e e e e e e e e e good afternoon today is Tuesday May the 14th and you're at the city of opaka uh CRA meeting Madame clerk roll call please board member bass here board member Kelly present board member Taylor present Vice chair Williams present and chair Russell pres um we're gonna ask uh board member Kelly if you would give us an invitation then we'll have the pledge of allei Eternal God our Father we thank you this day we thank you God for all human blessings continue to look over the city continue God to give us wisdom knowledge and understanding do those things which are pleasing in your sight we thank you and we give your name praise in Jesus name we do pray amen amen to the flag of the United States of America for it stands Nation God indivisible andice for we're glad to see everyone here today um as we begin our meeting we want to um say that happy Mother's Day to all the mothers belated Mother's Day hope everyone had safe and Happy Time celebrating a day that's very important in in the world for all the mothers because without mothers it won't be no us so we uh uh take our hats off to all the mothers and we would like to also acknowledge uh in the city of opaka we lost a longtime resident um Miss uh got it just slip my mind Miss yeah Miss Mosley her kids have been involved in uh opaka parks and they also were a part of teen up with Bound for many years so we remember her today and also one of our longtime employees at the city of opaka um Mr MC we uh want to remember him and his F remember his family and our prayers as well oh and I was just informed that today is the city of opal loa's really birthday happy birthday opaka all right all right nobody brought cake nobody brought cake and ice cream um and also uh the month of uh May is also Lupus Awareness Month and as most people that know me know that I have a daughter that has um Champion lupus uh and she's a warrior for over 20 years um the doctors say she wouldn't make it past five and she's gone to almost 25 years so we salute her and all those that are warriors fupas and um uh telling the calls everywhere they go about what lupus does and and especially to the africanamerican community something uh I think it was teacher appreciation month also American Haan American month and um nurses I think it was the nurses month as well so all of these lovely things going on in the month of May and very hot so stay hydrated um are there any add-on items Mr director um Madam chair um I would like to uh withdraw on discussion item Chinese restaurant I would like to withdraw and this is just for a matter of time so that we're not here all night um I would like to also withdraw the update on the tree Grant um I would also like to withdraw the city discussion regarding the city of of opaka parks and in new of taking those three items off I would like to add one item on the discussion which I'll be very quick which is the Rose Titus uh prayer butterfly garden okay so we're removing the parks Dev development item we're removing the tree Grant update and the discussion on the Chinese restaurant and we're adding to it the Rose Garden prayer Garden correct Madam cook I need uh uh attorney I need to a motion to add those to change the agenda to accept yes okay can I get a motion to uh change the agenda mad chair yes sir I will move to make the changes that the uh director uh mentioned the ones who wants to take off and adding the addition one I'll move that that motion P agenda okay it's been moved by board member Kelly second by board member Bass uh roll call please board member Kelly yes board member Taylor yes Vice chair Williams yes board member Williams Oh board member vast here yes chair Russell yes okay we would like to move to the approval of uh minutes from uh the meeting on March the 12th move by board member Kelly second by board member Vice chair William any discussion seeing none hearing none uh roll call please Madam clerk board member Taylor yes board member Kelly yes Vice chair William yes board member bath Yes chairwoman W Russell yes motion passes we're going to open the floor up now for public comments public comments are now open anyone would like to come up hearing none seeing none public comments is now closed uh Mr attorney you can move to resolution number one thank you madam chair um agenda item number one under Section 8 of your agenda first item that we have is a resolution for the opal community redevelopment agency authorizing the implementation of the greens space beautification and Community wellness program Al also known as the thriving together program providing for the allocation of funds and providing for an effective date for your consideration move mve by board member Taylor second second by Vice chair Williams Mr director please um sure thank you madam chair uh this um program that we're introducing would be a um community garden um planting trees and people's homes fruit trees vegetables [Music] um it's part of our objective and objective five of the opaka Redevelopment plan um we have Brian here who who is more prepared to speak about this than I am and and vice chair Williams uh and he can go over the plan with you Brian you want to introduce yourself put your name in uh put your name on the record okay your name for the record please and how long do you think the presentation would take five minutes okay my name is Brian D my name is Brian noise the founder of greenspace initiatives and I'm responsible for the greenspace program in front of you um your address to the record please if you could uh 801 Northwest 67th Avenue speak directly into the mic as well Plantation Florida 33317 um mainly here to answer questions and go over an overview just give you a general idea of what we're looking at I wanted to stress a few points one of which is this is designed to be a community owned project by the end of this start out with some more contractors and everything but phasing through into more and more Community involvement till it's ending to be uh sustainable and perpetuity with community members running it benefiting from it profiting from it and also on the implementation phases I'm a student of the design Theory philosophy you know we're not looking at this is a set in stone end product come out with a series of prototypes a series of Cheaper Investments and pilot projects put them out there see the community interacts with these projects get their active feedback get what they actually desire Implement those changes put it back out through this process we learn more about the community what the community desires the community gets more education on what can be done and on what is going to be done the first is the beautification initiative many Native butterfly garden throughout the city and this is anywhere from 10 to 20 plants and 300 to 500 different Gardens just tiny little gardens wherever there's grassy weedy rundown Sandy little areas instead it's going to be a variety of pretty colorful flowers and then the host plants of caterpillar seed so it's going to be pops of colors and all sorts of shapes sizes textures and then butterflies flying around wherever we can medians right ways schools homeowners properties and then on the food production side fruit trees wherever we can throughout the city wherever they makes sense making sure that the clean fruit trees you know figs leachi stuff like that it doesn't create a mess in certain areas for mangoes and some that are more messy that create hundreds of pounds of fruit educate the community of how to harvest when to harvest when it's going to be in season put some at parks so they go out to the parks purposely to harvest and while they're there they enjoy the parks the community garden sides are visualized as social spaces having tint having shade I've heard mention people decide ing areas where adults can exercise children can play and their shade available that describes these Gardens completely the outskirts being an immersive Green Space Garden