[Music] please take your seats The meeting is about to begin Remember to speak into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded for public record Please stand by We are going on air in 5 4 3 2 1 Good morning everybody
Welcome to the March 26 finance and economic resiliency committee meeting Uh I am here with my colleague friend fellow commissioner vice mayor Tanya Bot Uh so we do have quorum Um I will hand it over to the CFO and the city attorney Have a lot on the agenda So we're going
to try and be uh brief and efficient on the items where uh it is warranted I myself I have to leave at uh 12:15 Uh hopefully if we continue to have quorum you can continue the meeting uh uh thereafter but let's uh knock out some items Good morning Today's meeting of
the finance and economic resiliency committee has been scheduled in a hybrid format with a quorum of the committee physically present and remaining members staff and members of the public appearing either in person or virtually via Zoom In order to participate in
today's meeting virtually members of the public may dial 1888-475-4499 and enter the webinar ID which is 8636059-5462 pound or log into the zoom app and enter the webinar ID which again is
8636059-5462 Any individual wishing to speak on an item must click the raise hand icon if they are using the Zoom app or dial star9 if you are participating by phone Uh thank you And we have a few uh announcements Uh OB3 will be time
certain at 10:30 10:35 time certain will be MB9 NB14 is deferred OB4 is deferred MB6 is withdrawn and items MB 7 10 and 11
will be linked if heard That's all the announcements chair Excellent Thank you Why don't we get to our first uh time certain OB3 uh OB3 discussion of commercial retail vacancies and potential leasing incentives incentives for owners of
vacant properties OB3 Good morning chair commissioners vice mayor Um I'm Heather Shaw I'm the assistant director for economic development This is the second time we're hearing this item We heard it last month Um it is about potentially doing a
vacant storefront registry as you uh understand that we have some vacant uh storefronts in the city and we are constantly looking for ways to mitigate that and to um fill our our storefronts So one of the um elements that was
brought up was to do a vacant storefront We started this in September um at a FK meeting and then we also talked about it in October and then December and then last month in February 21st um where we were I presented to you some of the feedback that we received
from eight other cities that we did some best practice research on and I believe today is a day to get some of the feedback from some of our business stakeholders who are here today to express their feedback on the vacant storefront registry and what is the
staff's recommendation on this other uh well the administration's um is looking for direction from you um as to whether you want to go forward but it but on the administration side is this is a an a process that will take a lot of administrative time and effort to do so
um and that it will we would have to have some fee associated with it to um support the administration of the registration which is going out and getting a whole listing of the the properties and staying on top of uh on top of them And this is coming from as I
mentioned we spoke with eight other cities who were actually doing tried to do something similar and some of the the positives and negatives challenges and opportunities that they saw there Yeah Holistically uh they essentially were not in favor of this and had a rather
negative experience That's where I uh start from Um this I get it I think it's one of those things the concept sounds good but I've done a lot of uh very specific case study work on this and it just has
unintended consequences and when you talk about uh you know a drain on resources um fees associated with it piggybacking on the conversations that we've had uh I don't think I'm going to be supportive of this I just want to kind of put that
out there to uh manage and mitigate and make our time more efficient if you know uh let's hear from our stakeholders but I don't want to prolong something uh that doesn't need to be if I could add chair
this item is a discussion item so if there's not it doesn't I don't think have to go back to commission with a recommendation um I don't believe it does but I do see Rick okay moving into action no you can you can uh close the item out here if you'd wish
to close do We do we have uh feedback from the Lincoln Road bid You want to let us know I think we're also joined by the Washington Avenue bid as well as the 41st Street bid Okay perfect Uh good
morning chair Emphasize brevity Annabelle Yopies Lincoln Road business improvement director um on behalf of the board and and really our landlords and our stakeholders we don't feel this is a positive step in a relationship and a
partnership with the commercial business community I think there's other efforts that have been done that are really in a positive way like our 9-month popup permit like looking at cafe um abatements for new restaurants Those are
things initiatives that really impact a positive way the tenant and the landlord Is the tenant successful the landlord's going to be successful I don't think this really drives anything having a registry for what is really the outcome What is the point of having a registry
when what are you going to do with it yeah Uh let's hear from the other bids Thank you Good morning Amy May here with the 41st Street bid uh reiterating what Annabelle just said for all our businesses and you know there's better ways we can use our staff's time Sure We'll stamp the same thing However if we
can look into just really expediting the permitting process I think that would make a huge change You have uh seven of us that are united in that and um uh remain steadfast on doing so Is there anybody that uh wishes to offer a
counter view that that than the one which we just heard from the bids and uh city staff i I you know I I appreciate where this came from Um and having done the research it seems like it's a program that just doesn't work And so I'd move to close the discussion with an
unfavorable uh chair We'll just hear the show the item uh heard and closed and we can move on Perfect Thank you Thank you Let's get to NB9 a 10:35 time certain
NB9 discuss annual evaluation of the parking impact fee NB9 Okay Um Mr Chair I'll be brief Um as I noted in the uh memo for the finance and economic resiliency committee um under
the LDRs the planning department is required to periodically update the commission on the status of the parking impact fee And just by way of background in certain areas of the city if a development does not meet the minimum
parking requirement set forth in that district they have the ability to pay a fee in lie of parking Currently that fee is $40,000 per parking space There's also an annual fee in Lou which is 2% of that which people can avail themselves
of if they're doing a change of use And the fee is based upon roughly the proportional cost of constructing one parking space in a parking garage The fee was last updated approximately 13 years ago Um and it was
based upon the construction cost at that time Uh our most recent um parking garage that was constructed when adjusted for CPI came out to close to $55,000 per space Um the administration is not recommending that the onetime fee
be raised to $55,000 of space for a couple of reasons One we have not seen a lot of people paying the onetime fee even at $40,000 of space but more importantly that would result in a fairly substantial increase in the annual fee and loop payment Uh currently
that's $800 a space per year and that would go up to roughly $1,100 per year per space and that primarily affects small smaller businesses Tom can I ask you a quick question when is the last time that we did a holistic uh re-evaluation of our parking requirements for new developments and
where I'm going with this is when I was uh looking at the RFP it always been in my mind but when I was looking at the RFP I walked the parking garages all along the 17th Street corridor And the new building at 1212 completely empty Complete I mean we have floors and
floors of parking that are underutilized And that story played itself out at five or six different structures Uh so where I'm going we're living in a world where uh one we want to incentize less cars on the road right we are not going to cure our traffic problem unless we get people
out of the cars All the other stuff is cute right cops uh traffic flow timing Unless we get people out of their cars we will never solve our traffic issues Uh and to me it seems like some of the developments were kind of shoving parking down people's throats that we
are essentially overparked right and we hear it up here People don't want to park in parking garages Okay then why do we keep building more and more um I could tell that same story You saw the videos that I played Uh so have we done a comprehensive reevaluation i look at the new hotel that's built two blocks
away from here Uh I think it's the Thompson Hotel on 17th in Washington Beautiful building but then they have a a twostory parking podium uh you know it it doesn't look aesthetically pleasing and it's one of those areas that should be one of the most walkable areas of our entire
community and it's one of those things where it's behavioral incentives If you have parking and we're mandating parking then the tourists uh coming here from Ohio flying in well they're going to rent their Ford Mustang and park it there But if they don't have parking well they're not going to rent a car and
they just walk everywhere So I think we're kind of providing perverse incentives in a lot of ways Uh so uh when is the last time that we kind of re-evaluated holistically the parking requirements for new development we have not done a comprehensive evaluation of our overall Austri parking
requirements since 1989 Oh it's time Uh can we make a motion here i'd make that motion right here Now if if I if I might to assist for this item it seems like an item heard and closed But what it probably looks like is is is for a
commissioner to perhaps have a new referral because I believe this would something that should live in the land use committee uh not in finance But if that's the the will I I would see someone uh here maybe picking up a referral for the April commission meeting to refer Can you be more
specific about that person no I'm just I want to keep it brief I'm the one the door from the chair is here But I think if it's okay I think we can just show this item heard and closed and um planning will be probably keeping that referral in its mind We do need to take
this to the commission So would it be closed with a recommendation based upon the administration's recommendation not to raise the if it has to go back to the commission we can show and I think it'll be unanimous show uh the the recommendation to keep the existing Before we close this out completely you
know um there are all these parking lots that have tons of vacancies And so we need to as a city I believe um go back to those businesses and say uh you know whoever owns parking lot you have x number of spots you need x minus
whatever for your business but the rest should be available to residents at resident parking rates And that way um you know they'll they'll get people coming in and out residents will have a place to park where they don't feel like they're paying us fees at $15 an hour and it and and we get cars off the
street that are already here So it's a win-win You know um everyone's like "Well I want to be able to park right in front of my place and go in and do my errand." Well that's lovely when you live in Mayberry but you know when I lived in Boston I had a parking spot in in you know attached to my my townhouse
And then for the second car we parked in a municipal garage five blocks away and it was $250 a month And it sucked when you got home late because your spouse would get the good parking spot and you'd have to walk home in the snow But that's how it goes I mean we live in a city We don't live in La La Land And you
know if we're trying to accomplish a lot of things getting cars off the roads is one of the biggest drivers of our success No pun intended That one actually just came out Um um so I would very highly encourage I
don't know if it's a referral or I don't know what the a referral to this committee It would be I would I would recommend that it would be that the commissioner pick up this item as a referral to the land use Okay So I'd like to make a referral for for this item as well to land use to go out and
proactively talk to our our um business friends around the city And it's good for them to have people coming in and out of their garage too because you never know when they'll get hungry and want to pop in and you know um stop at the restaurant I think we have our city attorney here to make In fact uh
anecdotal but uh Paris actually just this week or at the end of last week had a voter referendum for turning over 500 of their streets and roads into pedestrianized public rights of way green spaces um things like that And it
actually passed with a 66% uh approval rating So uh they have done the proper urban planning and a place like Miami Beach that should be something that uh the direction that we look to go in Hello city So we'll show this Um this item is to return the commission with a favorable recommendation to accept the
administration's recommendation of the parking impact fee And the motion was made by me Commissioner Bot Uh seconded by Commissioner Yeah I'll second Magazine and we'll show uh unanimous support on that And I think that the referral we'll
work on two referrals one for Commissioner Magazine and one for Commissioner Excellent Thank you Thank you Uh staying on the uh commercial properties let's do OB3 Discuss leasing incentives for owners of vacant
commercial properties We did we did OB3 That was first Sorry Um sorry that was the time Uh NB9 let's do uh NB4 the PAL lease
MB4 is the 47th Street Uh let me NB4 discuss potential I'm sorry The And I'm sorry I was looking at uh uh NB21 the PAL lease Okay that should be quick Correct Correct Uh MB21 discuss a proposed lease
agreement between the city of Miami Beach uh city andor or landlord and the Miami Beach Police Athletic League Incorporated tenant for approximately 13,367 square feet located 999 111 Street Miami Beach Florida premises for
a term of 9 years and 364 days MB21 Good morning commissioners vice chair madam chair Mr Chair Azie Dominguez division director of asset management for city of Miami Beach The PAL East is up for uh what's currently going to
expire now in June 30th of 25 It has no renewal options So we are proposing to uh a recommendation to the city commission for a new lease with PAL for 9 years 364 days uh with the same terms that the current agreement currently
carries I'll move it Yeah And what is the status for the geo bond project there uh I don't run the geo bond project but this lease will have a a stipulation stating that if the geobond project proceeds and a new building is created a new lease would then be um
executed for that building and this one would be co-terminous with that Uh I I will second my colleague and um if there's any way in the new lease that we'd be able to honor uh the late officer uh Morino I know the pal was uh incredibly near and dear to his heart I
think have an item to name it um after the new facility after in the interim maybe and yeah perfect the the new I'm sorry the new lease for the current location or the new lease for the geo bond building I think
both in the inter I'll defer to my colleague I think we actually have something that covers both well we we have an item that was intended to cover both but the existing pal is already named after someone So the item that you brought will be limited to the new
building because we can't we can't rename unless we It's a complicated process It in some way if uh we could do something to honor uh put a plaque up Yeah Lead officer Martino's commitment We work with uh our director of
facilities and fleet for a plaque Yeah we we just did a gorgeous one in um in Pride Park for Joe Tom Easley that the parks department worked on and maybe we can take a queue from that and work with Deb Martino and and um really do something gorgeous Thank you You know
maybe something to consider I it's 11th Street um that's there Maybe 11th Street from Meridian to Alton might be appropriate if the facility is already named for uh for someone Um isn't 11
Street um Nancy Leven oh I I believe maybe already Oh okay Sorry I don't realize that Okay it's the It'll be the the Art and Nancy show All right Mr Chair we'll show this item return to commissioner with a favor recommendation of the pro proposed lease
