##VIDEO ID:A8ZIeZAdtkc## e good evening everyone Welcome to our regularly scheduled Commission meeting the time is now 7:05 November 13 2024 Madame clerk roll call commissioner baz here commissioner Kelly presid commissioner Williams here mayor Taylor here as we stand our invitation Heavenly Father Lord thank you for the many blessings you bestowed upon us this day and every day Lord we ask that you please C continue to cover our city our residents everyone that works reside drives through and just continue to be a blessing and a bright opportunity for our city amen amen I pledge of allegiance my pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stand one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right we're going into our Awards proclamations and acknowledgements we have none at this time Madam clerk right all right we're going forward to the approval of the consent agenda you have any pulls deletions or deferrals at this time all right hearing none um Madame clerk you can go ahead and call the question for the approval of the consent agenda I need a motion and a second move by commissioner Kelly second second by commissioner Williams Madame clerk commissioner Kelly commissioner Williams yes commissioner bad yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 40 all right um we're going into the approval of tonight's agenda can I get a motion move it move back to Dr baz second second by commissioner Kelly Madam clerk commissioner Kelly yes commissioner Williams yes commissioner baz yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 4 Z we're going into the approval of tonight's minutes I read all dates and names titles into the record and then we'll do a motion in a second uh special commission meeting minutes October 16th 2024 and the regular commission meeting minutes October 23rd 2024 can I get a motion move by commissioner KY second by commissioner Williams Madam clerk commissioner Williams yes commissioner baz yes commissioner Kelly yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 4 Z all right do we have any district one District Two or state reports at this time Madam clerk no Mr Mayor all right can we oh do we see we have a Public Presentation from Mr Javier benen Corp executive director of the Citizens Independent Transportation trust you have the floor I mention the [Laughter] elevator they'll turn it on one second Madam manager he's coming they got it for you is it e hello testing hello uh good evening uh Mr Mayor and members of the commission my name is Mariana price not Javier bet in court um unfortunately Mr Bon Court couldn't make it today so myself and my colleague here Carla Daman our chief engagement Community engagement officer we're here on his behalf to deliver a presentation to you all um the reason why we're here tonight is it's been a couple years since someone from the Citizens Independent Transportation trust has given a presentation to the municipalities to talk about what the PTP what your half penny sales sir tax funds have done since the reception of the half peny sales for tax in 2002 so um with that I'm going to hand it over to Carla and then I'll come back up for a few minutes to talk about the municipal program so here she is good evening mayor Taylor and Commissioners thank you for having us today let me lower this a little bit uh Phil if you can uh go to the next slide please okay so um back in uh 2002 I mean two yeah 2002 November 2002 the citizens of Miami day County were asked if they wanted to raise their sales tax an extra half percent or a half a penny to go towards Transportation projects the residents uh overwhelmingly approved this and so also they approved the people's Transportation plan which is out which is which outlines a series of projects and transport Transit and transportation that would be funded by the ctax including roadway Improvement projects next one Phil next slide please so as mentioned before this um included various uh projects to improve Transit and roadway uh improvements and as part of that voters also approved the creation of the Citizens Independent Transportation trust which is an independent entity comprised of citizens who serve as volunteers with the mission to oversee expenditure of ctax Revenue the C audits monitors reviews and oversees and investigates the use of the ctax that is used to implement the people's Transportation plan in its projects we are not however uh Miami day County Department of Transportation work uh department or uh the Miami day Transportation plan organization sometimes people get those two mixed up with us we are independent uh we don't build or plan like they do however we do fund the projects that um you know are go towards improving transportation and transit in Miami day County next please so as I mentioned before we are an independent entity uh comprised of 15 members 13 representing each County Commission district one representing the mayor's office and also another member representing the league of cities we also have our executive director Mr Javier Ben Court currently uh on our on our trust we have vacancies in districts 9 10 and 12 um and this particular uh I know the city of aaka has two districts one district one which is well represented by one of our newest members Mr Miguel Murphy Who was appointed by chairman Gilbert uh Oliver Gilbert theii and also District 2 represented by Mr Omar Bradford they're doing great job on our trust next please so as I mentioned if anyone is interested in uh you know uh serving on our board we currently have districts 9 10 and 12 that are open and available and if you're interested you can go visit our website at www miami.gov forcat and click on the member recruitment tab or you can call 305 3751 1357 to apply if even if our um I was talking to somebody even if their seats are filled right now now it doesn't hurt to apply because we never know when the vacancy can become available and we have already you know your application available next please so this is our office uh uh led by our executive director Javier Bon court and we're a small staff but we do quite a bit uh in working with our local Municipal uh partners and transportation Partners next please so as part of the work that we do as I mentioned before we do audits uh uh to make sure that the money that is being collected uh is being appropriately used the funding is going towards the intended use of the projects and so municipalities get around 22 to 23% to be used in transit and transportation projects uh as I mentioned before we do several audits uh on the cities and according to the chart that I see opaka started their audit back in uh the last one was started in uh 2019 so the next one will be coming up will be in 2024 uh our team will certainly reach out to you to your city staff uh when the time comes to do the next audit next please now going into a little bit more of the financials of the uh people's Transportation plan and the CeX as collected next one please so ever since the uh half penny ctax was collected which a little more than 20 years ago we have collected uh close to $4.8 billion in cerx funds and those those CeX funds have gone uh towards many many projects mostly Transit projects as you can see $3 billion municipalities have received about $1 billion other uh funding has gone to Public Works and um so people there's a misconception that the people ask always you know where has the money gone but the majority of it as you can see has gone to roadway uh and Transit improvements and we believe also um we uh under the charter um guidance uh we can go up to 5% uh for the funding of our operations however we believe that most of the money should be going where it was originally intended to which is towards the transportation project so we keep try to keep it to less than one % uh for our operations in our office next please and this is just another snapshot of the expenditures next please so annually we collect uh close to $400 million and as mentioned before a majority of it has been going or goes towards Transit projects another good chunk of the money goes to municipalities and also to Public Works projects so approximately $100 million goes to municipalities next please and this is just a snapshot of the performa for the next 40 years uh which is close to 8 billion and this is outlined by the Miami Miami day County not us so we just follow the performa next please next slide now i' like to talk a little bit as we go into the next session of the presentation a little bit of where our money again has gone which is uh some of the projects that you see that people now enjoy due to the passing or the approving of the half C tax is free metr mover for everyone we also expanded Metro Rail uh all the way to the airport uh we are also our seniors now get to ride free on our Transit Vehicles because of the half penny that was approved so we've done a lot of different improvements uh not only roadway but also on Transit improvements and now I'll hand it over to Mariana if you can feel uh go to the next slide and she'll talk a little bit more about municipalities thank you Carla so as I said previously my name is Mariana price I am the municipal program manager I arguably have the best job at the CIT because I get to deal with all of the cities and their varied personalities um fun times not so fun times I get to travel and ride the trolleys and the circulators uh in fact recently opaka presented at our Municipal program committee which meant that I rode your circulator so that was fun but I do believe it's on its way out uh looking around I see a few familiar faces I want to give a big shout out and thank you to Mr anathan Mr Austin Mr Gonzalez and Miss gross and Miss Gan um especially Miss Gian yes Le Gian she is amazing um she submits her reports all the reports on time I never have to worry about her she's very very thorough which is a great thing so um I I really appreciate that um so with the municipal Transit program um ridership recently was 10.8 million that's as of FY 2023 uh quarter four reports were recently submitted I have not yet tallied up the final count but we are going to be um well over 11 million so that's good we're on the up and up um I understand opaka is getting the freebie if it hasn't already started yes uh so that's good a lot of cities that um struggled with having fixed route circulator ridership have realized that they are better off and they have increased ridership once they switch to On Demand keis gain is one um up near um Bay Harbor bal Harbor and Surfside they're all doing the same thing so it's a trend that we've been seeing um and we're working with dtpw to see how we can make it more efficient we're also working with uh the ond demand uh vendors to see how we can make it more efficient not just having it a one ride trip but um that they can pick up other people along the way um so the city of opaka um last year they were projected to receive you were projected to