Good evening everyone and welcome. I'd like to call the city of Homestead special call meeting to order. Today is Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 and it is now 5:06 p.m. Could you call the role, please, Madam Clerk?
>> Councilman Fletcher >> here. >> Councilwoman Avula >> here. >> Councilman Ross >> here. >> Councilwoman Ksky >> here. >> Councilman Cannibal >> here. >> Vice Mayor Bailey >> here. Mayor Lawson >> here. Um, we are awaiting the arrival of
the uh public works director and uh Mr. Morales. So, if we could proceed to tab two, Mr. Manager. >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tab number two is an item that we are bringing forward
with respect to a request from the Chabad of Homestead and Cotler Bay to host the annual public minor lighting in one of in a location on the laws in a park. >> Council any questions, comments? >> What action do you need from us?
So, the applicants, the organization is asking for council to allow them to be able to stage the event as they've routinely done in the city uh as part of the annual uh lighting program. It's going to be on Tuesday, December 16th at 5:30 p.m.
>> And in the in the past, have has any council member sponsored this? Is there a fee involved? I did last. >> So I think from available records, last event was in 2024 and uh Councilman
Clemente Canabal sponsor it for $750. >> Okay. All right. So we're in the same same situation. >> Yes, Councilwoman. >> Thank you, mayor. for an event that's not being made exclusively for any particular party or group. And I'm I
it's my understanding that this is open to the public and they're just asking for permission to hold the activity. Um I I'm not sure why this particular event and any others for that matter would be subject to having to pay a fee unless they're incurring unless we're incurring
costs from a city level uh staffing equipment. If they're just requesting permission for access to the park to hold the gathering and they're not making it exclusive to their party, can
we just grant access? Councilwoman Avila, in this case, it's it is not exclusive and therefore the the fee for that reason. So, one, there's a rental facility fee um that
would always be applicable to any facility. In this case, because the city I is has an event happening and they're looking to um do their event, uh we have not imposed any fee in this case because
it's all there the seat the the park is already activated. Um, in other instances, for example, last year, um, the $750 that was, um, sponsored by Councilman Cannibal happened because
they were using the space uh, or rather they were reserving the space for the purpose of the event, >> but but to clarify, it wasn't a closed event. Anybody could show up >> last year as well. Correct. >> Correct. >> Right. So, I mean, >> well, every year. >> Okay. Thank you. So, I mean, moving
forward, I I I would prefer for these items to just have a fee waiver if they're not being exclusive and there's no fees or overtime or staff um incurred costs. Not sure why we Is
there a cleanup cost? >> That's what I would think. >> The the parks department will be bringing forward an ordinance to codify all of the park fees shortly. And if there are changes that we want to make to our fee schedule and how we decide to levy fees, then I think we can discuss that when we bring that ordinance
forward because and that'll be coming probably next month. >> Great point. Thank you. I'll reserve for that. Thank you. >> All right. So, we we've got two issues. We've got the the monetary issue tonight and and I think you know the the permission is you know kind of an administrative thing and I'll I'll
pledge the first $500 of their cost from my accounts. >> No, mayor. >> There is no cost tonight. >> There's no cost to it. Okay, that's no cost. So, it's just a matter of yes, you can do it. >> Yes, you can do it. >> Make the motion. >> Moved by Councilwoman Avala,
>> second by Councilman Roth. Is there any further discussion or public comment on the granting of permission of of this uh annual event hearing? None. I'll close the public hearing and ask for a roll call vote. >> Councilman Fletcher,
>> yes. >> Councilman Cannibal, >> yes. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. Councilwoman Abula, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> So, we'll move on to tab three.
>> So, tab three is a request. It's a discussion item with guidance for direction. The Miami Association of Realtors had made donation to several cities in the county asking to place what they consider
um monument signage with the names of the cities. So for the case of Homestead, it's called the Homestead Monument letters. So I'm going to ask uh Mr. Josh or Kima. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Josh
Rios. Let me see if this works. Perfect. So, good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight, staff is seeking direction regarding the preferred location for installing the Homestead Monument letters donated to the city by the Miami
Realtors, um the Association of Realtors. This installation is intended to activate public space, enhance our civic identity, and serve as a welcoming landmark for both residents and visitors. The Miami Realtors launched a countywide
grant program to support placemaking efforts that build community pride. Through this initiative, Homestead received these large format letters at no cost to the city. Similar installations have already been successfully implemented in Coral Gables, Miami Gardens, Miami Springs,
and Miami Lakes, where they have become recognizable landmarks and popular gathering points for photo opportunities and selfies. And so you see Miami Gardens had a little ceremony right next to their archway. The Homestead Letters act as a
distinctive monument and visual anchor for our community. They create a photofriendly destination encouraging residents and visitors to stop, explore, and share their experiences all while promoting Homestead organically through social media and word of mouth. This
type of installation can also increase foot traffic and overall activity in the area, directly supporting nearby businesses and contributing to a more vibrant downtown. As you see, there's also one that in Miami Lakes.
So, staff has um staff recommends the placement beyond the north side of the city hall plaza near the intersection of Civic Court and Park Place. This location offers visibility, pedestrian accessibility, and integration with an existing civic gathering space. It also
positions the letters as a welcoming feature for all those approaching city hall. If council is supportive of this proposed location, staff will also explore potential enhancements including adding city of as we've discussed in
other iterations of placemaking monuments, incorporating AIP style wrapping, and even installing up lighting to increase visibility and aesthetic appeal in the evening hours. Tonight, we're not going to be discussing those three items. Those may
be items for the future, but um we're talking about specifically the placement of these letters in which location. Finally, staff staff at the request of the Miami Realtors is requesting a placement ceremony to be held December 12th at 10:30 a.m. given council's
approval of of that time and date. With that staff respect staff respect respectfully seeks direction from mayor and councel regarding the preferred loca location of the homestead letters and authorization to proceed with the next steps. If you have any questions myself
or deputy city manager Kamar Brown may be able to answer. Thank you >> yes council Fletcher. >> Yes. Thank you. And I I'm sorry I didn't ask this question in our earlier briefing, but how will these be attached to the uh foundation or the concrete?
>> So um we are going to engage a structural engineer to design the anchors based on the wind loads uh especially it's going to be a cat 5 usually uh for wind separation as well as uh the ability to withstand the wind
forces. In addition to that, uh Josh had mentioned that we'll be looking forward to having an up lighting as well. Uh there is also indication of art in public places for perhaps to wrap them in different colors because they all
come in one color, white. Uh council may decide to relocate the signage, may not necessarily be permanently in one place. Uh council may also have alternative locations such as the frontage of the Harrisfield or perhaps at the sports complex. Again, everything is at the
discretion of council. >> Thank you. That was my question. Thank you, sir. Vice Mayor, >> I'm good. >> You're good. >> Good with the placement. Um >> I'm good also. >> What do we need to remove? Well,
yeah, because you know, we may find a better better location. >> Pardon? >> Can we accept the the donation and then have a further discussion another time on location? I mean, it looks nice there, but there are some other ideas to consider.
>> Yep. So, if I may, the reason we propose that location is to allow them to come in on Friday, have the formal placement ceremony, then it becomes the property of the city. The city not can decide where we want to put it permanently. Okay.
>> So, do we have a motion to accept it and make this the initial placement temporary placement? >> Mayor, if I may, what costs are we incurring any costs on the initial placement? Because you have to secure these letters. >> No, we are not intending to permanently
fix it. It's just for the formal ceremony on Friday. We take it back indoors until council decides. >> Where are you storing the letters? These are not foam letters, right? are heavy. It's these are It's actually being um stored in the development services
department. >> Mr. Mayor, >> you're also welcome to go take a look after the council meeting or some other time. >> And sorry to interject, but is there this is a hard date. It must be received by this time. >> That's correct.
>> It's a freebie, Mr. Mayor. >> Yes. So, I'm more than happy to move the the acceptance. Uh, Friday's kind of a hard day, I think, for some. Uh, if we need to do the ceremony on Friday, I get it. But I too think that this is
probably the best location initially and maybe we add additional sites where we can put these letters as well, leaving these here, but adding those later as needed. Just a thought. But I would make the motion to accept. uh pending if they
need to have the event on Friday. It's going to be hard for some of us to come to, but uh maybe we can look into next week for a formal meeting that gives all of us a little time to to plan. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so we have a motion in a second. Is there anything? Yes, vice mayor.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um, I think if we could understand how much it would cost to secure it, it would also be easier to decide if we do want this as a temporary spot or if it's too much to move later on because it does have to be a city-owned building.
>> Correct. >> So, to have something right now that would be ready, I don't know if we have anything, but if if the cost isn't too high and we want to uh let it start here and then eventually move it somewhere else. We can
>> Yeah, I think that, you know, it would be foolhardy to accept them and put them in storage. Let's place them so that they're not forgotten about and then we can think about a more permanent home as things evolve. Okay, so we have a motion and a second.
Roll call, Madam Clerk. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Aila, >> yes. Councilman Cannibal? >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey? >> Yes. >> Mayor Lawner, >> yes. >> Motion carries.
>> Okay. We're still awaiting everyone for the first item. Correct. >> Still waiting. Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. They're stuck in stuck at the at the busway crossing. All right. Let's move on to tab four. Mr. Pearl. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Tab four is a resolution
of the city council of the city of Homestead Florida approving an amendment of the existing power purchase agreement between the city of Homestead Florida Municipal Power Agency providing for an effective date. >> Okay, Mr. Manager, who's got this one?
Oh, of course has this one. >> Barbara, >> good afternoon, Mayor and Council. And this item is to amend an existing contract with FMPA,
the Florida Municipal Power Agency. And the amendment calls for extending the term of the agreement through the end of 2031. And also adding an additional 7 megawws to the existing contract. The existing
contract is 15 megawws and this would bump it up to 22. And the uh terms and conditions, the pricing remains the same. This is one of our better priced contracts. Uh it's currently set to expire the end
of next year. And just to give ourselves some uh room for expansion. We're looking to extend it out through the end of 2031. >> Good. Thank you. Any questions or comments from council?
Okay, let me uh open it up for public comment. See now we'll close public comment and I'll ask for a motion to approve this item. Moved by Councilman Cannibal. >> Second. >> Second by Vice Mayor Bailey. Let's have a roll call, please. Madam clerk.
>> Councilwoman Avula. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Bailey. I'm sorry. Councilwoman >> Vice Mayor >> uh Ksky. >> Yes. >> Councilman Ross. >> Yes. Councilman Cannibal, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey,
>> yes. >> Mayor Lawson, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. And moving on to tab five, Mr. Pearl. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Tab five is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, approving amendment of existing network transmission service agreements between
the city of Homestead and Florida Power and Light Company, providing for an effective date. >> Thank you, Barbara. >> Yes, mayor. Um, this is also an amendment to an existing agreement
and this is just to extend the transmission agreement that we currently have with Florida Power and Light and to extend that through uh the end of 2031.
No, no changes to the terms or conditions. Having transmission access allows us access to the statewide grid and through that grid we're able to purchase power. We're also able to sell power. Just allows us that access. Um
and it's an extension on the time frame for that agreement. Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments for council? Okay. So, let's open a public comment. Seeing none, I'll close the public comment and ask for a motion to approve
this item. >> Moved by Councilman Cannibal, second by Councilman Fletcher. >> Roll call, please. >> Councilman Ross, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Abula, >> yes. >> Councilman Cannibal, >> yes. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> yes.
>> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> And tab six, Mr. Pearl. Tab six is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead, Florida, approving the first amendment to the agreement between the city of
Homestead and Murphy Pipeline Contractors LLC for the pump station 22 bypass project authorizing the city manager to execute the first amendment and accept the consent of Shy in lie of the final release of lean providing for implementation providing for an effective date.
>> Thank you. Are there any questions from council on this item? We've all been briefed. Go ahead. Are there any questions for our director? Hearing none. Let's see if there's any public comment. We'll close the public comment section and I'll ask for a
motion to approve tab six. >> Moved by vice mayor, second by council cannibal. Roll call, please, madam clerk. Thank you, Cairo. >> That wonderful analysis. >> Councilman Roth. >> Yes. >> Councilman Fletcher.
>> Yes. >> Councilman Cannibal. >> Yes. Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Bailey, >> yes. >> Mayor Lawner, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> All right. Very good. Um, let me ask, do we have an ETA yet before we get into the next item? It
could be pretty lengthy. >> Okay. So, I think they're here. So, I think let's uh let's go back to uh to tab one. Those at home who just tuned in must be very confused. >> You could always lead us in song.
>> I don't even know how to answer that. in an appropriate manner. That's what Is the mic on? Is this my Okay, good. >> Good afternoon, council. Uh, Stacy and and Chief Morales, they are still tied
up. They may have gone to the wrong location. So, they're a few minutes out, but I don't want to hold everyone up. So, if you guys would like, I can begin the presentation and go walk you through what we've been doing for for the city. >> Do we do they go to the temporary city
hall or the vacant city hall? Well, you know what? Let's let's go ahead to the to the loan item. Let's go to to tab seven and we'll we'll come back when they're here. >> A lot of lot of uncertainty. >> All right.
