in the meantime let's call this to order he'll be on his way out the regular council meeting for Tuesday February 25th is called to order at 718 p.m. sorry about that I had to wait for our camera to come our camera came by way of uber it was stuck in traffic all right
you guys we're going do have a moment of side of meditation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance [Music] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and
justice for all thank you very much Madam CL might please have roll call please R roll call Mayor Nickerson here vice mayor Martin present council person bbom present council person lightfood ward council person winter present also present for the record chrisa Village
manager Janice jacobe Village Clerk and Joseph Geller Village attorney you have a quorum thank you very much next is approval of the agenda I'm going to defer G1 resolution G1 for a future meeting um are there any other changes or adjustments if not do I have a motion
to approve the agenda so moved moved vice mayor Martin do you have a second I'd like to amend the motion to uh remove this item to a um uh
discussion item as I know there are residents here who at least wanted to speak to it so I would like to amend the item to a discussion item they can yeah they can still speak at um the second good in welfare fair enough yeah so do I have a
motion to approve the agenda don't Mo I I had a motion from vice mayor do have a second I'll second second by council person bbom all in favor say I I all oppos say nay nay okay passes uh 41 next is the good and Welfare this
first good and Welfare is for anything on the agenda um you can come up and say your name and address for the record you have three minutes that's for the first good and Welfare the second good and Welfare will be for anything at all hearing seeing none for the first good and Welfare moving on to consent agenda do I have a resolution I mean do
I have a motion to approve consent agenda so move by council person life forward do I have a second second second by council person bbom Madame uh clerk can I have a roll call and the consider roll call council person Winters yes council person lifewood Ward
oh yeah council person bbom yes vice mayor Martin yes mayor Nickerson yes motion passes 5 To None thank you very much appreciate that next is the ordinance G2 the advertising ordinance with advertising with the county attorney Geller if you want to read that ordinance into the record yes sir this
is an amendment uh ordinance advertising and notice requirements this is second reading an ordinance of the village of el pel Florida amending section 17- 64 advertising and notice requirements providing for severability providing for inclusion in the code providing for
incorporation of recitals providing for conflicts repealer severability codification and an effective date second Reading Man public hearing thank you very much this is just uh it's a second reading we already been through this once you guys this is for um the county advertising through
through M day County um agreement is there anybody from the audience that has any questions or comments about that advertising with the county hearing see none anybody from the council any questions or comments hearing seeing none do I have a motion to
approve do I have a motion to approve do I have a motion to approve ordinance uh G2 well G2 so be it so be it thank you very much uh motion moved by council person life reward do I have a second second second by vice mayor Martin is
there anyone else with public comment for this at 7:22 p.m. just this motion right here no public comment 7:22 PM Madame clerk May pleas have a roll call please roll call council person winter yes council person
Life Food Ward yes council person bbom yes vice mayor Martin yes mayor Nickerson yes motion passes Five To None thank you very much much Madam manager you want to give a quick report um I'm going to um ask that um residents and Council um check the Village website for
my report but I would like to acknowledge and introduce The Village's new code enforcement department we have our new code enforcement officer Miss Janie FMA hello hello welcome and she she um is coming to us
from Fort Lauderdale and prior to Fort Lauderdale she was code enforcement or Code Compliance at um Mii Gard so we're very happy to have her and today she conducted her first special Master's hearing so we welcome her and we're also um going to put a little sunshine on
Miss Nikia Clowers Miss Nikia Clowers is The Village's code Administration and she has been working with us for about a year now um after hour she's huddled in the office um doing all of the filing and taking care of the backlog um that
was uh quite extensive uh considering we've had off andon code um Appliance o over the years but um under the leadership of the former code officer uh Fitz Simmons who left us last month um Miss Clowers came in under that um uh
his um leadership and and was able to to clear out a lot so miss Clowers is here but she will be leaving us um because she has another opportunity and you know we're happy uh to have had what we could have U with her but we we know she has
to go on to to another opportunity so I just want to take this moment to encourage them and to welcome MMA and uh and to uh introduce them to you all thank you thank you very much mam manager appreciate that uh the village mayor report is there I do want to give
a special shout out to uh Elizabeth F Carpenter um one of the few people that I trust and uh one of the few people that will move me and uh make moves for so no one no one else not too many people um being that's the case Village