receive over a million 84,000 this year it's a little bit lower but we uh recently had um a presentation with our Chief Financial Officer vcia Walker at our annual um Municipal Workshop which yesie attended and um you know even though they're projections they're only just that and we can't predict when there's going to be huge surges in uh the sales ctax so we're confident we're going to at least make that much um but you know we we go by the pro foro which is previous years so um next slide please sorry I started to talk about the numbers before we were there but yes um so far this year opaka has received 186,000 that is because opaka is on a reimbursable basis um once we receive the annual Financial reports from the last year we're going to have another audit and hopefully with that uh we'll be able to um recommend the continued release of funds on a regular basis so um that's really all I have for that thank you for tag team here okay next slide please so as mentioned before uh we a portion of it goes towards uh Public Works projects and I'm happy to report that a good chunk of it uh a majority of the projects that we had intended to complete are are completed 74% uh probably a little higher by now uh we do have about 12% that are still uh pending or and about seven ongoing currently right now next slide please so as part of also the improvements that we're doing the county uh which the C tax funds are also helping to fund is installing what uh they call Smart signals which is signals that operate and they have automatic timing uh they can they can actually adjust according to the flow of traffic so it doesn't have to be somebody manually adjusting uh they have intelligence where they can look at the traffic flow and uh Accord uh just accordingly to make uh intersections flow more easily so this is being done across the county uh in phase one which is the traffic central control upgrade has been completed however phase two and three were a bit delay but they're on their way now so that's that's the good news next slide please and as I mentioned before there have been several several things that have been purchased using cerx funds for instance all the new compressed the natural gas buses that you see now out there serving the all electric buses also have been purchased or using ctax funds the new Metro Rail Vehicles all the Metro Rail Vehicles were purchased using ctax funds new mover vehicles uh also the on demand and um services are being paid with that and Municipal trolleys as you know some of the things that are being paid with C tax funds next slide please now we are not funding the better bus Network however uh we have been uh participating in meetings and so we wanted to just have the slide include the slide in case your residents have any questions or comments we can serve as facilitators to share that with the Department of Transportation and public works as we have a very close relationship with them and work closely with them next slide please again uh the extension to the airport was one of the biggest accomplishments from the people's Transportation plan that we were able to do that extension next slide please now I'd like to go a little bit into the smart plan which is the development of six Rapid Transit corridors across the county uh next slide please the six corridors are in the South Corridor uh which is currently under construction and you we should see the opening of scheduled to open in summer of 2025 or it may be even spring of 2025 the Northeast Corridor which recently received um uh announced well the FDA announced that it was going to go receive funding up to 389 uh .5 million in federal grants now this still has to be approved uh by Congress but however this is looks like it's going to be a a good opportunity to develop the Northeast Corridor and of that funding for the as the partners local funding the CIT has committed [Music] the beach quarter which is right now uh try they're looking to see if uh they're going to be doing a metr mover extension on the beach quor next slide please the East West Corridor right now is uh targeted to do bus Rapid Transit uh on the on this Corridor next Corridor please uh the kandle corridor is currently on hold next Corridor please as I mentioned this is the Northeast Corridor that will would go from downtown Miami to Aventura with several stations along the way next Corridor please uh and then I believe this is part of the north Corridor that I had mentioned before next slide please so uh as far as the corridors the people's Transportation plan has also served uh or has been funding Park and Ride uh facilities that connect major Transit routes uh where people can easily Park their cars leave behind and use Transit next slide please and this just a slide about what it takes to really fund all these projects with just this you know we call it a funding lasagna because it really takes a lot of different partners working together and funding this projects from State uh Partners to Federal to local Partners next slide please so these are additional areas of focus that we are working towards which is solving first and Last Mile Solutions bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure that will connect to Transit we're also trying to improve the customer experience through our own cat ambassador program and other areas of focus uh we're trying to enhance uh Municipal connectivity uh and also work closer with Partners which Mariana is uh M price is doing and Community engagement we're really trying to increase our community engagement get more people people to voice what they're interested in and also give us feedback on what they see on Transit and uh talking about feedback next slide please so about two years ago we launched uh the CIT ambassador program hopefully you've heard a little bit about this program which is a program where we have frequent transer writers who write at least three times a week they can um apply to become ambassadors and when they apply and they are accepted as ambassadors they use a mobile application uh that they can fill out and share their experiences about how was the transit ride you know were the vehicles clean the stations was a safe ride we want to know what's happening with the Investments that we're making on our Transit vehicles on our stations so this is one way that we are trying to do that and when people share their the more that they fill out surveys the more that they get points and those points can be converted to discounts on Uber rights Transit um lift rights and other Mobility rewards next slide please also as part of our community engagement we began our uh bi-weekly uh mobile podcast well not mobile podcast but the Transit Mobility matters podcast I'm sorry got a little Tongue Tied there Mobility matters podcast which face focuses on everything related to transportation and mobility and uh we want to invite all of you if you're interested in joining us on the podcast with our executive director uh it is done in uh partnership with Miami's Community newspapers in South Miami yes and that is the end of our presentation any questions yes thank you first I want to say thank you for taking out the time to come and explain how this works but I do have a couple questions and the what drives and determines the amount is it only the ctax or is it population Pro prated yeah yeah it's on a PR basis um whatever is collected in a month's time and the population of a municipality that's what determines how much each municipality gets okay and then you also mentioned that opaka is on a reimbursement basis yeah is that across the board or is that just unique to this municipality I won't say it's just unique to this municipality we have one or two others that are kind of in the same situation um but it's something that we're working to help opaka get out of um it's from previous audits recommendations due to a number of issues that um you know we're we're trying to get the city back into compliance and so we want to have Financial records that help to support the reason for releasing the funds um you know as they are given on a monthly basis like everyone else okay and also the north Corridor you all are fully funding that project and I know that's the the Metro coming I got a lot of questions the Metro coming take it easy on us we're not the executive director you all are fully funding that project yeah we might have to get back to you on that yes okay and I see that you all okay then then then I won't ask my follow-up question we're good all right um the only other thing is that I saw that you have the Golden Passport program um here in opaka we have something called the seniors on the move is there some kind of way that we can connect you all to our director of that program to help our seniors apply and get those I I I know you haven't already done it the manager who runs that program so yes we if you send us an email or to Marana price we certainly can do that all right so that's all I have all right any other questions concerns Mr Mayor commissioner Kelly thank you you uh thank you again for your presentation for being here I'm going to extend to you an open invitation I have a community meeting uh once a month call meet me Monday Somewhere In The City the second Monday y'all checking yeah Y Must heard about it um so you have an open invitation to come um anytime let us know and we were glad to have you as a part of uh that meeting you mentioned about the audit that is due in 2000 or we'll be doing in 2024 how long does that audit usually take um that you'll be doing in the city it so um the way that the audits work really depend on the municipality how big they are how much their allocation is as to how often they get audited some cities get audited every year other cities every two three five years um so opaka is due for an audit um we had some discussions with AMS they are now called the internal compliance department and um they they wanted to hold off on the next audit so they could grab a whole other fiscal year but we were missing One Financial document from that fiscal year so um once that comes in um and and it may have already come in so that they may opaka may already be on its list to to start tackling this fiscal year okay do you have any any projects in opaka that are pending that rcit um funded that strictly in opaka so um with any projects that opaka has wanted to do that require CIT funds um your staff already knows that they just send it to us they ask us for the money they show us the invoice and we give that money so there should be no projects in opaka there are being held up due to withheld CIT funds that's why no not not held up just pending project I think there are one or two that I remember that may have some um CIT component funding to it I didn't see we're holding it up the last question that I have um really two part you mentioned it was on page 18 about the traffic management system of synchronization being better