uh in how to proceed. So with that, as just a recap for the board uh for our new board member, uh going back to July 2022, the CRA board authorized the executive director uh for the CRA to
begin the process of requesting to borrow funds uh which we are required to go before Miami date county before we encumber any debt as a CRA. In December of 2022, the CRA board authorized the uh
executive director to proceed with the acquisition of three buildings at 204, 220, and 230 North Chrome Avenue along with two lots, 28, and 32 Northwest 2nd Avenue for the overall uh Chrome
Marketplace project. In April of 2023, the Miami Dade County Bocc approved the CRA encumbering up to $5 million in debt to purchase these properties. And in May 2023, the CRA closed on all five of
those. Uh following that, in the 1 of September of 2023, at the direction of the board, the CRA issued a 163 notice for disposal of the entire property. And that notice was for the sale or lease of the property and
specifically for the purpose of developing a destination food hall concept with related ancillary uses. That 163 notice ran for 60 days. There were four respondents to it and from that um in October the um staff was
directed to negotiate with two of those respondents uh in terms of bringing together a package to the CRA. Uh in February of 2024, one of the respondents withdrew and the CRA continued to negotiate with the uh selected
respondent. uh a package was brought forward to the board later that spring and then in June of 2024. Uh it was sought that the board wanted to see a perhaps more favorable uh agreement brought forward to the board in terms of the revenue the CRA would make. At that
point, the respondent withdrew from the uh process. In December of 2024, the CRA then issued a request for proposals. This one was also for either the sale or the lease of the property and sought entities to um
acquire the property for development of it as a destination restaurant, food hall andor entertainment concept with related ancillary uses. That was initially anticipated to close I believe in February. The CRA extended the deadline on that, hosted an open house until
March. We had no more responses from it. It's been closed since that time. Along the way and with that, at the direction of the board, beginning in late 2024, the CRA initiated uh construction of a new roof on all three of the buildings, which was completed one year ago in
February 2025. We have completed the undergrounding project as a part of the parking lot construction uh adjacent to and behind Chrome Marketplace and the Jacobsons and and neighboring lots. Uh we've also done some of the um asks of
the that the board has put on staff in terms of the cleanup, the repainting, the window treatments, and uh also had an architectural evaluation and and general assessment done of the building. In this time through the city manager's office, the CRA uh has been working to
speak with different investors and developers. We've done a number of different tours of the properties, and it's from that process that this proposal has come forward to us. The proposal, as you've seen, and as we've discussed, is for a food hall concept,
um with added um activation, a bar, music, perhaps pop-up retail, and other activities. So, we are very appreciative to receive this. And what I'd like to do is introduce two of the folks from the group at Bear Atlantic that have proposed this. We have Caven Gene
Charles along with Ahmad Jordan. and they will give a brief presentation on the overall proposed concept and then we'll be glad to enter into some discussion and then end with direction from the board on next steps. So with
that I'm going to bring you a remote There we go. Thank you so much, Jared, for that great introduction. Although, uh, as common as it may be, it's a Johnson instead of Jordan. Uh, hopefully I'll perform like Jordan today. But
good evening, Mr. Mayor, Madame Vice Mayor, and other members of the council. um pleased to uh be in attendance tonight and uh bring your attention to this development project that we hope to bring to bear for the city of Homestead. So uh well, let's go back. The name of
the development will be Chrome Marketplace. Uh and as you can see, the development site consists of three contiguous parcels uh as well as an adjacent parcel uh which would be uh well suited for
parking. Uh the three contiguous uh parcels comprise approximately 19,398 square feet of existing retail and and restaurant space and 174 linear feet of frontage along Chrome Avenue.
Now, uh, the vision for Chrome Marketplace is informed by the demonstrated success of some of Miami's most dynamic and culturally significant food halls, including the Citadel, MIA Market, the Lincoln Eery, and Julia and Henry's.
Some of the uh the critical aspects of of these proven concepts are uh the fact that they showcase diverse local culinary talent in an elevated uh yet accessible environment. So that basically allows uh the blending of
artistal concept that that combines everyday dining options and and the appeal to a broad base of of different demographics which clearly the uh the cultural demographics here in in Homestead would be well suited for this type of uh development. Uh one of the
other critical aspects is that it supports between 10 to 15 curated vendors that are anchored by a signature bar. Uh so that allows the the site to hedge uh the success of the overall site by making sure that there's a diversity of options uh that are offered and
available. It also creates a cohesive yet varied dining experience that encourages exploration and repeat visitation. Additionally, it will serve as a daily community destination where food, social interaction, and entertainment naturally
converge, making it making uh the it active from the moment from the morning through the evening, excuse me. And so, one of the critical aspects here is that uh you we want to create an entertainment district in a location here that is prime for that, which is
that Chrome Avenue space in downtown. Uh frequently when we come down this way, my partner and I are discussing, you know, what is it that would draw folks down south this far and uh my thought was, well, folks go to Key West all the time, which is, you know, upwards of of
three and a half, four hours away. And the reason why is because there's a certain culture that's already created there, right? Uh there's already a culture and social attractions that are created there. And that's what we uh hope to create here with this development uh with Chrome marketplace.
Additionally, one of the important aspects is that it strengthens neighborhood identity by hosting live music, weekend markets, cultural showcases, uh chef demonstrations, and familyfriendly events that reinforce community pride.
In addition to it, it will generate sustained economic value through small business incubation, job creation, vendor development, and increased pedestrian activity throughout the surrounding corridors. Uh, one of the aspects that we want to bring to this site is the ability to incubate existing
entrepreneurs uh who have maybe food trucks or other uh sites that would have the wherewithal but not necessarily the opportunity or the site to further develop their business. uh and and we would start with the citizens of of Homestead around this area to make sure
that uh it enhances the community uh as well as the economy of Homestead. So although our project is informed by some of these other major developments in other local uh the vision for Chrome
Marketplaces is purposely tailored to the distinct character, demographics, and aspirations of the homestead community. It's going to feature familyfriendly affordability. Uh, as we know, the uh economics of the uh the families down here is a little bit different than it
would be up north. We're going to make sure that the price points uh and accessibility caters to um the economy uh that's that's that's uh unique to the the demographics in this area. We're going to ensure that it remains accessible to a broad resident base,
homestead, and neighboring communities. Also, cultural authenticity. We're going to draw from the d the the diverse culinary traditions that define South Day's identity, including Caribbean, Latin American, soul food, seafood, and
American comfort food offerings. We're also going to encourage, as I mentioned before, local operator participation with structured pathways for homestead based chefs, restaurant tours, entrepreneurs to enter the marketplace in a supportive lowerc cost environment. We're also going to have
community centered programming uh with some of the programming that goes on now in in the very uh nearby Loster Park. Uh we will seek to integrate some of those same concepts into our development which is right next door and allow it to both
supplement and spur uh additional uh activations that would be able to take place in that area. So in in conceiving this project uh there was a lot of pre-development due diligence uh that came into play so that
we can best understand the market and how to bring this project to bear. Uh we completed preliminary technical review of the site including surveys, environmental and structural observations and early assessments of building conditions and rehab fe feasibility throughout the three projects.
We also conducted multiple site visits and walking tours throughout downtown Homestead uh in addition to some of the strategic partners that we have in mind uh toward the uh the downtown Homestead area and adjacent neighborhoods to understand the traffic patterns,
pedestrian flow, parking dynamics, and opportunities for connectivity within the historic corridor. Additionally, we reviewed the CRA's guidelines and objectives with the business incentive program, commercial enhancement guidelines, and the related city initiatives, as well as
the recent CRA board actions relating to commercial revitalization, facade improvement, and small business support. We evaluated regional market dynamics for food and beverage, retail and entertainment based uses. And we analyzed demand drivers, compuls
competitive offerings, consumer preferences, and anticipated absorption rates based on the unique characteristics of the homestead market. We also benchmark comparable food hall and multi- vendor food and beverage models. We assess operational
requirements, cost structures, tenant mix strategies, and long-term sustainability factors relevant to the homestead scale marketplace. Now, here we're seeking to execute a community first development vision, and that means that a significant share of
the food and beverage concepts will be locally owned or locally operated with a dedicated focus on entrepreneurs from the Homestead and broader South Dade region. And again, um, you know, one of the aspects that we want to make sure to focus on in order to make this a success
is number one, draw from not only the homestead market, but also some of the surrounding neighborhoods uh to make sure that we have the type of traffic that we have, the type of uh the the number of consumers necessary to to bring this to a success. Uh the project
is anticipated to generate dozens of permanent jobs across front of house services, culinary operations, vendor management, security, cleaning and maintenance and administrative roles along with substantial indirect employment by way of construction
suppliers and service providers. It will also function as a business accelerator, providing a pathway for successful vendors to scale into brickandmortar locations within downtown homestead and promote sustained rein reinvestment in the local economy. It's
also we're also going to make sure to activate programs that will reduce startup cost for vendors sign significantly lowering uh the cost of setting up traditional restaurants and creating a greater economic mobility and expanding entrepreneurial opportunity
for those who may otherwise be able to perform. Now, in in doing this, particularly since this is a a a parcel or an area that the CRA has been focused on for quite a while, we want to make sure that that our objectives uh align with the
goals of the CRA. So, our proposal is specifically intended to reinforce Downet Homestead's emergence as a regional hub for food, culture, arts, and family-friendly entertainment, strengthening the identity and competitiveness of the district. We also
want to broaden the city's tax base, expand workforce opportunities, and stimulate small business development through the curated mix of food, beverage, and retail concepts, many of which will again prioritize local entrepreneurs.
We also seek to deliver a cohesive placemaking and activation strategy that increases pedestrian traffic, extends activity into evenings and weekends, and encourages sustained engagement with the downtown area. Uh as you know uh there's
um uh quite a bit of residential development coming to the South Dade area and there are scant social attractions available uh unless you make the trek up uh to downtown Miami which during this time of day as we know very
well is is is not an easy trek. So what we want to do is we want to put a fence around not only put a fence around the South Dade area uh and focus on homestead and surrounding uh markets but also make sure that there's a uh the the type of uh credibility built in the
commercial development down here and the entertainment district down here such that folks uh from from Miami Coral Gables area would come down here as opposed to all of the traffic going back up north. Now, most importantly, what we want to
do is we want to provide a long-term missionaligned operational partner for the CRA and for the city. Uh, you know, we're not, you know, Johnny come lately folks who want to come in and make a quick hit. We ultimately want to be long-term partners in the revitalization
of Homestead and and the surrounding areas. So, in doing that, we want to we're going to demonstrate that we're capable of good stewardship of the site, curating of tenants, and managing programming in a way that advances community benefit and supports
downtown's long-term economic resilience. So, uh here we we show some of our partners in in the uh in the project. I myself uh I am one of the partners of the law firm of Greenspun and Martyr uh specializing in uh both entertainment
and sports and hospitality. As some of you may know uh my firm is the largest player at least on the east coast and definitely one of the top in the nation in hospitality uh representation. Uh we represent literally every single uh big
hitter from West Palm Beach all the way down to Day County, including all of the major players in Miami such as the the Grutman Group and and many other large players. And all of that expertise will be brought to bear uh to make sure that this particular project is effective.
And so with that, uh I want to open the floor for any questions that the board may have. Uh I'm going to invite my partner Caven Jean Charles up as well uh as he is wellversed in some of the more technical aspects uh so that we can address any
any inquiries or or uh comments that the board or the council may have. Excuse me. >> Very good. Appreciate that. Before I open it to the board, anything to add any thoughts, Mr. Director? >> Yes, and thank you for that. So, just to reiterate, this is an unsolicited
proposal that was brought forward to the CRA. You are not making a decision tonight on yes, we're going to commit to a development partner proceed. This is though an introduction of a development concept that has been brought forward to us that has obviously been well thought through and discussed. And so this is an
opportunity for you all to ask you know as many questions and have the discussion you'd like on what they brought forward and then at that point um make a determination if you want to open this up through the public process which we are required to do before disposing of property. that would be a next step and certainly once you finish
the conversation we can discuss the various paths the board may take but just to reiterate this is this is an introduction to their concept not a full decision tonight but one that we want you to have the opportunity to ask as much as you would like thank you okay
I'll entertain any initial comments or questions from the from the board on this presentation yes for member Avala Thank you, chair. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you for making an offer to the city. I do appreciate the opportunity to review and to um ask some
questions. Um I did notice in the packet that um the real estate experience is uh relying heavily on um density high density projects. For example, it says, "Our real estate practice focuses on delivering projects that blend housing,
retail, hospitality, and pedestrian oriented amenities, and this includes high density programs, environments with food, beverage, etc. Uh, and neighborhoods serving mixeduse sites. So, this property or these parcels do
not have residential um allocated to it currently. Is this something that you would be okay with if there were any um covenants or deed restrictions if there if we were to sell? And my next question is also would you be able to consider or be willing to
consider a lease versus a sale? I may have missed that in the presentation. Thank you. >> Thank you for that question, Councilwoman Avula. Uh so yes, we we would be amendable to um deed restrictions that ensure that there was not a uh residential component uh absent
you know the will of the council or the city to the extent that there were some needs that that would uh would uh suggest otherwise. But yes, we are open to to those covenants. Uh and additionally, you know, we're we're in the very preliminary stages of considering this. However, um we would
be open to either a lease or a purchase. Although for a variety of reasons, uh quite candidly, we would we would probably prefer a purchase, but at the end of the day, what we're more focused on is making sure that we can bring forward a successful project. So, uh to the extent that it was the will of of
the council and the city of Homestead that it be a lease, then um you know, that's what we would we would deliver the project under those circumstances. >> Thank you for those answers and I'll rest for now. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman, vice mayor or vice chair board member
Fletcher. Then we'll go to the vice chair. >> Yes, thank you and thank you for the presentation tonight. Um I appreciate the the offer that came in. Uh I wanted to know uh how did you come about hearing about this property?
So, um, for one, uh, my partner Caven is is is very adept at market research and we've been focused on South Dade for for quite some time. Uh, the we we came to understand number one some of the
population trends uh that that are occurring down here as far as uh development of certain de uh developers bringing both single family and and higher density residential here. Uh we also noticed the fact that it's pretty much a a social destination desert uh
down this way. Uh and and so because of that uh we started and based on his research, we started to research certain opportunities down here uh that would serve to create an uh a social and entertainment hub down in South Dade.
>> Okay. Thank you for that. And then uh I did notice part of the uh response was to uh also include the parking lots that are currently located behind the old buildings. And I'm wondering uh you know we're going to be in the need of having
parking for downtown and the existing businesses there. Is that an absolute have to have for this project or could that be a community type parking lot for everyone's use? Well, I I I think that you know the the the point that you bring up with the fact that there is already a need for the parking kind of
underscore the need for for that that particular parcel for this project. Um without that particularly with so many uh businesses concentrated within that three uh folio parsonage is it's going to be difficult for that to function
without that dedicated parking. Uh now to the extent that there are there are you know hours that uh the that the Chrome marketplace is not in operation, we're happy to share that space uh during those times. And again, we're
also open to any suggestions that uh both the council and the staff may have as to how as to how we might be able to alleviate some of the uh strain with parking on some of the uh neighboring parcels. >> Okay. Thank you. And uh I'll rest there
for now. But uh I am looking forward to seeing if we move forward with this or not. But uh the concern with the parking lot is I think with the existing businesses downtown and the again the hours of operation the current marketplace might be in place uh that we would have to give them access to it at
some point especially with what we're doing on Chrome Avenue in the near future. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you council. >> Thank you Mr. Fletcher. Vice Chair Bailey. >> Thank you chairman. Thank you. Also, I'm going to jump skip a few things and go straight to the parking. Um, I think
that it would probably be in the city's best interest to hold on to those lots, but obviously it's in our biggest interest that that whatever this turns into would succeed. So, I think that would be an easy way to um allocate a certain amount of spots for the
restaurant. Um because eventually when we do become the amazing walkable uh downtown that we all envision, it's a two-minute walk to our parking garage. So then that two minutes would not be an issue, right? So I'm sure we can figure out something with the parking. Um
again, you know, thank you for for seeing the potential. It is obviously a big leap to get into the restaurant business. Um I had some pretty lengthy discussions with staff. Uh I grew up my dad was in in hotel food and beverage.
He's opened his own restaurants, failed a few, done well with a few. So obviously the key is to make sure that you've got the right partners in place. Um but if you have that passion and you've got the business drive, um I love the opportunity of as you said
showcasing the local talents, we we definitely have enough to showcase on our own and then there are a few things that we've just never had. Uh so to be able to open up some different types of cuisine, Mediterranean, Indian, uh those are things that we don't typically see
here. Uh so a great opportunity for that. You have a wonderful array of local organizations to partner with. Um I am sure you notice some cowboy hats in the audience. Uh we would definitely need a a country night uh just to have
different themes that that does showcase all the different awesome things that make that make Homestead Homestead. We have Homestead Center for the Arts, an opportunity, you know, we've always been looking for an art gallery. There's an a very easy opportunity for you to be able
to decorate and allow local artists to potentially sell their work there. So, I think if you really do your research on Homestead and partner with the right people that this could be this could be a great fit. >> Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. And and you
you definitely bring up a couple very good points that kind of dovetail with some of the objectives that we have here. Uh number one, you talked about the restaurant industry uh in general, particularly in this climate. Uh but one of the advantages of having a food hall
is to be able to hedge that risk uh amongst various different vendors number one and number two because of the fact that there's not one particular one solo concept right it allows us the latitude to partner with more strategic partners within the community and make sure that
we can create activations that are centered around their community involvement. So those are definitely two objectives that we took in mind in in conceptualizing this project. Oh, definitely. Um, you know, my family alone, one of us wants one thing, the other one wants the other. So, an opportunity to have a night out and not
have to fight over that is great. Um, we also have not much convention type space. So, to offer some of these organizations that like hosting these monthly meetings or big big lunches, there's an opportunity there to help succeed.
