##VIDEO ID:W0j-9qeevio## w w w you yo come here come here come here got it got it flag that part sit in the front speak good evening everyone regular Commission meeting mon meeting date Monday February February 3rd 2025 at 6m commission Chambers 500 Southwest 109 Avenue roll call Madam clerk know the absence of commission of R thank you madam clerk so let's uh stand for invocation and Main standing for in Pledge of Allegiance vation Marcus thank you Mr President dear heavenly father thank you for the gift of life thank you for granting us the gift and privilege of service service before self in our city the great city the city of Sweet Water please continue to protect our residents spe specifically those residents who are going through a very difficult time right now continue to bless our law enforcement our firefighters our First Responders and the greatest military in the world and continue to bless the United States of America in jesus' name I pray amen amen amen I PL to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right Madam CL do we have any uh special presentation no pres thank you uh presentation of Employee of the Month award have one the presentation of Employee of the Month award no okay presentation of Officer of the month award good evening everyone um I uh I'm going to make a presentation of our officer of the month by the way Noel Gil uh Deputy Chief of Police for the city of Sweetwater 500 Southwest 109th Avenue uh the presentation will be kind of made in absentia because our detective is working on another hot case that he needs to take care of but nonetheless we'd like to recognize him uh on this date so basically on December 14th 2024 a 16-year-old female was dropped off by her father at Dolphin Mall to hang out with her friends the juvenile's father returned to the mall at approximately 10:30 and was unable to locate his daughter the father tried to contact her and her friends and called approximately 37 times due to the daughter being known to spend time away with her friends the father waited to report her missing until Monday December 16th on Monday December 16th detective dorley was assigned as the lead investigator of the case and showed strong commitment in finding this individual and began his investigation he quickly entered the juvenile into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement missing and endangered person's Information clearing house on that same day detective dorley went to the juveniles uh school and met with the Miami Dade school police resource officer who assisted him in locating her and her friend arriv at the school in hopes of locating the friend the school advised him that the juvenile was a student at the school and was enrolled in home school program the school aided in providing valuable information which led detective dorley to the resident of the friend after meeting with the friend and the mother of the friend he was able to get pertinent information regarding uh the day of the events once again he was contacted by his by by this friend and the missing juvenile who informed him that she had gained access to the friend's social media and that there was conversation asking her boyfriend to pick her up from the Milton Fountain Blue Apartments utilizing this information detective dorley and the friends uh were able to locate the apartment in question detective dorley along with other members of our priority Service Unit went to the location where they were able to find the uh Missing Juvenile and return her to her parents on December 18th with that said it is uh we recognize detective dorley for his outstanding effort and commitment in locating the juvenile we recommend him as officer of the month for December 2024 for his exemplary service in this case his actions are worthy of commendation detective dorley is currently working on another case we were hoping to get him here today but he's busy on the road doing some interviews thank you Chief Gale all right uh so we have reports of officers boards and committees thank you good CH uh go ahead Mr Marty just want to remind you if you can remind the folks in the audience if anyone wants to speak they should sign up now there's been a lot of folks that have come in and maybe they just don't know the procedure so that we don't have an issue again yeah so if we have anyone that would like to speak today for their three minutes no okay gra uh additions and deletions to the agenda Madam clerk none uh petitions Communications or remonstrances Mr President could you please say it in Spanish slowly so they understand if they would like to speak this is a time that they could speak sure once again to follow up two it's three is a three could you also explain back and forth yeah uh let know in Spanish about you want to do you want me to do it in Spanish well it's actually the commission president yeah yeah no that's not accurate isn't it let's not say that we're rest people from Talking let talk through the chair go ahead Mr President just um to save time we can have the document be somewhere else and the person that wants to speak they can come up however many people it is that's just my recommendation you're the presiding officer you decide what you want to do that's fine they want to keep this the paper there that's fine yeah Madam clerk is she'll be handling the time she'll alert us when the 3 minutes are over and the next person will come so for for all right so the files been Clos all right so I have first I have Maria Maria see can someone help her with translation please EXC oh there we go yeah thank youas no no no I'm just G so does she get six minutes then three three three and then three for the translation no no it's three minutes three minutes even with the translation yes every it's everyone I got to give everyone an equal time um as Commissioners um her question is how how did y'all allow for the displacement to occur and what is she and the folks who live here what are they supposed to do with $14,000 what is the strategy or what is the what is it that y'all are prepared how are you prepared to help the residents of Lil Abner um given the circumstances of everything that's going on for for for she's a single mother she has lived there for a long time her trailer is valued at $42,000 um she put every cent into the trailer and when she when she moved into it it was already not movable it was a trailer that's not movable so was already there for the Long Haul um her question to y'all is what is the response by the commission board for the people who are going to be displaced there's nowhere else for them to go there is not these are people that have put their savings into these trailers and who have built this community and made it safe the folks that left a lot of them displac and unhoused at this point many of them don't know what