##VIDEO ID:HTpXJsmhn-8## e e e e e e I would highlight just e e e e e e e you how you feel e yes e all right good evening welcome to the city in North Miami Beach budget hearing of Wednesday September 25th 2024 um and could we get a roll call Madam clerk the time is now 628 commissioner shernoff here commissioner floron here commissioner Jean commissioner Joseph here commissioner smuckler pres vice mayor Smith pres mayor Piper here quum has been established thank you thank you okay so our um item for this evening well first item um 2.1 I need a motion in second move to introduce 2.1 resolution number r 224-1 wa final millage okay now we need the attorney to read the title yes sir and here he is got a [Laughter] [Music] napkin item 2.1 resolution number r224 108 final millage rate for fiscal year 2025 uh Sharon Stewart budget administrator resolution of the mayor and Commission in the city of North Miami Beach Florida establishing and adopting the final leving of adval arm taxes for the city of North Miami Beach for the fiscal year 2024 2025 year commencing October 1st 2024 and ending September 30th 2025 in the amount of 6100 Mills Which is 99.62% higher than the rolled back rate to balance the general fund establishing the rolled back rate to be 5.56 47 Ms establishing The Debt Service millage rate of 02232 MS provid for implementation providing for conflicts providing for scrier errors providing for severability and providing for an effective date motion to approve okay um I think I we we need to have the the manager speak anything to say on this um no commission this is a uh 6.1 millage which is what has been flat uh year-over-year for the past um several years um um total millage is actually a reduction um from one year to to the next um and we'll go into um um I'll be able to Showcase that on on the PowerPoint over the budget but um this is consistent um with what we've been talking about and where the commission has requested us stay at great thank you um all right so public comment Madam clerk good evening everyone good evening everyone the mayor and commissioners of the state of North R beach has opened a meeting for public comment at this time there is a three minute time limit for each speaker speaker when you called to the podium please state your name or the name of the organization which you are representing the May commissioner of the city of North R Beach recognizes the importance of Civility the city of North R Beach request that all in attendance to exercise civility towards each other the first signed speaker is Mr Roland Vu and the goals I used to come here for 50 years and I stop you know why when you get older you don't get better you get worse okay the first thing before I start to talk about and say your name r the first thing I would like to talk about and about eating dogs eating cats eating igat eating white elephant I got them all in my shed tonight nobody eat them say your name say your name please my name oh no I'm not a delegator that yet Roland V 13730 Highland Drive not Miami Beach Ash Creek District not Highland Village Ash Creek okay come back to uh you heard that on TV that comes from somebody who wants to be president of United States claim that somebody eat cat and dog but I I the delator and the Elephant to be so stupid you can add anything for those guy there then you know to who wrote when comes the election in November please asan make up your mind and get that sucker out of there he's going to destroy the whole United State and not only United State the whole world people he them okay come back to this the taxes if somebody does not know what you mean in here the way I saw it it says 20% 19.4% raise on taxes the only thing that comes to my mind if a house is at assess as 200,000 bucks right away I said 200,000 time 20% Which to me it did not make sense at all but that's why see what I think we should do here the next time I know you have to put it three four time on the paper for the people to see it put an example on it on the paper for example if a house worth 200,000 bucks the taxed would come from the whatever you got the the number in here that would come just like the young lady told me I asked her before I come to you and she explain it to me exactly the way it is I I trust you and she told me that a $200,000 house would go for about 35 36 $36 a a year which makes sense there's a right there I said that's okay I feel lot better now because the only thing I was going to talk to something about I did not know the only thing I was going about this paper in here 20% raising property taxes then that's what my problem is and know the next time if you do have anything else I will recommend you know that put an example on the paper to so people know what they they're going to have the the taxes are going to pay how much more they going to pay that's it okay thank you all right thank all right well I know it's nice to see you again I used to come here many many moon before you mayor came for about 50 years I been coming here I know it I know it you us the honey you used to bring mangoes too I miss the honey yeah we got less and less you me now we we we got some bring us a jar of honey on every commissioner's desk oh yeah yeah you catch more bees with honey than vinegar right so uh good move um all right next speaker please okay guys then we're going to see for the next election some of you they coming up some is you're not in no no I won't spend no money on you this year I'm okay all right guys thank you for coming Rand you're very very welcome young lady next speaker younger and younger the time every time I see you you look ler keep going Mr Ellis keer [Music] good evening uh mayor members of the commission uh my name is Ellis keer uh I am a longtime resident of North Miami Beach I've been here since 2010 been a resident in Eastern Shore since 2016 uh I'm an immigration attorney uh I've lived here with my wife for the same wife uh for the for the entire uh time that I've been in NMB uh I want to use my time tonight tonight uh hopefully to help educate um and Inspire uh my neighbors in NMB um over the summer uh I watched or attended I can't remember I know I watched uh one of the uh budget workshops um that was posted online uh and in the first one uh the city manager came and he asked you guys to raise the ceiling the millage rate ceiling I think from like 6.1 to 6.7 or something like that to your credit uh this commission pushed back really hard against that um because they did not want even the appearance of a raising in taxes uh for property uh to his credit to the city manager's credit he came back the next budget Workshop um with a balanced budget keeping the millage rate flat at 6.1 um and so I commend him for his work him and him and the staff um tonight we're here to uh presumably um approve this resolution that's going to set the millage rate at 6.1 keeping it flat as he mentioned earlier um but as I was looking at the agenda I saw some terminology there that uh I didn't know uh anything about uh so I did what attorneys do and I educated myself uh I went and looked up the term uh it was the rollback rate I had no idea what that was I looked it up um and what it actually means is uh Although our millage rate is staying flat at 6.1 because overall property values have gone up keeping that millage rate the same it's a multiplication uh it's a factor of multiplication that actually means that we are our property taxes are going up because the overall taxes uh or the overall property values are higher um I'm not saying anything uh negative about anything that's been done uh in that regard what I am trying to say though uh is that I think that we as residents uh should educate ourselves and become more engaged in matters like this uh because I think it's important that we all understand how these things work um so I want to encourage my fellow residents the ones who are here the ones who are watching online um to please get involved to please be more educated about these things uh because the more involved we are as residents the better our city will be uh it's up to us as residents we can't leave it all up to the commission we can't leave it all up to the mayor um the only way that we can make this city the city that we want it to be is for all of us to be educated and engaged on these matters that affect our daily lives um that's all I have to say uh I'm going to start with myself thank you very much okay thank you any other [Music] [Music] speakers good evening everyone my name is mabarak aan when you advertise a meeting starts at a certain time I I I would hope that you come to the meeting at that time and not half an hour late like how you did today and strolling and you take your time and you Gaff with everybody it's kind of show disres respect or disrespect to whom you serve you you you you come to office to serve not to be served you run into the lunch kitchen you do what whatever you want to do walk with your own food let's start with this um mill rate okay so I've been looking at the budget and I noticed that the last budget last year was $177 million and this year's budget $213 million $212 million yet the city manager wanted to raise the milit rate from 6.1 to 6 .7 to do what this is over $35 million we're here spending is there accountability how this money is being spent it's no use you bringing in tons of money and we don't have any accountability I heard up there you do not know about the CIP projects you like from one you you you pass CIP last year and only know you've been alerted that really nothing was done this year uh the city manager um he told us last year that we got um $23 million so far from 2018 to 2023 for the Washington Park project $23 million and of that money being voted for and passed maybe just a million could be accounted for and for that last um fiscal year to now not a shovel was turned over at Washington Park I we promised every year to turn shovel over at Washington Park and you're not the first city manager that promised that but I would have liked that to have been changed you say you're going to turn the shovel over next month but next next month is a new fiscal year we need to be more responsive and responsible to the community that you serve show us how this money is being spent don't wait for a quarterly report on the CIP projects let us know about it by by monthly by monthly every two months and um you know why why why why give more money to to you when when we don't have accountability you know thank you very much for having me thank you any other speakers okay let the record reflect no one's come forward public comment is closed um anything from the commissioners before we go to vote no all right we need a motion and a second motion second okay um we need a roll call please commissioner shov yes commissioner floran yes commissioner Jean yes commissioner J yes commissioner smuckler yes vice mayor Smith yes mayor Piper yes pass 70 okay thank you all right yeah motion is second for 2.2 got the motion4 109 second got second okay Mr attorney resol um item 2.2 resolution number r224 109 adopting the final fiscal year 2025 budget Sharon Stewart budget administrator a resolution of the commission of the city of North Miami Beach Florida adopting the final an annual budget for the fiscal year commencing October 1st 2024 and ending September 30th 2025 authorizing authorizing the expenditure of funds appropriated in the final budget acknowledging the levy and collection of taxes on real and personal property and other revenues necessary to meet the expenditures provided in the final budget providing for the authorization to reappropriate Capital outlay line items and encumbered purchases in the 2023 2024 fiscal year to the 2024 2025 fiscal year providing for transmitt by the city clerk confirming additional powers and conditions authorizing encumbrances and carry forward providing for implementation and providing for an effective date okay thank you but before we go to the manager um question for the attorney um I think we know that on this item as a per as a definite uh preponderance of a caution um we're going to um sort of split the vote up so I just want you to make sure that if there's um and I I'm the reason why at this particular time so I just want to make sure that um you police Us in the respect of making sure if there's anything that I need to be off the day for that you um make sure that I please leave well let's