All right, everybody. Good to see everybody. The uh regular council meeting for Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 is called to order at 7:06 p.m. We're going to first have a moment of silent meditation followed by a pledge of allegiance
of America. Madam cler is roll call. >> Roll call. Mayor Nickerson >> here. >> Vice Mayor Martin >> present. >> Council person bomb >> present. >> Council person life of war is not here. Council person Winters >> present. >> Also present for the record. Janice Jacobe village clerk. Um David Roseman
village manager and Joseph Geller village attorney. You have a quorum. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Um, next I'm going to ask for a motion to approve the agenda, but I do want to have we're going to add uh one presentation and um that is going to be for Mr. Ian
McKenzie um on behalf or for Sergeant Gutierz. And so we'll do that. Uh I spoke to Commissioner Regalado earlier. She's going to try to make it understand it's not her district. So she's coming from a a long distance. All right. So
we'll see what's up with that. Okay. Um, do I have a motion to approve the agenda with those adjustments? >> So moved. >> Thank you very much, madam vice mayor. Do I have a second? I'll second. Thank you very much, Mr. Councilman. All in favor say I. I. All oppose say nay. Hearing none. Moving on to uh good and
welfare right now. Anyone can come up and or would you mind you guys if I just do M. Mackenzie first for the presentation? Is that okay? We guys we're good with that? All right. Come on up, Mr. Mackenzie. Come on up, SGE.
Go ahead. Take the mic. Uh uh Mr. McKenzie, right there at the podium. >> Often we think about the police as giving tickets, maybe catching speeders, things like that. Um, but they do a lot more for our community and we're fortunate to have a police force that
really does care and does a lot for us. Uh, sometimes we don't know about it, but they really do. Um, I just want to recognize um, Sergeant Gutier is here. He went above and beyond helping me out um, when a person uh, contractor, a fake
contractor uh, stole money from me. Turns out uh without his help I went to the state of Florida first of all and the state more or less said okay you have to do local I went to Miami date Miami date said oh no we don't do that you or they said that you I should go
with Elertal so I went to Elortell through your diligence and your hard work you really um came through uh we apprehended the suspect he was found um uh he's going to court now uh so that's in Kathy Fernandez Rundle um um perview
right now for prosecution. But um I just want to say that uh without all the work and there was a lot of work, believe me, I spent months working with the state trying to get things filed from them. So I know what uh Sergeant Gutierrez went
and I just really want to thank you and I gave you a little plaque. Thank you. It says, "Excellence in law enforcement, Sergeant Thank you. And thank you. Thank you, Chief. >> Mr. McKenzie, um, speak to us about because I remember I remember when you
came in, I remember how this was. Speak to us about just how diligent you were, how long this this case was. >> This took over a year and a half almost and uh, it still hasn't ended. So, we're in prosecution phase right now. So, >> yeah.
>> But he's prayed on other people, too. So, you know, we're coming to the record. So, Absolutely. >> Oh, yeah. He was he was a resident of Broward County. So, um you know, it's harder, believe it or not. >> It really is. >> Yeah. And I think that's something that
um so many people can relate to because I always get calls about, you know, contractors who um people don't trust or do you know any good contractors or contractors that are being slow with the job or contractors that took my deposit and like I can't get them back on the
phone for months. So um so this is something that I think a lot of people uh deal with. So it's really good that you stuck to your guns because a lot of people are like once these things happen to them um and these contractors don't act in a honest responsible way a lot of times you know people get so frustrated
that it's hard to continue to stay on these individuals right and a lot of times because people want to get the work done they'll just say like hey like let me just find another contractor that will you know come in and and fix what this person couldn't and things like that. So, it's really good that um
Sergeant that you stood on top of that and Mr. McKenzie, you were always adamant and stayed on top of the whole situation. So, >> thank you. >> Thank you. >> Mayor, is it okay if I read another accommodation from the state attorney's office? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> And again, uh this is a this is a very
important part of what we do. I know sometimes it seems very routine. We'll show up. If it's something simple, we'll look for cameras. This was something a lot more intricate to the point of where when the subject lives in Broward, you actually have to extradite him. So, we needed the help from the Broward
Sheriff's Office and that's why the the case was complicated and it took a while for all the everything to come together. But that's that's the end result and that that's what makes you proud. And aside from that, I'll show you another example and this is accommodation from
the state attorney's office for exploitation of the elderly. This comes from Commander Christine Molina, elderly and vulner vulnerable adult unit, Miami Day County State Attorney's Office to the Chief of Police, Alejandro Mendes. Dear Chief Mendes, I'm writing to formally commend you and your members of
the department for your outstanding assistance and professionalism in support of the state attorney's office during the recent elderly exploitation case that resulted in a conviction on all counts. The diligence and coordination demonstrated by your agencies were instrumental in ensuring that the justice was served. Cases
involving the exploitation of vulnerable elderly victims require not only technical expertise, but also compassion and persistence. Your team exemplified these qualities throughout the investigation and the prosecution process. From the initial response and ongoing collaboration with our office,
your personnel consistently upheld the highest standards of law enforcement. Their commitment significantly strengthened the case and contributed directly to the successful outcome in court. Please extend my my sincere appreciation to all those involved. Their efforts reflect great credit upon
your department and underscore the critical role of inter agency cooperation in protecting our community's most vulnerable members. Thank you again for your leadership and for fostering a culture of excellence with within your agency. Respectfully,
Christine Molina, Commander, would you like to say a few words? It has been a pleasure to bring experience from prior police departments. I retired from Hay Aliyia and after so many years of exposed to all kinds of cases, I was able to bring the experience here to serve the
community and I thank you guys for it for giving me the opportunity to serve the community. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate that you guys. Um, now we're moving on to good and welfare. Anybody has anything to say about uh anything at all, come up, say
your first and name, first and last name for the record and uh say your address, please. And the floor is yours. Just come up to the uh podium. Hi everyone. Um, first wanted to start off just by thanking you guys uh for all your hard work. Uh, I think this was a
nice example of, you know, what our community is doing. Excuse me. Oh, my name uh Kelly Gomes, 269 Northwest 86 Street. Um, so thank you for your hard work uh managing uh the village. Uh, we definitely appreciate that. Last time I was here, um, you know, I came kind of
with an open mind of trying to understand what was going on with the Raider church and why it was just knocked down, um, you know, with kind of no formal notice or anything like that. Um, and really forming an opinion because, you know, I saw countless people come up and then come up again
and counter other people's comments and things like that. Uh, but forming my own opinion uh about the project um, uh, overall. Uh so I wanted to come today with just some kind of overarching thoughts about how I feel so I can give you my point of view as a a community member um and then also ask a question
at the end uh that you guys can circle back when it's the time to answer questions. So I think you know uh my point of view is definitely uh against uh the project um with Adam Newman and his um and his people uh for the school
that they want to uh put in our community. Uh I just don't think that um we have the infrastructure to support something like that. We're a very small community. Um and to be quite frank, I've seen schools pop up in very dense spots. Um and the outcome is always very
irritating. Um we don't have the space to control cars and where cars are going to queue up multiple times a day. Um what typically ends up also happening because you know one thing is the traffic concern but the other part of it is what parents start to do because they
don't want to wait in line to pick up their kids. Um so they go three blocks down which will probably be around here somewhere and park on somebody's easement and mess up their grass and wait for their kid to get out and walk down the street to actually get picked up. So these are all the things that our
small community which is only a few blocks are going to start to get exposed to. um unnecessarily. Uh I'm not against the idea of schools. I just don't think a school makes sense um for Alportal. Um and that's my my point of view on it.
Now, I also don't think it's acceptable that they they won't be paying any taxes. Um that's another reason that I'm against the project. Um I think for the amount of revenues that you guys have to rely on to plant trees and do all the things you have to do, I don't think you can effectively do that.