they're going to do um and a lot of the people here as well they don't know where they're going the reason for that is because this um displacement happened in in a in a very um unethical fashion folks were told just before Thanksgiving that they were that they needed to leave and there has been no um recourse and no uh plan as far as the city goes as to how these people are going to live when they leave L Abner so her question to y'all is to put yourself into the shoes of a fellow human being because everyone there is a fellow human being who deserves dignity and what is it what is the response to her as to where is she supposed to go what what help is the city of Sweetwater going to give the residents who are going to be displaced to have nowhere else to go through the chair through the chair I'm gon respond in English so everybody understands the legal process uh first and foremost to those of you in the audience there is a pending lawsuit and litigation involving the city of Sweetwater and a class action lawsuit with the residents of the ad home based on litigation anybody who knows basic law nobody is supposed to say anything you guys have all the right in the world to speak you guys have all the right in the world to be heard you have all the right in the world to scream I can tell you wholeheartedly that we sympathize and empathize with what's happening to you but there are certain things that are out of our control that being said I'll Translate in Spanish but first I'd like to make a recommendation to the presiding officer Mr President you are the presiding officer of this meeting I recommend that we listen to everyone and at the end if anybody wants to make a statement because if we go into a back and forth we're never going to get anywhere it's just my recommendation it's just what I've seen give everybody ample time as a matter of fact the three minutes surpassed and the president did not stop her so thank you Mr President for allowing to do that thank you for your p if I can remember what the hell I just said for Mr President and without a youth Okay so Carl Carl Fran okay the this city is facing the greatest humanitarian Christ oh Carl Mueller uh 275 font blue Boulevard this city is facing the greatest humanitarian crisis in its 85 year history a human tragedy of biblical proportion there's 900 families of the little mobile home home park approximately 6,000 of the city's residents uh an estimated uh 15% of the S water that is being forced out of their houses I began my activism in uh little Abner in 2017 and recently when I walked those streets it is sad to see the empty trailers the broken families temptest tossed with nowhere to go Mr Mayor many of you Commissioners were out there have knocked on those doors of those trailers during the election time now the citizens the residents of little Abri are coming here knocking on the doors of City Hall asking for assistance there's obviously there's as commissioner Mar m said there's there's current current litigation going on and those are the judge is going to decide that's legal Le but that doesn't take away from the human suffering of the community the Builders of the builders that want to redevelop little Abner talk a lot about Workforce housing affordable housing but I think it's important that we should talk about if we have to close the park for fair market value for the owners of the trailers uh an average trailer in little Abner is about uh $50,000 the Builder was offering a 60 $16,000 buyout so the difference is only $34,000 which and there's only about 200 family families left so the difference is about $6 million and I know that many of you Commissioners are friends with The Bu the builders uh he's made generous donations to campaigns and I think that we need to work with him to to bridge that Gap that this very small Gap and the project of this scale it's a small amount considering the overall construction cost the new tax revenue that the city is going to be collecting and more important the Special Value that the 900 families of little lab have brought to this community there's no way that we we're going to be able to take away the pain of these people losing their their homes for many years but the I think the least we can do is to help ease their suffering with a little bit more time and a little bit more money one Norway FL Lane okay so every 10 words if he can translate Thank you Mr Pres Co um he's here to speak on behalf of the suffering and also the emotional toll that this project has had on the residence of L Abner there have been already multiple deaths um when folks are being displaced and are uncertain of what the future future holds for them uh it takes a lot of stress on the body um Diego Valdez recently passed away a couple of days ago um he was a Avid protester and so he's here to speak on that as well that just from a humanitarian uh standpoint it's important to acknowledge that this needs to stop that this uh this aloho this uh displacement needs to end um because of the Unseen toll that this is e B for em m um he's arguing that this isn't about the right for the private property or the owner who owns the property to sell it he's arguing that this has repercussions that are much bigger than just the plot that is being being redeveloped the people who are there there's there's going to be social political um uh consequences to what's happening in the way that these folks were displaced um the children who had to leave uh whose parents had to sell their property under duress even though they they signed a page that was 33 pages long um saying that they were handing over their trailers they did so under duress and so um he's here to argue that um folks should have been given the opportunity to leave this place with dignity that the um the developer had the opportunity to uh do so in a more respectful way not in the way that that it was done um he's not arguing that he doesn't have the right to do it but rather that this should have been done in a more thoughtful way um and that these are going to have long-term implications not just for for the people who live there but also for the community at large because this is a big population of people that live there um the kids uh the the trauma that has been faced by the kids of Sweetwater um because of this is something that is not going to go away overnight um The Bullying that they might face in school the um uh the capacity for them now to be in situations that are unsafe maybe uh leading into a different kind of lifestyle that that would have been avoided had this been done in a more thoughtful way um I think you covered real quick go ahead uh might hey can we get clarification if it's possible for them to just do it in Spanish because the translation isn't really working we can't no we can't we have to by law