do this if we might then mayor um what was done on first reading was a motion and second to separate the $30,000 allocation to the uh North Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce out from the rest of the budget that is actually how it passed on first reading uh but even though that that's already voted in an abundance of caution I would recommend that someone bring the same motion forward to separate out the $330,000 to the North Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce from the remaining items in the budget you can then proceed to adopt the rest of the budget and it will be my recommendation based on the information we've received from you and from the commission on ethics that you then recuse yourself from that $30,000 item and that you leave the day send the chamber when that item is voted on I make the motion second okay and that's to separate the chamber money that is given yes ma'am I make a motion to separate the money that the city gives to the chamber to a separate vote and I seconded it okay all right so then we just proceed normally and then it'll just be vote on that there's a motion on the table okay so we want to vote on okay all right so and is that going to be a roll call is that going to be voice is fine voice is fine okay all in favor say I I any opposed no public comment on that I don't I don't think there's public comment on that would there be it's part of the budget or should we just allow it mayor I don't believe it's required but that doesn't mean it's prohibited in an abundance of caution let's do it you can proh you can allow public comment to take place I want to be clear not because it's required but because because you choose to make sure that the public we want to hear the public Madam clerk I'm sorry mayor just for clarification um the motion was not to approve the line item just to separate it from the budget correct correct thank you and City attorney or separate consideration um Mr Mayor through the chair does he have to rec does the mayor have to recuse himself from voting on that motion no I don't believe that separating it re Ires uh recusal um separating it out is so that the mayor will not be voting on it and taking action to avoid a conflict does not constitute a conflict okay and the second part of that question is did you have an opportunity to find out if somebody's out of the room and we take a vote that they must vote oh I I can I'm I'm fine with I had a call I I did have a question did did was there was there an Ethics opinion given or on yes on the refusal there was no so is because and okay um on the days um I mean I just you you can send a copy no just send I don't need you can send the copy to uh the commission I I'm happy to do that but the short summary is it may not be required it is a DI Minimus amount compared to the entire budget um if it was not possible to separate it could be voted on nonetheless in an abundance of caution and to avoid the slings and arrows of outrageous comment the recommendation was that it might be better to separate it out and allow the mayor to recuse himself if not strictly required because there could be at least an appearance of a conflict um if he voted on the separate item once it's separated out and the I remember I brought this up to the manager the past information I we requested from the chamber did you get anything there I think there was a memo Circ I'm I'm sorry yeah but she shouldn't answer it now no no no I'm not answer I'm not asking her to answer it now I just a memo issued today by the chief of staff that answered some of those questions yeah came in late came in late I didn't I didn't I I haven't checked so okay I'll have some print it and bring it to you okay that was it came in by from you this morning oh it was late to me when I read it 10:40 that's 10 times the 104 all right so um public comment the floor is open for public comment you have three minutes any speakers yes thank you this is Chambers $10,000 correct 30 no actually that right now it's just all we did was separate it so we can open the hearing on it there'll be there'll be an opportunity for public comment on that particular item later on when I'm out of the room so this this comment is for what the bated separate that item out from the rest sep sep okay that said mayor go I would recommend you take your voice vote again on the motion to separate okay I thought we just did that but com because went back and did public comment all right so the additional all right so we we we have we have the motion in the second we just need all in favor say I again I any opposed all right passes unanimously record should show you okay perfect all right um okay so that item that item's closed now we can move back to the manager to um deal with 2024 109 when are you going to do thank you um mayor vice mayor and commission um I will be giving the presentation um as I did last time some of the slides are repetitive uh but I did that on purpose in case we had um anybody watching tonight that didn't watch prior prior meetings but I will go through um because I know you've seen this information um and the public several times um so how are the tax dollars calculated there's a formula um basically looking at tax taxable value of the property times the millage rate um so you have for example 100,000 divided 1,000 * 6.1 that gives you the tax rate of $610 for the year um going into what does this look like over years the operating millage has been 6.1 um at least since uh 2023 that has stayed flat debit um millage rate has gone progressively down the overall millage um is a reduction from 6.51 to 6.32 and the roll back rate for uh fiscal year 25 is uh 5.56 47 you have some examples um this is the same chart that we have shown since the um first uh Workshop um giving you different taxable values um for for properties uh 150 um ,000 um we'll see essentially a yearly increase of $27.45 a $5 million um property will'll see an increase of $915 year-over-year these are the various accomplishments that we've um noted these are just a few of many um we have gone over this um extensively so to save time we'll keep going um again the various um additional pressures above normal operating that we're seeing um increase um in in labor and and benefits um cost and and medical estimated in fund transfers the police additional uh pension shortfall uh is a total of 4.3 million uh to meet the required 70 uh% we have the lawsuit uh settlement of 9 million uh the increase of um I think it's just north of 500k um for general liability insurance premiums and the Washington Park project um which we have always communicated that in fiscal year 24 we would be having the design and permitting completed um with shovel happening at the end of 2024 in the ground and that timeline has not changed and we are committed to that you will have a groundbreaking at the end of October the actually tax I'm sorry Tuesday it'll be towards the end of October not not on Tuesday the Washington Park Washington Park next month oh next one yeah have another there's another groundbreaking for Washington Park there'll be an initial groundbreaking had one I thought we did am I wrong yeah wait I thought we had a ground breaking no no I don't for for construction we haven't started we cut a ribbon or something yeah we cut a ribbon well it was for different things so no we didn't we'll be having a actual construction groundbreaking at the end of October no we didn't okay okay we'll we'll keep moving on taxable value has increased uh between 4.7 to 5.3 um or 12% year-over-year um unassigned fund balance um between fiscal year 23 and 24 is um approximately increase from 19 to 27 million approximately four of that is going into the budget amendment in fiscal year 24 um increase in ADV valorum revenue is 3.1 million um increase in Grants um we're seeing 4 million um for Washington Park and traffic cing from congresswoman Federica Wilson Miami dat county is 1.25 FDL um I mean I'm sorry Department of Environmental uh protection is 2 K and uh FD Transit service Grant is on demand service for 600 I apologize I wasn't able to update um the slide but we were just informed that for this upcoming year North Miami Beach will be receiving a $1 million Grant from Cops Department of Justice for the hiring of additional police officers for community policing wonderful so that's a million dollars extra that we'll have for additional hiring this shows the various revenues that we're receiving in all the different type of funds and the expenses you'll notice that at the end of the day the difference between revenue and expenses is zero so we have a balanced budget this slide is showing you the various um budget per Department as it affects the general funds um it shows you the difference between fiscal year 2324 and 2425 and what those changes are between the [Applause] Departments here here we have the various events um that are proposed for for next year uh you'll see um it remain consistent with the addition of the heart health walk bike 305 back to school and small business expo as requested by the commission yes sir yes we do have the Heritage day in in the budget no only reason because there's some concerns but I'm glad it's there thank you yeah no it's there um thank you for pointing that out the projected fund balance uh for the general fund uh again in 23 24 it was um 19 we're seeing the carryover bringing that up the unassigned fund balance Target of 20% is 14 million with additional um for the budget amendment of four Bringing Down the estimated unassigned fund balance for CIP and other commission um assigned expenses with the 6.1 mil of 7.6 um again just note the majority of the excess funding within the fund balance is allocated to fund the capital projects um aligning with the commitment uh to sustain infrastructure development and long-term Community benefits um although we are um maintaining slightly above 20% I think maybe up to like 20 point something or 21% um in case there are any overruns within fiscal year 24 um 25 I'm sorry Mr manager did you want us to um wait until the end of the presentation for question right is that what you prefer um I would probably recommend it as um your question may be answered in in the slides in the subsequent sides I think it' be better that way yeah um so essentially what does the 2425 budget accomplish um it enhances Public Safety uh we're increasing uh for overtime we're um dispatchers record clerks and officers um not only have we applied for the cop grants for eight officers we've also just received that um award notification of a million dollars um we're increasing the um investment in equipment uh the rescue vehicle and the Marine Patrol boat um as well as software and other resources um we're going to be awaiting the CBA um the collective bargaining agreement with aupa um as well as um additional training and implementing um more of data- driven type of um policing we're investing in our employees and positions again um continuing to match market conditions for pay ranges and reclassifications we've implemented various training opportunities not only from regulatory training but also knowledge and leadership development within our um Department um and we've um begun moving into more of um using the technology within our um our tool set to make our processes um streamlined better we're investing in the community uh we'll get into the CIP and the arpa um Community program programs um that we have listed our infrastructure projects touches all of our departments as well as the public spaces and we're kicking off the state mandated comprehensive um study the investment in technology um goes into again um maintaining our our systems our Fleet operations CIP program software and to streamline th those managements of of projects we're updating our Hardware our phone systems um enhancing our cyber security and by consolidating the it operations and developing various digital tools like the dashboards as we talked about for the CIP in which you'll be getting a monthly CIP update on your agenda uh but our website will have those dashboards where people can go in and and take a look um independently at any time with um updated information with regards to community um Aesthetics and functionality uh We've included in our C CIP additional beautification projects uh to improve Pro the right away we'll be also looking to develop um and Implement a swell ordinance