are on The Cutting Edge when you look at some of these you know uh futuristic urban planning designs that really incorporate uh Green Space uh uh cooling climate change resiliency uh things that we could do in kind of the short term as well yeah and I think that's a very good point commissioner we do have an urban heat island ordinance that actually requires new development to plant with to utilize cooler Pavements uh we have a have to have cool roofs so we have a lot of those things already and particularly in North Beach when the new development comes there's a requirement to add shade to the buildings so that people walking by have to have shade so I think it's a it's a very good um point a point well taken there's also a movement towards daving like how do you pull back all this pavement and introduce cooler um you know ground um but that does come with uh like like you said like it it comes with I think some work some understanding that we may need to uh really in myi Beach it it tends to focus on the roadway like how do we reclaim from the roadway because we can't necessarily go into private property and the sidewalks really have to maintain the Ada accessibility so it kind of comes down to that that roadway and that width I um have a question I thought I was under the impression that our city had an uh urban forestry master plan in place and what was the vision for North Beach in that plan yeah so um the North Beach master plan and we actually um in your packet there's um some examples and I think it's from on the other item that was requested but there's a lot of um specifications for how to plant trees within our landscape and it has great diagrams and really what it introduces is is this concept of suspended Pavements and you know we do have a presentation on that if you'd like to see it but it it's really allowing space for the roots to grow and so that the pavement on top doesn't crush the roots and so that they can spread out and we have great examples across the city that shows those trees are thriving in comparisons to other areas where they don't have them uh for example in front of the Lincoln eery there's some really nice bridal veil trees and they're very very leafy um so we do that is part of the urban forestry uh master plan and I think for North Beach it's very much looking at things like the Planters and these different ways um to integrate the trees so the difference between the urban forestry master plan for the trees and what's being proposed now is um now this item wants one tree line street with a canopy well I think that there's the the urban forry master plan is a toolkit kind of depending on the conditions like what you can do so it doesn't say specifically you should do in North Beach this thing but it does say here are the type of trees appropriate for different conditions and how to plant them so they survive the salt tolerance and all that Vice chair um welcome commissioner bot um so I love the idea of getting more trees into North Beach I think that's really important um I would just make a couple of suggestions as the group goes forward and and looks at what to do and how to do it um I would I don't know how Abbott was selected and maybe it's because of this but my you know having walked these streets you know with my dogs and bike them whichever of those main through fairs is the most pedestrianized um would be my view on where to start um and so without having any data just anecdotally it seems like maybe Dickens might be that because you've got all these sort of Junction points of people going to the playground um on Parkview and and eventually back to the kayak ramp um going to the ball fields going to the tennis center um going to the schools that are there that might be the place to start but I I defer on that but um but the other thing is I I know parking is such uh a critical issue in North Beach and so is speeding um and so my my wish would be instead of removing parking spots is to reimagine the road widths and build out the sidewalks a bit further which kills two birds with one stone so you don't lose the parking and you slow um the the rate of Transit so you're not removing necessarily a lane so you there's still plenty of Transit you're just not having people blast through at 15 or 20 miles above the speed limit which I think is a highly desirable goal also so that would be um my input but go team um uh Vice chair thank you chair um so it doesn't have to be Abbot it can be whatever staff recommends um I just picked Abbot because it just runs through um North and South but um if there is a more suitable Avenue that works best but again like like you said the the master plan is more of like a toolkit it's not a Visionary plan what I'd like to have is something more Visionary for the next 30 50 years um similar to the you know like what Meridian Avenue did and I think I think North Peach would would benefit tremendously from something like that so um I guess I should make a motion to direct staff to find a consultant to come up with some um draft ideas for uh a tree canopy in North Beach um if I may I would uh suggest bringing it to the full commission so that then we can refer it to the finance committee since there will be costs involved with that okay okay all right okay I thank you item number one okay item number one is discuss of update on the tree planning pilot program on North Beach okay and um so this is very similar uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez is um in class right now but she said that this item could be heard um Amy can you te it up sure um well since we heard the item back in March um environment sustainability has worked with the public works department to locate areas to expand this um tree planting pilot um and just as a reminder this is where that diag no parking is being um retrofitted to have triangular uh tree pits that will allow um some space for small to mediumsized trees um so the six trees um are still they're doing well and uh we are carefully monitoring them we're hoping that you know in August it'll be one year and we're hoping for that survivability um our Urban Forester says four years is really the target to know if something is going to stand um survive but in the meantime it is providing you know vegetation and some Greenery for the neighborhood um so we did identify 40 additional locations that are spelled out um in your memo um they're all located on 78th 79th and 80th Street so that area that very dense very hot um you know very densely populated um we did receive one bid at a cost of $179,200 for about 16t trees and it would be about $448 per planting pit so that is the cost of the tree plus the cost of the cutting into the concrete and doing that work um we could uh help utilize go funds to help with the small portion that's the actual tree which might be around $1,000 so we would have funding for that um so we uh wanted to share this with you um another action item you had asked was for public private Partnerships and so how do we increase um private property to imp plant trees and we can definitely do a tree giveaway um my department can do that we have funding for that in North Beach we did one in uh February but we can do another one with very dedicated Outreach in this particular area to encourage people to you know accept our trees and to plant them on their property um as well thank you um Vice chair did you have a comment no uh commissioner bot since you live in North Beach any any trees anywhere North Beach is a good outcome in my view um you know I'm I'm thinking about um you know it's one thing to sort of retrofit existing Street Scapes where you can pop in a tree and and hope that they survive there are so there are three things there's doing that there's looking at the roadways and where we can reclaim some of the space from the travel Lanes to the sidewalks which would uh give us more opportunity to to park uh to park to park more trees uh to plant more trees but the thing the the area that's like the um and and even looking at um 71st and and uh Normandy are these speed zones where and I know Jose and and the f team and everybody are working on that collaboratively but boy that would be a great place for this kind of a program where um you know there's no place to cross people walk there all the time and people are going way too fast into reclaiming some of the sidewalks there would be fabulous but you know the the biggest opportunity for transformative change in my view is um paru Island which is this Blank Slate of a canvas um um where there are literally no sidewalks on most of the island there's zero shade other than the beautiful little playground which is a lovely Oasis but that's what it is um you know when you walk in there are shrubs but there are no there's no shade there's no sidewalks for most of the island um and the infrastructure is in sore need of upgrading anyhow it's an island in transition right now and um I think it would make it really it would be a great laboratory I think for the city to figure out what could be done how to do it effectively um you know it's it's a very it's not going to affect a lot of traffic so you're not going to have issues with people not being able to get their kids to school or whatever so as you look at the opportunities for things that are my colleagues are bringing up I would throw into the mix um and I know we need to find the printing press for money in the basement someplace but I would throw into the mix you know let's look at this as an opportunity where we can test things out and put together more than just a toolkit or things to choose from but you know here's a game plan to transform literally a desert you know an island a heat island um and make it something really beautiful and sustainable and learn along the way so that when we start going into areas where there might be more traffic impacts or Mobility impacts we've already learned some of the lessons um and uh it's it's easier to execute kind of go in and do it surgically and have it work and um through the chair commissioner would you like that one to that might be best suited for item 13 where we think about picking areas and that could really be examined um because I do think that would be a multidisiplinary approach yeah so you know I don't want to take away from the idea of a tree canopy on a on a main area uh a main thorough fair I think that is it is transformative also but North Beach beach has so many of these areas that could use some you know like I said Normandy and 71st streets and Parkview and you know The Pedestrian eyes whether it's Dickens or one of the other mainor through fairs um so just don't forget about it as you're contemplating um and you know have whoever you hire to do the work walk through there with them and see what that Sparks because that might be a totally different way to approach things than a tree canopy on a major thoroughfare but it may be something that can be done concurrently and then you know I don't know I'm not the expert but whoever you hire presumably will be and and we'll be all excited the possibility of trying to do this good back to the um item one um do the trees get warranted do they have a warranty um for these I'm not certain I'd have to check with public works I don't believe so because that would add dramatically to the cost um and then there are you know some concerns with the survivability if we were doing suspended Pavements I think that would be maybe a little bit easier but they would be a lot more expensive as a project um but at this point I don't believe we have a warranty phase I think we have a year of watering but I'd have to might have to get back to you on that one and I believe we have public comment um she actually just put her hand on no public comment no no no there was but she put her hand on well uh thank you so much this item um talked about um funding and the cost she's back I think she may and geobond funds so after we hear public comment I think we should refer this back to the full commission with a referral to finance so that that committee could uh look at the numbers all right if we could have Elizabeth Laton unmute you have two minutes hi good morning um good morning everyone um I just I'm listening to all of this about North Beach I'm so thrilled at the possibility of trees anywhere here as all of you have indicated um I would like to also uh if if it's possible when you come back and you're choosing areas in item number 13 can we also look at the areas south of 71st possibly um at the Dune area we have absolutely no shade the only shade that we get are from the buildings and it is it's brutal um as as uh commissioner bot said it is we it's a heat island in Parkview but it's also the rest of us um I I'm not quite sure how um that works as far as F dot in the islands but if you can look at the tree if you can look at the Shrubbery in the islands we do have some some Palms but those aren't exactly great for shade when you're walking on the sidewalks and I just wanted to encourage that and just say thank you all for for bringing this up that's all thank you okay so um okay so we'll close it out with a favorable recommendation to FK thank you thank you uh item number 17 item number 17 is discuss implementing a program similar to Monroe County's free mobile pumpout service for vessels and this item was referred by vice mayor Dominguez uh so this item came up because um our moing field is a couple years away and uh the boats that are currently in the harbor um from what I've seen and I've been told they're not pumping out anywhere and even when we've had FWC go on the boats to check them and they've been compliant um it doesn't mean that they're not pumping out into our Bay and we really can't have that um I came across something from Monroe County where a grant help fund 75% of it and I just wanted my me and my colleagues to hear a little bit more well certainly good morning everyone um Elizabeth Muro instrum director for facilities and Fleet Management so Monroe County actually started this program um internally first in 2009 and it was only for kilargo and then they partnered in 2013 with authority Department of protection Environmental Protection and through that Grant they were able to expand to other areas in the keys and basically since 2021 um fdp FD EP has um managed um this program so basically it