do it so we have a representative on we don't have a translator so what this point if I correct Mr talk about the translation yes it it must be done in English and then through a translator through a translator on it can be done in Spanish to to English all right I'm sea Guadalupe I reside at 93 Sweetwater technically I'm in um uh unincorporated Miami dat but I'm here as a neighbor um as a friend um I am a canvas for Lil Abner um I'm volunteering to help folks understand what's going on in the situation um and I'm here as a concerned citizen of the greater Sweetwater area um what's Happening Here is not only going to affect the people who live in the L Abner mobile home Community it affects all of us because these are our neighbors these are our friends um one of the things that's been happening recently that I've seen with my own eyes um as I've been walking in the neighborhood one of the things that I've seen is uh demolition um trucks demolition trucks it's supposedly at this point there should not be any demos going on I don't know if this is an intimidation tactic by C eii Holdings to have these be paraded around like folks have already said um the psychological toll and the emotional toll that this is taking on folks is very high and so to see a a a demolition uh you know truck even if it's not doing anything is uh is an attack on folks well-being um but beyond that the trailers that have already been demolished um those were demolished without any any thought as to what was going to happen with the particles that are being in that are being um uh people are being exposed to in the air to asbestos it was only four trailers that were demolished if this goes moves forward it's 900 right 900 different units that are going to be demolished and so what is the city of Sweetwater and even Miami did County how are they prepared to mitigate the environmental effect that all of these particulates are going to have on the people of Sweetwater um what is the plan because it seems like folks are saying and and you know uh with your with your respect the commission says that we're unaware we were unaware of what was going on and we don't have the capacity to speak on this but it is y'all's responsibility to take care of the residents that live here in Sweetwater and so this is an environmental impact that is going to affect a lot of people that has already affected a lot of people because four trailers have already been demolished and so um that's some a food for thought I know you can't officially say anything but I did want to say it on the record last week I came here as well to speak on this another thing that has been going on is that now C Holdings has the um they in their possession they have all the trailers that folks already abandoned that already already left right and these are not being upkept so the The Lawns are not being cut uh for people are breaking into these trailers and stealing people are squatting in these trailers and the people who are here still live here and so they deserve safety and they have not been um they have not been given any safety by the city for the for what's going on C Holdings has a responsibility to upkeep those trailers to upkeep those trailers for as long as it's in their in their control and they're not doing that so the city of Sweetwater uh is responsible for keeping folks safe while they still live there and also upholding the trailers that are still there and um taking into account what is going to happen when these are eventually demolished what is the environmental impact that's going to happen thank you so much thank you J uh next is Indra Palma okay okay oh see what I said to her was that I'm going to give her so she can say a few words and then have the translator speak so it won't take that much time it'll be a little shorter than before thank you okay um I'm here with a heavy heart today um and but with hope um I'm here not because I want to be but because I need to be um and um because of the displacement that's happening in my community what for some is a simple transaction is the lives and the livelihood of many many in this community um we uh people have have constructed their lives here for many many years and for generations and this is not just where they live this is their home and we are scared of what the consequences are when we must leave our community today is in morning we have lost a lot of folks that live here um because of the un certainty of what is happening to us and also I am somebody who is able-bodied and young and I can take a lot however um my mother has a heart condition and there are many folks like her who are in who are Elders who are who this is um hurting very much this isn't just about losing uh the roof over our heads it's about losing our stability and our peace and and the security that each of us deserves we're here asking you to listen to us and to see us as what we are human beings neighbors and members of this community who only want to live in peace we do not ask for favors we ask that that y'all who have the capacity to do something about this do what is right okay okay okay in for Thanksgiving um we've paid uh what we're due to pay and um we we would like to know why and how you all allowed for this to happen the way that it did and folks were buying new uh were were newly buying territories and they were not told that this place was going to be developed that should have been halted the same way that if something happens and that y'all have to inform us this could have been done with a lot of time and anticipation to let folks have the capacity to be able to um uh find new new places to live but this was done in a way that that was not ethical Mario Lea Mario Lea Mario name and address for the record please uh my my my name Mario Lea I live in 112 through2 Northwest s I'm forced to be here and thank you for your for your time and your attention and hopefully you'll be able to help us it's a difficult situation it's not an easy solution and you need to be wise to solve this kind of problem I requested last time to uh to give us uh free not a fre land but they call a public land we might be able to establish our home in those places and to pay for the land we're not asking for this time but that that it's just a a request and an option that if you consider you might find that this is a solomonic solution I don't pretend to be Solomon but I think will be happy with that don't you guys would you agree if we get a place where we're going to have our own land we'll pay for it if you help out with that that would be very nice and uh my special request is about the uh uh the treatment of the police of the police some of them have been very um excessive in the use of the authority let's say authoritarian and some of them have been very helpful so I I see both sides