attorney uh nothing report mayor thank you thank you very much the last good and Welfare right now anybody can come and talk about anything at all you have three minutes to do so come and say your name and address for the record floor is yours
hearings I so um I have uh good and Welfare this evening uh two items um the first is uh that with the recent issues from government agencies
being gutted I believe that the residents of el elportal should be aware that not far from here is Turkey Point nuclear reactor the agency that oversees
the entire nuclear energy sector of the United States has warned the public every single one of these reactors is now on a skeleton crew and there is zero external supervision or
oversight they have further warned the public that this in their manuals dictates that something along the lines of a catastrophic accident would be
imminent in a scenario of prolonged deficit of supervision trying to say that as soberly as I can it is my intention to write a letter to Governor
DeSantis requiring an explanation of what the Staffing conditions are and what the state of Florida's plan is to maintain the goddamn nuclear reactor
additionally I don't see a lot of my peer group in the audience but I do want to say since I have this microphone that white people in this country need to do better I have already spoken directly to my family my family is on Full notice
where I stand on this issue and I am taking that message beyond my family white people in this country need to do better that is my good and Welfare thank you very much counc urb appreciate that anyone else good in
welfare hearing seeing none do I have a motion to adjourn hold on does do the residents understand that this is your time to get up and talk about the launch if anyone was here to do that or any other issue regarding perhaps a building going up across the street from your home or something if you were here to
speak on that now is your opportunity thank you Council everyone I uh I heard uh from from the mayor that we are not actually speaking about uh the launch we can speak about it it's obviously
not obviously not the agenda um I wanted to mention a couple things including something about the launch uh I I feel like I've been a little late to uh learning about the launch and um and that's that's that's my fault i'
I've heard it mentioned in various meetings since I think October but I'm sure it's been much longer than that so kind of a little surprised that the project size is recommended it's got 150 units there's a multiuse
component BS and all the commercial tra out come along with that on top of top resal advant no no he got it he got it he got it I'll just fix it to him got it mic check all right
[Music] I don't want to make you do that um there you go anyway so I just just quickly and I just kind of want to introduce a few ideas into the conversation so that maybe people in the audience can take it back with them and
think about it and kind of move things along as we move along as a community to consider not just that development but future development number one thing is what we do now is connected to what happens five years down the line 15
years down the line 50 years down the line those of us who may be lucky enough to see that so we have to be careful there's easy choices and then there's harder choices I would love the
opportunity to lovingly Embrace and want the launch or any development but I think that's going to be contingent upon the requirements of development I want to want it does that
make sense a building this many units right on a river like how is it not going to go wrong I think that the harder choice
that would make an easier Choice eventually be more predictable is is like you know what I what I heard heard from the the 2017 comprehensive plan I've heard about and I've read about the The Villages need to control height and
density and the idea was bigger stuff by biscan smaller stuff getting towards Sherwood towards the river I can live with that I've also heard about usage fees that feed into
green spaces and Civic spaces I can live with that I would love in some perhaps alternate universe for our voices or the voices of the peacocks and the manatees and all the fish in that
River to be weighed in equally not saying that it can't be it's got to be 100% of anything but I see a building that's really really close to the river on top of the river I don't see a lot of room for
trees and I certainly don't see that wide public space that was talked about in the 2013 charet I mean people literally spent a lot of time drawing up designs and having discussions more on that in a minute so
I'm just going to say that for now look I mean like development is coming we need the revenue and we should really want it and and and and and again we should like want to want it it's necessary but man
ing density and preserving a river and prioritizing significant Green Space on it and or near it at the very least is an opportunity that we shouldn't drop this is an opportunity that we should protect not taking these opportunities
is a waste for the rest of the village as as as as ideal as it would be to the developers who do their due diligence and do have to build housing for the humans who live here and and want to
live here it's it's a good thing I I I don't see why they it can't be a little bit more of a coexisting balance and it kind of bothers me it would be much easier us for us to embrace the change that's coming five
years down the line 10 years down the line if it were easier to want it making some things harder for certain development in the early stages and planning I think is going to make their development easier for them and for
us separate issue some neighbors of mine and I are concerned about the two houses that are proposed on what used to be 176 Northwest 88 Street uh there's going to be a Planning and Zoning meeting in March this will be discussed at greater