um when such a large part of the community is not paying taxes and then in addition to that they're buying other properties nearby um that will eventually, you know, whether they say it or not, we'll end up becoming a discussion of, oh, we want to expand the
school and we own these three properties over here, so we just need to expand our parking lot. And now it starts to balloon and take over more and more of El Portal and change uh the fabric of the community that we have. Um I'm new to Elportal, so I'm not like an OG where
you know I grew up here or anything. I moved here when I uh in 2020. Uh but it still means a lot to me to be here. Uh and I love the community that I live in. Um, so with that said, I just wanted to get uh an update um from each of you on
the council to really understand where you stand on the project as of today um to see um where your heads are at. Um and also I know last meeting um there were um a lot of different things brought up about our code and what's
allowed and things like that. Uh I was wondering if you spent, you know, the last 30 days kind of digging into those discrepancies to be able to give us uh a little bit more transparency um on, you know, what defense we have against this project. Um and that's it. So, thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Good evening. Uh Noel Pace, 206 Northwest 91st Street. That's my home. And then, uh business owner at 8661 Northeast 2nd Avenue. Hey, I just want to thank the council. Um I want to talk about a couple things. First of all, uh
I second Mr. McKenzie and you know probably the entire community that's here uh about what a great job our police department's doing. Uh their presence patrols. Obviously that collar of a road contractor was a great one. I still remember when um my wife's school,
Miss Claudia's Village Academy, was broken into um and the police were actually able to lift prints uh off of uh different items, you know, around the school and they were actually able to apprehend the suspect and the state's attorney's office prosecuted them and
and they ended up going to jail. And so, you know, because I think that, you know, when they get good collars like that, that's a deterrent. All right? And it's great to see that's in the media. Uh again, if if you haven't noticed the presence patrols at night, especially in the middle of the night, uh with the
lights on, you know, the big suburbans and so on, I think that's a great uh you know, deterrent for people who are maybe passing through uh in our community. So, police departments doing a great job. Second thing I wanted to mention was uh uh the Arbor Day celebration. So, again,
Mr. McKenzie, other people that were involved with Arbor Day. Um, some old friends, uh, actually prior residents who now live in Biscane Park came back, uh, to participate in Arbor Day. I saw council Urban there. Um, and the police were there obviously. Uh, but Arbor Day
is a great thing. I know that there is a resolution about trees here that's part of this agenda. Um, I think that's a a great thing. This is a Tree City USA. That being said, um I also do want to talk about uh the um proposed project at
the Raider Church site. So, you know, thinking back when two other schools were proposed at that site and then the sanctuary was proposed at that site, it was all about preserving the building. Okay, the the building had unique architecture and had been around since
the 50s, right? There was a famous architect that was part of uh you know, sort of the Miami look here. And that building, I think every developer, every everyone wanted to make use of the building. The thing is now the building is gone. All right. And so since the
building is gone, you know, I'm sure that the council is definitely aware. Um I'm sure that the um public may be aware that, you know, El Portal was the home of an ancient Indian civilization,
American Indians, uh or Native Americans as they're referred to now. um the Tequesta nation. In fact, the Tequesta Nation's capital is cons potentially considered right in this area here along the Little River. Now that we have a cleared site, all right, we've had
buildings and it's been occupied for 60 years. Now that there's a cleared site and you know, we don't have much open space here in Elportal. I I was wondering if the council or if the staff uh has anyone, you know, sort of uh worked with potential uh authorities in
this area to sort of go and explore the site in terms of uh ancient artifacts and other stuff in terms of you know civilization there. I mean normally in most people's houses uh that exist here you know my house in Elortal is a hundred years old. So you know it ain't
going anywhere. But now that that land has been cleared, I think it's probably a good time to go and and check that out. Um, I know that uh archaeologists from FIU have come here, have explored our Indian mound and so on. And the reason why I bring that up is because,
you know, our future use map, part of our community plan shows uh that the future use of that site was, you know, destined to be a park. And so I know that the gentleman that spoke before about potential exceptions to rules and variances and so on. I mean to me I
think you know an exception to the rule or variances that are granted for a project should benefit you know it should only really should benefit the whole community okay versus one particular group or one particular constituency. And so if you're going to, you know, be requested to make
exceptions and variances and all those things, uh, I think, you know, the hard line should be that, hey, it's got to benefit the whole community, which according to the 400 plus pages of the proposal of the project I've read, uh, it doesn't seem that being effect. Now,
again, I'm not anti-school. I'm anti school at that location. Um, I think there are plenty of alternatives, including the Little River Farm, uh, which also should probably be explored. I don't think it's ever been explored by archaeologists. I know that there is
some Browns Fields, uh, contamination that needs to get cleaned up there. But in summation of what I'm trying to get at here is I think, you know, he mentioned the fact that they, you know, bought that land there. They have proposed a project there. There's also
evidence that a lot of other properties have been purchased, including the Little River Farm. Now, maybe it's not exactly the same people or the same entity, but they're all interrelated according to news and media reports. Um, I hope this council, you know, really asks them for a comprehensive plan for
all the properties before they make a decision just on one. I think we have to know what the totality of the circumstances are for their overall plan project. as you just mentioned, you know, you can sort of have a moral hazard here or a slippery slope of well, hey, we, you know, now have developed
this property and we own all these others. So, you know, we should try to make it all into one development. We've already seen them do without a actually a taxpaying home has already been torn down, uh, that was here. So, uh, eroding our tax base, literally. Uh, and so I
think that's important. Um, the last thing I want to mention is I want to mention and so these are things I hope you guys consider. Again, I'm pro Elportal. I'm pro community. I think we have a great community plan. We have a great set of uh ordinances here. Uh, I think anything that is considered in
terms of exceptions or variances has to benefit the whole community. You guys should take a hard line on that. Uh again um you know after six months you know it would have been great if the developer proposed you know an alternative location where their ecological school would be well suited
right on the little river right across from the new Pelican Harbor Station which I mean is beautiful project I'm sure you guys have seen. Uh and so it's something to consider. Last I want to mention in my role here as a member of the military affairs board for Miami date county appointed by commissioner
Keon Hardman representing district three. Uh, I do want to thank the mayor for inviting me and uh, council person Wyinners was also there. Um, at the last Miami Day County League of Cities meeting, I talked about um, National Military Appreciation Month. If you
didn't know, the month of May now, and it's been this way since the 90s is uh, National Military Appreciation Month. Why is that? Because there are a number of military related holidays uh, that take place. So um you know there's the
victory in Europe day, there is uh national military spouses appreciation day. There is armed forces day and there is memorial day. And so on behalf of the 165,000
uh military uh veterans and their families here in Miami Day County, I hope all you guys look into the events that are going to be going on here uh in Miami Day County in celebration of National Military Appreciation Month. Uh a very big one is the uh Air and Sea
Show that is over Memorial Day weekend that will be uh at Miami Beach. Uh it is a completely uh uh it's the largest uh military um display of uh of uh training
and um skill of pilots and Navy Seals and Army Rangers and so on uh at the beach. It's a family affair. They have all kinds of competitions for your kids to be involved involved with. And so um just check it out. You can Google it. Um
it's there. So, uh, with that, I think, um, I appreciate you guys time. Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Hory Carbelli and I live at 120 Northeast 90th Street. Um, I want to speak today to voice my objection to the proposed school on
Northeast Second Avenue. My wife and I have been living in Elportell for over 38 years. We moved into this neighborhood because we like the small town intimacy, the lush tree canopy, and the quiet pace. Every day we walk around the village. We greet our neighbors, pet their dogs, and remark on how their children have grown. Although the walk
is generally peaceful, we keep to the side streets and alleyways for safety. On days that I 95 is backed up, frustrated drivers use Northeast Second Avenue as an alternative. When Second Avenue is thick with traffic, they use the alleyways and the side streets. like 90 street where we live. This seems to
happen two to three times a week. During these times, my wife and I have been subject to angry drivers speeding down the alleyways, honking their horn, and yelling at us to get out of the way. We frequently fear for our safety. This happened a lot in the past two weeks.
Whenever there's some kind of incident 95, it gets worse. Any additional traffic on Second Avenue would increase this danger and upset the quiet enjoyment we have all come to appreciate in our lovely village. Any proposed new building such as a proposed school that will bring more traffic to El Patel
would exberate this problem. The creation of a school zone would also make this problem worse, forcing cars to slow down and back up even more. Others have spoken of the reduced revenue of having the school there and something we all know that this village cannot afford. Then there's the issue of
parking. The school wants to demolish three multif family homes to make a parking lot for their staff. An open parking lot is against our code and would remove needed revenue from El Portell and be an isore in the neighborhood. These pedestrians walking from the parking lot to the school will cause
traffic at the crosswalks to stop more often so they can cross Second Avenue, thus leading to more traffic slowdowns, more cars racing on the alleys, more cars and angry drivers speeding down the side streets. The proposed school is estimated to bring hundreds of cars to the area twice a day, five days a week.
This is not acceptable. The addition of this school and the subsequent traffic it will bring will seriously impact the quiet enjoyment of our neighborhood. I implore the council to consider the damaging effects of any project that would bring additional cars and traffic to Second Avenue. There's no
benefit to the village of having the school built on Northeast Second Avenue. This project will make a negative impact on the peace and tranquility we have all come to enjoy living here. No longer will we be a quiet family community. I strongly object to the granting of this project. Thank you. >> Thank you very much.
GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS SHANTEL RODRIGUEZ. I reside at 48 Northeast 86th Street. Um before I begin, I definitely want to commend the police officers, the team. Um may she rest in peace. My mom
had dementia and for about three years she'd get lost until I put double do double lock on the door. But many times I would look and she would just disappear. And the police were just so
they assisted me. They were just so helpful in helping me find her. One time they found her in Miami Shore. She walked from 96th Street to North 6th Avenue and 108th Street and she was
carrying uh a tray that I had given her with food and pajamas and slippers. So, you know, when you're when you have dementia unfortunately and they found her, but every time they were just so patient and they would come back and they would tell me, you know, they were so helpful. they were giving telling me
do this do that and and I commend them and believe me with having them at my side helped a lot during you know the time when she was alive so again thank you for that so bear with me I'm going to read from
my phone and so I thought I would have time to memorize but unfortunately would work I didn't I cannot okay so I want I'm going to preface preface an article I read in the Biscane Times March issue
and it was titled Miami is a for developers. It also said that they search for governments with weak links. So they infiltrate and they get to do whatever they want. And this is why you see not
too long ago I was watching television and there was an incident and this is in West Palm Beach a a restaurant owner who um was actually being forced out and and all of the storefronts as well because the city of West Palm Beach wanted to
build a water park, right? And at one point they were they stated eminent domain. This restaurant owner who's been there for a very long time took it to the media and imagine this is his livelihood. And
no matter how much money you give this individual, you can't just them and tell them, "Okay, well, we want a water park." Well, when all of that came to the surface and that came to light, all of a sudden the mayor of El of West Palm Beach, I apologize,
had a different take. Now, what they're going to do is that they're going to incorporate whatever businesses that are there with the water park. But, you know, there's a way around it. There's a way to work with the the the the businesses with with the residents, but
you can't just come in full force and think that you're going to take over. So, um the second statement which talks about the weak go the weak government. Sadly, I have to say that I feel that the
government of Elportell exemplifies weak government because I see a lack of collaboration and a lack of harmony. Everyone has a different vision and it shouldn't be that way. It should be one vision for all of you because you are
all here to represent the the residents of Elortell. We voted for you. You didn't put yourself in office. We voted to have you there to represent us and our best interests. Okay. So, as it pertains to the Newman project on
Northeast 2nd Avenue, it's evident that the council has conflicting interests and points of view and having nothing to do in with what is in the best interest of the residents. And it's very important to note and to
remember that the residents are Elportal. It's not vice versa. El Portal is not about the residents. The residents are about Elportal. We make El Portal. We've made Elportal the way
Elportal is right now. Okay. Um, I want to go back as well to the Kavista groundbreaking ceremony which was on May 11, 2022 where the mayor stated, "We are excited to have a new development in our
community as we take pride in being diverse. As we move forward into the 21st century, we are prepared to face the challenge of a small but growing village but at the same time remain connected to our past and true to the
values that make our village extraordinary. Okay. This building has been thoughtfully designed inside and out to reflect the villages to to to I to reflect the the village's history
and to our ongoing efforts to perver to preserve nature. This is contrary to everything that's happening right now. I think that we've we've forgotten about that. So what about the village's history which they were talking about
the radar church that it was a historic that it was historical nothing is being preserved. These developers believe in just coming and knocking down and being in control. I've been a resident since 1998 and I since then I've witnessed positive
growth and development but we need to set a precedent for all developers. Rest assured, many more are going to come and knock on our doors because they've seen Newman come. So, this is just an invitation for other developers to come. So, we we are open to
development that benefits us, not just select residents. Developers should not be allowed to come in and create chaos in our village and to disrupt our lives. Newman is not concerned about our well-being, only his desire to control
and get what he wants. I'm pro- education and pro-development. However, this does this project does not benefit Elortell and its residents. There will there will be zero returns on our investment. We will be plagued with
traffic, increased property taxes, and outsiders who have no regard for our village. Let's not mention live local. What happened with Kavista? No one knew about live livo. All of a sudden he came mentioned live loca local local and and
the taxes. Now we have a shortage. Right. Well, Newman is proposing the same thing. So what are we going to do about him? Are we going to allow him to come in and do the same thing? No, we should not. We need to stand firm. We
can't let pe developers come in and I'm referring to all of you. We cannot allow developers to come in and take over our village. This is not their village. Like I said, and we are pro-development, but there are limits to everything. And it's
time for us, right? It's time for us to stand together. One voice, one vision. El Portal's government should not represent should represent its residents and not developers. This is our refuge. This is our safe haven and this is our
village. And I would like all of you to remember that. Okay? And I know you sit there and you're all shaking your heads, but sometimes I'm wondering if people when people come up here and they talk if you're just being respectful and shaking your head to say yes. How much of what we're saying are you
assimilating? We want to be heard and we want to be respected. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening everybody. My name is Tanya Kiggney and I live at 430 Northwest 89th Street.