the inside having areas of food production where individuals or organizations can have their own plots to grow food they can do whatever they want if they want it for their home usage if they want to donate to a food bank and uh eventually I would like the creation of an opaka crra Farmers Market where some of this food can be sold we have a foam owner's product as well if homeowners want to sell their food there get local farmers in with excess produce that they didn't sell it to others maybe they'll sell it reduced price here can be donated to a food bank can be weekly food boxes which can all be we'll feed will ask the community ask you guys what they want get the feedback development then the urban farm aspect unlocks can be shorter term Lots three to five year leases or ones that the cra's purchase to use in perpetuity these will focus more on maximum frood production less people will visit these sites know people who are knowledgeable who are running it who are training Farm interns who are interested people in the Pro you know in the community who want to you know earn some money and orders get the experience build them up they learn how to grow food they can then be recommended to other Farms or garden centers in the area and this food can be given to food banks given to those in need sold at the farmers market given as weekly Farm boxes to houses in need who need who need some fresh food for reduced rates or again whatever the community ends up deciding that they want to do with it and uh then uh school garden there's the food Force for schools from the education fund they've done 30 different School Gardens throughout uh the Miami County so far fully mature food forests bunch of fruit producing trees which are also shade trees at the same time lower level perennial vegetables vegetable bed butterfly gardens and the students just it's a living classroom for the students they teach them math in certain angles they teach you know photosynthesis stuff and kids get to experience fresh food some of this in some schools are used in the cafeteria lunches to supplement it and they're also a community resource that provide shade to the area they provide beautification to these areas and finally the canopy the tree program we're give a quick update they're not going to know the awarding of this tree Grant until June 28th they're currently under review I don't see why we wouldn't get it it's for $40,000 currently we have where we're planned out what trees where we're going to plant them all that can be modified and then eventually coming up there's the Miami green neat streets program which is $75,000 worth of a grant with $25,000 matching funds required from the CRA for $100,000 more total on Street trees as well if there's any questions that's a general overview of um Madam chair yes board member Taylor okay one of my question was already answered because I was going to ask him about the Urban Garden how it relates to that but then you went into the canopy initiative the grant that we're applying for could you said that at the end does that cover that's one the one that we're going to be applying for is from the county most people get awarded that it's up to $100,000 total they'll provide $75,000 we would provide 25,000 I think you're talking about the 40,000 Grant from 40,000 already for yeah that one we won't know they don't announce the results until June 28th from May to June they're looking at all the applications I was told last year no one from Miami dead was awarded any funds there's no reasoning behind that I don't know what it is but we have a good I mean we have the ideal mix of canopy trees Wildlife trees fruit trees Community involvement so I don't see why we wouldn't get that it's a total of 40,000 with planting and trees and I also believe that the federal government has a program as well that we can apply there are plenty of programs available once we get started and looking there's this is a huge initiative the mayor I mean Miami Harold just put out a series of long detailed articles this is now a priority of the mayor there's um the multi-denominational faith-based group packed people acting for Community together and like 30 different churches synagogues musks all their leaders coming together and they've been holding these leaders responsible talking to the mayor saying you know you have this goal for the past 20 years of plan getting 30% coverage by 2030 opaka is at an 8% tree canopy coverage currently right uh we can do a lot of work towards boosting that and a lot of it also is not rushing the goal we can also aim for 2040 2050 2060 plant out tons of cheap trees as well as these expensive mature trees so that no matter what there will be results okay just go I'm I'm done no I was only going to say about um because you when I asked about the federal government because I know we have they have the resiliency program right that opalo has never took advantage of and when you brought up the canopy initiative that's what brought that to my mind I mean I'm fully prepared to look into every source of funding weend I mean not even just you know the county level is definitely focused on it but all federal level state level everyone recognizes the importance of you know mitigating the heat island effect as well as the healthy food initiative yeah I'm here for it yeah yeah and definitely in the food side I once you start looking there are plenty of places we can grow food once we get it down thank you sir any other questions from board members I I have a question um when you talk about the homeowners um planting gardens within their yard so we you would Supply them with uh fruits and vegetables or canopy trees as well everything the home the specific Initiative for homeowners out as it is designed is to give them everything they need to start growing vegetables in their front yard folks in the front yard just because it's all beautification and everything there's no reason that vegetables can't be beautiful and I can show you pictures food scaping is the concept vegetables are just as pretty as any other plant we'll give them the automatic water timer the efficient drip irrigation tubing so it's the minimum amount of water that they need you can calculate how much goes out the compost The Mulch the soil amendment starting with the vegetable seedlings that they can put out giving them seeds to grow in the future giving them the potting mix the seed starting mix the pots and then the educational component and keeping it going and then the butterfly component aspect the butterfly gardens are essentially just a variety of colorful flowers and all shape sizes textures scent so also having that in a starter package for the front yards start beautifying some of these yards in easy simple manners okay I think I A memory um a few years ago I believe I think it in in North Miami where a lady had a vual garden in front of her house and that was a huge issue M shes M shes it was M shes okay so I'm like the way she she led way she changed a law that allows this to happen yeah they're no longer allowed to band front yard vegetable gardens throughout the state she did like 30 years of gardening her front yard and pots and it definitely shortened her life having to battle it and not not get in it all of a sudden I mean it was beautiful she did it in pot so it could have been prettier but there was nothing wrong with it at all she got outside every day it gave her exercise it gave her social interaction with the community and her neighbors it gave her fresh fruits and vegetables it it was a shame but her lasting Legacy is that it is now signed into the law that you cannot be told that you cannot have a front a and then opalak is a food desert as well is we food desert so I there's no reason we can't grow our way out of that at least partially yeah uh Mr director when are we looking are we waiting on Grant dollars to come in or we is this something we looking to implement soon this is