with Pal uh Commissioner Bot and uh uh Chair Magazine a second All in favor i Okay all in favor show three Thank you Azie uh perhaps uh NB18 is you the polo park temporary lighting Is that correct or not that parts Okay But uh let's hear
that I think that should be quick Um I'll let you tee up Jason but essentially a pilot program at no cost Uh and then we'll get the feedback from the pilot program if we move forward and it'll have a financial effect Okay Discuss the allocation of funding for the installation of temporary lighting
at Pogo Park basketball courts NB18 Tom you want to try can I just sum that up uh no cost here for the pilot program Yeah I was at the park Um there's no cost for it We're going to use our towers We'll have a park ranger on roing for it and after 6 months we'll reevaluate it Once the time change we're
going to put it in Perfect I'll move it And one of the reasons why I put this on the This is incredible Alex Yeah commissioner No Alex is just fine Um one of the reasons why we put this on the agenda like this is because there were concerns that as you know time changes throughout the year if we have permanent
lighting it becomes an issue of the lights being on to late or not the temporary lighting helps us address the concerns of the neighbors during certain times of the year while making sure that they have the lighting during the other times of the year when they really do
need it because of the time changes So we'll do a six-month pilot in November when the time changes and then we'll reevaluate after 6 months Can I ask you a quick question this seems really dumb but I had um at my many times a mentioned little townhouse on Parkview Island I used to have solar lights in
the front yard and when it got dark they went on and when it got light they went off Why couldn't we do that solar powered We do have uh we do have on this the building facing the the lights four solar powered lights and it's just not light enough because it only has a certain area It doesn't go out far
enough Right But so okay So we're using existing lights that we have and just programming them differently Well we have solar lighting now on the on the No no I know But so the to to accomplish the additional lighting we're taking additional lighting that we already have and we're programming it to turn on and
off differently We're having one of our towers that I did We I went there and we tried it with people playing and it doesn't interfere with them playing It's a tower light that we'll turn on and we'll turn it off So it's existing resources and then we'll have a park ranger on roving there So we can show this We can show this item to return a
commissioner with the favor recommendation to install temporary lighting at Poland Park basketball fields Uh courts I'm sorry Uh making the motion I think Commissioner Bot and I'll second Okay All in favor i Thank you Thank you
colleagues Yep Thank you Do we have uh perhaps Lette here for NB15 um this is timesensitive as uh this uh I believe is an event that's coming up this weekend and is essentially historically been done for the past 10 or 15 years Uh
great event um as we're looking to program out of spring break This has always attracted such a nice and uh health and wellness focus crowd So we have a discussed request for city sponsorship and waiver of city special event permit fees pursuant to section
12-7 of the city code for the model volleyball event scheduled to take place in Lumis Park Beachfront from March 29th through March 30th 2025 MB15 So we're actually not paying or giving any revenue We're just waving uh special event fees Correct Yes Good morning Francis Vice CEO assistant director of
tourism and culture Uh it would be a waiver of fees The only thing is that it would be retroactive This would go to commission and then the money would be given back because the event is this weekend so they have to pay the fees for this weekend And how many years have they been in our city over 14 Okay
Excellent Anybody want to make a motion i'll move it I'll second it Okay So we'll show this item to return to commission with a favorable uh recommendation for um the waiver of the special event permit fees as as requested retroic Correct Retroactively
Thank you All in favor i show a three Thank you But uh we hear NB3 uh discuss creation of a foundation Uh I don't want to steal your job Mr CFO Uh MB3 discussed the creation of a
foundation focused on soliciting donations of works of art for the city's permanent art and public places collection and/or temporary exhibitions MP3 Good morning I'll just tee it up Um again Francis Vicio assistant director
of tourism and culture So this item um is requesting the item sponsors requesting that FK discuss the potential benefits uh structure and feasibility of creating a foundation with specific focus on soliciting and accepting donations and works of arts from
individuals corporations and benefactors So as you see in the memo the city has been long-term committed to enhancing public spaces through art and public places Uh currently we do have the art and public places ordinance which has um the mandated of the art and public
places committee So currently the committee along with the tourism and culture department um has the powers and duties to o of oversight review and acceptance of the artwork So in today's discussion um key issues to consider are
the foundation structure funding and management integration with the city's AIP program and community and economic benefits Um staff has communicated with the counties are in public places Uh the cultural affairs department they currently don't have any such structure
of accepting donations They don't know of any other municipality that has one either Um but those are things to consider the administration's recommendation if if the committee decides this is something that we want to move forward with that the committee
just be structured to accept donations so then we can then vet the artwork Yep Uh we've seen such a generational influx of wealth into our city uh through some of the most affluent individuals in the entire world uh that also oftentimes go
hand inand with a focus and dedication of the arts If you look in places like New York City along the Highline um a lot of the things that are the most special uh arts and public works in the world are often at um at the benefit uh were beneficiaries
from uh very wealthy affluent individuals And it seems uh short-sighted or silly not to take advantage and set up some sort of program where Miami Beach can be a beneficiary of the same So uh I'm certainly supportive of this
Yeah you know I I love this idea I think Joe is sorry Commissioner Magazine is absolutely right on the money no pun intended um about so much wealth moving into the city and people stepping up um to help do things that they care about and um this is something that is is
possible um you know we would need to make sure that there are very clear guidelines and there nobody runs a foul of any ethics issues that there's no quid proquo intimated or expected etc
etc So as long as the city attorney feels that that can be structured in such a manner that um it is completely separate from anybody in office running for office etc Um I would be very much in favor of this Excellent Yeah we would definitely work with the
city attorney's office for the structure of the committee Um just for moving forward is the committee's recommendation aligned with the administrations to just solicit funding is that okay or is there something else that we would be missing um otherwise
because it also talks about soliciting actual artwork but there are Yeah And our I think the concern of the administration was that we have an art and public places uh committee that's already set up to specifically do that So I think the recommendation is listed in the conclusion of the item is that if
um this foundation or committee whatever we whatever legally we determined to call it uh be recommended that it would be for the solicitation uh of donations should be limited to funding So I would support the administration's recommendation for funding only We can show uh a a motion by Commissioner Bond
to return a commission with a favorable recommendation for the creation of a foundation or committee uh to solicit funding donations for public art Excellent Yeah I'll second that Okay All in favor i hear opposed We'll show it pass three
nothing Thank you How about we get to uh NB12 uh expansion of the parks and wreck health and wellness area uh referred to as Muscle Beach I'll let you tee this up Mr CFO but uh where came up with this idea down in the Ocean Drive area I
looked at it I said "What do we get right what do we get wrong?" I think that Muscle Beach activation when you go down there on a weekend it's that's probably one of the the best things that we've done in a city in the city Um it
attracts people of uh residents tourists uh men women uh young old uh everything It's a great activation It's synonymous with what Miami Beach is And I've said very often that uh when we do things in Miami Beach I want us to start doing
things that are world class right truly world class Where when you Google the best outdoor uh health and wellness and park area in the world Miami Beach is at the top of the list And I think that's what my standard for excellence uh is So Mr CFO
if you want to tee that up Sure MB12 discussed the expansion of Muscle Beach and Lumis Park spoil area to include more health wellness and sports activities MB12 And as a note uh Commissioner Suarez has requested to become a um a co-sponsor I'll be a co-sponsor
Well I'm not sure if you're actually the fitness commissioner but I'm not the fitness commissioner I guess we can allow it I should aspire to be a commission I'm I'm the blue zones commissioner and I would like to be a co-sponsor too We will show everyone as a co-sponsor It's a great idea right a
great idea I think we all embrace but then it comes down to funding right we talk about our our budget being in a tight year We're not going to have a huge surplus We all just got a letter to commission the other day saying that our expected surplus is even uh projected to
be less than what we originally envisioned So then it comes down to how do we fund this i don't want this being one of these pie in the sky things that we hold out there for years Um what are some other and perhaps this
is to our CFO as well uh other ideas for funding sponsorships uh whether you know we're rightfully so focusing on a lot of uh expense um highlighting a lot of expense issues that we face on our budget but an income
statement is two sides right revenue and expenses we also have to talk about how to raise more revenue and what I'd like to do is one find sponsorships for Are we talking a couple million of dollars of uh capex I assume and then also if there's any thing that we can do
in that area that provides uh revenue into the city that can uh be used to really kickstart this program Yeah we're we're in favor of the sponsorship also And then we're looking at donations We may have something to expand Muscle Beach a little And we're also looking to expand Muscle Beach in the the north end also The north end is a separate item
Yeah Separate Yeah Um so maybe let's move this certainly with a favorable recommendation but I would task staff to work on identifying one what sponsorships would look like Is that some sort of naming rights is it uh I don't know one of our beverage partners
like Red Bull having a trash recepticle that looks like a Red Bull can Uh I I don't know what the answer is but just kicking out some ideas Be creative come back with how we can raise money to essentially uh jumpst start this program because I don't want this hanging out there for years and years just kind of
in this never- ending budget cycle If I can chair I is the is the interest here to send this to commission to direct the administration to begin uh identifying sponsors that would fully fund the expansion of this project Um just wanted
to know kind of we need to have just clear direction on that So we could show this item return to commission with a favorable recommendation to direct the administration to engage with sponsorship opportunities to expand uh the Muscle Beach at Lumis Park If I may
Um so we don't yet know what the uh blue zones um proposal recommendations will be when they come back We're getting that in the next like in May basically Um and I'm sure that this is something that that could be folded into that And the reason I mention it is not to slow
anything down but part of what the blue zones program is is for any kind of capex expenditures We try to find outside partners So it's not that we source them from our budget but we find partners who are like oh really more uh exercise equipment throughout the city I'm totally behind that And so um I
would definitely start whatever you're going to do but also we can we can fold it into holistically a a larger project and maybe find a bigger sponsor that way So we can have that conversation offline um in the next few days when I learn a little bit more Okay From the phone call I'm having about this very topic
tomorrow Excellent So we'll show what would a sponsorship look like as far as like the branding what are you envisioning anything Uh like I said it could be the I'm going to use Red Bull because they're part of the Pepsi sponsorship Is
that correct yeah we one we have one of our sponsorships up in one of the parks and it was Jeff Lewis It was just a little little sign on one of the playground equipment So we'll have to look we'll explore that We don't want to make a big advertisement Yeah Little as possible I think it would kind of lose the the classiness of what it is now
There's like a big logo of Red Bull on like the container where we keep the muscle equipment We we'll look at to make it as you know is to fit in with the playgrounds and stuff not to make a big advertising thing We'll just look into bringing ideas some ideas back and if I could
this item goes back to commission the recommendation administration would begin that exploration it would come back to commission So whatever the final outcome would come back to commission for approval Yeah and I certainly second that Right strike a fine balance between uh yeah if somebody's going to spend
millions of dollars sponsoring they're going to want something but I don't want it to be a cheesy commercialization that's such a natural beautiful area Uh we want it to remain that way I in fact it's not just about adding the enhanced equipment and area I want something that
is also more aesthetically pleasing down there So uh you know a 50 foot Red Bull can certainly isn't in line with that So um for some uh historical context I don't remember this in 2017 2018 um somebody the administration might
remember but there was conversation about naming rights for things like the convention center and the band shell and it was not wellreceived at all Um and while those things were on a much grander scale um you know we don't want people to think that we're saying hey we
can like call the Red Bull Muscle Beach it imprint It's you know it would be a small it would you know they would be doing a solid basically and it would be a small thing and we could refer to it in our newsletters if we're having a a special event there You know the city um is meeting at the Red Bull Muscle Beach
uh site to do X Y and Z We'd be happy to do that sort of thing but you know that's kind of the limit Another idea would be you know the equipment itself Maybe get a sponsorship from like Rogue you know they give all sorts of barbells dumbbells plates and you know
maybe we have an exclusive agreement with them and whenever the equipment is faded out they replace it at free of cost because everyone comes and they see the equipment If I may I remember back in 2012 in fact Mayor Bower is in the audience and I think she was uh mayor at
the time and Carnival had come wanting to do naming rights at South Point Park I don't know if you remember that And it became very controversial Um I like the
idea of expanding uh Muscle Beach I think it is one of the most positive activations that we have and it's in the direction of health and wellness that our city is moving in And by by the way I just got back from Tallahassee Everyone is talking about the direction our city is going in and I think this
entire commission should feel very proud of that Having said that I always get concerned about putting corporate names on our public assets um even if it comes through a contribution uh to improve
those areas So so that's something I just will be hesitant about When we had it with the convention center I think it was one of my first meetings that they were considering an item to to the convention center I don't know They wanted to call it um
Royal Caribbean That's what it was The Royal Caribbean It was Norwegian Norwegian or Nor It was one of the cruise lines They wanted to to to do a sponsorship of the convention center The community came out very loudly against