does allow for 75% funding through their clean vessel act um and the 25% is actually supplemented through local or state funding this will allow for the construction renovation and operation and maintenance of any pump out stations colleagues um generally I I'm not a fan of of having a um an amenity that only attracts more of what we what we don't want to have on the bay and so you know if you provide if you provide a a method for people to pump out where they don't have to move because we have a we have a we have a pump out at Miami Beach Marina it's only $10 we do um but the problem is these boats are in such bad shape they can't they can't drive to the marina so so the last thing I want to do is encourage more uh libard activity off our off our Shores to to to stay here because now we have um a pumpout service that goes to them um I it seems like it's nice for it to be free and and and Grant and have grants for it but you know I I think uh you know the direction our commission is going is is is to discourage liveboard activity because of the same reasons that we want to get a mobile pump out and so um I think it's a I look I think if we were the keys it would be different and I think with the moing field we're going to be required to have a a pump out uh vessel or we just have a pump out station which we already have I'm not sure so maybe we maybe we table this until the moing field is at 100% design or not not design but um I guess shovel in the water so to speak and then we can yeah cuz we're going to have to cross this bridge uh eventually I don't know if we want to do that before the moing field gets here yeah my thought was um not have this be permanent but a temporary so that they stop polluting the bay because they're not moving they're not pumping out even though that there is something at uh the Miami Beach arena um Marina but I I understand uh what you're saying um commissioner y magazine so excuse me for my elementary questions and understanding here not my area of expertise but want to have some dialogue to understand so I read those reports of the news articles that said that the boter were sorry if it's the wrong terminology in compliance or warm polluting but then we see them stationary and we don't have mobile pump outs how can we Rectify those two and apologies if you're not the expert Dan and you're just standing here at the podium uh so you know please uh plead the fifth if uh if it's not your area of expertise either I would say it's probably not my area of expertise I will say that um but you know what we know is that we do have this amenity available for the Mii the Miami Beach Marina we do you know we have we provide the service as it is oh Amy thank you Amy's our expert so essentially we don't have documented sampling that shows that there's sewage being released into the bay in that area that doesn't mean it isn't it just means that there might be flushing and dilution happening that those sampling hits aren't coming up um so I think where you have real chronic areas of you know like we have in Parkview Canal that's a real serious issue with very little flushing 81 Acres draining into that Canal um that's really where we're seeing those those big hits of the um the fical indicator bacteria so I think that's where um those comments came out I appreciate then then just one followup so we're talking about offering this free of charge and I guess if they have a service like this at the Miami Beach Marina which they charge for this seems like a concierge amenity right I would absolutely love to have a boat out on biscem Bay and have somebody come to me to get to my needs right but financially I'm I'm not able to do so but presumably the people that have the luxury of having a boat out in bis Bay uh would have the means to essentially have this coner service and I guess I just get hesitant having our taxpayers subsidized people that may or not even be Miami Beach residents right they just have their boat parked there and now we're saying we understand may be an inconvenience for you to go a few blocks down to Miami Beach Marina so let us bring somebody to you and not only that that'd be fine if a private business wanted to essentially subsidize a a coner amenity with a grant grant yeah I I just have not not a problem you know just I'm like okay well that seems like quite a luxury that we're providing to you know people with the luxury of living on a boat out in biscane Bay uh almost seems like more of a coner service I think it may be needed um but those are just my thoughts I don't have a strong you know uh inclination one way or another Vice chair Suarez yeah look you know I I it's it's funny because I actually I met a few boers out there who um are very nice and and and welltoo people and you know one of them told me that look you know despite what what everyone tells you most of us just flush toilet flush our toilets into the bay and um and you know there was this like uh onetime operation where uh FWC and Marine Patrol went out and they they found two out of 39 people in compliant and in fact I thought it was I thought it was strange that they even found two because the moment you see lights on in the biscane bay uh and you're in this community they're very connected they have like WhatsApp and telegram groups I I've seen it and they they basically say that um hey the police are here close your valves and all you have to do is turn your seock valve a quarter turn and you're and you're in compliant and whatever they test it's you're you're going to pass so I was surprised they even got two uh violations but I think what commissioner magazine his his line of reasoning is the same as mine we're going to sort of encourage more of what we don't want in Miami Beach um but and this this would require a facility correct that's correct right so uh you know something doesn't sit right with me creating a facility uh because we're going to have to give up some land that we have to cater to um residents or non-residents who live on the water to pump out their poop okay um considering we have a a station for $10 at Miami Beach Marina I think I think that's perfectly fine perhaps um to to meet halfway we can give a voucher for anyone who is a liveboard who goes to Miami Beach Marina to bring their boat there and you know we'll eat the $10 or uh we can ask Sunex to just you know um not charge that fee um but I certainly don't want to in the direction of enabling more of what we don't want in May beach thank you I'm happy to close this item out my intention was to have a clean Bay until the moing field is built and so now we're not because they're not going to go to the Miami Beach Marina they're not doing that now and they're going to continue for the next few years as people are paddle boarding uh and uh kaying in that bay um and dur dirty water which is unfortunate um I do like your idea of maybe encouraging with a voucher or something but the reason I like this was because um there was a grant involved and uh it wouldn't be uh major cost to the city but let's close it out and let's move on to number eight okay and I'm going to close that out with no action okay number eight is discuss expanding MB residents connect portal to allow neighborhood associations to receive targeted notice of certain special magistry hearings relating to individual properties in the neighborhood and this was an item by vice mayor Dominguez so I've had um uh many meetings with West Avenue folks and uh people in North Beach and our special magistrates uh process of have submitted some improvements and uh so have the residents and we've also met with uh different members of the city Administration including it uh to make it easier better for residents to know about appeals or other special magistrates thing so if you want to take it away Mr canana hi uh good morning Madam chair members of the committee Frank kintana CIO uh so in 2017 our department created a tool called resident connect which essentially allows any residents to sign up for notifications based on agenda items on either the full commission agenda or any of the subcommittees and that allows for them to sign up for part particular keywords uh for terms that they would like to receive a notification that there will be a hearing on a particular field um today the city is also transitioning away from the existing novice agenda as you all are aware uh to a new solution called one meeting uh from granus uh that's the result of a RFP that was done in coordination with the clerk's office so uh the functionality of of um resident connect is transitioning from the Homegrown application that our team built to this new agenda platform that's more modern and offers a lot of additional uh functionality uh one of the things that we've had extensive conversations with granicus over is once we go live with a new agenda platform which were uh weeks away from uh from starting our first commission meeting with that and everything settles and we can kind of close out that project uh We've started Discovery conversations with them about how we can add the functionality for special magistrate and we hope to have a a functional option with that later this summer so it's it's definitely something that we're looking at um it will not be through the resident connect application necessarily but it'll be consistent with the functionality that we're providing with a new agenda platform that is great thank you so much I know it's been um a lot of layers on top of everything else that you've been working on I really appreciate that you made this a priority thank you uh is there any public comment uh commissioner magazine Madam chair uh kudos to you I I think anything that we can do to provide transparency and make it easier for our residents to stay engaged uh all four and thanks for the leadership on this you know the one thing Frank that I'll ask is I heard that you'll be trying to add the keyword functionality is there also a proximity functionality so if something if we would say I live on West Avenue maybe I'm not going to put in mandre and West Avenue all these different keywords that could possibly be catched but I may want to receive a notification for anything happening uh related to something within 10 blocks of my house sure so that's a great question and actually the discussion we had with them which we feel which we feel is the most practical application of of what you're asking is to do it by areas so you'll be able to sign up for South Beach mid Beach North Beach so it's a little wider um there is no Geographic pinpointing necessarily because you know if you're across the street from an area maybe it doesn't that that gets to be a lot of guess work that it's a hard thing to technically compensate for um so the discussions that we've had uh with commissioner Dominguez and some of the feedback we've received uh from our residents is the area of the beach is probably the best application of that so you'll receive anything for example special magistrate that's South Beach so we're looking at it from that perspective um as with a lot of things in technology sometimes the idea works great but the application doesn't um so we're going to try to apply the things we believe that work get feedback and then take it from there and if we need to Pivot we'll do so um but right now the intention is to go the The Zone or the area Direction excellent thank you okay thank you all right uh so thank you for the update really appreciate it we can close this item out and move to item 16 okay number 16 is discussion regarding an installation of a bus General Don Jose the San Martin at Collins Park and this was sponsored by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez thank you hi Cindy hi good morning uh Madame chair Vice chair members of the committee Cindy Casanova assistant director for the parks department so as outlined in your Mo um the item that you have before you is a motion that was passed at the January 2024 Hispanic Affairs committee to honor General Jose sading at Collins Park similar to the other historical uh figures that are honored in Collins Park such as uh Simon bolivard Jose miti and Bonito harez uh General s Jose De stin is a revered historical figure um noted for his independent movements for the countries of Argentina Chile and Peru the cost to produce permit design and install the monument in Collins Park is approximately between $3 to $35,000 and it again it would be a monument similar in nature to the other monuments that I mentioned such as Jose miti Simon Bolivar and Bonito harez um it would be a bronze bust affixed to a stone uh pedestal with a bronze plaque affixed to it for informational purposes uh did we pay for the other uh monuments that are there I believe we paid for the other ones that are there with the exception of bito harez the bust was gifted to the city by the Mexican consulate and we paid for the pedestal which was approximately $18,000 is there any help that the uh Argentine Consulate can give and I would have to check with the Hispanic Affairs committee on what connections they have with the consulate to see if there's any opportunities there for some sort of partnership okay um I would recommend that this go back to the full commission with a referral to the finance committee for discussion uh Mark Fishman yes if if I could Madam chair I I I get the idea um if this um committee is in favor of this item uh and would like to uh provide a favorable recommendation um the city code requires that because it's not just a simple plaque uh it's a bust not a sculpture but a bust or a sculpture those type of things have to be referred uh to the art and public places committee uh the art and public places committee will review it and along with the PSN qlc recommendation the AI recommendation will ultimately get transmitted to the full City commission so I would recommend uh if you're if the committee is in favor of this item uh to transmit it to AI colleagues are you okay with that okay um item number 12 okay item number 12 is discuss the placement of a plaque in honor of civil rights activists and preservationist Joe Tom Easley at Pride Park and this is uh sponsored by commissioner B commissioner bot um so Joe Tom Easley was a um a leading Advocate and I do mean leading for civil rights gay rights human rights um historic preservations specifically here in Miami Beach