So, Mr. Manager, let's go to tab seven. Mr. Pearl. >> Yes. Tab seven is a resolution of the city council of the city of Homestead Florida authorizing the issuance of its water and sewer utility system revenue note series 2025 in the aggregate
principal amount not to exceed $12 million for the purpose of financing the cost of improvements to the city's water and sewer system and paying cost of issuance of the note awarding the sale of the note to South State Bank NA providing for security for the note containing other provisions relating to
the note making certain covenants and agreements in connection therewith and providing for an effective Right. >> Well, now that we've done that, I see Mr. Morales is here. All right, let's let's let's go ahead. Mr. Manager, present this item.
>> Yes, Mr. Mayor and Council. Um, this is one of the key infrastructural engagement initiative and investment for the city as we look forward for economic developments in the city. Uh without doubt the water and sewer infrastructure
uh requires a lot of investment and we're lucky that we are taking a very proactive steps to address the the lapses we find in the system and kudos and thanks to the finance and budget director for spearheading this initiative and we're asking council to
approve this. If there's any question I'm asking the finance director to to provide you clarification. Uh I was hoping to get to a later stage to make a very important announcement that today Governor Ron DeSantis was at
a public press conference where he announced a grant of $4 million to the city to assist us with infrastructure improvement along Chrome Avenue specifically for sewer. and a few minutes. Uh this was something that happened at noon today and I had sent
out a member to mayor and council as well on this. All right. Any initial questions or comments from council on this item on the borrowing of $12 million secured by by
future revenues. Uh right now at at full draw, I think the estimate is about $960,000 a year in in debt service. >> So if mayor, if I may, can I ask uh the
finance director to provide the details of this loan >> uh which is specifically for Chrome Avenue project, the Flagler Avenue project as well as the famous pump station 11. Yeah, good evening, mayor and council.
I'll be brief. If you recall during the the budget hearings, we agreed that these were three vital projects. We provided what the original costs were, what the funding that had been made available through different sources like the sale of Phil, the PAS settlement,
some state appropriations, but there was still a gap of approximately $12 million, and we agreed that we would come back to council with a proposed loan. Um what we did is during that uh budget process the water and sewer budget was approved with a debt service
annual debt service of a million $67,000. The proposals that were received we received seven proposals from four banks. We took the best too. We asked them for their best and final offer. And what's being recommended tonight is a loan from South State at 4.19% over 20
years. And the debt service on that the annual the average annual debt service will be 91,000. So a significant reduction in what we had anticipated. >> Thank you, sir. Um council questions. Vice Mayor Bailey.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, was there a grant also that we were trying to receive for this that fell through recently or am I thinking of something else? >> Um, vice mayor, you probably meant to refer to the $2.2 million that we
previously received from the federal government for pump station 11 that was clawed back. So, we resubmitted that grant application and it has successfully advanced through committee stage in Congress. So we are hoping that
once it gets through that will be utilized for pump station 11 upgrade. The pump station 11 project in visage in this loan request is specifically for the transmission system to enable all those projects that are still pending to
be able to connect and also address the uh the moratorum that we we have currently with durm. >> Okay. I thought it was a little more than 2.2. Yeah. obviously unfortunate that it has to go that it has to end up being alone, but I think that um I hope
we can all agree that especially pump station 11 has been a real big big piece that we need um especially for developments that have have worked hard and are patiently waiting impatiently waiting. Um, what happens if is this
does this fall in line with some of the other things where if we receive grants, we'd be able to use that to pay back the loan as well. >> If fortunately the city were to be successful in securing additional funding from appropriations or grants,
obviously we'll be able to offset that with the grant with the loan. So, we don't anticipate to spend down the loan in one chunk. uh finance director, correct me if I'm wrong, what we intend to do is to structure funding of these
projects as we move forward. If at any time we're able to get additional grant applications, obviously we will not be able to draw from the from the loan. >> So it's not like the bonds where we wouldn't be able to apply for a grant to
use to pay back that loan. Some of the depending on the grants, some grants specifically has to be shovel ready, they might not allow a project that's started, but other ones if depending on when you apply for it. If you can apply that's already a current project and
it's a replace of funding, that's that's a possibility. Um unlike though the general obligation bond, this $12 million is for the full $12 million. Upon closing, we will be receiving it. with the general obligation one. That's the one that we're funding it over a series.
>> Okay. >> Now, I know it's a a big chunk of change, but when we take into consideration the economic development that that will come from it, I I think that this is a good move for us. So, thank you. That's all I have. If if
I may, mayor and council, um some of these projects is going to be benefiting customers that are outside the city limits and they would have to contribute in paying it back. It's not just based on city residents. Unlike if you were to
use general fund uh fund balance, that's a general fund, which is why we don't advocate for that. We prefer a funding mechanism that every potential user has to participate in paying it back. whether you live in the city or in a service area that is outside the city
limits. And if you look at some of the projects that are still pending, uh, a number of them are outside the city limits. >> Yes. Thank you, >> Councilwoman. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um I
I wanted to ask is this loan uh specific to the projects or is it just based on the revenue generation? The loan amount the terms of the loan >> the amount the amount of the loan is based on the gap that we identified if you recall during the budget process I
said is >> but is the loan conditional to the specific projects? the lang there's language where it can be for other water and sew improvements but these are the main three but the language does allow that it could be for other uh water and sewer improvements >> I think I I think you're asking are all
customers paying the loan or just the new customers is that what you're asking >> no specific to pump station 11 upgrade the flagagler sewer main force main and the um the chrome avenue >> it's right it's predominantly for those three projects but there is language in
the resolution that allows for other water and sewer improvements. So that again, like the manager said, if we come across other funding that could be replaced and either to repay it or the bonds could be used for other improvements, if we can't use it to repay it, but we get the grant, the
grant could be used for for something else, then these could be used for water other water and sew improvements. But there is language in there to give us that that cushion. I think one of the main concerns that I have with regards to the uh project for
pump station 11 or the bypass is that we don't have um plans from Hazen and Sawyer or any other consultant specific to the bypass itself. We have just the uh improvements that are supposed to be
made to the pump and that one is at 60% plan completion. So it's supposed to go back to Hazen and Sawyer. go ahead and give me an update. Thank you. >> So the original um task and scope for Hazen and Sawyer included both the pump and the force
main. So when we received the 60% plans, it included both the pump and the force main. That's what we have right now. Um and that is the alignment following for street uh midway between 187 and Chrome and then stepping down until eventually
it reaches Chrome and Lucy Street. So, we do have 60% for the alignment and um although originally we were thinking of adjusting it to make it a little bit
um shorter uh smoother in a sense. Uh we will go back to the original alignment that we have 60% plans for to expedite the project now that the loan has been secured if it's approved by council. So we do have the 60% plans, we have the alignment, we have the survey associated
with it, the geotechnical, and all we have to do is finalize them and go through permitting. >> Right. But you told me during briefings with the city manager that those plans needed to be completely redone because they were not inclusive of the projects that had been approved, including the
TML building, uh, Tower uh, Commons, Homestead Gardens, the Lucy Street properties, and then two unincorporated Miami date county projects. So, >> so the pro the what what I and maybe I failed to to express it correctly is
that the original scope that Hazen had, they did not account for those for the pump station. But since then, we um got another consultant to do the analysis and the force main that we had the 12 in
is more than enough for all the future improvements. The pump station though is not. So, we do require the 2.2 2 million that we're still expecting to be able to go back at such time as we did in pump station 22 and upsize the pump station
itself. But the force man, the 12inch force man, um is more than sufficient to account for not only the developments that we have waiting in line now, but we also asked our consultant to analyze an even greater area around the city limits
that would eventually be part of our service area because the county doesn't have service in that area. So, we just wanted to think ahead and make sure that we accounted for that, too. But that's only on the pump station site. the force man the numbers work fine that the 12 inch force man that we have in the 60%
plants are fine >> and um the secondary consultant that you have reviewed >> that that occurred when when did they review those plans? >> When did they review the plans? recently. >> We gave them the appeal approximately a
month and a half ago and right before we had our meeting, they had submitted to me the draft um the ODR we call it uh the report which stated that what I just mentioned to you. >> So is that in is that part of the $130,000 that we spent on consultants
for this project already? >> No. No. >> So that's an addition that's a separate invoice. we have a set amount that we that we have negotiated with that consultant for any hydraulic analysis that we need. Um they they prepare for us for for a set amount and that we give
them that as a um as a standalone task for order. >> Okay. And then the Flaggler sewer connection that my understanding is that that is that is supporting the old city hall site and does that affect the Flanigans contract at all?
Is >> that a city manager question? >> Flanigans has not closed. Correct. >> So the flow from Flanigan will eventually flow into the pipe that is on Flaggler Avenue as well. So when you say the contract, this is not about
contract. This is about infrastructure upgrades. >> Right. But I'm trying to understand why we have to take a loan out now to address that sewer connection out of urgency when it hasn't um didn't come up during the prior negotiations for the
development of old city hall site and Flanigans hasn't closed and is does one have to do with the other or they independent? >> Those are those are two different entities. What I'm saying is that all the flows around that Harrisfield area eventually dumps through pump station
that comes to the flag pipe. So the flag pipe has been I think it has failed a number of times and uh has discharged illicit spill on the streets. So sorry to say this publicly, but we need to address it and time is of the essence so
that we don't put people out of service. >> And we don't have any grants or any funding for that. Has that been requested? >> There's no grants available as we speak. Uh the only additional funding we're looking forward to receive is from Miami dead county.
>> Thank you, Mr. Jimmy Morales is here. Uh because Flaggler is a county maintained road. So instead of impacting the corridor twice, we are speaking to the county to see because the county already has a project on Flaggler. So we don't
have to resurface the street. They come back, tear it up and redo it again. So we're looking for their contribution in terms of restoration of the pavement. the county's project uh came to our attention um approximately um a year ago
when they asked they always ask every municipality uh if they're good to proceed with a million resurfacing and knowing that we have to do the work on on um along Flaggler. We have been in continuous coordination with them to ensure that we do not have throwaway
whether it's our money or the county money or whatnot because um the as uh the manager mentioned the sewer severely undersized severely. >> Okay, thank you for the clarifications. >> I conclude your questions. Okay, thank
you. Anyone else? Councilman Fletcher. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a quick question. Uh, is the $4 million approved funding from the governor and the state of Florida at risk if we don't approve this loan tonight?
That's a very tough question. We don't even know the details yet. Uh, it was a struggle this afternoon to get the information I shared with council. The governor simply made a speech and left and there was no breakdown of the the
grants to any of the entities. Uh luckily we reached out to the secretary of D who profered the list that we shared with council. Uh we don't know the details yet. Um I don't think you want to take a risk with money. Um you
can make you can put conditions on your approval. You can place conditions that if the money comes and it has some additional measures. Uh I don't know Mr. City Attorney, do you have any recommendation to make? If if you're looking for more information on the
grant itself and the implications with the loan, then I would suggest that you push this so that we can gather as much information as we can and we can rehear it on the 17th and defer the item if that's your concern because I don't think we have the answers tonight to provide you. We got this at noon with no
no details. So if you're looking for details on that, I mean perhaps a little more time to revisit that would help you. I know. >> So, if I may, based on conversation we had at the press conference today, um the ability of this city to have a
robust infrastructure trust fund was key to the approval. So, we are looking forward to if you receive the $4 million, council can approve to swap out a portion of the money that comes from the trust fund and put it back on the trust fund to use it
as a leverage for new grant applications. Because when we went to the state for this grant money, we demonstrated that the city has this x million dollars in a trust fund based on which they were able to give us. In fact, we mentioned that
we have 5.5 million and the project was 7 9.5 and they give us the difference of 4 million. So what I recommend the council to do to consider approval if the money comes in, swap out the equivalent of the 4 million from the project and place it back in the trust
fund. I I would always also like to add that the improvement for the properties that want to connect also adds revenue to the system. So just the connection fee rough estimate we're talking about a half a
million dollars and on an annual basis we're talking approximately and these are rough estimates based on you know the code numbers uh we're talking pro probably 200,000 out of the 900. So a lot and as more connect
that becomes revenue that comes into the system that cannot happen unless we have the infrastructure. The force main goes to Chrome. Chrome is the backbone. It's all interconnected. >> Can I get a clarification please on the
um re um like refilling the trust fund but we're not paying interest on the money we have in our trust fund currently. that if we we're paying interest on all this money that we'll be getting whether we put it in the trust fund or not. Correct. >> Yeah. What we're referring to is the predominantly the $6.7 million that
we've received that basically went into the trust fund and if you remember on the slides that we put on these projects that's currently one of the funding sources. So, what the manager is saying is if we get the $4 million, $4 million will be used towards this project to
replace that 6.7 and then that $4 million will be put back into the trust fund to be used for any future projects and we'll have it invested and it'll be earning interest. >> Did that answer your question?