uh putting putting a name on one of our uh public assets So that's not something I would be inclined to support I just want to say that for purposes of transparency But we have a lot of people that do business in this city that do
commit to to doing public benefits who might be willing to make a public benefit contribution to expand this park without having to brand it in their favor or or have some sort of you know naming right tied to it And that's
something that we should explore We'll we'll look into the most tasteful thing and then we'll get back to you Yeah I'm open-ended on this no preconceived notion of where this comes out I just uh you know we'd be silly to sit here and just say "Okay we're going to find a few million dollars at the end of this year for the budget." So I like Commissioner
Suarez's idea about uh the fitness equipment being donated If we're going to do a paddle court maybe get one of the local operators they put their name on it they don't operate it but it's you know the the reserve courts because there's so much foot traffic there uh whatever it could be Yeah we had somebody already interested in donating
something to Lumis um to the Muscle Beach So we're just trying to work out you know we're trying to work it out Love those decision finance Okay Uh perfect So uh so we'll show Commissioner Bot made the motion and uh Chair Magazine is the second Uh all in favor wait a minute
Oh my goodness You don't have the microphone I have it Wait a minute It's the ghost of Christmas past Is it on it is on Okay Not that you need a microphone I missed part of it So excuse me Is this going out to bid it's already
done deal Is it done by parks and recreation it's just a just a discussion Discussion at this point What it's just a discussion at this point Oh is it going to be free for the residents of Miami Beach
because I have a problem when you charge the residents of Miami Beach to use something in public land no matter is it paddle ball or And the problem when you go out and get somebody to come in a
private setting they want to make money and they want to make money at the expense of residents of Miami Beach And I have a big problem for that I know that business now it's more important than
residents but to me the residents were always very important Muscle Beach will always as long as it's free I'm okay with it I don't even think it was something we would ever entertain Yeah We would never in a million years contemplate Thanks Thanks Tom Commissioner we have
public comment That's right That's why you don't Commissioner there's a public comment There's two Larry Schaefer please unmute yourself Larry we're going in five four three two
Mitch Novik please unmute yourself Hey good morning everybody Interesting conversation I want to give you a little history of uh what was the 9inth Street Workout Station Uh uh what bothers me or
I what I believe the city got wrong with uh Muscle Beach is its name uh in Venice uh it denotes often a toy place and uh the name Ninth Street Workout Station uh
certainly uh provides where it's located and that that's what it had been called for years and going back a little further in the 80s all that consisted of that area was a pull-up bar Hurricane
Andrew knocked that down And it wasn't until I contacted Lynn Bernstein who was with Miami Beach Development Corporation running the Ocean Drive bid at that time that things
uh morphed into what it is today So uh if anything I would consider uh urge you to consider putting back the name the Ninth Street Workout Station Although informal it it just uh it it's special or at
least in my mind it was special And uh I wouldn't write off naming rights Uh I think of the CASA center If you do it for a year or two perhaps we could get several hundred,000 for a minimal uh size sign
uh and uh that might be something uh to generate revenue because Lord only knows how much uh we're paying and how much we're losing Thank you I appreciate that Mitch And uh you know when I think we're all envisioning this it's uh not just
that workout area I think this is uh comprehensively along that entire Lumis Park almost from Fifth Street all the way to 9th or 10th Street Um so perhaps we look at what we call that comprehensive health and wellness area Um but I think there's a motion on the table to move this along We already
voted Already voted Perfect Um so let's uh move on to uh maybe a similar item Uh something that I absolutely love Uh but then it just comes down to where are we going to find the funding for it and maybe we could think think about things
just as unique but OB5 uh the children's park on Lincoln Road Commissioner Suarez turn this over to you Let me announce the item OB OB5 discuss the desiraability feasibility and cost of constructing a
children's park at the Uklid Circle on Lincoln Road OB5 Good morning David Gomez director of uh capital improvements for the city Um this item has been around for a while It actually was looked at as part of the original design for the Lincoln Road
improvement project in 22 um where the designer for Lincoln Road looked at several options and made a couple of uh proposals Uh in November of last year um the facilities department came to the committee and and presented some options
Uh as a result of that we went back to the designer and asked them to re-evaluate and look at potential locations as well as options They did do that They prepared a an analysis and a and a proposal or a recommendation Um their recommended location continues to
be in the Uklid Avenue rightway south of the existing oval um which also has the added benefit of we can of being able to incorporate that without impacting the Lincoln Road project So that can be done separately or at a later time however
the the committee feels is appropriate And where would it start just south of the Uclid circle It would start essentially at the building line in the south side of Lincoln Road Uh between there and the and the street Do you have a visual uh it was attached
to the to the memo I didn't bring the digital anyway we can put up on the screen so everyone can see not mine if if it if you don't have it in digital format I didn't bring the digital okay well I I think we talked about this I
think a while ago where you know we wanted to see a worldass park on on Lincoln Road I I think it's a great idea if you're bringing your family It's an attraction You you families come there
they shop have their kids play I think it'd be a great amenity um to have And and I in particular in that area it it is there is issues there with like homeless people like sleeping And so I think you know if you have a park there
a you know there's a certain distance that you know for example sex offenders can't be next to a kids park So we have a buffer now uh if that was to to go with the place Um the the excuse me through the chair the one detail I
didn't provide is that the consultant has provided an estimate of between four and $6 million for the playground I I love the idea Uh listen it's what I looked for when we did the RFP is we have to face reality People aren't going
to travel to a commercial corridor just to go to Forever 21 and the Cheesecake Factory anymore right so you need to bring experiences that are going to bring them there and then they essentially frequent our retail after that And what better way to bring families than to have just uh an
absolutely world-class playground uh or if they are just as tourists and strolling down Lincoln Road we need more experiences there Uh because they're essentially dining and dashing right um they they eat and they leave There's nothing to do there There's no
experiences to live Uh when you look at the design district there's all types of kind of programming there Uh that is also very aesthetically pleasing as well It just enhances the entire appeal of the area So uh this is something I'm incredibly supportive of but I do think that uh we kind of get back into that
same budget discussion Um and you know can we find some sort of dedicated revenue source for this where this isn't just a pie in the sky uh dream you know that gets kicked down every budget cycle for the next five years
uh through the chair You know this might be another great opportunity for Blue Zones sponsorship you know you know partnership with somebody who recognizes the value of this because it's getting kids out and about and their families walking and this may be another thing I'm not saying this is the way to go but
this is something to sort of put in the blue zones bucket as as a possible source of funding um through the chair So Jason any ideas on possible sources of funding well this would be uh something that would have to be through the city's general fund or or
effectively um probably through the PGO uh millage that we have So the question I was going to have was uh is this something that we wanted to turn to commission with a favorable recommendation to include and it's really about a timing when we add when the administration adds a new capital project we have a 5-year CIP So new
projects are added in the fifth year and then they move up for you know through consideration because there's projects that have lived and or do we want to move it to the top of the order and for it to be added as a capital project for consideration in the 26 budget process and do we want to make it a priority in
the 26 bud process which would obviously bump it up you know uh further up the list you know in the competition Um so you could either add it to the CIP which would just add it into the fifth year of our capital approval program which is a standard best practice Do we add it as a
project be considered during the 26 project program so I think those are the two things that you you have in front of you and then you know we go through the process to see where we could allocate um you know appropriate funding Yeah I I'd love it and perhaps um listen
Commissioner Fernandez I heard you're uh words in Tallahassee that were much needed And we're essentially facing um an issue here where we need to put our money where our mouth is or else the state's going to do it for us with being
committed to providing residential housing And we've talked about the LDRs on Lincoln Road Uh perhaps the public benefit of that um could be funding for this park I mean yeah we talk about the direction we're going in as a city We can help
revitalize a dying or struggling commercial corridor We can add ourselves the housing that if we don't do so Tallahassee is going to swing the pendulum much further the other way in doing so And we could do it in a
familyfriendly way where we're getting things like parks and playgrounds and health and wellness activation and m no micro units So if we want to be big boys and gals and make these decisions ourselves we need to show that we have the fortitude to do so Through the chair
you made up a good point Um we're going to have well assuming that it passes on Lincoln Road a residential um upzoning Um can we make it based any new residential development and maybe this
is a question for the city attorney They have to pay an impact fee for for certain CIP projects like this on Lincoln Road And before the city attorney if I could I love the idea I actually went back and I watched I think
it was in October of 2016 and talk about the different direction we're taking as a commission They actually added LDRs to add hotels and no parking for office on Lincoln Road Right We're actually doing residential housing but as part of that actually was some sort of almost ardent
public places uh impact fee that would be uh paid here We'd be looking for something similar I think we could work on potentially creating incentives for the creation of a public park for example Um I don't believe that it would
be appropriate to charge an impact fee um in connection with with the legislation that that you all are discussing but we can look into creating incentives um maybe as part of that legislation to create public spaces green spaces etc Let me ask a question
if I may Mr Chair So when and and it's a shame that that we don't have our planning department here When when applications are considered usually there's a review to see you know do they is there enough green space available to accommodate
this is there enough um you know do the sewers have enough capacity to accommodate this and all that type of stuff Um can can we have as we create these overlays uh for for Lincoln Road East Lincoln
Road West could we could we have a as part of the overlay a park requirement that you know as we can build upon this as we provide
green space So you really can't maximize on the zoning that we're creating for as long as you don't have enough green space So that we're creating the the incentive for whoever comes forward to create this or to use the zoning that
they actually have to build that green space Okay An incentive right an incentive but not through an impact fee but saying and I need the city attorney to be listening and I'm sorry because I'm asking the city attorney a question sorry
if as part of the zoning legislation that the zoning can only be used as the green space is available Does that make sense yeah I think we're probably talking similar um ideas that you're going to
create incentives or provide the the zoning will apply if you comply with certain green space requirements I think we're talking the same thing So how do we position ourselves for this where are we allowed to say I I guess we don't want to put the cart before the
horse you know I I think the best way to really move this project $4 to $6 million is a lot um we we we're not going to be able to just come out of thin air and fund it I mean our our the values are shrinking uh as we as the the
chair said Can we assuming that Lincoln Road East and West gets approved can we have a a an open solicitation to developers to say "Look if you if you build this
uh if you help fund this park or any or infrastructure then you get an extra I don't know 0.25 F or um maybe an extra floor if I if I may just to assist and if I'm off please let me know on this
item about the park Maybe what this is is this returns to the commission favor recommendation be included in our CIP which we would put it in the fifth year It could move at any time and then there's it sounds like we're on another separate referral to land use Land use
is getting some props today So we just hear it here Um Lincoln Roadmire you to talk about the Lincoln Road uh you know incentives and things like you're talking about to help support parks Um and and maybe if the city attorney thinks I'm off here but I think that that may be the best prudent approach on this item is to have this go We added in
the CIP so it lives in and it exists and then separately you have a referral about how to fund that maybe through some of these incentives that you guys are talking about at land use And and I just want to be clear from my perspective what I'm just thinking just because maybe I didn't describe it well you know the zoning is providing you
know maximum height and maximum F but you don't unlock the full potential of that height and F that we're approving until the green space that is needed is is available You might have some extra height and F with the
with the existing green space but you don't get the full amount of the green space is not unlocked until this until this you know green area is is is put in there Yeah I love it Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez
Um I think before this can be approved it has to have a referral back to the commission to go to the historic preservation board so that they can appine on this design which is really iconic Morris Lapidus right there in the
center of Uklid Circle I have you know no problem making that referral but that's why we have the preservation board That's really where it needs to go before we make any kind of opinion on this And uh that's what we've always been as a community is protecting our
iconic designers like Morris Lapidus So I would like an opinion from the board prior to us making any other decision So if I understand correctly though this isn't actually on the circle I think you got the feedback that that was the historic part of the master plan Correct So this is actually kind of over in the
archery south of it which actually brings in our good friend Mel uh while you're chomping it to get here Give me one second before we get to you Mel I don't think uh Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez that the and that's I wish we had the design renderings that the Uklid circle is actually uh being affected
here I think Commissioner Suarez was rec uh he recognized the historic uh importance of that So this will actually be shifted south into that artery uh by the Lincoln Center If I can can I just point one thing you know when you look