he is a devoted member of this community um he lived in in Palm viw Island he passed away recently and um we have a history of calling out and paying homage to our um residents who have made significant contributions and uh we would like to do that for this resident in Palm uh in Pride park on the corner adjacent to palmv Island and um we've discussed that it's a very low impact cost um the desired uh effect would be a plaque near a a tree you know beautiful Shady spot in the northwest corner of the park and um with that I'd like to get your support for it um any other comments on this sending no she covered it all okay uh so commissioner bot I was on the Palm View uh Zoom when uh they talked about this item um and I'm happy to support this I'd like to hear from my colleagues uh Vice chair Suarez I I was also on the zoom and I fully support it I'd like to move with a favorable recommendation colleagues sure okay we have one public comment please if we could hear Mitch Scott Mitch Scott you have 2 minutes please unmute mute yourself Mitch you are still muted if you could please unmute yourself we cannot hear you yet if we could hear Daniel Caldo since we can't have MIT thank you hi yes thank you commission Daniel Calo with Miami Design Pres ation leag I just wanted to thank you all for moving this forward Joe Tom was a great resident of Miami Beach he also served on many boards including Miami Design preservation League even during a period of uh illness at the end of his life and uh this is a great way to recognize him and all of uh the work that he did for so many communities whether the preservation Community LGBT Miami Beach Etc and we're very excited and thankful for this effort thank you we have Mitch Scott can you please unmute yourself I see you raised your hand again okay I think there's technical difficulties I don't think we can get them okay so close public comment okay all right so moving on to item number two item number two is discuss the utilization of mobile or us processing centers to decrease the time police officers spend away from their assigned areas of responsibility item yeah good morning Madam chair Commissioners uh major Daniel morgalo from the police department here to discuss the item um first off on behalf of the chief and the of the the administration of the police department we thank the Commissioners and the committee for bringing this topic up because it reflects your commitment to helping us improve our processes and raise our visibility uh throughout the city um with regard to this particular item however um the chief and the administration feel that the addition of mobile arrest processing centers would not necessarily solve a problem and could create um unintended con consquences that impact our uh Rules of Evidence chain of custody requiring additional officers to be off the road because they're now added into the chain of custody and evidence processing for court purposes later on and looking at um our processes that this conversation initiated um the majority of our arrests do not require officers to leave their assigned areas we have increased the number of departmental um Detention officers we have a budget request to increase one more position as a detention officer which allows the infield um transfer of custody of the prisoner and the majority of our arrest cases don't involve our officers having to go to the station and impound evidence in those cases where we do have to um more serious cases felony cases cases requiring investigative support detectives conducting interviews and things like that the the involved or in arresting officer still going to have to leave the field to provide information firsthand information to detectives for followup and things like that so this particular item although very well intentioned and very well received may not provide the desired effect but we are willing to continue to have conversations to improve our processes to increase um the level of our visibility in the field and increase our efficiency and our effectiveness at conducting operations uh commissioner magazine yeah thank you for that um how about for high impact weekends would would this be a suitable option for high impact weekends and and where I'm ultimately going with this is I I've been following some of the commentary back and forth for going on 10 years now uh prior to Chief Jones uh Chief Clement and then Chief oats and at this very committee I would I would see Chief Clemens take the stand and say you know what we have to be cautious about really policing lower level crimes during high impact week paraphrasing during high impact weekends because yes we could make all these arrests but it's ultimately taking officers off the street and the conversation just stopped there so I said okay we've identified a problem but we never took it one step further and identified a solution and I'm not going to try and jam a solution down uh your throats if it doesn't make sense but I also don't want to just leave this open-ended problem that we have identified for 10 years out there without any any direction about how we're going to essentially thread that needle so if it's not this I'd at least like some of your feedback not you personally but collectively as the police department uh going forward about okay we've identified this problem of it just takes officers too long if we make lower level arrests and it's taking you know important resour resources off the streets okay well how can we actually then solve that and and then if you could also address whether this would be appropriate uh just for high impact weekends so for high impact weekends we create mechanisms in place where we have Miami Dade County Corrections come to Miami Beach and pick up prisoners here at Miami Beach we' have additional resources in place to help speed along that process so if the desire of the individual officer or the organization is that arrests be the primary mechanism to deal with the problems that we're dealing with out on the street the resources are there to facilitate that process and uh I I brought it up during spring break when we had increased resources during those high impact weekends and we explain to officers do not be hesitant to utilize your ability to arrest if you have probable cause because the mechanisms are in place to facilitate that process so when we have high impact weakens we have the resources here to speed along that process as much as possible Y and I saw firstand with my own two eyes ands you make those exact comments uh to staff uh during spring break checking so I appreciate that commentary Madam chair commission bot um just for point of reference for all of us um talking about this issue uh I definitely support this idea the concept of how do we keep or folks on the street doing their job rather than doing the gr work of getting people to jail and to that end um I had submitted I can't remember where at the last commission meeting and it was referred to finance I think um the addition of um two additional not I think they're non-sworn officers to help with the transport issues to be jailers so that the officers get the people they're arresting off the street and into our Miami Beach jail facility and then there are two more people who um can help with the transport to the County facility without um having to pull a sworn officer off what he or she is doing so hopefully that will be passed in the upcoming budget and that will help alleviate this it's a little bit of a different approach I understand they're not mutually exclusive but hopefully that will help alleviate some of this this issue which is a real one okay um so this was initially mayor Miner's item I'm going to close it out here but I will ask you to set up a meeting with the mayor to ensure uh he understands this process and if there's anything else that he wants to do to move in a different direction absolutely thank you thank you major I'll take care we have item number 11 discuss the Miami Beach commission for women implementing a call to artist to create a mural honoring major Stoneman Douglas and majority Stoneman Douglas Park and this is sponsored by commissioner Rosen Gonzalez for the last item did you say there was public comment there was but they lowered their hand time thank you okay so uh who had co-sponsored this no just commissioner Rosen Gonzalez sorry Hi l uh you want to te it up for commission morning and happy birthday Madam chair and committee members lante director of Tourism and culture City of Miami Beach uh yes so this seems like a really wonderful suggestion uh from the committee to have a mural honoring Marjorie Stone Douglas at Marjorie stowman Douglas Park so the procedure would be then to go to AIP uh present this to them and also advise on a cultural artist uh we would identify funding from aipp as well and then we would go back to commission okay colleagues um okay to send this back to commission yeah can I just ask just a quick uh high level question you know um so many cities uh you know our contributions to a city are are looked at as uh you know giving back to your community and things like that and I know with so many initiatives uh you know we're going out and paying for our pieces and things like that um do you feel as if we're underutilizing the public and private resources that we have in our community so many great people where we don't get contributions of art where we're actually going out and you know paying for all of it or am I misguided and we actually do receive a lot of that uh pro bono so that's a two-part question uh right we all municipalities go through this process through AI we do a call for artists we commission unique works of art uh we do accept donations and we have had in the past uh actually J plansa the Mina piece that you see in park Pride Park was recently um donated by the brayman family so we do have opportunities obviously it does have to go through IPP as well for approvals because not all work is at the same uh level that you that we have in our collection thank you of course okay uh so we'll send it back to the full commission we have one public comment Daniel Caldo y Daniel you'll have two minutes if you could please unmute yourself thank you so much and also happy birthday to the vice man may as well um Daniel seral with Miami Design preservation League just want to give a little background on why it's called Marjorie St Douglas Park back in the 1980s there was a push by the city commission to convert many of the parks in Miami Beach along the ocean front into parking garages and there was a proposal to build a large parking garage right there um and uh somebody uh who we all know very well Miss Barbara be Capman uh joined together with Marjorie s Douglas to protest the destruction of ocean from Parkland in in replacement with the a large garage they won that battle I think it was Tor Hollow at the time who wanted to build a garage and we have a great photograph in our archives of Barbara and marjerie there uh at the protest to save the park so it's very exciting that the Miami Beach commission for women has this great idea to honor Marjorie s Douglas and the many things that she has done for the community along with many others and we are very supportive of this initiative thank you very much thank you done with public comment okay okay I so we'll close that item with a favorable recommendation yes item number nine is discuss the continuation options for Florida Fresh Market and this is brought by tourism uh good morning uh Madam chair so as for some of the members on the committee uh I can share some context regarding this uh item which is Florida Fresh Markets a few years ago uh we did an RFP to have an artisanal Market in Lumis Park uh it did have some push back however it went through uh they are an excellent um operator uh then after they opened in September of 2022 we expanded the market to include 41st Street and other locations uh it was found kind of found difficult for them to activate 41st Street so we retracted that back we still continued receiving a lot of push back uh from the uh adcd um stakeholders regarding this activation even though we have no complaints uh from the administration as far them of them being a professional operator uh in August uh in July 10th of last year we sent them a letter to terminate uh the agreement and their last activation in Lumis Park was on August August 6th of 2023 the item then came back much later and they had a previous sponsor which is no longer part of the commission uh to allow for a six-month pilot to help them come back to Lumis Park the administration started um negotiating with them the six-month pilot uh during that process uh they asked if they can be uh start the pilot in October in the in the fall of 2024 and so that's why we're here they're asking um we didn't begin earlier in the year because they're requested to be part of the Season uh when they have activated the market in the past they can't activate in March obviously and there's other holidays or activations that preclude them from activating thank you thank you so I've heard uh from the Ocean Drive Community residents and businesses and they do not want this so I would be a no vote on continuing with the pilot on Ocean Drive if there are other places to explore to do the pilot uh that would be fine but I would not vote in favor of it I'd love to hear from my colleagues commissioner magazine yeah maybe before uh Madam chair um or at least reserve my right after we hear some public comment yeah yeah is there public comment there is public comment and I think there's public comment in person too so if you want we could do one in one you could yeah yeah thank you hello cesie Vasco I'm the executive director of the Ocean Drive Association um yes we the Ocean Drive Association did take aend the board that they do not want the artisanal Market various reasons um one aspect that I think goes undetected is that these tents go up every single Saturday morning and come down every single Saturday evening the same thing happens on Sunday morning and Sunday evening we're America's Riviera people pay Prime rates to be right there not to be seeing tents going up and Tents going down it obscures the view we are pushing for higher rates for our hotels this actually makes it unattractive so I think that's one aspect that really hasn't been considered