um across the county is a part of what's going on um one of the challenge that we have and I I've mentioned it numerous times um with the signalization of our lighting system and I'm just give you one example State Road n to uh the light on Rutland and you may not be familiar with that but they seem not to be compatible they seem to be off just like on 135th in opaka Boulevard and the light there by bir King on whatever the street they tend not to be synchronized and causing traffic to be backed up um and so i' I'd like to to know or have you look at or maybe staff you can reach out to them how um since you're advancing this system and the new technology to make that work better I'm just using those two examples and the um uh the staff can give you specific addresses but those two stand out because they they're always a challenge where the traffic seems to get backed up on both sides where it's Alibaba coming to State Road 9 and other areas that deal with um just the synchronization of the traffic so I'd like for you um if you can to look at that and give us any feedback or uh if it's not something your jurisdiction really tackles I I know the county overall but I know I'm quite sure you have a part of that the last question I have it may not be related to your particular area I see all over not all over certain places County now where you see a lot of red light cameras going up in school zones um that's that's not part of your your jurisdiction correct I just want to be sure about that he was glad to say that one right we support traffic caling devices that is an eligible expense but anything that has to do with enforcement red light cameras that would then issue fines or tickets that is not an eligible PTP okay I brought that for the follow I'm glad you said that the street common devices because we have some here in our city uh with Street caling devices everybody likes the old concrete we know that's outdated and fire rescue doesn't like it so I would like if possible Madam manager if you could um speak to them and maybe you can give us some suggestions um things that you've seen work regarding Street common devices and any technology that you're using in some of the other areas that we might benefit from here in the going to be helpful again thank you presentation I won't touch the north Cora the mayor kind of mentioned that um that is a ongoing issue for all of us in the North End um and I noticed y'all went by that real fast so so I won't bother the may I let y'all out the hook so I'm G let you out the hook tonight as well but I'm quite sure that is something that will be Revisited As Time progress thank you Mr May and thank you for being here no problem any other questions from the commissioner all right go ahead Mr Price I'm sorry I wanted to mention one thing you talked about your community meetings on Monday so um Javier beton Court wants to give president presentations not just not just to the commission meetings but if you have any other meetings and and um so yeah chers of Congress and yeah so not just that we could do that certainly but we will definitely be reaching out to you yes Madam clerk Madam manager okay thank you very much thank you thank you thank you all right we're going we have another Public Presentation and this one is from the commission so I ask the commission to join me at on the floor really quick fast in a hurry all right so we all know that we recently had an election and we are changing over the guards soon um we have a new member joining us one member is elevated to another position and we got a member leaving us so we want to say with gratitude to commissioner Veronica J Williams and recognition for your dedicated service and invaluable contributions to the city of opaka presented this 13th day of November 2024 from your colleagues Mayor John H Taylor vice mayor Natasha Irving commissioner Dr Shirlene baz and commissioner Joseph Kelly we are going to miss you so this is something that we're presenting to you and then before you say that so we also have something else that we want to present to you yes we do and commissioner Williams most of us don't all know it but a lot of us do she actually made history in the city of opaka in one term she served as commissioner vice mayor and mayor of this great City and she's in in four years that was in one term she she's sat in every single position so we just want to say thank you for your time thank you we gonna miss you we are gonna miss you and we're sad to see you go sad to see you go what all that stuff you told us pause is this a [Laughter] thing oh no oh before before she say anything um we also want to say that after today we want you all to join us for a reception in the commission's um conference room right next door we have a small reception that we want to throw a nice little party for You Pepsi no Pepsis no Pepsis you said no I'm G say something really quick thank you all so much I have enjoyed four years go by so fast and I have thoroughly enjoyed being on the dis we have seen so many different faces come and go but I am excited about the future of opaka I would be remiss if I do not personally thank all of the city employees who have um been with me through thick and thin um through my ups and downs and um as I was learning I tell people it takes four years to learn the job and then the the next four years to actually Master it so um but because I've had to sit in every seat that mean you're coming back no I didn't say that because I had to sit look at y'all y'all gon make me um I I thank you all so much and it's such a thankless job um to the city employe everyone I mean I love you all you all have you run run this city and we don't do the work we do you know we legislate but you all do the work and you're behind the scenes you're the true unsung heroes um I just pray that we continue to keep this moving the city forward um as we change guards I know that we're going to keep the best interest but I would be remiss if I do not say I'm G to miss you Joanna I'mma miss you so much and the city's clerk's office I'm going to miss the attorney's office and of course um the city Madam city manager so thank you so much everyone of you and I'm out you ain't out there a mic drop so yes we are going to miss vice mayor commissioner mayor Veronica J Williams we're going to miss her so we're getting ready to go into our citizens form this is where our citizens and let us know what's happening on the ground and we can talk about it collectively and we um turning over to our Madame clerk can you read how to participate in citizen form um yes thank you thank you Mr Mayor city of opaka commission meetings are held in person at the opaka government center city commission Chambers 780 fisherman Street third floor opaka Florida members of the public wishing to address the commission may do so in person or virtually those persons wishing to participate virtually should register prior to the scheduled meeting time on the city's website at www. opaka fl.gov when speaking before the commission please make sure to give your full name and address for the record there is a 3 minute time limit for public comments please adhere to the decorum policy which is part of the commission meeting agenda City commission meetings are aired through live stream at www.youtube.com user city of opaka and Mr Mayor at this time we do not have any virtual public comments All right so we're going to open up citizens form for those of you that are inside of the the chamber citizens form is open uh good evening May Commissioners Brian Dennis address 2140 York Street I I thought it would be a Miss if I wasn't here on your last meeting um commissioner win I didn't stand because I knew I was going to stand here so you have my Ovation um your dress it reminds me of something that my mother would pick out so you definitely has Exquisite taste but let me Begin by saying congratulations to commissioner Kelly and to soon to be commissioner Santiago for race ra ran but I want to also look at um item two on the on the agenda item two and that's a resolution of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida authorizing the interim city manager to close all unauthorized City banking accounts established at popular bank the city commission is the city's charting already the city is ran it's an anti-ar government and the manager could pretty much do anything that is want to from that position and give the commission anything that they want them to have or don't want them to have I think one of the one of the best things that happened was when vice mayor um vice mayor Irving Crawford the suggestion that the city commission see all bank statements and what that did do did for me and watching that and hearing that is open up the door I don't think blood is on anyone's hands when the business of the city should be at be first and foremost and we're one of the poorest cities in Miami day County the job of the commission is to elevate the city the commission and the residents of the city because we're all residents here to the next level the untimely the the untimely firing of the manager which many knew that I was on board for firing but not for any personal reason but for business the city I believe what has now with the election season over should be able to move in a direction that should begin to get the state oversight board out of the city and run it in the way that it should be ran I I say this as I leave commissioner Williams I'm going to miss you being sitting on the bed watching you play with your phone doing detective work and finding out the different laws and everything like that I wish you great success in your endeavors good night man I won't be able to join you I'm about to get chewed out when I get to the pastor's meeting but I I couldn't be here and not say to you you congratulations for a term well Ser citizens form is still open citizens form is closed all right we're going on to 15 A1 our Planning and Zoning items a resolution of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida providing for the approval of the tentative plat for the property located at 921 Superior Street and identified by folio 8- 2121 d007 d177 in the R1 zoning District dividing the property into three separate Parcels for the development of two additional single family homes providing for an effective date this is sponsored by the interim city manager all right Madam manager go ahead and present and then we'll open up for um public hearing the tentative plat is for the property located at 921 Superior Street the owner desires to split the lot into three separate parts and add two single family homes for a total of three single family homes on the property I have Mr Gregory gay here to answer any questions you may have at this time all right can I have a motion move it move by commissioner Williams second second by commissioner Kelly we're gonna open up for public hearing public hearing is open I mean second