Um, my parents have been living in that house since 1978, since I was three. Um, my two daughters, Kayla and Tama, grew up in that same house. My daughter, Tama,
went to Raider. So, when I found out and saw that the school was just demolished, it did something to me because my daughter went there. When I found out about the project,
I was lost for words. Um, I have there's a lot of familiar faces. Um, Miss Claudia's uh husband, I recognize you. Omar, you actually tutored Tamia. You tutored also my nephew Aman
at Miss Claudia's. I have a my neighbor right here. So, I'm this is my first meeting. Um, I do work overnight. I work for American Airlines. So, on Tuesdays, I am unavailable to be here. So, I'm proud that I am here because Elportal is
my home and I would like to be heard in my home and I would like the our our community and just everybody here on this panel to just work together and just keep El Portal just for us. I am
totally against what um what's being proposed. Um, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but the three people that spoke um before me, I totally and ignore to everything they said. So,
does it make sense for me to repeat? So, with that being said, I hope I can come to more meetings. I want my voice to be heard. This is something I tell my daughters all the time. You have a voice, let it be heard. So, yeah, that's
it. Thank you. Good evening. Joanie Gomes, 269 Northwest 86th Street. Um, as some of you might not know, Adam Newman's Flow Venture manages and owns stakes in a portfolio of close to 4,000 residential units across the US and their primary
focus has been set on Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Nashville. The fact is that this developer has acquired at least seven properties and has spent over $90 million just here in Alportell alone. They have not paid their 2025 property tax bill for the 2acre lot. The
amount due is 99,939.72. This developer is having private meetings with certain council members and a select few residents causing division. developer has not yet proposed plans for the 16acre lot, also known as Little Farm Trailer Park, and the
property was purchased back in January of 2025. This specific developer has a controversial past and has previously driven his company, WeWork, into the ground and was asked to step back. Billionaires are coming to South Florida and intending to build private schools
exclusively for the wealthy and not for us. As mentioned, the develop propans to build a religious school that will be private, expensive, and extremely exclusive, which means it would not service the residents and children of Alportal, but instead cause a huge amount of unwanted traffic flow into our
streets every single day. As all of us have already mentioned, this property would be taxexempt and it would not contribute to the village in any capacity. This overdevelopment for a small village like ours would require exceptions to the rules and would have
to be granted by the village. Um I can confidently say that the majority of Alport residents which I've personally spoken to are strongly opposed to this proposed development plans. We live in a democracy and we are the taxpayers and we should get to decide what happens to our village, not some wealthy developer
who has plans to take over and change it completely. We request that the council votes no on these proposed plans at the upcoming planning and zoning meeting. Um, and we hope the developer moves on and sells the 2acre lot back to the village if it's possible so that we can create a space that can be used by all
of us residents and he can build his school at the 16 acre lot. Lastly, I would like to know when your planning and zoning meeting is scheduled for May, uh, where you plan to vote on these proposals. Thank you. >> Thank you.
GREG STEER, 120 Northwest 86th Street. Uh, you've heard me speak against this project before, uh, and I don't want to pile on, but I did want to bring your attention to a recent article that appeared in the Cambridge University Press. Many of you may have heard about it or actually read it. It's been posted
on the on the couple of the chats. Uh the Cambridge University Press is the oldest university publisher in the world dating back to 1534. It has 50 offices scattered around the planet and it's considered a top tier, highly reliable institution with rigorous research
standards. The article, I'm not going to read the whole thing, but the article begins, and I quote, "Adam Newman surely ranks among the most disgraced corporate leaders of our time. The former WeWork founder and CEO, who was ousted from the
company in 2019, became emblematic of the corporate excesses and hollow boosterism of post.com Silicon Valley. In the public imagination, his name is synonymous with failure and fraud. But to the outrage of many, he is back on
the scene. It goes on to delve into his turbulent history with Weiwork, his ouster, and his now new venture called Flow. But it ends with the paragraph uh that suggests that the venture capital group behind him looks for
people who can scale a business at any cost, including ethical and moral. I quote, "They seek calculated, opportunistic, cut-throat individuals capable of lying
on a regular basis and breaking the law with the highest likelihood of making them outsize capital gains. Newman has demonstrated that he embodies these traits. He is a compelling and relentless salesman who will stop at nothing."
So the question is, why is little El Portal so willing to partner with a man who has such a dubious reputation, a history of double or selfdealing, and other unethical business practices. He makes the Barington brothers look like angels, and least we forget how these
guys screwed over the village with their empty promises about property tax revenue. It's been over a year since this plan was hatched and still there is no actual development agreement. There is no Raider church. There is no solution for
the parking nor mitigating the traffic. There is no discussion or presentation of the plans for Little Farm. There are no details about the feasibility of installing a sewer system and apparently no outreach to the village of Miami
Shores about linking to that system. and no progress, frankly, on the skimpy public benefit package that they offered. And as the previous speaker mentioned, they still haven't paid their property taxes. So, the village is in the dark. His own
attorney is in the dark. Our attorney has reached out to them on three different occasions. These are all serious red flags. It's not about a private school itself, but you have to ask yourself, why does a village of 900 homes need a full-size K
through2 high school when we still don't even have a park or a real commercial center? So, the council has the authority and it should use it. It's time to turn the page on this project once and for all.
Just vote no. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor Council. My name is George Alvarez. I live at 165 Northwest 88th Street. I also attended Raider pre kindergarten.
Miami Shores Elementary, Horus Man, then called Junior High because I'm old, now called middle school. Um, Elertell is home. But the world changes.
It can be scary and it can be unfair. There's only so much we can do. about unfunded mandates from Tallahassee and their takeover of municipal rule. There's only such so much that we can do when it comes to property rights, when
it comes to the concerns of citizens whose rights are supposedly equal to our own. But the devil is in the details. I think the most important and salient aspect to remember and I hope the
council takes this seriously. We have a comprehensive plan. We have laws. We have ordinances. We have standards. We have a future land usage map. the fact that this proposal
requires real and significant amendments to the skeleton of Elpertell is a red flag. That in and of itself should be a reason for the entire
council and the preceding uh planning and and zoning meeting to turn down this project. Now, the truth is things have changed about this project. We don't know what has changed. They went back after meeting with some residents um and
availing themselves uh in in a town hall setting, but at no point did it feel like they worked with Elertell. So, we're waiting around until July,
August, or some point to hear what they're going to say. And maybe, and I I I had a a a a good conversation with the mayor a few weeks ago, it's possible, one has faith sometimes in life, that they'll come back with some more
reasonable bullet points to their to their proposal, to whatever their amendments to their proposal are. But I think the devil is in the details. And if the details in July or August or in the
future look at all like the details that we have seen in the last several months, then the answer again should be a no. And I'm still willing to to allow some room for faith and goodwill that they
would want to become good neighbors. But they haven't done that. and they haven't done it at any opportunity that they could. And instead, and this is on record, there have been meetings with people who are quite pro, quite for this
project. And that appearance to me kind of feels like people are jockeying to the front of the line to get favor with this developer. >> That bothers me. >> It's real life, though. These things
happen. It's my understanding that this sort of stuff happens out there in big boy adult life. But I think we can draw the line. We can draw the line by adhering to our current laws and rules. We can also move the line a little bit
forward. Not against developers, not against schools. I'm not a I'm not against a school that is proposed by this gentleman, provided it actually works and it is what it is. But the red flags of him or his company purchasing
seven or eight properties throughout Elpertell, most of them along Second Avenue. This doesn't look like a school. This looks like a campus. It looks like a village. It looks like El Patrell village no longer being
Alertel Village, but being Soulful Village perhaps. Anyway, I'm gonna I'm gonna try to maintain faith that that's not the way this goes. And I appreciate the difficult position that our council is in when weighing
these, you know, realities or these potentialities. It's not easy. And I I I I appreciate what you guys are doing. Last night, the residents of Bal Harbor spoke out
and their council unanimously rejected the proposal that uh was uh penciled in and discussed for years. This is at least at least four years since I heard about this proposal. Now, of course, the devil's in the details of any proposal.
The proposal included in Bal Harbor uh a number of live local units, a number of market units, some retail, and a very large hotel. And from what I witnessed in that meeting, no residents, zero were
for that proposal. It goes without saying. It's logical. If you start looking at these meetings in other cities throughout the United States who are considering whether it's vast data centers, whether it's mixeduse
retail, whatever it is, zero people are for it. Sure, there will be occasional mention of job creation, but I got to say it doesn't seem to come from the current residents when it comes out like that.
So, Bal Harbor knows very well that the developer who lost legislatively is going to come back and take them to court. So be it. We live in a nation that is still a
constitutional and democratic republic as far as I know. and laws and political will are going to be tested. We have a very well-connected, very smart, and very nice attorney. His name
is Joe Geller. He's been around the block. I don't think I'm I don't think I'm your age. I don't know. Just tell me if I crossed the line there. >> Okay. >> He's seen this. We've all seen this and we're seeing different forms of it.
We're seeing mandates for charter schools that get to occupy public schools. Is that right? Is that wrong? The devil is in the details. I have a feeling I know how some of the people here will 100% think it it is wrong.
Things are changing for a reason. So, we have to be vigilant and we have to manage the way we see the realities of these projects and we have to be unafraid to inform our residents and
also inform our council because it takes more than 24 hours a day 365 to keep up with all the advantages that are being given to certain constituencies. But if Bal Harbor did it, so can we.
>> Thank you. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Juliana Colinger, 8650 Northeast Miami Court. Um, I'm here because I'm really, really concerned about traffic.
On April 14th, I reached out to mayor because when I was coming home from u dropping off the children at around 8:36, I was coming northbound on Miami Avenue and I made a right on 86th in
order to go to my house. And as I was turning, there were probably at least four cars there parked waiting to make a left westbound on 86th, which you're not not supposed to be doing. And as I stood
there, I'm like, "That's odd." Then I went and I parked my car. Oops. Sorry. Sorry. Then I went and I parked my car because I live like right there. And I started to walk towards that
um intersection and I just stood there and it was one car after another after another after another. Next thing I know, there was 10, 12 cars lined up waiting to make a left turn on a stop sign illegally.