of the coin and I appreciated the guy who was been uh being nice or supportive or at least they not been abusive but I call three days ago because the demolition truck was popping a a do into my home and and after three day it was too much and I was destroying the the tree on my my on my yard and the guy H didn't take the case just offered to tame in the jail for no reason and it was just authoritarian basically and his name is uh he didn't give me his his number because he he it was too much for him to do that in any case I I just requested a a citizen complaint for but I will present a a complaint on this person because he didn't give me the number it was too much for him to do that too much uh for a a mighty power person he had the feeling of being a superior being which is a a mental problem in my opinion but in any case after three days of no sleeping as a consequence of that interaction and I have lost about 15 pound in the last two month it's very uh frustrating and dramatic for me I lost my ability to work after two operation on my spine I'm disabled for life and uh it's it's touching it's difficult to to go through that but it I hope you can help us and uh the public land will be a I think get the option that the option that I want you to consider carefully and help us with the police not to be too aggressive because we're not uh in our best time we're not having probably our best judgment and we're making some mistake too but we have to cooperate and be supportive and and be uh just be comprehensive of the situation all right thank you Mar thank you very Mario I have Ben okay he's lived there for a year and a half he paid $100,000 for his trailer um his plan was to live there in peace and he's not been able to to enjoy the space um he moved a year and a half ago and there is proof that the movement that is happening to create affordable housing um in this area uh happened uh was already happening the wheels were already in motion two years ago for spee or more dollars um his petition is that this there should have been um the option for folks that are already living in L Abner to actually have affordable housing there um and to pay what they're paying at this point which is $1,180 those that are already in the middle and 2,000 the ones that are in the corners um to make this truly affordable housing that is an option that is necessary for the folks that are living there he is live lives there with his wife um and they don't know where they're going to go after this and he has never had to take any medications in his uh in his lifetime as he's had to in the last few months because of the nerves and because of the um stress of the displacement for what we're looking for is Justice not a handout um um we ask that with your power um and your influence that um you make it a point to make sure that folks have a roof where they can lay their heads when the situation is said and done folks are not asking for a handout they're asking that there is that there are reasonable options for them um once this uh the air they can no longer live in their trailers um that's not only the fair thing to do it's the uh it's Justice for them who have put so much time and um effort into creating this community and making this community safe um the same way that everyone in this room who is behind the uh you know in the position of power can go home and lay their heads and rest the folks of low avner also deserve to be able to go home and lay their heads and rest um if that means talking to the developer and petitioning for affordable housing to be made available to them then that is what should be done do anyone anyone else to speak no thank you go ahead Carmen can you please have him sign in I so you'll be the last one and if anyone had something can you pass me so person last person has Francisco for for speee Fore um he wanted he sold a different trailer that he had and he came to this area to buy another trailer because his son was going to school at FIU um and he realized that he could not buy the the trailer from the owner directly had to go to the office and at the office that's where they were that's where the money had to go for for he was working on the trailer when he received the message that or the letter that they were going to be displaced he'd only been there for a month and a half and legally um folks should not have been allowed to buy trailers if the plan was for this um uh eviction these evictions to happen he was barely there um when this happened and uh he got the the news from his son while he was working on the trailer um that they were going to have to be evicted after he had put um a lot of his savings and money into into purchasing it in the first place so why did the office accept his money why did the office make that sale knowing that less than a month and a half later they were going to be evicted fore way for person person foree what he would like is first to know why it was uh still why he was still able to buy a trailer knowing that folks were going to be displaced so soon after he paid $160,000 for his trailer um through a sale of a different property that he had and he would he needs that money back he doesn't have the capacity to save that money up again um he doesn't have the desire to move into any of the new um uh housing that's being built the fair thing and the just thing properties that they have at this point what is that is a drop in the bucket for the developer and it is the only reasonable thing to offer the folks of low Abner considering all of the stress and all of the um undo anguish um and I appreciate all of y'all for paying attention those of you that have been paying attention while folks have been speaking because it's not easy for people to come up here and say what they need to say and to put their hearts on the line so thank you so much for that gra gra Franc does anyone are you going to speak more here go ahead go ahead I want everybody to understand that out of the 34 municipalities in Miami day County I have never seen any president any Commissioners any mayor allow people to surpass their time I want to express to you guys that we empathize and we sympathize with what's happening to you what's happening to you an injustice I have my personal opinions of what's occurring what is lawful and what is moral we have nothing to do with that because it's private property we cannot decide how much someone gives you and again we're not supposed to be speaking because there is a pending lawsuit but I'm not gonna allow people to bash my colleagues to bash my police officers to bash my mayor when all we've done is be supportive and bust our ass to try and help you behind the scenes you guys just don't see it building so we opened up an office to help as much as we possibly can but we can't give away money either I hope