a lot has been talked about about the quality and where it is and that type of thing but from the perspective of the hotel in the restaurants please understand anything that is obstructing The View on a weekend where their full capacity is a negative economic impact to them thank you commission magazine yeah thank you seia and you know maybe if you don't go for I'll ask you as our resident expert um would the Oda be against any type of activation where my personal observations this is how I feel without having the chance to discuss is um you have the quality was concerning there just seemed and I don't mean to disparage anybody somewhat cheap generic you would just see it in anywhere not America's Riviera so if we would limit this and I'm not talking about this vendor but just going forward thinking about ideas and activations um would we be open to something like a more Gourmet Market something smaller in scale that had a much higher quality attraction or are we just saying collectively you know we don't think this is the place for anything we don't think this is the place for the tents going up whether they're Gourmet and what we have found is the previous Market did try to do foods like a fresh market like a farmers market like they have in Lincoln Road they were not able to keep and sustain that people just are not coming from the south of Fifth and Flamingo Park area walking over to buy groceries or produce like they do on Lincoln Road which is a mall it started Gourmet and then it starts trickling down but it really is the the load in and the buildout that is a negative as people are coming out of Untitled in scope they're seeing tents coming down thermos is full of things it's just not the Optics that we want and and again I have nothing in mind I'm just using this as a back and forth dialogue uh so we've talked about that how about the frequency would there be appetite or even desire to do something like the Lincoln Road forers Market I don't think that's every Sunday right is that one Sunday per month the Lincoln or is that every Sunday I I think it's every weekend yeah is it okay and would the Oda be against an activation like one weekend per month uh because you just don't want it happening every single weekend uh or again is it just we're against I think there's a place for it and it's not on Ocean Drive in lumbus park we have Hotel I mean Lincoln Road has no hotels right so it's a whole different place um but we have all those beautiful hotels that are some small historic costly to maintain so we want to keep the adrs up I think this is a way to do it to have a clear beautiful unobstructive view as much as possible appreciate the feedback that's what I wanted to get thank you thank you okay we have two public comments online Tony Morales if you could please unmute yourself thank you and hi Commissioners my name is Tony Morales I represent Florida Fresh Markets the vendor and operator of the artisanal Market in Lumis Park I want to add to some historical context here when this RFP process began the city and staff enumerated a set of parameters for the market to include the use of tents and the types of categories of food and good that would be offered at the market we have received and been responsive to the feedback around the interest in Gourmet and the move in aesthetic and so in this Rec Contracting period we've aligned with City staff on the elimination of tents altogether to sidestep that concern and the implementation of Art Deco thematically consistent umbrellas similar to what we use in other luxury properties like the square and West Palm Beach as well as the uh bal Harbor uh Market that we operate um with respect to the categories themselves the direction we got from the commission when it voted 61 to reinstall this um Market in a six-month pilot period was to thematically build around a healthy Market meaning the elimination of those prepared foods and sort of lower brow items that the city had previously requested and instead a rotation toward produce which we have been able to sustain and which was present at every iteration of the market from its Inception final thing I want to reference just for context here is while this item sort of went through several meetings we had tens of members of the community a mixture of our vendors more than a quarter of whom are Miami Beach residents themselves as well as residents from the directly adjacent apartment buildings who came out in support of this item we had petitions with over 300 Miami Beach residents signing in support of the reinstallation of this market and so I I do want to just re-enter for for context here that there is tremendous community support and that the pilot period of six months that was authorized by the commission uh is to give a shot at taking in that feedback around the aesthetic uh making sure that a high-end Market is implemented and then returning to the commission its prerogative to continue or not if the market fits its vision for the city uh finally I appreciate the opportunity to be considered and the core question that we came to with staff today is matter of when to implement if this Market is able to go forward thank you Tony for your comments your two minutes are up yeah s vowa has a comment oh okay I I do want to say mostly in matters that deal with Ocean Drive in lumus park vendors need to come and meet with the stakeholders and this has never come before us until today um or the art deco neighborhood association officially we saw it on the agenda and that's why I think that was comment so in all of these discussions the stakeholders have not participated okay we have Daniel Caldo Daniel you'll have two minutes thank you very much commissioner zos with Miami Design preservation league is someone who spent a lot of time in the European Rivier I will tell you that markets are a very core part of the urban fabric of any Rivier at Town it is it sounds like everything I've heard about the markets from our visitors has been positive I would challenge Ocean Drive Association if they have any documented evidence of complaints from their hotel visitors or restaurant guests that they should make those public just like the market made public all of the support that they have for the market I don't believe it's fair to say that having a market uh for food during limited time time is somehow competition for the restaurants on Ocean Drive which we've heard in the past from Oda it sounds like though that there isn't support on the commission currently to keep this going and if that is the case maybe they could consider Flamingo Park as an alternative I don't think we should be in the trying to remove activities in places that we're trying to generate resident participation and uh would really like to see evidence-based decisions on these thank you so much thank you if we could unmute Mitch novic good morning Mitch sovic owner of the sherber hotel I share the same sentiment as the Ocean Drive Association and moreover our County CH our County Parks Charter prohibits the commercialization of our parks and in in in addition the lumus park Covenant uh when it was deeded from the Lumis Brothers to the city uh there's a restriction against the commercialization and exploitation of our park for profit thank you thank you and our last comment we have Elizabeth Laton if you could please unmute yourself you have two minutes good morning um I know I've seen that market um I've seen the different iterations in the different Parks colins Etc um I'm not real sure why this keeps trying to be forced upon the residents um it's not it's not it's it's not meant to be in a park it should be on Lincoln Road or something like that um I also know from the art deco neighborhood association that they are completely against it um and I would support them as well okay let him one Tony Morales if you could unmute yourself you'll have two minutes one minute he already spoke since you already spoke thank you I appreciate it and I just wanted to reply to the comment on engaging Community stakeholders we did reach out to local community organization um associations such as so be safe in some instances were documented as having been rejected the opportunity to have a meeting fessie if you recall we actually met with you and made a formal presentation to the AC adcd um and had a very warm reception from you in our conversation at at a prior iteration of this and so our attempt to engage receive feedback be responsive has been um you know total we've worked closely with staff and we've ad responded to the the will of the community and so far as the aesthetic and category changes so we're hoping that we can move forward with what the commission has authorized in a six-month pilot and and purely are are asking to begin that pilot not sooner but rather later so as to begin in season so rather than starting tomorrow to do so in October thank you for the opportunity I appreciate it uh commissioner magazine thank you madam chair uh what I would urge uh Tony is uh if this is uh you know something important that you want to see forward uh don't give up on those efforts to engage uh our community stakeholders I'm not going to be comfortable moving forward uh with something where the stakeholders of a certain area are saying no this isn't the vision that we have uh from what I got they're not saying no nothing but maybe this wasn't the exact Vision that they wanted so to the extent where you think you can work together um continue to do so uh but we have some very strong uh stakeholder groups that really have a very holistic view of that area I don't think that they are overly protective or saying no I don't want anything in my backyard but I'll be quite Frank they know that area better than I because they are out there living breathing it every single day talking to every business uh stakeholder group um so uh I'm going to be cautious not to you know o overstep my bounds and shove something down their throat that they don't think is can do so for that neighborhood and I don't see a reason to uh challenge that assumption so to the extent where you think you could have some type of product or Vision that you could work with those uh neighborhood stakeholders continue engaging them um so I'm not a know forever uh but until the community would come back and say we've actually entertained some dialogue and uh we think we have a a a clear path forward of something that's uh acceptable for all stakeholders uh I think I'll I'll side with the chair here and uh want to punt on this item Vice chair Suarez I agree with the chair okay so we'll move it to the full commission with an unfavorable close it out Madam chair yeah I think it should be closed out I think uh because we don't have four voting members as the committee rules require I think we should defer to Robert's Rules and with a 03 unfavorable I think the item dies and can be solely revived by the mayor his discretion to put on the commission agenda but otherwise it's dead okay thank you okay then we have item number 10 which is discussion regarding an art installation on the fritz Hotel on Ocean Drive wait yes IEM and this is sponsored by commissioner Fernandez but he did say that we could hear this item yes um he did and cesie Velasco from the Ocean Drive Association is here to speak on the item thanks for having me art deco neighborhood association Art Deco Cultural Arts the enhancement of this district with art we've been talking about this um the owner of the fritz Hotel who coincidentally is also called Fritz but it's a coincident is The Accidental hotelier he invested in the hotel he saw it was not being managed well he took over um but his background he has an art gallery in Amsterdam he travels back and forth from Europe he saw this beautiful blank wall which is the back of council Tower South no windows if you see the attachment you'll see I kind of did a cut and paste to show what it possibly could look like he would love to sponsor this have the projection on the rooftop of the fritz project artwork onto that wall to add an attraction and enhancement to the district um he came to the special events office however in order to make it Perpetual we need the approval of the city manager's office and the city commission otherwise it's a shortterm situation um he is 100% supportive of following any protocols the art in public places protocol that I know is in your memo um it is never to be used as advertising never to be used with logos it is a collaboration with the museum in Amsterdam to promote and to provide major artists so we'd love to be able to do this um especially during season I understand some hes ations um and if we could do it during season and revisit it at the end of February I think that is a wonderful compromise but we'd love to do more art as people are leaving Untitled in scope to walk onto Ocean Drive and to see art rather than just getting up and leaving I think adds to the dynamic and the district as a whole thank you um Mark Fishman does this need to go to Art and public places that's correct Madam chair yes so I would be supportive of this pilot through February 28th and um with a referral to art in public places colleagues do oh commissioner bot um I I just have a couple of questions um so I love the re Museum it's in it's an incredible facility full of really amazing art but as you said specifically in your Preamble um Art Deco and while I love the Dutch Masters that doesn't seem like it fits and so would there be an opportunity to select things that are appropriate in terms of the time frame and so you know as much as a star night is my favorite painting um right and uh you know the lady in Gold the CL painting is fabulous I don't know that those necessarily fit into that space and so would we be able to curate what gets projected and why would we be limited to that particular Museum I don't think we're limited to I think what he did was try to show that he already had um a partnership going to demonstrate that the level and Caliber Caliber of art but he's definitely open to us giving some input in art in public places doing in some um some input and is this being envisioned as a rotating thing so it's up like the image is up for a minute or five minutes and then it flips to something else or is it it's up for a week and it changes because what I don't want it to become you know the city of Miami um