So, yeah. Thank you. Thank you, chairman. >> Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. >> Thank you, madam. Uh, vice chair. Um, before I end with my comments, Mr. Director, refresh my memory. Have we not bid out or haven't we already awarded the bid for the construction of the parking lots?
>> Yes, sir, we have. And that is currently under construction. >> Okay. Well, very good. Thank you. I just I I knew it was either out there or had it actually been been awarded. So, you know, that'll be, you know, built into this. So, I you know, I appreciate the
the effort that was put into this. I I read the entire proposal and I know a lot of time and effort was was put into it. But for me, it raises a lot of questions and knowing that you seemingly are resting your laurels on Homestead
Commons, which by the way is not within the city of Homestead. It's adjacent to the city of Homestead. And I think you'd have to look really hard to find more than 1% of the people that think a 100 units per acre and eight stories in
height next to a singlestory single family neighborhood is a is a good idea. But that's that's a whole other con conversation. But, you know, if you are primarily a high-rise, highdensity, affordable developer, it really concerns me that
you keep talking about throughout the document of this as a mixeduse project. Now, normally as we sit here, that is a term of art, which means partially residential and partially
commercial. So, was that a Freudian slip or are you talking in terms of mixed use of bar, restaurant, popup, retail? >> Yes. So, so that wasn't stated in terms of the the term bar is more of a multifaceted use. Um, more along the
lines of what we alluded to as far as being able to uh hedge the risk amongst different restaurant concepts. Uh so it it is we intend for this to be strictly a commercial use uh to be a a catalyst for uh you know building an
entertainment uh hub downtown Homestead. >> Yeah. And you know I think council will hit on that and I think that uh we want to be very clear that whether this is a if a transaction goes forward whether it's a sale or a lease and I'll say it
as I sit here I prefer. Go ahead. Let me clarify and to be clear that space is can only be used as commercial usage. It's unfeasible financially for anyone to build residential in that space. So the mixed use is solely for retail commercial art galleries um to that
respect. >> Okay. I appreciate that that I'm I'm thinking it would be my perception that there would be as to the extent that we could prohibitions on on residential use at at that site barring
you know your ability to convince a uh a different council in the future. Um but right now none of your food and beverage partners are are committed really. Um, I know you you make reference throughout of these other
successful uh concepts that we're all familiar with in Miami and and the Windwood area, but these are examples of what could be, not necessarily that you have engaged any of those folks or committed any other other partners at
this point. >> Well, no. Uh we actually have had um pretty pretty comprehensive conversations with several of our both my clients, the firm's clients and other strategic partners. Uh right now we're just waiting for the project to get to
the point where it makes sense to actually start to paper these commitments. Uh but we do have preliminary uh commitments from several restaurant tours and food groups that are able to execute a wide variety of concepts. Some of which currently exist
and and some of which have yet to be developed. >> Okay. So, and understand that the comments and the concerns I'm going to express have been from decades of observing an endless parade of shysters,
huers, and conmen coming to get into the wallet of the city of Homestead. I think we've grown out of that as as a mature council. There's still no shortage of those folks. But, you know, if you want to stick around after your presentation
and see the presentation we're going to have with the sports hub, sports performance hub folks, uh, with a deal that we've struck where they brought their partners to the table. They showed us the money. We moved quickly, not a
lot of delay. They did everything they said we were going to do. So for me, I'm looking for experience and credibility. In my research regarding Bear Atlantic Group, I can see that you've only
completed one project which consists of two town homes. Your website talks about Homestead Commons. That's not come out of the ground yet. I don't even think the county has approved it yet. But beyond that, and you talk about your your hotels and resorts and your green
space, but it's not evident on your website. Can you talk to us about any of these other projects that we can do research on that shows your credibility and viability and ability to do what you're asking us to tie up this property
for? >> For sure. A couple different things, I think. Um any any extensive research on both myself and my partner Cave and Gene Charles will demonstrate that uh we are both we have both been in the South Florida business community for quite
some time. Myself as a lawyer who's been practicing for about 20 years at various of the largest firms down here in South Florida, right? So, um, far from a hu or or or anything of that nature, it would be difficult for me, uh, to maintain the bar license that I worked so hard for,
uh, for for 20 years, um, if if that were, uh, the the, uh, the way that I went about doing business. But as far as the credibility, particularly in South Dade, um, the Bear Atlantic group also has a nonprofit wing, which is called
Manifest. Uh, Manifest had a uh has a runs a nonprofit based on STEM that is based in Richmond Heights. Uh, although of course it's not in the city of Homestead, but it is in South Dade and and that was one of the uh entry that was kind of our entree into the South
Dade market. Right. So, uh, Caven is the is the head of that nonprofit. Again, a STEMbased nonprofit. It's been in operation for over a decade. And that particular nonprofit has partnered with Miami Day County uh in building a uh a
building which was dozens of of millions of dollars. Uh he was able to execute that from beginning to and I believe it's upwards of a $20 million building and they and they they've been they they have pro they've had programming going on consistently for the last uh decade
and and in partnership with the county. that that's all in the educational arena which is not the real business world. >> So so that commercial building is a twotory uh 18 tenant building. We have a restaurant ground floor retail of eight tenants, a museum, second floor conference room of 80 people, a
co-working space and then second floor offices. Um so there's several elements that you might not see on one website. Our our firm actually owns several other entities that you might not be aware of. >> So who owns that building? >> Uh the county. >> The county owns that building. So you built it and uh
>> and we have a long-term operational management. So all the tenants we on board it ourselves and we do we do a day management of it. >> Does that project have a name or can you give us an address? >> Yeah, it's plaza. It's 14508 Lincoln Boulevard. >> Okay. Because you know I want to look at
you know real ability and I don't see that there's any experience in this kind of product in the past. Is that is that correct? This is a new branch of your endeavors. >> So, so and let me let me speak to that. You have to if you look at Miami day
county as a marketplace, there are only four surviving food halls. So, there there are only four surviving food halls. And that's specific because the rest of the market here can't absorb those concepts. Homestead, you're facing a a different problem. You need
retailers, you need small businesses to come into your ground floor retails. But the truth is, If you gave your entire space for free to the largest coffee shop in North America and you said here the first thing they're going to do is run a feasibility and absorption cost a single tenant cannot absorb the cost of
that uh commercial retail space. Now you can go down to let's say the movie theater and do con cost analysis. The only way any any retailer can survive in that space is if you subdivide the operational cost on of the square
footage to to believe any larger player who is willing to step in is is and that's part of the reason why this has been through the cycle of five years. For me specifically, I I'm coming to South Florida. I'm one of eight kids that know this has been bred here for a
long time. I believe in what this city can be, but if you're not willing to make a commitment to, you know, a a smaller approach to reinvision what this can be, this is going to be a cycle that's going to continue for 10 years. So, our approach here is is simple. We
want instead of offloading one cost to one retail, one retailer, we're going to parse it out 15 15 tenants and then conceptualize the space. Make sure the operation cost of grease traps is spread between 15 tenants versus one tenant
trying to absorb $200,000 of buildout costs. The space has zero HVAC. So anyone coming in, even before you put in furniture, the expenditure is $200. So the space is essentially a cold storage today. The AC unit, screen shraps, and plumbing all has to be pulled out and
essentially it's a shell space. So I don't see how any any major player is is going to take the assumption without understanding the risk. So this is what we bring to the table here. And and just to put a finer point on that and and I think that Caven's expertise that you
just heard articulated just now speaks to the fact that while that we we both have at least a decade and upwards of two decades of executing these projects as both council and consultant council, right? So we've seen these projects through uh from soup to nuts. It's just
that the only difference here is that we're bringing all the same expertise. uh we're bringing all the same strategic partners except that we are the sponsors on this particular project which the very same type of project that we've executed in very different it very various different iterations uh both for
clients uh and in Caven's uh case for the the nonprofit. Um, but one of the other things I want to highlight, I'm sorry if I have to go back to the uh to the nonprofit, is his project with the Larsenia Bullard Center demonstrates the
desire to actually invest in the communities uh that we do projects in. Not only does it have the various tenants and the space that he articulated, but it also has a business incubation uh concept there as well. Uh but ultimately that's another community
oriented project and and we're going to bring our expertise uh to bear in doing the same thing that we've done for various other clients as sponsors for this particular uh project. >> Yeah. And that's a point I wanted to make and maybe in more simpler terms.
You've been involved as adviserss and in consultants but never as the except maybe in the one case the developer. Maybe never, you know, if you've got the not for-p profofit being the developer with the county.
Is that a fair characterization that you've consulted with other folks who have done >> project? Both entities I founded myself. The nonprofit I founded in 2014. The the large staff of operations I started from scratch. So it's not a county facility.
I built it myself. and and f just an observation and this is one thing that really personally bothers me is that you're you're pigeonhoing Homestead and you're building to what you believe Homestead is today and you've probably hit the
mark but it doesn't strive to be what I think we all want to be a better mix of product in terms of of price range that you know when we want want to go somewhere nice, we have to go to Pinerest. We have to go
to Coral Gables. The roads run north and south. I don't want to see us get locked into a certain mid to lowlevel economic demographic with the product that those folks in Pinerest and Coral Gables can
come can come our way. And I just I don't see that vision here. What what my takeaway my you know my takeaway only is that you know you're you're building and proposing for what we are today.
>> Well, and I think that that's the the latitude that comes with executing several different concepts within one space, right? So, if you think about the development of Windwood, right, and the way the culture was created in Windwood, if you think about what Windwood was in 2014 or 2010, right, it was basically
like shipping yards and and and lowincome as section 8 housing, right? Uh and through the activation of very very similar uh concepts that had the latitude to both serve the the the the
current demographic and grow into something that could uh could could could serve folks from from outside. You created the type of foot trafficing culture that made it an attraction for for folks coming from outside. So I I think that this particular concept does have the latitude to serve both the the
the realities today of Homestead and what you would like to see Homestead grow into and we look forward in being a partner with both the community and the council in helping to execute that along the way as as that reality changes. >> Appreciate that. One more CL. I won't
belabor it anymore. You mentioned there are only what four food halls surviving. Is that correct? Is the food hall concept a trend whose time has come and gone and are we a
little late to the party? Are we and I've jokingly said to my with my colleagues I think pickle ball is the same thing. You know that's a fad that uh will play out one day. Is is a food hall concept something that has
viability? Why why did the others close or fail? Any thoughts on on that? So food halls are very similar to Windwood, they're used as a mechanism by the city to enable revitalization. So the the targeted ones we have of Citadel, uh if we look at that's
northeast and 83rd Street, the bridge between Little Haiti, Upper East Side going to Miami Shores, Julia's downtown corridor, that rev revitalization on flag is occurring because of construction. Um very similar to to the warf there mechanisms of revisation for
the CRA and So you you have a mandate as to say a city and a CRA of revitalizing that corridor. Um but your your biggest obstacle and regardless of first standing here today or regardless of whoever is standing here is you need a mechanism to en enable uh revitalization. If you don't have a
stable project or you don't allow vendors to essentially transition and accelerate, uh you're handicapping yourself and you're essentially going to be forced to approach large institutional AAA credit tenants and they're not going to want to essentially model around your city. They're going to
develop their cookie cutters and drop them in here. So the food halls are structured for you know five 10 20 year cycles that allows that quarter to be developed and once it's developed you can then cycle it into a more sustainable more higher end market rate
product. So you should use this as a tool that is a 10ear cycle that you know hopefully in that 10 year cycle you you've already revitalized that corridor. Um it's not a a permanent uh fixture that's going to be here 100 years. We don't know that. That's the truth of it. But it can enable and
accelerate your development because um you see the existing if you you guys understand the existing corridor. You have one liquor license in a 10 milei radius. Every other tenant on that on that main street realistically they don't have the funds to to revitalize the front of their stores. Unless the
city steps in to help the existing businesses in that corridor, most of them can't survive the increased costs of labor and increased cost of interest rates that are hitting the market. So, it's full. >> Appreciate it. Let me let me ask the director. So, Mr. Director, if you got
some direction from this board tonight to continue the discussion, so to speak, paraphrasing the request. Is this process going to trigger the requirement that we do another statutory notice? Are others going to have the
opportunity to come to the table? When we when we do the public uh notice process, it would open up for others to come to the table. What that process looks like is at this board's direction. You can do the 163 notice, which is an
option the CRA has used in the past, which is perhaps a a quicker um route to go through a more concerted negotiation, or you could issue a um full RFP, which you've also done in the process, which is a little bit larger. But either one
of those does open it to anyone in the public to to propose on something on this. We would have to go through some process at some point in the in the the transact proposed transaction with this group. >> Correct.
>> Yeah. Do you have a question? >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Chairman. >> Yeah. Just a thought. I mean, we we this is very exciting, right? You you've come to the city unsolicited. You want to invest your money, your time, and your energies into it. um I don't know that this is the right time to be vetting you at this point because we still have to
go through a a legal process to begin that process. Right? So um if we do go the 163 notice or the RFP process, all that does is brings more opportunities and more ideas to us to make decisions on and start to vet that process. So, I
think that um if if that we need to make a motion or just to give advice, I think that motion would be to start the process, whichever one we decide to do, and then just let's see what what comes of it. I mean, the building's been sitting vacant for two two plus years, and it's it's time to think seriously
about bringing something positive to the downtown area. Whether you guys are the right ones for that or not, I don't know that. But we have to go through that process anyway. So let's see what the public brings to us and then we can make a decision on which which way we want to go and if we want to decide if we want
to have a little workshop before we put out that notice maybe we do that and we decide amongst ourselves what we want to see there. Thank you chairman. >> Thank you. And you know and in that regard and quite candidly that's the risk that the unsolicited proposers take
that at some point it triggers a process. Everybody else knows what they are thinking and can tailor their responses to uh try to undermine or outdo the original proposer. But if
those are those are safeguards that are opposed on us. Yes board member Avala. >> Thank you chair. I I guess for for legal I was under the impression that um we already did an RFP and 163 or both and we're still subjected to we're required
to >> those processes those processes were closed some time ago. So we'd be we would be initiating a new process because that didn't result in >> 60 days >> advertisement
>> uh the statutoily I believe it's 30 but we have allowed for a longer period of time depend to >> but we can make it >> allow proposers to compile you know a complete package >> and the cool thing is we know we have at least one applicant for this particular
process right let's see what else comes in and then we have other options to to choose from. >> If I can just add a few more closing comments here. Um Julia and Henry's is I think the example that I gave when uh we
were discussing this particular property a couple years ago and whether or not we should replace the roof, etc. Using that as an example, um what would be the timeline from getting the contract awarded to opening your doors
with a concept like Julian Henry's, for example? >> Yeah. So, I mean, out of the door, I'm be transparent here. Um, we've only been able to assess a site on a visual basis. The next 90 days after if if it's awarded and selected is we're going to have to do infrastructure and testing. I
mean outside of the roof which we know have been repaired um our initial assessments just for the HVAC it's complete tear out. So no no no restaurant even today would pass for health codes still to open the doors. Um we have quite a bit of environmental work to do on the site on the interiors.
It's essentially a blank canvas and we have to assume that everything from plumbing HVAC electrical does not work today. It's essentially just a empty show and our timeline basis is just with understanding the true infrastructure cost is 90 days and then our our A&E
architectural engineering teams can turn out you know drawings and schematics um in the same 60-day window. So we're talking six months just to understand the true operational cost once we determine what the environments and infrastructure are going to be. >> But that's faced by anybody who would
come in and be successful, right? There he is. And anyone to what's going to be built here and and and with all due respect, you're not opening a single restaurant. You got to do it 15 times. >> Correct.
>> 15 hood systems, 15 Anel systems, one grease trap that connects all 15 restaurants to one location. >> I want to clarify. I'm saying that that time frame is just for us to understand the technical infrastructure. So, >> right. So, so assuming 6 months for
review and infrastructure design, >> correct? >> What do you think would be the timeline? Are we saying within 5 years? >> No. I mean, we're realistically 24 months on a buildout on a buildout once that's determined. Um, we're not talking about 40, you know, restaurants that are
individualized, you know, 1000 square feet. So, 24 months plus six. >> Fair enough. >> Thank you. >> Right. Yes, vice chair. >> Thank you, chairman. So I think with the 163 it also leaves it a little more open. We don't have to be so specific
with with what the ask is. Correct. >> You typically would not be as specific. You did in your prior 163 notice articulate that your expectation was that the respondent had submitted proposals uh based on developing a destination food hall concept with
related ancillary uses. I know the discussion has come up today. We've heard about the restaurant, we've heard food hall, we've heard bar, we've heard retail, commercial activities. If the the board so chose, we could use a narrative similar to that. These
commercial activities typical within a downtown environment. We could include in the 163. It is typically a briefer package. It is quicker for us to do. It's a, you know, it is something that we could include a certain amount of detail, but it is not the length of an entire RFP.
So I think I was just going to say I think it would be my suggestion to to then go that way. And just one more thing to your point chair uh regarding the food halls it maybe some have failed here in Miami but Chelsea, New York, Europe, Rotterdam, Holland, I have been
to those for the last decade. It's not a new concept. It's newer to us and I don't see it I don't see it doing that well. Um, you know, there are those options that maybe some of them fail, maybe some are doing so great that they want to take up the spot next to them,
right, and grow into a double uh spot. I I think that that is a good a good place for there. So, I'm going to continue hoping that that is what happens. Um, so one last question with the 163, if that is what what goes forth tonight, how
long would that be one of the areas where we can't discuss anything further with anybody considering to bid? >> I believe that is correct. Matt, could you opine on that? >> There's no official code of silence during the 163, but your best practice
would be to wait until the your proposals have been received before you start proceeding with anybody and negotiating in good faith. I was more considering some of the organizations that could be good potential partners, but all right. Thank you,
>> board member Fletcher. >> Yes, thank you. And uh again, thank you for for all the information tonight. Uh I hope you don't look at this as being uh anti- business. Uh I think we come to it as a healthy skepticism over the period of years that I've been here on
the council. >> I like that phrase. uh we've had uh you know quite a few entities want to do similar things and we've been talking about it for six years. So there's just a little skepticism on our side that people want to take advantage of us and I hope you don't take that as
we don't want to do business with you. I think we just want to get our minds wrapped around it and make sure our staff has the right direction from us to move forward so we can make this a a possibility and and and overall a good thing for for Homestead.