something we're we want to implement now and we will we've already started applying for Grants but if they come they come we would like to start getting this program up and running uh very soon okay okay any other question questions if not um Madame clerk roll call please yes yes yes yes you gotta talk in the mic up board chair Russell yes motion passes 5 Z motion passes motion passes 5 Z thank you um Miss attorney thank you clerk Walker um T number two resolution of the opal um community redevelopment agency further authorizing the implementation of the development assist assistance program and engagement of walor Enterprises not to exceed um $60,000 as detailed in tab number two providing for the allocation of funds for your consideration move it move by board member Kelly second second by board member baz Mr director please um this is a part of our infill housing program uh this is the second grant that we're granting to W Tower Enterprises the first was for the duplex across the street he's already started on working on the and it's almost done frankly with the with this one um and we're just duplicating the same grant that we gave with with that one there would be a Workforce restriction um in the agreement for up to five years what's the workforce restriction the rents can't be more than what the workforce rate is oh okay board member bass thank you you said up to five years yes okay I don't I don't like that up to five years because it can be at any time prior to five years that it's no longer you can say we could say five years I would prefer okay okay we need to make an amendment no we we will put it in the agreement okay okay so uh for five years at least correct at least five years which is a lot for 60,000 bucks but yes yeah that that was my point right there you neverless you ask not because you ask now okay we we're we're anticipating the market going down down this uh there's hope there's hope let's let's let's hope any other questions for uh the manager we know I meant for the director we know the work that Mr wtow has done is doing and if you haven't gone over there in Magnolia North the triangle go over there and look go over there and look at the work that he's done and um he gave us a timeline and that was one of the most important things that he kept that timeline and those places are beautiful people are living in them so that's a plus Obaka we we are doing it we are doing it we are doing it so thank you to Mr wtow board member C yes I I just want to Echo that and the fact that the signage indicates um that the CRA is doing something I know the pictures are small but we've heard so long what is the c doing and believe it or not that's a big step in in putting that out there the fact that Mr our is what I call homegrown and we can see it so I I'm excited about um doing this and also going forward in the in the future and obviously when we get to that point to let us know so we can maybe have even more media there yeah because I my my challenge when I ride through and I see the one completed like you said people are living there um and then he's working on the one across the street or whatever but it's kind of Untold but if they were to start shooting over there you know 4710 and everybody else to be over there but here's a story that needs to be told you know from riding from nashes in that area because you know it like all of us do so I'm excited to see it and and um glad that it's here thank you um Madam chair and the uh I'll Echo the sentiments that Mr wtow is a opal loakan uh and he he reminds me of that you know I grew up right here in opaka so we're glad to see and we're glad to see things that are happening that we're moving some things forward through the CRA um it's it's a great day great day nothing else Madam clerk board member Taylor yes Vice chair Williams yes board member bath yes board member Kelly yes chair Russell yes motion passes 5 Z thank thank you Mr attorney please thank you madam chair moving right along tab number three um the item is the resolution of the opalocka CRA authorizing the director and the CRA attorney to conduct the purchase of properties located at 2145 Alibaba Avenue to include preparing title work to complete the transaction providing for an effective date for your consideration Mr director please yes ma'am um this is um I would like to add an amendment to this one uh this would be subject to the appraisal price um coming in at 350 $350,000 or more uh so I would add that as an amendment to this item uh we were approached a couple of months ago by the 10 North group about um a previous conversation that they had with a previous administration here regarding [Music] um donating basically two lots on Alibaba Avenue to the CRA and if you for your orientation I will I will point you to the chairwoman's office um and there's a park next to her office to the West okay that's there okay and then there are empty lots in that Park there's a there's a pathway a brick pathway that goes to the other Street there's an empty lot there was a structure at this location 2145 um this came up for sale last week two weeks ago as soon as the sign went up we called um because we believe that this piece is critical in a puzzle that could be a part of a future development at that site because the city owns two lots there s North owns two lots there this is one of the private lots that that was owned and the other one was a county lot that was donated to Petal homes so we think that if the city 10 North CRA petal homes get together and do a joint development and this is a major piece to that puzzle so we're asking for $350,000 uh to buy 2145 subject to the appraisal coming in at $350,000 we just didn't have enough time to get the appraisal done and get this approval I'd rather get the approval now subject to what the appraisal says if it's less than $350,000 obviously we would bring that back to you um this would also be one of those properties that we would use as a community garden uh we would own it uh and before we do anything during the planning stages of uh during the planning stages of whatever we decide to do there uh this is a lot this could be one of the first lots that the C owns where we can have a sizable community garden and so we ask for for your approval of this item to purchase 2145 Alibaba Avenue Madam chair Madam chair uh board member Bast and board member Kelly what's the size of that lot one second I would have to uh 4800 square foot 4,800 square feet no it's bigger than that it's a lot bigger than that give me a second I'll get that for you before the end of the meeting all right thank you madam chair um Bo M Kelly thank you um I I would support item with the amendment that was my biggest concern what the appraisal uh would come back but I am of the opinion I've said it many times um in this meeting as well as City if we're going to really change the look the Dynamics the appearance to whatever of our city you got to control the land you got to control the assets and so I think if it comes back uh with the appraisal that the director is is um referring to we ought to buy it um because it is a critical piece in that area if somebody else were to get it and put something there I don't know what the zoner might allow but it probably would might not be something we would want to see in that area given what's already there but if we own it then we control what goes there or maybe not go there for that matter we don't own it so I would be supportive and at the time um after discussion uh comments Madam uh chair I'll move the motion with that um that on of the appraisal after this Madam chair board member uh Vice chair Williams so I Echo board member Kelly that I agree we have got to own land so I'm excited that we move quickly on this um Mr uh manager if you can help me understand uh you mentioned at the top of your comments that tin North group was going to transfer land to the city of opaka but then you mentioned there still holding