has actually actively repealed its LED billboard um uh ordinance and I don't want this I understand there'd be Covenant that it would never be used for advertising but um is this something that is going to now become a flashing rotating revolving because that would make it hard to sleep and has there been community outreach um to make sure that people who have Windows that would be looking into this are welcoming of it and not concerned about what it's going to feel like 3:00 in the morning okay so um there are no windows if you look at it um it's across the alley but from oblique you know people who are like at an oblique the other people are they're all hotels okay they're not residents so you have the Bentley you have the fritz and you have the barbazon and those are all hotels and the other two hotels are in favor yes okay they're very supportive um I have talked to Irene at uh the art deco neighborhood Association I did talk to Daniel at mdpl so we did run it by them I think um it's we would love to get some background and information from art and public places as to their Vision if it's I don't see it as a rotating I really do see it as this is an art projection of these particular pieces and not just kind of a you know right but so when when you guys hash out the details there needs to be some thought about okay so these are the five items the images that we're going to approve but how often are they fluctuating because it's if it's every five minutes that's a very different experience than something that's up for a week at a time yep I agree yeah sure we can discuss the loop uh running time thank you I think we have public comment yes we have Daniel Caldo if you could please unmute yourself thank you commissioner XEL Faldo with Miami Design preservation cesti did um share some of the initial idea with me thank you for that um you know it's a slippery slope as we all know with Ocean Drive um and I I think it's wise to send this to art in public places to really get their input a concern that I shared was you know what is Van Go's connection with Miami Beach and you know did he ever visit Etc um personally I don't know how many our basil visitors are going to be very excited to see Star night projected on this side of a building um maybe I'm you know not on the pulse of the modern art World um but I would love to see something where we highlight local artists or we could uh have a competition to make something that's really unique when you visit Miami Beach then the final thing I hope that can be discussed when he goes to art in public places is that we had previously reached out to that building we're told that there's a Prohibition on projecting or or any sort of display on the building due to some of their funding um and so just want to make sure that that Building Council Towers is a part of this process as well and again it's a very slippery slope between great art and tacky so hopefully with the art in public places they could uh direct us in the right direction thank you so much Madam chair if good yes yeah I I uh love the idea love the innovativeness uh I think it's you know refreshing getting art um while I would never have any intention to want to micromanage especially something outside of my area of expertise like a Art Exhibit um can we find some way to incorporate if this is going to be a static image and it changes seasonally or changes for a special event weekend like Art Basel when we get a bit more Innovative uh have something along the lines Like A LTC letter to commission saying here is it's Friday next Wednesday here's going to be our vision I don't want to wake up and just be blindsided one day and I I pull up Facebook and the community goes oh what is the commission doing now allowing this I I don't want to micromanage and say well this is what I want but this is not what I want but I you know I don't want to be blindsided either if something were just not in line through nobody fault but you know uh perhaps not what we would be expecting as a community M yes I think the selection process is would be transparent and definitely would be announced to the city commission Ocean Drive Association as well would not want to be in a position where we're embarrassed by anything that we put out there as a resident those were my questions also so yes we're very sensitive to the programming ahead of time I could almost foresee the change being monthly to go along with culture crawl to have something new so that's kind of how I am thinking about it and definitely that would be proposed ahead of time I'm really sensitive to that as well yeah and through the chair if I may so commissioner uh magazine once AI makes a motion to approve we would provide an LTC with the images that were approved and we can definitely do that from our end thank you so okay uh so um Mark Fishman we'll send it to Art and public places okay yes with a with a recommendation from this committee favorable favorable yes you okay thank you very much great now we have item number five which is discuss take action on outfront Media Group contract and this was uh commissioner Rosen Gonzalez um can we skip and do number three and then um if her Aid is here can somebody contact Chris and see if she's on the way we can do that okay okay so we'll hear number three discussion on a potential pilot program for a oneway conversion Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue from 37th Street to 44th Street including turn restrictions into 41st Street during weekday and afternoon Peak periods and this is commissioner Suarez commission uh Vice chair Suarez thank you madam chair um Jose if you want to te it up that'd be great thank you commissioner good morning Madame chair committee members Jose Gonzalez trans Transportation director and interim parking director so the last time we were before you was on March 30th um where we presented two options for a potential pilot uh project that would uh consist of a potential one-way conversion of Royal Palm Avenue and Sheridan Avenue between 40th and 42nd streets a Monday through Friday during the afternoon Peak periods with the intent of the pilot being to create a bridge if you will for internal trips within the city to be able to travel North and South easily and cross cross 41 Street um at at that March 30th committee meeting uh this body asked us to conduct a charet with the community and obtained some feedback which we did we held a a chared on May 7th during the shet we presented both options we also shared with uh the participants there a QR code code where um anyone who scanned that would be taken to a survey and they can vote on whether they preferred option one option two or or no option at all um no no pilot we gave um we gave the community two weeks uh to express their their um position on the pilot and we're now back before you uh pursuing to your direction to uh in essence seek some direction as to what the next steps are uh what I will say is in terms of the the and the results it was pretty much evenly distributed a third a thirdd a third um specifically it was um 35% of respondents preferring option one 34% of respondents preferring option two and 31% of uh respondents uh preferring no no pilot at all so third a third a third vice chair Suarez thank thank you madam chair um so colleagues just just to reiterate what the uh what the intent of the pilot is is to have traffic move more freely North and South during peak hours across 41st Street and so you know I take my son uh every day not every day but twice a week to Mathnasium and it's I mean it's gridlock and it's it gets it can back up like a mile on on Prairie um and so I think um one of the options was a little bit less aggressive than the other option one was just restricting uh westbound turns onto 41st Street so I'll quickly describe both options option one creates a oneway pair with uh Sheridan Avenue both lanes of Sheridan Avenue operating northbound only both lanes of Royal Palm Avenue operating southbound only so it would create that one-way oneway pair between 40th and 42nd streets and it would restrict um Northbound left turns onto 40th Street would be restricted as well that's the first option um the the second option is a bit simpler the second option keeps the current flow along both of those Avenues a two-way two-way traffic along both of the Avenues and simply restricts um left turns onto 40th Street and of course 41st Street as as well both options restrict turns on to 41st Street along those Avenues to create that bridge to be able to go north and south and how many how many people respond to the survey a total of 343 that's okay that's that's quite large for for some of these surveys um so just so my colleagues are aware you know over 2third of the the responses um were in favor of something right they they want something a solution um less than slightly less than onethird didn't want anything right um this is just a pilot program and you know one of the biggest issues that you know the three of us have seen on the trail this last uh year was traffic traffic traffic traffic congestion and so hopefully with this program we can alleviate some of the pressure from traffic uh on 41st Street and so I think to make things more simple and not have to go through a county approval uh moving forward with the with the one-way pairs I I think could be used as the next step um if uh the F if this option two works works well for the year um but I would like to seek support for my colleagues on moving forward with option two because the community obviously wants it and something needs to be done with traffic commissioner if I may just so option one is the one that creates the oneway pair the one ways that's option one right so I want to I I want the option where it's very simple where we restrict turns on the west uh onto 41st Street westbound uh during peak hours correct so yes that that's option two correct yes and which by the way option one got the most um the most votes 35% and then option ver 34 right so and then the no option was 30% 31 31% okay so um look colleagues the the data is there I mean people want something I think it it's worth a shot it's a pilot program and um we I would I would love to give this a try for the community of uh in the area uh thank you uh Vice chair so these numbers were pretty evenly split but clearly 2third do want to see something um a one-year pilot sounds too long to me that's not really a pilot I would recommend six months and then we could move to make it permanent or longer or make changes um but that's where I would stand uh where are my colleagues yeah thank you for this uh attended the the meeting on this certainly uh passionate uh support and multitudes of ways um I wouldn't be in favor of the one-way pairing well I think theoretically that may sound the best uh it just creates a lot of confusion if it was a permanent structure but trying to reconfigure a one-way Street into a two-way street at multiple times per day I I just think it it just it really gets confusing to the community um I I agree that you know if we're going to do a pilot Let's uh be flexible and pivotal and uh maybe have appetite for six months uh I would also you know make sure that if this turns out uh not that I'm expecting this to be a total disaster that we're able to kind of pivot on the Fly and not say well we're tied into this for six months if after two months it's just like wow we you know what we we really tried and I commend us for trying is not working we have the ability to pull that back this isn't tying our hands for six months is it correct no it would be up to six months and up to six months up to six months and the advantage of a pilot is that it would be nimble and flexible and we can adjust as as we go including um uh doing away with it if if if that's if that's you know we would come back before you before before doing so Vice chair uh my my only issue my only issue is that we want to make sure that this pilot program happens during the peak season right where congestion is insane around the area so um school starts in August right yeah August um so we just want to make sure that it carries through to you know like art basle okay and and and make sure and and look and the best thing about this program guys is you know the police are actually going to have to be involved they can't just be in their cars they they're not they're not going to be just standing on the cars they're actually going to have to be directing traffic um and and they're going to have an assignment and it's not going to just be to monitor it's going to be to actually direct traffic at at least at these two intersections is there any public comment we do not have any public comment at the moment my support for a p program is be contingent on commissioner Suarez answering all the uh iate resident emails that I'll receive direct dial that's going to probably be me um are we okay with the six months yeah I mean I think and if it works we extend it right if it's successful what is a what is a marker for Success you know I mean I think you're going to be tracking data correct before and during and and then we'll present that to the so before the six-month Mark is over I think we should have an item for neighborhoods and really track the data and and and say you know what is a success because if there's like you know 20 IR rate people who uh who just don't like it for whatever reason or for their valid reasons but we have thousands of people who truly en you know enjoy this uh this program that helps their quality of life move from north to south and South to nor and Miami Beach um you know we should should take that into consideration with data so absolutely we'll take into account Community feedback of course but data more importantly we're going to be measuring the cues before the pilot and during the pilot to to make sure that you know the cues are not getting worse either on Prairie as an unintended consequence or that's where the data will come in through the chair a commissioner B I would just suggest I mean I drive that every day coming home from work um it the traffic has gotten much better right now because it's not season and school is starting to wind down so when you do the the before data just please don't do it like in the middle of July when nobody's here do it in August when school's gone back to back to school and