And I was so worried and I was so mad because I know every single one of my neighbors on that 86th Street and I live on Northeast Miami Court, which is the one going north to south. They live east to west of 86. And I know every single one of my neighbors, every single one of
my neighbors. Why? Because it's Elortal. And I love Elportal. And I love my neighbors. And I was worried about them walking. I was worried about anybody walking their dog. It's no longer peaceful anymore. And this was on a day that probably something was going on on 95th. Probably
something was going on on on on Biscane Boulevard. Who knows? It is now every day in Miami. This is happening every day. Every day there's something with traffic. And then we want to add a school with 350 people, kids.
That's going to be mayhem. So that day, thankfully, I have Mayor Nickerson on my phone and I did reach out to him and he did send over a police offer to police officer to be in there in the corner and I really appreciate
that and I thank everyone here for that because that's what I love about the Portell. It's small enough where we can get things done quickly. Um, and I appreciate that. But if that's one area of our town and next thing we have is more more development, more we're not going
to be able to have that and I worry about that. I worry about traffic. I worry about the peace of mind that everybody has walking down the streets. I worry about that and I want things to yes grow in the right direction but with parameters. As Miss Rodriguez said, we
really need that and I want everybody to just take these things into consideration especially as developers are coming in and they're coming fiercely. They're coming to divide and conquer. And let's not be divided. Let's not let's not be divided as a town
either. Um and let's not let that not let's not let them conquer us. Let's put our rules down as they should be. And um and I would really really appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening. My name is Daniel Roas, 60
Northeast 86th Street. Um, to sound like a broken record, I'm I'm actually going to try not to sound like a broken record. Um, but I do agree with my neighbors that have spoken. This school doesn't make sense for Alertal. Uh but I
also want to bring uh um to mind the all the examples of development that has happened throughout our county and throughout South Florida recently. Uh like winds for developers are setting presidents that are going to basically
uh very negatively affect residents of South Florida. We can look at what just happened with the Kousa. Uh the basically the developer uh outlasted the will of the people until they were able to get a vote for for developing in a in
a area that was supposed to be kept as a as a park uh not that was not to be developed for 65 years but the their commission voted to allow it uh against the will of the people. So what we really want here in Alport is to be
heard. That's why we keep coming to the meetings. That's why we keep speaking in good welfare even though the meeting is not about the school, right? We want to make sure we're heard. We want to make sure that we act mindfully and that we learn from the
mistakes of others and even from ours. Uh we are human. We're going to make some mistakes, but we can also learn, and we can try to make sure that we don't get exploited, that we don't get divided, that we don't get uh used by somebody that has a history of using
people, of seeing human beings just as numbers. Uh, and make no mistake, that's why we are to them. We're just numbers. We're just possible like money that they can make out of this. There is no wanting to be a part of this community. They want to set a president where
they're going to change zoning, where they're going to destroy our community and they will make some money and then they'll move on. So, I want us to make sure that we do not allow this and I appreciate you guys hearing your voice. >> Thank you very much.
>> Anyone else good in welfare public comment? Hi, good evening. My name is Ramona. I live on uh 136 Northwest 88 Street. Um this is a just a question for the councils. Do you know that I don't know if you're aware that the property owned
by toll real estate one of the properties because now they have several inortal and I still don't understand exactly the purpose of why buying so many properties here. uh the 205 northeast on 87 street,
they still didn't pay their taxes which was due in 2025th and we are already on February, March, April and $99,939
they still didn't pay. And that's just to show the kind of person we're dealing here. So they own that property and they already late on paying their own taxes. So I don't know if you're aware of that.
Just just a eye opening on what kind of people we're dealing with. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Okay. For public comment, good public comment. Did you anybody want to speak this public comment portion of the
of the meeting? >> Going once. going twice. Okay, public comment is closed for the meeting at this point. We're going to get back to the meeting. You will also have a chance to speak at the agenda items about those particular agenda
items when we get there. Okay. Also, um that being said, uh Council Person wanted to jump right in just before the uh mayor uh gets into answering some of the questions everybody asked. Um I just wanted to put uh 30 seconds worth of my
two cents in real quick. So, um I have been saying for several years now that there is a tsunami of money coming into Miami. And if the council is not prepared to say no to people who have
never heard the word no before, then we are in trouble. I have been saying that for years. Uh Newman's not the first. He's not going to be the last. Um, and so, uh, I just want the residents to know that the point is well taken, uh,
at least, uh, from this seat that, uh, a a need to understand how to say no to people who've never heard the word no before is a requirement most likely to be sitting up here, I would say. Uh in addition to that, I have also been
saying or at least warning that multiple urban cores throughout North America are eliminating res single resident zoning. This is not hyperbole. I'm just telling you that multiple urban cores throughout
North America, some of them have already done it, others are talking about it. But the discussion of uh density and the need for density and the need to eliminate single family resident zoning is an everyday discussion especially in
developer class. So I believe that if Elortell is to preserve its value as well as its character over the next few years that uh uh some teeth are going to need to be uh put into coding and
ordinance that we do not presently have. Um I will just say that. So uh I'll leave it at that. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Council person Irvine, >> we are we all commenting now on >> um Yeah, I was Yeah, I was going to let you guys comment first. I usually answer the question first. I was going to let you guys go first.
>> No worries. Uh so I'll do my quick take on it. First of all, uh this is the democratic process and it's a beautiful thing. The fact that you guys have all seen fit to gather your thoughts, gather your your comments from your neighbors, um do your research and come up here and
share with us your thoughts and your perspective. I do not take it for granted. I think it's a beautiful thing and one of the main reasons why I've chosen to uh give my time in this way. So I don't want anybody in the audience to think that you come up to this mic,
you kind of say what you got to say. Uh we nod and we don't take it to heart because I'm sure we all take copious notes. I know I take very detailed notes about what you guys think every time you come up here. Whether or not uh the Raider church issue or soulful is on the
agenda or not, the time that you spend at that podium is valuable to me and I hope you understand from your seat um that it's a really really valuable use of your time. So I I love the participation and I'm hearing everything
that you are saying. Um, my reluctance to at any meeting sit and state exactly what I'm going to vote at a time in the future is because that is just how I do things. I I am analytical. I like to
think about the issue that is in front of me with all of the information that is given to me. It's going to be difficult for me to make a decision now about information that I do not have. But I stand by the comments that I've said in previous meetings and if you
wanted to check out some of the videos, it has stayed the same. I have not met with any of the developers because I don't think that I should meet with them before um the city manager meets with them before there is some sort of concerted collective action or agreement
as to what our terms are. What does a win look like for the residents of Elportal? But I do want to assure you that anything that comes before me has to come correct. I understand the magic of Elortal. I live it. My children live
it. Um I understand the traffic issues that uh one of the young ladies that spoke earlier was talking about because I was caught in the same traffic wondering what is happening. Um so we are all in this together and though we sit on this deis I very much am a
resident of Elportal. So whatever comes before me, whatever comes uh through this seat um is essentially coming through us. I take your comments to heart. I take our conversations very seriously. I take my seat very seriously
in this position and I do understand that Elportal is this magical place that we have to preserve no matter what. And development is inevitable, but the correct development is necessary. And when I'm thinking about correctness, I'm thinking of all of the minute points or
the big points that you guys have decided to share with me either publicly um at the podium or privately. So I do want to reassure you that I am taking your thoughts into consideration. Uh for
me, I never sit and say this is exactly what I'm going to do because I just don't think that that's the way it works. I think you sit in that meeting, you listen to the things. This is nothing personal. I do not know Adam Newman. Um, this is about whether or not this project is suitable for this
community based on all of the objective criteria that we go through when we look at the appropriateness of a development for a community of this size in this location with this demographic all of those things. Uh, so the facts will
guide the decision. I hear your comments on the facts and I will consider them and I hope that you trust me uh in my analytical process to be fair to you and your desires. So that's where I stand and thank you for your comments.
>> Thank you very much Vice Mayor Council President. >> All right. So thank thank you everyone who came out tonight and spoke up. I want to acknowledge that there were a lot of concerns raised particularly around safety, traffic, the future of village.
Those are valid things for residents to care about and I care about them as well. I do want to clarify one important point. The school has been referenced repeatedly tonight but it's not on the agenda tonight. We are speaking about different things and it's not there. Um, so with respect to safety, uh, I take it
very seriously and I want to person and I was actually personally involved in an accident, uh, last week, um, where I was hit by a car on my scooter and I understand that it was only a few blocks from Alport on second. It's very important to take safety seriously. I
have the bruising on my ribs to prove it. But this is not um this is I understand first f firstand but that's exactly why we need to make sure that addressing issues through proper planning data and coordination and not
assumptions. Um as for comments about communication it is it's not only appropriate but necessary for council members to speak with residents stakeholders and applicants. That's part of the understanding the issue fully. What matters is that any decisions are
ought to be made here on the record in compliance with the law. Um I do want to say this, there's been a lot of talk about division. And I agree that unity is important. It's the only way to get through all this. But unity doesn't come from shutting down conversations or
drawing lines between people. It comes from making informed, lawful decisions that serve the entire village. Um so when items come before us we will evaluate them carefully based on facts not fear and make the decisions uh the
best we can for Elportal. Um so at this point Mr. Geller um I I wanted to note on the recent state legislation that got passed last Monday. Uh Senate Bill 182 was something that we've talked about a few times but it was signed into a law
last Monday and it does affect the village. It affects the school coming into the village and it affects the it it makes Let me have the attorney um explain SP82 and how it's going to impact us.
>> You know, um there are some provisions that probably are applicable to us, but understand Senate Bill 182 is what in Tallahassee they call a train because not everything gets through. Most bills fail. And when
there's one that has something in it that people are confident they're going to pass, they amend all their unrelated stuff onto it because that's a bill that's likely to get through. So just, you know, we can talk in some specifics,
but understand that Senate Bill 182 covers, I mean, it's a grab bag. Uh there's a big provision that has a lot a lot of the space in the bill that deals with teacher mentoring establishing the school teacher training and mentoring
program in the department of education. And there's just a lot of different provisions. That's really I think what the heart of the bill was that everything else got tacked on to about you know a small stipen for teacher
mentors. I'm not going to spend much time on it because I don't think that's what most people hear. But, you know, in my uh other capacity that I serve in, that's a big deal for me. Um, this bill actually requires, it's one of
the, well, I'll save the editorial comment, patriotic displays in public schools, and it said uh, subject to appropriation, as if that's not a
burning problem in our schools, that every public school has to have pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln displayed in a conspicuous place.