Okay. Is that it? Okay. All right. So, um, and this is maybe more so a question for the well and and and if it's the will of the council to defer this until the 17th when we have potentially have
more more information with respect to the terms of the grant, I will not not raise my questions until until that point. Um, oh, let me ask Mr. Perezo. is is a a
delay of approval from now till next week. Is that potentially going to impact any of the terms or an outside closing date? If >> you can give me a minute, I'm going to consult with a financial adviser because I don't remember if the the date >> the commitment. Yeah,
>> let's let's let's hear that because if we can if we're I'll hold off on my on my other questions that that aren't necessarily a public works question. While they're conversing though, one little nuance though, let's let's be
clear that the grant is with respect to sewer only. The loan is to construct water and wastewater. So, you know, it's not a one for one. >> Mr. President, >> council, the terms is basically through
the 16th. That's the day that we were going to close. So, we don't know that they would be holding those same uh terms. We can come back if we defer it. The rate may be higher. Maybe >> it's subject to rate risk. Yeah. >> Wow. Okay. Everybody hear that? that the potential
closing on the day before our next meeting is what the uh commitment letter loan commitment calls for. >> We have a special on the 15th for this alone. >> Well, but is is there a situation where
a a conditional approval pending determination of whether or not we can put it off until 17? But it it may not that rate may not hold is the issue. The interest rate, >> right? I hear you. I mean, the letter this is from South We're talking about
South State Banks, correct? It's dated November 7th. Commitments typically are good for 30 days. We're already past that 30-day mark. So, they're probably already extending the rates, which have not increased in the last >> So, so to clarify then the the letter,
you're not talking about an expiration date. You're talking about a contemplated closing date. >> Yeah, the closing date is on the 16th, but that's through what the term for the the rate >> is is for. >> Okay. Did you have >> No, I just what reiterating what Carlos
said, the the the the commitment letter provides that the rate holds provided you close on December 16th. Councilman Z, you mentioned the grant was specifically for a project that we already had
on the books. Is that right? >> Yeah, it's for the the Chrome Avenue sewer project. So, do you think that if we're already self- financing the project that they would
take that grant away from us? >> Well, council has not approved the financing. That's what you're trying to do tonight. I understand that but there's a hesitation to approve it based on that grant >> with the techn the the the the technical
aspects of accepting that grant >> I don't know how the state will view any action this council takes by not approving this loan tonight. I don't know how the state will view it. They probably will say you have money. So I don't know whether yay or nay they
would the grant will move forward or they will retract the grant. >> So they would you would think they would retract the grant based on the fact that we've closed on a financing element to to complete this project.
>> I cannot speak on behalf of the state. >> I understand. >> Yeah. >> So what would your recommendation be to hold off until we get more specific details of the grant? the me fact that I don't have for certainty that you're going to get the information you need by
the 17th because you're dealing with the state may get to the 17th and information is not there then we've lost the ability to close on the 16th and you don't have the information you need then we're back again to where we are tonight
so I would recommend you move forward because of the understanding that when the grant comes in you can swap out the money from the loan money. You put back the money that you've taken from the infrastructure trust fund is what? 6.7
million. You take four million back and put it place it back in your trust fund and it's still with the city and you utilize the 4 million from the states. We would not be where we are tonight if the governor hadn't done the press conference this this morning.
No, I I get it, but I think there's a little hesitation up here to forfeit the $4 million. >> Exactly. >> Mayor Mayor and council, if I may, again, the loan is funding the gap. The 6.7 of Phil is what we're anticipating
taking the grant monies and replacing that. It's not impacting the amount of the loan. If anything, it's the sale of Phil. that funding source is what we would basically take four million of that and put it back in the trust fund. >> Right. But I and I and I understand
that. But what I what I think there's hesitation is we don't know what the the the technical aspects of accepting the grant from the state would be. And if we nullify that by finding financing the project oursel now and they say well you
don't no longer need this money then they won't give it to us and then we can't replenish the $4 million to the trust. Is that is that what I'm hearing? I think I may had made a statement earlier that you can place a condition to disapproval today that says you
approving this loan subject to the grant money coming in will be placed back in the will swap out the contribution of the trust fund then it will not be any jeopardy. $4 million is a lot of money to place in limbo that if the city if the state
finds out from records that you have ability to fund this project. I don't know how they're going to react. >> Would that even be typically something they would make inquiry about? I mean, this grant was made based upon
>> our representation that they were g we were going to put in $5.5 million of our own money. Does it matter how we got that money? >> No. >> But refer back to what Councilman Fletcher mentioned. That's why I'm I'm
I'm still want to debate that that thought because we don't have the answers to that question. If we close on the 16th and we still don't have the information we need for accepting the
grant and there's an inquiry made that we do have the ability to fund this ourselves because of what we've closed on, will that uh you know cancel the grant from the state? I I just don't I don't I don't understand that part of
it. If it was that clear to make a to make it a condition that we do this loan and the state's going to give us the money no matter what happens and we put that money back into the trust. >> It's more clear for me. But it's not clear right now. >> It's just clarification. We're not putting the grant money back into the
trust money. We are taking a portion of the trust money back. So let's not call it grant that we're putting in the trust money. >> We're swapping trust for grant. >> Yeah. >> We're spending grant rather than trust. >> Trust. How do you guys see it? I just I just
want we don't want to jeopardize what the state's profering right now. >> So the grant application for the state is not needsbased. It is based on the conditions that we profer in the grant. And one of the reasons why we received the grant is
because of the amount of money that we say that we're going to use as a match. That made us very competitive. that amount of money that we knew we were going to put the 5.5 was with whatever money we could find. We knew that we would have the loan as an option to do
that stop cap but the state does not ask how financially constrained are you. What they look at is the merit of the application and our application was very good mainly because we were saying that we were also putting up 5.5 million. It
doesn't matter where the 5.5 million comes from and it doesn't matter if we are flush with cash. That's not one of the parameters of the grant application. It's just on the merits of the grant and how much you're also putting forth. >> Right. Could we
exclude the Chrome Avenue project from this loan and only use it for the Flaggler project and the uh pump station 11 so it doesn't jeopardize
the grant that we wrote to the state because if you're including all three in this loan and someone asks about it, then you have to disclose that you are financing part of
the Chrome Avenue project with this loan. But if we've got the money to do the Chrome Avenue project when that grant arrives with the trust fund money, then
you're not jeopardizing the grant that you wrote. I think Again, I think we are conflating issues here. The application for this grant money did not specify that it's coming from the trust fund. It did not. >> Okay.
>> So, I don't see why the Chrome project cannot move forward. and also the fact that the Chrome Avenue project is also part is combined with the FTA money that we got and we're combining all these funding sources to do a huge complex
project on Chrome that will address the corridor in terms of the surface infrastructure. We'll also address the buried infrastructure which is water, sewer, drainage all in one shot. the FTA money, correct me if I'm wrong,
has a timeline to spend it down. The more we push this project forward, you also jeopardize the How much is that? $7.5 million. >> So, in total is 7.5 in in this project. We have at least 3.5 million that we
have to spend otherwise we lose which is the beautifification part uh that provides transit accessibility mainly the sidewalk improvements bus shelter lighting and the drainage improvements for the sidewalks to prevent flooding of the businesses we're going to pitch them towards the road.
>> So yeah and that has a timeline um that's coming up >> understand. So Zur, you're saying that we should go ahead and do this and we we'll we'll still get that grant. >> Well, I cannot make a promise to you tonight.
I don't work for the state. I'm not a staff of Governor Dantis. Anything can happen. So in the interest of timeliness, uh we had pledged to council to start the Chrome Avenue project as early as first quarter of next year.
The more we delay this, that timeline goes. >> Got it. >> Okay. And if the governor decides to change his mind tomorrow and make an announcement, >> that's his prerog prerogative to make. It's not mine. >> Okay. I'll I'll listen to more comments.
>> Thank you. Yeah. Let me get to the vice mayor. Yeah, vice mayor. So you just mentioned that we are definitely losing 3.5 million if we don't >> if we don't do the project within the period of performance for the FDA
portion of it. Yeah, we do lose the the 3.5 million. >> So can we look at it as potentially losing 4 million or definitely losing 3.5 million? I can honestly say that if we don't have a funding source to bridge the gap of the project, we are not getting $4
million because you have to match it. >> Yeah. >> And that's what made our our application so strong. >> Without that 5.5 million match, >> we wouldn't have gotten it. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Councilwoman. >> Thank you. I I think that the the goal here is to get the infrastructure done.
It's just a matter of are we borrowing $12 million to do it and identifying these particular projects for the funding of of uh of the loan and or is it unreasonable to delay this for 48
hours compared to closing on the 16th or the 18th after the council meeting once we gather more details. I I don't think it's it's reasonable to say that South State's going to pull the loan commitment uh you know hike up the rate
to a a point of of um of inconsideration um given the circumstances in the market. So I think it behooves us and it's more responsible of us to get the information uh about the grant perhaps
get clarification about the allocation as it and what it does or how it's affected by us entering a loan because I'm not hearing clear answers that if the state sees that we have $12
million or access to $12 million that that doesn't eliminate us like you mentioned needs based. It's not needs based. You wrote the grant, Cyro. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, if that's in writing somewhere, if you could share. >> This is basically the improvements that
will allow for a reduction of contamination to the Biscane Bay aquifer by enhancing the sewer um collection system that in the future we can do more septic to sewer that flows through that backbone. >> And the FDA timeline you said was what?
Did you mention the timeline >> for the FTA? >> FTA? Yeah. >> No, that project is it. The grant doesn't have anything to do with the FDA. They don't know anything. They just base it on on what is it that you want to do in in our case. >> Three million the three and a half million that you're referring to.
>> It was not included in the in the discussion of >> But you mentioned a timeline if >> Oh, the timeline. So the the farthest that we full close out is March of 2028 and that is for this type of construction that we're doing is
tough. It'll be tough. >> So I I think that just to calm the day is we're not talking about if we don't if we don't make this decision tonight, we're going to be in violation of FTA timelines. We're going to be uh losing our loan that's on the deal on the
table. It's high pressure $4 million uh state allocations. Are we done with state appropriations or is there possibly more coming from our lobbyists? >> So the the states is actually in committee stage. Uh the actual session
starts January 13th and uh 60 days after it ends on March 13th. So we still have time. We don't know what's going to come out of it. So, we are optimistic that we're going to get something. >> And I just want to clarify, March of 2028 is full closed out. That means
construction has to be done most likely by November or December 27th, which gives us a very limited construction period. >> I mean, so if we're talking about one, you know, two weeks, one week to two weeks time crunch here can make or break
the future of our infrastructure, then I think there's bigger problems. Um, I I would like to request uh for the council to have more information between now and council meeting with with regards to the
funding that we were just um advised about today and to get clarifications on the uh the needs base versus cash in hand, etc. But just just so that we're all clear,
to my knowledge, the city was not aware that the grant was going to be announced until sometime between 3 and 4:00 yesterday when the manager was invited to to come to the presentation this morning. We had no idea. This is all very coincidental.
I mean, it is tomorrow. So, let me if this p let's let's consider if this passes tonight and new information comes up, would you need a special call to cancel the closing or could that be administrative to delay the closing? For
example, >> if we get if we get additional information that negates the spirits and the action taken by council, definitely we'll come back to council. >> You would have to pull a special call or could it be administrative? Mayor, >> we can do a special call.
We could do that potentially Friday depending upon I mean we all have a lot of activities close by on on Friday if we can get that clarification from from the state. So if if we're going to go forward let
me then ask these questions. I think in light of some correspondence that I became aware of just a little while ago. I think it's important that we put on the record what other alternatives have been proposed and how many units are going to be
enabled to go pull permits inside and outside just outside the city by virtue of taking this step to go forward with the uh with the infrastructure and I whoever would be best to uh I
guess I know for quite some time I I know, Mr. Manager, you've had conversations with various of the interested parties trying to come to a a consensus as to how pump station 11
issues could be resolved and and enable um some of these other units to come on online. That did not come to fruition. But I think it's important that we all understand and the public understands that once this
infrastructure has been approved, how many units can go forward primarily on the far southwest side of the city? I think that's >> so immediately when you consider Homestead Gardens phase two
um what I think should be called Touching Homestead with love and um the Lucy project you're looking at um approximately 200 units. Um >> when you talk about Lucy project, what do you mean?