by vice mayor Irving Public hearing is open public hearing is closed do we have any questions for the manager Mr gay at this time on this item all right commissioner bass quick question is this the the plot the plot the the um the lot not far from Family Dollar no it's not near Family Dollar this is off a Superior Street um it's south of opaka Boulevard where the opaka our curves it's like the next block South off of Superior and it's and and it's like roughly about two houses in there's another property that that has a uh about eight eight 18,000 square feet um with a single house on it so they're looking at subdividing that in order to build two more homes I know your visual we didn't go on a field trip thank okay thank you any other questions from Mr gig Mr Mayor commission Kelly thank you um I I did go by and see it it is a big lot it is a big space I always still have my concerns about uh parking but it is enough space I think to accommodate uh two Fe site um each um lot um that is built my only concern I still am not really totally convinced about what would happen with the pro with the place that's there because it said it's not historic um and so I could see it being torn down so the question I really have is um since we're approving this actually to break it down to build those other two so you'd have three um could they potentially tear it down and build three straight yes sir yeah that's the concern that I really have because they asking us to subdivide it really to add two but I'm concerned about them tearing it down building three but if they were to do the well if they were to tear it down and build the third one instead of leaving it there that process would still have to come before us correct as a single family home on a platted sight no it will not come back to the commission single family homes are not presented before this board unless they're done in multiples of I believe eight or more okay um yeah now that was my reservation because I I can see them tearing it down and just putting three new ones there which I I wouldn't really have a problem with if I had an idea what they would look like we got kind of an idea of the two but they're based on the one being there already uh but if they can tear that one down in Bill three I'm really concerned because we would not have any way of any checks and balances once we pass this correct that is correct okay um other than going through the regular zoning permitting process which is the only other recourse or any way you would have eyes on it to even look at it it would be pretty much through an administrative process right I'm saying wouldn't come back to commission be administrator yes sir okay all right um and coming through the administrative process it will still require the two parking spots for each each um subdivision yes sir okay [Music] um I'm going to support this only for the fact that that lot is B and because you have administrative goes through um I think you've heard the concerns of this commission regarding parking um and this is not special this is actually can be done so okay thank you Mr Mayor okay and I know we about to cause the question but Mr Gay this resolution doesn't preclude them from tearing down the existing structure no it does not and that was that issue I had with it as well all right so in the future when things come up like this can that language be added I know normally when like if you if you tearing down an old building you leave up one wall to grandfather it in blah blah blah blah blah is that something that we can do here in the city that I really can't give a Defined answer on that because that's that's following a a process that will follow that will take place be without us really knowing what the design of the two new structures would be and whether they would meet the setback requirements in relationship to that um I would believe they would being being that we're making this modification now so that would be the only real concern if if three new buildings were to be built or even if if the two new buildings had to go through a modification of a variance due to the setback that in itself would come back before the city commission but other than that if they do it through a fully administrative process yeah but this came that's why that was my this came because of the replat replat right so but to me essentially it's a development because it's three and selling renting so it's a development so that that's my that was my concern for this project but we're good that was all right I think the other concern that probably um caught your attention is mine because in the language of the planning council meeting it was kind of eluded that it was was historic in nature yeah which means historic properties you can't just demolish they got their own separate process but in my briefing I discovered that it's not uh historic property so it doesn't fit that criteria and that I'm going to use for the first time tonight that's what gave me pause I beat everybody to it that's what gave me pause for um for this but it does have to go through administrative and I think they understand the concern the commission uh on this um okay thank you Mr Mayor well I'm gonna up one on commissioner Kelly and say in the future I don't want to turn this into a [Music] thing we we G do all call a thing thing but we can go ahead and call the question about CL commissioner bass yes vice mayor Irvin yes commissioner Kelly yes commissioner Williams yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 5 Z all right we're going into our second Planning and Zoning item which is A2 a resolution of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida providing for the approval of the special exception request for the construction of a twin Home Building located at 211 Ahmad Street and identified by folio 08- 2121 d002 d259 in the single family residential R1 zoning District providing for an effective date this is sponsored by the interim city manager all right Madam manager go ahead and present and then we'll open up for public hearing so this is a special exception um to build a twin Home Building at 211 Ahmad Street which is currently a vacant property and I will ask Mr gate to approach the podium to answer any questions the commission may have all right can I get a motion move it move by Vice May second second by commissioner Williams this is a public hearing item public hearing is open public hearing is closed any questions from Mr gay or Madam manager for this item um Mr Mayor commissioner B it says a twin home is that a duplex or that's what the same okay it's the same terminology twin home duplex all the same okay all right any other questions Mr Mayor commissioner Kelly um regarding this one and looking at the notes that I mentioned in my briefing because they require a um special exemption U which mean it's not really allowed um we're moving multifam development even further I mean that area really is designed for single family development and I'm concerned as I always say we open up that Pandora's Box for properties to start doing that to put more on a property then really the uh zoning is is intended uh um and I know across the street is has been pointed out that there is some uh multi family but in this area you know if you buy a home a semi family home the intent is that that's what you're going to see in that zoning because this requires um really a um variance correct I mean special exception special exception special exception um I'm concerned about seeing this in the future from other developments that want to come there as oppos to just seeing a single family home which is what the zoning um for this area requires and I think it's even pointed out by one of the board members in the planning uh meeting about the site began to extend multif family development to the north there's only single family development and if you continue that Trend um you know you could have a lot more multif family development and if I bought my home thinking a single family you're going to see a lot more and I'm not even getting into the whole parking challenge because we've seen that with other uh duplexes triplexes where they're supposed to have you know 1.5 parking spaces and there are eight cars all over the place um so I'm challenged with that um especially when you're doing a special exception for it um thank you Mr Mayor all right any other concerns I'm sorry I have another question are do you know these going to be two bedroom one bed bedroom because that also depends on what parking would look like yes the design of the Twin Homes each one of them will be a three-bedroom two bath um and they would have two required parking spaces based on the size of the of the units Mr Mayor um commissioner Williams so I noticed that um in our in our backup documentation um about a neighborhood petition can you explain that a bit more um because of the process um with a special exception we had to do a notification to the adjacent property owners and if any of the property owners feel that they want to have a say as to whether that's this project should or should not be done um they have that opportunity to do so and I do believe and I'll check with Mr Lee I think there was one person that spoke out against the project but for the most part everyone else was silent so and and the reason why I asked is I only see two copies two um two scan copies of the petition which I would believe if this is a street there would be more like is that a door too process like you go to the neighbor and I mean go to that um to that Resident and ask if they agree or not because the two that I see say that they're they support it and then it's only those two I would assume that this is this is actually mailed out to each of the property owners and they choose whether they wish to respond or not so I think that's what kind of makes I'm not even gonna say it but I think that's what go ahead and say no I'm not gonna say I think I think it's that part part that um okay pause but so um only because I think about like all of us right and as we're this duplex really is going to be buil where single family homes are and to piggyback what Comm um commissioner Kelly is saying and he's right I know it's not I'm telling you in a year we're going to be talking about the parking on this street because of this and so and then and then in that same year it's going to be residents that are going to be standing up here saying we didn't know that this was being built and so my question is is that a good is that process even a good process to even mail maybe you need to go door too and have that conversation and I'm only saying because I know that there are going to be residents that are living in a single family home that are now going to be parked out like literally it's going to be and then we're going to start some this is going to open Pandora's Box we're going to start something where now I own property and I want to I want