length but I decided to take this opportunity to speak to some of you because I don't know where all of you live you might be my you know two block away neighbor and I've never met you so the homes I mean the homes has proposed seem
to be at at odds with El pel's stated desire to promote historic preservation they're building two large nearly identical properties uh I think it potentially is at some odds to the idea of improvement
to the built environment the sizes that they are which is easily twice as big as anything else in the neighborhood there's two of them and the design that they're going to have also totally different from
anything else in the neighborhood not even close it's going to have an impact on our environment on our usage and rights as Property Owners on our usage and rights for I mean think about it we used
to see a big lot with trees and Greenery and and and Native Flora plus way too many raccoons but that's a different conversation now we're going to see two big commerciall looking modern houses not the soft organic moderns that you
see in architectural digest not the lovely using coral and light colors and Innovative you know safe from Hurricane building all indications is that this is a job by
developers two jobs by developers get in get out flat concrete slab uh no crawl space means problems for the Neighbors as water pools and collects as anybody who drives down
Northwest 86th Street in front of 85 Northwest 86 Street can see the neighbors have spent um she told me $700 draining water out of her yard didn't work apparently because now they got
sandbags to keep excess water so we don't have sewer systems at a certain point the water table does get burdened as it can in a hurricane we have to think that design plan being
approved um had an impact on the neighbors more on that some other time in a month thirdly on this Saturday uh I think I don't see anybody who who is here tonight oh no I see the
gentleman in the back was here I met you hello um okay the two anyway it doesn't matter doesn't matter so um we have a unique opportunity that's coming up that a lot
of you didn't know about get on the email list so an email went out last Thursday night talking about an El Patel Citizen's Bill of Rights seemed a little vague to me not sure what it was I came on Saturday to check it
out the mayor and council person Winters took great pains went through a hell of a lot of effort they put a lot of time into this thing now what this thing is it's very lengthy I haven't read all of it
I work but I will I will get to it but it is something that can possibly change El prell's Charter it's something that can possibly change all the code you're gonna have to learn things twice think about that so some of it
you'll undoubtedly agree with as I did some of it you undoubtedly will not agree with but you are doing yourself a disservice to not attend these meetings and get a sense of what it's all about so that you can decide and you can
participate in your next five years and your next 10 years and your next 50 years some of the issues were very you know benol some of the issues were about Ai and
stuff tell your friends tell your neighbors that this is their present and their present is connected to their future so I'm tying that all in with new development and launches and
conservation efforts and bills of Rights and uh I hope whatever letters get sent to the governor's office don't bring down Fine Brimstone Upon Our Little Village we've been vetoing our projects for years
already so it is an odd time in America we can make the most of it and the first way we do that is making the most of these opportunities that we have in
elel so that we um don't feel the huge heavyweight and pressure of overregulation or the crass neglect of underregulation I don't know somewhere in
between thank you for your time everybody and and and and again Mr Mayor and Mr Winters appreciate you good work thank you very much M Alvarez appreciate that anybody else good and Welfare say your first and last name good evening uh my name is Gracia
Maria saken and um I have the honor to live right by the river across from the mount 376 Northeast 85 Street I've been in that house for about 1 and a half years I'm 45 years old I have a dog I have a a
cat and a child and I have never before shared a space with raccoons and pums and owls and all type of uh dinosaurs type of be H crabs you name it really large
snakes and I adjusted to it and it was beautiful I learned a lot about myself I expanded a lot I healed a lot and um I got wiser also in this ways so I come to you today um wanting to share a message
and asking you kindly to please um try to to receive this with a open spirit and and with open heart today I humbly stand before you not just as a resident but as a guardian a steward a keeper of something far
greater than ourselves this land this River these trees and the wildlife that call this circuit space our home portal I stand here on the hopes that we can all agree that our magical and unique neighborhood is not just a collection of homes but a
sanctuary a living breathing Testament to the harmony between nature and Humanity how very immensely fortunate are we to live in a place where the songs of the birs feel the air Where the River Flows gently through our community and where the land holds the
quiet wisdom of those who came before us this is not just any land it is a resting place of the Tequesta people whose spirits still linger in the soil and Within These very lands the Native American people understood the