>> The Lucy project is along Lucy uh and just east of 100. It it borders 187th uh Avenue. Yeah. So >> in reality, Shotgun >> shotgun is uh a little bit farther east and that one would connect to 15 which would also get out of moratorium once we
do the once we bypass right now 11 dumps into 15. If we bypass it as this project would do, >> then the shotgun property could also develop. Right now it can't because of the condition that 15 is a high hours because 11 dumps into the numbers I've heard kicked around
>> with respect to the approvals that exist or are pending within our service area outside the city limits >> plus 400 >> plus the tower commons we're up around 750 total
>> yeah if you yes I was talking about immediate yeah >> 750 apartments and town homes >> town homes and what would be the time frame let's say that we we have this plan and we've committed to go forward. Doesn't that enable each and every one
of those interested parties to go pull permits for Sega argument tomorrow? >> Yeah, for sure. >> Okay. they would be able to the we also have some that um have to go through the uh cost additional cost of installing
septic with the promise that they will convert to to sanitary sewer once it's active and they're made to do the installation >> but I don't think they do that they'd wait for us to catch up but nonetheless oh no we have one right now >> this would enable them to pull permits
and go forward >> and yeah Yeah, >> real honest and transparent about the domino effect of what this entire >> it would be >> conversation is going to engender. >> Yeah, it will be conditional approval
from DURM knowing that we have a plan that is funded and that is uh going forward because home station 11 is not under absolute moratorum. It's under conditional mortorium. Um so but yeah they can continue with the site plan
approval with a building with absolutely everything. >> All right appreciate it. All right council someone want to make a motion on the >> Well we can do that. I let's
take a look at that. Okay. All right. Any further questions or comments from council and I will open it up to uh to public comment. Any public comment? Okay. No one online. Last opportunity here.
Okay. So, I'll close the public comment. We need a motion to go somewhere. >> All right. Move >> with the condition that we receive notice if there's any issues with the grant. >> What would that language look like?
So, you would like this, you would like to approve the item, but instruct staff to bring it back to you if in the intervening time between now and closing for a special call to consider any implications based on information that they may learn the grant may have.
>> Is that is that my understanding of what what the ask is? >> Sounds like it. >> Okay. >> And I'll second. >> All right. So, second by uh Vice Mayor Bailey. So, if there are no further questions or comments, let's have a roll call vote on the approval of the loan.
>> Councilman Cannibal, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilman Ross, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Avula, >> no. >> Councilman Fletcher, >> no. >> Vice Mayor Bailey, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner,
>> no. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. So, with that, my apologies and let's go back to tab one now that our guests of honor are here and we'll uh we'll go back and clean up our business on the remaining tabs after
your your presentation. Welcome. >> I'm going to be happy to give you a quick tour. >> Congratulations. Um, Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, uh, council members, Mr. Manager and staff, uh, Jimmy Morales. I'm the chief operating officer for Miami Day County. Uh the Department of Transportation Public Works is part of
my portfolio. I report directly to the mayor and I know um those of you who know her know she'd love to be here uh and stand before you talking about some of these issues, but asked me to be here to make sure you know that obviously the things we're about to talk about are very much on her radar screen are very
much on our radar my radar screen and we certainly hope uh I know there's been ongoing dialogue, but that this broadens it and makes sure that we are as responsive as we can be. I do want to thank your city manager who I've known a long time. I asked them and they sent me a a more detailed list of some of the issues and um and I provided that to
staff and I know they've put together a PowerPoint and then I'm prepared to uh answer some of the questions that and issues but also be prepared here today to answer questions and take notes and maybe come back and if they don't have answers for those tonight. Um, as you know, we were very fortunate about 7
months ago uh to steal away from the Florida Department of Transportation, Stacy Miller, who had been there pretty most of her career, including uh we all knew her well as district secretary. Uh she oversees both obviously the transportation side, which I know those are some of the concerns, the BRT and
otherwise and traffic civilization, but also the roads, the bridges, and everything having to do with public works. Uh and I know those are issues of concern to you as well. So, um, without any further ado, let me introduce Stacy and have her, uh, say a few words and then introduce, uh, her team over here
who will probably handle the presentation. >> Thank you, Chief Morales. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for accommodating me. I, uh, was a little later than I expected. So, >> so, thank you, uh, for accommodating me. Uh again, Stacy Miller, uh the director
uh for the Department of Transportation and Public Works, Miami date county. As uh Chief Morales mentioned, uh we are here tonight to discuss a variety of different items. Um Ziri was uh kind enough to provide us
with a laundry list of items that he'd like us to discuss. We were obviously prepared to discuss a variety of items beforehand and we've augmented our presentation uh in which to do that. I would like to note that we do have a really good working relationship with the city of Homestead. Our teams work
collaboratively. We have a running list of items that we work on that we uh discuss uh quarterly. So I'm I do want you to note that we are working we have every expectation of running through that list and making sure that we are
addressing your needs. Uh one thing before we get to the presentation I know as part of the presentation Flagler and I believe you just mentioned it right when I walked in um Zary had requested some funds. Actually that project is funded in our program for resurfacing
this fiscal year. So that will be happening relatively soon. So no need to request money from us. We're already going to handle that project this fiscal year. So we're excited to be able to to bring that to you. I have with me today uh Frank Ira who is our assistant
director of traffic services as well as Alex Barios who is our assistant director for construction. Uh Frank will be conducting the presentation, but Alex and I and Chief Morales are here to answer any questions that you may have
afterwards and we're at your disposal. Good evening, council. Uh thank you for your patience. Uh I'm Frank. I am the assistant director in traffic services. I oversee the traffic signals and signs
division. We are I'll move over. I also oversee the road and bridge and canal maintenance group that handles a lot of the potholes and sideway complaints. So, uh we do a lot of work in the city as well as with the city try to coordinate and try to uh handle a lot of the
complaints that come through. Uh for the most part we'll try to take you through what from the traffic signal side that we have been working on within the city and what is the work that's being done with the BRT project.
Okay. Uh within the city what we've had in the last year from the traffic signals and signs and I apologize I keep moving. So, uh, we've had about 873 different work orders that have been opened for work
for to improve signalization within, uh, Homestead. 150 of those approximately come through the 311 application and through the call center. The other 625 were actually produced and created
through the traffic signals and signs teams that come they check the the timing. They come or they get complaints directly from constituents, emails from the that come in through the mayor's office. So, we do have staff that comes
out regularly that do check do do checks within the city to see how the operations are working. We do get direct calls from the public, not just through 311. So in the past year, we've handled about again 873. About 80% of them have
been completed. The ones that haven't completed typically are ones that take longer to be able to close. You know, they are signal retiming. They are requests for signalization. They are requests that are a bit broader and we have to bring in other teams to work
with or it's something that we have to work with with the FD. I can tell you we've also gotten a lot of calls and I'm sure you guys as well for what happens with the BRT and the transit way. Uh at the moment within the city there's about 12 ongoing projects that have been
going on. Uh we have several new intersections. We have a few school flashers that have been ongoing. We've also had some projects with uh developers. There's 12 projects that have been ongoing. We've also had six different retimings of quarters that we
have done in the last uh year to year and a half starting from 2024 through 2025. With retimings, we don't have any necessarily planned out directly. Actually, what we have kind of done for the city of Homestead is we are going to
be looking at all the quarters that run and cross the BRT to see how we ret time all of that to create a better coordination. uh BRT again impacts the adjacent intersections and there is coordination
issues that we're working through that right now but we foresee in the next year that we're going to have to go beyond those to make sure that we're coordinating all the approaches to get across the BRT. So that is part of the plan that we have moving forward. Okay. So with the BRT,
the BRT is obviously, you know, a major investment in by the county. It's the first real big pro project that's been done since the extension of the to the Mick. This is a 20-mile project. It's one of the uh first ones being carried out under the smart program and is
providing 24-hour service along a 20 mile dedicated transit way. Uh right now there's two services that are running on it. the Metro Express as well as the Transit Way local that has a few more stops. Um there are 14
uh express stops that along the way and there's 30 total local stops. Um this was designed or anticipated. The goal was always to have a faster more reliable regional mobility service. uh it was intended and it's con the
conceptual portions behind it is to try to have the buses run as a train without having to stop at all the intersections. Um and you know we're we give each bus a transit signal priority to try to make sure that the buses don't have to slow
down and be able to move people quicker through the corridor and through the all the way up to the dayland south station. Um what we've seen from the beginning once services started one of the things that I think took um everyone by
surprise was demand the demand that that existed for this service. Uh we have seen uh much higher ridership than anyone has anticipated. We've seen uh a growth of almost 2,000 riders compared to the uh previous express routes. Um,
so far we've gotten good reviews on the stations, the the buses, just the overall experience. That doesn't mean there hasn't been any hiccups, but for the most part, the feedback that we've been receiving on the services has been
um positive. The department did put out ambassadors to try to educate people, give them information, flyers, and get a lot of feedback. And and that feedback has been quickly addressed. We've done a lot of small improvements to try to help
riders. Uh and the afternoon and the off peak time travel times are within the goals that were always established. But again, we are seeing this system work in its infancy and we're cleaning it up and
moving forward. The project is still with the design build firm. They are still working on this project. So, for the most part, transit and even traffic signals and signs, we are giving uh recommendations where, you
know, they've let us into the kitchen while they're cooking and they're taking our advice, but for the most part, we still can't stick our hand in the pot. So understand that we are trying to make improvements while they're working without trying to throw off their project and impeding them from crossing
their finish line which again hopefully the project is is anticipated to complete the complete uh major work is supposed to finish by the end of this month but then you have a couple of months of cleanup and punch list items that they're going to be cleaning up.
uh what we've seen with preBRT and postBRT, the biggest thing that we've kind of seen that's really again impacted how this project started from design concept to where we are in delivering this is there's been a large
increase in demand. We are seeing more buses than what we anticipated both in local buses as well as what we see for the uh the metro express. The demand has increased the number of buses that have to be on there. Again, the moment you
have more buses, you have more preeemptions and more signal priorities that are that impact how the signals all work. And to be brief on how the signals work, we try to coordinate the two and three signals that are next to with the transit way. We try to have a
coordinated movement. However, when the bus says, "I'm coming," everyone else has to stop and let the bus come. So, it starts to throw off that process. And there's a lot of little iterations that go into that process. You know, when does it call for the preeemption? What's
happening when the preeemption is coming? And how do you come back to service? So, those are a lot of the things that we have to continue to work on and that may take a little longer to to clean up, you know, as we um go through it and see how
we fine-tune it, how we get it to work better, how we um accommodate the number of buses and travelers that are on the bus way, as well as the traffic, the increased demand that we're seeing trying to cross the BRT. Uh we have been working with Homeston for a
few years even before the BRT. We know that traffic has been growing within the city. The city has seen growth of its own. You have more developers and you have more developers coming. We have plans with developers that I think they're going to be introducing another five signals in the next year. And
again, signals are there for safety, but they do add delay and interruptions. They are the referee of the road trying to make sure there's no conflict, but they're there to try to help move people and we try to time them to help move people along. But listen, a signal
ultimately in order for there to be safety, there's going to be some delay and we try to minimize the overall impact. So, we're trying to work through these with everyone. Uh, from what we've seen, I know the city has kind of grown by almost 32% from what we see over the
last turn 13 years. Uh, and it's not just Homestead. We've seen Florida City grow by almost 60%. Uh, the county overall has grown almost by 300,000 people, almost a 15% growth in this in the county. And again, we are trying to
move people within the capacity that we have. Signals are there to for safety, but we try to coordinate and try to move people safely at the same time and efficiently and effectively. As I said, construction on the project is supposed to be completed by the end of 2025.