um as well as going into adding additional code compliance officer positions and actively completing um city-wide pavement and sidewalk condition assessments um that's moving into the next phases soon increase uh focus in Economic Development uh by finalizing the FIU economic competitive um analysis and plan that involves the community stakeholders and updates the priorities we're adding a new Grant coordinator position uh within within City staff as well as customer service positions for um business tax receipts planning um and zoning and code and adding a new inspector for the btrs um with regards to transparency and relance and re relevance um to the community uh we continue to streamline our um our call centers and and getting better tracking within that we're adding key performance indicators um um and dashboards to be able to track operations and Investments to be able to show to the community how those are operating on a department level we're implementing the Strategic plan on Monday thank you for for participating we had a town hall um to conclude our um um our FIU strategic plan um community outreach uh we'll be seeing on the December agenda a finalized presentation from FIU and and plan with recommendations on that um in that our current budget is also aligning with a lot of the information that we receive from the community as what our priorities which is police Library code um and and parks and so forth and we're um again finalizing the online dashboard for CIP um we continue to look to insource uh several in-house positions that will help um add additional Revenue while improving services and finalizing the solid waste insourcing study we believe you'll have that David I think it's November or December uh you'll have that um in hand and I believe there's a community component that goes into that study as well that should be hitting um um the public um requesting information soon um and we're uh creating the risk manager position um for for in-house as well to help find to better reduce our our risk and find more um cost-effective options hopefully um going more into the um um I apologize it capes my my mind the the technical terminology the self service I believe it's called Uh Improvement of self-service revenues and confidence levels with contingencies increases uh one thing that I wanted to point out and I worked on the next several slides with um adenia is on the library um the commission and and residents were wanted to get a little bit better feel of what the department um budget looked like in fiscal year 24 the department budget for the library was $1.98 million in fiscal year 25 it's 2.5 um and that's not accounting for a $1 million plus CIP program the total FTE that we're putting in um fiscal year 25 is 15 where in fiscal year 24 is 12 so we're adding an additional three the additional um positions are Library uh trainees um media coordinator um to expand the media lab and increase the job opportunities um administrative Aid to provide clar Co assistance as well as assists with Saturday schedules uh we'll be filling the deputy um Library director position we anticipate by April 2025th uh 25 as well as the librarian 2 um these are positions that we have been trying to fill for the past year um it's a very competitive market um very few um are in the library industry um and the counties and some of the bigger uh Library sectors are hiring um quite a lot so we're we're hoping to move this up as quickly as possible but we put a timeline that we felt that we can we can meet uh we're also hiring additional part- timr and interns to help support the specialized skills uh such as Finance um technology Graphics web design things like that um as needed for for programming um the kpis that the library um tracks um not only is Service delivery hours but we um number of Holdings per capita circulation programming visitors books um website visitors V uh video created and and several other um which are listed here with the anticipated fiscal year 25 budget uh we're looking to provide additional two evenings a week for passport services as well as Saturday um Services uh when when the library opens on Saturdays it's increasing that Staffing um to increase the revenue as that's a revenue generating um service we look to increase the teen program participation through the after school um as well as reestablish homebound senior service delivery um we hope to continue to open the teen area um in November with more programming Implement liary app in December of 2024 um the archive digitalization that that we have with a grant is in our budget as well um as well as fintech implementation and anti-bullying and cyber bullying prevention technology and training for not only staff but also for for um for the community um we have additional leadership training um to help further um develop a a pipeline oh my goodness I'm tongue tight right a succession plan within the department I apologize um and again we are hoping to once we're able to hire a couple of those um key positions we should be able to open again conservative April May of 2025 we think we can accomplish this sooner um but we wanted to give you a conservative date and so some of the CIP projects um and and again I've updated this slide um to bring some up but we'll be providing hotspots uh for circulation purposes um that provide someone to take out one of those um cell um boxes that they can uh connect their their phones or their computers or anything um I believe uh commissioner floron you had asked in in the past um how the system would work essentially someone checks it out like they would a book and they have about 28 days and then they bring it back and they can check it back out so it's just like a book um to be able to do so um some of the enhanced um and of the facility use and CIP projects it's a total of 1,734 um it goes into the asset purchase of the library exterior lighting um the construction of impact Windows the air conditioning units uh generator uh project parking lot Plaza restroom remodel book scanners for historical records laptop self checkout and RF id Implement self checkout as well the library Department opportunities and challenges um again it's a very it's not a very populated industry uh with um with professional staff and it's a very um competitive market in which a lot of the regional libraries are not only hiring uh but they have more resources and and they tend to hire at a higher rate um for lower class positions um so what we would be topping out on our assistant director positions usually would be their number three or four within their their structure um so it's it's pretty competitive for us uh but we are streamlining the educational services and we're conducting uh research um on as part of the impact fees to have more of a sustainable growth um when it comes to community um growth and and density and again we are looking forward to growing into Saturday um hours um and and trying to do that as quickly as possible uh but estimated time conservatively is April May so the big changes in the general fund and what that looks like um at the request of the commission is bring back several of the events that we have uh there were a couple other things that we ended up doing the back to school event is um budgeted at 18,000 the bike 305 is 18,000 heartwalk is 18,000 the Heritage day um is 8,000 small business um um Expo is 18,000 Library educational program we're increasing 18,000 as well we reduce the communication Contract Services from 324 to 22 uh 4 or 325 to to 225 that's 100,000 where where the majority of these increases were were being funded through um the big change is we had been anticipating that to smooth over the shortfall of 4.3 in the police pension um by doing an additional $1 million contribution um the pension board had a special meeting this past week or was it last week last week it was last week thank you I apologize yes it was on a Friday it's it's been a long month um and so um they obviously they had various concerns in in making sure that the um 70% requirement is is there um and so they're willing to work with the city but instead of um moving the majority over to next next year which would require the full payment um they said that they would split the difference so of the 4.3 um that the pension um fund is short to be at the 70% threshold this year we would do an additional 2.15 the additional money that we would need to reach that is being done through the budget amendment and the carryover um in um from fiscal year 23 into 24 it does not impact the the budget and it does not impact any of our projects um so we're we're able to make that that difference up there um it does lower a bit of that fund balance um from year over year but um again it's within our our range that we have and it is a um within our policy it is an allowed um use overall the total Citywide um CIP um you've seen these slides before um um some adjustments were were made um based on on the information we have slight adjustment is 73 million .1 it goes into um the the following sides have all of the the various projects that are listed from each of the Departments um investing again not only in community but in the buildings and infrastructure as well as um the police department um as well um the total 73 also includes the various n&b sewer and water projects um this includes the Washington Park of force Main and Pump Station as well as the building of the um beginning of the renovation um which is um as um advertised design and permitting is being completed in in fiscal year 24 which shovel under ground at the end of um um calendar year 24 the Public Works um has from traffic calming um to um to construction um here even on the first floor as as requested um and the add-on of the Texas U-turn um and various equipment um um updates on beautification and and the various Fleet shop um upgrades that that are needed um and beautification projects as well um breakdown of Washington Park um total project is 25 4 that includes the water and sewer portion of it um we've we've gone out um you'll be getting the loan similar to the settlement coming before you um we're looking at an impact of about a million dollars per year um over the next um 15 15 years um from even though that's the the loan again we do have um several grants and we continue to look for additional money to offset um what we would end up doing with regards to arper projects um this is the phase two what was discussed um not only in the first hearing um but also at the commission meeting um the list has been updated I think the the the major changes um are on this slide in which we've kind of um separated uh we've been able to build it in um with the reallocations throughout arpa the um the police Vehicles the portable um misting fans for Parks um for the events the street Paving Paving on 165th Street um around the library and and michon Park the new park signs throughout the the city um upkeep on the basketball courts behind City Hall increased beautification um near um Washington Park and Highland Village uh the marine Vessel in in police as well um are the facad grants um match that we would need um art in public uh places as well as um Economic Development programming the water fund um has has an increase um fund balance in in the amount of 3.4 million um to be used we have a general fund additional contribution of 400 um there is no um fee increase proposed in fiscal year 25 we are still um finalizing that study um once we have that then that will be coming before the commission um for implementation in next fiscal year um increase in um there's increases in it and other insurance costs um we're going into various Ai and looking at um other industry standards that are going to help um I apologize in order to make uh certain processes more operational and and streamlined uh digital transformation of other areas we continue to look for um also long-term Investments as to some federal monies um to increase there's new regulations coming out for pasas um mitigations and so we are working with our partners both at the uh state and federal level to help mitigate um that as well we'll also be bringing to you I believe by December um our our efforts and and um contracts for approval uh with regards to collection not only in in the water but for sanitation and within code um the commercial and multif family en code as well um for for collections Mr manager yes