on to the land so can you help me understand who has the land and what the plans are for obviously 2145 Alabama but the I believe it's the kitty lot that you're talking about correct yes um this was actually brought to my attention through the chairwoman um we had conversations and then she set up a meeting with me and the attorney for 10 North Miss tassis Rodriguez and Miss ta tassis Rodriguez told me that the 10 North group was interested in transferring um those two lots that they own to the C for the only purpose of having a unified development there they didn't want to transfer to us to keep it as a park they didn't want us to you know they they only wanted us to to um to to uh build a unified development with the city and with Peto homes and then there were two private owners that are part of this equation um that I was supposed to go and speak with to see if that was even possible um and we now buying one of those two private people out and we'll be kind we can't get in touch with the other one even though he's in Miami Lakes um but we we're this this is a piece of that puzzle purchasing this to [Music] um to order unified development on that site thank you if any other questions for the director I'm I'm also excited Mr director to see that we're moving forward on the plan that the CRA has of owning land and uh making some development over there in that area I see that a lot of people are riding over there every day looking getting out of their cars asking questions so it uh I'm glad to see that we over pans are trying to uh make sure that we keep the property and the land in our hands as board member Kelly said then we can direct what goes there and what doesn't go there so thank you board member Kelly and uh Mr director if nothing else R mov by board member Kelly second second by Vice chair Williams no further discussion roll call please Vice chair Williams yes board member baz yes board member Kelly yes board member Taylor yes chair Russell yes 5 Z motion passed thank you Mr attorney thank you madam chair tab number four another resolution for your consideration um of the CRA board authorizing the director to establish the residential homes rehab program Mr director you want to tell us about this this basic this is basically to duplicate our commercial facade Improvement program and also replace the um paint pave and something else program that we had um this would be aimed at doing more substantial work on on people's homes uh to replace their windows with impact Windows uh to replace their roofs to fix code enforcement violations um so it would be more substantial work done uh we I think we're asking for how much are we asking for 700,000 I'm sorry $1 million for this project um and we're looking at at least up to $440,000 per home how much 40,000 mam sureair we ask a question yes uh uh board member Kelly then board member tayor um yeah I need a little more understanding how this would work you said that this would be up to 40,000 on a home and you mentioned impact Windows Etc so I need a little more uh simplistic version of how this would work how homes would be chosen and all those kind of things um because we yeah I need a little more clarity on how this process work well we would run this in-house um it we would advertise it like we advertise all the programs and we would put on our website and we done on obviously all properties within within the opal c will be eligible and my intention is that unless anybody have a better idea that it would be on the first come first Ser basis um as far as the improvements are concerned it's on page four of the plan which includes painting of the exterior Landscaping improvements to the facade of the home roof repairs gutter repairs plumbing repairs and electrical repairs and and we're giving priority to those people who are unable to fix code of force violations and by the way the other important thing is this is not for absentee Property Owners you have to live in the home um it has to be a Homestead Property um so but if you have a better way of selecting the homes I was just do it on the first come first Ser bases well that was my next point but you you said have to live in it um for well you said have to be Homestead so that's forever it has to be Homestead uh now okay but how long is it because I've seen where people are are they own it they live there and then next year they're you know they've got improvements or gotten whatever yeah a part of the agreement that they would sign it would be just like the what we just did with Mr walow they would have to stay in the home at least five years we haven't come up with the agreement yet this is just a program they would have to stay in the home at least five years if they sell the home this is how this usually works then a portion of that would need to be paid back uh to the CRA for every year of what what's ever left on it that's how the agreement would uh would work out all a totally solo now got out hear your comments thank you madam chair m board me of I think hel first and Williams okay well commissioner Kelly already um said one of my concerns which is what happens after so how long does the owner have to stay in the home but also this is to the attorney is there a way Mr attorney that if the person let's just say we say you have up to five years that you must stay in the home and we say some language that and c will have first rights of refusal to purchase the home you you can put different conditions on or covenants on on each agreement in regards to um like preventing them from and if they do sell it right that there will be some benefit back to the C but in terms of a a condition for you to have first rer refusal to purchase the home not sure not sure if we can we can do that um in regards to you having the um I'm not sure we can do that okay board member either that's why I wanted to ask and that's my only question but you can do you you can put additionals restrictive covenants on the property to make sure that they don't benefit from the improvements no and I heard the manager talk about the Covenant so I'm I'm I didn't see it in the application process so I'm eager to see what the application process actually mean the application actually looks the agreement the agreement sorry looks like but because I didn't see it I didn't question okay but thank you um we can bring that back we can bring that back for you um the next next agenda Mr manager so in talking about how we give away the funds I would love if we could consider prioritizing seniors uh in the process uh additionally love that we've included impact window installation you know that I um care about making sure that as we are rebuilding these homes we're thinking about it from a green perspective so I would also encourage us to include AC upgrades as well um where possible and then lastly um just to build on the point about kind of making sure that people live in the homes I wonder if there's a way that we are well I guess the question I have is how will we confirm if they still live in the house for five years right so we can put that condition but is there something that we're going to do like send them a revalidation every single year that they have to affirm that they still live there correct okay Madam shair board member of bass you mentioned um $40,000 is that approximately or or is it what is going to be so every home's going to be different and so the idea would be that if it goes above $40,000 for a particular home we would bring that home to the board for approval okay I was just asking because I wanted to know if we were talking about labor at that price or cost or labor and materials both okay and it's up to the consideration is up to 40,000 for that specific property okay and up to 40,000 based on salary right and we don't have to like some homes don't need everything right some homes just need a paint job we pay $1,200 to pay a house that's it um and so not every home's going to get $40 ,000 