at the Secretary of the Interior's definition of historic preservation it has to fit within the context Now I have no problem approving something but it's going to have to be a very special type of art deco park and they might decide
that that ruins the context of the circle I'm so I just would like to get I think it's very important that we get that opinion prior to um referring this I mean I don't have a vote here on this committee but I do know that at the full commission I will ask for it to be
referred to the historic preservation I'll make that motion I don't think it's or that friendly amendment I don't think it's it's any way detracting from what's going on here I think it's just making sure it's compatible with the overall historic um area And while it's not
technically a historic um uh Morris lapidous structure per se it is still contributing to that that that jewel of our city that it needs a little gussying up And so why would we do something that doesn't complement it doesn't have to be a recreation of
anything but it does have to be designed in a way that complements with a E not an I It It's additive in its design and and expression to the vibe that's there So it's not a a way of derailing it's a way of uh enhancing If I can ask one
question Oh sorry Through the chair Um I believe that any project that goes there has to go to the HPV anyways by default It's in a historic district and I think whenever we make an enhancement to a park that's in a historic district it has to go to
the HPB So I think it's a moot point If I can add on but they might say no And so we might want to refer it to the HPB and then um as an opinion before we move forward I mean that's what I'm going to vote for at the full commission Um and I
think you've seen that Commissioner Bot also supports that I don't know how the Commissioner Fernandez or Commissioner Dominguez feels but as a body we should vote to refer it to the HPB get their opinion and have it come back to us because that's the expert opinion If I
may through the chair the HPB does not have an advisory process So they are looking at actually 30% developed drawings We're nowhere near that point It would go through HPB as we develop drawings sometime in the future once we find the funding If I can and that's
what I was trying to add in here is as this motion is to be added to our capital improvement program which is in the fifth year We're years away from that process unless it gets accelerated funded and we begin the design process which then process-wise it would go to HPA Wait I'd like to ask the city
attorney Does the HPB not have an advisory process because throughout my political career we have referred items to the HPB to get their opinion So I don't really understand where that's coming from The if I may through the chair the DRB does have an advisory process and there that's mostly used for
public works projects and rightway projects Um the HPB does not have an advisory process process Um through the DRB process they would make a recommendation and it would come back to commission Commission would elect to either accept those recommendations or
or overrule them With HPB you that process doesn't exist I How can we vote on a location without actually asking the HPB if they approve of that location within the context of the historic district if I may through the chair I I have seen at least one instance in the
recent past where the land usees committee referred a matter to the HPB for an advisory opinion So with with respect to um um to Mr Gomez I do believe that the HPB can provide an advisor opinion if that's the will of the body
Mel do you want to speak good morning Yes Yeah it's awesome Uh I I I'm not at all comfortable sometimes coming before the commission opposing anything I much prefer to as a member of this community to be here to support um to support incentives and I do
appreciate the the work and the intention that the members of the commission have to deal with the issues on Lincoln Road Let me go back if I can just uh a bit Uh there was during the I think it was the reign of of uh Mayor
Bower I came up with the idea of creating a plaza on the extension of Uclid Avenue which was at that time a truck stop in front of the Lincoln Center the building that I uh I created there That was originally a 66 room
hotel When myself and my partners purchased the building it was a little more than a slum Uh eventually we completely reconfigured the building into steel and concrete and made it into a an office structure Uh it is now quite a remarkable building and we have a
significant art gallery there and some very very interesting and uh young businesses there that are tend to do very well even as a office building I originally had a deal with the city where I would be putting in the my myself and JMAC Development would be
managing the development which we did and we were going to do a 50 basically 50/50 deal over the uh development period It turned out that actually we put in somewhere near 70 to 75% of the cost of developing that plaza The
agreement that I had and frankly I think it was at the assistance the insistence of uh Mayor Bower at the time was that nothing go on that plazcaping and the design the architects that designed the uh black and white at
that time concrete uh would remain as just a plaza and accordingly uh I agreed uh in the agreement and it's in our agreement with the city that there would be uh in the city I think passed a resolution there would be no use of any
type of u commercial development there and there certainly would not be any type of a use for outdoor cafes and we lived with that and agreed to that at the time with the expectation that the building would be utilized of course as we did that there would be no uh room
there and there would be no allowance of anything on the plaza in order to keep it as a plaza uh in order to enhance the building itself Uh as a result I also just to show where things go I I put in an extra $100,000
into the deal to have colored concrete poured into the lines that we did There were very exotic stripes and instead of stripes there were movements in the in the ground that the architect designed And I insisted that we use colored concrete black concrete and white concrete so it would never have to be
painted And uh all it would have to be would be sealed over periods of time Well that didn't last too long because the first time that the city had the opportunity to seal it they used a seal with a pigment And if you look at the street now it looks awful So this is the kind of because it was never really
properly taken care of Uh and although I insisted not to use the pigment not to use the color they did it anyway And if you take a look at more offline I'm just trying to give you a little bit of background I'll get to the the point is that that this wrap up Okay I also am a
member of the board of the of the bid and spent many years creating it The bid was never and per this is a personal matter This is not coming from the bid itself but I just am a member of the board I would have liked to have seen this design and like to have dealt with
this design and my colleagues and stakeholders on the street I think should also be a part of it 100% you would right I mean this is conceptual that we're moving forward your stakeholders both uh property own and on the Lincoln Road bid Um you're not going to wake up tomorrow and we have the
playground equipment out there This is uh it's not funded This is a conceptual design We're going to include the H this is going to stop at the HPB and get uh stakeholder involvement But if you go up uh to the design district and things like that it'd be hard to argue that
that the playground equipment there does anything other than be I'm commissioner I'm not sure we can identify Lincoln Road with the design district There are other we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a designer come in James
Connor came in and designed the street to enhance Lincoln Road We haven't done anything yet The circle has not been activated at all in accordance with the James Coner project It hasn't just hasn't been done yet And here we are working on other things when we should be concentrating on finishing what we
already created If you want to see Lincoln Road succeed there's two things you have to do First of all do the the James Connor project The center that he created for Lincoln Road circle should be activated It should be done And quite frankly the second thing is to to uh
expedite the necess expedite the permitting processes on Lincoln Road I think Troy from the Washington Avenue bid just mention that is the issues commission the park is and then we're going to move on with this because I think we're uh just beating a dead horse here We're going to move this along with
a favorable recommendation and I believe that before anything would ever move forward would have to stop before the HPB So we're kind of talking in circles here If I can to close this Commissioner B Sorry So David um offline it doesn't have to be now but can you provide an
update um as to where we are with the James Corner uh comr uh project that is supposed to be done is it a geo bond uh where are we and it doesn't have to be here now but it we definitely need to have an update on that Very very quickly the connector streets are already under
contract That's Meridian and and Drexel The main spine for Lincoln Road We're supposed to be going out to bid in May with uh award in October Excellent Okay So um Esme has a few things to say about this
this project Um so uh I would like to move it but with the stop at HPB which is already baked in correct as part of the design process If you want that input before we put it on the on the capital projects we can do that as well with that friendly amendment It's a it's
a different conversation if if I can So I I think the the nuance here is would it go when it's an appropriate time which might be 5 years from now when the design's being done or is this to include a a current referral to the HB for an advisory opinion that's fine I
I'll be completely upfront about where I stand I spoke at the North Beach PTA two weeks ago I spoke uh my daughter goes to South Point They go "What the hell is happening with Lincoln Road what is happening why can't we visit there anymore?" I'm not going to go there and
say "You know what we tried putting a world-class playground there but the HPB said "Nope sorry not on Lincoln Road." Not going to happen I don't believe they're going to I know I'm just saying I And it's a recommendation It's not binding Right That's what That's what
I'm saying is I'll I'll just forecast what my decision there will be And maybe they might come up with something that's an even better um uh use of space that we haven't contemplated because that's what they do I don't think anybody is suggesting that we're not going to do
something purely based on one board's recommendation They're advisory boards but they're but because they're advisory boards let's use their expertise and get some input and then we will take that into consideration along with everything else This is not a a hidden maneuver to
try to thwart anything No I'm not saying you this is this is a goal to make it as good as it can possibly be and maybe in ways that none of us here are even contemplating And that's perfect Perfect Mr Chair so let's let's move this along I just have a question about that Um
the process right now is we have a 30 60 and what what's the other percent for the new project for the playground We would we would do a 30 60 90% review 90 Yeah Once we go through that process right so so so once this is 30% designed
which is still pretty conceptual correct the submittal to the formal submittal to HPB would be at a 30% level So but at that point there's still opportunity to do changes to the design Yes sir Okay And I think I I think what's important
to remember is you know ultimately it's a city commission that decides what you know whether there should be a playground there and that type of stuff that but you know the HPB gives your input as to okay this design is it
appropriate within this this area and all that I don't want the HPB to have a chilling effect on our decision to place a children's play area or anything like that on Lincoln Road I
think that's the jurisdiction of the city commission And that's why I like the process that we have in place that at the 30% design stage it goes to the HPB and the HPB at that point reviews it Notwithstanding that Mr attorney
Assuming that this is an issue that the HPB is concerned about without there having to be a referral to the HPB couldn't the HPB make a motion have their own discussion if they wanted to have a discussion about it and make a motion a recommendation to the city
commission if they felt so inclined Mr Attorney the HPP could certainly do that if the HPP is aware of this plan Okay Can I so so so I think I I I think that gives everyone a fair opportunity It gives us
our job We're seeing the city beyond the optics of just historic preservation We're seeing the city in the optics of economic development We're seeing the city in providing services for families and making sure that we have adequate green spaces available We're seeing it
through many different optics that the Historic Preservation Board is not looking at it from But there is that opportunity for that at the right time for them to come in to chime in with their expertise and that I
think is is is what's important So thank you Mr Chair And through the chair I I I totally echo that concern I mean I I I think I don't want to get into the habit of of having the electeds who are elected by Miami Beach residents
stifled by a non-elected board I think at the I think we have a process in place where at 30% they they are more than welcome to chime in They can chime in at any point apparently So I'm not going to be in favor of of look this is going to be a multi-year project I don't
need we don't need to delay it even further So um it's up to the rest of my colleagues if they want but I'm not going to be supportive of a referral to the HPB Can I just add one thing i would just like to add that there shouldn't be any fear behind an additional um public
hearing I think that public hearings allow people to weigh in and given the fact that Mel's building happens to be right there At least give him the opportunity to go in front of the HPB and say "If not this location where else and what do you think of it and what can we do to make it better?" I don't think
that this is any attempt to thwart anything All it is is allowing for an add There shouldn't be any fear Don't be afraid Okay this is not about killing a public park It's simply about allowing for an additional public hearing which is by the way what we would have traditionally always done Encourage
public input I know that bothers some some some of us but it really shouldn't It really shouldn't And by the way there the people that are appointed to the HPB are only looking at it through that lens And you know and and
the fact that we're even saying that the HPB can't be an advisory board is very very frightening to me Um Mr Gomez that you even said that because um that's just not true But but we went to order because we're you know so anyway I'm not
voting right now I don't think a public hearing is a bad thing Okay we we're going to wrap this up Um the city attorney just mentioned that the Historic Preservation Board can most certainly issue an advisory opinion if
they so choose They don't need us Imagine if we set the precedent that their opinion only comes when it when it's because the city commission is asking for it I think it's it's within all the board's jurisdiction that if something is within their concern they
can issue an advisory opinion within the area of scope of their committee We don't need to do a referral That's like almost saying you need to have permission from the city commission in order to give an advisory opinion on an issue They can give an advisory opinion
on at any point And and I think the city attorney has made that very clear Yeah And this isn't going to not stop at the HPB That's part of the process Correct Correct Okay So let's move this forward We'll remain with the process If the HPB wants to uh issue some sort of advisory
opinion they are more than happy to do so So if we have nothing to put in front of them in So if I can we'll show uh Commissioner Sor is making a motion to return to commission with a favor recommendation to include the South of Uklid Circle Children's Playground in the city's 5-year capital improvement
program Perfect I I second Okay All in favor i I showing none opposed Pass three nothing Thank you Can we hear NB23 uh is that what you're here for Madame Mayor what was it nb23 She doesn't know the
MDPL item Oh I'm sorry I forgot to put my hearing aid Are you here for the MDPL item yes If I can MB MB23 Because otherwise I'll be talking and that's why I don't That's exactly why I'm taking it now I I want