sir um real quick um I know we discussed The Radars is that's not an arer we're finding that somewhere else there's so much to remember so I just want to make sure that that's being addressed either somewhere in our budget for The Radars it's my understanding that it was the neighborhood signs the speedometers yes sir that that is um under one of the categories I'll have um um our chief of staff um identify it and then come back to you and then also if if she can also identify um the Retro um bonuses the Retro bonus sign the Retro bonuses for new police officers prior to prior to new fiscal year so the bonuses are are part of the the policy when when polies uh officers if they're going through the academy the city um as a bonus will pay the cost of the academy for that if it's someone that's signing on um that comes out that's part of our general fund and we have allocated actually um I think it's either 50 or 75,000 within our general fund budget but there were also um and I know we spoke about this I just want to make sure that it's here before I forget are we waiting for questions or we're not now we all have questions well commissioner Jean wanted to wait because yeah I think it would I think it's better to let's do the questions at the end let please let the manager finish his uh no I'm just before I forget I'm just letting them know to look for the everybody everybody's writing notes for all their questions so okay so those you interrupted him anyway we're listening to the presentation those two items so I just want to make sure that at the end we can address to the the other meeting that we were required at 5:15 you would have had that question answered about which one it doesn't matter it was a shade meeting but we would like to hear the rest of your presentation thank you right all right guys let let the manager continue um I think the term is executive session session yeah yeah you say potatoes I say potatoes but but commissioner Smith I was address a separate issue from what you're you're talking about all right can we let the manager guys give me a second it's only it's only 20 seconds guys guys I'm just asking a simple question we all have the autonomy to ask a question before I forget ask to the chair before I forget did you okay you can ask the question before you forget but we're not going to answer it until later than that's all I'm saying I'm just asking the question so they can look for the I only have 10 seconds all right so the question is very simply there's a separate item for police officers who were prior to the new fiscal year if they can look for it to see if it's in the budget and answer that question at a later time all right questions noted Mr manager please continue the sewer fund um fiscal year 25 is 15.9 um there's um Capital expenditures over the 5-year plan um and projects of Force main Replacements and master pump stations for U Pump Station 4 throughout Solid Waste remains consistent um with with $6 million um essentially uh Coastal Collection contract is budgeted at five so we do have um we are we do have that g gap which helps reduce the overall debt that we have within the department the storm water fund is 3.3 million um that was um changed we we brought an in um up to date last year um this is funding 24.5 um full-time employees Within the um within the department the cat fund um again it's 4.3 um that has a freebie um $600 $600,000 uh Grant which will double the size of freebie we have the trolley operations and Lease salaries um optimization study bus shelter installation um repairs and maintenance of bus shelters wrapping of the donated buses that were working with Miami Lakes on as well as matching funds for other grants and various traff and cing projects um that are listed here 160 to 163rd 163rd Street to 165th 180th nor east2 um over by um ulita um various um other engineering um services that we need in in caling studies uh to continue moving it Forward local gas STX has additional traffic calming projects uh Citywide restriping and resurfacing um again we had the citywi assessment um we have their report they're building the GI is on it uh for the ranking of the streets streets as to what is um what condition all the streets are in what is failing what needs immediate attention and um and um what doesn't and so that ranking is is being done and then coming over then we'll be moving um projects forward The Debt Service um note we have um the loan payment for the Miami Gardens litigation it's approximately 800,000 which you all voted for recently as well as the uh special obligation to fund uh over on Washington Park which we're assessing at at about a million dollars we're waiting on the the final documentations to to bring that forward the CRA um's budget is $12 million um they have several projects that are are listed this um with regards to uh the singer building the Snake Creek Canal the library art Plaza Taylor Park and the tennis center enhancement on on various designs building fund um has a current um fiscal year of 5.8 million we're adding new building and code compliance manager um that's a portion of of a full-time of 7 into that budget that helps alleviate over on the general fund a new permit Aid um we also have the continuation of the digitalization project um and the um Capital Improvement of the PSA building of um 416,000 so various disclosures as to what the budget is uh the Water fund is is using the water search chars transfer from the general fund to balance their budget uh police pension is short 4.3 the city is smoothing over by a contribution of additional 2.15 over the regular contribution of seven the new evaluation will be conducted in late October as regular by the P pension fund and the city will have a better view of next year's fund requirement the city must ensure that the fund is funded at 70% with a total budget impact um of approximately 9.15 that's the 7 million of regular contribution and the additional 2.15 if that um shortfall doesn't shorten um or potentially increase it all depends on what happens in in October Washington Park again is being financed um Miami Garden settlement is being financed um as well and um the the various um excess in fund balance um is going into um CIP to to address and continue projects to move forward so again in summary uh we have enhancement in public safety safety um we're adding an additional 13.5 new positions um throughout the the city that means additional code um officers um BTR inspectors Urban Forester Grant coordinator um Community Development clerk three Library positions um one shared position between finance and HR an additional it and three Parks um Department Department uh we're increasing training um for safety Regulatory and career development um one one key thing that I wanted to point out in the mayor and commission um the AIDS are um funded part-time um and the differences they will be direct hires from from you all um we've tried to hire one person that can satisfy everybody but that system has not been um working um as optimally as we like and so having you all have the ability to to identify the candidate that would better suit you is the recommendation the investment investing into the community um again we have the state mandated uh comprehensive plan uh we're moving with the various Community projects from arpa as well as the infrastructure projects for the parks Library Public uh police Citywide traffic calming Safe Streets and beautification um our technology our Aesthetics and functionality our focus on economic development as well as the various report that we've been implemented and making it data- driven decisions uh to improve our transparency and um and accountability that is the presentation thank you for the time okay thank you madam clerk public comment public comment is open if you like to speak please step forward okay oh oh yeah how can we always wait till I'm ready to close it I knew they have candidates in the in the audience I thought they would have spoken up so we could know who we voting for good evening once again mabarak aan you know I I looked at your um this CIT funding and the CIT funding and and and I'm going to explain it to the residents at home 20% of it is allowed to go to the actual Transportation those buses those freebies whatever instead what this city has been doing was taking 95% of the budget and putting it towards those trolleys and those freebies last year we did not have the mayor here Evan Piper we had six six Commissioners up there Jr was the acting mayor three was for the freebies and three was for the trolleys so how do they pass it both they helped each other and while they help each other you helping the lobbyists you helping the special interest groups yes I know them I know them by name too and you're not helping the residents because when we have to go down roads with potholes and and very little infrastructure and no roundabouts to slow down the speed in traffic on 12th Avenue where I live or even um a four-way stop sign or people ask for Speed bumps McKenzie florman commissioner you said that you listen to Residents come here year after year talking about speeding and and we we do absolutely nothing with with a long-term gain and what do you do you take $1.9 to2 million and you give it to the trolley guy the freebie people they took $600,000 and give it to the freebie guy maybe Uber and lift lift vouchers or something can help because I remember um commissioner Smith you were you you called for a freebie you had to end up dropping them and and and take a ride elsewhere because it took so long and what we're doing we're pouring money away to help friends and family and you're not helping it when you do not stand up to this and take our 20% 20% I equate maybe to two trolleys which people say really two trolleys are really busy the rest of the four you look at them mostly empty run and commissioner Smith she was right every time we look at these trolleys they run empty what are we doing then we have the vendors we we we we we hire our workers through vendors instead of hiring them directly commissioner Smith you talked about had Hunter for the water plant nothing has been done as yet the Pu director left but the pr guy and his company that he runs is more important for the attention of some of you up there and the manager you should be hiring the pr that runs our water plant that actually brings in the bread and butter for the city but you're not doing that please time is running out on us and we're getting very impatient with um how how you're behaving with our funds thank you thank you um anybody else want to speak on this okay let the record reflect no one else came forward and public comments now closed um all right anything from the Commissioners I guess uh we'll start we'll start with you m Joseph anything on your end or you're good not currently I I will wait to see what my colleagues have said I I'll just clarify I did get a chance to look at the budget I had conversations with Chief of Staff as well as some conversations with the manager uh one of the concerns I had was help walk the events I'm glad that we were able to have some type of uh um agreement on um on keeping those events CU that was a major concern and I think that was a u by lack of it was a unified uh type of outrage on that is issue um outside of that uh I I you know we're we're trying to do the best with what we got and I think this is a budget that uh puts a lot of different opinions into one uh vehicle to make uh sure that the residents are taken care of thank you right thank you Mr TR I just would like to thank the manager and the whole staff and everybody who's here from the city who works in the city we do appreciate all that you do and we do try to compensate you best that we can thank you okay Mr smuckler so I wanted to know um commissioner chernoff's uh words thank you to staff and to the manager and his team and and the finance department and all the directors for helping this uh budget get along and get going and also um yes thank you for to all of you for um agreeing to get the hard Health walk this is something that the committee the mission in status of woman really wanted to do so yeah exactly and also um I I I did see that the library will not be able to open on weekends until April is that correct correct we need to do various hirings to be able to have the the sufficient Staffing to be able to open on Saturdays and so we