to push two and three bedroom two and three duplexes on a single family property this it's going to be a thing thank you you make you made me Jesus but it's going to be a thing and I I don't know I just I don't feel comfortable with passing this because I I I really think we're going to open Pandora's box with this and I don't think we're looking down the future that we start this and then somebody else is going to be here and say but wait a minute on November 13th you you change the variant you change you did you passed it why can't I have mine and it's just going to be a community of this so that's that's my two set okay if you like for me to respond yeah sure um d d the manager um the mail notification is a standard that is done through all municipalities to notify adjacent Property Owners if it's within a 500 foot radius or 3 75 ft radius the same process is done um so that is pretty much a standard that is done we as staff do not go out and talk to each of the property owners to get their particular input can't call them no we cannot it it has to be some something that is done where they have the right if they're interested to respond so so we we in essence cannot go out so I'm not so I'm not saying for them to respond over the phone but to give them another out option is to say you can come into let's say the clerk's office or into our office and complete the document just so that you know we mailed it out to you we haven't received it but you do have another five days or three days to come into the city hall and complete whether you agree or not where just you know you mail I mean mail is male so I mean I understand but I think sometimes here in our City we have to do a little bit more than what other cities do okay so noted um Dr Bass thank you who who mailed the um mailers out it's actually done we have the property owner identified the adjacent property owners and it is mailed out to the clerk's office our clerk's office send out the mailers okay because I remember years ago when I got my fence I had to personally walk my neighborhood around my NE my house to get a yes or no this was years ago um so I was wondering if they did that or it came from elsewhere all right any other questions for Mr Gil we can go ahead and call a question m a question commissioner Kelly no you can call for the question all right Madam cler commissioner Williams no commissioner bass no vice mayor Irvin no commissioner Kelly no mayor Taylor no motion fails 5- Z all right moving on to [Music] our first reading ordinances Madam M sorry madam attorney an ordinance an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida amending the annual adop General proprietary and special Revenue funds budgets for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2024 and ending September 30 2025 adjusting revenues and expenditures as reflected in exhibit a providing for the expenditure of funds established by the budget authorizing the city manager to take certain actions providing for appropriation of all budgets and expenditures providing for fees consistent with Appropriations and Amendment providing for incorporation of recitals providing for conflict and repealer providing for severability providing for an effective date this is sponsored by the interim city manager all right can I motion move by Dr B second second by vice mayor this is a public go ahead Madam um manager presented then we open up for public hearing the city commission approved the fiscal year 25 Budget on September 25th in which was subsequently approved by the state this is the first budget amendment that will Aid in aligning the city's funds and I have Mr sorte here to answer any questions you may have all right this is a public hearing item public hearing is open public hearing is closed any questions for Mr date or um Madame manager on this item all right Madam clerk we can go and call the question commissioner bass yes vice mayor irvan yes commissioner Kelly yes commissioner Williams yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 5 Z all right moving on to our second reading order orces the first one is 16 B1 an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida creating a new article 11 of the city code of ordinances reing the sections following specifically adopting certain provisions of Senate Bill 102 the live local act relating to affordable housing providing for the administrative approval of certain qualified projects containing affordable housing units authorizing the city manager to take certain actions providing for incorporation of recitals providing for conflict providing for severability providing for an effective date first reading public hearing was held on June 26 2024 this is sponsored by the interim city manager and this item was deferred from the 1023 2024 regular commission meeting all right can I get a motion move it move by commissioner Kelly second second by vice mayor this is a public hearing item Madam manager go ahead and present it and we open up for public hearing this item was deferred from the October 23rd regular commission meeting due to a scrier era it is now being presented to include zoning categories b0 and B1 which were omitted in the first reading and Mr Gay is here to answer any questions all right this is a public hearing item public hearing is open uh good evening um Mayors and commissioner um elector commissioner Lou V Santiago 115 exper right you know Baka um something that I that I see here that I need an answered about affordable when we talking affordable here in the great city of baka we have to know that we have many people that they cannot affordable or pay this kind of rent that they bring into our city the other day I looking for somebody uh renting and I go to one of these new development that we that we have in 22nd Avenue and the less expensive apartment that they have there cost $3,800 my God the only thing that I want to ask in though you know the commissioner tonight is let's be honest with people let's not tell them that that be affordable affordable is me if you can pay you're going to live there it's not me it's not for people that we that that we have here in the great city of paloka that they living with the check the pension check very low income check that's what we had to look for in the future houses apartment the out people can for it thank you thank you citizens form is still open citizens form is closed um commissioner oh Rob I'll go after you okay um um commissioner um Santiago the ordinance that we have today is an adoption from the state bill Senate Bill 102 so it's something that we have to do understanding what your concern and that's all of our concern when it comes to affordable housing and being able to actually afford affordable housing in the city of opaka so it's a conversation that we've had on this Das many times and it's something that we're trying to fix figure out how to you know mitigate that issue however this item here today is we have no other choice but to do it we have to adopt it in the city of opaka because it's state statute our State Legislative has already passed it and as explained last meeting we're actually behind the ab ball because it's something we was been supposed to do I believe that's what you told us right all right so that's why we're here tonight but we all share your same concerns about affordable housing being actually affordable in our municipality um commissioner Kelly you also thank you Mr May no you echoed it quite well it's something that none of us really want to do but we're mandated by the state and the governor so it's legislation we have to pass so um you you you said adequately thank you all right any other any concerns or questions to Mr Gay Madam manager at this time all right Madame clerk vice mayor irvan yes commissioner Kelly yes yes commissioner Williams yes commissioner bass yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 5 Z all right moving on to item 16 B2 an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida amending Article 2 Division 2 section 2-45 of the city of opal's code of ordinances entitled agenda to delete all references to Future agenda items providing for severability conflict and repealer and providing for an effective date first reading public hearing was held on October 23rd 2024 this is sponsored by mayor Taylor all right this is a public hearing item oh can I have a motion move it move by commissioner gelly second second by commissioner Williams um I'll explain it um it's simply put just to remove future agenda item you all know I never agree with it because I always said that it doesn't allow the legislators to actually legislate in the city of opaka so I yeah that's why we're here on today um we can open up a public hearing public hearing is open public hearing is closed any questions or concerns on this item right Madame clerk commissioner Kelly yes commissioner Williams yes commissioner bass no vice mayor irvan yes commission uh mayor Taylor yes motion passes 4 zero all right 41 I'm sorry four 41 yes 41 I'm sorry all right motion passed 41 so we're moving on to 16 B3 an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of opaka Florida amending the annual adopted General proprietary and special re Revenue funds budgets for the fiscal year commencing October 1 2023 and ending September 30th 2024 adjusting revenues and expenditures as the reflected in exhibit a providing for the expenditure of funds established by the budget authorizing the city manager to take certain actions providing for appropriation of all budgets and expenditures providing for fees consistent with Appropriations and Amendment providing for incorporation of recitals providing for conflict and repealer providing for severability providing for an effective date first reading public hearing was held on October 23rd 2024 this is sponsored by the interim city manager all right can I get a motion move by commissioner um baz second second by vice mayor this is a public hearing item Madam manister go ahead and present this is the final budget amendment for fiscal year 24 which is intended to assist in closing out fiso year 24 budget and Mr sorte is here to answer any questions all right this is a public hearing item public hearing is open public hearing is now closed any questions for okay I'm sorry you know this whole time I didn't know your last name was sorte I thought and when she kept saying I was like we got a new personent budget but and I think all of us keep looking around for Mr sorte like who is that and I was gonna ask during her manager report can she introduced the new uh employee Mr sort I never knew I'm sorry so no disrespect Mr sor but do we have any questions for I'm sorry Mr dck I got any questions or concern for Mr dick or mam manager at this time Mr Mayor commissioner Kelly I don't have a a real question I did get um the follows for my briefing I would just hope going forward uh y'all know I'm not a big fan of these budget amendments