to get you on with your day which is exactly where I'm taking this now MB23 discuss conflicts of interest ethical concerns re MDPL's multiple roles NB23 And listen I'm sure this is a discussion
that could range on all day Uh it'd be great if we're able to wrap this up by uh 11:55 if that's uh feasible Um let let's try and you know get on with it Have all sides Commissioner Suarez turn this over to you I don't believe I'm going to be able to finish this in 10
minutes but um I I will do my best Nine minutes Um I would like to know is anyone from MDPL present i am Great I am you want to Good morning My name is Nina Weberworth
and I'm vice chair of the board of MDPL Okay Is as um Daniel Saldo is is ill and uh lost his voice and uh he is also uh res has resigned as the executive
director of MDPL Okay Thank you Um I understand he resigns effective uh end of the month 31st Correct Correct Okay I'm sorry So um he resigned
forever forever Yes Correct Okay Okay Thank you So um I want to first start out You can have a seat You want me to sit down yeah I have a presentation I I mean you're more than
welcome to stand at the podium I just wanted to just start with a thought if if you don't mind that I'll I'll I'll present and then you're more than welcome to speak Okay Oh Oh okay I mean the only thing I if if you don't mind I have a floor I'm I'm speaking and I have
a presentation I'd like that the inspector general's here A lot of people are are watching and they'd like to see what I have to say So you know first of all I want to start off by saying I I value historic preservation Okay almost
every night I walk uh Flamingo Park from my house in in Meridian uh down to South of Fifth And I I I truly love the architecture I like that we're not a cookie cutter city I like that the
buildings that I see there now were built in the 40s and it's a marvel It's like walking down a museum I of a city every day every night Um it's something to cherish and and frankly that's why I
decided to call Miami Beach home And um I think MDPL I in in its truest form does good Okay I think your mission is valuable
and that it serves a great purpose for the city of Miami Beach Unfortunately I think under your past executives leadership there has been many ethical
concerns and conflicts of interest that have been raised And so I I want to make sure that I delineate between the MDPL's mission and certain people in your or
was recently up until yesterday uh leadership Okay And I think that's important and I think you know I I don't want to come off combative Okay And and I think the issues and the concerns that I'm going to raise to you and Lynette you you
should pay attention to because I think there are certainly glaring issues um where moving forward you don't fall into that trap because I want MDPL to succeed I don't want you your organization to be
tainted by the actions of just a few Um so uh with that let me let me pull up the slideshow Uh PJ can you put up um my presentation please Okay so um you go
next slide So MDPL has special status Okay They they're they're a nonprofit um 501c3 They have the visitor center Um they have certain city privileges They are guaranteed a seat on the historic
preservation board which we were just talking about Um they have special standing while other organizations would not uh to actually appeal HPB decisions Um they receive grants from
the city uh hundreds of thousands of dollars They also get inind um donations and the tunes probably millions of dollars from the city for basically free rent uh that operates the visitor center
Um the the leadership the executive director engages uh the commissioners on policy decisions both in public and in private um and including real estate development And uh it has a unique status where it
combines it's a nonprofit and it's a contractor and it has advocacy roles um with elevated influence on on our city preservation boards Okay Uh next slide please
Uh one of the issues that I saw uh that I realized when I when I was researching how many times your executive director came to us and I wanted I want you to take a
look at that graph In 2014 up until 2019 there was a series of reg items to be registered for lobbying And in 2020 through
2025 there was only a total of 17 times that he registered to lobby for uh before the HPB or before any items Okay And then when I did the research when I literally looked at all
the videos of the HPB planning board there was over 180 separate items and he failed to register on those Now there is no registration fee but even a nonprofit you have to register to lobby
on an item Okay And so PJ can you go to the next slide please these are all the appearances of only HPB and that's this is not including the commission or the DRB This is only the HPB and the planning board And where I
have the yet the yellow is the only sections where or the only items excuse me that he registered to lobby Uh next slide please And then you can go to the next slide and you go next slide and you go next slide and you go to next slide
and the next slide So you can see that there were many instances where your executive director came before our zoning boards and failed to register as a lobbyist And under city code 2-482 any
person who seeks to influence a decision of the city commission or administration must register as a lobbyist It's it's it's strictly in our code And you know there's been a lot of issues lately with the registering to lobby u you know the standard hotel is I don't know if you've
been following that there were many instances or there was an instance where the organization failed to register they were lobbying and they were getting paid uh through a settlement agreement Um so and it even says even if the executive director represents a
501c3 advocating um for or against seeing action especially tied development use is lobbying Um and so failing to register is a violation of the lobbying ordinance and undermines transparency especially since MDPL
receives public grants and inind donations So if you can go to the next slide please Okay Um another issue that I that was actually brought to my attention uh through a a public a citizen a resident
Okay Um they did a public records request for all the contributions that MDPL received since I think it was 2020 Okay
And uh what I found very very startling was a lot of the payments that were received or quote unquote contributions were from developers Developers contributing before projects were were
opined by MDPL And I'm not sure if you're aware of that but I I have some case studies here that uh I'd like to go over But before I do that you know why do I think that's a conflict of interest where developers and lobbyists are contributing thousands of dollars tens
of thousands of dollars to your organization before a project is presented I think that's a huge conflict of interest So MDPL's dual status of both a city vendor and a grant recipient intensifies the need for disclosure and
and recusal mechanisms um advocacy for contributors without transparency is undisclosed lobbying because I don't believe that and uh Daniel Seraldo has ever disclosed that he's gotten a contribution from this u the project
vendor who who may be presenting and I'll go over a couple case studies so you can see um and and let's go to the next slide please PJ okay so the issue one of the issues I have is is MDPL receives city funds in
in kind grants in and and grants in terms of heart dollars uh while engaging in advocacy before the city commission Um so we don't know if the funds that we give
MDPL are used for lobbying Okay So you can imagine that we're giving hundreds of thousands of dollars uh millions also in kind and basically free rent and that money is being funneled to your executive director who then lobbies us
on on legislative matters and not only us but zoning boards Uh next slide please So um there's no disclosure unfortunately as of now where if MDPL or the executive
director or through the executive director receive these funds that they they it there's no transparency in in saying that there was a payment made and now we take a position So uh next slide please Okay So
a a perfect case study is Ike and uh this is the digital kiosk that I I know one of my colleagues was very much against when this was presented because it looked like sidewalk clutter right um and believe it or not MDPL had a
position against um Ike and and this digital billboard that was going to be presented everywhere Um but in November 13 2023 Ike donated $5,000 to MDPL and then just under shy under a month MDPL
publicly changed its position on IKE's digital kiosk information Um and then I I mean that to me when I see a $5,000 donation made and then MDPL changes
their position one month after less than a month I think that is a it's it's it's a reason to to concern And it doesn't even stop there I believe your grants manager Matthew Golton then registers as a lobbyist for
Ike in March of 12 of 2024 Um and then in October the same year in 2024 you get another $5,000 So that that's to me I look that's where I started to think oh well
maybe there maybe there's something here that really needs to to be discussed openly and transparent If you go to the next slide please PJ So that was November 13th 2023 There was a $5,000 donation Next slide And this just shows where MDPL has
um changed their position on December 12th you know one month after they received the $5,000 donation Next slide please And this is where uh one of your other employees Matthew Colton actually registered as a lobbyist for Ike
um and and then receives a a subsequent $5,000 donation Next slide please Okay Uh you don't have to go through this You don't have to go through this video PJ you can go next So here's another case study The national hotel if I could Um
because I'm press on time I announced I have to leave at 12:15 I want to hear this out Um where do you want to take this is it going through i just want to finish Well I get I got I just need five more minutes Um so then there's going to be back and forth and things like that Yeah Well I'd still like to finish my
presentation if that's okay with the chair If we can we we get where we're going with this If we could speed through some of that Sure So another case study was a National Hotel in 2022 November 8th uh the National Hotel donates $5,000 to MDPL
and the same year a couple months later MDPL meets with the adjacent neighbor between there's dispute between the National and the Ritz Carlton and all of a sudden there is a position um against the
Ritz from MDPL Okay Um and then another $5,000 donation is made Okay Uh next case study please And ne next slide And this is a little bit more um concurrent for the next case study Next slide
please This is the Doville This is what's happening right now In September 9th of 2024 Terara Group donates $5,000 to MDPL Just a couple months later MDPL
goes on record favoring the project and in quote in literally in on the Miami Herald says this project is going to be even better than than the Doville Okay Um and you can go to the next slide
Okay Um you know urbanistically this new project was maybe even better than the original It's it's one minute accolades on the proposal as well Okay we go next slide PJ So again uh a donation is made
position is either changed or or made in favor of it Uh okay next slide please And so um you know you could you could you could uh pause the slideshow for for the sake of time PJ
So when I see that there's a failure to register as a lobbyist okay uh for the last five years and there's only 12 instances and then but there's over there's like almost 200 different items
that he's appeared before uh HPB and planning board and commission I think that's a huge problem I think that violates our our our lobbying laws And then when I see developers and
lobbyists paying U MDPL and those positions are somehow affected I think that's a huge problem Now listen your your organization is more than welcome to receive contributions Correct I I don't see the
any issue with that The issue that that I certainly have is that MDPL has certain special status with Miami Beach through our resiliency code You have seats on our board You have appeal rights Um and to
me I think it's a it it's it's frightening to know that you're getting city funds and you're getting funds from developers when projects are actually in play I think that's a huge
conflict of interest And I I think I look I understand uh Daniel Saldo resigned yesterday Okay Um which is curious to know that right before this meeting um I like I said before I I think
this is I I don't know if you knew about any of this Okay Um I I think there there are certainly issues of of transparency and and disclosure that is not being applied here Uh but when I
see developers f you know contributing just months before projects are being opined on from your board and from your executive director I think that it doesn't look good and and I don't want that to happen to MTPL because I I do
love your organization and I do and I and I stand for what you guys believe in And like I said I think unfortunately with your past leadership it has gone ary Um and and by the way I'm not the only one that feels that way Okay and I
think you can hear from you know even our our former mayor who was a founding member of of MDPL she has serious reservations on how uh Mr Seraldo has really run your organization Um because
I don't want it to be tainted the way it has been up until this point Um so look I I'd love to hear some feedback I'd love to hear some comments um and and see you know where this lands because I I don't think moving forward this is a a
transparent way okay um how our city should be uh dealing with zoning matters uh especially with an organization that has such special and and literally superpower abilities to appeal and influence our our
decision- making And commissioner what are you what are you uh kind of envisioning from today is this just a discussion to have further dialogue back and forth some sort of motion or um well essentially with new leadership here uh
form a working relationship that that's what I'd like to propose that we are going to have new leadership We are now in transition and we can also work with you in setting the guidelines for who we
can take contributions from and how we can always be put our best foot forward as a lobbyist when needed And I just wanted to just say as I share you at 30 I lived on Ocean Drive for 32
years and um I treasure it as well and we're all in the process right now and trying to rebrand Ocean Drive as really a mecca for historic and heritage tourism And I envision MDPL you know
being the cornerstone for that and and a hub of the community And we want to work with the commission to make it as such Yeah I just want to say as a person who respects numbers as I do I get the
implications You've done a thorough job of your homework I don't know as someone that if an position could be influenced by a $5,000 donation you certainly couldn't buy my support for
$5,000 or any organization I chair for 5,000 you know maybe 500,000 We could start talking but these are very little amounts of money That doesn't mean I sanction this behavior I want to be
clear Um and I think I'm not directly involved The thing about MDPL is we're very complex organization because we have the museum we run the tours we have the visitor center that hosts people
coming in and we have advocacy is which which these concerns are about I'm not on advocacy I work with the museum and exhibits Um but I think you brought an important point We have to take a closer
look because the optics are not good and you know but I think the numbers are small I don't think those influenced opinions but we should make sure that there are connections are noted And I
also noted that where Mr Seralo did um register All of the ones you highlighted in yellow were yes When he registered as a lobbyist with the ones you showed pages where he lobbied but did not register all the
ones that were blue was no So so perhaps what we can do is when new leadership is in place I'd welcome this discussion to be furthered at the finance committee in plotting out a new path forward together One thing that kind of gives me pause
and this has nothing to do with any individual and it's just my initial thought I'm I'm not stuck to it is you know an organization receiving significant amount of taxpayer money than turning around and lobbying us It just seems like it should be one or the other But I'm happy to talk through some
of those issues Not now but as we kind of uh bring this back to the finance committee and plot out a better path forward Uh Commissioner B I'll hand it over to you And uh Madame Mayor if you wanted to uh speak as well I'd like to Um yeah so just for those listening um who may not know since it wasn't