conservatively conservatively are projecting April May time frame uh we're hoping to get that earlier than that uh we do have the positions open um but for example um there's been at least and and and I believe the doctor with us she might be out in the lobby um there's a couple positions that we've had open for for a year trying to find someone to to be able to hire but she hasn't been able to find the right person yeah well it is you you were correct it's not it's not everybody who has gone to school to be in the Library business or has worked in a library that can just um come in and be um an an employee of the library but um do do we need her I mean we always need her but we don't need her now we definitely need her but she she's available and she could talk about the the the industry and and the difficulties in hiring if if you all like but um I mean I'm okay with it I understand it so I don't want to prolong the meeting anymore so thank you very much okay thanks for the brevity everybody so far and continuing the brevity will be commissioner Smith [Laughter] wrong okay there's a few things on my mind in reference to the budget and why I voted no and I'm going to have to I appreciate staff so much I appreciate the guidelines you have to work in but I also was at the we paid for strategic planning session we paid for professionals they said things that are have to be implemented now I don't want to wait the library was number one so whatever it takes if we could ask the librarian to tell me what it would take to open the library before the holidays so that people have their children with a place to go I would like to know how much and I'd like it to be implemented in the budget and I'd like to know your difficulties in hiring can you open on a Saturday with what you have now can we get it I I don't want to wait another seven months because why CU we hired professionals and they told us this week two days ago that the library is number one number two is code so I get a lot of phone calls I'm sure I'm not the only one I had a phone call yesterday that I turned over to Mr Scott about a woman that's been here since 1990 she loved her neighborhood and how disappointed she is now that boils down to sidewalks to roads to trimming of the property to garbage pickups and to code so I want to make sure that's there um unlike my colleague I made notes so that I could ask questions now it's okay it's okay I'm gonna wait my turn commissioner thank you so thank you Mubarak I understand that we have in the budget um that we have in the budget about the traffic calming but I also want to make sure whether it's us chasing them or us paying for them that we Implement stop signs where again today I heard of man that saw a second crash this week if that's the county and not us then we have to chase it I also have questions about the water plant we were moving the money out of the general fund back into the water plant does this reflect that because that $3 million that I saw yes yes yes ma'am it does okay I want to make sure that we do that so we don't get in a crunch I also want to know on the project of 2,450 th000 for Washington Park and we receive grants of $4,450 th000 why are we taking a $25,000 $25 million loan we're taking the entirity the grants are reimbursables right so what we're doing is we first have to spend the money before we get that money back we end up on the tail end of the project we'll be able to kind of pay pay that off and it won't impact we won't be using the the full 25 but we've um gone out for the full amount um to be able to finance it I also you know I've thought a lot about it we voted for it because we had no choice but that loan that goes 10 years and it's only a three-year or fouryear obligation we need to check into that it may be too late but we need to check into that because if the penalty is going to be huge maybe they'll work with us on that um one of the other things I want to just mention and then I'll pass one of the other things I want to mention is um we're conducting research again for impact fees you know I can tell you one thing when we go into the building department and we start making plans for the building department and we bring forth which is a part of the budget even though it's a separate entity that we're going to have four parking places for four unit people aren't going to build here so we have to stop and really pay attention to what we want in Revenue what we want to increase our city and when we get the revenue how we're going to spend it so I also have to spend more money for what was a priority of the entire conversation of the Strategic plan economics economics he clearly stated that you cannot build a city you cannot have a good City you can't have a clean City if people ride through your city and have no reason to stop they have to have a reason and how that comes under an umbrella of Economic Development so I need more money in here for economic development we are working very diligently to meet key players to build that whole economics Department we need more money for economic development we certainly need that Library open on Saturday and we need to make sure our city is clean our city is taken care of with code and I came to all this this week thank you Mr manager with my strategic plan because I was here Tuesday night and I heard every word they said and those are the three key elements that maybe the budget doesn't address enough but certainly for me to have a yes vat I need those three things to be increased I love that we're getting the hot Heart Walk I love that we have inh Heritage day I really think that we have to let the public enjoy their city as well but one of the key elements is you've got to give them a reason to stop in your city then if they stop here and enjoy it they'll want to live here if they stop here and enjoy it they'll want to eat here so we definitely have to increase that we're working very hard Miss montine has been on the phone and emails if you could see the copies of the emails she's sending to the businesses we met and the people that she is extending invitation to join us to help us build our economics so I think I made it pretty brief compared to what I am capable of that's great um th those are very key elements and if I could also ask if our if we could find out what we need in reference to having the the library open because if she can have the staff that she has now start the lineary be open I'd like it to be open starting Saturday um commissioner I'll let I'll let the doctor come up and talk in in the meantime um we the budget is already including additional code officers and various um beautification not only from the Staffing level but actual projects as well um so we're we're looking to to adopt that staff is also working on various code um I don't want to call it a upgrades but um stronger code language um with regard regards to how the swales and the sidewalks and everything are maintained um part of the economic development um it's twofold one once we have more of the study finalized with FIU which should be coming to you we know various ways to to start looking at what policies and how and and part of that plan is how to invest in the economic development for the city and what direction um we will we can is advised to go in um but we're also looking at having the um the grant coordinator which is um a position that's new in the budget um assist us with economic development as as well from from Grants that are going to help throughout the budget process projects um being able to tap into all of those different opportunities um from the economic development as well so we're we're addressing these not only on short term but we're also addressing it long-term look look ahads um as I've indicated in in a couple emails we have also recently just hired a director for Community um development in which he has a long history of economic um development um as well as well as an assistant director of Community Development which also has history so we are focusing on that so that that that component we have better Direction the more that we can get people to come and spend their hard-earned dollars within the city that sales tax comes back into the city which helps offset some of those costs from the ADV valorum side right so it gives us more tools and flexibility um we also have excuse me um as part of of the process is the comprehensive plan um as well that's the state requirement that we got to do we got to do a a big update this upcoming um um Plan update um we'll have not only staff but the new people coming on board there's going to be charettes that come um um as part of this plan update it's not just a paper that signs up we got to do something a little bit bigger than that uh so we'll be having charettes all of that starts playing into the economic because it'll start identifying what these areas are going to look like um what we can invest what we can rezone what we can do to help bring in more of the business businesses to um update some of the areas that look like we're still in 1990 right with the way that the strip malls are kind of allocated and look like there are other things that we can do to encourage um complete streets people walking being able to have not only walkable space but also having um enough within the buildings to have outdoor um um entertainment or dining and then have the the so there's a lot of those type of components that's going to help spur that kind of movement uh forward as well so we are paying close attention to that to to bring that over okay the the doctor's here she if you break your wrist she's not going to take care of you but our librarian has her doctor degree and she doesn't share that with anybody we're so proud of her so if we do you have staff now there's a difference between opening on Saturdays and opening on Saturdays with programs but do you have staff and how much would it take and how long would it take for us to really Implement a Saturday opening okay so um no we don't have the staff right now to do that we are in the process of hiring a librarian to which that position has been open for over a year and we are just finding someone that will come and work with us um so we're processing her we would need one more person so that they could rotate having weekends off and um so right now that would not be possible when that person comes on that will help and that's how we're planning to open the teen area so the soonest you think you could do it would be I would have to wait till I have one more person besides this one that um that's on the works to come on right now so Mr manager I'd like for you to work with the librarian to see what it would take to make sure she has that staff because as everybody says we have to give the police to keep them and and to hire them and we have to do the same thing in every but like the manager said it's complicated and the fact that it took a year to this one so now the one that left to go to the county but we don't want to wait another yeah we don't so we but at least one position no we don't want to wait we don't we don't we don't want to wait because our professionals told us that that's a key important part of our city so we're going to listen to them I do want to take another couple minutes and tell you one thing that's a tease to the public I went to a meeting this morning that was beyond anything and I go to a lot of meetings that was so amazing about branding which is going to be key element of Economics I've asked to put it on the agenda for the workshop and when you hear what the possibilities are and what we can do we are going to have such a good punch if we implement it but everything costs money so I'll be the bad guy and I'll mention how we always don't have money but we're paying for the employees additional cost for their Health we're paying for the employees to have additional days off we're paying for a trolley that has two or three people but the big thing about the trolley that's disappointing is it goes from County to a different city and we pay if anybody would ever be able to make sense out of that not only does it go to a different city I found out they have one of the lowest tax bases in Dade County and we pay so all these things shows me that we need to get back to the mindset of taking care of the residents and taking care of our city to build our city back to where people want to stop and enjoy our