um especially when it comes out of vacancies and those things so I hope we would do a better job and this is just my opinion um I think sometimes because we know we got those budget Ms we can do we are not as diligent in our our fiscal analysis and and keeping um fiscal restraints because we know we can always do a budget amendment to catch up with it and to me budget amendments are just that they're they're really designed when you cannot capture something or you do have an emergency that you need capture later it's been my experience and it's my opinion that we tend to use these budget amendments to just catch up on stuff that in my opin we should have dealt with on the front end which in the department so hopefully going forward in the new fiscal year we won't see them in the same light and having to take funding from places that we really need to make sure are secure whether they're vacancies as I mentioned my briefing whether it's educational opportunities for employees um so I just want to put that on the record um thank you Mr Mayor all right any um questions or concerns all right Madam clerk commissioner Williams commissioner bass yes vice mayor Irvin yes commissioner Kelly yes mayor Taylor yes motion passes 5 Z all right we're getting ready to go into our city manager's report and I know Madam manager provided a report a written report okay you have the floor Madam M um I provided a written report to the city Commission not sure if you had a chance to review it yet but I will take any concerns that you may have Mr um commissioner Williams okay um I just have a bullet points first of all thank you madam um Madam manager Madam man Madam manager for um the the reports and consistently um making that happen um I just have three bullet points I wanted to just ask you about can you share with me um about the water billing issues you talk about the meeting that you had what came out of it so Miami day County [Music] um staff had a meeting with Miami day County and we agreed that the city will um looking to hire an inhouse employee to be that person on site to assist with our billing questions they'll work hand in hand with Miami day County to get a better handle of what's going on with our water bills um I think that we need someone here that can be that person to to look into these issues because we do know that there's a lot of issues with our water billing um mmy day County seems to think that a lot of people are having leak issues we we seem to think that it's something different so our suggestion to them was that we can hire somebody on site to be that person to better assist with our billing concerns and they will also have access to the actual Billing System okay um well thank you for at least making an attempt to fix that issue but I think I think the the problem is is that there's still no answer to the residents that have had thousand water bills um what is where where's the answer where's the you know where's the report where's the the letter to the county or the you know the mayor's office something that says we need someone to look into as a matter of fact have we done have we done a overall study of or asking the residents how many we we we know a few that offand but there may be a lot more that we don't even know of that have not shown up to Commission meeting yeah um I think there you know more has to be done um unfortunately the communication was has is not there to uh certain residents that are experiencing this so um and I've also requested a list of all the residents who have had an increase in their water bill so we we are waiting on that list from the county so we can try to contact those residents and see what we can do to address those concerns as well okay if you could just like keep me posted you know just yeah cuz that's that's an issue and we don't want to revisit that again um I also wanted to say kudos for having an accountant right yes I don't have my glasses arm okay in the back come on up here come yeah Miss gance Miss G are you still okay yeah no she didn't I'm sorry they G come through girl come through come through next time make them red but come through oh no no I was okay you haven't had to talk as much since I ask you questions we've been in the back being gorgeous um so no I just wanted you if you could just oh wait a minute I'm so sorry I'm I'm out of line and I'm out of order it's fine through the May Madam manager is it okay that I um you sure okay I'm so sorry problem strike that from the record um can you um share with us that process of how you got to being able to hire the the number I I I have two bullet points here yes so we do well good evening Naima Gant Director of Finance mayor and commission so we do have um two on-site persons that are temporary and I think I shared this last time I spoke um one will transition into that role as accountant I'm very excited for that and I have two interviews scheduled for in the morning with two additional um so the two additional persons that I will interview in the morning will fulfill that hybrid model to focus on fiscal year 24 audit so I have two persons coming in tomorrow for an interview um the mayor is Happy um to get that on under way okay and um I know before we discussed efforts um in terms of um with working um with um human resources did those efforts pay off did did you do anything different um we just happen to no we just really crack Place perect well first I was just going to say the firm that we're utilizing they currently um specialize in finding governmental employees um so it's not just accountants but there are other capacities within the government realm so yes well thank you so much commissioner before you thank thank you so much I want to go back so you talked about bringing one we're transitioning one from part-time well temp temp to full-time employee of the city of opaka so this six month project accountant is the hybrid program that you mentioned yes sir it is so that's to the 20 last year focus on 24 okay and then once that's done are they going to transition or is that they will transition out transition out yes sir it's only six-month project so the two interviews that you have tomorrow is for the hybrid correct solely for the hybrid okay all right Mr Mayor commissioner Kelly thank you um they would transition out but what would that do to the department once you fin will you still be able to maintain the uh process of making sure Audits and all that work is done in addition to the regular stuff you do in finance once they transition out yes so their focus is primarily for 24 financials I am still concurrently recruiting for full-time Staffing so we have that both working okay that's that's that's what my question you're really still recruiting okay um all right that's the only question I had on on with um Finance but Mr Mayor I did want to piggyback commissioner Williams um statement on the water um issue water bill issue and I know I say as many times staff can going to go so far so Mr Mayor I'd like um for you as our leader maybe you might need to get a meeting with the county mayor or something wereing um so I'm I'm just saying so people will know that we are moving forward we recognize the pain so I know you are probably working on something uh because I get the same concerns about the high bills and continuing and it's not totally I think the steps that the manager is taking will be good in terms of small at least get some handson potential but I'm glad that you'll be meeting and you'll keep us briefed on that because we do need somebody um over there that can really uh push to to get this issue addressed as commissioner will pointed out thank you Mr I just wanted to add that to her comments okay so and I know commissioner turn it back over to commission William because she gonna say thank you I just want to say thank you for beefing up for the next audit because we know got is needle all right you still have the floor you done all right thank you any other questions to the finance director or the manager on manager just okay thank you um Miss g go ahead just quick quick question mam manager I know that with those of us who have receive those water bills the um county is also asking that we also get our homes inspected for leaks right by a certified plumber with that being said is there any way that the city can assist our residents in accomplishing that with the report of either we have or we don't have on our end just a question we can definitely look into the the fiscal impact of that and bring it back to the commission okay thank you okay if I if I made to the manager I just want to say um Madame manager thank you so much your spoiling me I'm getting information I know what's going on in the city I truly appreciate what you're doing how by keeping us informed on what's going on we I do appreciate it I'm hoping that they too too but I really appreciate it thank you and keep up the good work all right and Madam manager the only concern no not concern the only question I have is I see and I'm happy that it's finally back the um Parks master plan was received by Miller leg and currently being reviewed by Parks and Recreation staff I know the commission is going to vote on it however can we get it not at the agenda briefing but prior to yes definitely so that we can actually go time to review have one-on ones yes you know to make edits if need be definitely okay before we actually vote on it all right any other questions to the manager on the report Mr Mayor commissioner Kelly I I too want to Echo um the report and the picture and I I thought the man the mayor was going to mention it but he didn't I'm just looking at these pictures of Sesame Street um oh I was coming back and the bridge um keep going keep going I know yeah I understand but I'm so glad to see you that's been a major challenge of course redirecting traffic and I look forward to the ribbon cutting I know you're planning to do that real soon so we can get that open uh finally so I'm excited about that I did have a concern which I mentioned to you and you did reply back but I know residents are watching because I keep hearing the same concerns regarding the trail over at Seagull Park and not being um completed um I haven't done feeding South Florida won't do it again this month because I'm really kind of concerned as well about the condition over there um I will await your report or whatever but that is a to me should not be occurring this long I mean it should not be occurring this long we've had several dates that they were going to finish and even with the date of coming back Saturday or whenever they're coming I don't see how they're going to be finished anytime soon with the amount of uh work that's still needs to be done regarding that uh project it's really just taking too long so I'll await your report and and Analysis but that is just taking too long for that one particular um small project I'll put it like that and I'll leave that at that but I