>> Thank I'd like to move uh to uh issue a 163 notice with a 30-day period. Thank you. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. So before we before we act on that, let me ask if there is any public comment with
respect to this item. Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. I'll go to board member Roth. Yeah, just to be clear that this 163 notice would also include their offer,
their financial offer, their financial wearability, and what they would be willing to pay the city of Homestead to lease the property as well because we want to consider all of those options. And then once they get through that process, then obviously uh we'll be given direction to staff to negotiate
further into the contract. >> Do we have a no residential? Did you accept? >> You can do whatever you like. It doesn't fit there at all. >> Yeah. You're not going to put residential on that property. >> You've got height. There's the right to tear it down and go high. >> 30 stories.
>> No. Six, which is two too many. >> Okay. So, we have no no public comment. If there's nothing further from the board, anything final from the proposer? No, we appreciate your time and we look forward to uh being able to hopefully
work with you all to bring forward something that's going to benefit the community uh and and all of the residents. Thank you. >> Thank you. Just for whatever it's worth, coincidentally, you had a great cross-section of the community here tonight to see your first uh crack at
the bat here. I do that. Thank you. >> All right. So, let's have a roll call vote on that motion directing the 163. >> Board member Fletcher. >> Yes. >> Member Ron. >> Yes. Board member Cannibal, >> no. >> Board member Abula, >> yes. >> Board member Ksky,
>> yes. >> Vice Chairwoman Bailey, >> yes. >> Chairman Lman, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> All right, so moving on to tab two, we have the minutes before us from December 17th, 2025. Do we have a motion to approve? Moved by Roth, second by
Fletcher. Questions or comments? All in favor? Any nays? Next item is tab three, car number 4894, the PO Park Construction at 37 West Mauy. >> It's been moved by the vice chair,
seconded by board member Roth. Uh the thumbnail thumbnail description, >> you've all seen it and this is an investment we support in improving the downtown area. >> Good. All right, it's been moved and seconded. Let's open the floor really quickly for public comment. Anyone in
the chambers or online hearing? And seeing none, I'll close the public hearing and we'll have a uh roll call vote on that. >> Board member Fletcher, >> yes. >> Board member Rob, >> yes. >> Board member Cannibal, >> yes. >> Board member Abula, >> yes.
>> Board member Ksky, >> yes. >> Vice Chairwoman Bailey, >> yes. >> Chairman Lner, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> Any further, Mr. Director? I would just like to have one more clarification on the first presentation item. Board member VA, I have it clear that you had a 30-day uh window for the 163 notice.
Uh is it fair to say that in that request we are seeking restaurant, bar, entertainment, retail, and those are the limited uses or I I want to make sure that we're we're accurately putting this out the way you would like. >> Retail, food, service, and bar. Has
anything else come to mind that we might want to >> No, no. Um, >> no. >> No. I think that's good, too. >> Okay. I just want to make sure we're confirming that so when it goes out, everyone understands those are the things that we will be including in there and it will be for 30 days. So,
that is the only other point uh that we have for today. Uh, appreciate the long discussion we've had and we can close this unless there are any items you all have. >> Good. Thank you. We have a motion to adjurnn. It's >> been moved and seconded. All in favor?
>> Any opposed? We'll take about five minutes and we will convene the meeting that was supposed to happen 35 minutes ago. It's nice to see a room full of people >> I know, right? >> That that have an interest in what we're about to see.
There you There you go. Councilman Fletcher. >> All right, let's take our seats if we could and get the show on the road. It's a school night. You >> find some coffee back there?
>> You're welcome. >> That's why my suits don't fit. That's why my suits don't fit >> for those kinds of ideas. Wow. From camaraderie to being able to hear a pin drop. Well, good evening everyone and welcome.
Our apologies for the delay in the uh convening of this meeting. I'll call to order the city of Homestead City Council meeting. Today is Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, and it is now 6:44 p.m. This evening, we'll have the
invocation by Pastor Alex Pacina of Summit Church. Pastor, are you here? >> Come on down. Followed by the pledge with Councilwoman McConssky and the Homestead Police Explorers. If everyone could please rise.
Let's bow our heads and pray. Lord, this is an invocation. And so we invoke you tonight, not as a God that is asleeping or that doesn't hear us or is far away, but as a God, Father God, that is near to us and that
wants the best, Father God, for this city. And so, Father, we um appeal to you. We don't appeal first, Father God, to a mayor or to a governor or to the president, but to the only sovereign because we acknowledge that we
need your help. With so many things, Father God, on the agenda and decisions to make, I pray for wisdom, Father, for these leaders. Would you give them wisdom in abundance, Father God? Wisdom that is from you. And I pray, Father God, today that you would be honored, that you would protect our town, Father.
That you'd continue to uh bless us. And Father, we also pray for protection for events to come, for the rodeo that's coming, Father, soon. For the parades, Father, that we're going to plan. And we also acknowledge and and praise you, Father, for the protection even from another um just light uh from another
strong hurricane season. We're grateful. And today, Father God, with all of these things that we have, we um ask you for your help. continue to protect, Father, our police force, our city officials, uh Father God, from as far east and west as
this city stretches. Father God, this is your place. And so we ask you for your help with all of this. We love you and we thank you in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you, pastor. Forward. Left,
left, right, left, left, left, right, left, left, left, right. On guard, right face. All
please to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
>> Order all. Left face forward march left. >> Thank you. Please be seated. >> Hey, can we have a roll call, Madam Clerk? >> Councilman R >> here. >> Councilman Fletcher
>> here. Councilwoman Ksky >> here. >> Councilman Cannibal >> here. >> Councilwoman Avula >> here. >> Vice Mayor Bailey >> here. >> Mayor Losner >> here. >> All right. This is now the section of the agenda where we have public
comments. I'll first call those who have pre-registered. Uh the first individual who registered this evening, uh Mohamad Latif, are you here? Muhammad Latif. Yes. Please come on down and give us your name and address for the record. And we have a
threem minute time limit on your comment. >> Yeah, I'm Mohammed Natif. I have a a question on the uh address 70 Northwest 8th Street, Homestead, Florida. There's adjacent property 54
Northwest 8th Street and there's a variance street there and we like to know who's taking care of that. >> Taking care of >> it's adjacent to my property and there's a vacant like a 12 ft street and no
one's taking care of it. spotted holes, um, rocks. >> Okay. So, Mr. Manager, is there someone he can exchange information with and and get a bead on uh, >> pictures? >> Okay,
it's I've got it here. It's uh, 70 Northwest 8th building. Correct. my responsibility. >> Well, not if you don't own it. Are you talking about the street or the alleyway or the actual parcel
>> street backside street there someone is a for sale property sign I think there's adjacent street >> right the adjacent the subject property is 56 >> 54 northwest a street do you have it there
>> Mr. manager. Can we have him get with with Josh with the the code uh with Crystal and uh >> Okay. >> Okay. So, we'll uh we What's that? Yeah. Go ahead
and Yeah. All right. And next we have uh Charles Stoner. Mr. Stoner has registered to uh to speak. Good evening. >> Well, come on down to the microphone. >> Happy new year.
>> Happy new year. >> Um, let me open this up. I kind of So, good friend Larry Roth and uh and I uh were talking and so for the benefit I'm going to read this. I'm sorry. Uh for the benefit of those
who may not know the Biscane Everglades Greenway, this is a very nice paid bicycle and pedestrian path that runs along the Maui Canal from Maui Drive all the way to 137 Southwest 137th Avenue. Along the BEEG, there are three
crosswalks for pedestrians and bicyclists. These crosswalks are not at the street intersections, but allows crossing these streets. Farm Life School Road, Southwest 15 uh 62nd Avenue, Kingman Road, Southwest
152nd Avenue, and Southwest 147th Avenue. Again, running along the Maui canal canal. Um I do not know for certain the number of accidents that have occurred at these crossings since the opening of the BEG on March 11, 2023, but I believe there have been at
least three within the last 30 days. The most recent one being this past Monday, Monday night. As a resident of neighborhood close to where these crosswalks are. And as a runner who would like to continue to run these the BEG, I would like to further state the
following and make a request to the city of Homestead. We need to install a much better signaling system to prevent these accidents from occurring. In most pedestrian friendly communities where there are similar crosswalks that are not at intersections, we see more
visible flashing lights, signals, warnings for the drivers and motorists. Right at this moment, many excuse drivers do not pay attention or even worse ignore the pedestrians waiting to cross.
Depending on the location of the crosswalk, it could be a variety of reasons. For example, at night time, the crosswalk at Southwest 147th Avenue is pitch black and unless a pedestrian has a flashlight or some other illumination blinking light
or whatnot, they're invisible. You can't see them. Or in Kingman Drive, because Kingman Drive is two lanes going north and south, obviously. Um, and then there's a median. um
the pedestrian can cross if they're crossing, you know, uh the first two lanes and then at the median, the oncoming traffic, the pedestrian, they're not being they're not being uh uh visible. Um
at this time, Farm Life School Road uh probably is the safest crossing because it may have the best visibility during the daytime, but traffic will certainly continue. Sorry about that. But anyway, I if I can continue just a minute more, but sure. We'd like to see if we could
the city could the city implement a better has talked about that. >> I myself have talked about that. They tell us that I mean >> actually is something that we've been looking into. However, I would like for
you to get together with the public works director to give you an updates as to what we working on. >> All right. Is that something you know that the city can kind of put a little bit of pressure on the county if that were the case? I mean, >> we'll do our possible best. >> Yeah. >> Okay.
>> Okay. I appreciate that. Right. Thank you. >> Yeah. We have a lot of roadway irons in the fire with the county right now, >> but not all equally important. Thank you for your >> but yeah if you could talk too.
>> Okay. Is there anyone else who would like to make a general public comment? Are all you rodeo folks here to advertise a rodeo or to see the sports hub presentation? >> Come on down. >> Mr. Mayor Council, we want to just thank
you for having us here. Um we normally get together here right right before rodeo and I know everybody knows it's going on but um we're just blessed to be here and be in the city and have the support of you guys. Um you know we couldn't do it without you and it's been
our honor to to be here in the city and and have a chance to see schools and businesses come together to help us to to do what we do and bring everybody together for this historic event. So, we just want to thank you guys for for being a part of it and thank you for
letting us be >> and we appreciate all that you all do all year long to get ready for one weekend. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Anyone else? >> Hi, good evening. Brandy Ramirez, 2231 Southeast First Street. Um, I first just
wanted to take the time to wish mayor and council a happy new year. A lot of blessings to each one of you for all the hard work that you guys are doing. And I did want to say a special thank you to Mayor LNER in regards to the positive change that is happening for the
farmworker community. It's greatly appreciated um with those changes that are that are happening. I won't go into more detail, but I also wanted to thank uh Councilman Fletcher that mentioned it's just being proactive and welcoming.
I I heard that presentation. It sounds really good. I see that you guys are being very open to ideas and like it was mentioned, propertyy's been empty for quite some time, so that's a good thing. I also wanted to say thank you to the staff and to uh Vice Mayor Jennifer
Bailey for an amazing Martin Luther King breakfast. It's always very inspiring to start off the year and that and those spirits and and the prayer and just seeing the community come together. So I also just wanted to ask our community who's listening and community that is
here if everyone can just take an opportunity to share on their social media about the rodeo, share with their family and friends so we can be very supportive of the annual rodeo. It's a great community event. It's going to have businesses, nonprofits that are
going to be participating and so it'll be just great to get a huge outpour of participation. And again, thank you to our chief of police bringing in more officers. Our Homestead community is very safe. We have a top-notch, you
know, police department being uh great leadership with command staff and also with our city manager. So, thank you very much and I wish all of you a happy new year. Mayor, please take the lead when it comes to this sports um thing that's coming to Homestead. Take the lead to make sure that our community,
our soccer community that's here and we have some in the audience. Let's make sure that those doors are open for them and I just look forward to supporting that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Adrian, Mr. Lopez. Good evening. AJ Lopez, uh, president,
uh, Keysgate Community Association, Homestead, Florida. Um, I'm here this evening because I want to come down here in person and thank the mayor, vice mayor, and the council for your support of Keysgate of last month's Keysgate uh,
Santa's motorcade uh, parade that was held on December 20th. Um, thank you for your support of our community. Thank you for your support of of um and visiting Keysgate. I know it means a lot to the
members and um and on behalf of my fellow board members, the neighborhood delegates for Keysgate uh and Keysgate staff and security. Thank you so very much for your support and coming out and thank you. And I know all of you um helps helped sponsored the uh in and
made the event a reality. uh sponsors and community leaders like yourselves make events what we do in Keysgate possible. Um also like to thank um Chief Nap and Homestead Police Department for
their work in helping and having their staff available uh to safely escort the parade, the motorcade safely through Keysgate and throughout the uh Palm Drive and Kingman Road. um I think it was a party for some of the uh residents
for some of the vehicles driving on Kingman and Palm Drive than it was inside the actual Keysgate neighborhoods. So, not only not only does this impact uh Keysgate neighborhoods, but we also able to impact uh everybody residents who live on that side of town. So, they get a
chance to get a glimpse of Santa rolling through town. Um I also again thank you. I know that my fellow board member colleague uh Donald Gonzalez aka Boomer and uh my events director John Beck work closely with all of you. So again, thank
you for working with them and helping to make the event uh possible. We reached out nearly 4,000 homes, 10,000 residents and their friends and neighbors and loved ones who all came out to safely enjoy Santa driving through the
neighborhood um and gain a chance to celebrate the holidays before Christmas. So again, thank you so very much for your support and um we look and hopefully we we will look forward to doing it again in December again. And also thank you to uh the mayor
uh Councilman Fletcher uh Councilwoman uh Ksky and Councilwoman Avula for uh for participating in the parade as well. I know that a lot of you some of you had commitments during the holidays, but we appreciate you go coming out and supporting us and coming out and being
part of the parade as well. Thank you so very much. Well, thank you to you and everyone else who helps put it together and gather the vehicles and uh it's a lot of logistics, a lot of fun. It's a good community amenity and we appreciate what you do. >> Appreciate. Thank Thank you so very
much. I know the members, our homeowners appreciate all of you coming out and supporting uh supporting Keysgate and and the uh and that side of Homestead. So, thank you so very much. >> Thank you. >> And happy new year. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Hi, good evening.
>> Good evening, council. My name is Nelson Ducles here from on behalf of AYSO here at the sports complex and to the sports hub. Uh, first and foremost, thank you. Happy New Year. Thank you for your time. Just wanted to address I know myself, some of my board members and players are here as well to hear about the sports
hub and the progress it's making. um just wanted to address and I know I had the pleasure of meeting the gentleman who's here who's going to present um just you know just to get some clarity and get more of an understanding of what's going on how it's going to happen
and just kind of bring the concern to the council. um many as you can as you are aware you get many you know inquiries the league itself is getting many inquiries from the the children and the parents of the community you know worried that they're going to get pushed out again
I would hope you know council is not in the slight is going to look to do that and you guys have always been supportive all of you so we appreciate that from the past and hopefully in the future we want to continue um you know AYSO has been in the community much longer than
I've been here. But um I I hope even after I'm gone, it continues and it has a special place in my heart and I hope it has a special place. I know it does here at Homestead to all the children and families. So I just hope that, you know, once we get this presentation, it kind of clears the air a little bit and
gives us more, you know, clarity on what's going to happen moving forward, what that looks like, and how it does affect the close to 500 kids that we service. And again, not just our program, but programs across the, you know, Homestead area that will be affected by this. So, just wanted to,
you know, announce myself and let you all know thank you for your support before and can hopefully continue support in this matter. >> Thank you again. I just want to reiterate that, you know, this council and the negotiating team with Sports Hub was very clear from the beginning that
while we recognize there will be disruption, it will be minimal disruption. but necessary disruption for a fabulous product that no one else has. >> So, let's all share a little bit of pain. Yes.