but for the desperately needed home the most desperate person like I had a you know woman come in the other day who was um you know she heard about the rent relief program and she was like what about us that own here and and have been here and can afford to fix up our homes because we're we're on a fixed income and she's got code enforcement violations um so those would be absolutely by share our priorities elderly people um that we know are going to going to stay in their homes that can't afford to fix up their place but it's a life and safety issue or investing in something that saves them money if you put impact windows in the house your insurance is going to go down your electricity is going to go down that's money back into their pockets so that's what we're trying to do with this program we ask for your approval and one last question Madam um um chair before you call the question uh are we going to use the same contractor for this project we had this issue before when we got before and after picture and they were literally no no so the idea behind this project program is exactly like the uh um commercial Improvement program the homeowner can go on their own and select their contractors or we could give them we could we could send contractors to them um that will do the three bids can for the job can we shepher that process we can actually says that we okay we also give the homeowner the opportunity to do it if they want to as well I don't agree with the homeowner doing it that's just me because again we've been down this road before the lawyers like the homeowners should do it because then the liabilities off us something goes wrong um but we do right I see what you did there I see what you did there Mr lawyer but you know what I mean we've been on this road before we do write in our agreements we do write in our agreements that there's a hold harmless by us choosing uh the contractors well my concern uh Mr director number one is that seniors get especially seniors that have lived in opaka for 30 50 years I would like to see those seniors get priority that live in the um in the CRA area um I five years for me is a short period of time because if you start work and the work takes about a year then they have four years and they can sell the house well it be after the completed permits are done and then that's when the clock will start running you know um are we looking at for instance if you do the house and the person die in the process of the house being done before the five years is up you know and the house goes to the children or they still under that Covenant yes are they going to be held under that Covenant as well yes yeah um when we did the um just for uh for the sake of clarity when we did the uh rental assistance program and a home ownership program I got a lot of push back from people in the community because they feel like it's just uh a free forall give all and that um the people that really need it don't always get it because they don't know about it or they're not really um you know they don't feel comfortable in allowing people to come in and do their homes I have a neighbor on the corner for me you know that really needs some work done but she doesn't feel she doesn't feel comfortable with opaka so in rolling out this program if it's passed we really need to do some Town Hall meetings and whatever advertise M that we sent out please put the boundaries of the CRA because we've had people that uh don't know they just think it's the city and then they apply and they're disappointed you know um I I contact you today with some seniors that had put in applications but they don't live in the CRA and their applications they said have been on they were one of the first ones so we want to as much as can I know we can't clear everything but as much as we can try to make sure that people are informed that it's the CRA area and um put Maps uh landmarks anything to help them identify that what the CRA boundaries are because most people don't know um sometime I have to look it up to see is a house in the OR in establishment is in the CRA area those are my concerns I still have a little problem with the five years but if that's the wish of the board um you know I'll go along but I I I think that's a very short period of time for but you also have to remember it's not a lot of money either so like for example all of these Agreements are going to be different we're not going to put a fiveyear uh restriction on somebody that we paint their house for 1,200 bucks like that that's unreasonable uh so every everyone would be different um and up to $40,000 would be the five you know five years but not everyone will have a restriction because if the work is small then you know it's just something that we're supposed to be doing okay also I would like to ask um if you would I know you can't bring those applications back to the board for us to approve everyone but if we would get an update on a monthly basis of the homes that are being done so that we would know and when we're asked in the community you know we could ride by and see the work that's being done um uh so that information I think is powerful and we as a board being educated on what's being done and the homes that are being done I think it's important so if you would keep us abess on a monthly basis or quarterly basis as to what homes are being done and what area and try to get some of the areas of the the ca that have not that we haven't been in uh or done anything as of yet I see you board member uh Taylor I know you're about to call the question but I'm going to go back to what our um chair always says I would even say in the Covenant agreement that we ensure that signage so this house is being whatever by this opalocka CRA and the sign must stay in the yard yes for the duration of the project and three months after so people know that we rehab this property so to um I mean Madam chair's Point people know that the ca is doing something okay no nothing further we can call for the question please Madam clerk board member bass yes board member Kelly yes board member Taylor yes Vice chair William yes chair Russell yes 5 um Mr attorney we have another one yes I do Madame chair time number five resolution you have call okay yes of the CRA authorizing the director and the CRA attorney to conduct the purchase of property located at 391 opaka Boulevard and 879 fisherman Street to include preparing title work to complete the transactions um Madame chair I'd like to make an amendment to this one as well um I would like to put the purchase price at 1 million 1, 650,000 and then the other Amendment would be that this would also be subject to the appraise value now in this one we do have two appraisals that for whatever reason it's taking a very long time to do I've been promised that I will have them on Friday I've been promised that for the past four weeks um but I told him I told both of them that we have a meeting I know you want to give me all your paperwork and your report but I need to know right now what's the number what is it to praise that so I can at least put it on the agenda um and they told me that was one $1.6 mil 50,000 um so we're going with that number we we will have the official appraisal report so I would admin this also subject to the appraisal U but I know this I know what this number is going to be and that's the number that we offered and I've talked to Mr Bennett uh twice this week and and he's waiting on his Partners um to get back to us but he he believes that it will be a number that they will accept and for purposes the 391 building is the uh an 879 fisherman is the pink building right behind us here and the and the restaurant in the back Madam jar I'm not gonna let you go first you already know I excited about this oh that makes two of us IAS excitement yeah you know have my eye on that property thank you that's all say thank you okay so I will Madam chair I will say that this has the ability to help