thank you for all of the other information and updates in here uh historic City Hall and the like um thank you for the information and I'll reach out to you on other items thank you Mr Mayor thank you commissioner Kelly and before we move on to commission reports Madame manager it was the only concern that I have as it relates to CIP is the flooding that takes place on 132nd Street right in front of what's the name of them apartment Mary Brown yeah we all been talking about that that is a Hot Topic with resid and it's been going on we were little children Saturday a resident approached us about that as well so is there if you don't if you don't have it now you can provide the update to the commission Miss gross and I did have a conversation about this so she's going to um give that's been actually repaired before and it's still challenge with that one and some others so i' like if we have to I would love to BR that to the top of the list some kind of way because that is a good evening mayor commissioner Adelina grp manager 132nd Street um from 27 to 7th Avenue we are very aware of the of the issues and the concerns uh it we we do have a repairs program for that area we are waiting for an NFP to come back as part of the mitigation of the initial process to at least avoid um for common drain to be um flooding on the additional project for that uh section we are looking into GR funding um to mitigate the whole area from 27 all the way to Northwest C C Avenue okay and I I do know we have Pro s we haven't voted on yet for arpa for streets is there anything any way that we can replace and what's not necessary at this moment we get grant funding for that because 132nd Street that's it's a Hot Topic and it needs to get yeah as I know we're if Mr Mayor I'm sorry Vice go ahead if I may say I don't know what the true issue is there but I'm 56 years old and I'm here to tell you that that Street has been an issue for over 40 years from a little girl that they fix it and it's it comes right back so if we can be very uh forceful with the people that's going to do the work yeah to make sure it's actually done that because there has to be a problem there and before you before you answer that I know that um and I brought this up before to I know they're working on 27th Avenue and I believe that the city has anou with the county that when they tear up the RADS we can we can build and I know you said that eventually they're going to come back down so when they tear up is there any way that we can tie in in tandem no we're not tearing back up they are not tearing back done they are done um adding the 8 ramps and and the in the cures to the sidewalk what they are going to be doing is removing all the debris from the from the area and the milling and resurfacing of that no no no no I'm talking about the actual artery itself the street itself so aren't they coming back to redig to redo piping no so they're done that part is done yes I wish we would have tapped in at that moment toate draining commission if I can just add the the the other real challenge as we like to say sometime the elephant in the room is when you're coming off of 30th all of those big trucks that are coming from down they make that turn and come up 132nd and so that has a Major Impact going out to 27th Avenue and if you notice a lot of time that street is real Dusty Dusty Dusty because you have all those trucks coming out there so when we mitigate or whatever we do and we put out the RFP or whatever we got to make sure and keep that in mind because it's not just residentials just not the folks come at department or those homeowners with those big trucks are making that turn there they're not going straight out you know to 13 and going down they're making that turn there going out 27 which is a major stress on that roadway so when you get ready to redo it keep that in mind it's not just the drainage part but it's going to be the road because you got heavy trucks that are impacting um on that roadway and as a part of mitigation Mr Mayor and I think you might have mentioned it um in the short term not just 132 but other areas that we know are going to have Heavy Rain whether it's hurricane or not have our pumps on standby to pump that water as best we can um not just there but you got at other areas over uh Ingram Terraces and a couple other areas throughout the community Superior Gardens that I brought up to you um so it's just not a hurricane thing but really heavy rain so I'd like to make sure we have some kind of plan uh in place that when we have those Heavy Rain staff is automatically deployed if you will to those areas to pump that water down while we're working on the big picture the grants as the mayor and the vice mayor mentioning and the overall big picture to pump that water down in the short term because I had some residents too not only talking about 132nd but over Superior Gardens and other places they couldn't get out to go to work because the water was so high they had to call in and missed a day of work because they couldn't get out because the water was so high so I know you're aware where those areas are so please work on that plan um presented the commission or whatever it doesn't require anything to vote on to get that water down um as soon as possible when you have those kind of challenges I think that would be great to at least let our residents and Community know that we are working on it we fully aware of it and we have short-term um challenges that we're trying to address as well as the long-term grant funding and the money that you need for the big project so I hope we can um do that I think all of us agree that that needs to take place thank you Mr Mayor and um in the same vein with commissioner Kelly um talked about and I know we we talked about this actually Contracting with a company that does that work so they're on standby for this when when when need because I know the county is not always available and sometimes I got a call I know commissioner Kelly calls vice mayor calls we all PA and it's we gotta get to you when we can but I did speak to miss gross about that earlier this to address that concern on the city issue an RFP uh recently and this is the the RFP that actually is going to be taking care of 13 second repairs um we will have a contract or a Contractor on a standby for emergencies and for other additional issues such as cleaning and repairing um drainage lines and stuff like that that's yeah that will be coming um to to commission soon water and clean drainage for mitigation as well as preventative and yes um preventative and as emergency emergency okay all right oh that's good to know to the public works department y expedite that that's real good to know I might need a special meeting that thank you all right all right thank you commission William I'm sorry question for Miss Bross hi Miss Bross um question so as we can see by the airport there are like construction Galore happening warehouses all of that um and then of course the thorn in in my side and I'm sure everyone else's has been that that road the stretch between uh alababama between 27th and 22nd Avenue I know from the first day I sat up here I've always talked about that road um and now it is absolutely horrible it is completely it's just pothole after pothole um I I I know that I spoke with Mr Austin four years ago actually um about a special tax for for the businesses that have trucks and that go through and and I don't know if we've ever Revisited if we've ever passed legislation does that need to does does that need to be built and I'm so let me say this I hope upon me leaving that the commission would ensure that that is a part of the agenda a part of the vision um we talk about because we are not getting the amount of money that we can get we are passing and we are allowing through Planning and Zoning we are allowing businesses and companies to build Mo Ware I've passed so many warehouses I don't even know anymore I've lost count but it is just more trucks that are going to come specifically down um atun leun thank you leun and then we're going to be stuck with that bill understood because that because leun is going to look like and then of course now cars Galore so let's get the fact that I don't know what has happened with a June you can't even get through it's bottleneck so June is going to look like the the stretch between 22nd and 27 that we can't get right like I'm we can't get that right um on Alibaba to talk specific about that topic we have several issues that we are looking into so there is poor compaction on the roadway when it was built and there are some drainage issues that need to be addressed on that section but we are waiting for the company to do the whole complete evaluation of that of that street once we receive the contract of course and so we can move forward because roadway has to be improved and as part of that drainage needs to be improved as well and and you're right and so you know the those businesses were built specifically the car lots were allowed to be built there and with these large um tow trucks that are coming through and I remember saying before you know I feel sorry for our Police Department I have to go through there on an emergency call that have to go from you know the west side to the east side and that's the street like um that is the street that you know you're going to go down and to go to the next side easiest the easiest way and I can imagine like what we're paying on tires just for our fleet of cars because I mean you ducking and dodging every pothole it's it's at some point we have to make if you want to do business in opaka then you got to pay to pay to play pay to play and we're just making it so easy for businesses to come into our city without ensuring that they're going to make sure our city is going we can drive through it our own residents who live dayt day they drive through it with their trucks and go somewhere else so I'm hoping like we got to do something Madam manager please I'm begging you we have to do something with these roads I've heard it for four years nothing has happened and I'm praying that the you know and moving forward we fix this issue put that special tax on on these new businesses whatever the business is that have a truck over a certain pound or whatever and make them help us fix these roads because that's what's tearing up the roads so that's that's all I got to say thank you you know how I feel about that I've been trying to get a special texted for the the longest so um I would love Madam manager without going out for RFP or bringing hiring a consultant to do it I think we could do an in-house a feasibility study on what a special taxing district would look like and the pros and cons for the city if you don't mind and you could provide it maybe to the Commission in written form or something like that we'll do all right any other questions or concerns to the manager on her report all right we're going into