The bill also requires, and this is something some people feel very strongly about, that students in our public schools be instructed in cursive writing, which has fallen by the wayside. My daughter, who just
graduated high school last June, did not have instruction ever in cursive writing. She can't read it. She can't write it. And I think that's a disadvantage. That's in this bill. Um, there's a provision about Florida
tax credit scholarships, so-called vouchers, that says if a student's account is closed, the funds remaining in it go back to the funding organization, not to the state. I mean, who pushed
that? >> I was specifically referring to I'm getting there, Councilman. Um there is a provision on charter school academic dismissal restrictions that have to have
corrective action plans. I presume that you and maybe a lot of the people in the audience are more interested in private school facilities and land use which is another provision here. And it allows private schools
flexibility in zoning, land use, and believe it or not, compliance with fire prevention codes. As if flexibility in dealing with fire prevention is, if
you'll pardon the expression, a burning issue. This bill requires it provides any private school that enrolls 150 or less students or
located within an unincorporated area of a county is exempt from resoning special exception or land use change if it's in a commercial or mixeduse VO zoning district. That's
another example. It's not exactly live local, but I will editorialize. I got there in 2014, served eight years. This legislature has been hellbent on destroying home rule in this state
because they think they're the only ones who know. I used to try to tell them when I was on in the House that if they thought they got smarter when they walked in that Capitol building, they were gravely mistaken and that local
government officials like you guys have just as much knowledge, just as much expertise, and are much closer to hearing what the public does and doesn't want. But that's not what they've done. That's why they have live local. That's
why they have this provision specifically I mean exempt from reszoning special exception or any land use change. It also get this one preempts local mitigation requirements
conditions performance standards ordinances rules codes or policies for those schools. Now, now it says 150 or less. I'm going to take bets about whether
they raise that number next year now that they've got it on the books because I ain't taking that action. Uh except that a county or municipality may require mitigation measures necessary. Here's something for you to
hold on to to address vehicular traffic and pedestrian safety if it's directly attributable to the operation of the private school. So, there's something that the citizens have been talking about tonight. It author but it
authorizes a tri a private school to submit a traffic study demonstrating the school will not have a disproportionate traffic impact. Anybody who's ever received one of those traffic studies knows that they're always accurate, they're always impartial, and
they never lean in any particular direction, not even including the people who pay them to create the study. So, I'm glad to stand up for their integrity. And finally, it authorizes a private school enrolling 150 or student
or fewer students to operate in certain existing facilities and meet the fly Florida fire prevention code for that occupancy classification. But they can do that through an alternative
fire safety evaluation adopted by the state fire marshal. And let me say I have a lot of confidence in our Dade County Miami Dade County Fire Department. Uh a little less so frankly
in what might be done by the state fire marshal. So this bill by itself has some limitations. I predict some of those will be gone in a year. But even what it does is
disrespectful of local government. And I can only say to the citizens who've spoken tonight and at other meetings and I say this with deep respect for everyone that's here and how you feel
and this is your village and you live here and you want it to be the place you moved into. reach out to state legislators because these laws are not passed by the
people who sit at your deis that you see. They're passed far away in Tallahassee and they get away with it. Write them, email them, call them, and tell them how you feel. And tell them that, you know, you only have one
representative that represents you here. You only have one senator that represents you here, but you know, some of the others are a little sensitive to getting a lot of mail and a lot of phone calls. If you can get up there because
home rule, the kind of government that you want for your village so you can make the decisions with the people you represent has been under assault for 10 years
and it gets worse every single year. We need to editorialize one last time. We need a change in who runs things up in Tallahassee. >> Is it a bill or a law? >> A bill is introduced.
If it passes both houses and gets signed by the governor, then it's a law. >> But it hasn't passed. >> This one passed. >> It was signed a law. >> It was signed as the councilman said Monday the governor signed it. Not a shock. >> SP 182.
>> Yeah. Uh listen, it'll have a it has it changes certain statutes. So from now on, it's not really a bill anymore. That's what passed. It has specific statutory references in it. But let me tell you, this one's done,
but there's a whole new wave coming in the next session, I guarantee you. And the people who are running things in Tallahassee are not thinking about you. They're thinking about who pays the bills
for them. So let them know how you feel because we need a change in the way it's run because if they're handcuffed by the law and the governor, this
governor is known for removing people from office if they cross him and don't do what he thinks the law ought to be, not necessarily even what was what's been adopted. He finds creative ways. So
I I have to say to you in all honesty, their hands are tied on a lot of this stuff. You know, when Live Local says you have to do it. I mean, look, there were big cheers in Bow Harbor when
they voted not to do it. when they get sued by a deep pockets developer, a little town like that, they got a lot greater taxation than this town does.
They have incredibly expensive property over there that pays lots and lots of money into the coffers of that little city. But if they lose that case, even Bow Harbor could be bankrupted.
This city has financial challenges ready and defending against a deep pocket. I mean, the problem is that the law and the judges who've been appointed
don't necessarily see things your way. We have to ultimately find a way to change those laws because We're stuck with them till we do. I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound
cynical or or defeist, but this is the reality of what's passed. And it's not just this one. And it's not just live local. It's 10 years of maybe 12 of putting cities and
counties and and school boards on the defensive. That's a fact. All right. So, thank you, Mr. Geller. Uh, if you didn't know, he also spoke last council meeting about the same law, but at that time, it was uh just a bill
that had been waiting for the governor's signature, which now happened. Um, so after all this, I I wanted everyone to understand that um whether you're for the school or against the school, this now basically allows them in a mixeduse
area to put a school with 150 kids or less, circumventing council, circumventing development agreement. Basically, we have no say in it. And it it's it's very problematic. and >> traffic. >> Well, there's certain ways that we're
gonna have to figure out and this with with new laws, we're going to have to figure out a lot of ways to try and save and protect Alport. >> There may be other angles that can be pushed. This law, it says it preempts a bunch of stuff and and that may be
upheld, but you know, we have environmental laws, too. And I don't I would like to believe that the interpretation of this does not say every environmental law on the books is now null and void but uh that will be in
the hands of judges. >> So basically we need to understand this reality and work towards what is the best outcome for El Portal. Uh and knowing that this is a new law we always have to work with new laws and we have to understand how they're going to
affect us. They said 150. >> So actually, >> okay, please don't yell from the audience. Um, I will address that. So something that Mr. Geller said earlier was that laws are actually changed quite often or amended later on, which might
now, right now they might start at 150, but they might increase that at some point. And that is something that we also have to worry about as well. So, um I hope everyone understands we're trying our best to understand this new law and how we can either
work through it or try and implement its uh actual um fire code and other portions of it to try and do what's best for Alport. So, that was my two cents. Did I get miss anything, Mr. Geller?
Did I miss anything? >> There's a lot out there, Councilman. Nobody catches it all all the time. I thought your discussion was was thorough, but there's there's always other stuff. >> All right, thank you so much.
>> All right, you guys. Um, just to kind of quickly uh wrap that up. So, this bill um Senate Bill 182, it has passed the House, it's passed the Senate, it now uh
it's to it's due to kick in July 1st. Okay, it's due to kick in July 1st. Um, so the way so Florida and you know this is kind of uh kind of going back to, you know, civics class for me and things like that, but there's certain states that operate differently, right? So
Florida is one of these states where when there's a law that's already passed, um, any amendment or adjustment to it, it doesn't necessarily have to be signed by the governor, right? So the governor, so whenever these amendments or adjustments are made and it passes
through the house and through the Senate, these amendments or adjustments, they have a date where they take effect. Let's say the governor can veto those bills or veto those amendments or
those adjustments before the date of effect, effectiveness or whatever, before the date that it takes effect. But the governor doesn't have to necessarily sign it into law in Florida. The governor can just leave it alone. Look at Geller's head. He's he was a he was a state rep for a while. The
governor can leave it alone and just kind of be ambiguous about it and it will kick in at whatever the kickin date is. So, Governor DeSantis, um I believe he signed this into law, but even if he didn't, it would still kick in on July
1st if he didn't veto it. And so, not every state is like that, but Florida is just one of those states that's like that. Um or whatever. That being said, so, you know, I think that we just need to do whatever we can do, and there's things that's going to happen. And like
I said, um I have a town hall that should be coming up. I believe it's the second or third week, third week in May, um about live local and things like that. I have some people flying down from Tallahassee about that. Just kind of explaining what it's all about. Uh this one right here, it says in it that
private schools could use use or buy buildings like churches, museums, theaters, colleges, or former schools or daycare centers without needing reszoning or special land approval from committees or councils or commissions.