Uh we're hoping to be able to start and continue to optimize the signals and adjust them to support the revenue service. We also have the South Day Transit Operation Center that'll be coming online early early in the new year. Um and and so we also understand and the
total number of signals that this project has impacted or touched or have the contractor has had to do work on is 112 signals over a 20 mile project within city of Homestead that's actually impacting about 28 different signals
just along the transit way. the ever and every signal. It's not that there's just one timing plan. On average, our timing our signals have about 16 to 17 different timing plans that take part that go into effect at
different times of the day on the different days of the week. So, you know, in the mornings you have a early morning timing, you have a pre-m morning peak timing, you have the morning peak timing, you have the postmorn morning t and it goes like that throughout the day. So, every time you start making
adjustments, there is a an impact. You have to work through all of those to make sure that you're moving the traffic in the direction it's going. Obviously, in the morning, there's more south northbound traffic. In the afternoon, there's more southbound traffic. So we try to coordinate that and we try to
move it through again a lot of signals and we try to work with a lot of parties the highways and such so that we can move people effectively through the network of roads that we have in the county. We partner a lot with the FDOT and the Florida Turnpike Authority to make sure that we try to integrate our
corridors and our network so that we are able to move people especially as we come further south. um issues that we've had within the bus sway. Uh
we've seen a lot of locations. One, there's some that are just there's delay just because of the volume that we have to start working on. Sometimes where we have volume problems like on 296th Street, that's a quarter issue. There's about five five intersections that we
have to work through. Uh some of them are longerterm fixes because you have to increase the capacity, but for the most part, we're trying to work within what we have to try to improve the use of the existing capacity. 280th and 288th, we've s we've seen that there is
congestion from multiple directions. We've seen on 30 on 304 and 308 street, there's actually been malfunctions in the equipment. We've made adjustments to try to improve its operations or we've recommended a lot of adjustments. Uh
there's been a lot of work that's gone into it. You know, we we're seeing that there's improvements that we're working on on on the on the preeemption activations on how those work uh on the sequencing between the gates and also on the clearance times after the gates and before the gates come down. We're it's a
lot of finetuning that we're trying to work through, a lot of moving parts. Uh, one thing we have seen that we've been able to clean up a lot is there was a lot of testing and a lot of pre-re before the service started, we were still running buses and
operating them and trying to move them as well as testing everything at the same time all within the same element. One thing we've been able to do is is start cleaning up a lot of the remnants that stay behind. there's always a setting uh uh a logic statement or
something that stayed behind when they went into revenue service that they didn't clean out and we're starting to see those and we've been able to find them and clean them out which has cleaned up some of the problems that we see. Uh but again there's also things that the contractor and the designers uh
started down a path on. Uh we again we have our thoughts. We believe certain things may be able to be done a little bit more elegantly, but we're not in a position where we can pull that string yet because again, if we pull that string, we might unravel their project and much more complicated situations
arise. So, we need them to finish so that we can kind of come in and I don't want to say we break it and then we fix it as opposed to, you know, uh breaking it while they think they're still working on it. Um some a summary of the improvements
that we've kind of completed. uh you know there's been additional buses that have been added for the Metro Express. Uh they've also deployed a strategy where if buses are crowding early uh a lot there's a lot of crowd a lot of
demand from 344 street. So as buses move north they were finding that they didn't have the capacity to pick up more more passengers. So they've actually added more buses standby within the corridor. that again good ideas sometimes show up
and un the unintended consequence that come with them. We started finding where they were parking the buses. The buses were actually calling the signals. So we were having ghost busts but for the most part we were working through that. We've identified a number of those. We've been able to find it. We're we're finding
better positioning and and um uh staging areas for the buses and we're working through those issues that come up with that. And it's a good problem. I think that if we have enough demand that we have to add more buses. Now I come down the back
end. We're going to have to add the s we have to rightsize the system and balance it out so that it actually handles the additional buses and everything else. We are learning this. It's going to be a continuous process. Hopefully it is a
process that ultimately leads that there are so many buses that this system has to be we revisit the issue that originally came up whether it should be a train or a bus. I think the main question behind it was wrership and if the wrership is there and ultimately we
end up evolving this system the way it's hope hopefully done you know that's that's I think the goal for all of us. So, where are we and where are we going in the next couple of months? Well, in the short term, probably for the next three or months, three three months or
so, we need to get the project closed out. We need the contractor to finish their portion, pass their testing, and let us come in and start um making improvements where again, they've reached the point where
they've done their work, they want to get graded on their homework before going back and revising and doing their edits. Well, we we want them to move on so we can go in and do those edits. We need again, we want them to move on. We want to be able to continue to
evaluate the operations, figure out how we clean up some of the outstanding items. There's items again that we can recommend but they are holding off on certain recommendations simply because again it is something that can unravel
or open a Pandora's box of issues and again it can delay them finishing. So they want to finish, get graded on what they're doing so that we can move on and kind of come in beyond it. Midterm, which is probably the 3 to 8 months that you kind of see. It's not
really long term, but once we've taken it over, we're looking at being able to balance out the system properly, balance these preemptions versus what the demand is, making sure that the bus operations and the signal operations are better harmonized and balanced.
um you want to rightsize that operations. We also want to review the technology that's been put in place. Our experiences with traffic signals and dealing with this industry, there's always power and and abilities within
the technology that most contractors since they're not familiar with it, they're just implementing it. They don't always uh implement the full power of a system that's that's come online. We believe that the preeemption system
that exists that they have deployed has a lot more power than they've actually touched upon. But again, they they they're to the point where they want to finish. They don't want to experiment, if you want to say it, call it that way. But I think once they're out of the way, we can experiment more and really use
that power and really benefit the system overall. Um just and then beyond that again the bus way is going to be continuing evolution. We believe there's always going to be better technology that we're going to see how we implement it even as
we deploy the the countywide ATMS project which we terminated Unix from about a year and a half. We have Econolite back on board or the econolite technologies are coming on board. We believe we're making a good choice on
softwares that go with it. Those systems also bring in additional power that will allow us to implement other strategies with the signalization from adaptive to u traffic responsive uh technologies that are exist within those the application of AI is coming on board to
be able to assist within these applications. So we think in the long term there's a a lot of technology that can ultimately lead to a much more efficient and effective system and again hopefully it's so effective that we draw
the writership and we ultimately need to go to the next level of transportation. Uh the other issues that that we received uh that series uh shared with us, one is obviously the signal uh
synchronization, but I know someone I think brought up a concern over the signal head displays that occur at the bus way. Uh throughout the busway, you're going to find that the far side signals are always programmable heads. Those pro those are called programmable
heads because they limit the vision, your ability to see them until you're up at a closer distance. That is a safety feature that gets put in place when signals are so closely spaced so that you don't confuse drivers with two different displays, you know, because you can see both signals from a a
farther distance. There's a number of locations we have seen that they still have to be added because you have multiple displays that people can see while they're driving up. So you people are seeing a red behind a green behind another red and a green in between it and it throws it creates
confusion and you want to avoid that confusion especially late at night. The especially when people been out, they've been drinking, they are not as uh attentive or not as familiar with the area. you need that additional safety to
not confuse drivers and you want to be uh again as safe as possible for the conditions that occur. Uh we also had a question uh I think uh they sent it that councilwoman uh Avala
had requested uh signalization at water stone and 137th from what when we've talked with traffic engineering there was two different studies before one of them was that I think on waterstone there was a demand but that's a private road they weren't able to pull data from there but I think the concern now has
been the the uh traffic on 137 is creating problems for people entering and exiting. There is a study that's going to be happening. There is a data collection period set up for later this month once school has stopped and there should be a uh an a reevaluation of the
warrants for the traffic that that recommendation may come out early next year. Okay. A the other one I think is a concern with the pedestrian crossing outside just outside from here to the university uh to the college. Uh I think the team
has been communicating with with the city. I think there's uh more information that has to be shared. I think one of the concerns it's it's close location to the transit way and what would be the control device whether it's just going to be a regular marked crosswalk with with uh crosswalk
warnings if there's a request for a signal if there's uh flashing beacons that need to put be put in place. I think that's that is where the concern comes. Again, just it's proximity to the to the transitway and all the other signals. It's just something else that
would need to be coordinated. Pedestrian signals typically we try to coordinate them, but for the most part, pedestrian signals are on demand. They press a button. You don't want people waiting so long that they get impatient and they cross into the street anyway. You want to be able to service pedestrian
crossing in a very effective and efficient manner without them having to wait a very long time. So you got to make sure we are able to coordinate that and function properly with how the transit way is especially if we're already having delays in crossing the transit way. You're just adding another
factor that can add a little bit more delay. So I think it's a conversation that we're having. Um but again county FL and many others we have prioritized pedestrian safety. So we believe that if
it is required and needed absolutely it should go in place. The question is how do we best implement that and make sure that you know you also don't want to frustrate drivers so much that they're going to ignore a signal or impact a pedestrian.
Look a car with a bus people will survive. pedestrian with a car that's a whole different story. So, we want to make sure we take the proper precaution with that. Uh there was an as a question regarding the red speed permitting and a
requirement that has come up with something that's called the mash testing. It's actually the manual for assessing safety hardware. Mesh testing replaced the previous testing that was in the Florida Green Book, which was the NCHIP 350 standard,
which pretty much assesses what happens when there's a car accident with a device. You know, how does it break off? How does it fall? How does it tumble? You know, you know, what is the impact to the driver when he hits a uh one of these structures? How does it impact
whether it goes through the windshield? does it you know how do there is actual testing for all of that. So this has been a standard that's been in place since 2016 for the most part uh most designs are typically uh standard.
So the match testing applies for various type standards. What we have seen with the Redspeed system is they introduced new a new number of cameras and solar panels that differentiate what they were using as opposed to what you see with a regular signal pedestal
or a pedestrian pedestal. And so they've from the county standpoint and even in our coordination with the FDOT uh testing label in in Tallahassee, they've indicated yes, all these devices need to
go through this. Uh when Red Speed came in and it was being negotiated, they were aware of this. Uh it's part of the standard that was approved by the FDOT. Uh so it was always required from the very beginning. They were aware of it. They've been working on it. Uh I think
some of the early designs that they did were not necessarily passing the way it needed to but they we are aware where they are working on it. Um and then the last one I think there were some questions on the general street maintenance. Uh Flaggler was
brought up. We have been uh working with the city uh pretty well. Uh even more recently there was a the a former super uh supervisor that that comes from our road bridge and canal maintenance Mr. Harrington was hired by the city and he has all our numbers and who to call and
how to get us out there and he has been very effective in doing that. So, we have worked closely with him uh trying to address a lot of the sidewalk issues that he brings up and a lot of the pothole issues. But again, we are always open to work with with the city uh and
try to respond quickly to issues uh within what we're capable of doing. Okay. So, I don't know if you have any questions. >> Well, first let me and to Mr. Morales and Miss Miller and and Mia and everyone
who came down, I want to thank you and welcome you here and um appreciate the update. you know, understand that I think it's safe to say that for those of us in vehicles, the delays at every
intersection at the the bus way are our foremost traffic complaint right now. It's not capacity of roads, it's not conditions of roads, it's delay, delay, delay at all times of of of day. And uh
I know you all understand how frustrated I was and I hope I was well representing my community in passing on the level of beyond frustration that uh you know it seemed that you know nothing was happening. It appears that there is a
little bit of of improvement at at this point. It may be due to folks not going to school or going to work during the week of Thanksgiving. We're going to have some downtime in the in the coming weeks, but the proof's going to be in the pudding. But my takeaway here, you
talk about in the next one to three months, the issues will be resolved. Don't take this personally, but when the county tells me 1 to 3 months, that usually means a year. I don't know if our people are are
gonna, you know, they'll be here with pitchforks and and torches. >> No. And and I understand >> we need to see real progress. >> And so you understand and here in Homestead, we even from the beginning of service, we have been focusing in this
area primarily. There's already been a litany of improvements or or recommendations made at about 28 signals. We have seen improvements on some and there's been improvement period across the board to the extent of the improvement. There's always work to be
done. We do know that there's still more again longerterm repairs and fixes that have to be done. There's work that has to be done with the FDOT on US1 to increase the throughput because it's not just sometimes the bus way. What we've started seeing is there's backups from
US1 that are touching the busway that now impact everything else and you almost start to gridlock the system. But again, there is a limit to what we can do with FD. Uh some things are a little harder lift that have to be done. But we are recognizing and trying to one
mitigate it as best we can in the short term knowing that there's still going to be a longer term fix. But in Homestead since there started new programmings and that retimings have started since early November, as early as November 7th,
there were some retimings that went into place. Again, not everything works this first time. We have to come back and find the other problem that's creating an issue and we've gone cleaning those up. Uh so a lot of things did go in. We did have a team that's we have a team that continues to come and evaluate
what's been going on in Homestead. Um and it's not just Homestead. I I I want to make sure we understand it's Florida City and even some of the signals that are outside of the city because they all affect you. It's not like people in Homestead only use the Homestead roads to get out. They use other roads and
again it starts to uh impact all of it. We are aware and we have been working on it. Um I invite all of you to come visit the traffic control center. Uh Councilwoman Ava paid us a visit. Uh hopefully we were able to show her that hey look we have a team that continues
to look we have certain capabilities to see what's going on. We go and we test the you know corrections and we put it in place and at the moment we there is a middleman and the contractor saying yeah I'm going to do this. No I'm not. Uh they have been cooperative. I I can give
them that they they've cooperated us to try to help us move everyone because again they also want to deliver a system that works for everyone. Uh, we want to make sure that people get as good a service as they can.
What I'm trying to tell you is it may not be perfect. We're going to keep working at it and we do foresee it being much better as we continue to move forward. >> Thank you again. Thank you for coming down. Councilwoman, Vice Mayor, you >> sure?
>> Thank you, Mayor. Definitely. Thank you for being here. Um, I have a little bit of a personal story. So, I was first elected in 2016, and my very first official field trip was to go out to North Cali and Washington to see how some of these really impressive BRT
stations moved. I appreciate all the information, but at the same time, you're not inventing a wheel. These are things that are working well in other areas. I do not understand how there's no formula or consultants
you can work with. 304 and 308. You you mentioned that is my bus. That is my drive every day going along the bus route to drop my two children off. Drop them off in the morning, pick them up in the afternoon. I have to deal with it twice. There is absolutely for me no
excuse of how lights can be red with traffic in all four areas on multiple occasions. If it takes someone an entire week to figure out one of the intersections, you got to do that. If if you drove that
every day, you would you would understand the frustration. There's no other way to go um to be able to get to certain areas in our city and to not be able to have the right consultant to figure out what the
formula is, I don't understand. It's been long enough. I understand there's a bunch of moving parts that is way above my wheelhouse. But that piece with the signal with the signals, buses are stopped. Cars going this way are stopped. Coming this way
are stopped for minutes. It's it is com for me. I'm sure I know I understand it's a lot but for me that piece the signaling there is a consultant out there that can help you guys fix this faster and please
>> find him or her >> okay and and that's and I'm not going to disagree with you because they are >> we are and we have to understand where we are in the stage in this project >> contractor has put forth an effort they
need to finish they want to they they want to finish their part and say look we this was our our belief of what would work. It may not be working perfectly, but I need you to grade my paper so that we can move on and then we can come in
and start making uh the more wholesale changes that have to 308. 308 is one of them where US1 plays a big part because you have a lot of backup and uh from US1 that starts to impact the signal on the
busway and even on Flaggler. Um it's it's these little nuances that trust me, my team is biting at the bit. They know they cannot touch it yet because again somebody else is cooking
the plate. We can't add we can't add the spices that need that we believe need to be added. But >> it's not it's not Homestead and luckily I don't have to go that far. But 288 is also >> So, a couple quick quick little questions just to throw out there that
that I didn't think of earlier. Um, when it comes to repairs in the fence, obviously there are areas where people get out and that's a very common place that you want to take that next road over that's way down from where they can exit the bus exit. Does that make sense?