transform downtown opala and as you know I have been talking about this building for a really long time and so Mr manager thank you for coming in for listening and for making it happen and so uh fingers crossed that you know it all works out I know that this is still early on this is just the first resolution but um our ability to control that property and and activate it will work wonders for our community so thank you okay so nothing else to be said call uh uh thank you again Mr manager our previous uh uh inim director Mr coron he had been back and forth with Mr Bennett for a long time so um uh he did a lot of the footwork but I see uh Mr Walker you came in and you got it done so we are we're excited we're excited about um where the CRA is going and as uh board member Kelly stated before he left when you own property you have to you could set the direction as to where you want your City to go and that is in downtown opaka and you know there's a downtown Redevelopment plan that we have for downtown opaka and it's so glad to know that we're going to be able to control that that corner so anything M bass call for the question please madam clerk that was moved by no you need a motion in a second oh I'm sorry motion second I'm saying who move I'll second okay motion moved by board member teller second by uh Vice chair Williams board member bass yes board member Taylor yes Vice chair Williams yes chair Russell yes motion pass 4 Z and and to be clear that motion included the two amendments that's subject to appraisal report and changing the amount from 1.6 million to$ 1.6 mil 50,000 correct moving right along Madam chair tab number six a resolution of the CRA extending the appointment of Florida strategic Partners LLC as the executive director providing executive director services to the CRA approving the finalization of the agreement for an amount not to exceed $111,000 for said services for your consideration can I get uh um uh Mr direct you wanna um explain this or you want us to just go ready when we originally um I don't want to get into this right now um so we can we can pass it or not pass it but move on uh quickly but we we originally engaged it was for a six-month period that six-month period ended in February so we just want to make sure that for auditing purposes for State compliance that we're doing the right thing so we're extending this contract uh from the February point we are we have and I've talked to the chair about this uh we have spoken with the HR department uh and have started the process and finding you a permanent executive director uh we're also starting the process of finding you a permanent um program manager and CRA manager uh that we've asked we put three requisitions in for that purpose and we hope to start that process fairly soon and hopefully within the next three to four months have candidates for you to um to look after I believe and I told and I tell you this um that I'm not afraid to say when I made a mistake uh when I came in I said that you know we were going to do $199 for all the employees because we're going to save money and we are saving money because we're not paying health insurance and we're not paying taxes and so forth we're not paying retirement so we are saving money in that instance but I truly believe that opaka c deserves people and a staff that's focus on opaka SI full-time and only uh I'm here every day uh our staff is here every day um but I also have other cities that I have to focus on as well um and so I I I truly believe that I can still remain and help in a in a in a in an assisting role um but you really do need your own permanent Focus only on opaka CR executive director and we'll get into that process later right now we're just doing this uh for compliance Madam chair [Laughter] board member Taylor you're gonna apply right I would just ask the question that everybody want to know I I I I may apply what I don't want is this you know happen we don't have to go into it but I don't want I don't want I don't want this this uh this uh what do you call it the interim interim yeah it needs to be permanent permanent somebody has to have it permanent and I and we may apply who knows uh but the interim need to be taken off and we need to have the ability to move forward um but we'll see what happens any other discussion Madam chair I've already uh he knows how I feel so I've already seen board member Vass thank you um the extension how long is it um the attorney put it until I put it until August the attorney put it until December of this year so that gives us that gives us time to uh to go through the process remember bass which one is it it's December okay was my recommendation to you for consistency this fiscally cleaner okay thank you okay call for the in no other concerns let's call for the question it was it moving second no okay can I get someone to move it please move second move by board member Taylor second by Vice chair Williams can we uh have the question Madam clerk board member Taylor yes Vice chair Williams yes board member bass yes chair Russell yes four out of zero motion passed okay mam ch um Madam Shar that the last item for consideration before the discussion items is it's it's one that's very important to this board board is a resolution of the CRA authorizing the transfer payment of a total of $115,000 to the city for the provision of Services of the office of the city clerk to the CRA can uh uh Mr director can you give us a little background on this um in August of um 2023 the clerk took over responsibility for clerking this board before that was done inhouse by the C clerk um and she did a excellent job uh she has maintained our records in the appropriate way uh where we can find things and go back and and and U figure things out where right now we're having a hard hard time um figuring out some stuff in the past because we just don't know where it is um but she is you know overworked she has a lot on her plate uh and this was an extra extra thing that she was doing for us without a formal agreement and she wasn't getting paid um and so it's not up to us to pay her because the services were provided by her department and so what we're doing is transferring this 15,000 in lie of the services they rendered to us between August and tonight uh this would cover the that and then Peggy uh will now be assuming and she's been trained and will continue to be trained U by the clerk um and she will be assuming her responsibilities and this would clear this up everybody's happy uh and nobody's being treated unfairly um by feeling like they're working for free sounds good and um I know that the board all of the board members appreciate the city clerk and the great job that she did and making sure that records were in place and things were done and the training of of of Miss Peggy and um she told me that it's it will be ongoing she will continue as much as we need her assistance she's here to assist us so we thank uh Miss Flores for all that she do through her office and um sometime money mean doesn't mean as much as letting the person know how much you appreciate what they do so um anyone else if not we're going to go ahead and call for the uh was it moved no move by move it move by Vice chair uh William second by board member bass call for the question please Vice chair Williams yes board member bass yes board member Taylor yes chair Russell yes motion pass 4 Z okay Mr that's it um yes ma'am so uh on to discussion items um so we only have two discussion items left we withdrew the other discussion item and I just want to um explain something some of you were on an email chain that went out earlier this week week uh Miss Rose Titus who's here former commissioner uh she sent out an email blast I would say to a whole bunch of people uh asking about the status update of her um butterfly garden and prayer Center um and and then there was an email back and forth with the manager myself Miss Titus and so I just wanted to explain to