It said they could also build new facilities on these properties or on this land where churches, museums, theaters, colleges or former schools once stood and or on land owned by the Florida
college system schools and state universities without any zoning changes. to schools with 150 students or fewer could operate in a commercial or mixeduse zone and in non-traditional buildings as long as they meet fire
safety standards and similar checks which is basically like general information like if you open a business you have to meet fire safety standards. So that's any building you have to go through the county for that. Um, so with that being said, they may feel that, you
know, they're coming they're they may feel that they have a large upper hand right now, which I believe even makes even, you know, it's even more alarming and it's even more important that when you all were saying that we really have to like come together to like be a
united front because any type of separation and any type of division is going to really allow them to try to bypass us in every way possible and they're counting on the state of Florida as their backup to be able to
come down here and do what they want to do. Okay. just showing the importance like I said have somebody have one or two people definitely one we're trying to see if we can get the other one coming down from Tallahassee um and they're going to do like a workshop to talk about live local and
exactly you know for this particular project what can what can't what are our rights um and things like that because uh there are certain things like uh parking you know restrictions or approvals and traffic and things like that that we can use on our side okay
just kind of wanted to put that out Um, as far as what was asked before, um, Mr. Gomez, you asked, uh, where do we stand? Um, I had in my notes H S SB182, so I was going to explain that and kind of, you know, what I said, uh, last
week. I know that's I know that sometimes you guys because we I answer the questions at the end of good and welfare, sometimes people aren't here to hear it. Um, so that's understandable, but uh, I can only speak for myself. Um, where I stand is the same place I've stood, which is
my my questions are kind of two into one and it's traffic and quality of life, right? And so for me, traffic and quality of life are my two main reasons, right? That we're a serene and tranquil residential community. And for the
location of the church, I just feel that the traffic aspect and the quality of life aspect is what kind of like brings me down on the church. Um, and I said from the very beginning, if I get an answer to the traffic situation and how
it would affect our quality of life, then I would start to move that pendulum. But I don't see I've never gotten any answer or any solution for that. Um, I remember, you know, there was one point in time where early, you know, when we all kind of started to get this the site plan and things like that. I told them, I believe it might have
been after the first time we tabled uh the item at the first, it was either the first planning zone or after the first town hall um when they were like cleaning up the food and stuff like that. And I said to them, I said I said, "Look, you guys," I said, "why don't you all
um purchase the property that is on the the east side south on Northeast 2nd, south of 86th Street." I said, "That property where if you guys go over there, there's the hair there's like the hair uh the beauty shop and then there's
like um I believe like a little restaurant or cafe or something like that. Right behind those, if you guys walk over there, right behind those, there are like uh twostory or threetory uh apartments or something like that or whatever. Um
those are almost empty. There's there's nothing really over there, you guys. The shops are, you know, the shops are up and running, but the apartments that are right behind there, there's almost they're they're pretty much empty. And this is just an example. And I said
that, you know, you need to look at other just aspects. I even said you guys, I I said to them, I said, there is that um that property where if you're going south on Northeast 2 and you make that right when you're going towards the uh the Little River Post Office on when
you're getting to the Little River Post Office on the left side, there's there's that whole area on the right side. It's like abandoned or something like that. I was like, you guys could, you know, buy that property and put a parking um a parking garage there, you know, and then
you guys can take a shuttle and shuttle your people in so there's no traffic coming into town. So anyway, that's just the traffic aspect. But un under quality of life does like traffic, but I think quality of life, there's so many other things that's a part of that. And those are my two um holdups when it comes to
the property, which is traffic and quality of life. Um, and for that reason, I've always been in the same position when it comes to that. Okay. When we're when we're talking about um the the code uh Mr. Gome Mr. Gomez um
yeah, so we've been looking into that also. I actually have a meeting next week um just about with the building department and with Tallahassee also and just looking at just code overall. Uh, Council Person Winters is the chair of code enforcement, so he might have some
more to say about that. Um, when it comes to the next PNZ meeting, uh, Miss Gomes, Miss Gomez, uh, the next PNZ meeting in May, but we're waiting on, uh, uh, Clerk Jacobe could tell you, Clerk Jacobe, last week, her and I were
her and I and the zoning department were trying to reach out to the developer because we're trying to get, you know, if they have any adjustments, we haven't seen any adjustments, right? So after the town halls and things like that, people, you know, said to them, "Hey, we're not comfortable with this, this,
this, this, and that." They have to resubmit or amend their site plan with those changes. They haven't done anything. They haven't resubmitted any plans. >> They haven't amended or resubmitted
anything. So until they resubmit plans, then you know there's really no new site plan to meet on. Now we can't force them to meet, right? This is not like a court of law where they say this
is your date to show up if you don't show up in this date. It's not like that. We can't they have to tell us, hey, we're ready to meet. You know, now they can come back with the same site plan, right? We'll vote no. I mean some of you know certain people will vote no or whatever. I can only speak for myself. They can come out with the same
site plan right but they have to tell us that we reached out to them madam clerk did we not right last week and zoning hasn't heard from them and nope and we reached out to them and they won't return. And so the next planning and
zoning meeting we want to have it. I just don't know when it'll be. I'm thinking May because we have a couple other things that's that's that's coming up. Um and I usually try to put everything on one meeting if I possibly can. So once those are finished, um I will, you know, schedule a planning and zoning meeting and we'll continue to
reach out to them. Um but they have to at least respond to us and say we're ready to go, you know, use the same site plan or here are adjustments or whatever. Just think about it like this. If you know, you as a resident, if you
wanted to do, you know, a project to your home, you tell us right when you're ready for it to be presented, you know, oh no, mayor, you know, we'll be out of we'll be out of the country, you know, next month. Can you put us on the agenda the month after or whatever. So, we're still
waiting. We've been reaching out to them. We're still waiting to hear from them whether they want us to put back on the same site plan or if they have any adjustments or any amendments to the site plan. And so as soon as we get that, I'll let you guys know and we'll they'll be on the agenda and we'll let you guys know at least a couple weeks in
advance. I'll let you guys know early for that. Um Mr. Romona, uh yes, we did we did hear uh before you came in, they spoke about the taxes and how they haven't paid the taxes. So So we did hear about that, but thank you very much for um
also letting us know about that. Uh as far as questions, that's all I can I have done, Mr. Pace. Um we did hear you about the comp plan. We think that would be uh important to kind of know their overall idea of what they want to do. Um that's as far as questions you guys that I have. Uh if I missed any, let me know.
You all we good? Anybody else from the council have any other questions or comments before we move to the um the resolutions? >> Just one final comment on all this. Uh one of the residents who spoke, I agreed with uh almost everything she said except for one item and that was the
idea that we should be a unified body up here. Um, when I came onto this council, I was relieved and encouraged to find out, oh, okay, I am an individual in this seat and there are five of us up here. And I firmly believe that you need
five individuals sitting up here to be able to get to a consensus that works for everyone. The very last thing that this village would ever need, and we've been through this before, is a voting block. You put a voting block of any
kind whatsoever on this council, three people. All it takes. All it takes is three people. A voting block will result immediately in a hierarchy where you will have one person who will tell the other two what to do, and there will be
nothing anybody can do to stop them. You do not ever want a voting block, even if they all three agree with you on everything on this council. It will be the end of this community. Thank you very much, Council President Urban. All right, you guys. Let's move on. Move on
to consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve consent agenda? >> So move. >> Moved by Council Person. Do you have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Vice Mayor Martin. All in favor say I. I. Say nay. Moving on to the resolutions. Um, this resolution right here, I wanted to adjust a word or
two, but go ahead and read into the record, Attorney Geller. Yes, sir. Resolution H1 uh about an independent tree arborist, a resolution of the village council of the village of Alpert, Florida, establishing a requirement for independent arborist reports for the removal of certain
trees, providing that any arborist report required for tree removal must be prepared by a company or organization that is not financially compensated for the removal of said tree. providing for transparency, objectivity,
and environmental protection. Acknowledging the recommendation of the architectural landscape and environmental mayoral advisory board. Providing for implementation, providing for incorporation of recitals and providing for an effective date. All right. So, um the reason why this came
up you guys is because so just being here for, you know, as long as I have um and this was something that I used to I've brought up a couple of times. Um, so we we have situations in Elporttow where you guys know we have these large
oak trees and things like that. We have situations in Elberttow where there will be times that, you know, there will need to be a tree that needs to be removed, a large oak tree, very big, very large, you know, been here for a number of
years and things like that. As of today and up until all the way to today, the way we do it is Alberta, we will hire an arborist, right? So these large trees and you know there's a lot of trees takes a report to remove it. The arborist
is from the same company that cuts the tree down. And I've always thought that was an issue because especially when you get to these large oak trees, right? These large trees are like $30,000, you know, 25 $40,000 sometimes to cut it
down. They chop it up and all that type of stuff. And it costs a lot of money. And to me, it just seems like almost a conflict of interest or or a conflict of interest where the individuals that are saying that the tree is no good or the
tree is sick or the tree should be cut down, they have a financial connection of a payout of tens of thousands of dollars to say the tree is sick. We're not like we don't know if so if they say, "Oh, we're going to do a report also." Yeah, the tree the tree is sick.
It's going to fall any day. like we don't know to say well that's not true I'm not an arborist so I just think a way to kind of you know make things right is to have another level of you know us looking at it and the way to do
that I feel is to have a arborist not be connected financially to the company that's going to be cutting down the tree so whoever you get to hire to cut down the tree the arborist doesn't come from the same company now that Being said,
um I want to make sure that I think this is what I I kind of want to do and why I want to maybe change a couple of words because I want to make sure that for our residents, we're we're dotting all of our eyes, crossing all of our tees, and we're not
putting something out there that will harm the resident in any way. So, I want to go over that aspect first with uh with the architecture, landscape, and environmental board. So for this one, but I do want to have something in place because it happens too often where the
government of Elbertal is removes trees and the government of Alpert chooses arborists that come from the tree removal company and I just don't think that's right. So for what you read in the beginning, um,
Attorney Geller, a resolution of the village of Alpert of the village of Alpert, Florida, of the village council of the village of Alpert, Florida, establishing a requirement for independent arborous reports for the governmental removal
of trees needing an arborous report. So we'll just change that little part up right there. And so this right here, >> that done for you, man. >> Yeah, thank you very much. So this right here will immediately put in place to where we don't have that conflict of
interest and will go on to protect more of our trees um because Elbertal a lot of times is tasked especially like in the swell and things like that with tree removal. Okay. So that's kind of what this is all about. I'll open it up to the council before I open it up to um
the public. >> Uh any idea of what the fiscal impact will be? Like I I'm not an arburist either. I have no idea. Uh, how much would it cost if anything to have those independent reports? >> It would not cost anything because if if a tree needs to be removed with an
arbitrage report, great question, madam vice mayor. Um, with the arberish report, they already have to get an arish report. >> So, the only thing that I'm saying is the arish report cannot come from the same company as the company cutting down the tree. But you have to get we have to get a report regardless. So, it's no
extra cost. we still have to pay for the arbitrage report. As if if this didn't go into effect, we would still have to pay for an arbitrage report. It would just come from the same company of the tree comp the company cutting down the tree. That's the only difference. >> So then a follow-up question for you just to make sure I'm thinking about it correctly. You can get the arborous
report from an organiza or a company that is not the tree removal company and that tree removal company based on that outside arborist report will go ahead and execute the removal. >> Absolutely. Madam vice makes sense. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Yes, transport.
>> Yes. So the uh the changes there are uh very helpful um and take care of most of my concerns and um uh in the spirit of of uh just transparency. I guess I would say that the tree board is uh looking to
to advance a uh a tree ordinance similar to this uh uh but but uh fairly comprehensive for uh guiding all residents on uh the removal of uh of
trees. So, I know that there's a um a uh a similar effort from the same board that produced this and so I the residents should know that there is a kind of a comprehensive uh tree ordinance uh that is in the works >> that is in the works and coming into a
focus uh from two different uh committees. Uh so um uh this is an excellent start I think. And then in addition to that, the tree board also is uh trying to advance an idea and uh look at a solution for having a line item in
the budget for an Elportile arborist uh that in theory in the future would even be available for residents uh to be able to u have some assistance with if a resident's trying to figure out why a fruit tree is not fruiting or uh concerned about losing a tree, you know,
these types of things. uh that we might have a resource available to residents in the future. Uh that so so this is kind of a a fir a great first step honestly um towards uh really uh putting our money where our mouth is as far as Tree City USA um and maintaining our
canopy and the ecosystem that uh thrives underneath the canopy as well. Thank you very much, Counc. >> I very much appreciate the the change to the resolution. Uh for those of you who don't know, I I I've been uh looking into this. I I believe in the good
intentions of it and I want to do everything I can to trees, but our building department does not issue permits for moving trees. That's Miami date government in Durm. Just like we do not issue permits for demolition of buildings. This is outside of our scope. open for us to create a law that forces
all the residents and citizens to follow that has to be implemented by a the county instead of us is very difficult uh for our little government. Uh this new verbiage really does actually make it easier and protects I think it protects our little village especially
our budget and our trees. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um from the audience you guys can come up and talk about this particular item um if you want to. Anybody uh first and last name, address Merlin Brooks, 400 Northeast 90th Street.
I'm here to get a clear understanding of what's going on with these trees. This tree, I saw it growing. No one that I know of planted
it. However, the tree is between both my house and the neighbor. The area on the east side is closer to each other than on the west side. I saw it growing and I spoke to
the neighbor and the only thing he said he didn't plant it. Probably he didn't. I know I didn't. I have no trees planted near to my house because I know tree leaves damages your roof.