There's >> people that are using the bus way. If you send us any locations where the fencing is broken, we can repair them. Absolutely. >> So, I appreciate the repairs, but have you ever considered if that is somewhere that it's going to continuously be broken down to to put some type of gate
or would that not >> uh that would take a more active traffic study. You also want to see the tech the connectivity of to where they're going and what they're going to cross. You also want to make sure that whatever it is and and I know even with the college at one point there was a discussion of they had an opening that allowed them to
cross and there was a uh marked uh u a uh a marked crossing but it wasn't signalized. They wanted to signalize it but that again that just becomes a more complication to the operation and that effort start came in after the busway already was under design. So there's
things that we can revisit after to see how we make it and how we do it so that it is one a safe crossing and an effective and efficient crossing. >> Okay. >> Problem sometimes with crossings is people don't cross the crosswalk. They cross wherever they find it or they see a bus coming, they run across places. It
is a challenge. Uh but it's something that we hope to be able to get to and and address. >> Okay. And then the last uh the last question was um we have especially in those intersections a lot of people taking you know either taking the red or
just thinking that they can make it on the yellow and that the cars will continue going but they just end up completely stacked in the intersection. Do you ever do just like a painted area that is a reminder that says do not block? But we are actually exploring
that time uh at each signage as well as possibly pavement markings that would say don't block the box. It's something that's being discussed um to see how we can address that. We're also hoping to see again not that we want to have enforcement giving out tickets to enforce don't block the box. Um but uh
at one point we're trying to educate folks, get people used to how it works. Again, there's steps that we want to make sure we clean it up as best as possible before anything that may be punitive to other people were were to take place. >> Okay. Well, again, thanks for being here
and I hope to get reexited about the BRT because I was all about the electric, you know, the electric buses, higher ridership, make the rest of the traffic a little less in the city. So, thank you for being here and I hope to see a big difference soon. >> Absolutely.
>> Thank you, sir. >> Councilwoman Abala. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you to Director Stacy Miller, to Frank. Thank you for the tours of the uh bus control center and the traffic management center. It really was eyeopening and I came in
feeling like I knew everything and then I left like, wow, super impressed. There's so many um um incredible employees that are part of making traffic work in Miami Date County. uh the engineers, the uh the crew on the
ground and um and of course the leadership and uh you're in a very tough spot. There's a lot of criticism uh but there's so much potential and a lot of progress has been made so far. And uh while while I was there and I was bringing up these critical points in our
in our um traffic, you were mentioning some immediate uh repairs that had been done to software to locations and I was able to confirm and notice significant improvement where the traffic just flowed. you know, going through what
we've been going through for the last year and then seeing the flow of traffic happening like there's dopamine effect right there like wow this is actually getting fixed and it was um a relief to say the least. So I appreciate the work that you're doing. I I I know that it
isn't it it is due to the efforts of this council and our and our management for uh being a very squeaky wheel and making sure that you hear us and you hear us loud that we do need the relief. And um I do look forward to the transitioning happening so you can take
that full control and and accountability for the continued work that needs to get done and hopefully expediting the uh the tweaks that need to happen to to make the system run smoothly. I was unpressed to find out about the 4 a.m. bus
schedule that's coming out of South Dade uh and the increase in ridership and that this uh BRT system is meant to convert to a light rail in the future. Uh I don't know how long that'll take and whether or not when that ever does
become a possibility if we really want that with all the uh changes to driver behavior and the crossings that'll have to happen. But it's it's definitely forward thinking and it's uh a testament to the um our our mayor at the moment
who is uh really being criticized uh for for this project. But the future as you mentioned, vice mayor, if we could have effective transportation, it's really doing an efficient transportation. It's really doing a service to all of us here
in South Dade. Um there were some items that came up in our in our um discussions about the traffic currently prioritizing or having been developed to prioritize north and south movement. So given the current uh situations and and
the you know the light coming to the east and west um traffic jams, can we prioritize the east and west movement now versus north and south? Yeah, and I think that was one of the discussions that came up in in our conversations that that's the observations our engineers are coming
across. Also, um again, we need partners in that uh the FD and this contractor to finish so that we can realign the operation so that the signals function and coordinate more east west u because for right now they've been primarily
been north south. >> Correct. So that was enlightening to me as well that our traffic patterns and design have been predominantly north and south, but now is the time to to maybe shift that focus. So I look forward to hearing about that. Um I encourage you to um to work with our
staff and our our management to develop like a task force here where we can continue data sharing. Uh, I was impressed to hear about how the 311 reports come in, how they're addressed, how they're uh, filtered to the
appropriate parties, and that they actually receive call backs. So, constituents get a call back from the department when they're working on an item. Um, we're not seeing those reports. I would be interested in knowing what's coming out in terms of
complaints uh from constituents within the city of Homestead and knowing what uh work orders are being um um initiated because of those u calls and the turnaround times and for those
repairs. So that would be good to know. Um, with regards to evaluating the retiming of those intersections and those adjacent uh, traffic lights, how soon can we have
those um, evaluations conducted, for example, at 304th and 308 where we're having in 296, although that's outside the city limits and it's affecting us, how quick can we have those intersections re-evaluated for retiming on the adjacent or How better yet, because I know you've
you've already kind of started that. How frequent can we continue to look forward to having those re-evaluations done? Can we have maybe maybe this will be part of the task force, can we have development services uh reporting, you know, as cos come online because we'll approve projects, but then maybe they don't get
built, maybe it takes forever to get built and as cos come out, new developments, that should trigger new uh evaluations or what is the process if that doesn't if it's not like that? Typically, when you have when you have a new development, I'll just talk to
process. Typically, when you have a new development that they're introducing a signal into a corridor, u signals are based, our our signal system is based on coordinated sections, meaning anywhere from four to 10 intersections are
coordinated. Four to 10 intersections usually cover easily a mile to a mile and a half to two miles. So, it it stretches. So the coordinated section especially in urban areas signals are more closely spaced as opposed to every
half mile but so you have closer spacing when someone is coming in either because there's a safety project or there's a development that's going to require a signal when we get the it's called a controller timing request. The developer
says, "Hey, listen. I'm putting this in. How are you going to time counting? How are you timing this in coordination with everyone else?" Our team goes in, starts with a baseline coordination plan for that signal, but then takes a look at how the adjacent ones all kind of
interact because now you've added a delay in that coordinated section. So, you have to take that in account within the coordinated section. So, there is there is work that occurs on the other ones. In any case, for the most part, it's we
try to come back to corridors. If nothing has happened, every four to five years, we try to come back to see, you know, how's it working, how's it functioning. There's places in the county that nothing else changes. So, the coordination patterns pretty much stay the same. There may be some
adjustments based on now you you're adding pedestrians, you're adding, you know, something else is adding demand. So you you may modify it a little bit, but for the most part, most signal patterns stay kind of true to themselves. But every four to 5 years, we try to come back, revisit it,
especially if there's also been other coordinations that have occurred on nearby corridors so that you know we continue the pattern forward. So, every four to five years and and the example you were giving were specific to a new light coming in according to a
development, but there are plenty of um projects that come in that >> uh whether it's residential or not that don't trigger a new traffic light. Do we have do we know when's the last time there was a an evaluation to Homestead?
>> Yeah, we we we had we in the last year to two years starting in 2024. What I have on our list is there's I think six quarters that have been rettimed. >> Very good. Okay. And if we can make sure we share the those corridors with staff,
that way we can um have that that data. Um one busway intersection or um one area that I think is really important and priority overall. I know we spoke about 304 and 308 which impacts, you know, me as well. So I I
drive it morning and night. Um, but the police station is placed uh west of the of Chrome Avenue and when they come out to do a call, if they're coming from the station itself, they're hitting two traffic jams from the
station on Chrome and I think that's second >> and then on uh Washington and and second or Flaggler right there. Right. Right. Coming out. That that is um so important for emergency vehicles to be able to get
through from the west side to the east side. Uh and vice versa. What is the county's um emergency override protocol? Is there um an option that you can work with with the with the police department to make sure they can get through those intersections quickly
and safely? And by the way, I credit you because that was a great observation and we hadn't even I don't think our you surprised the entire team because I don't think we we had that on our map. But uh as we kind of explained right now we do have uh signal preeemptions that
are push button based at fire stations. Uh even some county police stations up in the northern end of the county. uh when there's an emergency, they press the button and it gives them a
a preemptive path through a program series of of intersections. We do that again a lot with fire departments so that they can get out and move. Um we typically sit down with them to make sure what the capability is that they have, what's the infrastructure that
exists to be able to do that. But yeah, we can sit down with the city of Homestead uh police department and try to create a plan for them to be able to move across the bus way. Bus way again gets complicated because we're still trying to figure it out. We don't want to break what they've done so far. We'll
break it after they've given it to us, but for the most part, yes, we we can come up with a strategy. >> Thank you. >> Be help the police department. >> Thank you. So, we'll add that to the action item for for staff and PD to work on. Um,
I think the display heads, the ones that you can't see beyond the one, >> I don't know anybody that likes those. And and um, you know, in the situation where we have that Christmas tree effect, green light, red light, green light, we it's we want to be able to see
if the light after the green is green or red, right? So, you're going and then you're thinking you're going to get a green, but then you get a red instead. And you don't know until you're really close. That's that's a challenge. And I I know that there's a method to that madness, but or a reasoning to it, but I don't know anybody that likes it. So, if
there's a petition to go around where we can eliminate those in Helmstead, I'll I'll sign that one. Um the And keep in mind, you do that so you can coordinate them as opposed to them having to work together. meaning either they have to be red together or green together as opposed to you get the you're green
first. >> Yeah. >> And then as you approach you get the next green or so you can move through. U mostly it's done for safety. Uh the accidents that occur when people and again uh it's some somewhat is carelessness. There's other factors that
play a part that they say well I saw a green light behind it and they took the red that was in front of and serious consequences happen. So, uh, >> hope is that we we we keep
>> that we make the situation safe and, you know, sometimes we do have to reprogram. They do move because of the wind and the visibility is impacted, but we we if you're having a problem, we can always go back out and make sure they're properly aligned. >> Okay. And and also like the brightness of it, even when you can't see it, it's
still dim. >> Yeah. Because it's like a lens that's meant to dim it. And then I I understand exactly what you're saying, but uh sometimes we're limited in what we can do. >> Thank you. Speaking about the crosswalks, um we do need a flashing
beacon at the crosswalk that exists uh on Kingman uh right behind the Oasis Public Plaza. So, if we can um add that to the list manager and then um at the cyber and the
Homestead Police Department, we've requested a crosswalk there. I haven't uh seen any progress on that report. Do you happen to have that on a list somewhere near anybody? Don't worry, but we we I can get definitely get back to you. >> Thank you. And then um in Malibu in in
my district um crossing from the north side of Campbell Drive to the south side of Campbell Drive near the school, Waterstone Charter School, there's a a demand for a um a flashing crosswalk there as well.
So if we can please have those considered and I want to thank you very much for running that traffic study again for the Waterstone community. Uh there is a petition going around near nearing 450 signatures. So I hope those engineers agree with the residents of my
district that we need one there, but if not, we'll we'll keep trying. We'll keep pushing. >> Thank you. And I have seen significant improvement on potholes. So I don't know if I have to thank our city staff for filling those potholes or the county, but keep it up.