the board uh from my perspective uh this issue with the butterfly garden and I've learned more since meeting with uh Dr baz I've learned even more about the process to the fact that she was the sponsor of it which I had no idea um but there's a piece of city land within the city of opaka that's owned by the city of opaka at some point the city of opaka commission decided to name that piece of land as the rose Titus prayer Garden butterfly garden and then at some point in the summer of 2023 the CRA decided to pass a resolution to have Fairchild Botanical Garden curate this space for the CR and for the city in July that was in June in July the Fairchild tropical garden sent a letter again not addressed to me this is before we started it was addressed to the former director and the letter basically said before we can do the work that you're Contracting us to do there's certain things that need to get done infrastructure wise at the at at at the space some some uh you know sprinklers electrical lighting fencing fountains things like that because you don't want to plant what they were going to do spend $30,000 and then later you come and tear everything up by doing the infrastructure and so that's what we understood now initially when we first got this contract my partner Ado was dealing with Fairchild tropical garden on this particular issue and so we have communication with them and what they wanted and what they needed now the manager says that I've never talked to him about this before um but in fact in September in our first meeting that we had we had a number of items on the agenda and one of those items and Adam o my partner was in the meeting was this part and what should be done because here are the things that fair child tropical garden need in order for them to do their work this is not a c property it's a city partk and so what I conveyed to the manager at that point in September was how would you like us to proceed it's your property so if we do the work if we go out and hire the contractors you would need to give us permission to go on your property to do that or you can give us the scope of work with pricing and you give that to us and then we can transfer the money to you and you do the work at that point there was no real discussion about the item October November December goes by Miss Titus is still calling the CRA asking for updates and so when I have my second and only meeting with the city manager again this item was brought up this time I had my staff member uh Sandy dorsonville in that meeting and again we asked this is the mayor's phone [Laughter] sorry like it's a fire drill or something fire drill sorry I just you right sorry Uncle I'm glad we got uh some humor in here go ahead I mean it's not it's it's really I just want the board to be aware where we are we are open but also to clear up that to say that this issue has never been brought to the attention of the administration okay is okay not the case and we stand ready to assist in front of Miss Titus who's here in any way possible if the city tells us that you know how much it costs then we'll transfer the money if they tell us that we should do it then they should give us permission to do it but we need to know it's not our land we didn't make the dedication the only thing that I have authoriz oh and by the way the only thing that I have authorization to do is to pay Fair child tropical garden I don't have authorization to do the infrastructure work that needs to be done but I offered to do that because I'm sure that if we have the money that I could come back to this board and get approval to do also the infrastructure work so I don't know where the confusion is um it's cleared up now okay it's cleared up it's cleared up and and and by the way I think uh uh Dr baz who met with me and Miss Titus and uh she cleared a lot of things up for us as well and then I met with Dr Bass alone and we have um we've also cleared it up between us and we know the way forward okay all right well uh that that being said that's not something that we have to vote on no but I would like Dr Bass would you like to have anything to say because I know that uh you work diligently to get that uh designation uh uh of a prayer guard um for uh commissioner Titus so uh would you like to have anything to say before we move on and we're get the process is gonna get started thank you madam chair first let me say thank you to everyone who had a voice in making this happen for commissioner Titus um I'm not going to say too much because sometimes less is more I will say to commissioner Titus be patient let this take its course it's going to happen don't sweat about it it's not necessary we're going to work with the city the city is going to work with the CRA and we're going to make it happen so just rest assure it's gonna happen maybe not at your pace but it's going to happen and now that it has already been ignited that we're on top of it again it's gonna happen okay it's gonna happen that's all I wanted to say thank you uh uh Mr director and board member bass and I'm glad to see that this is being worked out and I know on the when uh commissioner uh when board member has take off her CRA hat and put on her commission hat she's working on it on the city side and she's also working with you uh Mr director on the CRA side to make sure that it gets done so it's going to get done and um uh I can't give a date a process of time but uh we on top of it we're on top we are working on it I mean even Brian can tell you that you know I had him look at this also because I mean as far back as last September um to see how we can help put butterflies in this place um and we we stand ready to to help in any way we can if it was our property we would we would do it uh if you want to give us permission to do it we'll go and do it and that's and that's all it takes uh Madam chair the next item is the last item um is discussion item we had a request from um what's the name name of the company integral yes integral Florida before you start I need to uh recruit myself if you recuse yourself we don't have a core but we're not voting we're not voting there's no need to rec we're not voting on it's just dis I am asking for a vote oh I'll let you discuss that with the attorney I have no idea what the conflict is so maybe someone could explain there there I I can't say that it's definitely a conflict but it may have the appearance of a conflict and I rather shown the very appearance of a conflict so um I didn't know it was a voting item unless I would have asked us to move it up to the top of the agenda while Kelly while uh board member Kelly was here yeah uh the vice chair just pointed out something um that is correct I'm GNA double check but uh I can actually do this on my own I I told you I think that that could have been done without the board's approval um but I don't like doing things like that on my own you want to bring everything to us we understand and we appreciate that we apprciate so for the purposes of discussion uh ingal is developing a property what's the address again I'm still I'm going to walk out okay okay that's fine yeah bro please you're R my my apology good evening Madam Vice chair members of the board Mr uh attorney Mr executive director Aon mckenny with integral Florida office is located at 69 Lincoln Road on Miami Beach 33139 uh yes so the request in front of you is just a simple request for uh demolition uh so as we mentioned or Mr Walker mentioned uh we're redeveloping the former Jackson Health Maternity Ward on 147th and 27th Avenue we actually just had our groundbreaking ceremony last week although not much of a groundbreaking considering we're already on the third floor but the the request was for partial demolition as you all know there's a current Improvement on the site slightly obstructing the way which we're going to be constructing the parking lot that is an owner's item it was never part of the GC budget we're just trying to offset