sacredness of the Earth the interconnectedness of all living things they knew that life is not about domination but about balance and respect we too get to choose to honor that understanding as developers seek to change the
landscape of this sacred land I ask you to consider the lives that will be disrupted by this decision the trees that stand tall have sheltered countless creatures for Generations the rivers that run through our community sustains life and the wildlife that caus this place home has lived here long before
any of us got here the heart of anything thriving Community lies in unity not in division we have the chance to come come together as a neighborhood as stewards of this land to preserve a legacy we have a responsibility not only
to ourself but to the creatures who peacefully share this space kindly share this space with us to protect their homes and ensure their future in the rushal develop we must remember that true progress is not measuring concrete and still but in how we respect the living world around
us I ask you kindly to consider taking this as an invitation to lean into returning to the wisdom of of the past and you might be surprised of what you find as you do so perhaps take this also as an
opportunity to Remember by experiencing experiencing what it is to live as a tribe in balance with nature and perfect harmony with our surroundings with the Earth Earth when the Earth was not something to be exploited but something to be cherished and protected our life
Wildlife is not just a collection of creatures they are a vital part of the ecosystem each one playing a very important role in the delicate balance that sustains life here if we remove their homes if we destroy their habitats we risk more than just the loss of strees and
animals we risk losing the very essence of what makes this place so special we risk losing the heartbeat of our community and the heartbeat of this place the portal my prayer is that we unite the we
unite developers residents and all all who cherish this land to find a way forward that respects both progress and preservation development and nature I pray and offer tobacco to the fire I pray and offer flowers every morning and honey to the waters that we come
together to seek solutions that honor the spirit of this place that we can respect the wildli and uphold the sacredness of the land I pray that we choose to inspire other communities by example showing the world that progress does not have to come at the expense of the Earth but can coexist
with it thank you kindly have a beautiful night a saten thank you anybody else hello um I have two messages I have one from a resident who couldn't be here
today um it's Ed Edward OD you have to state your name and address for the first and address for the record okay yeah my name is Alexia Fernandez and my address is 374 Northeast 85th Street and
I am relaying a message from Eddie odabashian of 400 noreast 87th Street who couldn't be here today um good evening fellow residents council members May mayor Omar Village
staff and guests the village of elportal and barington Bros have a preent opportunity to build our community in a meaningful and mutually beneficial way with the site development of the launch I urge other elportal citizens to join
me and the others speaking tonight about concerns regarding this development to encourage our elected officials Village staff and the development team at barington to preserve our last piece of Riverfront Shoreline habitat and the rookeries on the site of the future
apartment building project it is possible to develop around the shoreline without building a seaw wall to the River's Edge storm resilient native plants can be installed just above the shoreline to absorb storm water energy and there are strategies to prevent
flooding that can be employed to preclude use of a seaw wall of course it is also possible for a boardwalk wall to exist setback from the banks in such a way that the shoreline can continue to thrive and function as part of a local
ecosystem I am advocating for a solution that would meet the goals of the developer and our community Through maintaining a reasonable amount of grassy Shoreline to continue providing habitat and nutrients for the river's Wildlife such as
manatees the second proposal is to leave the two or not just the two large trees that are rookeries but all the trees um um and other native and the for the ibises and other n native avien spe species such as egrets and herin this
type of habitat continues to diminish along the bay and other extent waterways as development removes native Shoreline and as a final stronghold along the Little River this Cornerstone property can preserve and incorporate the trees
into the site plan without removing them boardwalks can be built around them Nets can can be placed beneath canopy to catch debris and residents can enjoy the shade and visual appeal these trees will provide to the property this is our only chance to
harmoniously incorporate a vital swath of the Little River native environment with Urban Development on this scale once spins and trees disappear they're gone until the structures that replace them are also removed given this is a long-term commitment project for Bearington this
chance may never come again please consider revising the site plan for the launch to include preservation of the river banks and Rookery trees the time and money spent working on a compromise with your community will be more fruitful and impactful than spending
cash on public benefits and mitigating trees in Shoreline the latter of which require years to fully mature you have the opportunity to set the trend for Waterfront development in Miami Dade County and create a positive environmental Legacy that will be copied