you understand that I've already said way too much I'm sure that plenty of my colleagues are going to speak to me after this I'm sure the sitting City attorney right now is about to have an ulcer I apologize no I just we know we're not supposed to comment on open litigation that's our policy I understand but I can tell all I can tell you guys is God bless you with that okay you proceed with the rest of the agenda okay agenda all right so please do not say another word okay y just call 10 all right numer a consent agenda move all right second call CL uh commissioner call Madam clerk all in favor I any names all right so we're moving along to staff items all right staff item a an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of Sweetwater Florida considering an amendment of the city's official zoning map from University District UD to special commercial District C2 for property identified Under folios Numbers 25-4 6-1-1 1270 and 25-4 6-1 d1310 AKA 10700 and 10720 West Flagler Street providing for findings Prov a fact providing for stability providing for codification providing for an effective date second reading and public hearing Mr M thank you Mr President and on the staff item a this is the second reading on the building uh the basically the complex the commercial complex there with sedanos is that we already took it accountability they were getting upch charged in the taxes so they by pulling themselves out of that particular uh District now they are back to the commercial level and they feel comfortable to help in today's competing world we already discussed this item before the first done first here all right so I'll go ahead and move this item through the chair oh taking that back go ahead Mr I have some questions uh Mr President if I may okay hi yes Erica Adams 701 brick Avenue with my colleague Alejandro Aras um and we're happy to answer any questions you might have thank you ma'am I have a question in changing the zoning would you happen to have the information to inform us on what the amount as far as millage is concerned that the city was receiving to what the city will receive now the specifications of the millage I I do not know but what I can tell you is that every year the applicant has had to hire Council to challenge the tax assessment on the property since it was rezoned by the city um the applicant has no no intention of of turning the property into student housing it's the home to sanos it's the home to a lot of other tenants that are important to the area and to continuously be you know taxed for a use that the applicant is not using um you know it's it's a challenge for them financially to be paying something that they're not you know they're not using the property as a student housing facility and they're being constantly you know assessed and taxed on that so that is the reason they're here today because every year they've had to hire Council to dispute this and get it back down to the price of the actual use of the property which is as a commercial space but as for the actual millage I'm sorry I don't know I don't have the answer thank you is the owner of the property going to be developing the property and going vertical at this time the intention is to keep the property exactly as it is there's no intention of going vertical or making at a student housing they want to continue using the property as a commercial space with the existing tenants welcome to the city of sweet water thank you thank you go ahead uh you're not requesting to go back you're just requesting to go forward on the change the request the the property was once zoned commercial and the request is to go back to being zoned commercial but you're not requesting any any to be reimbursed for for the different the request today is just to rezone the property back to its original zoning got it yes thank you thank you may I Mr person go ahead Mr may I think the question the commission is asking is by doing so are you going to try to lower your taxes even further to lower the taxes further I think the request is just to be taxed for the use that the the way that that applicant is using the property today what you were doing before the changing of the zoning am I correct I'm sorry what you were being taxed before prior to yes exactly and you're not changing to lower that that's what the commission is asking the request is just to be taxed and that's what was stated commer stated to us and this is why we did what we did okay thank you thank you call M clerk yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you madam clerk thank you moving to B on orders of the city of Sweet Water amending the city comprehensive plan future land use element policy 1.2 medium density multif family residential mixed us residential/commercial and dolphin community and urban center land use categories providing for cability providing for codification providing for an effective date first reading mayor Diaz thank you Mr President again this is the ordinance that we move forward to be the comprehensive plan for the city uh remember we sent it out unfortunately it got there one day too late so because of that reason we had the ability to try to push it back in to see if they would accept it they did it they sent it back so this is now before you again so we can send it back to tahy for the comprehensive Amendment that's what it is all right move all right so it's been moved then I'll second this item roll call Madam clerk yes yes commissioner Martin yes commissioner V yes commissioner yanel yes president yes pass thank you madam clerk moving over to item C an ordinance of the city of Sweetwater Florida amending city code of ordinance by deleting certain language of sections 1-2 and creating sections 1-16 of the city code of ordinance in order as provided in attached exhibit in order to provide for a clearer calculation of deadlines providing for May mayoral Authority providing for exceptions providing for cability providing for codification providing for an effective date first reading mayor D is as well thank you Mr President this item is basically to clarify the language as I think that you already probably reached out to and spoke to the attorney is simply to clarify the days for the veto period to be taken and that it cannot fall the last day on a holiday so therefore it's clear and precise so that means if it does fall on a holiday and that holiday happens to be on a f a Friday it won't be until the next business day so that's the the whole purpose of this and the holidays are described there which are usually the federal holidays and if there is two holidays that we have taken on in the city of Sweetwater those two holidays will bring it forth and we'll put it in into that ordinance to make sure that it is stated by the second reading okay move second roll call Madam cler