>> All the above. Thank you for for focusing on those. Um I was the issues have we've been living in this issue in these issues and this chaos for quite some time. Um and it was really enlightening to to see that there is a
separation between the busway project specifically and then what we're experiencing as ancillary or or uh um side effects of the busway project. But those are two separate issues. the timing of the lights is is complicated in and of itself and that's
an ongoing thing and I think it's really important especially now that we continue to maintain the communication lines open and that we have that relationship because it almost feels like for the last year and a half two years although we've been living through the chaos of the construction and the
implementation that communication hasn't been flowing both ways. Um and so thank you for being here tonight. Thank you again uh to the director for making it a priority, for listening to us, for reacting to our concerns, and I'm seeing
the the effects of that. So, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you and to continue to communicate. All right, I'll rest there. >> Thank you, Council Ross. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh again, thanks for for being here and sharing those thoughts with us. Um just some
observations. I've my office sits on the corner of Flaggler and Campbell Drive, 312 Street. Um those three lights, more so the Flagler light and the busway light seem to
always be opposite of each other causing backups sometimes all the way to US1 or beyond US1 going east. Uh, the new thing I've noticed there is that as the Flaggler light changes to red,
those that are approaching it from the east to the west are blocking the north south uh traffic pattern. So, the people that are sitting there waiting for that light to change north and south can no longer get through the intersection. So, I think somebody mentioned that that there
needs to be a do not block type signage put up in that area. The other thing I notice, uh, occasionally you'll be sitting at, and I'll use 308 street as an example, coming east, and multiple
buses are coming through there and triggering before the lights will change. So, in other words, a bus will come through, arms go up, another bus approaches, they go right back down. So, I'm not sure who's watching the staggering of the
buses and which buses actually trigger the arms to control traffic heading east and west. Um, those are the things that I noticed there. Um there was uh a time where I had to actually call the city
manager that the light on the busway at Flaggler and the busway. Those lights stayed red heading east west for 30 minutes. They never changed and eventually HPD came out and apparently they had a key to the
box and they were able to reset it. Um, I don't know how you avoid those problems in the future, but I would think that those things could selfcheck and self-evaluate themselves as well that something's wrong right with that that that particular light uh at that
intersection. um the way the lights um when you approach the lights, I forgot what the what the term was, but they're dimmer in the front and they change. That intersection at 312 and Flaggler has had I think more accidents
in that area because of that because you can't see what you're coming into. In other words, you're coming through that first light at first a and you're thinking that the light's going to be green, but it's red and the north south traffic is flowing and that's when you have a collision there. So, um, it's
gotten better over time, but I think I can agree with my colleague and may maybe others that those lights, I think, create more havoc than a safety thing because you are anticipating
a green behind the green. And a lot of cases at Flagger, we have first the busway in in Flagler. A one's red, one's green, and one's red. And the one that's green is the one that is keeping everybody from going because the one to
the west of it is red. So there's some signalization or some synchronization there that is really not good there. And that that's a hard intersection because there's three lights. Bang bang bang. you know, 11th Street, which is 308 Street, um,
it gets so bad there that, you know, especially during peak times when the schools are coming out and the buses are moving around and it just be creates a whole lot of craziness there at Old Dixie and and 11 Street. So I I remember
during construction time we had issues on Campbell again and um they told me that they they didn't synchronize the US1 light with first uh first stab I think it is and then the busway and Flaggler and I thought that was kind of
a strange thing too that they they all should kind of work in coordination with each other. If traffic is flowing, it should flow. If it doesn't, then it stops because it'll be backed up from US1 west all the way to the busway and beyond. And sometimes it goes all the way to Chrome Avenue. So, I'm not sure
why that's happening either. So, I mean, I'm sure these are all simple things to to fix in in the future. Um, I'm I'm shocked that you don't have any control of the lights along the busway and um
all of these intersections. These guys aren't building lights anymore. They're I don't even know what they're out there doing because I don't see anybody working anymore out there. So, I think you said you're being they're going to turn this over to you January 1st, >> right? >> First, they should it's pencils down and
then they go into punch list before final acceptance testing, >> right? But I mean, at this point, they should be able to turn over the the the signalization. And I'm not sure I'm not sure if they're they're not scheduling the buses or when the buses are are are in route. But I think that stagger the
staggering of them is going to help also because when you sit at a light and it comes down and goes back up and comes right back down again, that's not good. I mean, they shouldn't be that close together, I don't think. Um, I don't know how many buses are riding from Florida City to US1 that have to go a
different route off of the bus way. The way I understood the bus way was going to be strictly from moving people from Florida City to to Dayland and back to Florida City and they can get off along the way obviously. Um so I don't know how many buses run that way and and
curiosity to me was the wrership you mentioned too is I I don't see a lot of people on the buses to be honest with you especially at night time. um you can see inside of those buses at night because of the lights inside the buses and I don't see a lot of people riding the buses. So, I'd really like to see
what that that that that the um passenger account really looks like. Um because I'd rather move from this to light rail or rail or overhead rail in the next 15 to 20 years so that as much building is going on down here and you
mentioned it, Florida City has increased their residency capacity by 60%. >> That's huge. And that affects all of our roadways throughout the city of Homestead. It affects our police department with demand for, you know,
accidents, 17s, whatever you call them, um, along the way. So, I don't want to beat the horse, you know, that's dead already, but and I appreciate you coming down and I appreciate Mia and the staff from the county from coming down here and listening to us. I think the last
time we had a stab at these people was when Carlos Jimenez came to our place and said, "We'll promise to have the bus way up by 2022." Well, here it is, 2020, almost six, and it's still not completed, but it is what it is. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, council
Fletcher. >> Yes. Thank you, uh, all for coming down and providing us information. As you can see, there's a lot of data here. Um, is there a way we might be able to get like a one sheeter with highlights on it that we might be able to provide our residents and like a mail out to
give them like a progress report of what's going on and what we're addressing? >> We can get you the information. I don't know if >> it's going to be a one sheet or not. You know, >> really small font, but yeah, we we can try to get the information and if you have specific intersections that you
want us to send you that report, I can definitely cut it back down. So, I'm going to be a little selfish here. >> Homestead has five major intersections that we need to focus on. You know, that's 15th Street, 11th Street,
Campbell Drive, Chrome, and Bowery. Um, observation. I'm sorry. You probably heard my phone go off and said this way. I just wanted to check how long it would take me to get from here to my house, which is 3.4 miles. Said 14 minutes. I used to do that in five.
Yeah, that's that's wishing for for good fortune in the future. But um I sat today and I watched two buses come one right behind the other through the intersection and they were through the intersection and the gates went back
down and there was no buses coming the other way. Do they have like a signal item on the buses that that causes the gates to go down? >> Yes. >> There should be signaling for it. The gates are are pre are there's a device on the bus that tells it within a
certain geo fence typically anywhere thousand feet away that it's coming and the gates should start. That doesn't mean we don't find >> Yeah. So maybe the directional anomaly when they get through the intersection may be causing them to go back on. Just something to take a look at.
>> Uh I appreciate my colleagues uh bringing up the issue with uh public safety. um wanted to look if maybe we could get those preeemption repeaters and patrol cars and fire rescue vehicles down the road. I know it's not something that's going to happen overnight. It's
probably quite expensive, but something to think about. Um I was having a conversation with somebody the other day and I I basically said, you know, I want three things for Homestead, more jobs, a Fina hotel, and the rail. and he told me, "Well, I can hold my
breath on two of those, and I don't think rail was one of them, >> but um what is the threshold for moving to a rail system? How many buses is it going to take before we move to >> outside my area of expertise, so I don't know how to answer that one?
>> Nobody in the county has looked further down the road to try and figure that out." >> Just thinking out loud. There's others there's others that have that do work more closely with the FDA and their requirements. But >> so that might be something that if if you could provide some insight to us so we can provide that information to our
constituents. I think it's very important that we're able to do that. Um >> from a single site, absolutely. Get them on the bus. >> Gotcha. Um and and if we decided to move to rail, does anybody know what that
timeline would be? Say, "Hey, we're going to move to rail now. Now we got to do five years of planning, you know, six years of more planning and then decide to start doing construction and that takes 10 years. Have has there been a long-term
plan put out for the future for that? >> Thank you for that question. So as part of the original project development and environmental study, most of that analysis was completed. That was many years ago before we decided the current
scenario of our bus rapid transit and the conversion of the bus way to the transit way. We can get you information regarding threshold analysis. It is a complex process by which they determine it's not just the number of potential passengers,
but there's formulas associated with what the construction cost will be and the cost per rider in order to move from one type of uh transit to the next. So we can provide kind of a framework for
that information. In order to move to that, we would have to do a project development and environmental study and complete an entire process. Now, when that will happen and what the process of doing project development and environmental studies and all of that
analysis in the future, there's lots of changes happening on the federal side and on the state side on how to streamline a lot of these processes. So we can give you a basis of what that would be based on our current scenario. But obviously the mechanisms by which we
do those studies and move projects forward constantly evolve and change and our goal is to shorten those timelines. But ultimately the issue is the cost to construct, operate and maintain a system into the future. And those really become
the key issues that we have to focus on. Once we realize we've met the threshold to move from one type to the next, that we've met that cost per rider threshold, then we have to talk about how do we amass the resources necessary to build
the cap, you know, so for the capital program and then operate and maintain. Obviously, operating a bus system, the bus rapid transit system is a much different cost than operating rail, whether it's light rail or heavy rail.
>> No, I thank you for the for the for the information. It's uh it's one of those things that uh you know, kind of makes you go hm, you know, it's uh I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong
because I think the just the constant uh moving into South Florida uh is we don't even know what the full impacts are outside of our city limits, but it's tremendous and we haven't even looked at the far
east side yet. So, I appreciate your information. I don't mean to put you on the spot and try, but but we have to look to the future and there needs to be a plan put in place and we're just not seeing it. Um but again I thank you all for coming down um and providing us this
information and whatever that is that information one or two sheets that we can provide our residents I think would show them that we're doing the job we're we're supposed to be doing and ultimately the county is going to do the job they're supposed to be doing. >> We've already produced we'll call them a
one pager but it's a front and back. We produced one right after our first week of service. We've produced one right after our first month of service. Showed some of those trends and some of the specifics associated with the signalization, gate arms, etc. They're
not as detailed as you might like, but we're more than happy to share those and then we can create something more detailed if that's what you're looking for. We anticipate our next one pager will be probably around the February March timeline. We need to get
enough data and we need to have enough information to be able to show trends at that point. >> Got it. Well, I would think for now we have their PowerPoint. >> Yes, >> we can glean information from that. I mean, we did have the priority page and and a time frame page that I think would
uh be very beneficial and think on the lines of your next you one to two pager. Let's call 90 days the end of March. Perhaps we can come back and have an update. >> Yes. end of March, early April as to where we are on on signalization issues.
>> I have some other things, but we'll do that through the email process not to belabor this this evening. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much, >> Councilwoman. Real quick. >> Sorry. And and I want to give Councilwoman Ksky an opportunity after me as well. And I I see his finger on the buzzer, too. But before you walk
away from the podium, I want to um just ask and I know we're talking to Miami date county, not Florida Turnpike, but since you're here and if you have if you happen to have any influence, you know, with any of the powers that be relating to Turnpike, we had them here
recently and they're expanding the Turnpike on from Campbell Drive to T to Tennessee, not Tennessee, Tallahassee, but they're going only from two lanes to three lanes and what we really need is to four lanes to match up to 216. 15 and
they were telling us that the three lanes would satisfy us 2045. I mean, there's no way we can accept that and construction is already underway. So, what the ask is is if there's any way to get them to do a change order on the
current project to facilitate four lanes instead of just three. That would be really appreciative. Don't say anything. Don't give me any promises or anything, but if there's any way to get that done, I will make sure you get the credit for it. But thank you. I'll rest there. >> Thank you, Councilman.
>> Uh yeah, real quick. I got so focused on traffic lights and signalization. You mentioned uh the paving or repaving and redoing uh Flaggler in this fiscal year. Um and I know that we're trying to
coordinate with the um the sewer system that we're going to be putting underneath Flaggler again so not to um do it twice basically. But the portion of Flaggler from Campbell to
US1 going north um is in pretty bad shape. I don't know if you have an opportunity to drive on your way out of here. If you just go straight down Flagler, you'll see it. Um that's not a part of the sewer um repairs and maintenance and stuff we're going to be
doing on Flaggler on this side, I believe. Is that right, Zary? >> Yeah. So, we're doing sewer from Campbell north to or south to Chrome. Chrome. >> Okay. So, that area could be um attacked now and then continued on to the future
um when we get done with what we have to do. So, we have to repeat. And then this is just a conversation. You can answer. I got one more thought before I forget it because I don't write notes down. I have to do it from my head. Um just as a matter of of of being more efficient. Um, in the area that I live in, the
villages, we recently reached out to uh the county to come and restripe our intersections, our crosswalks and those things. And they mentioned one, whoever the property manager was mentioned to me that they put the order in for all of them to be done, but because each of
them is an individual intersection, they don't come out and do them all at the same time. Thought that was kind of weird that if you're standing and you're doing one intersection that's it's called South Canal and Ottabon. There's three stripings there. Four stripings there.