>> And uh >> thank you very much. >> To the uh polished diamond that comes out at the other end. >> Thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Okay. I will now close the public comment section of the agenda. And our
first item is a presentation by the Sports Performance Hub Group, car number 4886. Mr. Manager, did you want to introduce this? >> Yes, Mr. Mayor and Council, tonight we have in our midst the
developers and their team from the sports performance hub, VSSGS, here tonight to introduce their new CEO as well as walk us through the development plans as well as scheduling for the great project that the city is
looking forward to having in AmIra is up there. Mr. Dario. >> Good night everyone. Mayor, vice mayor, city councils and city staff, the whole community, stakeholders, the CDC,
Baptist Health, YSO, uh, association, soccer, uh, Homestead Pro Association. I want to recognize everyone. I want to acknowledge everyone because in the last 12 months, you guys been instrumental for all our ambitions here. Uh 12 months
ago when I stand before you, I was uh you folks are really intimidating people. I used to play in front 50,000 60,000 people, but I was really nervous to stand in front of you. Uh six months ago when you approve our request and
give us permission to start working in the community in the community with our project uh I feel more confidence. I bring a paper for a speech but I speak with my heart and this time I am bring a speech I should tell you I feel at homestead
is being very welcome to our project and we take our partnership really serious when I see your slogan the future lives here right implies for us as
this project and our commitment to the community implies a a a more deep than than just this law. The future lives here represent for us action, execution and and delivering of our promise. And
this is what we're committed to do and I'm extremely happy to present you, introduce you, introduce to the community of Homestead our new CEO. I want I just want to take a minute uh before to introduce our new CEO just to
tell you about the person behind the businessman and the master developer that he is. When we were in our search for our CEO, uh the shareholders as you know we were all former professional districts and
wanted to give back. We our background shows that we give back to get back to the community in many ways and I was extremely happy when we select him. He was a former goalkeeper like me. Uh he
was in the sport playing professional as well. But the person behind and the person that we discovered in the last month working with him is been something that you're going to be extremely happy to have. Um, without say anything else,
I want to introduce Nick Sakovich, our new CEO. >> Hello everyone. Good evening. I think this is turning into the former goalkeepers club over here. Mayor, council members, and members of the Homestead community, thank you for
the opportunity for me to speak to you and introduce myself. My name's Nick Skevich. Don't worry about pronouncing last name. Just call me Nick. That's perfectly fine. Like a Brazilian good Brazilian soccer player that just has one name. Just call me Nick. It'll be easy to remember. From time to time,
life has a a very interesting way of bringing you full full circle. Um, in when I retired the second time from my professional playing career in 1990, my wife Isabelle and I we uh we were living in Boca Raton and uh we thought we were
going to settle in to Boca Raton not knowing it was going to take me all around the world in my career. In 1992, of course, Hurricane Andrew, uh, we witnessed firsthand the immense devastation in this community, and to be here tonight again to see what you've
all rebuilt since then is extraordinary. So, congratulations. Wow, what a community you all have here. Um, and it and it's got an amazing future and I'm super excited about it. After after Boeron, my career took me really around
the world developing uh stadiums and arenas and districts. I was a founding executive of Major League Soccer and a booming league today. Uh and I spent uh a lot a lot of years building and
pouring concrete and building stadiums and arenas all all around the world in in cities here in the United States, in Europe, and elsewhere. Um, and I've had a very blessed career with what they tell me in my first project was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to start a
soccer league. And then they told me it was a once in a-lifetime chance to build a soccer stadium in the New York metro area and revitalize 300 acres of land. And then there was a third once in a lifetime and a fourth once in a lifetime. And I've done 80 of these and I can't believe I'm standing here
talking about a ninth once in a-lifetime opportunity, but it truly is. Um we're here to share an important milestone um which is the vision for Homestead's future. This vision is only possible through the close partnership with the
mayor and the city uh the council, the city staff of course and the great community of of Homestead. All the projects I've done in my career have been public private partnerships. And public private partnerships mean a lot
of different things and they have a lot of different components to them. But the one thing that's always central in every one of the projects I've done is that community has to be engaged. These are incredible assets of the community for the community. Players come and go.
Developers come and go. The development stays forever. and services the community and and for generations to come. So on March 2nd or maybe March 1st, March 2nd, we will officially break ground on the first phase of construction of the sports performance
hub beginning with our baseball field. Uh and followed by soccer fields and and other programming, tennis courts. Uh you'll see a presentation later on on all the programming that's going to go into the building. Um, this initial
phase will represent more than just turning a gold shovel in in some dirt. It marks the start of a long-term investment in this city. We anticipate delivery of this first phase in the fourth quarter of 2026
um and setting the foundation for more groundbreings and eventually ribbon cutting. So, I appreciate your comment, mayor, about pain. We're all going to go through a little bit of pain, but we're going to try to do it in the least painful way. Um, over the next 36 months, Sports
Performance Hub, SPH, will be designed and developed and built as truly a world-class destination. This will be a comprehensive sports performance campus that brings together elite athlete training and development, advanced sports medicine. And rec want to
recognize and thank Ken from uh from our potentially future hospital partner. Thanks for being here, Ken. State-of-the-art performance and technology recovery hydrotherapy aquatics facilities. A purpose-built high school
for elite student athletes of all walks of life, on-site student housing and nutrition facilities, community fields, park amenities and walkways and places of where folks can gather uh enjoy the water features,
enjoy the facility and and be welcome in this place. And by the way, for Nelson from AYSO, we're not only going to want you there, we're going to invite you there and we're going to want you to take part because there's nothing more inspirational for a young player than to
be around elite athletes and a great culture. So, you are going to be welcome on this facility anytime. The cornerstone of this vision is the design and development of a 10,000 seat multi-purpose stadium, but purpose-built
for soccer as well as other events. I'm thrilled that the rodeo is here. I just came off a project on a 200 acre development in Arizona and I learned all about the rodeo and that was such a nice surprise for me to hear that there's an established rodeo here in town. So,
we're super excited uh that that there's such a property here in this town. That was an extra benefit for me when I looked at looked at getting involved in this project. This facility will be the permanent home for Miami FC. Um a future women's team which we're
working on as well, professional super league team. Um, multiple concerts, of course, home to the rodeo, multiple music concerts, live events, family shows, music festivals, um, and pretty much anything that we can put in there,
uh, that makes sense in this in this building. It'll have a hotel attached to it. So, it'll be very unique. In the United States, there's not many stadiums that have worldclass hotels built into them. This, you'll see this in the in the in the presentation by our
architects. Um there are some hotels all around the world. This will mark a unique aspect for Homestead as a destination to come stay in a hotel that's extremely unique. Have a business meeting, have a a wedding, uh whatever whatever we end up programming in the
hotel, but it'll be integrated in the stadium itself. It's very unique for you baseball fans. The most famous one in the United States is where the Blue Jays play in Toronto, but that's a that's an old design that you're going to be really excited about. This this design
of the stadium with the hotel integrated. So, looking at looking ahead over the next 12 months, we intend to work collaboratively as we always do with the city and the community to explore opportunities in adjacent property. uh we don't want to
just build a sports performance hub and walk away. We want to continue to operate it. We want to continue to grow it. We want to work with the community in the city to see how we can enhance. We are master developers of largecale acreage. U my very first project was 300
acres. Um my project in Philadelphia was 100 acres. The project we just came out of was 200 acres in uh Maricopa County, right outside right outside of Phoenix. So, we know how to master plan and work with the city because you have an
opportunity in front of you of a blank canvas, somewhat of a blank canvas. You painted this canvas pretty nicely over the last 20, 30 years, but now you have you have lots of land. you have lots of concerns that are going to come traffic and design and flow and development and
all of that. Um myself and my team, we pride ourselves in being experts in working with cities and communities to help design that canvas so it's not a mess because sometimes cities will patchwork it like a quilt and then it doesn't work very well. So, uh we're
super excited about working with the city and the community to do that. Our goal is to shape this land in a way that reinforces Homestead's identity. I think that iconic stadium with the hotel will be will shape an identity and anchor Homestead as a worldclass sports and
entertainment city. Most importantly, this project is is designed to to directly benefit Homestead residents through job creation, educational opportunities, access to world-class facilities, and a sustained economic business model.
Probably one of my most proudest thing other than my family and my two sons and my wife are the fact that every one of my eight projects before this generated tens of thousands of jobs and employed city residents, county residents, and I
I get goosebumps on my arms when I think about some of the people in some of the cities because some of the cities weren't as as u uh as well established as Homestead. A couple of my projects, they were bankrupt cities with brownfields and dirty land. And we came
in and we worked together. And today they're thriving cities with lots of residents, jobs, um, and and they're surviving. Not only surviving, but they're flourishing. So, these are truly once-in-a-lifetime projects, and I've
been blessed by God to have eight of them so far, and I'm taking on my ninth. And I think this quite possibly could be the best one because the this homestead checks a lot of boxes for me. Um, you know, a state that I've lived in for 30
years, 40 years almost. And um, and I'm here standing in Homestead after surviving Hurricane Andrew in Boca Raton, which we didn't get it anywhere near as bad as you did. So, it's kind of brings my career a little bit f full circle. I will be the CEO and I will be an investor. So, I'm going to put my
money where my mouth is and invest in this in this project and and in this city. So, thank you very much for listening to my story. I hope to get to know you all very well. It's all about relationships. Relationships are trust and respect, and I hope to earn your
trust and your respect, not just the city council and the mayor, but the community at large. Um, super excited about this. Uh, without further ado, I want to introduce our architects, Labella. Um, so Christian and Peter are here from from Labella to take you
through a really dynamic uh image. We have lots of great pictures. There's nothing better than some great pictures, but our job is to turn them into reality. So Christian and Peter are going to take you through a pretty cool presentation uh with a video and pictures and talk about um what's about
to start on March 1st or second. We haven't landed on that. We have to we have to talk to you Siri. Anyway, early March for sure. >> So, I think the groundbreaking is on March 2nd. >> Yeah, I think so. It's a Monday, so be
there. Be square with your gold shovel and hard hats. We'll have plenty of them. >> Peter, >> thanks, Nick. Um, I met Nick 25 years ago when he was working on the Red Bull uh project and I was designing the Cassa Center in Miami. So, this is a full
circle for us as well. Um, I'm Christian Pinch. I lead uh sports and entertainment and public venues globally um for Lebella Associates. Uh, this is Peter Shik. He leads our Florida practice and he's going to be personally
uh the project manager for this project. So, he's taken that on and as a full-time project. Well, uh, Mayor Lner, Vice Mayor Bailey, city council members, city staff, I appreciate you inviting us again to show the progress of our project. We're very excited about what
we're creating and we'd love to show you where we're at right now that uh we're coming to the completion of the pre-esigned services uh and going into uh schematic design. So, we've um provided an initial submitt
and a notice of commencement already. And as it was mentioned earlier, we're coming with the groundbreaking on March 2nd where we're going to begin uh with the uh Eastmost uh baseball field and then move on from there. Uh we have uh
several phases. Uh we have a schedule that's been established with you and under contract. Uh we have a more aggressive schedule that we're following and we're going to do our best to uh meet it which has us uh completing uh the field hopefully by the end of the
year. Breaking ground um with the stadium and the hub at the end of the year with a focus of having the park ready um in September is agreed and then having uh the both the hub and the stadium ready uh for the March 2028 season.
So this is the latest and greatest um master plan. One of the things that you will notice is that um we have uh on that southwest corner, the hub is a lot more designed and developed. Uh it has
uh residences for the high school students. It has the performance center. We're looking at an aquatic center. Uh we have the learning center or the high school as well. that's going to be incorporated in incorporated into there. Uh we have uh gym, community center.
We're going to have some commercial uh street facing things that are going to be incorporated into there at as well at some point. Sports medicine and a lot of these uh different program will be uh uh public facing as well. So, there's going to be uh some interesting and exciting,
you know, worldclass state-of-the-art facilities uh that are going to be contributing to the rest of the community as well. Uh as you can see, the stadium is now further designed. You can see uh number 14 there with the with the hotel in the south that it's
integrated and looking at the fields with great views towards the lake as well. We have um developed a much better kind of parking plan. Now, as you can see, the major circulation is coming um from the north coming across in three
different places and has very kind of ease of turns and uh intersections with crosswalks and uh we have provided a a pedestrian loop around the entire uh uh site which you will see more as we
show uh renderings. We have an area that we've defined to the north as you can see number 25 there that has access directly from the main circulation from MXO uh down into the north of the stadium which is for uh loading and also
is going to be fundamental when we do um the rodeo which needs to have you know the animals and the containers that come up and we have an open north side of the stadium where we can have all the gates and loading that will be there but it also serves for a potential unloading
of, you know, small craft, kayaks, dingies, and things like that. that we could have some sort of a marina that leads from the trail all the way across the east side of the stadium, which we would like to have that as a very uh
exciting uh waterfront uh feature where we're going to have concessions and you know bathroom facilities and it's going to be the extension of the park that you see there on the north which you see that now has much more design. We will get into it. Uh but we've we've added a
water feature. We've added some uh really nice terraces and paved areas. So, you could imagine that you could have uh family gatherings, civ civic events, farmers markets, you know, art walks. Uh we see it as a as a destination for the community as well.
Um and then we have obviously everything that we showed on an initial program. There's no nothing less. There's just as many, you know, basketball courts and multi-use fields. We have five multi-use fields. We have uh one uh grass fields. We have the same number of tennis
courts. I think we have two more. Uh we have uh the same number of pickle ball courts and pedel and you know everything else that we had talked about and promised that you can see there wrapping around along the south. On number 15 between the tennis courts and the pickleball courts, we've added a
playground, a toddler and a kids playground which was part of uh what we promised we would have number 12 up in the north in the pack. We in the park we still have the uh the pump track as well as well as the basketball courts and the volleyball field uh to the south there.
So um I'll show you now in pictures. So this is how uh the hub is looking. Uh one of the important things in considerations from an urban uh point of view is that we are addressing that there is a a
single family uh residential project that's coming out to the west. So, what we've done is we have a 50-ft setback until the building. We've used that to have uh circulation coming directly uh uh vertically down into the site and wrapping around and going into a parking
deck that will have 160 parking spots, which is about 25% more than what is needed for the capacity of that building because we're thinking that it'll be useful also uh when other teams come or uh when there's events and things like that. Um that building that you see on
the left is the residential building that will be that will house uh professional players and the coaches and the teachers that will be housed there which will be separate from the high school and the living quarters which is that closed campus that you see has a V-shaped and has an open space in the
middle um with its own swimming pool and deck and then fif 20 foot on the south side 20 foot from that 50 foot offset was when we actually start with the vertical vertical and go up to about seven floors, which is 75 ft, which is lower than 120 foot that there is for
the building heights that are zoned in that location. And on the other side, we have 60 ft to that L that goes up on the north past that 50. So, we're really creating a long distance between the residential project and um what we're
doing here. And then uh that that building you see at the end that's where it's going to be the aquatic center on the first floor which is going to be an amazing asset as well as having on the second floor you know gymnasium and community center and things like that
that will be part of that facility as well. Um I'm going to show one more change here on the original master plan that I want to touch on. When you look at the hub there, you'll see number 21. And that's number 21 is what we're
suggesting a logical crossing, pedestrian crossing, probably with some kind of a crosswalk light, maybe even a pedestrian bridge. We'll get that into that more that crosses over to obviously to uh with the rest of the athletic fields and so forth. Uh which causes the
min the least amount of disruption from uh the academy into the fields and themselves. And then you see that we've created huge provenence. Those sidewalks, those pedestrian walks, paved walks that we have between those fields
have 15 feet. So that shows you how wide and how focused on pedestrian there is across this entire site. You will notice that we've taken the street out that was going along the APZ line that we had in a previous proposal that we had for the
master plan and now we've created a pedestrian zone from Palm Street all the way up to that street that wraps around and leads to the stadium and around uh to Mozo as well. So, it's become more pedestrian every single field once the kids are on the field. there's no street
to cross and uh we've been able to achieve that. And then you'll see that there's a lot of paveed areas that have different shapes that go 20 30 feet around areas where there's basketball courts. You can see that is happening where the number four is over there where the baseball fields are or areas
where people can gather when there's events and things happening within those fields, parents, um etc. And I'll show you more renderings. So this is a look. You can see now that this is more of a fully rendered view. Uh our intention is to create this
park-like setting and to you know eventually um extend the landscape around the existing retention pond and around the parking. And then we have this loop that comes across uh around the whole thing for it to be kind of a
sports anchored uh park and development that is uh a beautiful place to be and spend the day. These are some renderings of uh the hub itself so you can begin to understand kind of the care that we've taken towards the architecture and the
look and feel of the facilities here. We really really want this complex to be a world-class, you know, state-of-the-art facility and it has to be clear from the materials we use, from the kind of architecture that we're doing, from the artwork that is
placed around it, from circulation. So everything from a technical point of view all the way down to some of the softer things that uh really make us feel like we're placemaking rather than just having buildings in space. Uh this view again shows you this concept of
having this uh green loop that comes ac across the entire uh path. You begin to see that there is pedestrian uh ways leading all around the entire um uh uh uh site. If there is a game, there is very intelligent, smart, direct ways
directly into the stadium with all the crosswalks and areas that we can close off towards the high school and kind of limited all to the north part of the site so we don't have cars going elsewhere. But we do have if you look at the fields and you go directly down, you will see that there's a small parking
lot. We're suggesting for that to be an area where there can be public transportation drop off as well. and they they come off and drop off and then loop out again. So, we're already thinking about how those connections with public transport can be happening. And there's another one by the stadium as well. And you will see it in the
master plan. We have it all labeled. Uh this is another view where you see those pedestrian ways that are lighter just to make them very easy to see how we have all of this pedestrian walkthrough uh that are very well thought out uh throughout the space. This is the main entrance and this kind of grand entrance
from the parking areas into uh the stadium where we have this sail we call it a sale in front of the park which obviously from a technical point of view provides shade when the sun is low but also we have this kind of graphic which is the the South Florida sunset and then
uh the canopies have the colors of the sky. So we we're kind of addressing the fact that we are in this beautiful agricultural area that is between a na a historic uh a national park which is the Everglades all the way to Biscane Bay
and that this stadium is organic is of the place. It's iconic. We want when the drones come over uh or the cameras pan over this somebody sees this place and they're going to say we're in Homestead. It can't be anywhere else in the world. And we're putting that in every single detail. You can even see that as you
look at this the hotel when it wraps around the dividers follow this uh same kind of uh graphic pattern and they're almost like you know scales or something that changes the color some of the things that we see in feathers and scales of the flor and fauna uh of the