commissioner via yes commissioner Martin yes commissioner V yes commissioner Yano yes commissioner Diaz yes president Ray yes he passes on first reading thank you madam CL moving to D an ordinance of the city Commission of the city of Sweetwater Florida considering an amendment to the city's official zoning map from intern District IU and industrial Light manufacturing District I I to Liberal commercial C3 for property identified Under folios Numbers 25-30 31 - 00-30 0 comma uh 2530 31-- 0310 also 2530 31- 000000 d030 030 sorry 0330 also 25-30 31-1 00- 0335 5 AKA also known as 10751 Northwest 18 Street providing for findings of fact providing for cability providing for codification providing for an effective date first reading mayor Diaz Mr President this item is uh basically taking a property that it is now in the intrum uh District it's IU and we're they want to go into from light manufacturer into commercial District which C3 for property identification under the folio numbers that have been specified this property in order for us to be able to put it through to the hearing has to come before you to make sure that this destination is moving forward and as is stated it's the first hearing moving forward and the address is there to the chair thank you go ahead Mr Vell is the applicant here don't see him all right I don't have a problem passing your first uh reading second that way I can speak to the mayor figure out what it they want to do what they want to develop yeah um I don't have a problem with it I move okay I'll go ahead and second this item roll call man clerk commissioner Martin yes commissioner V yes commissioner yaniel yes commissioner Diaz yes commissioner via yes president Ray yes he passes on first reading thank you madam clerk going to e a resolution of the city Commission of the city of Sweetwater approving purchase orders with crown castle for the provisions of Internet services providing for an authority providing for funding and providing for an effective date Finance director Mr Scott melburg go ahead Mr Scott it's a simply to switch us to crown castle for some of our remote sites the parks and um the building department and the uh public works department and we'll stay with crown castle here at uh City Hall but we will be increasing our speed to five megab uh gigabytes sorry three chair go ahead uh um Mr Diaz is this this is a um a contract correct yes and and where where we going to get this money from are we budget for this we have this money budgeted actually we have more money budgeted um we actually got a lower price than the amount we budgeted for all the sites and the amount here it's it's already negotiated already this is it what we what we see here right that's at 36 and 60 that's 5 years correct we got a lower price on the five years that we did on the three years and and this is to um basically to check all the um it's to continue our internet service here at City Hall and at the building department at the two parks ronelli and Carlo park at Jas no Center and at the senior center and we're going to continue what we have here crown castle this is only for the internet or also for iCloud no this is just the internet just the internet right okay thank you Mr V Mr direct director can you uh two questions number one can you talk about the importance of the security infrastructure in this system and why we need it I can tell you that we have had a number of uh instances over the last year where we have been tested and we have had people try to get access to our system um I think the real expert on that is Mario right here and can tell you what's been going on with our security Mario Diaz director of Technology um in regards to the internet service itself this is internet service it does not include security um security to the locations so it's it's separate um what we've had right now is um Comcast and what we had is the sites that have gone down constantly um the each location has increased in the amount of service they need for internet service at the location so we have more computers we have cameras now at every single location and all that's using bandwidth that we need so now we're looking for um stability on Internet services and increased um throughput in order to provide those type of services thank you and Mr Finance director can you talk about the expenditure for this project how much it's going to cost us and for how long uh well it's 5-year contract um we had uh $57,000 budgeted for the four Lo ation it's going to be $47,000 and we had $31,000 budgeted for silly Hall it's going to be 23,9 that's all thank you sir through the chair go ahead uh Mr Vice you my only question just has to do with the procurement of this contract like how did you guys go about selecting kown castle castle we took we had a number of bids and Mario worked with all of them to get various prices from all the biders and the speed services so 1 gab 5 gbt 10 gabes we don't we don't really need 10 gbes but we settled or something in the middle at so it's a combination of of price and the gigabyte speed yes and crown castle what they specialize in like corporate um lar pack so we've we've had a crown castle yes they specialize in Internet services um it specialized also in security as well um like lar organizations right correct correct for your house yeah yeah Crown yes yes all right but what other companies are there aside from crown castle that do the same hot wire is another is another company you have um Comcast does fiber AT&T okay um AT&T was one of the highest I I submitted in and the Detachment has um the three different three different bids that came out and I have a fourth as well I can provide okay um on other pricing all right no no thank you uh thank you um I understand the process and uh I trust you guys' judgment you guys know what you're doing I've heard also a lot of good things about Crown crown castle so I'm good with it move second roll call Madam clerk commissioner V CEO yes commissioner yaniel yes commissioner Diaz yes commissioner via yes commissioner Martin yes president Ray yes he passes thank you madam clerk moving over to f a resolution of the city of Sweet Water submitting to the electors of Sweetwater a proposed amendment to the Charter of the city uh of City at the regular City commission election to be held in May 13th 2025 amending section 5.07 B of the city Charter to reduce the minimum reserve of Fund in the city budget providing ballot title summary and text of the proposed second Charter Amendment providing for the call referendum elections providing for directors directions to the city clerk providing for conflicts cilities codifications effective date of ordinance and effective date for the proposed for the approved Amendment mayor di thank you and I discussed with each one of you independently the reasons