commissioner B very well done we're going into our um May and commission report um uh we talked about the financial oversight I I'll start we talked about the financial oversight already in your report what do you you want to verbally give an update or um just to add that I did send an um a letter to jayac this week and I also copied the elected officials on it just to give um an update on on our audits on our status and recap on my conversation with them so I just put it in writing okay and we're still on board to on track sorry to have that audit in by December December yes okay and I am excited um Miss Gant that you were able to beef up because you know my concerns you know we have to have an ontime audit yes and audits are due in March but I think they give the extension Miss is it June June June but you know my my wish is that we do it before the granted extension so they they know that opaka is serious about coming from under Financial oversight and also I'll say I think gonna do it but I do it anyway we have the turkey giveaway on the the 21st which is next Thursday so those of our residents that are watching if you do want a turkey it is required that you register you can call um the clerk's office speak to miss m or Mr meesza to register you must be opal Locker resident also Friday we're having the tree lighting ceremony here in the city of opaka and I'm really excited because the tree last year was was was great so I'm praying that this year go be even better she said it will be and I know you hold the commission commissioner Kelly already talked about it hold the commission on the ribbon cutting for Sesame Street Bridge correct next Monday yeah the 25th Monday Monday at 11 a.m. and I'm super excited because I'm tired of driving the long way so I'm happy to see that that is actually under way um so that's it for my report we can start commissioner Kelly then we end with um commissioner Williams Because wait I'm sorry before you say that um we pulled the commission for a special meeting next week Wednesday I believe is that I know you all pulled but I got the poll I just want to make sure yes for so that is happening yes next week Wednesday at 6 6 PM okay for to close out ARA yes all right all right thank you I'm good commissioner Kelly I'm sorry thank you Mr Mayor um I I gave my speech last time for commissioner Williams so I won't go through it just look at the the minutes but again we are going to to miss you and we thank you for your your service I want to thank Vice May Irvin and may Taylor and the manager's office for holding down Farm share on last Wednesday I was just too tired to get there but um I'm glad we're able to continue to do that along with staff and also I couldn't make Bingo last uh Friday night but I know the vice man held it down I also was able to attend the veterans program Mr K I just want to say something I didn't even know it was bigo last Friday I got and normally Vice sit out of TCH you coming to bigo she didn't tell no I I knew it was Bingo but I was too tired I I said it was busy the the only numbers I knew back then was 194 I ain't know no other numb but um I I want to thank for doing that I also attended the veterans program hosted by commissioner um bass honoring our veterans on Monday uh really inspirational to see our veterans and former mayor Riley there and others that were there um also um we didn't have meet me Monday obviously because it was a holiday resume meet me Monday on um in December um we're going to kind of honor our um volunteers to help us throughout the year during our farm share and feeding South Florida events I'll speak more at the swearing in but I want to certainly say thank you to all 1,700 19 voters who thought it enough to support me in my reelection I look forward to working um with this body to move the city forward I know there is a date for the uh swearing in of December the 6 the clerk will be putting it out but I certainly don't take for granted when the voters do what they did in such an overwhelming uh manner from all across sections of this community and I'm humble by their support and continue to look forward to working uh with my colleagues to move the city forward but again thank you for all of your support and I'll speak more about it at the uh swearing in but I got to do a shout out of course for my first lady who's sitting here smiling and frowning at the same time because she don't really want to be here and my son who's watching online and I always like to say I commend those who offered themselves up for service in the caka and um it's not easy task commissioner Williams mentioned and you do have a distinct honor I've been here a long time but I've never been the mayor the vice mayor and the commissioner at the same time so I think you will always have that distinct honor and again thank you for your service and that concludes my report Mr Mayor okay um and before vice mayor goes I do want to say also congratulations we job well done service you did good did good but I also want to say let's keep um commissioner Holmes in prayer we all receive text messages he is good but we just want to make sure that we keep him in he was a little under the weather but he's doing much much better now we just got that testimony of healing and we thank God for that um vice mayor floor is yours okay this would be my last meeting as your vice mayor um I will now be a commissioner I wanted to make sure I cleared that up because the residents didn't understand how Kelly was going to be taking my spot for me that's not how it goes I will be commissioner Natasha Irving as of the next meeting that we meet I have been honored to serve as your vice mayor and to commissioner Veronica over here I will be seeing her often so yeah we're Park p well I'm not a parent but we're we're we're Park parents indirectly so we'll be seeing a lot of each other um I just want to make note because this is the last um I want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving because we won't meet again before Thanksgiving and um December 13th Bingo is holiday bingo um so we're hoping that you all dress up festively so we can have a really big Bingo that evening and um congrat congratulations to uh vice mayor elect Kelly for on his win and the same thing for um uh commissioner Santiago elect uh on his win as well thank you very much and I think that's it for me till next meeting I'm gonna go quickly because I know like my colleagues were all probably hungry and sleepy and the staff been here since this morning so I'm going to go quickly um I just want to say thank you to all of the Departments who participated in our Veterans Day celebration from the clerk's office parks department police department the manager's office thank you all so much it was a success my colleagues and I were there and um let's do it again next year and also I would like to invite the community to come out to our night of Thanksgiving it's going to be Tuesday November 19th at 7:00 at chundi I think this is our third maybe our fourth year of having the night of Thanksgiving and it's basically just a big praise and worship testimonial service on the church girl I know but um I would like to see you all there to come and celebrate with us a night of Thanksgiving and also on November 24th I will be co-hosting [Music] mommy and me brunch with the Lou Foundation at shabi Village you are all welcome to come it will be from 2: to 6: p.m. thank you I guess they say Save The Best For Last I don't know um I do want to personally thank um the mayor and I um hosted jointly a Teen Summit Dating Violence Summit with the top ladies of Distinction which I am a member of um top teens of America the links um it was wonderful to see our Police Explorers on the stage and with the police department um we're going to continue to um let's continue to involve our youth um and and and and our teens and let's just make that a priority and I hope that that continues I want to personally thank Mr Stephen met stand up Stephen stand up Stephen for all the work for the resource Fair y'all get CLA it up resource fair was beautiful thank you so much and the clerk's office I didn't forget I just you know he you know how he is so um thank you all so much for the resource fair I am I am hoping and praying that someone takes the fair the mantle and keep that going make it bigger better um and something that um we do like maybe on a quarterly basis so everyone can be that's just you know just a start but Stephen got the formula so somebody you know take it and and run with it um and um last but not least I want to thank everyone for being my Children's Village um Jaylen is not happy that I'm leaving he he knows that his perks are gone but but continue to shine a light um when I when I started my message was I am opaka I you remember that sha I remember that right Joanna I am opaka and um and I wanted to plaster opaka with those signs right I am opaka because I think that you know opaka already gets this bad rap right this Narrative of we are just slum and whatever and it's like what no we're not we're so multifaceted and diverse and we come from all walks of life and so we are all opaka and I'm so proud to say that and and have um born and raised say that I'm born and raised in opaka so I want to congratulate um the new vice mayor Miss uh commissioner Kelly and um com congratulate um commissioner San dieago um back on the Das and please know that I am here to um you know be your mistress's ceremony for whatever you need I don't know I'm not plugging I'm just telling you what I don't I'm here to support the commission with whatever you need and the city as well so be blessed and have a Happy Thanksgiving Madam vice mayor let me take the moment to thank you for your service thank serving as serving us as our vice mayor female um and also to my new colleagues coming forth commissioner San dieago and of course none other than vice mayor Kelly so looking forward to working with the rest of you and may God bless us all okay you dismiss if I could I know we're doing the street light I mean the uh Christmas tree lighting are we gonna have the lights on 22nd um L to or done will okay want make sure thank you thank you m okay um we have one more thing here and that's um do we have any board appointment official board appointments um no um yes yes everybody's saying no and I'm like not not you vice mayor but around me okay so we received our office received an application from Andrew Herman he w to serve on the community relations Recreation and activities Advisory board however there is one individual appointment as by the mayor and he's not here so I'll bring it up at the next meeting okay okay I think we set a record here tonight didn't we it's 8:55 can I get a motion for ajour to adjourn Mo move it second it it was moved by uh commissioner Veronica Williams and second by commissioner Joseph Kelly good night me the Jour meeting the Jour they have food Guys Somewhere food