some cost so we thought we'd come to the CRA requesting $25,000 to help us out with the Demolition cost of that partial portion of destructure um there's a packet in front of you with all the details of the plan we'll gladly share if there's any more questions that are with regard to the plan that's in front of you but very straightforward question we're just asking for support for the C to help us out with someing Madam yes I'm not opposed to it however are we doing the demolition or we are transferring we've already covered so we're being reimbursed just a reimbursement y of the cost and it's this you said it's the in the parking lot but it's not the hospital itself right it's not the hospital it it was uh it was I'm imagining just because of the construction of it uh like the carport or ambulance Port that was intruding into our actual property so that would be the east side of the building that would be the north side of the building there's a small not even maybe that little building that was right to tear out to make for the driveway okay and you're asking the for 25,000,000 reim y any other questions congratulations on the ground breaking thank you so you just submit me a letter and like the same letter and the backup plan and will and whatever cost you had will reburst okay and you're going to allow us to put a sign on your gate said that this property was [Laughter] D if M Russ said that's what she would ask for so thr it up there I think that's the last discussion item right okay so any board comments um I will say this um Mr director he's getting for chair I know we've been making a joke about the signs all night however I just want to say driving down 27th Avenue and looking at the banner that you WRA around the restaurant was extremely impressive because it lets this and everybody has been asking what are you all what what are you all putting at that restaurant so it started the conversation here in the city of opaka so I just want to let you know how thankful I am that you put opalak the CRA well you're about to get signed out because uh we are ordering um we're putting in an order for the commercial rehab projects that we're doing um which is approximately 10 commercial buildings uh we're ordering signs for all 10 of those spots that's great to let people know that re rehab rehabilitation of this building is coming and is sponsored by the OC so you should be seeing those in the next uh couple of weeks I'm excited so thank you for that I just want to say uh uh uh my family members have said wow uh what's going on in opaka I see that sign around the building um I got a call yesterday from somebody what are y'all doing with that Chinese restaurant so signage means a lot and um just to bring attention and uh when you get started I know that you're doing something at that uh liquor store I'm we're putting the first payment in for the windows the windows went in today that was for $35,000 so you should be seeing impact windows at that location soon the sign will be replaced the parking lot will be done so that's the first check that we're going to write to start this process and when we go to do the uh ribbon cutting Miss Russell you going buy some communion I'll go there to get my communion get my communion drink while I'm there okay but you won't see me just tit totting in there but I want it to look nice so I'm looking forward to uh to that um someone said something to me today they said they put up a fence around their house and their neighbor on the side of them fence was down and their neighbor went and fixed their fence and then they cut their trees so when you do something and people see it then it encourages others to do it as well so uh thank you uh Mr director um I think that the will of uh for myself and board member Kelly we're one of the ones that have been on the board the longest when we didn't have any money we were here on the CRA board board so to see things begin to move in the CRA um I am I am happy um commissioner tius as well was a part of the CRA when it first was formed and we didn't have any money we used to just come and meet and a lot of the board members wouldn't come because they said was nothing to do so they wouldn't come to the meetings but uh thank you so very much for the work that you're doing and just to give you an update you should see paint on the Annex Building of Jackson Soul Food 2 with a new awning you should see paint at Jackson Soul Food 2 you should see paint at the Bell Mr ball Mr ball sorry Mr Ball's building um you should see windows in the liquor store all within the next couple weeks wow and then we then we're working out we couldn't get everything done for this meeting for I think it's three other uh three other locations but we're working on agreements on their separate agreements and we'll bring those back we may actually the thought was May call a special uh c meeting in May before your next commission meeting um so that you can just approve those three locations um so we could get those started and not wait until the June meeting but that's just a thought that may come your way uh just to get those three items done for the for the next week which would be the restaurant I think there's a Dominican Restaurant up front of the school here on Alibaba next to the car wash Miss Den Le's um place over here uh and M what is Miss Denise Le's Place Miss Denise Lee is on the corner right here which is the print shop DC print shop oh okay DCC print shop in the restaurant and then the church has an Annex Building um that we're going to start cleaning out and you're F you're Church where Bank the bank the old historic Bank oh okay the historic I'm sorry you say You're Gonna clean it out yeah it has hundreds of I mean thousands of bottles of some type of soda wow and what are we gonna do with I guess they'll use the building but we'll just clean it out for them it will be a community space uh they're looking at doing like a community meeting space with a small theater so it'll be like a theater where you could go view movies uh and also um change into a community space where the people can have meetings or rent out for parties C Art Center yeah I love it please sounds good sounds any anything else for Mr director we we have a guest here in the meeting uh tonight just just tell us who you are you got to speak to the mic we love to see people come we don't get people that often yeah good evening my name is Samuel hippolite I'm a program manager at FIU uh we have a program there uh called Neo help where we assist people in the community I am assigned to opal Loa so uh we servicing uh people in the area and I'm I've always been interested uh in op Loa the history and how it's being developed and I've been decided to attend those meetings and see how things are going okay and then share anything that I may have with you guys okay and any any the way the program works is people who needs uh assistance we function as uh Outreach uh we recruit people in the community and uh as sign them a specific Outreach uh member where they uh assist them if they don't have health insurance we have a mobile health clinic located in uh Miami Garden they can see Dr free of charge and uh and an Outreach member where they can social social services so uh make sure you share your card with our Clerk and um so that the our director will have it on um on a file so whenever we need a you have anything that's going on you can share it with them and they'll share that information wonder sometimes I participate in events and then that's one of the reason why I participate in meetings and say uh what you guys are going uh to have in the future so so I'm excited to keep coming in person because I I attended like via Zoom last time and coming in person I think it's it's way better yes thank you thank you I'm glad that uh you told us what you were here for motion to adjourn motion move second motion by board member uh Vice chair Williams second by board member Taylor