illuminated in the presentation um the way MDPL works is as Lynette alluded and and Nina alluded um it is a very complex organization and so there are different committees that do different things and the advocacy group meets as a group It's
three four five six people depending on the year of how many people are involved Um some people aren't even on the board of MDPL but they're still part of the advocacy committee and they get presentations on on the projects and they weigh the merits of the projects
and as a group they make a recommendation They formulate an opinion and make a recommendation So the recommendation is from the advocacy group the executive director whoever he or she may be is then the representative at the
meeting to share that opinion But it doesn't have to be It could be anybody So that's just how it works Um and and um I want to make sure that that is plainly understood Second of all um there is a clear concern that I share
I have I I'm not denigrating the issues raised but I want to be transparent I want it to be I want the issues to be transparent that the organization has been under fire multiple times over the last decade and has almost been run out
of town successfully in the last five years or so And so I want to be sure that as we go forward we allow people uh who are putting together a new structure with a new management um and a and um um
a new vision on how to move forward gave them the opportunity to do the correct thing For instance under the previous um um chairman of the board who has not been on the board for years um things were not handled very well from a
financial perspective when he was forced off the board which triggered a whole bunch of drama that almost ran MDPL out of town When MDPL was safely reconstituted the first thing that was done was to bring the
financials up to snuff in the best possible way Forensic accounting three years of audits everything I can't even remember the details It's all out in the public So there's nothing there is a lot of very good work that has been done in terms of getting the
organization to where it needs to be It has also grown in its impact and import in the city dramatically from a number of concerned citizens and residents appining to an organization that has a lot of money moving through it for art
deco weekend and um there was somebody who passed away who bequathed an enormous gift for NDPL which is a game changer There was a it was all legit He was dead He wasn't lobbying for anything Um there there was fundraising and I
believe it continues um to help fund the new museum because the city would match funds that were fundraised for the new museum Um there so it's gone from being sort of this little band of activists to a big organized
um 501c3 that now has many more functions than it has had in years past And sometimes leadership isn't always as you well know my my friends in business and finance we've all been involved in startups Sometimes the
person who starts the organization is not the person to lead it into the next chapter And I believe that um with all that Daniel has done that is good for the organization it is time for a transition Yeah And the new leadership
will enable this organization to grow into its role more fully more properly doing things um the way it now demands because the scrutiny on it because it is in a different role than it used to be And I think that is a very valid
conversation I just want to separate though the perception that anything MDPL MDPL does is bad and corrupt because that is not true and I will never support that And I would even go so far as to say that I don't believe anything
that Daniel did and I don't know because I'm not Daniel but I think he is acting was acting in what he thought was the best capacity for the organization and in some cases incorrectly but not for any personal gain other than furthering
the mission of the organization So I wanted to put that on the record because I know there are a lot of people who have a lot of feelings one way or the other and I want to make sure that that this is a more wholesome discussion and I really appreciate the opportunity to have everyone come back in a couple of
months when your new uh leadership is hired hopefully somebody from with much broader experience um from a bigger organization that can really take MDPL where it is now which is already significantly elevated from where it has been and bring it into the 21st century
in the best possible way Thank you Commissioner Fern could I say one thing I think you that you've raised some issues that the board could consider um voting on like should we accept donations from developers i didn't know
we were Obviously I have a right to examine You didn't know you guys were accepting donations from developers no And it's I work in the museum and the redoing of the museum Well I'm just saying there are issues we
could address on procedural issues that the board can make definitive decisions on how we want to go forward And personally I'll keep a closer eye on the donations we do receive I have access but I don't look at them
individually what the money we get that's I'm not the treasurer nor am I in the advocacy committee madam mayor and I think that's the problem and I think that we used to have that in place and when Danielle came in it changed not
only did it change but they changed the bylaws that only them can select who comes in and who doesn't come in and so I agree that the board and I was going to ask that question Does the board
votes on the pu on even if it's after the fact on the uh on the um projects that are supported by MDPL and if they don't they should because you need the
board is the heart of the community and it's the heart of the preservation and if the board is kept divided and she's in the museum and she's in I forgot already
whatever it is and I am in someplace else the divide and conquer comes in and in in the meantime whoever is executive director is the one pulling the strings
on everybody around them So I want to first clarify that I am here in support of MDPL as an organization and that if anything happens to try to destroy that core
organization that has other people say they did it but was the one that started the redevelopment of Miami Beach particularly South Beach that then went all to Miami Beach I will be front
running this against I have never and I'm putting it on the record clearly liked Daniel Daniel broke the organization because he wanted to be paid $116,000 at the very beginning which I
don't remember what year that was because I that's why I keep young And I don't remember the years passes but that was a lot of money that we knew other people because I was not in the
organization We knew MDPL could never sustain because I don't think we paid it with all the other money Now you have an organization that is complicated that was run for
over 25 years 30 years I don't remember that either Uh and it had our deco weekend It had the store It had the walking tour It had auditioners so that we could give out and they can walk We
had all the same things that they have The only thing that has happened is that Daniel loves to do events And so now the organization has become an event person He sends event here He he publishes all
the events in Miami Beach and puts it in the MDPL I believe that if he's out I asked the question as long as it's permanently I think that the way of getting into MDPL should we had a process that if
members came in and nominated a person from the street whoever that person was it would get considered that was taken away because that's how we were doing it to get into it And so it became a close organization whoever he could control
and he can only control it by the divide and conquer They need to know the finances I don't understand how a board could be an actual board they're telling me to lower my
voice I'm not yelling I'm just passionate about Madam Mayor you are much more liberal about the use of the microphone on that side than you are on Tuesday morning breakfast club And so I think that's the first step It's good I
am only very sorry that he's running for commission because if he gets on the deas he will do the same thing here He will do the same thing because that's his motto's operand So for MTPL I'm here
I'm glad it's permanent I have the answer that the votes were not that the board was never advised How could you not look at the finances we get the finances I'm not saying but I look at every donation
from now on maybe you should but I am here to support MDPL statement really for the record the finances are in excellent shape Our our the chairman of the board Joel Lavine is focused on this Not every member focuses on every item
So Lynette may be focusing on the women's history exhibition and and other people are on the finance committee There is a whole finance committee I I invite anybody to go look for the you know u request the finances and you'll you'll see that they are impeccable Yeah
This is not the first one Please please this is not the first time I have complained about this I have complained to a variety of people I'm sorry I didn't think of the uh inspector general because I'm not there that mean but I
like to fix the problem for MDPL Thank you Commissioner Fernetus Thank you Mr Chair and thank you Madame Mayor and to Nina and Lynette for your volunteer service I want to begin by recognizing the Miami Design Preservation League for its historic and undeniable
contributions to our city For nearly 50 years MDPL has served as a cultural steward and as a voice for preservationists in our community when perhaps that did not exist playing a leading role in saving and celebrating
the iconic art deco historic district that has helped make Miami Beach famous around the world Thanks to NDPL's efforts dating back to Barbara Kappenman and a group of determined volunteers like Maddie that were chaining
themselves up to buildings and I think Nina you may have been there as well back in the 70s Our city didn't bulldo its past Instead we honored it We protected it We built an economy around
it And the league's advocacy has helped secure the district's placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and created a foundation for cultural tourism that continues to benefit us all to this day And I've seen
as as we were we've mentioned in the past its important work of even against the uh resiliency and unsafe structures act that was going after our collection of art deco buildings The league's advocacy in Tallahassee was instrumental
uh in helping us in our fight to exempt uh that from from preeemption They've educated millions through their museum through the historic walking tours through the art deco weekends They've trained uh local artists They instilled
civic pride in our built environment Their record of preservation is next to none and is commendable and it is indeed historic itself None of that good can exempt any
organization no matter how storied no matter how beloved from questions of accountability and from questions of transparency Today we're not questioning MDPL's
contributions Those are undeniable I think we are examining whether its recent financial relationships comply with our ethical standards And I don't think just ethical
standards of the days I think of the community as well And I think we owe it to our residents to ensure that all charitable organizations not just MDPL engaging in the political discourse
or even getting having operating agreements to manage facilities that they that that that they do so transparency when they're soliciting funds that they do it
ethically when they're soliciting funds that they do it without a perception of impropriy So this is not a moment about cancelling the past I think we celebrate everything that MDPL has done And I
think this is a moment that is a moment of unity Not to uh quote uh our chairman Joe Magazine but I think the unity here is that there's a desire from both sides the sponsor of this of this item Commissioner uh Suarez wants to make
sure that donations don't influence the advocacy And I see from the board leadership that's present before us today a desire to work together on policies to make sure that MDPL doesn't
stop operating that it continues operating into the future upholding the highest levels of ethics appearances that make sure that advocate for historic preservation for the good of the community without the influence of
any contributions from entities that have business before our land use sports I do have to say that um this might sound corny I got teary eyed you know seeing the contributions
to like from Ike and then after Ike made a contribution that then the position changed that to me was heartbreaking Why because I trust the integrity of the organization
I formed difficult decisions that were unpopular based on the opinion that we get from these advocacy organizations because we trust the advocacy organizations We trust the volunteers in the advocacy organizations to be taking
positions that are in the best interest of the community And when I see that there was a contribution and then right after the contribution the position changed and that I base my position and
my decision in part trusting in the integrity of the organization that to me it was person is personally heartbreaking to me because I trust people and I want to always think the best of people and the
people are coming forward especially taking these positions in the best interest of the public So Nina uh and Lynette I want to thank you both for coming forward not in a combative spirit but in the spirit of collaboration so that we make sure that there is a future
for NDPL a future of advocacy a future of preservation but doing it in a way that any contribution is of is of the highest levels of transparency and ethics and maybe deciding do we want to continue getting taxpayer support or and if we do
maybe then we forfeit any developer support whatsoever And I think that that should be the policy If you get taxpayers dollars we're not going to be getting dollars then from entities that do development or business in the city because that's the standards we govern ourselves by also as elected officials
when we go out to our campaigns So thank you Mr Chair Thank you So just in in interest of time can we say we're going to have you back at this committee in three months when you have new leadership in place and and I don't know if three months is going to be the right timing in terms of how long it's going
to take us to u and get new leadership So I just can't put a time frame for something like that Yeah Whether it's three months four months five months six months I I want to give you your form to come back and work collaboratively with this commission Absolutely and and if
it's if it's all possible maybe there's an open and public way of how you do select a new executive director And I I think you know considering that the MDPL does receive a significant amount of money in city and taxpayer funds I think that that process should be open and
transparent in a public fashion and I'd be more than happy to host it here in chambers of how that's of how that's uh voted on Well let's have followup I I team we've been at this for 50 minutes I I've had to leave for 20 minutes Um
let's see you back in three months and if there's some other things in the interim we can have one-off conversations but let's wrap this up So chair we'll show the item was presented A presentation by Commissioner Suarez was added to the record Representatives of the MDPL spoke about enacting organizational returns and for MDPL to
return uh to discuss when appropriate or in three months Excellent Um I'm going to try and speed through some things Thank you so much for your time what everything does I'd have much more nicities but in interest of efficiency huh yeah we we're going to have that Um
thank you Quick items that I think are just going to be referrals basically to staff Uh and then I have to get out of here and then we're going to uh Mayor I'm sorry for having you here that'll be a little more uh robust of a conversation But I just want to call 19 and 20 NB1 19 and 20 that I think are
just going to be you know hear from staff and we're going to put the ball into your corner uh because I don't have time for drawn out conversations We'll start with that MB20 discuss the management operation of a public beachfront concession agreements uh as it pertains to the sale of alcoholic beverages and advertising sponsorship
opportunities NB19 Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez Yes Um good morning I am here today on this item because I know that we have been needing to raise public funds whether it pay for the expansion of Muscle Beach I
like that Or our sanitation fund or even the debt on um or even some of the debt on this new water and sewer bonding that we have And so um that is why I am considering a lot like
considering amending this agreement of alcohol to sell beer wine and champagne um on the beach as partners in a partnership which would be uh lucrative incredibly lucrative and significant and