local area and you can see now how the whole boardwalk and all of this pedestrian ways lead to this grand plaza to the north and to where we have these uh docks and wrap around and it becomes part of the park in the way with a monument in the middle which is uh the
stadium itself which will provide facilities that will be outward facing like bathrooms and concessions and things like that off game time. So those have the possibility of operating and providing infrastructure to the park and to the things that are happening here
when there isn't an event. This is a view we really like because we we we we think that it kind of expresses the lifestyle that we are proposing and it's it is a different lifestyle. We are changing the lifestyle of this area
where we have a waterfront that's being uh uh developed and addressed which is an asset that we're kind of highlighting where you have a park and and and civic areas uh that can be used for different events and where we're providing
state-of-the-art field state-of-the-art fields using the latest and greatest technology both both in natural grass and turf with proper uh drainage etc. etc. for the community as well to play. This is another view of the stadiums
looking at how the hotel kind of addresses the water and and comes down with its own parking and entrance so it doesn't create any kind of uh congestion uh separate from the stadium, but it's fully integrated into the stadiums. In fact, the pitch club, the club lounge,
the terraces, and all of those facilities are connected on the same level as as a hotel. So we can imagine that they can start playing nice and one can become a feature of the other um during events and things like that. This is a a look and feel of what this
could look like during a game or doing a rodeo. We're providing 10,000 seats expandable to 15,000 seats, state-of-the-art facility with beer gardens and all kinds of experience. We're going to have a seat. We've studied what the community looks like
and what the demographic is. And we're going to be providing different prices and different experiences that will be available for everybody. And there will be six, seven different uh type of experiences depending on where you sit. Um that I think that will express uh the
smells and the flavors and the food and the culture that exists uh locally as well. And obviously the excitement excitement of having worldclass uh sports and entertainment here. Uh here again you can see it. One
of the things that we've paid great attention to given the climate is that we have these sails on both sides providing protection from the sun and the low sun and then canopies over the grand stands as well. And as you can see the hotel itself becomes a feature of the uh of the stadium as well. It
creates that enclosure of the coliseum which makes it much more in intimate. It keeps the sound in which is great. You want to hear the screams and everything that's going on inside but it's kind of mitigating some of that uh uh light or sound that could uh come out of this as
well. These are the fields. So the one to the right is the first field that we will break ground on the second which is the grass field. So that baseball field will be grass and the other one will be synthetic. The reason because of that is because grass is a much better place to
play, but you can only play with it maybe once or twice a week because it starts deteriorating if you have a lot of play on it. So, the synthetic field will be able to one that will have uh will be able to have much more use. Again, this shows you how we're creating these plazas where you have a baseball
game and people can gather and there can be popup things and food trucks and things like that. We are putting concessions in different places that could be thought as permanent concessions or they could be infrastructure for events. Uh and you know that's something that we can talk further and we'll have batting cages and
mounds and different things that are associated uh to baseball for example in this case. Here you see the racket sports. You have um uh the tennis courts up there on the north with its own plaza and then it leads again and then you
have concessions always and then you have the pedel and then the pickle on the west and you can see that we've added on that side the kids in the uh the kids playground as well that you will see a rendering of it that we're providing which is accessible from uh the high school side. We do have do two
tennis courts that we're providing grand stands for. And what that will be provided is an opportunity that you can have, you know, smaller community or smaller events, but you can have spectators around it. And ob obviously if you have any kind of um uh educational
uh event around tennis, you could have people watching while they're um seeing a performance as well. This is from a different angle. These are the basketball courts that are there. Those are basketball courts that were in the initial master plan that was
approved that we are in keeping with. Again, you see how we're creating these paved areas with plazas and things and places where people can people can gather and have uh food carts and things like this. We're always thinking about of this destination and this civic kind
of uh uh uh events that can happen around uh sport and other kind of events. This is the playground. Again, as we move forward into further design, all these things will become further detailed and we have like a first name and last name and technical
specifications and things like that that we will uh be sure to review with the city as well. But here we're already seeing uh the intent. And then one of the things that we've spent a lot of time is that we believe that that park should have a heart and
the heart can be a water feature which is obviously beneficial when you're developing land because it becomes a water retention area as well. But that that water feature we can invest and create a water feature that moves to music that can have uh lights that
change color to that music and that will be the heart of an event. If you have a, you know, any kind of music, food, uh, like I said, art walks, farmers markets, whatever, we're providing this entire paved area where things can be set up around it, which the water moving up and
down and the sound and the music is kind of what we're seeing um, in some entertainment parks and things like that. And um, that can create opportunities for people to go for the day and have something to look at. You know, it becomes more of a a destination. Here you can see with the
stadium in the background and these terraces that we've created and the walk that wraps all the way around. That's something that we like. You know, you can start on one end of the site and you're going through fields, then you're going to more wooded area, then you're going to an area that has the water features, and then you're moving over
around to a marina. And as you're coming out the marina, you're coming out to like a tennis like racket sport area. And it becomes this diverse journey that you're going through, which gives you things to do all day long. and really um uh feel like uh uh uh you're in in a
very dynamic space. And this is more kind of what the experiential thing could be uh in that kind of heart of that park. And at night, you obviously would come to life with music and uh lights and
movement and things like that. And here you see it at night. And we do have an animation. Hopefully the sound is on because it adds to it. But um it should autoplay after this one which kind of gives you this bird's eye view
of the whole like we always say you never look at architecture statically like you would in a picture. You're moving around it. So the animations I feel give that feeling. Thank you. And I would like to also as Dio and Nick did express our commitment
label associates we have uh uh 2,200 architects engineers 43 offices across the country and in Europe we're doing over 30 sports anchored developments. We know what we're doing and for us this is
uh a legacy project. We think this is something that's going to be very exciting and a benchmark for future developments in the country as well. Thank you. >> Thank you. Quite an accomplishment tonight and that is you've left me
speechless which is hard to do. So council council Fletcher. >> Yes. Thank you Mr. Mayor and uh first and foremost I want to thank Daario and his team for thinking about Homestead. Uh this is a a tremendous asset that's
going to be delivered here to the residents of the city of Homestead. Um I got your last name, Sakowitz. I hope I >> But uh again, thank you all for having the vision to come here to Homestead.
And this truly is going to be uh it's exceeded my expectations already just with the the visual drawings and I can't wait to see it in person. the the water features, the walkability, you know, everything is clicking all the
the boxes and I think it's going to set the standard for anybody else who comes to Homestead in the future. Uh I can tell you my the residents of of of the South Date area are all going to benefit from this. Uh the residents of Homestead are truly looking forward to seeing this
come to fruition and thank you again for coming to Homestead. Thank you all. >> Thank you. Thank you, mayor. No, definitely. Um, we are so incredibly excited not just for this, but the partnership the partnership piece um that you bring to
it. I love the fact that you brought up the batting cages because as we go on, you start hearing different things that might have fallen through the cracks. So, I do appreciate you taking those little things into account. Batting cages was one that was brought um
brought to us and a skating park. If you end up with a piece that you don't know what what could happen. Um I think we do have a little bit of a rising uh skateboard inline skating. >> We we actually have a pump track on the
>> So is that for skating >> which can be used by bike and skate. >> Okay. >> And roller blade. >> Fantastic. And then my only other beef was that I didn't see Holland in your animations. I didn't see my my Dutch teams there. So next time I'd like to
see some orange. >> Thank you. >> Oh, thank you. Yeah, outstanding, you know, presentation and we're we're all really excited about that. uh I get more down into the logistics of things and with AYSO here, I just want to make sure
there's communication between them as they plan their league and their seasons. Um I know they have an upcoming season uh March through May that may have some some technical and some logistical uh you know complications with construction so that there is really not
too much as the mayor said earlier interruption of of the youth that's already using the facility to engage in what they do. um you know through the spring and into the summer. Um and it sounds like the rodeo is going to have a
home beginning 2028, maybe 2029, right? >> As soon as possible. >> That's correct. >> As soon as possible. You said the the stadium would be open when? >> March 2028 is our target. >> Okay. >> That's what we would like to do. >> All right. So it' be March >> the AR for the arena 2028.
>> Right. >> Yeah. >> Right. So, it'll be the 2029 rodeo season that you guys could expect to experience uh new logistics there as well. I'm very excited about that. Uh and I think we can fill the stadium. And
you said it can go to 15,000, right? >> There you go. So, I look forward to the great ticket sales and 2029 for the rodeo association. That's all I have here. Just want to make sure the logistics between AYSO and any other
youth activities that are out there um you know they're not interrupted too much. I know there's going to be some pain but just want to make sure that they're they know what they can do for the upcoming seasons. Thank you mayor. >> Thank you Councilman Roth. I would like to touch on that. Um
technically speaking I'm an architect. So uh technically speaking you you always have two approaches. One of them is to start development. For example, let's say you have six fields to start development the fields slowly fencing out areas where people can continue to
play during a season which slows down some of construction or to try to go from A to Z as quickly as possible so that the disruption is as short as possible. So we are analyzing both uh uh methodologies. We're working closely
with GC's and uh potential uh uh construction partners to look at what the best logic is both from our experience as architects and engineers and from what the construction logic would be with them as they move around. But obviously when you have things in a closed uh area when you're fencing
things off and you have cranes and you have things like that, there's a whole logistical aspect that does slow down construction as well. >> Yeah. And I think I think we all understand what's going to happen, you know, for the most part and there's not going to be as much disruption as we think. And I think AYO mainly focuses
right now in the stadium area where the stadium will be built. So I think if you build out some of those soccer fields that were further to the south, um you can segue them back into that area as you begin to construct the stadium in a
couple years. So, I think I think we can look at it logistically and and and make it comfortable for everybody involved. Obviously, there's going to be some some issues that may arise, but I think I think we all have the right mindset to make it as comfortable as we can um and as painless as I think Nick said uh
through this process and I think that's the most exciting thing is to get everything done where everybody gets to, you know, use that facility to the full extent that they can. >> That's councilman. You must have read our logistic plan because that's exactly right. >> You know, we're we're fa you know,
building a field phasing into another area construction. The most important thing in any of these large scale projects is safety and and we're and what's great about this site is that there's lots of elbow room. Um I've been involved with projects where there's like no elbow room and that and the
tighter space, the more unsafe it becomes. So, we're we're definitely definitely have that in mind, but safety first. Thank you, Councilwoman. >> Thank you, mayor. Congratulations to Miami FC, to the city of Homestead. As
this um continues to move forward, I think we're all very, very excited to see the future of the programming, the development, the um activities. I did have some questions and piggybacking on the communication, which is going to be huge uh not just during uh development,
but going into the future. My understanding is is that the city was going to retain communication and coordination between the recreational uh programs and scheduling and utilizing the the field. So for staff, can I get some clarification on that because I did
become aware of a letter that the city circulated to program uh managers that the point of contact beginning January 5th was going to be VSSGS. So has that changed? Because I'm starting to hear different now. And what is the the
actual plan? Thank you. >> So, council woman, I think there was a miscommunication there. Uh, communication in terms of reaching out to the facility users will continue to be routed to the director of parks and recreation for city of Homestead. Uh,
the challenge which I'm very very happy that has been addressed tonight is community engagement during construction phase. That's where the challenge is. Beyond that, communication will always be routed through the parks and recreation department director.
>> Thank you for that clarification. And um another question that I have for the future of this area is um a lot of envisioning of a police substation on the east side of town. I am hoping that there's been some real intentional conversations about it and if possible,
we also need an indoor gymnasium. So, if there's any extra room, any extra funds, we would love to have uh some additional indoor uh recreational space for residents of the city of Homestead on the east side. We have but one gym, the
YMCA, old YMCA facility, aside from the PAL gym, and it is extremely high demand. And so, this would be one of those um benefits, community benefits that we would love to see um grow into the partnership. I did also have a question with regards to that water
feature area. Do you envision a restaurant uh capability there? If so, if you're able to expand on that. >> So, with regards to the police station, we welcome that. Um, from an operational standpoint, fantastic to have a
substation or police station on the site and we're going to work very closely with the chief of police and and his staff to make sure it's well uh well policed during live events. Um that's a really important um component of the
safety issue. Um restaurant absolutely that that water feature and that water space is going to not only be a gathering place but I think you may have seen in the video and some of the still shots. Um this reminds me a lot if anyone's ever been to St. Petersburg and
seeing the pier. Very similar. Lots of restaurants, eeries, like not just um food trucks that spaces where they can pull up and provide a diversity of cuisine, but um there was a building there right at the waterfront with a
little overhang that will be a place where you can get some some good food. >> Thank you very much. And then last >> council woman um just for clarification uh the administration is already in communication and discussion with the team with regards to the east side
police station. The discussion is still evolving. Uh we hope to finalize it at some point. Uh good thing is that the development team seems to be excited about the prospect of having a police presence there. Thanks.
>> Very good. That's excellent news uh for the entire city, but specifically the east side. And um I think last but not least, it is one of the very nec necessary amenities for parents uh uh of children. We need as many restaurant uh
restrooms as possible around the the fields and the parks and the pump stations or pump station, whatever you call it. So when you go through your site plans, please keep that in mind. Thank you. And those are labeled on the site as well. >> And and also like as I mentioned the
facilities that we're designing around the stadium, they're outward facing and they become part of that facilities and and we use you know we we we we use kind of rules of thumbs that we know depending on capacity what you need to have in terms of concessions and
bathrooms so that you don't have queue. So we'll make sure that that infrastructure is there. I just want to point out kind of to your point, a couple of the the items that were discussed in the presentation tonight that may be glossed over, maybe
not, but that are new to the plan is the potential aquatic center, the indoor aquatic center within the training facility as well as training facilities which may be of as this evolves may be available to to the public as well. So,
you know, in terms of the indoor um gymnasium type facilities, um that's, you know, great potential within that academic village. So, breathtaking. This is really
I don't get goosebumps a whole lot, but when you started doing that animation, that was that was something else. >> You ain't seen nothing yet. >> I'll hold you to it. Thank you. >> Yes. >> At some point, I'd like to be able to
sit down with with your design team. I want to talk about safety in particular, the crosswalk area. That that little scurve there is very dangerous. So, I think, you know, getting some details of what has happened there in the past might help you with that design feature. So, just make sure we're involved with that a little bit. Thank you. Yeah.
>> Last thing. >> Yes, Vice Mayor. >> Thank you. um with the retention pool, you know, thinking of things that you mentioned so many times, these gathering areas, which I see the community loving. You know, we we have very involved parents coming out to support uh the the
local teams. Um obviously to to see the bigger games, but if there is some type of way to incorporate a splash pad maybe into the water feature. Um, I'm thinking as as councilwoman Avila mentioned the eeries that is a new trend also with the
aderondac chairs with parents being able to kind of do their own thing and the children playing potentially the splash pad could go in to a nicer water feature that served as a retention pond. >> So I'll just go because
>> picture tells more than what I can speak. So >> So that's a splash pad there that you have. See how it's wet in that area? And then you have the seating right in front of the water feature. And then that's the the the building where you have the food and catering. And then you have
tables around. And again, when you start seeing the furniture, I think these are you could see that again this is design intent because we're going to get spend 10,000 hours designing this. Um you can see the tables around. This is the
covered area right in front of that restaurant area that creates a D overlooking the water which is a really nice feature. It's almost like being on a ship. It goes to the tip. We're using a lot of a kind of water uh aesthetic.
And then you see the the benches and the way the lighting works and things like that. Here you have uh the the umbrellas. And so we'll have different kinds of seating in different sections for laying back and you know sitting down and eating and things like
that. But there is already a spat splash in it. >> Love it. Thank you. >> Thanks, Mayor. I'm so glad you asked for that. It was on my list, but I didn't want to ask for too much. So, I'm so glad this looks like a great New Year's Eve spot. So, >> yeah. I think we're going to need to buy more Christmas trees and all kinds of
stuff. >> Thank you all. Thank you for coming down. Thank you. I by the way I'm really impressed by this council's knowledge of design and development. I don't get that with every council on these projects. So I appreciate that. There's never a bad idea just ideas we have to talk through.
So >> So u Mr. Mayor on council Nick uh something that this council would love to see your ability to kind of frontload your design schedule and uh bring down your completion period much sooner than you anticipate.
>> That that's a schedule I spoke of. It's much much more accelerated than what was in the original. >> Safely accelerate. >> Yeah. >> Siri, with regards to that, we always we always have a schedule that we shoot for. We always try to beat it because
time is money and cost. So, the sooner we can build, the sooner we can open, the sooner we can start paying for it. >> Again, thank you for coming down. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Appreciate it.
Okay. Yay. Amen. >> 15 minutes for the rest of the night. >> There you go. That's right. We have Yeah. 13 minutes for the rest of the night. Okay. We have the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve consent agenda? I have a second. All in favor?
>> Any opposed? >> Mr. White speed reading. >> Okay. Please be advised the following items on the agenda are quai judicial in nature. If you wish to comment upon any of these items, please indicate the item number you would like to address. When the quai
judicial item is made, an opportunity for persons to speak on each item will be made available after the applicant and staff from either presentations on each item. Swearing in, all testimony, including public testimony and evidence, will be made under oath affirmation. Additionally, each person who gives testimony may be subject to
cross-examination. may be subject to cross examination. If you do not wish to either be cross-examined or sworn, your testimony will be given to Cu. The general public will not be permitted to cross-examine witnesses, but the public may request the council to ask questions of staff or witnesses on their behalf. Full agenda packet on each item is hereby entered
into the record. Persons representing organizations must present evidence of their authority to speak for the organization. Further details of the qua judicial procedures may be obtained from the clerk. In accordance with code section 2-590, any lobbyist must register before addressing the council
on any of the following items. At this time, I'd ask council members to disclose any exparte communications concerning any items on the qua judicial agenda this evening. That's tabs four, five, six, and seven. >> Six and seven. >> Six and seven.
>> Six, seven. Is anyone contacted by the community health by the >> That's that's a little doctor's office across Methodist school the conversion of that building. >> Yeah. Six and seven across the board. >> Thank you. So at this time I'd ask
anyone in the audience who's wishing to speak on the quai judicial items this evening to please stand raise your right hand to be sworn by the clerk. >> Do you here? Do you hereby swear affirm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth? So help me God.