city which once they enjoy it they'll want to live here they just ride through and that was verbatim from the Strategic plan professionals that we need to implement and spend money on ways to make it so that they will want to stop and I'd like to see it in the budget thank you very much okay you complemented yourself on your brevity about halfway through I did commissioner forand in the spirit of brevity thank you um I just wanted to know if we got that information that I requested yes commissioner um such a simple such a simple request by the way it'll be U covered under the line that's in face too called licensing or license readers okay so just just um just for the edification of the public what what this is addressing um their police officers that are being on boarded prior to the start of the new fiscal year that don't particularly meet that same explain in more detail pardon me the the signage with the with the radar on it oh you're oh you're talking about the signage so the signage is what you just addressed yeah all right that's the radar for for um for traffic combing correct commissioner to to your point the second question was the uh PD bonus right um so we have a line item within the uh police department for sign on um bonuses um even in the current fiscal year um so that has already been established on there and there's a policy in which PD follows uh for sign on bonuses whether it's um Academy or someone transferring from another department um lately what we've been successful at is uh attracting new hires um that are going through the academy and then they go through our field training um in in our program so that's where the the majority of that recruitment money has been going to uh because that's where we've found the the biggest success in in hiring um Can can major Nichols speak a little bit more in depth to that because I just want to make sure that um CU I know I I believe if I recall um correctly that I spoke with the uh Chief of Staff as well well uh about um certain officers that might not fall into um in into into receiving a bonus um prior to this next fiscal year and I wanted to make sure that it's addressed um you know particular to those to those officers am I is the question clear enough um major yes commissioner good evening moror mayor and commission manager major Nichols and the PD so I believe what you're addressing is if the prior to the fiscal year we we hire an officer that's uh not a Cadet it's a certified officer that they would have the bonus correct correct yes they they would get the bonus it's in our current budget and it's still going to be in next year's budget as the manager was stating we do have a line item I believe it's $50,000 in there for the police recruiting that is used for the budget and it can get you about 10 officers in a year with that for the $10,000 bonus okay so and how many how many have you um on boarded thus far um you said you can get about 10 officers are you do you have sufficient amount for this school year I do okay so just wanted to make sure that was good um and the traffic calming with The Radars um we're good with that did we know how many of them that we're bringing in for the new fiscal year it's going to be 10 we were talking about the stationary signs that was brought yes 10 right right the solar powered um stationary signs correct all righty that's it um well that's it on those two items uh since you inspired me commissioner SM I'm glad I did yes you inspired me because you'll make me look good [Laughter] um so you know we received a couple of emails from residents over the past couple of days um and i' I've gotten emails from former commissioner Barbara Kramer um muar Kazan I've got emails from also Bruce lamberto from also um Miss pillinger and um those are the names that come to mind at this time and you know some some of these issues are concerning obviously we need to expand on these conversations because some of them one of the emails is pretty lengthy but it always you know the water utility always seems to be um the the fund that really we need to be looking at with a fine to comb but I I I feel that during the budget cycle it's kind of tucked in and we don't really do a deep dive into into the water utility now we we have a lot of um Consultants that we've been before you during your tenure I mean this has been a constant issue with black and Beach and other uh uh Consultants that we have that we really need to get a handle on um when it comes to our water utility we did take over the we did bring back the water utility um we just had a $9 million settlement uh during the time Jacobs was responsible there was a lot of monies and reserves that was expended and um I still feel like the water utility is not where it needs to be it's far from where it needs to be um when it comes to CIP when it comes to consistent leadership um and also when it comes to our dependence on Consultants I think that's something Mr manager that I'm looking from my seat to you to really get a handle on this because you know passing the budget is not the end of the conversation obviously you have to take it and make it a reality we've seen that there's certain things that get done certain things that don't get done and I think as a commission up here we need to look at it from the perspective that perspective that this is a working document this is the reason why I can vote on something even if I'm not completely satisfied with it because I know that I can have um an influence on perhaps budget amendments and things moving forward that can possibly change and I'm looking to see that in the water utility specifically um more so than any other area because the water utility is our cash cow for lack of a better word um aside from that um I'm glad to see that we did address to uh Miss uh pellinger um email a a lot of the library concerns so I'm appreciative of that that we're addressing some of those concerns when it comes to the library and um we also have been discussing the uh Communications contract um I know that you were given an assignment to come back in 60 days with what that's going to look like um and how we're going to harness that you have that b well we said 60 right so okay um so you know I'm looking forward to see to to reviewing that in a workshop setting or something like that that we can really do a deep dive and figure out what we're going to do Communications wise but the water utility back to the water utility that has been consistently where there's money leaking you know uh pun intended and we need to get a handle on this especially when it comes to consultants and I want to know what you have to say in response to that and I'll forward you the email from Bruce lamber uh if you haven't if you weren't attached to it um so that you can see some of those concerns that share I've received emails as well so with regards to the water utility um we have over 110 employees um that oversees the the utility for for that um the only in-house consultant or day-to-day consultant that the utility has um is the black and V uh which oversees the CIP um component of the water utility um on the project management other than that it's whenever we hire a a company to do a project itself whether it's a design um or or actual construction um but black and Beach is the only um day-to-day um component last year the the commission um we approved the contract or task authorization um number four which was even though hourly rates went up the department director was able to um put the budget in in a way in which the actual task order was less than the than the prior task authorization that came to the commission the commission asked again hey go back to the table and reduce it further um and um staff did that we we were able to talk to back and Beach we negotiated that and we reduced that further before you all approve that um they are at the tail end of the CIP um we've got I think over the next fiscal year is the the final um projects that were put in their program that's associated with all the loans and all the projects that we have identified um it's not everything uh because I believe several years ago the initial CIP was a $200 plus million program what was approved was only 100 um and so this next round of projects is what's allow completes that 100 million CIP we'll need to kind of re-evaluate what additional projects need to come on um in this next phase um we'll never be at a point where there's nothing left to do right we're always going to have to be um not only making making improvements but um repairs and new filtration whatever the case may be the with regards to the rate um because it was also mentioned um earlier that study continues to to look at where we are um one of the components that we look at is for example you mentioned the the leakage so we're looking at short-term and long-term solutions to that and that's something that we've discussed at a prior Commission meeting as well one of the things that we're looking at one component was the Weare program which we modified at the last commission meeting the additional component to that is changing our code directly right now um and based on my recommendation right now the code allows for essentially anybody to open up an account um whether they're a property owner or not what we are recommend what we're recommending and we have to do we're looking at the entire code because it's not just one sentence of the code we have to look at the entire section of requiring the property owner be the one that opens the account that allows us to maintain the the um any type of delinquency on payments or going after um directly tied to the property owner not a tenant who make who's transient and may come and come out not every tenant um becomes transient but more likelihood of the linqu accounts happening in in that kind of aspect right so that's a long-term look and fix to that type of problem additional assistance on the Weare um we're also as I mentioned earlier in December you'll have before you recommendation for collection of the the various accounts I know that our staff has been working over the past um year in in tracking where those delinquent accounts are what is pending on leans for example so we'll be moving forward with that and bringing you maybe not just one um one firm but maybe more than one uh one of the things that we were doing and um I was working with the former director um we had various meetings with um collection agencies we realized that's not the direction that's going to best suit and we started interviewing various um um law firms to see how they can or or not support the the initiatives um our procurement director has been working um with that um several of our conversations and I think we got another one next week several of our conversations with the law firms are at also asking us for certain information to see how it fits on their process um so there's a back and forth of sharing data so that when we do come to the commission hey this is what the expectation is with the information that we have uh remember we went through multiple Legacy systems um so some of these are are older and some of the data isn't as as as much as what we've been collecting now right so it's piecing all of this together looking at the contract terms negotiating those terms and bringing that to the commission so again as with everything that that we've discussed over the last um year it's looking at short-term solution to what can we do right now while also looking at what we can change for the long term so that we're not back in the same positions that we are now it's not I don't think it's good news but it's better news than where we've been is we're back on at least um what customer service would call delinquent accounts not necessarily those in leans or in collections but that are late or have some kind of issue um on their current where're we're we've cut that rate down back to preco levels right so the things that we are doing internally and in-house um there are starting to make some some differences um so we're taking that kind of approach with the utility um there's always improvements to be made there's always going to be projects we now have to start looking at the next um um phase for for CIP projects and that's also part of even Citywide what that looks like one of the things that we're looking at is reorganizing the entire CIP process because it's not just water who's uh