could possibly um help us um fiscally because we know that we have some issues So as long as we find the right revenue stream what I would like is for the administration to go back and negotiate
um these sales so that potentially we can what is what how much are we lacking in the sanitation fund right now well I don't think this would go through the sanitation but it I don't know It could it could go anywhere these funds that we are going to make But I think that what's what could happen here um beer
and wine sales on the beach could generate a lot of money and Miami Beach as partners with the Bush Brothers I think that would be um something that we can explore because I know that we need um revenue sources for playgrounds for
and something that's recurring Exactly For me it it's not even so much about the revenue although that's a extremely important point For me it's actually regulating the sale of this Like I I go to Third Street Beach My mom goes there every day And mom I'm sorry because I
know you have your favorite guy you buy margaritas from Uh but you feel like you're in Kusamel Mexico It is so cheap and run down You hear margarita margarita pinina colada And now they're selling empanadas out of backpacks
They're selling weed So weed everything So regulating this removes the black market because right now regulating sales No I'm kidding How much money do we need no but yeah
you you sit on Third Street you feel like you're on a cheap cruise right all the people that are walking by with their backpacks selling margaritas and things like that It is so rund down and cheap Um let's just kick it over to city staff and come back and say what the
different possibilities are Commissioner's work I was just about to say the same thing but in the sake of time I'll I'll move the item been favorable recommendation Yeah I'll second Okay Okay So we'll show the item return to commission with a favor recommendation to direct administration negotiate an amended agreement with
Bushi Brothers My Beach LLC to implement the sale of alcoholic beverages and advertising sponsorships Who made the motion i did I have a question And then a second Before we we close the vote I do I do have a question Um city Mr City attorney maybe you can
help me understand a little bit Um I this like falls in this sort of gray zone right like the hotels currently can sell booze because of whatever concession agreements they have However it is not legal to drink on our beaches
And so how do we reconcile that and then also are we opening the door for every um um a private condo that is upland of the beach to then petition to have their you
know little in-house cantina also sell alcohol So this is a complicated question that I can't answer immediately because the limited research that I have done prior to today's meeting um and conversations that I've had in order to
sell alcohol you need to have a permanent structure Um the other issue is going to be where is that structure located there are limitations in our beachfront management agreement with the state of Florida So there are a lot of issues that need to get worked through
in order for something like this to to work Um will this uh result in other beachfront concessionires some of the private property owners that already have concession agreements uh to want the same sure that could happen But I think it's all going to depend on what
the state's requirements are for obtaining a liquor license Um and that might limit uh what can actually be done So I think there's a lot of due diligence that needs to be done both by the city as well as by our concession partners to see what exactly is possible
So before we vote favorably on something that we like in concept it seems like it could be a good thing but in actuality we don't know yet what it looks like how it works who would be eligible for it would it require that we have additional new structures on the beach Would would
we not be more prudent to bring this back next month would that be part of the proposal that's what this is So this is just for staff to go and explore and see what's feasible So we're not like agree we're not saying "Oh go out and sell alcohol." just for staff to sit here and say here's what is potentially and when does that come that's but
that's coming back to commission right instead of to here correct so I would suggest it might make sense to come back here before it goes back to commission no absolutely so we show the item that is referred to commission to negotiate and then return to FK for finalization well not even negotiate necessarily but
lay out the the program a menu of options we can do and and with with obviously the city attorney because I I we'll bake it here in finance And then if it approves we'll send it to the commission I think that the if I may I think that's what happen is the commission would direct administration I
mean to staff to to negotiate and begin to put that together and come back to FK to hash out those details But no that's not what I'm saying Okay I what I'm not I'm not saying go hash out the details with a concessionaire I'm saying come back to us at FK and explain what it
could look like regardless of who the concessionaire is regardless of if it's going to apply to private condos or not Like let us hear this full the ramifications of all this before we go recommending to go negotiate with a concession I think that's what we're saying That's I don't think that's what
Jason is saying But if I if I may through the chair um I think we need to work collaboratively with the concessionaire because there are things that the concessionire is going to need to tell us as to what they're able to do or willing to do Um I think it would be
much more expedient to do it that way and then once we have a model the commission can decide how broadly or in what limited capac but it's not a negotiation it is a factf finding it's putting something together Securing proposals is my understanding is to
secure a proposal and discuss how this could actually work in practice So okay So I know I'm I'm parsing this but brainstorming I'm fine with uh negotiating and securing a pro proposal I'm not fine with because I think that is one step too far Let's see Let's get the brainstorming results back Let's see
what the framework would be and then we say okay this is something we want to proceed with Let's see how we can you know who's interested in and and I think that's where I want to go with this right let's see Do we only do it on beaches in front of hotels do we only do it on beaches not in front of hotels do
we only do it with with like this is very preliminary right so I'm not asking to secure any type of contractor proposal Come back with a menu of the different options on both the alcohol and the advertising and say here's basically the possibilities in front of
us Oh 100% If I may then what I would do is I believe then strike the term negotiate amended agreement and maybe put in develop a framework Yes Freeman the potential possible Exactly Okay So we'll show it returning to commission of the federal recreation
direct administration to develop a framework with the Bushier brothers my beach LLC to implement the sale of alcoholic beverages and advertising and to return to FK for further development Yeah Mr Chair uh good afternoon Ralph Andrade represent Buché Brothers Um I
just want to make sure that as part of the the referral um because I think it's it highly relevant to the discussion is that we're able to discuss with staff potential um revenue sharing uh what the financials of this framework may look like I just want to make sure staff
understand front and center because I have we all have uh a health and wellness area to fund We have playgrounds to fund So uh we're looking for dedicated revenue sources to do so Okay Making sure It doesn't have to be the Boucher brothers I know that's who you represent
but hypothetically speaking there could be somebody who does just this who is more suited to the task at hand I don't know because we haven't discussed what the framework is So could be the Boucher Brothers could be somebody else could be decide that we decide you know what it's not worth it I I just want to make sure
that this is not something a brainstorming that would only be relevant to the Boucher brothers if if we come up with something that we like Yeah If staff says you know here's our other options This is as open-ended as possible for you I I want you to put on
your creativity I haven't spent too much time thinking about the different details and dynamics This is for you to go out and kind of do your magic and and work with the police as well because they're going to have to be enforcing and you know making sure that the dudes selling everything out of their backpacks are you know that's a whole
different conversation but like it needs to be a holistic approach also women out there that sell it So dudes in the non-gendered version of it Thank you And if I may a bit presumptive dudetss and everybody in between if I may and then we'll strike uh Buché
Brothers LLC from it So it' be return to commission with favorable recommendation re administration to develop a framework to implement the sale of alcoholic beverages and and advertising sponsorships uh on the beach and to return to FK for further discussion when appropriate Perfect You made that motion
be clear that part of those conversations of course you're our concession so because sometimes I know staff takes the direction literally and if it doesn't reference Buché brothers they won't talk to them so that includes the Bush brothers right thank you includes but not limited to including
but we love competition I I believe it was it was um moved by commissioner Suarez we have a second I'll say all in favor I hearing none opposed it passed three nothing thank you madame mayor uh sorry for keeping you waiting Uh we
would love to have you come up and um I'm going to have to leave part of the way through your conversation but I am supportive of the direction that we're going in here I don't know if I can pre-register a vote Um I can for this and also for uh uh for my friend and
colleagues item um NB20 Thank you Okay uh MB20 referral to discuss adding infertility treatment as a benefit for plan participants insured under the city's self Well we're hearing 17 but I'd like to pre-register the mayor
Sorry Discuss possible interlocal agreement between the city of Miami Beach and North Bay Village for extending Miami Beach trolley route MB17 We left Mayor Good afternoon colleagues It has been
actually a lot of fun and fascinating watching your meeting this morning I commend each of you for your dedication to public service for the cleareyed way that you evaluate these issues and for your ability to engage productively with one another despite some disagreements
We are here because the North Beach Bandshell and the Normandy Fountain Business Association our residents and North Beach Business owners have encouraged North Bay Village to be proactive about getting my residents to come and spend money in Miami Beach's
businesses And that's something that I can get on board with because it involves encouraging multiple mobility and multimodal options between our two communities As you all know North Bay Village is your immediate neighbor to the west along the 79th Street John F
Kennedy Causeway We are very excited about the possibility of partnering with Miami Beach This was one to extend the North Beach trolley into North Bay Village We
believe that the most prudent path forward at this time is to pilot that trolley extension during the culture crawl events which I believe happen once a month on the third Thursday of the month Um so we'd like to pilot the
culture crawl trolley I think the hours should be reasonable so that people can enjoy their night in North Beach um and not have to rush back to catch a trolley Um and then I'd like to continue to expand the conversation and have uh more
detailed discussion about the costs to actually extend the trolley for regular service going forward So option two on your briefing is the the pilot through culture crawl I'm perfectly happy and would be grateful to move forward with option two at this time Um but then I'd
like to have evidence-based um encouragement that the extension would make sense and then we can talk about the extension So I'd welcome your questions I'd love your support Um we want to promote this throughout North Bay Village We had a really successful
event at the Bandshell Thank you Vice Mayor Ba for joining me on the stage at the Banshell to express unity between our two communities Um you know I I've got a year and a half left not a lot of time but um I want to bridge the gap between our two communities um and
strengthen those relationships through this trolley pilot Mr um any questions yeah So I I I want to say thank you for coming mayor I really appreciate it Um I I think there is definitely a need to connect the trolley between Miami Beach
and North Bay Village When you do a ride share service like that it lessens the impact of traffic for example traffic on North North Beach is is horrendous Um and so anything that we can do to to
limit that Um as far as extending you know for option two going above and beyond just the culture crawl you know what is North Bay Village willing to bring forward if we were to extend the trolley to to North Bay Village we're going to contribute financially So we
would need I my understanding is right now that the city is on a month-to-month contract with its trolley provider that you're going out to bid for a new provider So the figures financially are in flux Once you guys have a clearer sense of what the expense would be under
a new provider scenario I would love to get that data Tell me what it's going to cost We can have a negotiation Um and we have CITT funds that can be used to extend the trolley and I also have probably three or four development agreements that will be negotiated in
the next 6 months So we will have um private contributions to our village's transit options Under the current plan let's say nothing changed what would North Bay Village be willing to contribute if let's just assume that was
the current plan Um if the current plan were to extend the trolley um well the finances of of what we pay for you know what would North Bay Village be willing to Which option are you referring to be the number two the option Number two is the pilot for a culture crawl which is
just not not the pilot The option one is is for the extension Um I can't tell you how much we'd be willing to contribute because that would be poor negotiation skills on my part I don't know what it's going to cost Commissioner Um but we do have over a million dollars in unspent
CITT funds Okay So I guess u and let me let me recognize some of my colleagues Commissioner Bod Vice Mayor Bod Um thank you Um I would for the record I'd like to be a co-sponsor on this I think this is awesome And the mayor and I have had multiple conversations over the last few
months and the most recently with Jose and his department Um this memo encapsulates everything um exactly and I'm very much in favor of um starting ASAP the option two to pilot this so we can collect the data to determine as
Jose is negotiating our new trolley vendor contract what makes the most sense because we might think it's the greatest thing in the world and we find out that actually nobody uses it or we might find out um that we think it's going to be a great thing and people are clamoring for something every day multiple more routes and so we need to
get the data uh collected as soon as possible so that we don't hamper our negotiation for what we need here in the city um by adding this late to the pro process Um traffic is abysmal in North Beach and going across that bridge is a
huge part of it and as North Beach um really starts to blossom in the best possible way in organic ways with the band shell and the Normandy fountain activations and great restaurants and cool little shopping We want to encourage people to visit this um and
and use this as their neighborhood too Just not drive there That's all we're saying Um so you know we talk all the time about parking and driving and affordable housing and how that all intermixes And this is this if it works as well as we think it would um not only
will be a big step towards that but could also be you know um uh proof positive that we could conceivably extend this up to the surf side as well and take even more cars off the road So um I would move this um with with my colleagues input to um to move with
option two immediately and and um and you know let us know what you need to to get going A big a big step toward annexation Take it back Take it back Commissioner Fernandez I think Commissioner Bod uh stated it well It's