um so that we have something that's more realistic um because if you're comparing apples to oranges it won't be so useful I mean it it hasn't been a challenge to get across 41st for the last week or two at least that's that that's a good point in which case the six months would take us to the beginning of of next year if if if we go based on that up to six months but we could start in August so okay so we would so thank you chair uh so we would start in August end of August or you just start collecting data in August we would start collecting data in August okay but we would want to collect data after school starts after school starts but at the onset of of the pilot the data collection is going to be pretty pretty continuous throughout the the duration of of the pilot and you'll send an LTC of when it starts correct correct we do need to but we get we need a commission approval right still commission approval is next so that would be at the um could be could be at the June or July commission meeting and if I might yes commission there's going to need to be a pretty intensive marketing and communication Outreach by that department um to make sure that everybody in the city knows not just the Neighbors in that neighborhood so um and reach out to ways and like do all the the education so that you don't have people with Road raids trying to make a turn that they can't make um and it you know I would suggest that that Outreach needs to be ongoing it's not just a one time deal and I don't know you know how who in the in the city Administration reaches out to the the the um mapping apps but they probably need more lead time than less so I would encourage us to include that in whatever goes to the commission to be discussed as to U making sure that that is incorporated absolutely commissioner thank you we communicate with the U the navigation platforms ways and and and others thank you okay okay and we don't have any public comment so we can okay move with the item so move forward with the pilot option two option two thank you okay and then we have item number five is commissioner Rosen Gonzalez going to call in on this she is not going to be able to call in I've been talking to her Aid Jackie she says what we can do is we could potentially refer the item to the full commission for discussion take action at the commission if you guys feel comfortable with that okay yeah okay well no no he wants to talk about it oh you want to talk about okay and that's um hello did you already call the item yes so we'll hear number five discuss take action out front Media Group contract okay Jose Gonzalez thank thank you thank thank you madam chair um so again this this item is more of of an update when we were before you um last month we mentioned that the Prototype shelter is being manufactured and that is still underway we expect that uh likely be within the next 60 days the location where the Prototype will be installed will be in front of soundscape Park on Washington Washington Avenue just south of Lincoln Road um that's a a good location in terms of visibility a lot of people will be able to see it it's also a very active uh bus stop so that's um that's an update in terms of the Prototype once the Prototype is accepted by the city specifically the city manager then at that point it's it's all hands- on deck and it's full fabrication of of all the bus shelters and the installation Citywide okay uh Vice chair Suarez did you have a comment um so how long has it been since we we signed the contract and and we don't have the official bus stop prototype so the the commission approved the agreement on September of 20121 any reason why it's taken so long well it's it the the process started with the design well even prior to the design we needed to obtain approvals from the design review board the historic preservation board that's a process in and of itself that requires just months to get on the agenda once we uptain we we we um went twice to the drb once to the hbb we received those approvals once we did then um the architect began designing the uh the the bus shelters um and so that that design process took took some time uh they're currently in the building permit process they we did a a dry run uh with the building department and you know the only reason I ask is because I think we get emails from from someone who complains about the condition of our shelter of our bus shelters and our bus stops and you know I mean he sent some images of it just being in like really horrible conditions and and you know if we have a if we have an agreement where these bus shelters are supposed to be U upgraded to you know world class designs and it's been almost you know 2 three years it's it's taken it's you know we're we're getting complaints about um about how it looks and you know I used to live next to one and it it wasn't in the best condition um so this agreement in 2021 how long is it for it expires let's see while you pulling that up I I also have a question about the the cleanliness because I know exactly who you're talking about and I also hear from somebody in North Beach um doesn't the agreement state that they need to maintain the bus shelters and what's happening today is it the city that's paying to maintain it or are they cleaning and doing the sanitation outfront performs the uh the cleaning on as a matter of fact on a daily basis of the most active bus stops they they pressure wash what has been happening is that some of the the um you know the just the the the dirt and the wear and tear of those shelters is such that just uh pressure washing won't it cleans it but they still don't look good so what outfront has done is in a in a three-phase program they've basically gone through and repainted bus benches and the the seats at the bus shelters uh and they've they've been doing that systematically and they're they're now in the last stretch where basically they've they've repainted all of them and um refurbish them were you able to find the the end date of the contract yes it's it's a 20year contract with a five-year option to renew so if it was it was um executed in uh 2021 I want to say so that takes us to 2041 and 2046 with a 5year extension ni sure and um yeah so outfront is the advertising company right I'm sorry outfront is an advertising company yes they and what what was the I guess what was the revenue share for the city uh and the because I'm assuming part of the deal was to upgrade all the bus shelters um and maintain them but what I'm just curious what was the um breakdown of the advertising so the the contract has various uh phases uh phases one through phase four we're currently in phase two of the contract during phase one the initial phase which consisted essentially of um taking ownership of all outfront taking ownership of all the bus shelters um and maintaining them during that phase it was a short phase uh gross revenue share was 30% we're currently in phase two uh during phases two and three the gross revenue share is 10% during this phase what's happening is that outfront is EXC excuse me that's only during phase two phase phases two and three and then uh during phase four which is when all the shelters are already in place um it's a 20% gross revenue share and there's also a minimum annual guarantee that outfront pays the city okay um so I'm just curious why is it 10% undering phase two and then 20% why does it jump around so in this phase that we're currently in it's it's the phase where the uh about 40 bus shelters are being upgraded from static uh advertising uh panels to digital digital panels are more lucrative from a financial perspective than the than the static because because during this phase not all of the digital um ads are installed yet that's why the revenue share is a little lower once all the digital ads are installed then the revenue share increases how many bus shelters total do we have we have approximately 200 and and all those all 200 are supposed to be upgraded well we have 200 bus stops um and the goal of this program is to have a bus shelter at every bus stop so once once all the shelters are in place we'll have somewhere between 200 to 250 shelters and was part of the original deal with outfront yes okay and every single bus shelter will have I'm assuming an advertisement yes but not digital some will still have static only the more you know the more active ones on Commercial corridors will have a digit digital at displ okay um like I said you know we get a lot of complaints about the upkeep I used to live next to one I've never seen a pressure wash happen at a bus stop um and you know unfortunately the people who go to bus Shel who take the bus don't necessarily complain too much um you know they they they kind of just accept things the way they are and so you know I want to make sure that we're getting our in at the deal because you know I mean we see it with our own two eyes that they're not in the best conditions granted I know we're going to be upgrading uh the bus shelters um but you know I think in the meantime certainly we can improve the quality of life for people who do take the bus thank you I'm going to open up to public comment at this time we don't have any online public comments is there any public comment in Person Public comment in person you'll have two minutes never seen such a well-dressed group of individuals caring so much about the condition of our bus shelters good morning Miss chair members of the committee so no issue on the bus shelters uh we actually this is Mickey morrero 200 South BC Boulevard uh represent Deco bike DBA City bike and happen to be reviewing the agenda and we noticed some references to bike racks um not the bus shelter specifically Jose phone so we just wanted to make sure and and again we understand out out front is a media company so when we saw a requirement for 100 bike racks to be installed want to make sure the bike racks are fine if they're part of the bus shelter but we have through our contract which is recently renewed by the city um with City bike exclusivity with when it comes to Bike Share and we have a significant Revenue sharing program with the city so we just want to make sure that when because there's no definition of bike rack and no detailed explanation that when bike racks are discussed here it's functionality bike racks for to and from the shelters but not advertising bike racks that's exactly right and um I got a call from City last night and I checked with um Jose Gonzalez on it and bike rack is meant somebody's personal bike that they can attach it and then board the public transit it's not an advertisement it's not bike chair um so thank you for the question good morning here on behalf of Ike Smart City um just if before we start could you just give me a little bit more than two minutes um because have quite a bit to go over and I'll do it as quickly as I can um first just let me give you all a hand out and while we're waiting for the presentation to begin I know that I recently had a meeting with outfront and um a resident and they gave input on how the bus shelter uh can be better for Resident use uh which I really appreciated and then uh commissioner magazine just showed me something that is so beautiful that uh you should send it to out front as well I will and Madam chair if I could just have 15 seconds and I'll hand it over to our public comment but I feel so often in our city the left-handed doesn't talk to the right we just had all of these uh conversations earlier today about the streetscape especially North Beach about greenify uh our places but we don't incorporate that into things like Transportation design so uh to the extent where our bus shelters would be able to have uh Green living roofs not only is that aesthetically pleasing it's going to help with the cooling of our city with some Greenery um so I really think you know we have to get better thinking about things holistically thank you uh Ralph thank you so let me start by filling in uh some of the details on this contract which was executed in October 2021 two and a half years ago a little more um when that contract was executed the city gifted or transferred ownership of million dollars of assets and its bus shelters uh to outfront for free um and they also granted them the right uh to advertise um including this 9010 uh split uh which is astronomical in favor of uh the vendor of course um and so we're in phase two and this is exactly where alfron wants to stay in phase two and phase three as long as they can uh so they can keep generating this 910 split um when they initially proposed submitted their proposal to the city their full installation all 200 some OD bus shelters were supposed to be installed by October of 2025 next year it's two and a half years later folks not a single bus shelter has been installed and there's a reason for that they're delaying and they're delaying because of the flawed business model uh that the city agreed to in its contract so the handout that I gave you I just want to go through this and I went through it in chronological order as these sections appear in the agreement with the city so your agreement provides that the bus shelter design shall include design options that respect the vision of the city's initial designs developed by ACI panin finina design team and included in the ITN the bus shelter in your packet which is a skeleton of that original design you know you all as as Commissioners um have to decide whether or not this skeleton is respects this red dot award-winning panine FIA design and this is very important and I'll get to it at the end as to why it's so important section 5.2.2 of the agreement now this is an interesting one the agreement required specifically expressly placed the duty on outfront to apply to the drb and hbb for the necessary approvals as far as I know they haven't applied um the city applied instead I have no idea why the city applied the city is not authorized under the agreement to apply on Alf front's behalf the city doesn't owned the bus shelters they gifted them like I said to outfront so I have no idea what standing they have uh to apply for uh this bus shelter design um and now what's happened is these drb approvals which are obtained over 18 months ago they're expired because they didn't get a full building permit so now the city's in a rise to potentially try to revive them um through