with regards to CIP has probably been the the most active um and accomplished within the city but it's also bringing all the other CIP projects up to up to par as well and so being able to to move in that direction reorganize the functionality and and the Sops as that works with the additional reporting that we do those are all aspects that we're moving on can can you um uh in closing can you speak to the um Cola on the uh Consulting contract um and and why we didn't try to uh remove the cola um with black and Vach can you talk about that so those are already terms that are baked into the contract um when they were first awarded um they have essentially by right uh to be able to increase the contract uh for Cola they asked for a much higher um Cola than what was originally what was um ultimately passed we negotiated that down um as to being able to say okay this is fair or not um I know one of the the the questions is well you know they they come and they work in our plant they use our Internet they use this they use that um they also pay for those Services as part of their contract right so it's it's not just a straight here are the hours and here they they put um money set aside of What charges are are paid oftentimes some of those things are they bring from from their own so it's it's not just as simple as as showing up looking at a piece of paper then going home um $212 million um that we are voting on I would say I mean it's it's um probably my fifth budget so I'm more more than likely about over a billion dollars of of our residents money that that I have um had the opportunity to vote on and um and and I just want to say like I said this is a working document we as a commission um whatever happens with this budget we just we just need to make sure that we stay on top of it because there's 365 days between now and when we approve our next one and and um the truth is they're going to start working on it ASAP and we can't afford to jump on that train you know in July August and think that we're really going to have a handle on the on the fullness of what we are approving $212 million and if you hear some of our conversation it's really surrounded yes with arpa and certain dollars when we come to when we're talking about events and things of that sort which pales in comparison to the to the number that we're actually voting on right and so I I just look forward to this really being a working document and that we we really uh focus on the Water Utility and and see where we can you know make a difference for our residents moving forward um I will be voting for this budget but I will be um also in your ear Mr manager and um ACM Deputy uh city manager and your team because the potential of our city city is is is great we really do have to realize it and commissioner Smith was saying it something that I've been saying for a long time is that where a thoroughfare and you know when you really know if your city's doing well is if you want to stay and eat here or if you want to go to the stores here and if you use the you know if you support the businesses and if you understand what I'm saying it's like if I have to go out of my city to to find you know certain things then that's when I know we have work to do we commissioner if I may um I've been I've been writing notes as well so I want to be able to jump in as well yes um couple things and you and I thank you for your comments and commissioner Smith as well economic development is not just the businesses uh of course local hires local so you your businesses hire local resident so that's one of the strategies but Economic Development means beautification of parks why would I want to live here why would I want to stop here so you will see baked into this budget all of the things the library becomes a community center right you've heard that so the library is a community center your parks are beautified um you're beautifying some of your thare so baked in here I think uh you asked for that as well neighborhood level beautification so all of that is economic development to me so when we put the started this initiative between the Strategic plan and economic development it is what is driving residents new residents to our our City what is driving new businesses to our city what are driving tourism to our city so people want to stay here live here play here and work here so all of the things that you all are talking about are baked into this budget going forward uh as you mentioned you're not going to get involved in July because as the Strategic plan rolls out in December we immediately start working with the Departments and the commission to reaffirm the priorities that are coming out of that strategic plan and start to bake those into the 27 budget so you'll have early conversations not at the end but all along to say these are the priorities this is what the plan says this is what our residents are saying and then 27 is so much the conversation is so much easier because you've had that and then each year just continues to have that partnership as we go forward um regarding the water plan as you know I have a a water engineering background right water is critically important you cannot afford to make a mistake in water or else you have uh people getting sick boil water advisory people you know it really is a health issue so we as we look at the processes that we're putting forward and we're watching future regulation that's coming down the pike it's important for us to line the CIP not just to providing uh water to our to our customers but also clean high quality water to those customers so the right filtration plants have to be in place the right transmission uh lines have to be in place the flushing of the lines had to be done the upgrading that's happening right now in across the city and specially in eastern Shores has to be done to seal the system so we're looking at not not only water quality but the quantity side is as you as you identifi leaking meters how do we seal the system so you don't have leaks out of the system that goes to ensuring that your rates stay reasonable so we're looking across the board at how do we approach that paying attention to uh the utility department and we will continue to do so it make it a priority police is a priority parks for quality of life and water for health so we look at all and that that doesn't negate any other important part departments within the city thank you so much deputy and U Mr manager as we close out this budget cycle I'm looking forward to to you and your team having a um a um a city um wide employee um how can I call this um launch for the new fiscal year I think they need to hear from you I think um you know that's part of taking ownership of this budget is that we launch it we bring everyone into the Litman theater employees residents um Etc and stakeholders and we launched this budget and we because look at this room right um we have two two or three residents in here and so we need to make this exciting we need to make this something that people can attach themselves to and really really hold on to and and feel like they um like they not only belong but that it's their budget as well from residents to employees so I'm looking forward to seeing that within the next few weeks that we launch this the right way and um and we get moving on our on our budget um on our new fiscal year thank you so much okay commissioner John thank you I wanted to piggy back on that and mention about morale I think one of our residents mentioned the spoke to the morale in our Police Department so I'm hoping that whatever Gap within that department is also filled as well so I know the administration is looking to do that um um commissioner floron mentioned the water plant I wanted to ask um from an operational standpoint what's the ratio of n&b water versus black and Beach um hires and the reason I'm asking is initially when we first saw the contract we had a full breakdown of every area within the the water plant but also every area that needed specialized help because we couldn't hire from we couldn't find anyone so I want to know what the Rao is there because I think that would kind of help us have a better picture of what a head head hunter eventually will be able to do I'm not sure if you're ready to answer that now or commissioner we have um over1 um um NMB staff over at the water department um we we have seven Engineers um that we've been recently hired and that breaks down in five civil one electrical One Plumbing I believe um and we continue to to advertise not only for uh on the engineering side um to to help further reduce any of the Consulting uh but also out in the field um which is where the most turnover will will end up occurring within the water uh black and be is used mainly on project management for the CI P um I I don't have the exact number because it really depends on the projects that we have at any given time so that that expands and contracts regularly um just like you would at in a design right so for for example in a design project whether it's water or anybody else um you might have at the beginning you might have 10 people uh from a consultant working on the project but then it's like okay I've already done all my Plumbing I've done my electrical so now you have two people off the project while the others keep going so um by using Consultants here it's it's almost like an accordion effect uh you do have some um so the question was mostly for operational versus projects right so I'm not sure if there's a distinction there or if you can let us know if you can from my understanding there's no there's no Consultants on the operation side we we manage the operations all inhouse um black and be is strictly on the capital Improvement projects okay awesome that's correct they're on projects they're not they don't have anything to do with the thanks the uh I see this year usually we have an itemized budget where we can see line by line um I know last year you kind of mov into a more Enterprise kind of budget how can the public or even residents or the public or staff see a more itemized budget so our budget books are are put on the the website um as well as all of our Audits and that's the easiest way to do that um for for any of the Departments and everything that we put on um Sharon is there anywhere else um that we put that no just on the website that's where it would be where is it on the website um it's under Finance right and then and then it would be under the um proposed budget section but that one we don't actually have like if you're looking for the itemized where it it lists like employee names and so forth right no that's not on the website it's just basically going to summarize what the budget is in terms of so we don't have that function that feature anymore per se we we don't put that on the website but we can provide the commission with that okay yeah awesome I know um with Parks I wanted to talk about the theater can you highlight some of the theater improvements that we might be seeing in the upcoming fiscal year and if you're addressing any of the staff shortfalls there um commissioner I know that we're we're hiring an additional three employees within Parks um part of the theater upgrades I know we're we're adding um a new system um for the McDonald's Center as well as that room divider um that is part of the theater because usually it's used um as a component when when it's rented out um the theater itself uh we invested in lights and sound system um that we uh commissioner we had to I just had to pull it up uh the manager mentioned the lighting and Equipment replacement that's happening in the theater uh we also looking at the McDonald Center if you're interested in that as well we're looking at wanted I know there was an increase in rentals within the theater but I wanted to know what was what was being done to supplement that that increase as it relates to staff thank you uh good evening uh mayor and Commissioners um we in the budget was approved an additional theater technician um so that's going to help uh staff and help with the uh uh with the volume uh that we are having and and also as part of our uh as our plan we're merging our um uh events SL marketing team with the theater so that's one division um we feel that that's more efficient and they work kind of side by side so those particular employees will also be assisting um in the theater as well because they'll become one