and admired by existing and spiring communities and other Developers for times to come thank you for your time and listening that was Eddie's message thank you for listening um I have just a quick
message to add on to that um good evening all thank you to the council and the community for being here tonight I want to use the time here to highlight the treasure we have in Little River and the opportunity we have to become a leading example in sustainability the little river is is
one of the four original rivers that flow into biscane Bay in miate county and was settled by the teesta tribe to this day it is teaming with Wildlife manatees Turtles birds and Fish can be seen daily it is our duty as citizens of
elportal to keep the magic of our community alive but by not only protecting the natural habitat but also restoring it as Eddie mentioned we must protect by requesting developments along the river to build sustainably with natural seaw
walls and vegetation remaining intact Trad traditional concrete seaw walls are expensive to produce and only last 30 to 40 years before they biodegrade and leech toxins like chloride into the water that are extremely harmful to the marine
environment there is a solution natural seaw walls use native vegetation and organic materials using vegetation areas vegetation areas to collect and treat storm water runoff by implementing a natural seaw wall with vegetation in the
riverfront setback to collect and treat storm water runoff we can achieve the following stabilize the shoreline prevent erosion control protect infrastructure preserve and enhance biodiversity increase durability
mitigate storm water runoff and not to mention the added benefit of more green space which is why residents choose to live in El Portell it is our duty to also find ways in which can we can restore the natural habitat if anyone would like to join
we'll be doing a community River cleanup on Sunday March 9th at 10: a.m. um this is our effort to continue to build our beautiful Community we'll be doing a prayer and blessings for the water please come and talk to me if you'd like to join us thank you thank you very
much anyone else hi there my name's Colin Brown 374 Northeast 85th Street um I just want to talk about um you know what happened when I watched the video of the December 10th hearing um and and
what I saw happen in that video I saw the attorney's de uh the developers attorney mention to a local res resident here that he was the only one here that cared um and you know um it really
really struck a chord with me um I'm from Northwest Montana and uh I left home when I was young to go to college and I always thought in order to be back in nature that I would need to make it
back to Montana to Northwest uh Montana to live in the mountains and with the rivers and the streams um Alexia my wife and I were called into this special
neighborhood back in 2021 and um I can say that it's uh changed my life with uh our neighbors it's very special and uh we have a community here
um that thrives on the river and lives with the mound um it's very unfortunate that we're not doing the actual hearing uh to to review the development agreement As I understood tonight um because you know
uh I I uh these this is an important story to to me and and to our community um so we have something special and we have something that we want to protect
I'm a landscape architect and a lot of times on the projects that I work on we have to go around and we have to search for precedent for for what would make a place cool how can we find something in nature and bring it into the site and
replicate it to make it cool so a lot of times as a landscape architect working in Miami I'll look in Central Florida at the spring conditions and the ecologies to try to find how that ecological quences working that create something desirable what amazes
me is this is this is we have all this in elportal and it's it's what we are trying to protect and and we've all kept we've stayed around here this evening to to talk even though the development agreement isn't isn't being voted on
tonight um we have all this we have all this precedent right in sheerwood forest and um what what I see happening on the banks of the little River East of the railroad tracks is the antithesis of what we celebrate in sheerwood Forest at
the mound and it's the antithesis of of the of of what we share with nature when we decide to develop along these precious freshwater systems our impact can be seen and felt for centuries to come as a community we have the chance to do something unique
something to be cherished when we developed when we develop on the east side of the railroad tracks in sheerwood forest we have the mound we have the trees we have the river we are blessed to be held in and by Beauty each and
every day we hope that the beauty that encompasses and defines our daily lives can spread like light from the mound to the east side of the railroad tracks I hope that as we look
side of the railroad tracks and the riverfront along the riv that the developers and the leaders of our community don't forget to experience the magic of sheerwood forest and ask themselves how can we spread this magic
how can we honor these sacred lands the light of the mound captures and I ask that we take the time to allow that light to spread through the new developments of East elportal and I ask that as a community we honor
those who came before us and and uh who still dance among us thank you thank you very much is there anyone else hello everybody uh I'm Eric uh Eric
Monto from 311 or f86 Street and I was very inspired by uh this is how we build community and I'm so proud of you guys and uh thanks for you know like uh reaching out to me because uh I love Oort and I love shood forest and uh my