some State Extension um and the question is does the commission do you all want those board approvals to be revived because again the applicant was the wrong party the there out front is in breach of the agreement they were supposed to obtain these approvals within 18 months they didn't apply they haven't obtained the approvals so as we speak here there are no approvals the city's approvals are gone and alfon is in breach of the agreement then we get to section 6.1.2 what are Alf front's gross receipts from October 21st through the present and why does this matter it matters be structures in first class like new condition throughout the life of the agreement that means from day one October 21st or whenever it was 2021 including refurbishing reconditioning and if necessary replacing damaged existing bus shelters the disgusting things that are out on your sidewalks right now existing benches bus shelters other Street furniture and technological equipment and related components and shall also be responsible for the cleaning repairing or replacement of all dirty or damaged Parts thereof and commissioner sare as you hit the nail on the head all you need is your own two eyes to know that this maintenance standard is not being complied with so I think the committee has to ask itself and directed staff to do a shelter by shelter analysis and answer the question are these shelters in first class like new condition I don't think they are and ask are they in compliance with their maintenance standards have they replaced any have they refurbished any have they reconditioned any I don't think they have and then finally to get to the point of why the design matters okay the city has a unilateral right of termination if you don't agree can I [Music] continue thank you section 15.81% the agreement if you don't like the design of the final bus shelter it's that simple so you know I think you all have to take a look at where you started with this award-winning panin FIA design to where you've ended up you know and and and the important and here's what you what you all need to realize they're now saying they're going to begin installing in 2026 that's what their new timeline shows okay so by the time you get to 2026 it's going to have been five years okay so all this advertising Revenue that they're making 90% of it they're keeping sticking it in their pocket and this capex that they're supposedly going to invest in the bus shelters it's not true it it's the city's money you gifted them these bus shelters they're now going to use your own your the city's own money that they glommed over the last five years to now build these bus shelters this is one of the worst agreements I've ever seen the city enter into I congratulate my colleague Michael because it's it's probably the best vendor contract I've ever seen um so good job and um that's it what I would request is that the handout I've given be included in a motion that direct staff to examine the issues raised in this uh handout and to report back you know to the committee and you know with their findings are these bus shelters in like new condition what is the revenue share how much money have they made so far and you have a perfect opportunity if you don't want to terminate to renegotiate this deal commissioner bot for the better you asked us to uh make some concessions on the iios with notices and so forth so it's common practice for this commission to reopen agreements and say hey we don't think we're getting as good a deal as we can here we'd like to see a little bit more here or there and I think you're in a position to do this city is under no obligation to proceed with this agreement if you don't like the skeleton design of this latest rendering you don't have to you just say I don't like it this isn't what we signed up for this isn't what you promised this isn't what you proposed in your ITN and you move forward uh that's all I have for now and if you have any questions I'm here to answer them thank you uh thank you um Vice chair did you want to share something outfront is here I'll let outfront speak first Mike for thank you uh Madame chair Commissioners and happy birthday by the way belated uh Madame vice mayor for the record Mike ente uh with the law firm of LSN law 3800 Northeast 1 Avenue and we represent out front I mean wow is uh the first thing I'll say wow I I've been doing this for a long time and I've been following local government for an even longer time I don't think I've ever seen or heard somebody with frankly no interest even in an existing contract stand before a uh governing body and urge that body to declare breach for non-performance there are all kinds of issues here and I ask us all to take a step back and question the propriety of what we're doing and what we're hearing there was a lot that was just said that was factually inaccurate and there was a lot that was just said that I think crossed the line in tortious interference uh but I but I'll stick to the former and correct some of the factual inaccuracies that were just mentioned um number one the concept that the city gifted shelters to US city did not gift shelters to outfront what the city did was take a broken down dilapidated cluster of shelters that it did not want ownership of and transfer ownership of those shelters the existing shelters which will be demolished to out front it's not a gift it's a burden it's a burden outfront has the responsibility to operate and maintain those shelters until they are demolished I'm not sure what gift uh was being referred to earlier it's an interesting concept number two the idea that outfront somehow wants to stay parked in in phase two uh outfront is highly incentivized to complete this project the reason that the Rev share oscillates and moves up and down is because during phase two and phase three outfront is investing $25 million of its money to create a public asset shelters that from the minute they're installed in the ground belong to the city and the city's residents that's why there's a lower rev share during phase two and phase three because outfront is pumping 25 million of its own Capital into this project out front's ultimate goal here is to stabilize and complete the project uh which comes at the last phase in terms of design approvals you know it's a curious thing that we're here talking about you know why is it taking so long and and those are legitimate questions that I'm happy to to get into but what you're hearing from you know my colleague and and friend over here Ralph is guys delay even further the approved the the concept that has been approved and will be installed in the city right of way was improved by the city commission back in May of 22 it was approved by the drb it was approved by the HPB and what you're hearing is let's start this thing all over again let's hit reset and revisit whether you like this design I me it's it's it's absurd uh and the only thing that would accomplish is further delay um as to why the city applied for permits the city is applying for permits because this is a city asset it's not like the devices being pedal by uh some competitors out there okay from the minute these are installed in the RightWay these shelters are City assets as a result the city applies for the permits to construct its own assets out front is providing a service designing and building those shelters on behalf of the city for the benefit of the city residents the city owns the asset that's why the city has uh has um applied for the permits regarding maintenance of existing shelters I can tell you that outfront did not expect that two and a half years later we would be at this stage we're all working together and at the end of the day recognize that what the city has decided to do is to install a series of custom shelters look I if I need a new suit I can run across the street and grab a suit off the rack at Macy's and be back in this ch in 10 minutes but if I go to a tailor with a roll of fabric and I say make me a new suit custom start from scratch that's going to take longer and that's essentially what has happened here um outfront did not agree to replace all of the existing shelters right uh with brand new benches Etc and then demolish those and install the newly approved shelters early in the process there were discussions between outfront and the city transportation team about how the city wished to allocate the $25 million that outfront was bringing to the table the decision was made smartly I think to save Capital dollars instead of of of refurbishing spending a million two three5 million refering refurbishing the existing shelters which would be demolished to save as much money as possible for the new shelters that will be rolled out outfront has spent tens or hundreds of thousands of dollarss beyond what it expected to spend maintaining the new shelter the existing shelter outfront never planned to remove bus benches repaint them bring them back and reinstall them that was never part of the plan so outf front's uh approach to this has been always one of partnership outfront has a wonderful working relationship with the city's Transportation team and other departments in fact they have and have had for a number of years every other week many of which I participate in there's no there there's no there there this item was created as a direct response to a totally separate item regarding kiosks and the idea that is being used as a cudle to urge this body to nudge this body towards some sort of breach with an existing vendor that is performing well is is is frankly deeply concerning to me as a stakeholder in the city and and someone who follows local government closely so I I'm here to answer any questions that anybody may have um you know uh but again I I I urge us to tread with with caution when we're dealing you know about a uh a strong relationship um a strong partnership between outfront and the City of Miami Beach thank you very much chair yes Vice chair Suarez thank you madam chair look I'm certainly not interested in getting between you guys pissing match okay um the only thing I'm concerned about is the quality of our bus shelters now I I think that is a legitimate concern um you know like I said I I live next to one you know and not I don't know if this is out front's responsibility but like you know there was like a homeless guy took a dump next to it and the toilet paper was there and it was there for like a week you know and I don't like look I'm not saying that's out front's responsibility but it it's not it's not like new condition and um you know and look I'm not repping um your colleague over here or trying to carry water from but you know on here it says including refurbishing reconditioning and if necessary replacing damaged existing bus shelters so I mean are are per the contract now do you are you required to remove like a bench if it's like damaged where the paint's like basically chipping off and then replace it back or does that only happen after the new um um bus shelters are constructed so maybe you can help me with that but look at at a minimum I'm not trying to get between you guys and and it certainly seems like there's some sort of uh I don't know the  going on but um say that um I I think up here our biggest concerns are the quality and of our and the condition of the bus shelters and if you guys are making money now on advertising and what apparently looks like to me is a really good deal um 9010 then you know there should definitely be a little bit better of an effort to making sure that they're like new uh commissioner magaz I'm sure my comments were uh gon to somewhat Echo that I'm not getting in this tit fortat um I think you know fair to have staff evaluate this but I'm also not going to have this you know hold up the process and just be held over over uh people's heads just want this you know clarified what I'm concerned about is delivering the best product for our residents in the most timely fashion so whether it be from the vendor or from Jose uh the point that was made um why can't we go to Macy's and and get our suits there right what do we have a custom prototype that is prolonging this what is leading to this delay Commission not sure if the mic is on but push the button all right thank you uh we do the the shelters that were approved by the city commission well let me take a step back the the the vision there was a vision that was set forth by Bean Farina that those Concepts were taken to the city commission however when we went out to bid for that design for the pin Farina design um it was just unaffordable we didn't get any bids so then at that point we went back to the drawing board and uh value engineered the shelters if you will and then went out with another solicitation outfront was the only respondent to that solicitation and then negotiated the contract with with outfront um but to to answer um to answer your questions the yes these no other city will will have these shelters you won't see them any they're very tailored to Miami Beach um and so that's part of the of of the delay if you will in the design process if I could ask as a followup if you could send me the the design and the Prototype drawings I'd appreciate that Jose and then just cutting to the point here when do we get these shelters online right when can we expect the quickest you know delivery of these for our residents for people visiting our community for our streetscape so as as soon as the Prototype is in place and approved by by the city and that's expected within the next couple months I according to the latest schedule once that approval happens then from that point forward it's it's it's an assembly line of building those those shelters that I'm going to defer to outfront in terms of that what can be done to speed that up right what it's a frustration of government of mine approving a bus shelter it's been years what do we need more months for I'm not assigning blame to anybody but you tell me how we can make that go faster either of you anybody commissioner if I may uh Madam chair um I and I appreciate your um sense of urgency here we certainly share it and I know Jose and his Department do as well at this point I think the hardest part of the process is behind us which is the you know uh design approvals the um um Construction documents okay um once the first prototype is installed and we expect that to be