division um so between the theater technician and merging um we feel that we're um we're not you know we're we're improving we're we're we're helping uh in that area is there going to be some sort of hierarchy there or you're just going to pull the the the the hierarchy um there is um um you have a theater supervisor that's technical part of the um the theater but you do have a we do have a division director that oversees you know that particular division thank you um I wanted to talk about Transportation I know we have an in-house person that works with Transportation what what does that person do I I was looking for Sam to answer that question here he is okay Sam good evening mayor commissioner staff um the transportation and Transit um manager oversees the operations and the contractors uh that service the transit system uh we have freebie which is one contract provider they provide the on demand Services we also have a a proel which is a the operator of our freeby of our Transit System and uh there are monthly quarterly and annual reports that we have to um show every penny that we spent there's uh planning that needs to be done there's a advertisements notifications that must be done and and or Transit analyst and manager is the one that's performed this task is there anything that we're doing for like a strategic Transportation plan like for instance if someone wants to use the tri I know we have the app freeb has in the app but do we have plans to do something more um strategic as it relates to transportation we presented to the Commission in February the transit uh update uh study which would incorporate the demand it would analyze the demand on the writers it would analyze the boss stop locations of the system and would incorporate a a surveys into the the analysis to be able to optimize the the service that we provide to our customers to our citizens similar to what the betterus network did what the county mam Transit um and transportation of Public Works performed um that is how you optimize your transit system cuz I know we have a marketing line item within that division but I don't feel like we're using it enough so like for example at the library or at um City Hall there should be places where if people are using our transportation system that they should be able to know this is a good hub for them to get a map or what have you so I would love to see something inhouse done to kind of enhance that that feature within the division flyers and Maps understood yeah thank you um let me see what else I had the D Ro Park I know when we talk about speed bumps Mr manager can you talk more about I know you have the traffic the traffic stuff is there any talks about mitigating some of the speeding around the city can you speak to that uh commissioner yes uh we have several traffic um calming projects throughout the city funded through very various different um means um and we took a look at traffic calming Citywide right we wanted to take an approach that it's not just one neighborhood or or the other we're looking at what we can equitably distribute throughout the entire city um David um and Sam have been a a bit more um Hands-On on the Rose Park and some of the other ones so if you can maybe give a little bit more details on those and I'll have Sam go into a little bit more detail but commissioner to your point we you mentioned d r Ro park that is a traffic calming project but we also hired a firm uh with a grant to look at Citywide traffic caling so we're in the process of that um I don't Sam do you have a hand on when that should be coming in yes um WGI is our consultant that's performing our Citywide traffic calming and traffic safety uh study this is a program funded by the safe treats for all which was what which is a us do grant that we were awarded and the study will analyze the the volumes the speeding and it will provide by neighborhoods the proposed um traffic calming measures that are needed not only will it incorporate traffic circles race intersections uh stop signs or or or yield signs but it also Incorporated U bicycle um into their their review uh pedestrian safety into the review thank you what was the carryover from last year Mr manager the carryover is estimated about $8 million and that we have allocated within the budget amendments as well as money going into CIP projects okay and the last thing I wanted to piggyback off what commissioner furmon mentioned about kicking off the year with you know the new vision and the new um the new motion the dashboard that you mentioned the dashboard that you mentioned about um keeping track of the uh projects and I think that's very important because we don't want to go into the next year without seeing the progress that you know has been done for example the library had $100,000 um allocated for the bathroom but when you did the deeper dive you realized there were no plans for that so then the question is will the bathrooms be done this year did we allocate something for the plans we did this time so we want to see that if there's an allocation for the design and for the actual work that third quarter we see the bathroom actually is done you see what I'm saying so I'm hoping that the $12 million that you have increase for um Personnel were equate into US seeing actually more work done Citywide because when you um um Mr Kazan mentioned that there was like the $35 million increase from the operating budget last year to this year but we want to know that okay first second quarter that we're seeing these this you know 20 Page document actually in motion so that that would be my ask that we hold you accountable and that you hold us accountable and we actually see this budget not just you know kill trees a thousand pages but that we're actually seeing the you know these things come to life so thank you so much to you and your team thank you for the comments all right thank you commissioner John um yeah so um as far as before I'll give everybody a second chance in a second I think I wanted to commend the staff manager um for putting together this budget I know there was a lot of challenges and I think that we've addressed most things and really addressed most of the concerns of all the Commissioners also so um I'm really I'm happy for that anybody else have anything else to say no one I I just want to say quickly that although I appreciate that we all have opinions and we all have an opportunity to do so tonight that the wind speed is picking up and the schools have been closed closed for Broward it's closed for Broward so it's going to happen for days yes so if we could move to approve resolution number r 20241 109 all right hang on one second just one second U Mr attorney um all right so we're I'm going to get my motion in second now for this budget um do we do we need to do anything with do I need to do any disclosures or after you take this vote before you move on to the one separate matter that carved out you can put your disclosure in the record okay and then dep part the so this motion is going to be for the budget minus the chamber ofg correct okay we need a motion and a second got it beautiful all right we need a roll call commission Flor yes commissioner Jean yes commissioner Joseph yes commissioner smuckler yes commissioner shernoff yes vice mayor Smith no mayor Piper yes pass a 61 okay thank you okay time okay you should State on the record and for the record mayor uh it's not clear that it's an actual conflict it may be an appearance of conflict but you are permitted to recuse yourself even on an appearance okay correct so there there is a um a potential conflict even though it's been um determined by ethics that it really probably isn't a conflict regarding the fact that I'm the president of the Chamber of Commerce and it's one of the items that's in the budget so we've we've moved that item out of the budget for a separate vote and then I will be um leaving the deis I'm going to turn it over to the vice mayor and um she's going to handle that piece of it and then I'll be back for us to hopefully adjourn so you should um depart the chambers you can be in the break room certain yeah yeah I'm not leaving I'm not leaving the building I'll just be at a chamber the chambers yep and I'll be uh waiting so should more than an hour okay we were passed out the answers to the questions that we re we had questions last week in reference to the expenditures of the money for the chambers did everybody get an opportunity to look at it we it's very short it was passed out tonight yep anybody have any questions I need a motion we got second public comment not yet yeah we have to have the motion in second did you get that mad Clark she did not commiss was first I was second got it did you want to help me thank you she didn't get who made the motion thank you whichever I'm first and she's okay okay now we're open for public comment and this is in reference to the $30,000 approval or non-approval for the city to give to the chamber the North Beach Chamber anybody want to speak good evening once again my name is mabarak aan you know this this item came up because um the particular commissioner accustomed to arguing over minoa things we've had so much important things to be discussed and I want to thank um commissioner philis Smith commissioner florman and commissioner Daniel Shaw you rais important topics those are the things that we should be arguing about or discussing Water Sanitation these are the things that brings money inh housee not this $110,000 that you wanted to take away 10,000 ous from from from it from the tte uh the city manager said early this year January 16th that his uh assessment on the sanitation would have taken eight months now he's talking about the ending of this year November a hippopotamus baby can born in 8 and 1/ half months a human child 9 months we could end up up at elephant two years this year you have to be willing to bring money into the City Sanitation is a thing that brings money into the City and if you're not willing to do it tell us and we'll get somebody else who's willing to actually bring the sanitation back into the city arguing over minutia things that you know the personality things should not be up in the deas there um the the City attorney says it it it it it may not be a contention but for argument sake let the mayor move on and it behooves me that $212 million in in in a budget and it wouldn't budge you over a 50,000 more than 50,000 and and $50 it's crazy and and then you know I'm I'm so fed up with some of the people that I actually supported and and to come up on that Das and thank you very much for having me thank you anybody else like to speak for the P from the public all right anybody from the Das have anything to discuss about this Madam Madam um vice vice mayor I'll had a quick comment if I can of course so I have two things I wanted to put on the record um Mr manager this is different from this particular item but I wanted to ask about the utilities director I know you have an intern I haven't met him yet but I know you sent a memo about it um is your hope to put this position out I know the deputy mentioned his the credentials and so on and so forth if you can indulge us maybe at the next commission meeting with those details if if you like uh commissioner we've we've been recruiting um for um since since we got the notification um we are wrapping up a 30-day window we have about four candidates that we believe are uh valid candidates to move into interviews and HR is scheduling those um as we speak okay um anybody have anything else they'd like to say motion second all right we're going to take a vote is it a Voice vote you can it should roll call yeah just because of the other okay let's have a roll call please commissioner Jean yes commissioner Joseph yes commissioner smuckler yes commissioner shernoff yes commissioner floran yes vice mayor Smith yes passes 60 Madam chair well just one minute sir um while we're waiting for the mayor to come back one of the things I've been hearing while I'm up here tonight for this um budget hearing is the speed in which we operate and I too would like to voice that if there's anything that we can do to expedite when we have an idea to make the idea come to fruition I think that that's one of the biggest things I've heard tonight here and I would like to bring that forth to the manager thank you motion to Second all in favor I any opposed okay thank you okay