as to to put this question up and after further review we were doing calculations today and trying to find the most let's just say sweet spot so when we re did the the amounts and trying to recalculate we figured that the whole goal here and the reason why this board moved forward for the question to move forward is that you wanted to have a fund for a rainy day but calculating the usual amount is within two to three months operation period is what goes everywhere so when we did the calculations we felt that if we instead of putting at 10 we put it at 20 I think it will be more secure bringing it down 10% we'll still have operations we'll still move everything as needed but you know at the same time we have a solid uh deposit by the way I'll repeat it one more time government is not in the business of banking government is in the business of giving back to his residents at all times so whatever we do is to find a way to give them protection to give them a better quality of life to give them the things that the residents expect us to do so this is why we analyze back and forth but we also analyze the future and try to see if we the crystal ball could say something good for us to move forward uh we have an incredible H person that handles our finance and as a finance director so today toward the end of the day we got together again and we started analyzing what I don't want is ever to put us in a position that it's not one that we could immediately solve with the money that we have so I think cutting back and Scott has changed the wording and I'll probably stated now to you we change from where it says 10 to 20 and there's a couple of minut minute things to put on there but I wanted to be clear because what I told each one of you and spoke to you clearly I thought 10 was I thought the magic number coming in the future but I believe that at this case after having a good conversation was got I think 20 is good it's taken it from the 30 to 20 it doesn't it's not a huge uh drop but it's enough to give the quality that we need to do in the near future in case there is no stagnant you know there is no the growth that we some people reject and it stay stagnant so with that uh this is why and Scott if you could announce basically where the changes will be right and and this is per the government Finance Officers Association healthy reserves between two and three months we'll be right on that sweet spot of 20% one month is about 8% so we'll have about two and a half Clause we would change that uh from 10% to 20% and I wanted to add the words of the general fund because we have now accounts like our impact fees like our building department fund where we have our own reserves and we don't want to be carrying extra reserves in there there are statutory limitations on those reserves in the building department so we don't want to count those the the reserves that we need to fund our government is the general fund you can't all of a sudden take impact fees or building fees and start putting them in the general fund so that's where you want to concentrate on that and then on the second page um we would change the 10% to 20% and said of the average of the five most recent fisal year general fund budget and the same thing in the minimum Reserve funds in section 5.07 paragraph B the 10% would be changed to 20% um in both places I'll get it through the chair attorney go ahead Mr V Mr President my colleagues in the commission Mr Mayor I wholeheartly support this item I think that this referendum was a mavell employ by the previous administration to strangle your ability to operate the city we continue to grow we've had more development uh than ever we have a lot of development in the pipeline line uh we have a lot of growth we're going to have to we're going to have to hire at least 50 more police officers in the next 5 years 50 60 70 I don't know I lose track uh I always want more I want I want more Donuts all my cops running into each other um we've invested in our Parks our Parks look beautiful I don't want to restrict the administration from being able to spend money the commission's job is to make sure that we we give the mayor a healthy budget so he can operate that budget we don't need to be restricted we need to be growing uh I commend you on raising I actually I recommended uh to you that we drop it to 10% I commend you to go on to 20 because it you're being fiscally conservative and you're uh you're making sure that we you know hide the money in the piggy bank for a rainy day um so I move motion to amend the item Mr attorney waiting for a second second okay broke roll call Madam clerk do we Mr President before you do roll call Mr attorney do we have to uh State the Scribbler error or the error that's going to be changed now during the meeting Mr Mayor it will be amended shortly and then uh to reflect the changes that was uh the changes have been stated basically correct by the finance director correct and then as voted ricated by the the city commission that's right your honor okay just wanted to make sure thank you sir all right so now we go ahead and move tooll roll call man clerk first of all that's right commissioner yes is amended commiss yes as amended commiss as amended yes commiss Mar yes as amended yes as amended yes as amended on the item on item now we're going to be voting on the item the amended item the amended item move the amended item second the amend third the amended item comment cler yes yes yes yes yes yes president R yes we pass it thank you mam Clark moving over to g a resolution of the city Commission of the city of s water selecting successful bid for the storm water drainage system and reconstruction of the roadway along Northwest 108 Avenue in the northern area of the city from North Northwest 17 Street to Southwest to to the South to Northwest 21st Street to the north waving any irregular irregular in the bids or in the bidding procceed providing for an authorization and providing for an effective date mayor Diaz thank you Mr President as far as you all know the grant that we had State grant that was left to us uh that state Grant was followed through Point by Point very carefully um Stephanie bua LED uh a group of individual including uh our engineer or city engineer and several others uh to make yes Alo was there he was the uh overseeing portion of this gr we wanted to cross the teas and Dot the eyes not the ground I'm sorry the bid process the bid process was done but by the book you can still hear me looks it sounds the same but uh everything that came out of it uh was already qualified by what the state required so what you see is the most qualified bidder by all the uh parties involved in doing the qualification I went along with their process since the process was done with all the calculations the best price based on the uh