sometime around September the city uh will have an opportunity to evaluate it confirm that it's ready to move forward with the full roll out once that happens uh you certainly have our commitment to move expeditiously um we are heavily incentivized to complete this program so um we expect that it can be done uh within a couple of years years uh and again I I should I should mention right now there are less than 100 shelters the goal here is to expand that to somewhere closer to 20050 shelters uh it's going to be a lot of work in a relatively compressed time I don't know at this point that there's anything uh that that specific that needs to be done but we certainly share your um your sense of urgency so I guess where I'm I'm going to land on this if there's valid concerns that staff should evaluate have them valuate that but do so in a Expedia fashion don't want this prolonged over you know two years but then also on our Collective Parts make sure we're delivering this uh with a sense of urgency absolutely commissioner and I have a a question to Mark fish Fishman our City attorney so it was brought up that the city had done the permits because it's a city asset is that legally the correct way or should it be out front because now that there's expired permits who revives it us or the that mam chair that's that's a good question I'm going to defer to jel Torres from our office who deals with these contracts directly uh good morning jel Tores from the city attorney's office uh so the the bus shelters uh were transferred to them at the time of contract um and then if there's a termination or at the end of the term the city gets back not just the initial uh structures that were there but any of the new structures become city property so uh we covered that but for liability reasons the structure itself is owned by them during the time they operate the uh program uh but these shelters are going on City RightWay so anytime that there's any work done on city right away the city either joins or can be the applicant so that's customary that's not anything that's out of the um ordinary cuz it's our property so we would be we would have standing to proceed with the permit process thank you Ralph just since we're talking about that I I respectfully disagree with uh just's opinion on that and and we'll send some legal memo or something to the city to follow up but you know clearly look some legal issues um have been raised and and I would urge the committee to have your city attorney's office examine these legal issues um I I've never seen the city apply on behalf of an applicant in my life and particularly so what do you do about the agreement that requires alfr to apply you just magically wave that that requirement um I don't know how you do that um the city it's true that the city has to sign off as the owner of the property on a land use application but I've never seen the city actually apply on behalf of a vendor um so with respect to the 25 million that they're talking about their capex what this body or the city needs to do is Project how much advertising Revenue they're going to make between now in 2026 let's say it's 10 million let's say it's 5 million I don't know what that number is you've got to deduct that 10 million that they stuck in their pocket from the gift you gave them from the 25 so it's not 25 million um and that needs to be clear at least as this commission goes forward with regard to the standards where they say we never envisioned painting the uh the bus benches or or replacing them that's what they agree to it's in the contract it says like new first class I mean or whatever it says first class like new condition I mean it means what it means and it sets forth to specific responsibilities including refurbishing reconditioning and replacing existing damaged bus shelters so whether they meant to sign up for that or not is irrelevant that's what they signed up for and the city should hold them to that obligation um finally I I find it almost comical that Mr ente raises the issue of torous interference when for the last four years hold no hold on let me finish please cuz no he made a legal point and I need to respond to it we're not going to get in the personal TI for no it's not a personal it's a legal response he has tortiously interfered with my client's application going to be ruling on any of that stuff I understand that but respectfully through the chair can I respond he has been he has been tortiously him and his client have been tortiously interfering with my client for the last four years at every level at the commission level at the HPB at the drb now they're going to appeal our approvals from the HPB and the drb why you ask why because it's going to create a delay why do they want this delay because they want a monopoly at their 9010 split that they have on Advertising rights so I urge you all you know get your head out of the Sands this is not a good deal for the city you have an opportunity to re-examine it you have options and I urge you to do that and I strongly urge the city's legal department to review the legal issues that have been raised thank you okay um so colleagues um I still know Kristen Rosen Gonzalez because this was her item I'd like to know where she wants us to go we've been presented with items uh Vice chair um I I think if anything from this conversation um let's what's make sure that the bus shelters as now are being properly upca okay I think that's um the bare minimum and so um you know I don't so commissioner gonzale this is her item I I'm not going to make a motion on her item um and and I I don't know what we do this I'll make a motion because I I don't want this hanging out there and this tit fortat back and forth how about a motion to staff to sit here review the standing of the contract right if there's legitimate concerns if there's breaches of contract come back and say Here's what went wrong this is what needs to happen this is so egregious that we need to cancel the contract or these are simple measures that can be cured take a month at the next public safety if I can through the chair this will be my motion come back and say Here's the exact standing of the contract this is what what is right this is what's wrong and this is what needs to be cured I I would just like a staff analysis as opposed to you know the next public safety is not until July 10th the next commission meetings June 26 can we have it moved to the full commission then we can hear it close it then or do what you need to would that be adequate time for staff that is that adequate that uh staff would be able to uh you work with legal in advance of the June 26 commission meeting and essentially give us a uh an active standing of uh the terms of the contract yes commissioner both of you gentlemen you think that's a decent course of action Mike did you have a comment yes Madam chair and thank you for the opportunity I just wanted to point out for the record there is no breach and there are no performance issues we have been working in partnership with the city for two and a half years this didn't come from the staff level up this came from B down there are no issues happy to come back here in a month um but but I I just want to be careful about how we're framing the direction to staff because you know it strikes me as odd for a direction to be given to evaluate potential breaches or issues of non-performance where staff who works very closely with our client on a regular basis has never set a peep about breaches or performance issues so again we are happy to do whatever Comm commissioner this body desires we are happy to be here next week next month commissioner sarez we are happy to field any questions and concerns that you your office your constituents may have and I'll tell you before I represented out front 15 years ago when I was on the government side um they I picked up the phone and called them when I had issues or constituents had issues and they were very responsive That Remains the case so we are responsive we are available um but I but again I just wanted to be careful about how we frame issues regarding questions of performance because frankly there have been none vies maybe I if I can um offer a friendly uh advice to your Amendment commissioner magazine let's and before we start going into legal um I guess saber rattling let's let's go with what the community needs which is to make sure that the bus shelters are kept so perhaps if there's 150 bus shelters you know maybe between now and the next neighborhoods meeting or the commission meeting we we analyze all of them and give them a scale 1 through 10 and we say all right this is the condition these on a scale 1 through 10 these are the conditions of each bus shelter I don't think that's been done for a while now I think maybe we revisit that that gives outfront an ability to um to correct those issues but you know look I I want to make sure that we're clear we don't want to get between what's going on and and between you guys okay cuz we're we're not we're not looking to um to settle any scores up here certainly um Ralph has brought up some some issues that you know are concerning um and you you sort of explain those issues um but I I don't I you know it's similar to the um the kiosks and I I want to be very careful on a precedent where we remove where we go back on our agreements okay because the same thing could have been about the uh the kiosk and I'm certainly not a thek that if we made a decision to move forward and and we're legally bound to it well you're not at this point but I know but we still give our Ward and apples and oranges because we hav we haven't performed look we've been performing for 2 and A2 years there is a record that this city should evaluate to see if they've complied with the agreement I agree with commissioner Magazine's motion it is what is absolutely required I think the City attorney was under the impression that outfront had joined in the application to the drb and HPB they did not again whatever permits they applied for they're expired could they be revived yeah wrong party the city doesn't own the bus shelters the contract requires outfront to apply you are essentially at square one okay and that's you know I'm not going to say whose fault is that's where you are and and Mr Magazine's motion would would allow staff or direct staff to look at all these legal issues and make a determination so you don't have liability in the future I I was trying to find a happy medium where neither of you agreed with what I was doing I'm not happy I wanted I wanted you to go further but yeah look like I I can like I said I'm we're not we're not here to settle scores okay we're here for the community and both sides have made valid arguments I just want to make sure that our shelters are are being kept in like new condition first class like new conditions and certainly I haven't seen that okay um and you know like you would think that the bus shelters adjacent to City Hall would be kept in first class because that's where the elected goes goes by that certainly doesn't seem like the case so um you know I I I don't know where you want to move on this yeah I actually think that that's in line with what I was thinking commissioner was you know staff just do an analysis of okay here's the terms of the contract how how how is the company executing under it right you know and if there's things that need to be happening to come up to speed in into good standing with the contract let's start that process yeah and look I mean look I I understand the whole permit issue but you know let's be honest that's you know that that's trying to tank this deal and you know maybe maybe we reserve that right if we find out that all the bus shelters are like complet egregious ly like dis gapped and that they're not all deal but you know before we start you know putting in the nuclear codes let's let's um let's get all our facts right let's let's see the conditions and and let let's let's start from a basis of where what the community needs the most okay thank you Vice chair um are we clear on the motion um yeah so we would Mark do you want to take it off for so when when is when are you looking for staff to come back and when I would like for it to be at the June 26th commission meeting um if that's too close then July 10th the issue is if if you're asking staff to go out and evaluate or assess 150 different bus shelters out there and then be able to come up with a report and have it submitted in time to be on the agenda I think June is going to be really tight and I think July will be rough but we can possibly get there um so whatever your plan when is the July Commission meeting I want to say it is July 20th let me check I'll tell you right now 25th or 2 25th let's do July commission meeting okay okay Transportation you guys are yeah and just commissioner that that includes a legal review of the issues the legal issues regarding the uh the who the proper applicant is and so forth what what relevance does that have guys I honly you're in breach of the agreement by not having apply this is that's the this is this is absurd they have a contractual obligation to apply and they're try I'm not going to over engineer this let's start with we'll keep it open-ended with staff right staff go out evaluate Jose if you feel the need to Loop in legal we're going to leave this in your wheelhouse right if you feel the need that there are egregious breaches and it's a legal issue Loop in legal right but if this is okay we need to uh adhere to better standards of the bus shelters right I don't want to jam anything down anybody's throats I I want to leave this open-ended I'm trying to do what's best for the community not one vendor or the other I want to see the state of our bus shelters let's get an analysis there and if you come back and as part of that process you go wow this is egregious and we need to raise this to the legal level Loop and legal but I don't want to constrain us where forcing legal to do so but I also don't want to remove that option if it's necessary okay Jose can can you have that done by the July meeting July yes okay okay so we'll have that okay all in favor all right thank you okay so with that thank you that was the last item thank you everybody have a great rest of your week okay me me oh great e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]