>> Thank you. You may be seated. >> Mayor, tabs four and five are companion items. Tabs four is the second reading of a resoning. Uh and tab five is the corresponding site plan for that uh parcel. I can introduce both collective public hearing. >> Tab four is an is the second reading of
an ordinance of city of Homestead, Florida approving the resoning as requested by New Health Community Centers, Inc. of an approximately 299 acre parcel of land from multiple apartment R3 zoning district to the restricted retail commercial B1 zoning district for property located at 100
Northwest 7th Street as legally described in exhibit A and providing for an effective date providing for conflict severability. >> Tab five is card number 4843. It's a resolution of the city of Homestead Florida granting site plan approval. like that was included consent >> as requested by New Health Community
Centers, Inc. for the development medical office located at approximately 299 acre parcel of land generally located at 100 Northwest South Street Southwest 7th Street as legally described in exhibit A and providing for an effective date.
>> Thank you, sir. All right. Well, any objection to waving the staff reading on tab four? This is a second reading on the resoning from R3 apartment to B1. No objection. Okay. Tab four is moved by Councilman Roth. We have a second.
>> Second. >> Second by Vice Mayor Bailey on tab four. Just for the record, are the applicants or the applicants representatives present? You just make yourself known so that we can reflect on the record that you are present for the uh for the
reasonzoning. All right. Let me open the public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience who's not the applicant or the applicant's representative next? Um
speak on on tab four. All right, we'll close the public hearing. We'll have a roll call vote on the reszoning. That's the second reading on the resoning. >> Councilwoman Avula, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilman Ron, >> yes. Councilman Fletcher.
>> Councilman Cannibal. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey. >> Yes. >> Mayor Lawson. >> Yes. The motion carried. >> Now tab five is the site plan. >> Okay. >> Okay. It's moved by Vice Mayor. >> Second by Councilman Cannibal. Any questions or comments from council?
>> Yes. >> Yes, of course. >> Yes, Mayor. Thank you. Is there is there a uh American flag on the property by chance currently or existing? >> No. >> No. Would would there be any objection to add one? >> Okay.
>> So, it'll be it doesn't need to be. >> So, for the record, the applicant has agreed to install a flag pole with an American flag for an American flag. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Okay. We have a motion to second. >> Is there anyone in the audience wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, I'll
close the public hearing and ask for a roll call vote. Tab five, the site plan approval. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilman Cannibal, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Avula, >> yes. >> Councilman Raw, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey, >> yes.
>> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> The motion carried. >> All right, Mr. White. Tab six. >> Yes. Tab six is a resolution of the city of Homestead, Florida, approving an amendment to a previously approved site plan as requested by Keysgate 3 trust for the development of a 1,287 tolling
unit residential subdivision as an on an approximately 26 acre parcel of land located within the villages from said development of regional impact generally located south of South Canal Drive and north of Southwest 352nd Street as legally described in exhibit A and providing for an effective date.
>> Thank you, sir. Mr. I'm earn your keep tonight. >> Did you read both? >> I don't think you read tab seven, James. I don't know if you want. >> You want to go ahead and read tab seven and we'll >> So tap tab 7 is car number 4871. It's a
resolution of the city of Homestead, Florida, approving an amendment to previously approved site plan as requested by Keysgate 3 trust for the development of 51 single family to unit resident subdivision on an approximately 10acre parcel of land located within the village's homestead development of regional impact generally located south
of 328th Street and west of Southwest 152nd Avenue is describing exhibit A and providing for an effective date. >> All right, I think now we're ready 71 Burkel Avenue. I'm joined today by uh Phil Sarat, the Southeast Division President Lar Holmes. Thank you all for your time. As you disclosed um earlier
this evening, you've been very generous to let us walk through this uh uh request that we have this evening and and give you some updates on what we've done. Um you have two items before you today. Uh what we're seeking to modify was included as part of the resolutions of approval for the one project which is
on the screen now, but it had, as you may recall, the two phases. It had the the uh small uh what we call up there approved KGT KG2 north site and then on the south side the much larger KG2 south site which is of course where the clubhouse is is located but because at
the time we brought those projects both together the um the request that we're making today and the 50th percentile co was contained as part of both approvals and so we kind of have to bring both approvals back to modify the site plan but obviously the clubhouse is only located in one place I think we're we're
pretty clear on that so Um the um you know a majority of you were obviously on on the council some years ago when this project was approved. Um over 200 acre parcel the last residential development in the in the DRRI. Um and um you know we we made a
lot of commitments at that time and we've we've met those commitments and we we need some um assistance with one in particular here today but this is the uh some of the background informations. Um, again, technically speaking, revising the site plan approval, but not because we're changing the site plan, but just
simply because the CO condition was a condition of the site plan approval. So, technically speaking, I have to file a site plan application. And even more technically, I had to file two, the north and the south. But it all boils down to what we're seeking to do with um
just uh one change in one covenant um which we're going to prop which I will show you in a minute. This is what was um approved back in uh 2023 and which we are in the process of finishing up. And so as we we go through it, I think this is probably a good slide for me to talk
about where we're at at this point, which many of you some of you have toured the site, all of you have met with me and so you've gotten this update. Um the clubhouse is um should be open by April. We are um you know at the point I was listening to to Phil earlier today in our in some of our
presentations um talking about starting to get the designers to go in and the the folks that are bringing in the furniture and the like and I'm going to show you some pictures of the improvements that have been made. So you know we're we're um very close to the clubhouse structure itself being done. The golf course um should be completed
by spring by April. Um it can't be played on and you can't drive golf carts on it right away because this the grass has to take. you can imagine the grass would get ripped up right away if you don't allow it to to to root correctly. So, the anticipated um timeline for the
golf course to be open and available for play is this summer sometime. And then the final portion which of course we we talked about um a lot back the last time is within the clubhouse which will again should be um finished and and open to the public by by we're hoping April will
be then the final um component of the clubhouse will be the the the restaurant. Um after April when the clubhouse is open the build out specific buildout for the restaurant will occur. They're in advanced conversations um to to move that along and our anticipation is that the restaurant will be open by
the end of the year. So, I think 2026 is going to be a pretty exciting year um to get that clubhouse online um very soon, the golf course by by mid year and and hopefully the restaurant by the end of the year. Um so, um excited for at least
three uh grand openings in the next uh 12 months or so. So again, the the renovations and and all the things that have been done by LAR um throughout the process, the improvements of the clubhouse, this is all from what was approved already, the restaurant, the golf shop, the golf cart storage um for
the public use, the pool, gym, ballroom, and the management offices. Um all of that is contained within the clubhouse and all of that obviously is is in place. And I'm going to show you a picture of a couple of those things. You're going to see um you know what what the pool looks like today. doesn't have water in it quite yet, but it will
very soon. You're going to see the gym. You're going to see a ballroom, which is beautiful. You're going to see a lot of those amenities, but all of that is of of course part of the clubhouse and and the work that they're doing. Um, we mentioned this in our briefings and I think it bears repeating um because it speaks to the nature of why we need a little more time or why some of the
house construction got a little ahead of some of the clubhouse construction. It was not for lack of effort, money, um, or desire to complete it as quickly as possible. Um, the reality is anybody who's renovated a home can probably attest to that sometimes building from scratch, from the ground up, is much
simpler than taking a 40-year-old building and starting to knock down walls and realizing there's a lot we have to do here that we couldn't have anticipated or we thought we could do something one way and we have to do it another way. So, that is really the the principal reason um that um this this
got delayed by what might end up being two or three months because because again um we're just at that point where we're exceeding the 50th percent now. Um, and really within a couple of months it should be open. So, we got it pretty good. We got it to within maybe two or three or four months, which two years
ago is, listen, you know, anytime you can plan construction and get to within 3 or 4 months, um, I I think that um, it speaks to the efforts that were made. Um, here's a recorded declaration of restrictions from from back um, a couple years ago and and everything else stays
the same. All we are doing is the uh the the subsection E that says uh that um in no event shop clubhouse amenities open later than the time of which developer has received a minimum 50% of the cos for the approved dwelling units on the project. And then I'm going to show you
that what we want to do in this entire presentation and both applications and all of the effort that uh you gave me with your time to meet with us and and and Phil and other teams in LAR is to change 50% strike that and make it 65%.
That's the entirety of the actual request here this evening. Although we're happy to explain everything that went into it. that will allow us to safely go through the next couple of months, get the clubhouse open and continue working on this. Um, as promised, some of the pictures, um, here's the, uh, pool area. These are, I
think, like a week and a half old, right? Something like that. So, it probably looks even even better today. Um, but, um, as we've offered, some of you have already been out to the site, others we've continued to offer. Please come visit anytime you want to. Let let me know, let let someone, you know, let
Phil know, and we're happy to have you out there. But this is the the pool area that's being um constructed and what it looks like today. Uh the golf cart storage area, you know, with all of the, you know, areas to be able to plug the carts and do everything you need to do. Uh the gym is starting to get its
equipment, so it's it's already um in place. This is some of the stuff that's already being brought in, so you know, it's it's starting to to fill out. And then the last couple of shots, which are of um that just, you know, grand room and and and really the the height and the heft of it. Um and look, I think it
was important in discussions we had back in 2022 and 2023, this application took over a year to approve initially. Um we had a lot of conversations with folks in Keysgate and a lot of them wanted to preserve. You know, there was a lot of nostalgia around the fact that that clubhouse, you know, has host uh hosted
a lot of important events for families over the years. As I said before, it might have been simpler, perhaps even a little cheaper to knock it down and start because you just wouldn't have had the unknowns. You would have just been able to build up. But I think that this this building like meant a lot to that
community, meant a lot to Keysgate. Um the Keysgate community. Um their ability to finish that project to get their HOA, the turnover, everything, all those discussions we had were also surrounding this idea that this clubhouse would become the hub once again and that this
area would again be able to contribute to to the community. And I think um you know, we're on the on the doorstep of that. So um and here's the the final picture that I have with um you know another angle of the work that's going on um that we are going to finish in the coming weeks here. So I believe that's
um you know I want to thank staff you know obviously both development services staff and and the manager's office and staff for their recommendations of approval for this effort and also for their time and and consideration and getting this on the agenda as quickly as they did. And um and really that's it.
So, I want to thank you. I think you had some questions. Hopefully, based on the different discussions I had, I've addressed some of the issues and questions um that you have, but I'm happy to answer any other ones. And um we look forward to your favorable vote of support this evening. And uh having you out there very soon with some grand
openings. >> Thank you, council. I moved by the district rep. >> I'll make a motion. And just a couple of quick comments. Um, thank you again to uh Phil and Hugo for inviting us out. Uh, it's the progress that that we
thought we would have had. Uh, I think you've nailed it and and met it more aggressively than originally thought. I know there were some delays initially with the the golf course portion and and that kind of slowed some things down as far as grass growing, but I can tell you
just the you see the the irrigation system working every day, a couple times a day. uh you see what the they've done inside the clubhouse. It's it's truly a remarkable change from what it was. Uh happened to have dinner with some folks on Friday night who got married there,
you know, 20 years ago and showed them the pictures and they were really excited to see some of those same, you know, architectural features that were there when they got married. So, it's it's it's it's going to be a great benefit to the community. I look forward to supporting this. Um the residents are
excited to play golf. So, uh, if we could make grass grow a little faster, put some lights on it. >> I think it depends on weather. It depends on weather. So, I guess we, for that purpose, we all have to root for a rainy, uh, spring. We need we need rain, I think, is what I've been told to make everything kind of grow and take root.
>> But, barring any other comments, I will make the motion for approval. >> Thank you, Councilwoman. >> Thank you, mayor. I'll second the motion. I do have some additional questions. Um, the success of this clubhouse, as we've discussed, relies heavily on the success of the golfing
experience, the pro shop, the restaurant. So, um, I wanted to just take this opportunity for the public, any new residents that are listening in or that would like to learn more. Can you speak to and perhaps Phil might be better to expand on it to the success
strategy? I know that there are some some discussions on control after turnover or open. >> Yeah, I know. So, so I I that that's a great question. So, a couple of points on that. So, just bear in mind, I didn't get into a lot of the details, but the this this clubhouse will be owned by the CD. That was one of the conditions and
prerequisites back when this was approved in in 2023. And and the idea behind that was that you would have that continuity and that you wouldn't have a potential redo of what happened, you know, several, you know, some years ago when the club was bought by a private entity who didn't, you know, eventually
wasn't making money on it and closed it down. So by having a governmental agency and I know council manav you're very familiar with CDDs from you know your community in past life um I think part of the success lies in the fact that this is owned by the that community right this is not owned by a developer
and will not be owned by a private party it will be owned by the community um LAR which of course is still in control because they're developing the site is is uh interviewing management companies specific to running no decisions have been made but it's integral to them because ultimately this is the community
they're selling and so they want this to succeed. They're interviewing the folks that will make sense to run the club to run the golf course operations to make that experience as good as possible. And then the last point that I mentioned, they are going through and they've gone through the process to select um the restaurant which I think is an integral
part and probably the last leg of that stool in terms of um bringing to the community what they want to have. And so um they're in advanced discussions with the restaurant and um and hope that they can get started. So, I think the fact that it's owned by the CD, that it's,
you know, not owned by a private entity, um, and that they're doing the right thing to hire and bring on the right management folks, um, I I think we'll will be part of why this community succeeds, but ultimately it's going to succeed because it's going to be the community that owns it, right? Once Lenar is gone and finished selling their
last house, uh, they may be selling in another part of town, but for this community, it'll be the residents here who belong to the CD that ultimately will have a say for it. And so we're confident that they'll do what's right for their community. >> Thank you. And to the public component, what's the capacity for the clubhouse and the parking?
>> So we got asked that question earlier today. I think the the main room um we we estimated or the plans we saw have about 240. Uh I think that's uh Councilwoman Kinsky. We were with her when she asked a similar question. Um it's about 240 in that main room. The
capacity of the building itself is far exceeds that. you know, that's because you could have people in the gym and in the main room and in the restaurant, but um I don't know the number of parking spaces right now. I wasn't geared up for, but I think anyone who's driven there has seen that it's pretty ample parking field. I will say on that point,
new lighting for the parking, new new restriping and paving the parking area is going to make the experience much better, too. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Any further from council? I just want to say I think we've we continue to protect
the concerns of the residents that they were going to have a clubhouse and wouldn't be left hanging with 1300 new units and and no clubhouse and uh I think those protections remain and I'm confident that everything's going to come together. So is there anyone from
the public or online wishing to speak on this item? Tab six. All right, appearing. I'll close the public hearing and ask for a roll call vote on tab six. Councilman R. >> What do I? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky.
>> Yes. >> Councilwoman Agular. >> Yes. >> Councilman Fletcher. >> Yes. >> Councilman Cannibal. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey. >> Yes. >> Mayor Losner. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> We have a motion on tab seven. >> Moved by Council Ross. Second by Council Fletcher.
>> Roll call. >> Councilwoman Avula. >> Yes. >> Councilman Fletcher. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky. >> Yes. >> Councilman Cannibal? Yes. >> Councilman Raw. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey. >> Yes. >> Mayor Losner. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> All right. Thank you all. Appreciate it.
See you soon. >> All right. If there no objections, uh the vice mayor needs to uh run be a high school mom in a few minutes. So we wanted to uh jump to her item tab 27 very quickly. Vice Mayor. >> So Mr. Mayor, just Madame Vice Mayor, uh
could we take top number 26 right after the vice mayor's item? which is for the >> for the ST. Yeah. For the city days so that she can go home. >> Is that >> She's sitting there. >> You got to ask her a couple minutes.
>> No, right after you. >> Sure. >> Okay. Right after the vice mayor. >> Okay. >> No, I appreciate it. And you don't even have to move it. I just wanted to say something in case you hadn't heard of it before, but if we are okay with moving it, I did want to ask now that we need
um everyone to vote on it. uh this organization healthy mind heart and body they have put on some beautiful wonderful health related brunches at FICO Williams for the last few years and I have supported them every year I've
attended it is a very important part for our especially for our seniors in the southwest they always have amazing speakers a lot of resources so I would truly appreciate your support in helping
me cover the FGO Williams facility as well as helping to uh to helping them be able to afford their insurance for the events. >> Very good. I'm sure among the seven of us that we can come up with that. >> Mayor, if I may, this being a it's an a
standing uh project, you said for a couple years. Is there any objection to um having this pass through the special events surplus budget that we have? >> Well, has it been here or you just generally >> has been here? It has been at FICO for at least the last four years I want to say.
>> And Mr. Manager, if you can confirm how much we have in the surplus for special events. >> Mr. Finance Director, can you give us the current status of that account? >> Better yet, just say we have enough so that >> I'll move to to cover that through the
special events. >> All right. It's been it's been moved and seconded. Um, any questions, comments from council? Okay. Anything from the audience? Close the public hearing and a quick roll call on that item. >> Councilwoman Abbula?
>> Yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky? >> Yes. >> Councilman Roth? >> Yes. >> Councilman Cannibal? >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey? >> Yes. >> Mayor Losner? >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> Thank you very much and thank you for excusing. >> We're going to jump back to 26. Very quickly,
>> Mr. Manager that's >> T 26 is an item being sponsored by Manabula. Uh this is for the proposed restorized two city days for an
entity called Eagle Sewer Aviation for their expo and STEM showcase. This is going to be on December 11 and December 12, 2026. uh the city currently has 12 city days for which at no time have we exceeded
the usage of two. So instead of losing 10 days in a year is the proposal and recommendation of the city staff for council to consider allowing this group to utilize two of those remaining 10 city days. >> I move it.