Okay. However, this tree has grown all the way up there now to the point it rests on my bedroom ceiling roof. I've paid $300 two different times to cut the
roof. the the the tree, it affects the the gutters that I placed around my home because the gutter gets full with the leaves and the water reverses to my house.
I've spoken about it several times. I'm here to get a clear understanding of what happening because I am sure the roof the the the the root of that house that tree is under my house and I want you all to
know it won't be too nice if that root comes up in my house. I want a clear understanding of where you all stand with it because I am going to take I you know it's not fair to me to have
to be cutting something I didn't plant. That's bad enough. I played to put gutters around my house. I had to take it down. And now it's the root. I'm sure it's under my house already.
I want you all to know it won't be nice. I also noticed two weeks ago I'm seeing termites now. So I'm here to speak to you all about it that I won't hear we didn't know about
it. Please tell me what you all are about to do if anything so that I will know what I need to do. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Uh, anyone else uh good in welfare about
this particular item? We're good. Okay. All right. We're closing. follow questions. >> Alita 12 Northeast 90th Street. So I I wanted to follow up on the on the law that you mentioned the the council
mentioned SB 182. Um and that's I didn't wanted to speak from the chair. The reason is because obviously we want to be very cordial, very uh respectful, but it's the second time. So we are now like January,
February, March, April and we have discussed no zero issues. So it's the second time that he actually throw into the community the law SB 182 and it I mean it's it my understanding is
like why are you asking the same question again? You asked it last meeting so why are you asking again? But what I want I would like to say through that is that you are explaining the law SB 182 but you are actually not it's
almost like you are wanted to to um imply to the citizens that this law will be applied into our village. Right. Well, and then the next one the mayor actually added the second part. This is regarding to an existing building. You
know the attorney said the same thing. It has to be an existing building. There's no building. The building has been demolished. So if you ask the attorney for the second time to give to the majority of the residents being here tonight to explain the law 182, which
I'm not and I'm not understanding why he's so obsessed with it instead of being more focused on like how to find solutions and actually mitigate this problem that is coming to our village. This is not an issue blocking the school. This is an issue actually
understanding that a 350 student school will be the suicidal of this village. My street already is has that impact with no school. So that's what we are talking about. But I never heard you even the last time I never heard you
discussing our needs. I know your house is very well suited in a corner. There's no traffic. There's no nothing. But our houses are exposed to this traffic that is incoming. That's where we're coming from. So for you to come and ask again
the the the law SB182 for an existing building when there's no building there. So I don't understand the purpose. >> All right. >> So I would appreciate it the council member goes gives more more knowledge onto something. What can be done to mitigate
this instead of like scaring everyone like sitting there. It's the second time that this happened. So if and also if the attorney can can emphasize this um it's an existing building or not, how does he apply that there's no building in that lot any longer? >> Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. But I also wanted to add the reason that we asked the question and then the answers are given an hour later. It makes it very hard to have a conversation and maybe the meeting would have gone a little bit more. I mean we have we have suggested that before and I
understand >> and now it's going to be even harder to to keep two hour or three hours of questions and then we do not get again this is going to be the fourth month that we do not have the straightforward opinion of one of the council members.
So thank you I appreciate >> I understand he's going to so this what I'll do I'll let him answer during my mayor's report. you guys would understand also that right and I I feel you guys and I don't disagree with you but there are policies and procedures with like the meeting right there's a
meeting procedure and so we have to do public comment and then close public comment and then that's when I try to give you guys the answers um what I'll do since we are on the uh this resolution during my mayor's report section I'll allow you guys to I'll allow council
person winters at that time you got you can respond all right Okay. So, getting back to this, is there any other questions or comments about this particular resolution about the arborist? >> Uh, I just want to offer just a little more clarity that what we're discussing tonight, I know Miss Brooks was uh, you
know, wanting to know exactly what it is we're talking about tonight. And tonight, what we're talking about are uh, are trees that the village of Elporttowal would be removing. Think swelailes basically. It could be from other places but um but the what's
what's happening tonight is that any tree that the village of Elportal the the the government of Elportal is going to remove they cannot use the same arborists that also represents a company that would be getting money for saying
oh we need to cut it down. Um that is exactly what we're talking about tonight and nothing beyond that. There are other things we're talking about beyond that, but that is all future. Tonight, we're talking about Elporttowal uh and the trees that they would cut down, the the government of Elportal
would cut down. Okay. All right. Any other questions or comments about uh this particular resolution? Hearing seeing none, um Madame Clerk, do I have a mo do I have a motion to approve? I was say, Madam Cler, do I have a motion to approve? Uh so moved.
I'll move to approve. Um Council President Urban, do I have a second? >> Second. Uh, council person uh was council person was it Winters first? Okay, >> I'll I'll defer to the to the to the title. Vice Mayor Martin for the second. Um, Madame Clerk, may I please have roll
call, please? >> Roll call. Council person Winters. >> Yes. >> Council person Bomb. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Martin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Nickerson? >> Yes. Motion passes four to nine. >> Thank you very much you guys. Um the next resolution uh attorney Gell if you
>> resolution H2 El Patel Little Peacock Park a resolution the village council of the village of El Florida officially naming the El Patral total little peacock park providing for implementation and providing for an
effective date. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Um so this right here you guys this resolution I put together. So, all right. So, when you when when we were redoing the Elpertile T tot um the
tot was never officially named. So, I was going through the paperwork, going through everything. So, there is no official Elpertile Tot. Um as a matter of fact, if you were to Google Albertal Tot, Google that and you'll see what pops up
is the Miami Shores Park. Miami Shores Tot. So, um I don't know if our predecessors just decided to just casually call it the Tot and things like that, but I kind of ran into this problem um when we were
redoing uh the quoteunquote tot lot because that wasn't the official name. Um, so we, so I believe that this park, not only because it was redone and it's beautiful, um, but I believe that, you know, in the element of Elort, I believe
this park should have a name and it should have a name that like signifies and dignifies Elort. Now, once El once the the uh the Albert Park was redone,
first of all, there was an individual. Now, I'm going to have Mr. David come on up for a second. Come on up for a second. Come on. Come up for a second. I know you're shy. Come up for a second. Come up for a second. Come up. Come over here. Come over here for a second. And so, you guys know it's been such a
popular park. Uh it's a beautiful park, beautifully redone. And so his son is not here today because it's kind of late, right? But tell tell tell everybody what what you when you guys first approached me what your son uh
calls the park. >> I really appreciate the the park. I hate you for this. >> Um when we started going there, even before the remodel, just because the peacocks leave there, a bunch of kids call it the peacock park, right? So when they refer to the to our playground,
they refer to it as the as the peacock park because you know you have the peacocks living right in front of there in the in the tree. They're always there. They're beautiful. No. So a bunch of little kids that started with the son of my friends and since then my son has always called it that is the the peacock park. And I kind of pitched in the idea
to the main >> And what did I tell you when when you said that? I said, "You know what? What did I say?" I said, "We're gonna make that happen." >> Yes. Yes. And I I actually did not know it was gonna happen. you didn't know it was going to happen tonight. It's funny you say that because I I saw you walk in tonight. I was like, I didn't tell him that it was going to happen tonight, but
maybe this is a great thing. So, it's good to see you, man. And and and shout out to your son. You know, you know, he that's my homeboy. I love him to death. And uh and him and his friends, they really uh know what they're talking about when they named it the Peacock Park. >> That's true. And and you know, I'm gonna take the opportunity to thank you guys for the great job you did. I mean, it's
a huge difference for the kids. And I have a 5-year-old. We go as much as we can. He loves it. You know, all the shade, everything, the plants, >> the amount of butterflies we get now because you did a conscious decision, you know, and the armory and nature and everything. So, thank you guys so much
for the >> Thank you very much. And thank you very much for being here. I appreciate you, my thank you. Um, >> Council President Urban, what do you have to say about the peacocks? >> Well, I just want to let everybody know that uh the the redesign and remodel of this park um is uh is truly uh the
brainchild of Mayor Nickerson. And so um uh he put this Mayor Nichson put this park together and it is awesome. So uh he's being humble but um he's and he's you know spreading it out but understand that uh that the success of the remodel
of this park is is fully credited to Mayor Nickerson. So >> appreciate you council person. Appreciate you. Um any other questions comments about the Peacock Park name? I think it's super cute and my my little peacocks enjoy it as well. I have a six and a seven-year-old that have been
going there forever and they love the peacocks. They're also really into the trains. So, I think the manager might be looking into whether or not um we can activate the space in that way, but it is a great name and it is an excellent space. I do hear from not to be a Debbie
Downer, but I do hear from residents um that it's so popular sometimes that our Yes. our residents of Elportal feel a little bit boxed out by our neighbors >> uh in Miami Shore. So maybe we need to engage in a conversation about how we
kind we control the use and make sure our residents have um a benefit when it comes to reserving the space for birthday parties and also usage. So maybe we could just think around what that looks like so we can have a formalized policy because it is the hottest tot lot in the area. I can
confirm the kids love it. I appreciate that, Madam Vice Mayor. And and you know, to your point, uh I know that uh you know, not not not to start, you know, not to start a a battle with Miami Shores, but um I have been I think somebody else has also been uh reaching out um to Miami Shores and I've had two
meetings with them. Um my next one I'm going to include some residents in a Zoom meeting um about getting into their water park. And I'm like, you guys always come to our park, but you don't allow us in your water park and we're getting into the summertime, and it's just not fair. You know, you cut off you
cut off your streets a long time ago, so now we get most of the traffic, right? You come to our park all the time, but we can't go to your water park. And so, you know, if somebody from Miami Short is watching this right now, I don't mean to like start a fight with you guys, but I've had meetings with um with three of
their uh current council members. I tried to do this years ago um also and I just and I remember the night they took the vote. This was when Mayor Crystal Wagger um was on as the mayor and when the night they took the vote um it failed by one vote and so um I'm trying
to do it again and you know like we're trying to do it again I should say and I think that's something that Miami Shores needs to really consider and be as we talk about with developers coming in Miami Shores needs to be a great neighbor and I think that's something that is important >> if I may I completely agree and I think
that this Peacock Park is a great bartering chip and also So, if historically Miami Shores were to look into the nature of why this restriction even exists, I think it's time in 2026 to let that go um and to explore a new
way to share space um with Alport. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. I appreciate Thank you, Counc. >> So, what will be the short abbreviation for when we want to call it out? >> It's called a Peacock Park. >> What's wrong with that? It's Jordan. >> That's great. It's great. >> Peacock Park is good.