daily life is basically selecting the natural plants that we have here and uh just planting them I I don't want the species I want this I want this here I want that here and uh I just love my house and I have uh many raccoons that live in my property and when they had M
I called the city and I called Nos and they were like oh we're going to have to put them down so I went on Google and they found out that that even Maxine that medine that people said was for covid bizarre it's actually medine for
horse to treat manges so I I treated the men of my raccoons and they've been leaving happily ever after and I love them so much they were never aggressive uh I don't care about consumerism and
Brands but I do care about my daily life here which is uh I love love this community I don't know if you know Ernst he is the joy of my life and I love him to death and I I really do love this community and when I come here I have
affection for all of you and uh even the petty drama you know it's kind of funny kind of like our inner Parks and Recreation and this is community you know and I I I feel the love with you guys and uh uh you know this is we have
found a way to be uh happy with each other and to find Value in the little things and uh I'd love to keep that because uh you get rid of the trees and then uh well it's less tree so there's floating because there's nothing to absorb the water and
uh beyond that it's like uh where are all this we're talking about living beings like the the trees the plants the The Shred the but it's more than that the animals it's lots and lots of animals if they live on my property uh imagine that area that whole
area by the riverbed we actually have an alligator I don't know if you know this but it's over there and I kayaked with this alligator so yeah they're they're here and I love kayaking on the river and seeing you know like all the all the species that are there because there are
lots of species like bird species so it's actually like our responsibility to look to look after this because the moment we don't it's when we have global warming and we have all those issues and uh it's kind of crazy that we are saying
this when uh a guy who is who wasn't even born in the US is running the presidency I'm sorry to be bringing that in but it's bizarre it's completely bizarre bizarre times that we are living in thank you for sharing the thing about
the you know I was like how this is a this is our Tom Cruz and this is the beginning of one uh Disaster Movie you know like uh we're all going to die let's do something about it but uh you see this is uh I love our community I love you
guys let's please please please please uh not let you know let let's get together let's get together and um keep the trees and that's it thank you guys bye thank you very
much anyone else only only because I I I felt the passion but uh the emotional way that still have to state your name I'm sorry oh again okay George Alvarez 165 Northwest 88th
Street uh the passion that that the Browns and uh Mr Romero and Miss Maria Gracia sorry had um for Sherwood force and I love Sherwood Force I used to Bicycle through
it as a child I was born in El Portal Sherwood Forest is and I don't this is not a joke it is the the Beating Heart of East Northeast Dade County I I feel that I drive through it but and you
guys can correct me if I'm wrong I want to remind everybody that there is a west side of elportal that I live in and as much as we all love Sherwood Forest there should be passion and
discretion and empowerment for the west side of elportal as well we will not be ghettoized by Miami Shores as they used to they used to say that stuff out
loud and we cannot allow ourselves to be ghettoized by any of the M movements or or decisions that threaten Sherwood Forest or Miami Shores visc Park the Little River Second Avenue
Corridor exciting things but we are part of this community as well and I want to make sure that that is on the record and can be ubered safely back to the editing uh people we we want a future proof all of
el pel thank you thank you anyone else all right I'm GNA have good to hear from everybody is this working just want to say for the record uh one second uh coun
person when just want to say for the record um that everybody was able to speak over three minutes and they weren't cut off there you go you know you never you never know you gotta say these things a lot of people you know when they uh when
they're in my face they'll say something when they walk out they'll be like they'll act like mayor Omar is a tyrant so just gota kind of let those things be known council person Winters thank you so much mayor can you guys hear me sorry my voice is my voice is a
little shot but I'll do my best uh so thank you everyone uh for coming out here and talking tonight and listening it's all about the people here in elportal and what you guys do makes the difference um graus your words about the
sacredness of this land the way it has changed you and healed you uh reminds me of a deeper connection that we all share for this place and I want to thank you for explaining and telling us about that because Sherwood Forest isn't just a place where we live it's part of who we are um Colin thank you so much your
journey from monana elportal and the way you spoke about feeling blessed to live here uh shows the magic of Sherwood Forest and I appreciate both of you are my direct neighbors you're the best Neighbors in the world I love you guys um but you asked you know how can we spread this magic to the rest of alport
tow and that's actually why I've been fighting for the alport toow Bill of Rights it all started because we have laws in opal right now that deny the rest of opau from actually having anything like Sherwood Forest it actually is illegal to grow your plants