>> Thank you. >> Let's hear and then talk. welcome and and I appreciate your time and coming down and sitting through all the uh presentations. I hope that it was inspiring and I um encourage uh my colleagues to support this item tonight, but I didn't want to lose the
opportunity for you to present and to talk about how fabulous it is and how it's going to impact the city of Homestead and why we should invest. Thank you. >> Very good. Uh good evening, mayor and uh vice mayor and council men and women. Um
I'm very honored for the opportunity to come and to present. Um I've had the pleasure of meeting with each of you individually and collectively we stand together um as we are presenting this
opportunity to advance, expose, ignite curiosity and allow it to be able to take flight. Our foundation, as I've shared with you uh before, was birthed out of the death of my husband uh 10
years ago in June of 8 of 2016. And he was an Air Force pilot for 13 years. That's where we met. Uh he transitioned um in ' 91 to fly for United Airlines uh for 23 years. Prior
to his passing, he was a commercial airline pilot, flew the 7375767s and ended as a captain on the trip 7. And his inspiration in flying, coming from a small town in Louisiana, came
from an encounter he had with the Tuskegee Airmen when he was a cadet at the Air Force Academy. It was really that experience that told him that if the if the airmen can do what they did under the odds of protecting our country, certainly coming from a small
town uh from Louisiana and the access to the resources that he had at the Air Force Academy, certainly he could make impact and expand and expose other youth really in underserved communities to soar and STEM as well. And so one of the
things I promised him prior to his transition was that I would continue that legacy um of exposing youth uh connected with the mayor of city of Myar uh nine years ago and talked to him
about um our interest to create an aviation expo to complement the scholarship programs that we were currently doing in Broward College and also in Louisiana. and there birthed the opportunity um for us to do aviation
expose with the city of Myiar in partnership with the uh Broward uh Broward um county school board. Um and so eight years ago we ventured um and
started that expo and over the the last eight years each year we've added the number of students that have been impacted. Started at 1,800 moved to 2,000 students on the first day and now we completed our eighth event. We had
2700 students that came on the first day which is Friday. Our second day we do an aviation expo and a robotics competition. So we have 27 teams from Broward schools that participate in the robotics competition. For us it was more
about exposing the opportunities of the vastness in the career field of aviation. Recognizing that not everybody is going to be an airline pilot, not everybody is going to be a military pilot, but everyone has a chance given the opportunity and exposure to the
vastness uh in the industry. FAA is a partner. American Airlines is our title sponsor. They bring 25 or 30 uh pilots that come from a diverse background because again it's about the demographic
being able to see what they can be and um recognize that from their zip code they too can be exposed and ignite energy and excitement for an opportunity in the field of aviation. We have uh the pilots that participate. We also have
flight ops. We have customer service, flight attendants, mechanics, machinists that also participate. FAA participates. We have all of the ava the aviation uh educational outlets that also participate. Emry Riddle um we have
Florida Memorial University uh aviation and flight safety. We have uh Broward College aviation program. We have some of the private industry um partners that also participate. Wayman Aviation and other organizations that participate.
The Museum of Discovery also has an aviation program um and they come out and participate. Civil Air Patrol because like here in Homestead, we would be at a non-traditional venue. Um we knew that we couldn't fly a trip 7 in to
the regional park that we have in Myar. So what did we do? We contacted the Broward Sheriff's Office who has helicopters. They fly two helicopters in and our Coast Guard from Miami flies their helicopters in. Many of the kids
have never ever seen a helicopter fly, let alone talk to the pilot, see, you know, access to the cockpit and again to be inspired. And so over the last eight years, we have impacted over
15,000 people. Um it's a two-day event. The first day is a sanctioned school event. Um and the second day is the community event. That footprint is going to be mirrored and and and followed
right here in the city of Homestead. Again, when you talk about uh reputation, you talk about credibility, you talk about proveness in the industry, we possess all of that. and we will um continue to leverage our
footprint and our industry knowledge to bring it to the city of Homestead. Having had preliminary conversations with um GMO um Santa Cruz at the Homestead Miami Speedway, he was
enamored about the opportunity recognizing that we could expand not just an aviation expo, but we have aviation and STEM. So, with the uh medical hospital trauma center that's
right there on the track, you now have STEM and medicine. You have uh STEM in aviation. We have George T. Baker who also participated in our last event um in Homestead. They felt that it was value added for them also to expose
their postsecary career and technical education training um in Myiar because they do have people in uh their training programs that are in the Broward County area as well. And so again, what we know is that there is
an intersection that we have an opportunity to expose here. Kids from various zip codes, kids from the district all around to be able to grow um the powerful platform that we have
already created. um that will allow young students as well as families to come and um expand on educational exposure and opportunity. We've got a workforce development opportunity as
well as economic growth. Um, Homestead is also um now positioned as a spaceport. And so as we are expanding uh the footprint here in Homestead, we definitely will be expanding the STEM exposure
um as it relates to space, well aerospace, uh aviation, and also STEM in the various aspects. will also obviously do uh STEM in in automotives since we'll be there at the Homestead Miami Speedway because I know that he is
very excited and looking forward to a um a camp that he is also doing there that that can be launched as a part of our initiative. And so we're very excited. We recognize that it takes partnership. Um and that's why I invested the last
seven months meeting with each of you individually. I've already met with all of the key stakeholders, met with the superintendent already of Miami Day public schools, the assistant superintendent, um, as well as the vice chair of the
county for for Miami Dade County, as well as the, uh, Brow, I mean the Miami date, uh, superintendent, um, the commissioner for District 9, um, Councilman, um, Santos. And so each of
them see this as a value proposition for the city. Um and we also see it as an opportunity for us not to start something new but to expand on the footprint of an initiative that has been established, proven, and is is moving in
the community. And so we're excited and I thank you for the opportunity um for us to be considered for uh using two community days at the Homestead Miami Speedway. Um I know that the Air Force base wasn't an option for us because
they closed it for non-military essential events. And so the next best thing cooking was of course the Homestead Miami Speedway. And so we are excited that you see it as a value. um to bring it to the city of Homestead in the community.
>> Thank you very much for uh expanding on all those details. If you could speak a little bit and briefly on the um scholarship opportunities. >> So, one of the things that we do um you know when you go into the community, it has to be a win-win. A win-win for you to be able to see the investment as well
from the organization that is coming in. We currently have scholarship programs, but one of the things that we have said as a part of this partnership is that we're going to invest um even before our event for we have a scholarships that start on February 2nd, which is the
birth date of my late husband. We always um release our scholarships on that date. We have two $1,000 scholarships reserved for two high school students from here at Homestead that will be awarded. Um we'll be meeting with the brace advisors um from the high schools
here to give them an opportunity to complete the application that will be um awarded uh the end of March of this year and we will present as a part of their senior awards programs. In addition to
that, post our event which will be December 11th and 12th, they will again get be given an opportunity for our 27 scholarship awards, which would then increase to two $2,000 scholarships for
2027. So, that is a $6,000 scholarship investment um from our foundation uh to students here in Homestead. um as we're looking at you know building the funding uh aspects for our programming for this
year 2026 certainly we will be going out and doing partnerships and getting sponsorships and um working you know with the inind donations that will come as a part of um what would be gifted with the the resolution. Um, but we are
committed to doing what we need to do to not just meet expectations, but exceed them. >> Thank you very much. And I'll rest there, but I encourage my colleagues to support this item. I think speaking to the educational component and the um the
the domino effect that this type of event brings to municipalities. It's it's immeasurable. And um I thank you for your service and and your husband's past service. And um I did want to just mention that for tonight I think what's important is that we're just dedicating
and confirming a commitment to providing two of our city days to the event but that there's a long period of planning. Right? This event is going to be in December. So there will be opportunities to continue to discuss to continue to plan and to identify if there is any gap
from her seeking any sponsorships that we have an opportunity to discuss that if if it's even necessary. Thank you. >> Well, that's not what the resolution says, and I don't have any problem dedicating two days that we had no intention of using. But if you look
closely at section three, it mandates that we're paying that we're we're obligated. We're obligated the manager. We're giving him We're giving her a blank check to cover all the city normal
expenses for the use of those days, including police, including traffic control, including hauling the garbage away, and any other host of of things that we're creating a blank check in the in the next budget year.
>> Okay. Mayor, I'm I'm happy to make the revision as I stated. Well, I I cannot support this unless section three comes out entirely and I section three the managers directed to include the costs
associated etc including but not limited to to include within the fiscal year 26 2627 city budget. So this resolution that is termed as, oh, we're just donating days that we're not using,
we're handing out a blank check. >> Mayor, as I mentioned, that's not the intention. I wasn't planning to make this revision before tonight, and that's why I'm stating on the record now that we can revise this so that we can come back and have additional discussions about what the gap is as necessary for
future discussion. There's plenty of time to plan it >> and and that's all well and good, but you know, let's this this came before us. This is your item. This is what you approved to go on the agenda. All of our legacy and longtime
notfor-profits and service organizations pay their own freight. And you're offering to give this organization that's not from this area a blank check. Rotary and the seafood festival pays for
the fields, pays dearly about $25,000 for police coverage for 48 hours. We pay based on the pounds of garbage that are hauled out. And then not only do we pay all that, but we give the parks and
recreation department a donation every year and give away $150,000 in scholarships to homestead students. You know, we've got the rodeo parade that they're out looking for funding, the Veterans Day parade.
Um any of these number of events, these local organizations are all paying their own way. And if this section three remains in this resolution, we're giving a newcomer to the table a
blank check by obligating ourselves to budget whatever those costs are without regard to other sponsorships. That's not not built in here. >> I I think we all heard you and for the third time I'm happy to revise it, vice
mayor. >> Well, that that's fine. I appreciate that. if it's specifically three out, which was part of our discussions with staff, you know, we we obviously cannot support something that we don't know what the final number is on it. So, we're supporting the >> allocation of the days.
>> It's kind of like the site plan, right? So, we supported the project. Now, we need to see the site plan. >> We love STEM related. We love STEM related um events. The track is incredibly underused as far as the days that we try to see happen there. um the
partnerships that you have. You know how excited I was when we sat down. Um the opportunities you have to introduce children to what the possibilities are in the military and the track. South Dade High School with their mechanics program as well as the aviation piece
that they can do a dual enrollment in Miami Dade College. There's just so many opportunities to turn some of our students onto the trade aspects. So for that reason, I would love to see something like this happen in Homestead
and as details are coming forth, then we can figure out how we do the money piece. >> If I can please be excused, I will move it or second it. >> Well, is it is it moved with the deletion of section three? >> Deletion of sir. >> Yes.
>> Good. So, it's been moved and seconded. Is there anything further from councel? >> I could, Mr. Mayor. Sure. Uh I too had an opportunity to meet with uh the Eagle Source program folks and I can tell you that the I got excited about
it. The initial overall reaching of the potential for the for the community of South Bay. Not sure if this is really public yet, but it's been stated to me from a public official. So, I know that Miami date county schools is also going to be building a new high school, expanding
their high school here in in Homestead and making an aviation-based STEM program. >> Uh, I think it's a a great opportunity for our district commissioner, Miss Santos, to get engaged with Miami Day community or sorry, with the Miami Day County Public Schools. Uh, you hit the
nail on the head with the motorsports vocational training. I know GMO's super excited about starting that program up. Uh, happy to support this. I do do agree with the removal of this item and and there's probably other attendees to this event that can help offset those costs.
So, uh, with that, I'm I'm happy to support. Thank you again for coming down. Truly excited to see this come to fruition. >> Thank you. the roll call on the allocation of the two two consecutive days. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman Avula, >> absolutely. >> Councilman Cannibal, >> yes. >> Councilman Ross, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey, >> yes. Mayor Los. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> Excellent. Thank you very much, Mayor. >> We look forward to working with you.
>> Okay. >> So, where where were we? We were on tab tab eight. It's uh tab eight is the is the first reading of an ordinance of the city of Homestead, Florida, amending the firefighters retirement plan at article
four of chapter 22.5 retirement programs. Article 5, firefighters retirement plan of the city code by amending section 22.5-277 reserved to be titled funding stabilization reserve account to provide for annual distributions to eligible
members providing for inclusion in the code providing for severability and providing for an effective date. >> Any objection to waving the staff report? >> Okay. Do we have a motion? M >> by >> Mr. Mayor. Yes. I think the pension board reps are here in case you guys
want to talk to them before you take your votes. >> Okay. So, we got a motion by Councilman Fletcher, Seconded by Councilman Roth. Um, would anyone like to hear the presentation of the uh pension managers? Thanks for coming down and enduring the
meeting. >> What's that? >> Not from Homestead. None of you were with the Homestead Fire Department that was disbanded 46 years ago, right? 48 years ago. >> The baby of the group.
>> Okay. Of the surviving nine beneficiaries. It >> was 1978, right? >> Crazy. And we're still spending that kind of money. 48 years later.
>> Have a motion. >> We have a motion in a second. Any public comment? We'll have a roll call vote on tab eight. >> Councilman Ron. >> Councilwoman Ksky. >> Yes. >> Councilman Cannibal. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Avula. >> Councilman Fletcher.
>> Yes. >> Mayor Lawson. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> Thank you. >> What's that? >> Well, yeah, we do. What? 9:15. 30 more minutes. Yeah, we have a motion
to extend to 9:15. Any objections? All in favor? >> Okay. It is extended to 9:15. Moving on to tab 9. Second reading. >> Yes, Mr. May. Uh, tab nine is the second reading of an ordinance of the city of
Homestead, Florida, amending article 8 of chapter six of the city code entitled unsafe structures designating the use of the unsafe structures board of Miami date county for all city unsafe structure cases providing for inclusion the code providing for severability providing for conflicts and providing for an effective date.
>> Any questions on second reading? >> Moved by Councilman Ross. Second by Councilman Cannibal. Any public comment? Close the public hearing. Roll call vote on tab nine, please. >> Councilwoman Avula, >> yes. >> Councilman Ross, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky,
>> yes. >> Councilman Cannibal. Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> Tab 10. Tab 10 is the second reading of an ordinance of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, amending the City of Homestead code of ordinances by
creating section 28-240 meter tampering, prohibiting the unauthorized access of electric meters and establishing classifications of violations and corresponding penalties, amending section 28-320 electric line extension policy and procedure to remove conflicting provisions, providing for
codification, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. Have a motion for second reading. Moved by council Ross, second by Councilman Fletcher. Public comment. Roll call, please. Have 10. >> Councilman Fletcher.
>> Yes. >> Councilwoman Abula. Councilman Cannibal. Councilman Ross. >> Councilwoman Ksky. >> Yes. >> Mayor Losman. >> Yes. >> The motion carried. >> And tab nine. Mr. 11. Mr. Tab 11. Bear with me on this one. Just a moment.
>> Take a deep breath. Tab 11 is a second reading of an ordinance of the city council in the city of Homestead, Florida, amending its declaration of the city's intent to participate in the Florida retirement system for general employees effective on or about April 1st, 2026, providing
that all general employees hired by the city on or after the effective date of the city's participation in the Florida Retirement System shall become compulsory members of the Florida retirement system, providing that all general employees who are participating in another city retirement retirement plan on the effective date of the city's
participation in the Florida retirement system shall have the right to elect to continue participating in such plan or become members of the Florida retirement system authorizing the city manager to enter into agreements with the Florida Division of Retirement to accomplish the intent of this ordinance. Providing for
withholding compensation social security contributions from employees pay providing for payments of required Florida retirement system contributions and assessments. providing for the establishment, maintenance, and submission of such records as may be required for participation in the Florida Retirement System, designating
the city manager as the custodian, and withholding and reporting agent, providing that the city adopts by contract the terms related to the participation in the system, providing that the city's decision to participate in Florida retirement system shall be irrevocable, providing that the clerk shall furnish certified notice,
providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and providing for an effective Did you write that? >> No. I'm going to thank Milton for this one. >> Okay. Are you sure you you Okay. Moved by Councilman Roth for second reading.
Second by Councilman Cannibal. Any public comment? Okay. I'll close the public hearing and ask for a roll call vote. >> Councilwoman Agula. >> Councilman Fletcher. >> Councilman Roth. Councilwoman Ksky. Yes. Councilman Cannibal,
>> Mayor Losa. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> And tab 12. >> Tab 12 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, approving the award of a contract to Electrome Solutions Provider LLC, Condo Electric Motor Repair Corp.
And Dunright Pumps, Inc. for ITB 202520, Electric Motors, Pumps, and Generator Repairs and Maintenance. providing for implementation, providing for an effective date. >> Do we have a motion to adopt the resolution? >> Moved by Councilman Fletcher,
second by Councilman Cannibal. Anything further from council? We have a Okay, we have a motion. Any public comment? Close the public hearing and we'll have a roll call vote on Tap 12. >> Councilman Canaval. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes.
>> Councilman Roth, >> yes. Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey. >> Mayor Lawner, >> yes. >> Thank you. Motion carries. >> Okay. Tab 13. Tab 13 is a resolution of the city council of the city of
Homestead, Florida, approving the first amendment to the agreement for the purchase of an additional software as a service module learn and perform from NEOGV exempting the purchase from competitive bidding in accordance with section 2-411.12B of the city code authorizing the city
manager to execute all necessary documents and approve a price adjustment of up to 10% providing for implementation providing for an effective date. >> Thank you. Any objection to waving the staff report? Didn't think so. Do we have a motion to approve? Moved by
Councilman Fletcher, second by Councilman Countibball. Any further from council. Any public comment? We'll close the public hearing and ask for a roll call vote on tab 13. >> Councilwoman Aila. >> Councilman Canaval. Councilman Ross.
>> Yes. >> Counciloman Fletcher. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky. >> Yes. >> Mayor Losner. Yes. >> Motion carried. >> And tab 14. >> Tab 14 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead Florida authorizing the city manager to accept the grant award from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Enter into a grant agreement, establish a budget for the expenditure of grant funds, providing for implementation, and providing for an effective date. >> Moved by councel Roth, second by council. The objection to waving the staff report. Okay. Any public comment?
We're good. They didn't make a right-hand turn with an arm load of documents to come to the podium. Okay. All right. We'll close the public hearing and ask for a roll call on this item. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> Councilman Canaval, >> yes.
>> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Mr. Tab 15 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, authorizing the submission of the transportation alternative set aside program grant application to the Florida Department of Transportation for the
Southwest 167th Avenue multi-use path installation project. Authorizing the manager to accept the grant if awarded. Authorizing the establishment of a budget for the expenditure of such grant funds. Authorizing matching funds in an amount not to exceed $35,984.99.
providing for implementation, providing for transmitt, and providing for an effective date. >> I have a motion on this item. >> Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Roth. Objection waving the staff report. Any public comment? >> Quick question, Mr. Mayor. >> Question by Councilman Fletcher.
>> Yes, thank you. uh with the gentleman who spoke in the public comments earlier in regards to the crosswalk area. Can this funding be used for some of those improvements on 167 Avenue? >> Is that a county road issue though? Most of those crossings
>> they are. But >> good evening, mayor council. No, this um funding is specifically for that quarter. If we get awarded that money, we can only use it there. They're very specific about the uh the award once it's uh set. They don't they don't
modify it. So this is for 167 from Palm to um 336 Street. >> No, it would have been fine. >> So um Mr. >> Yeah, >> council member I think >> so that's a no. >> We can explore potential other funding
sources like the PTP. So that's why I said we can look into all that later. >> Very good. Thank you, Cyro. All right, I think we have a motion and second on the table. Think we had public comment. Roll call, please. Tab 15.
>> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilman Canaval, >> yes. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Mayor Lawner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> And tab 16. Tab 16 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, approving the
settlement of all claims made by Theodore Neil, Brenda Wilbornne, providing for implementation, providing for an effective date. Moved >> by Councilman Roth, second by Councilman Cannibal. There's nothing from council. Any public comment? Didn't think so. We'll close
public hearing and we'll have a roll call vote on tab 16. >> Counciloman Ross, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Counciloman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. Councilman Canavan. Yes. >> Mayor Losner. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Tab 17. >> Tab 17 is a resolution of the city
council of the city of Palm City, Florida, authorizing the city manager to accept a grant award from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, execute a grant agreement, and any related documents establishing a budget for the expenditure and grant funds, providing for implementation, providing for an effective date. >> The objection to waving the staff
report. Do we have a motion to approve this item? Moved by Councilman Cannibal, second by Councilman Fletcher. Any questions or comments from council? Any public comment? Close the public hearing and we'll have a roll call on tab 17.
>> Councilwoman Aila, >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilman Canavan. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Tab 18. Tab 18 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, authorizing the execution of a
temporary sewer system agreement, Mountain Cove Homes and Highland Estates LLC, providing for implementation, providing for an effective date. Okay. Do we have a motion to approve? Moved by Councilman Fletcher, second by Councilman Countibal.
Questions or comments from council on this item? I'll open the public hearing. Is there anyone wishing to speak on this matter? Seeing none, we'll have a roll call vote. >> Councilwoman Kowski, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Council Ra, >> yes.
>> Councilman Kavalan, >> Councilwoman Aila, Mayor Lner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Mr. Pearl, moving on to tab 19. >> Yes, Mayor. Tab 19 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida approving the first amendment to the agreement
um for additional project manager business analyst provided by Vivitar and Associates, Inc. for the implementation of the Tyler Technologies Enterprise Permitting and Licensing Solution authorizing the increased annual expenditure an amount not to exceed $282,600 exempting the purchase from competitive
bidding in accordance with section 2-411.182 of the city code authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary documents and to approve a price adjustment of up to 10% providing for implementation providing for an effective date. >> Thank you. Any objection to waving the
staff report? Any questions or comments? Do we have a motion to approve? >> Moved by Councilman Fletcher. >> Second by Councilman Cannibal. >> Any public comment? Seeing none, we'll have a roll call vote on tab 19. >> Councilman Roth,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilman Canaval, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, yes. >> Mayor Lawrenner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Tab 20. Tab 20 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, authorizing contract amendment
with Sound Thinking, Inc., formerly Shot Spotter, Inc. or Gunfire Detection System for the City of Homestead Police Department, pursuant to request for proposal 202216 in amount not to exceed $250,000 authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary documents providing for implementation providing for an
effective date. >> Thank you. Moved by Councilman Roth. We have a second. Second by Councilman Fletcher with a question. >> Yeah, sorry. Uh, sorry, Chief. Uh, and I didn't get a chance to speak with the manager, but I did ask the question. Um,
are we able to possibly partner with Miami date county to get access to some of their shot spotters that may be in the northern part of the city that we currently don't have access to. That could be a lot less money for us in the future if we want to expand the the system.
>> All right. Good evening. I will get an official answer for you. >> Thank you. Thank Thank you, Councilman. I And I have a question. I'm sorry. It came to me literally as we were coming in and I, you know, didn't have the opportunity to speak with you. So, Mr. Manager, if I
might, to the chief. So based on the report you circulated on, you know, the detections and the actual dispatching, my math of I think 96 actual dispatches divided into $250,000,
it's about $2,63 a call. Is that cost effective? Is is this some technology that we really need to have? >> Well, I think it's uh it's an emerging technology for law enforcement altogether. Um, it's one of the things
that we pay for, I think, for the day we might need it. Not not specifically something that uh that is going to be cost-effective. Uh, the value behind it is that not only does it alert us, but it also triangulates where that round was fired. And so, uh, from a law
enforcement perspective, I think to go with technology, I would definitely say that it is that it is worth it. Now, can we live without it? Sure. We lived without it for, you know, 200 years before that. >> All right. Yeah. Yes. Councilman Roth, thank you. >> Just real quick, so w with Shot Spotter,
you know, I I I'm a big fan of the radio and I listen to it all the time and they have received shot spotter detections with no 911 calls and they find a victim. So, it's like you're saying, it's it's not
about if it's, you know, something we we we can afford. It's about can we not afford it and then find somebody dead in the street instead of saving them because they just got shot and nobody called it in. >> Right. >> So, I think so. Yeah. I think it's important to know the way Shot Spotter works is it it detects what it thinks
might be potential gunfire. Could be firework. It could be a muffler. It could be anything. >> We don't have fireworks in Homestead at all. So, but once it receives it, then they have analysts that listen to it. They analyze it and they interpret it and classify it as potential gunfire and
that's when we get dispatched. So, we've had both. Now, I've had conversations with the uh the management of Shot Spotter. And I've told them that I'd rather get dispatched on a firework than not get dispatched on on something that
you didn't classify as a potential uh gunshot. So in other words, I rather get more >> calls and be false alarms than than receive a a a what what I guess we would say a false positive, >> right?
>> Meaning for the safety of the citizens of homes, this is a wonderful investment. Okay, we need this and we have to have it. But I say typically these emerging technologies they may become more cost less burdensome I'll say cost effective
less burdensome in the future >> right I mean most technologies when they come out they they come out really expensive at first they they improve the technology they improve the speakers if you if you will or the uh the microphones and generally the cost goes down I can't guarantee that it'll happen
here but it's definitely a value to us >> overall what Shaw splatters what six eight years old Yeah, just about. We've had it since 2003. >> And I can tell you that based on the statistics in 200 from 2004 to 2005,
we've had a 25.73% reduction in incident numbers and on actual rounds a 47% decrease of shots because I of of of I guess activations because I think people know
that we use Shot Spotter. Yes, >> thank you, mayor. Thank you for the statistics. And I would like to add that at that same time, we also implemented the GVI program, which I believe there might have been a change in the budget years, but going into the next budget, I'd like to discuss specifically that
program and how we can uh make sure that we're utilizing all of our um resources to the max potential. And if I had to pick between one or the other, I'd prefer to have the GBI, but of course, I would love to have both. But, uh, I am supporting this renewal. Thank you.
>> All right. I think I think we have a motion and a second on the table. Anything further? Okay. Um, >> I don't remember if I did. We'll open public comment. And I'll have a roll call. >> Councilman Fletcher. >> Yes.
>> Councilwoman Aila? >> Yes. >> Councilman Raw? >> Yes. >> Councilman Canaval? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky? >> Yes. >> Mayor Losner? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> All right. Moving on to 211. >> Tab 21 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead,
Florida, adopting the impact e study, providing for implementation, providing for an effective date. >> Thank you. Moved by Councilman Roth. Second, >> second by Councilman Cannibal. Any further discussion, questions from the audience? We'll close the public hearing and we'll
have a roll call vote on uh the acceptance of the study. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Counciloman Fledger, >> yes. >> Councilman Canava. Mayor Losner. >> Yes. >> Motion carried.
>> And uh tab 22. Tab 22 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead Florida accepting a grant award from the state of Florida Department of Transportation order to address the high rate of automobile injuries and fatalities due to the impaired driving through enhanced law enforcement activities. Approving the grant agreement authorizing city manager
to execute grant agreement establishing a budget in the amount of $120,000. The expenditure of grant funds providing for implementation and providing for an effective date. Moved by council, second by council Fletcher. Anything
further from council? Okay. Any public commentary? Seeing none, we'll have a roll call vote on tab 22. >> Councilwoman Aila, Councilman Roth, Council Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky,
>> yes. >> Mayor Lasner, >> yes. call. >> Councilman Canavan. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> All right. Very good. Okay. That was 22. >> Yes. >> All right. Moving on to 23.
23 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, accepting a grant award from the Department of Justice Cops office in order to fund the hiring of law enforcement officers and approving the grant agreement authorizing city manager to execute the grant agreement establishing a budget in the amount of $3,250,000
for the expenditure of grant funds, providing for implementation, and providing for an effective date. >> We have a motion on this item. >> Moved by Councilwoman Al, seconded by Councilman Cannibal. Any questions, comments, or discussion from council? >> This is pretty huge, actually.
>> Yes. >> Is Ashley here? >> Ashley, are you here? No, she's here. >> Thank you. >> Amen. >> All right. Any public commentary on accepting $3.25 million in grant money?
>> No objections. All right. Let's have a roll call vote on tab 23. Think think through this before you vote. You know, >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Councilman Kavan, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher,
>> yes. >> Mayor Lawner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> And moving on to another grant award. Tab 24. Tab 24 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, accepting a grant award from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for law enforcement equipment funding, approving the grant
agreement, authorizing city manager to execute a grant agreement establishing a budget in the amount of $11,619 for the expenditure of grant funds, providing for implementation, and providing for an effective date. >> Have a motion to approve. >> Moved by Councilman Avalis, seconded by Councilman Cannibal.
If there are no further questions or comments from council, I'll open the public hearing. And seeing none, I will ask for a roll call vote. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilman Gavan, >> yes.
>> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> And tab 25. Tab 25 is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, accepting a grant award from the state department of transportation order to address high rate of automobile injuries, fatalities due to the non-use of occupant
protection through enhanced law enforcement activities, approving the grant agreement authorizing city manager to execute a grant agreement establishing a budget in the amounts of $110,000 for the expenditure of grant funds and providing for an effective date. >> Motion to approve.
>> Move. Moved by Ross, seconded by Fletcher. Public comment. Roll call on tab 25. >> Councilwoman Ksky. >> Yes. >> Councilman Canavan. >> Yes. >> Councilman Ross. >> Yes. >> Councilman Fletcher. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Aila? >> Yes.
>> Mayor Losner? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> All right. We're in the home stretch with 10 minutes to go. >> Mr. Manager, don't let me cut you off this time. Mayor and council, tomorrow we are hosting the normal monthly Miami date
county concur service here in the city hall. They'll be here from 8:00 tomorrow morning for permitting conc services. And uh on January 27th on council request, we are hosting the discussion workshop with council members on
delinquent uh utility accounts. And uh we're also starting a CDBG funded swimming lessons at uh Robbie George Park is for February 9th uh for youths and kids ages between 13 to 17.
Um uh we received information today or late last night that Congress just approved at committee stage monies for the pump station 11 rehab. So we're waiting for the House to vote this week and the
Senate will vote next week to confirm that we're receiving the sum of $2.2 million for pump station 11. And I believe that's all I have. The rest I will communicate to me may want to council. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. Manager. Mr. Attorney,
>> um, if I may request an executive session on the matter of Telles, City of Homestead, it's case number 25-01712 in Miami Date County Circuit Court. >> Thank you. >> Is it pressing? Do we need to try to fit it in with the workshop? Okay. Well,
whatever whatever we can schedule that. >> All right. Uh, Councilman Cannibal. >> No, no, no. Thank you. to ask the city manager who moved that item in in Congress. >> Uh that's uh Congressman Carlos Himenez.
>> Okay. Thanks. Right. Very good. Councilwoman, >> thank you, Mayor. Happy New Year, everybody. Happy Valentine's Day if I don't see you before then. >> I think that's what's coming next. All right. >> Yeah. Yes.
>> Thank you. Okay. Um Okay. So, we had All right. So, we're going to move on to Councilman Fletcher. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh happy new year, everyone. And I will let Mr. Roth tell everybody about the rodeo. >> Thank you, Councilwoman.
>> The rodeo. We will all be seeing a lot of each other for the next few days. I'll look forward to the events and I'm very excited about the rodeo parade coming back to Homestead. >> Yeah. Thank you. And I look, I'm looking forward to I hope it's one of those
frosty weekends where the woman's club sells a lot of chili, the bleachers are cold, you get to wear your uh leather jackets, and not to mention the rodeo dance and your hats. Great, great time, great weekend.
And I was thinking, okay, so this is the 77th rodeo. We've got the potential for the 80th rodeo to be in its new home for the first time. That would really be something to uh to work toward.
Okay. Did I miss Councilman Roth? Thank you, Mayor. Um first, before I get into the fun stuff, can we really take what Mr. Stoner said today to heart? Uh, I've been traveling a lot and
anytime I get into areas where there's foot traffic, there's a immense amount of signage that remind folks that it's state law that when a pedestrian is attempting to cross the street that they
yield to the pedestrian. >> I agree with you 100%. And it th some of those locations that we mentioned, the one that leads into or just goes right behind the public shopping center in Oasis
is in a really really odd spot and the potential for somebody to get hurt, hit or killed is real life there. So, I think we need to really think about that. Even though the county may not allow us to manipulate the the permanent
signage, we can put little those little uh A-frame type signage I see everywhere about >> and they knock it out and they don't fix it. They leave it like that for Yeah. two, three weeks. >> Yeah. I mean, I would I mean, I would press for uh pedestrian activated light
systems where they hit it, the lights light up, they know a pedestrians in the crosswalk, and they yield to the pedestrians. So, I know Monroe County put one down just before the split on US1 heading south on uh US1
in Monroe County, which is activated by pedestrians. And it I mean, it's massive. I mean, it's telling you to stop. It's telling you, you know, all these different things. So, I think we really, really need to focus on that. Um, I may invite Councilwoman Ksky to
opine on what I'm about to remind her to talk about, which is the silent dance that the women's club is hosting on February the 6th. Would you like to elaborate just a little bit?
>> Thank you, Mr. Roth. Um, the women's club is welcoming us back to great music in times of bad decisions when we were younger and um, hanging out in the clubs. Um, offering an opportunity for
some entertainment, a social gathering, and to take you back to yester year. So, just something to give back to the community. Um, and we appreciate your attendance. We appreciate your support. Thank you. >> Yeah. So, there's a $15 donation. Um, are tickets available online?
>> Nope. Who do they got to see? >> See me. >> See Kim. >> See me. >> All right. And give the public your telephone number. >> 305 636 9199. >> She fell for that trap, didn't she? >> I did. >> We all have her number anyways. >> Wear your favorite membersonly jacket.
Right. Back to the 70s. Council in the 80s. >> Councilwoman, can we do a press release on that so they can work the details out and socialize it? >> She's got all the details. Yeah. And I guess the last thing I guess Councilman Fletcher said I would talk about this is the rodeo coming up uh January 30th 31
and and it's actually stretching into February this year which is unusual for the rodeo to do that. Um I'm glad all the cold weather is here now. Maybe it will be as the mayor said he wants to be kind of chilly out there but um he don't have to stand out there for four or five
hours selling stuff. So, we do. And uh but we hope for great weather, no rain, um beautiful Chamber of Commerce skies like we've had over the last few weeks. It's just beautiful blue skies, which um maybe a day last week, I think it was Sunday, we had a little bit of rain and
stuff, but uh don't miss it. I think Friday night is um the tough enough to wear pink night for breast cancer awareness and cancer awareness. I'm not sure about Saturday, but Sunday is always reserved for uh military honorary military veterans and active duty
military uh wearing your red, white, and blue in support of the United States and and everything that those military servicemen do for us uh and women out there uh every single day. So, they've got hard battles to fight just like our law enforcement guys, you know, we love you guys. Um, just come on out, support
the rodeo, and I can't wait for 2029 because that's when it's going to be a massive, massive, massive day. Thank you, mayor. >> Thank you, Councilman Roth. All right, the vice mayor has departed. All right, one quick item of business,
reappointment to a actual veteran of the former Homestead Fire Department, reappointment to the pension board of uh James or as most of us know him, Jimmy Adams. Reappoint moved by Councilman Fletcher.
Second. All in favor? Thank you. Again, I just can't thank staff enough for their work and vision and putting together our winter wonderland. I think the numbers were just north of
8,200 people who skated. Pretty good for the first year, first year out. and we're going to move right into our Fourth of July extravaganza. So, Miss Brown and everyone who worked with
you and for you on that tremendous tremendous event and eight weeks of uh of good press and and good feelings and good vibes for for downtown Homestead. And with that, if there's nothing further, we have a motion to adjourn. Councilman Fletcher.
>> Yes. Thank you. Sorry, Mr. Mayor. As we're talking about pension board, I haven't seen anybody apply for the open position on the police pension board. I haven't seen anything for that. >> That's for a homestead resident position, >> correct? But I haven't seen any anybody for that yet. >> Hey, we can if we can do a social media
reminder, >> homestead resident. >> Just got to be a homestead resident. That's it. >> Better if they have a financial background. >> Yeah, some something that would would mesh with with that board. >> Okay. Thank you, Councilman. Thanks for the reminder.
All right, with that we have a motion to adjurnn. Move and second. All in favor? I. Thank you all. Good night. Appreciate it. >> Goodbye. >> Who is