Um, I will want to state that I've also spoken with Miami Shores about the water park, but also the parking situation that's developing because the Peacock Park is so I know I'm saying it too early. It's still taught a lot, but it will be Peacock Park probably, right? Um, but we have a lot of overparking and
I think that the swale over in Miami Shores, which has its own donut parking sign, would make a great little section to make little parking spaces for all the extra Miami Shores uh residents coming here. and it's on Miami Shores property. So maybe we can also work with them to see if they want to give us
extra parking over there so their residents can come use our Peacock Park. >> That's good. Um I'm going to uh through the clerk you guys. I'll let her know um what meeting of Mommy Shores I'm going to go to their meeting and during their good and welfare we'll get up and talk about all of this stuff. So some of you
all want to join me. Um I'll let the clerk know and then I'll put out a flyer of what meeting I'm going to go. I don't know if it's going to be next month or the month after for for their meeting. I I believe they have two meetings per month. So they have one I thought they have one in the in early in the weekend. >> Oh, something else. Okay. Thank you very much. Are there any questions or
comments from the audience about the Peacock Park? Good. Come on up. Say your address. Name address for the record. >> Merlin Brooks, 400 Northeast 90th Street.
The people from Miami Shores are the ones that enjoy the park. We have streets that need to be fixed for the longest with all the potholes and and the river on 90th Street as soon as it drizzles. The PE I have been to this
parking lot three different times. People from Miami Shores in their cars bring their kids to our park. Okay. So, we're fixing all these things for people from Miami Shores and the things that
needs to be done in our area is left undone. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. Any anybody else questions or comments for about the council? >> All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Understand that the park was done completely 100% those taxpayer dollars through um development
agreement and through uh grant. And so a lot of you guys uh probably know when you do get a grant and things like that, it's for a particular purpose. So you can't get a grant for a park and then use it on like a street. It just doesn't work like that. Um so so those are those type of things. All right. And that's
how that works. I appreciate that. Any other questions or comments about the park? >> Okay. Hearing seeing none. Uh do I have a motion to approve >> Oh, parks. Oh, no. Do I have a motion to approve resolution H2? >> So moved. >> Thank you very much, Madam Vice Mayor. Do I have a second?
Second. >> Thank you very much, Council Person uh Winters. All in all, all in favor, Madam Cler, I please have a roll call. >> Uh uh Madame Vice Mayor motioned it and Winter second. Council person Winter seconded and ask for a roll call, please.
>> Roll call. Um Council Person Winters, >> yes. >> Council Personal, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Martin, >> yes. >> Mayor Nickerson, >> yes. Motion passes 4 to none. >> Thank you very much. attorney. I mean, Mr. Manager, do you have any anything to report or anything you want to say or
>> Yes, sir. >> Yeah. In fact, I'm just going to say no report, Mayor. I need to get a pleading file, then I'll leave to the manager. >> Okay. >> Um, thank you, M Vice Mayor. Um I have
been reaching out to um um >> Soul >> Bright Line >> to see if uh they will be interested. They have been doing a lot of promotion and marketing and to see if they would want to come in and and be a a corporate
sponsor for these changes that we are and you know provide some funding as well for the for the benefit. Um, I think that it would be a great idea to to have this walls um capture the
essence of uh the uh the now named um the little peacock part. Um, so we could add some graphics to it and have some educational messages that the children can also enjoy and and have it, you
know, kind of reflect the the peacocks and the and the trains and all the things that happen because as as you mentioned, I see the the excitement of the children every time the the train goes by. I think that this will be a really good combination of things that
are happening naturally. So, I think that they this will be something that they may want to um to to bite. >> And not to cut you off, Mr. Manager, but we literally had the conversation about uh offering Bright Line an opportunity to sponsor the space in this way, right?
>> Um maybe last week. So, the fact that you've already reached out to them, kudos to you and I appreciate the >> I appreciate the immediate attention to that. >> Thank you. Excuse me. Um I sent you a few weeks back um an email
concerning the Jaguar parade. It's a initiative out of Brazil. Um they want to identify areas where they can place u statues uh in such a environment such as Elortell where they can have these
Jaguars made out of ceramic uh that people can visit. they want to do this during the June and July month. Uh I think it will be a great opportunity to add to whatever we do um in celebration of our 4th of July, the 250 anniversary
of um of becoming a nation. And I think um Mr. Mayor, you and and the and the mayor of Danita Levine are working on these things. I'd like to be able to to tell these folks that we will be uh participating on this. There's no cost
to to the village. U they will come in and we will send take some pictures. I thought that the um the um Sherwood Forest Park will be a a great site for some of these placements. The our
village hall as well. Um even the um the trailer uh the nature um uh trail trailer may also be something that that could um participate in in this kind of thing. And um you will see I I got sent
a an email with a documentary capture some of the u of the pictures of the things of the children that it impacts. I want to reach out to Horus man uh middle school before it's finished so to see if their children would want to be
participating in in this initiative as well. So um that's basically the totality of my report. I hope that you can have a chance to to see it and support uh this effort as part of what we're doing with
the the the adding of the tree and you know just make the whole environmental case um and take it beyond the um the the village of >> Thank you very much. Um for my report uh I'm going to turn over to Councor Winters in a second just so he can
respond to the question that was asked, but I just wanted to say um I've been thinking about different things. So to you guys point um because I want to be able to, you know, kind of add to and this is not what would go up. I'm just I'm going to explain to this in a second. I wanted to be able to kind of
add to um our official name. Now we're gonna have for the first time ever that part will have an official name. And so I was thinking of different signs and things like that. But this is what I want to do. Let me kind of run it past you guys. Um what I want to do is I want to and and not not necessarily to
contest you guys because I don't want anybody to be like a loser or a winner. Um, but I want to have it to where, you know, in Alberta, we can have individuals kind of design what the park sign should be because I think we should have a park
sign that maybe goes on the front of the gate that's out there, you know, on the out so it kind of, you know, it shows us the sign there. And so I want to kind of have that also. Um, I'm trying to figure out, you know, which way to do it. And you guys might give me ideas because kind of think about it or whatever, but I want to figure out a way to then
incorporate. Right. So, let's say we have the sign, right? Let's say somebody brings and we vote up here. We'll bring it up here. We vote or whatever and we vote on the sign that goes outside of the the front gate. So, that's our official sign that says that. But then what I also kind of want to do also is that this on the other side of this wall
right here, um, you have a huge blank space when you go to the park. And I want to have some type of mural or something there. Um, that kind of brings because when I, you know, when I designed the park, I wanted to make it colorful, which is why I picked those four colors, yellow, blue, purple, and
the key lime green. Um, because I wanted the brightest colors that they had, uh, that were available. But that wall is so empty right there, and I want that wall to pop. And so, you know, maybe we can one day, you know, get a mirrorless in here or something like that. Um, and
kind of look through that. But I what I was thinking about though was in that mural, I wanted to somehow in that mural maybe incorporate all of the designs that we receive. You see what I mean? So that we have one individual that might, you know, kind of
quote unquote win. I don't want I want know people to be contested amongst against each other but one individual where we choose like the actual sign to go up on the outside but then a mural that might be like a big peacock or something but then maybe has like little incorporations maybe about this large of
the small designs that were also entered so they're also a part of it overall so just something to kind of keep in mind but that's kind of like what I'm thinking about going moving forward you guys with that being said council person winters um you're in my mayor's report section and you can answer the question that was given
Um, so responding to the fact earlier about informing the public about SB82, a law that directly impacts Elportal. I'm not sure why the resident doesn't want me as on the council to inform the public about this, but last month we told
everyone in the public here that the bill was signed into law by the House and the Senate. We were waiting for the governor to sign. And then again today when we mentioned SP182 we said that it has been signed as of Monday. So we gave two pieces of valuable information to you. One is that it was waiting for the
government governor and one that has been signed. Now the the next part of that was about building on the property as I don't know where the attorney's gone to last month. He stated that they could build on that property using that law. And I believe the mayor you read
something earlier that has something to do with building on that property as well. see if I can bring it up. Go ahead and I'll >> Oh, that was it. I was gonna have both of you restate what was already stated. >> I believe this is it. Um, private
schools could use or buy buildings like churches, museums, theaters, colleges, and former schools, or daycare centers without needing reszoning or special land use approval. They could also build
new facilities on these properties um where churches, museums, theaters, colleges, and former schools or daycare center stood um without needing resoning or special land approval or on land
owned by Florida college system schools and state universities without needing a zoning change. Schools with 150 students or fewer could operate in commercial or mixeduse zones and in non-traditional buildings as long as they meet fire
safety standards and similar checks. >> So, as the mayor just read, they can build new facilities where churches once stood without needing resoning. The whole purpose understanding is that we as Alport residents need to protect ourselves. We need to also make sure
that we do what is best for ourselves and we need to figure out how to either work with this law or find some way to fight it honestly that makes this work for us. But there's very few with the attorney not present right now I can't say there's very few options at the
point I think one was fire code and I don't remember what the other one was but this is something we all should work together for to figure out what is best for us. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um I have nothing else on my report you guys. My report is there. Do you have Go ahead. Go ahead. Council,
>> just a final point. U the residents should know though that they cannot build anything without a site plan approval. So the council is your firewall.
They cannot approve their own site plan. So nobody's building anything anywhere in this village period, bar none, without a site plan approval. Now the question I think is what people are kind of like figuring out is uh what recourse would a developer have to sue us
successfully in the event that they disagree with the decision that the council makes. So but understand no nobody builds anything in this village without a site plan approval from this council. If someone wants to remodel
their home and more than 51% of the home will be affected, they must have a site plan approval from this council to begin the work. So, I had grave concerns honestly when I saw the property over here. When they started demoing it, I was like, they told us they were going to preserve that structure. They said
they only wanted two buildings and here they are demoing the structure. But I I held my tongue and I can see that it does seem that they're going to preserve the structure. They're going to remodel it, but they're not going to be able to they're not going to be able to remodel it until they bring us because my first
thought was they didn't show us anything. Why are they why are they starting to tear it down? Um, and so I just want you guys to know nobody builds anything in this village without a site plan approval from this council. >> Does that also include live local? Like if they want to do a live local plan,
are they allowed to do that with a without a site plan approval or is it always with the site plan approval? >> Nobody can just start building in this. It has to have a site plan approval and so live local will guide you know you know whether or not uh you know Cordino group recommends approval or not but the
but the end of the story is going to be you're not building anything unless you have a site plan approval. So they can make the argument that they are guaranteed a site plan approval based on law. That's an argument they can make. But the reality is nobody's going to build anything without a site plan approval.
>> Thank you. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Um, everybody good? Okay, you guys can look at my report. If you have any questions, reach out to me. Uh, we have no attorney reports. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Moved by Vice Mayor Martin. Do I have a second?
>> Second. >> Second by council person Winters. All in favor say I. All oppose say nay. Hearing none. The regular council meeting for Tuesday, April 28, 2026 is adjourned at 9:20 p.m.