like you do in Sherwood Forest it's the most beautiful part of this and that's one of the reasons I'm doing this Bill of Rights is to give everyone else here in elart the right to have what sherid Forest has and you guys know what this passion is and this this belief this feeling with the Earth and with
everything that we deal with how important is to us and we want everyone else to feel this um to the neighbor who spoke about the raccoons and the kayak in the river thank you for reminding us uh that Sherwood Forest isn't just about the trees and the homes but the life
that fills it um the wildlife the water the spirit of preservation um we must protect it all um and of course George Alvarez he our oldest uh longest living El pel resident because he was you've been here since you were a young kid is that
right Born you born here so you you have stories so uh George your words are powerful um you grew up here you love this Forest you talked about bicycling inside of it um you remind us of something that's important that the west
side also deserves to be empowered too and you're right sherard Forest is inspiration but it cannot be the only place where this way of life exists we need to lift up all of elportal um so to everyone who spoke tonight thank you thank you for sharing
your stories thank you for sharing your passion and your love for this place that we call home and uh together we'll make this a better place thank you thank you very much um anybody else from the council for good and wey I would go
ahead council person like first of all thank you all for coming I'm I'm probably one of the people have gotten here with the same concerns but I didn't have a voice when I first came they didn't want to hear
what I said they didn't want to look at me but it was residents that got me on the council and have kept me here I want to thank all of you all it would be a travesty if we this Council
allowed the catastrophic I call it catastrophic engagement of Sherwood Forest it would be pitiful when I saw this taken off item G
taken off I commend all of you for being here I came to El pel not knowing what El pel was my being on this Council has given me a lot of insight but my
walking in the area is what keeps me saying this is a how do you say very well-kept secret well beyond being a secret it is also
something on the ecos system we already know that things are changing we already know that all of these things but what we don't know is how you all felt about it otherwise it would never have gotten appreciated and here on second reading
which did not take place tonight thank you had you come earlier you and I would have been champions and this would not have shown up again what you're saying in brief don't change the ecosystem
Council people mayor don't change what other cities want but they can't have don't change that's what you're saying right or wrong don't change it I happen to live
on the other side but guess where I stay guess where I come come with for tranquility on that on our stream we simply took it off
tonight but it's amazing that it even got approved at the last council meeting you see where I'm going come again thank you if you want it off I didn't hear nobody said we want it off we don't want to see it come back
on here again this is ours and people come from all over Miami day County to see this so keep them coming the fact that it didn't get taken it got taken off tonight doesn't mean it might not come
back again if it's taken off it needs to be permanently taken off this night at this time and if it was if it's the protocol of what we do I move
that this not be a consideration for years to come if I get a second it's done no it's got to come from up here can't do it that's why I'm making this right now I knew the attorney would
know but thank you so much I think we would lose a lot in terms of what El protel stands for thank you so much come again it's not through yet anyone else on the councel for good and
Welfare all right hearing none uh just want to say this this will be back on in the future meeting um this will be coming back again for second reading uh also want to say and once again I want to give a shout out to uh Elizabeth F Carpenter who's at the
executive director of the everglaze Law Center if it wasn't for her this would be on today um Shout Out Mr ker I see you he's shaking his head up and down he knows how much uh you know her reaching out to me and myself and uh manager L want to thank you also um that's the
only reason why it's not on today is Elizabeth F Carpenter the only reason um just want to say uh real quick before we end that and manager ALU knows this
that Madam manager we respect everybody here we respect everybody's out there we respect everybody's words but understand that um we don't cower away from anything and we don't pull things because we're cowards from
anything understand that I think that a lot of people um think that the building this is about the building going up the site plan was approved a long time ago when council person L fooot Ward says this is about Sherwood
Forest when I talk to Residents who have been talking about information who've been giving information they think we're knocking down four to six houses in Sherwood Forest and we're building the building and Sh Force that's what they
think that we're knocking out houses and show forest and building buildings and show Force so in the future we'll see you guys again um do you have a motion to adjourn so move move by council person life for award do you have a second second second
by vice mayor Martin all favor say I I all the F say nay hearing none the council meeting for Tuesday February 25th is adjourned at 8:11 p.m.