calculation and the lowest price if I am correct is is that correct ma'am Stephanie bua director of Community Affairs and special projects there were a few other criterias that we had to take into into account based on the uh what was set forth by the Federal grant uh Grant agency and we did take that into account they were all scored by the selection committee and the most qualified base on that score was the one that you see before you which is in your package that's it now let me to finish that this is moving 108 the the other portion of it after we are awarded this project after tonight that this is basically done then immediately after that we will be looking out to put out for the other portion and the laterals that are left all the way to the circle area correct and we should finish the last worst part of the city of Sweet Water set for 110 that's left that will be a discussion for another day but between those two we should pretty much eradicate the flooding in that area all right so I'll second the titem roll call Madam clerk commiss yes commiss Mar yes yes commiss yes commission yeah I'm I'm going to vote Yes but I have a question is that going to be are they going to have sidewalks over there there uh the scope includes uh the installation of storm water drainage systems reconstruction of the right away installation uh of storm water collection and transmission system catch basins junction boxes and other items associated with the project no no sidewalk there there's going to be sidewalk there is sidewalks commissioner in addition yeah I can't wait for that I mean there will be sidewalks in that area we really need it and we'll continue the sidewalks all the way through thank you mayor yes okay president R yes okay thank you madam clerk all right moving over to H nomination consideration appointment of of members to the neighborhood Improvement Advisory Board none thank you I nomination consideration appointment of members to the youth Advisory Board none thank you very much moving over to 12 reports mayor's report um there's really I think I had a conversation to with you all today so there's really not anything to add unless you have any questions but go ahead yes mayor I to chair no no go ahead mayor I I mean just to bring it up because I was going to ask you on the building and Zoning report what what's what's going on with the um new building or the new layout code Yeah the code and the two base that supposedly the floor has been uh finished uh today not totally because we still have to put a coding on the top but it was already done they did the mitigation on the other part uh that needed to be done and we're moving forward to knock that out and hopefully happening within I would say four or five months hopefully yeah and then what's going to happen with that department on that side well at that point uh we're still in the process and we'll be moving uh code uh which you're talking about what's new or what's existing no what what's going to happen with the existing right now when you empty that in four months that's uh that's a very good question because we still still lease right that question question is to try to sub leases so it doesn't cost the citizens any money okay by the way it doesn't really cost this impact fees that are used to do it but I don't want to see that money go into something how much how much more do we have in that lease mayor I'm sorry how much more do we have in that lease I believe it's three years how many three more years yeah three more years uh it was a 5year renewable uh lease that you guys uh apparently did not uh were not told properly that it was an automatic renewal and uh it got renewed but we went through this already it I hear anything yeah thank you mayor thank you mayor uh that's all for the report one more one more thing um because there was a question asked earlier about the pickle ball courts in Carlo Park those six courts uh as you saw were started they already started moving and and they will surely be done with God's help and fencing everything within probably by this same time um a month and a half from now awesome all right moving over to be commissioner's report anyone commissioner I got one go ahead Mr visce you uh just wanted to let everybody know March first we're teaming up with the Miami diaper bank that's a Saturday morning 9:00 in the morning we start setting up at 8 at ronelli and we're just going to be giving away diapers to all the CH to all the babies in the community the families with babies in the in the community so I'll send you guys the little invite flyer there's a QR code because people have to register ahead of time for it so I'll circulate and make sure that you guys all know about it and send it to anybody that you know that has small children so and then I'm going to try top that's what happens when you lose weight to add to that we're very blessed to have the employees we do in our city especially the team that Stephanie is leading uh I well they were sitting back there they they took off uh they did an incredible job but finances come in strong they came in strong we had to clear up a lot of issues which all of you understand there's a lot of issues that were left uh they were not great but it's better to move forward fix them and I I really thank you uh commissioner M miti because they work very hard and if it weren't for the crossing the the T properly in and Di and keeping the records they do I don't know where we be so I wanted to thank them also publicly thank you for noting that thank you Mr Mayor Mr miti uh any other commissioner and for the commission report no City uh City cler's report it's awn stach thank you city attorney's report just that the trailer park uh litigation is still ongoing there was a uh motion to dismiss filed by the defense Council for the city of Sweetwater and that motion is still to be heard thank you m Mr attorney uh police report I did see it's attached building zoning also is attached unless you guys have something else but everything's been on there Code Compliance also was attached public work was attached fin report it's attached and you have anything good commuter ldd Services report everything's attached and Parks and Recreations report was also attached oh go ahead sorry no I forgot to mention that uh last week uh the senior center the lady who needs all the uh caps and everything we turn in to the Baptist Institute Cancer Center 300 go okay that was a donation they do all year round and it was amazing and we you know they're very happy with us they said that we are the only city who give donations to the cancer uh Institute in Baptist Hospital oh yeah the the VIP was busy all right so over to 13 unfinished business new business go to the order ajour on a motion for ajour all in favor any Nays thank you have a good night