Three stripings there that you would take four weeks to complete it and come out and do each intersection at a time and leave and come back and do that next intersection another time and then leave and come back and do the next one. That didn't seem to be very efficient when they had the work orders all put in at
one time. Just something for you to think about, something to work, you know, work on because I just don't think that's very efficient to send them out to one location, do one-third of the job, and then leave and then come back out. And these are very minor repairs or restripings that they're doing. That's
all. That's it. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, >> Mayor. Thank you for the invite. And county, thank you for coming. Um, I have a couple co questions and I have a couple uh comments as well. Um, you
mentioned the higher amount of riders. Is that the whole transit way or is that to Homestead? What area are you seeing higher uh riders and buses full? >> So,
I appreciate that question. What we are seeing is we have about the same total number of riders currently within the corridor. They were spread out over a different series of routes previously, but we have seen a higher increase in
Metro Express. So, we now have two services, Metro Express and the local service. So, we what we've seen is a large transition of local service riders to Metro Express, fewer stops. Obviously, the expectation is that you're going to meet your destination faster. We we've
observed that. We realize that ultimately there may be some changes in people's behavior in choosing whether they take Metro Express or the local service. We have seen crush loads which means that they are more passengers than
we have seats or or standing room only on our buses at peak period. That is in the early morning starting at the 3:44 and move moving north as well as coming out of Dayland South. We are seeing crush loads coming out of that. Again,
more riders than we have seats are standing room only on our buses, which is why, as Frank mentioned, we are adding additional buses to try to deal with those peaks right now. So, we're trying to even out some of those service routes or or service times. We have had
actually to start service at 4:00 a.m. We originally started uh our our Metro Express service at 5. We've now added a 4, a 4:30, and a 4:45 because we have a massive volume of passengers who wish to
use our services very early in the morning. Those were not things that we had observed when we originally started our service plan. So, we are trying to adapt to our writership, but ultimately have to work with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration before we can
make major changes to our service plan. Those were things that were agreed upon by those three agencies. And we have a one-year period by which we have to observe, do minor tweaks before we can do major service changes. We already have things that we're contemplating and
discussing amongst ourselves that we want to be able to bring to the attention of both the Florida Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration. I think somebody did say they don't see a lot of people on the buses. I will tell you we have more riders at 2:00 in
the morning than I ever thought we would. There are still about 10 to 15 riders in the middle of the night. But for the most part, once we get past that crush uh crush number, we have a large number of patrons throughout the day. It
starts to taper off as you're going northbound. As the day progresses, it starts to taper off and southbound in the opposite direction. Um but we are seeing excellent ridership at this point. So, we're very excited about that. >> 2 to 5 a.m. It's when you do not want to ride the bus.
>> Um you >> obviously it's different service uh that we provide during peak periods then that we provide during the day but that's all going to be on those wonderful one pagers that we're going to provide talks about all that service >> writership
that's people who that's increased the demand or the the desire to be on the public transit so we are improving the system so we're increasing the volume of writers is that correct so
with that in mind, would we would it be to our advantage to think further down the road knowing that we would have more riders and kind of bypass the second step and go on to the third step knowing that we're going to increase capacity
getting back to the railway. >> There are still thresholds. We are far from those thresholds. And again, there is a a process by which we would need to work through. Um, and it's a step-by-step process. it's engineering justification. Um, they really frown
upon skipping steps in that process. Oftent times it it sends us back to the beginning if we haven't met all of the criteria associated. So, we want to methodically make sure that we're meeting that criteria. We are not close
to those thresholds. We have other projects that we need to work on, but we're of course always observing and and noting uh each individual route. But again, we haven't necessarily increased our ridership through the transit way as yet. We're still at that same number.
We've just increased the number of users on the Metro Express service versus the local service, but still at this point still about the same amount of wrership. Our goal is to grow that ridership, but we don't know how quickly it will grow. >> It was always the plan when the when the
metro rail was um implemented that it would come all the way to Florida City. Correct. >> I was not here during those discussions. >> It was um concerns to safety. I actually live on 304 Street. Um so I probably travel
it um as much or more than anybody else on council. Um, and safety is an issue. And I appreciate you telling us that you focus on the north and southbound traffic. That makes a lot of sense as to why we're having so many issues east
west. Um, because it has been such a prolonged issue, people know the light's not going to turn. So, as um Bailey mentioned, they're taking the red. Um not only are
they taking the red, they're going in oncoming traffic when they shouldn't uh when they're approaching lights, knowing that it's not going to turn because we have picked up on our own patterns of when when things work and when they don't. To the extent to the north and
bound north and southbound traffic, that flow is easier. And there's many, we tal many who will go ahead and bypass the intersection either north or south, make a U-turn in the road, an illegal U-turn
so that they can make the right because they can't make the left. So that's an additional safety hazard or safety issue beyond, you know, our public service. So um >> thank you for that observation.
I know they're see I've seen some glimpses of hope. There was it was a aha. I was like, whoa, what happened? The traffic's flowing as it should. So, I'm like, they've done something. And I kept saying, they've done something. It's been something has happened. And then it went back to
another three red lights. Light turns green, arm went down, nobody could go anywhere, and here we are in gridlock again. So, um I I appreciate that you are addressing the issues. I'm just asking that you press a little harder. Um, thank you for being here and thank
you for your time. >> Again, thank you all. Appreciate you're spending the time with us. >> I'm sorry because I don't know when I'll get you back for mainly for management. Thank you, mayor. Through the mayor. Um, we have a very uh young traffic master
plan. Um, I would like to have the team review that. I know that Kimley Horn is still working on it, but there are redesigns of intersections on this long list of inter of of you know wish list of traffic improvements and we had been discussing it during our traffic um
management tour to have um those looked at sooner than later. >> So what the council member is talking about is a transportation master plan. It's not traffic. I know you have original exclusive jurisdiction on traffic engineering countywide. Uh
typically once those locations are being designed is routed to the county for review and they're blessing >> that I understand but that's like once it's designed but if there's a way to get it kind of pre-reviewed peer reviewed per se I would appreciate it. If it doesn't you can do it.
>> We're more than happy to work with his team. We are more than happy to look at your master plan. uh our planning team is more than happy to assist and then we can take it on an intersection by intersection basis. We do have some some standards that that Ziri and his team
are very familiar with that can be utilized initially and then we can talk from there. >> Excellent. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Yes. >> Real quick. One more one more thing. One more thing. One more thing. One more thing. One more thing. One more thing. One more thing. >> Zuri is your want list. Is it the uh
intersection of 312 and 152 Street? The redesign of that because of all the accidents we keep having there in >> the turnpike entrance. >> In the turnpike entrance, too, right? >> Not them. >> Well, no. I think it's part of them because of the turn the way the the way the northbound lanes are facing. People who are in the second
uh left turn lane are the ones that are going into the lane to get on the turnpike. So there's a re-engineering that needs to be done in that intersection because of the number of accidents that have been occurring there um since uh whenever that redesign was.
>> So um council had passed a razo which was sent to your office as well and we're happy to follow up. It was sent to the county the F dot as well and for us and also elected officials countywide that location is a very dangerous
intersection because of the lane assignments and the traffic circulation. Uh majority of the challenges there is primarily with F dot not with the county. the county is in respect to retiming the signalization as well as
the length striping on the south side of the of the roadway. Uh we're happy to follow up with you. Just before you step out, I know that we had sent a request for additional funding for Flagler. Uh the county has some funding for it which we feel very strongly is inadequate. Uh
we're asking that you use your good offices to see what you can do. uh because the county can scope of work for that corridor is completely incomplete. Uh there is no provision for rehabilitation of the sidewalks along
that corridor and the county proposes only resurfacing of the street whereas there is need for drainage. So these are some of the scope changes that we had requested your staff to look into which has not been met with some positive response. >> We are happy to discuss that further.
>> Okay. And Frank, please uh I know council member talked about 311 data. I just want to kind of uh ensure for completeness. 311 is a countywide platform for reporting county business unless you're
within city of Miami where it's for everything in city of Miami. For us in Homestead is primarily going to be mosquito control, transit as well as county maintained roadways. That's the only thing you can carry 311. The rest you have to route three city of
Homestead I fix it Homestead. Okay. Thanks. We'll talk to you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Just to piggy back on what Councilman Roth was saying about the term the traffic light going north onto the turnpike. That light is missing an overhead. Not an overhead, a traffic sign that says like straight or left
turn only. And if it has those, that would help significantly. >> The lane assignments. >> Correct. and we there's a sign to the right in the e, you know, on the right side of the lanes, but that's being missed by many. >> There there's a couple of different things and and obviously we'll talk with
the Florida Department of Transportation. So, there's obviously overhead lane assignments that can be added if the structural member that's up there, the mast arm, can hold that sign. There's also additional supplemental pavement markings that can be added that
help put people in the right lanes to make the particular movement. So, we'll look into that. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Good night. All right. Let's go back to tab eight. >> Eight. >> The budget amendment to account for the
loan we approve. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Let him read it. Let him read it first. This is the first reading of an ordinance of the city of Homestead, Florida, amending the budget for the water and Siri utility fund for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, ending September 30th, 2026 by increasing the total budgeted revenues
and expenditures by $12 million, providing for severability and effective date. >> I did do it. >> It's seconded by Vice Mayor. Uh moved by Councilman Roth. Any further discussion?
Have a roll any public comment? Let's have a roll call on tab eight. >> Councilman Roth, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Abula, >> yes. >> Counciloman Fletcher, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Ksky, >> yes. >> Councilman Connibal. >> Vice Mayor Bailey, >> yes. >> Mayor Losner,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Right. Very good. Mr. Manager, anything further? >> Yes, Mr. Mayor and Council. Tomorrow is the annual my immediate county league of cities uh conference best practices conference.
It's going to be at the build more. I'm suppose most all a majority of the council members had already registered for the conference tomorrow. It' be nice to have a strong presence from the city of Homestead. And also I had already mentioned the loan the grant amount that
we got from the state for $4 million. And also the city of Homestead was been has been rated as a top public employer of the year for 2025 by an entity that we're waiting for their confirmation before we share information with council. Uh also the new director for
Siberium has assumed duties. I've been he's going to be starting off on the 12th. Sorry. Uh, his name is Mr. Videi Franks. Mr. Frank, Miss Franks. Miss Franks. Uh, the current director is relocating back to Texas and the transition is on the
12th. Uh, thank you, Councilman Roth. Uh, your sponsored program for federal aid for federal employees. Uh, two two individuals have so far received support from the city of Homestead. uh one for the maximum of amount of $500 and
another for $442. Uh there will be infrastructure upgrade within the city chambers with video upgrades and enhancements as well as the audio. It's going to start on the 19th
and we anticipate to be completed just before Christmas on the 23rd. is going to be handled by IT and uh we're happy to announce that the emergency management is commencing the second cohort of the community
environmental response team. I think council woman Aila you had indicated interest at some point in the past that you would like to know more about this. These are the city residents that we train to be the eyes and ears of the city for emergency response be it flood
or any form of uh response programming. So that program starts on the first week of January January 8th and uh we hope to finish uh in by first week of February. Now, Miami date county mayor Daniela Levin Cava is scheduling a meeting on
Monday, December 15th for all county mayors to discuss some of the several iterations of tax bills that are in Tallahassee today and majority of the tax bills are hoping to eliminate
property taxes county statewide. Uh it is of tremendous impact to all cities and counties. So, she's assembling all direct all county mayors and all city mayors to come in and uh strategize on a coordinated
response to the bill. So, I will ask for council members that are willing and available to join at that meeting on Monday, December 15th at county building. Thank you. >> Oh, just one more. I forgot.
>> Just a reminder, Friday is employee appreciation day. We are asking mayor and council to be able to join us. It's going to be at Fico Williams just like we did last year. So please join us and it will be an honor for me to ask city employees to
take the rest of the day off after that event which usually will end about 3:00. So I don't expect them to go back to the offices all over. Thanks. >> Good, Mr. Attorney. Very good. Well, since we've already run way over time and I've been quiet
tonight, let me throw a couple of nuggets out there. Mr. Manager, I want to thank you and and staff that had Harris Field renovated, painted, upgraded, lighted, had those big old fans in there on time for the Rotary
event on uh on Friday night. Much appreciated. What What an improvement. to anybody who who pays attention really saw it and it's a really uh a nice uh upgrade there. Uh Councilwoman Bailey,
your art event blown away once again. That's the crowds in the park when I was there two nights. I guess was Saturday night and >> Sunday afternoon. Well, I was over Sunday afternoon. >> Um you know, the kids on the the ice,
it's just amazing. Absolutely amazing. Um, I do want to reiterate though that in talking with Alexis Lambert, the Florida the Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that administers and awards these grants
that the $4 million grant that we've got notice of that she was very clear to me in a one-on-one conversation that our ability and willingness to put our own money, our own skin in the game really
tilted the the balance in our favor to be awarded the full $4 million that that we requested. So, I think we all need to be very proud and uh acknowledge that we were forwardlooking and establishing this trust fund. We'll continue to
replenish it and and have other transactions that will put money into it. Hey, we turned $5.5 million into $9.5 million. It's a big deal. I just wanted to uh to to say that. So if
there's nothing further, Miss Councilman Fletcher. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And uh just quickly, if I could get everyone to uh provide a name that might be willing to join our tourism advisory committee. We're having uh some issues
gaining quorum and I'd like to add some additional folks to that committee so we can have quorum and move forward if possible through your office or the city clerk's office. Thank you. >> How many positions? >> Uh I need three, but I'll take names
from everyone and we'll >> we'll figure it out. >> Figure it out. >> And if we can get the clerk to advertise to redo that. >> Yeah. >> All right. Is that it? Anyone else? Really quickly. Nope. We have a motion to adjurnn. >> Moved and seconded. All in favor? I. Meeting adjourned. Thank you all.