it makes just perfect sense Uh it's long overdue Uh so I don't need to restate everything So proud to see the mayor here to see the And Jose where are we with the negotiations so the negotiations are currently ongoing We're towards the tail end We expect to be
before this body probably hopefully next month Okay uh once we've got uh a deal uh at least on on pencil to bring to bring before the fir that was a direction to come before FK before we go to the city commission So we're we're
aiming for next month's meeting Can I just So um if you are coming next month with a deal we're not going to have data collection by then So um or with a proposed deal So um how do we ensure that we're not
locked into something which then our vendor can say "Oh wasn't part of the contract not doing it or hold us over a barrel say "Sure we'll do it but it'll be $10 per head per ride." How do we protect ourselves uh in our negotiations uh the bottom line what we're
negotiating is a hourly rate per service hour a rate per service hour And that can fluctuate we can add we can take away as long that's really the key number and then we can always add to the route we can always add more vehicles if
we add a higher cost right so that's what I thought in our conversations you had said that the hours weren't as big of a deal as it was to factor in if we need additional trolley correct because sometimes extending a route it's not so much the the distance but the fact that
um it may it may exceed the threshold established in the contract for passenger weight times or headways which is so could it could it be negotiated so that um potentially in six months we come back to them and say and we're going to execute an additional five
trolleys at the pre-approved rate So it's not they're not holding us to well you didn't say it in the contract so now we're going to charge you double But just put in a clause in there that we have the right to extend our our trolley service at the same rate
up to an additional five or 10 trolleys or something like that AB: Absolutely What we're negotiating is a sliding scale that the the more hours we operate the the lower the cost if you will there's economies of scale but that
allows us to to be flexible and add or remove um portions of of a route or add a new route for example But but I thought I just heard you heard you say that um if we add a trolley because it's
not just the route it's the actual vehicle that will come at a more expensive cost than the let's say 50 that we're buying now for the new contract Correct because of the service hours The service hours increases and that will increase the the the cost It's
not it's it's it's not necessarily the fact that it's an additional trolley It's just more hours uh that are being served So So the cost of the trolley acquisition is baked into the hours served Correct Okay It it comes down to hours of service Okay and
the cost of one hour and we multiply that by however many hours we operate and that gives us flexibility to to add and remove uh routes as as needed And is there any cap on that like do they say yes sure but you can't do more than 20
no it's a sliding scale where and it it can go up to however high we want it to to go to It allows for expansions Yes Can we put in the contract we want infinity trolleys just to say just to see what they do Okay Um so I
think I think we're all I'd like to speak So first of all I'm now a voting member on the committee So that you have all three members of the committee here I'd just like to recognize that You know what mayor I'm really happy that we're um entering into these types of
interlocal agreements because for too long I mean we really do all exist so closely together and it's the first time that I've seen a mayor from North Bay Village in all of my years here um come before us Um so you know I'm completely supportive of this I'm
really looking forward to seeing what we're negotiating in terms of trolleys if it will even be a trolley I'm really hoping we get something snazzier like some cool kind of van type thing Correct What or um something that is a little bit uh more user friendly than this
trolley that is difficult for many seniors to get on and off of with the kneeling trolley So hopefully whatever this is Jose and how how far away are we Jose from finalizing the entire trolley um the uh executing a new contract or
initiating the new service initiating a new service Initiating the new service will depend on the vehicle that's ultimately selected Um different vehicles have different manufacturing times So it it it can be it can be
anywhere between um eight months to a year and a half you know depending on on on the vehicle So we're still ironing that out Uh but there's a high demand for certain vehicles So um you know as soon as we put in the order we're in a queue But it may it it so you already
know which one you're going to pick I have not been involved in the procurement process So hopefully I mean I don't know what will happen but hopefully it will not be a trolley at all and it will be some sort of electric snazzy streamline thing that's very easy for seniors and people anybody with wheels of any kind can get on and off I
think you already know that because we okay beaten that dead horse So thank you Welcome Come back with more ideas of how we can you know collaborate Commissioner Fernandez Thank you Mr Chair Jose while you're at the podium where are we on the similar
discussion with Damian Partardo over in the city of Miami and you know exploring the connection the trolley connection between Miami Beach and downtown Miami I think we have a meeting pending with the city of Miami folks to to go over some
of you know just to discuss with them the potential of and in terms of where the stops should be So that's that's occurring on a parallel basis but uh we're pending a meeting with the city of Miami Okay Uh because we had a meeting last month Uh so has anything has there
been any progress in the in the in between there has internally but we haven't we haven't met yet with city of Miami because this is I mean and and I think this is the important thing for the public to see that we are working not only in seeing how we move people
within our our municipal limits But the greatest challenge that we deal in terms of transportation and traffic in our city is people not necessarily moving within our city but the traffic of people leaving our city that is causing
a lot of that gridlock between 3 and 7 p.m And so we're trying to find ways that we can work with our neighboring municipalities and help people move between the boundary lines of cities because that's the key thing moving
within cities It's you know that's great but the key thing is how do we move within the region more efficiently thank you Mr Chairman Of course Uh so one last thing before we wrap up Um do you would it be okay if we re from a staff's point
of view recommend option one and two so that when you negotiate with the trolley company you can you can incorporate maybe an allocart option that North Bay Village wants to sign on I don't know if you need a favorable recommendation for
one to proceed with that negotiation I I think what I was thinking and hearing the you know the discussion let's keep it a little bit little bit open because it seems like this might be a a growing uh kind of uh relationship perhaps if if I may offer to return the commission with a favorable recommendation the
direct administration to negotiate with North Bay Village and interlocal agreement for the implementation of a joint trolley operation maybe to keep it that open and that lets the parties uh develop that relationship and return to our commission and obviously your commission to iron you know to get those
details ironed out and then return to commission for approval And they haven't we haven't gotten as far down the path with Surfside but I know that I've been speaking to commissioners there over the last year about doing the same thing up there So I don't know if that helps or hurts or if we do this sort of as a
proof of concept of how it can work with another city I I I defer to you guys on how I can if I can add a little flavor to that one In my prior job as the assistant city manager in Surfside I negotiated a joint use uh merging the trolley with Bal Harbor North Bay
Village and Surfside all together was a very complicated operation and it involved Mad County who going to the county because you were going outside the amount of miles that the county code allowed by law at that point and at the time Commissioner Haymon sponsored an ordinance to amend the way that the
certax funds could be used and since then that's been amended Yeah So there had been some complications but Commissioner Fernandez is definitely on top of that encyclopedia over here Um so if we're okay with the motion yeah that that I I'm okay with that Commissioner
Commission show Commissioner Bot as the motion maker and add me as a co-sponsor please We'll do and second Uh all all in favor i I And we're going to uh Oh Commissioner Um are you all in favor yes Okay we'll show
it past three nothing Thank you Um okay So let's let's try to clear up some more of these items Um Mr Chair real quickly I just want to thank you all one more time and ask who to follow up with to discuss the hours of the cultural crawl pilot Vice Mayor I'm happy to look
forward to following up in real time Thank you so much Have a great rest of your day As a co-sponsor this is so cool I love it We will show uh Commissioner Fernandez also added as a co-sponsor We're going to call it the wheels on the bus Wheels on the bus I love it So let's try to clear some of the more
of these items C4 I uh the FK item number I'm sorry it's not How about the wraparound palm tree lighting on 71st Street that would be MB2 Discuss extending the wraparound palm tree
lighting on 71st Street from east of Normandy Fountain to Collins Avenue MB2 Good morning Jay Fank public works The item before you uh is the extension of the wraparound lighting in similar to areas which had been um extended
Washington Avenue Ocean Drive West and a few of those others The same uh general theory applies here There is a cost um to do this uh $26,000 Um that does include as had been
previously not only installation but also looking for a bid waiver um so that this could uh take place relatively quickly um it would be required to do that That's the price that's been provided and that's with the same vendor
that had been done used doing the other lights in throughout the city I have questions Yeah Commissioner B Um is is there a possibility to fund any of this through the North Beach CRA
funds i know it's not a permanent installation but is there some part of it i don't know if um Maria I don't know I don't mean to put you on the spot but is there a But I'm going to put you on the spot Is there a possibility to fund this kind of lighting for North Beach through the
North Beach CRA i know there if I may and maybe Maria or Heather here can speak more to it but I know there are certain limitations I'm not sure if this is one of them but maybe Marina Um I don't know all of the details about what the limitations are
Um we I know you don't want to hear this but we want to start um being more strategic with all of our money in the CRA because you know we're going to need it for potentially bigger things Um so I want to be careful about what we commit
in the CRA Um I mean if if it's a and with lighting you know we always have that issue uh between permanent versus temporary So I'd have to get back to you and give you that information We only
have about a million and a half dollars I believe total But right we only have that now But 72 Park is coming online this year And that is going to be a big cash infusion this year And then we've got the three other buildings that are already in construction Um maybe four I don't even remember which will most
likely God forbid there's a hurricane or something come online next year So yes we're only at a million dollars now but we will be at significantly more by the end of this year and by the end of next year and by the end of the year after that Um so I would like to find out what
part of this could be defayed by CRA funds I agree with being strategic rather than you know kind of willy-nilly which is kind of how we've been approaching it because it's been a small amount of money and small asks Um um and I would also like um I don't know how to
do this properly but as a companion piece or you know extending this to go not only from Collins to Normandy Fountain but also to go from 75th to 63rd and um you know we have seen the difference it makes in the vibe if you
will the vibe check um even on se on 41st Street which is a pretty uninteresting street to drive down and I say that with all love because That's where I lived for 13 years with my kids Um and it just feels much fantastic It just feels like a zippier place to be
And it just infuses it with the Miami Beach energy And you know if we're doing it there and we're doing it at Washington Avenue and we're doing it on on Collins and we're doing it at Lis Park why on earth are we not giving North Beach the same love so I don't know if we can expand this particular item to do that or if we need to bring a
second and bring it all the way back or if we can do it as an amendment We could also bring it to the North Beach CRA the group Yeah If if I may just to help it is it sounds like there's a couple of information requests that are needed So maybe this item is pres we should present it and return to FK with
information on the eligibility of North Beach CRA funding and the an updated cost estimate on the expanded uh space And and I must say you know there was a I think there was an item for Washington Avenue Yes where I got upset about the the cost of the tree lighting and and I
believe it was Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez's item Um and when I when I when I'm when I go by and walk down Washington it is stunning I mean what a big difference and and and you know I I can say on the record that you were
wrong about something Yeah I could say that it's going to be very rare for me to say this but I was definitely wrong I I think that the the tree lighting wrap around Washington Avenue has made a substantial impact on the neighborhood Um I mean it is iconic on Lumis Park
next to Flaming next to Flamingo Park Um and next to Flamingo Park and Meridian I mean I see all the time people taking pictures on on on Meridian of just how beautiful the the tree lighting is It's year round and
you know what a what a great little flavor to add to North Beach Sure Um and and I would I'll be fully supported I mean it even helps with uh public safety and visibility Um it is a great added benefit So um I I want to I want to put
on the record that I was wrong about the Washington Avenue lighting Detroit ride commissioner Rosen Gonzalez Um so I'm going to be fully supportive of this So I have a question about um if this is going does this go from here in theory to
commission to get voted or does it go my recommendation is that would return because it sounds like there's two bits of information that my point is that I know that's your recommendation Oh yeah Um and I I'm taking it under adisement but my question is could it not just come back to commission with those two
pieces of information incorporated into it and then we could just vote on that um I believe you can um however without knowing exactly um what it is that you can spend it on And also wouldn't you want the North
Beach CRA to weigh in on this but couldn't they do that between now and and I think so I want the information before that And of course I want North Beach to feel like you know to get their input on this but I would prefer not to delay it by an extra month So if it's possible to get
that information and bring it to the CRA before the commission meeting the next commission meeting my my suggestion would be let's just handle it that way so as to not delay So I have a question Commissioner Fernandez Um this mentions a bid waiver and I and
so I just I just want to make sure it's a bid waiver but we're not waving bids because is this a company that's already been procured by the city that's correct And attached to the item is the actual breakdown of cost from the proposal So it's a line item breakdown with the So
rather than treating this as a bid waiver can't we treat this as an expansion of the contract that the company already has so that it's not a bid waiver or are they part of a pool is a company that does this part of a pool that we can tap into
my understanding and I'm not the procurement expert here but my understanding was based on the dollar amount of what we're asking for it falls under a different bucket of a bid waiver as opposed to uh being eligible for a contract amendment because of the amount
Well there's a bid waiver to be done I would say that this is a bid waiver to be done because it's already it's it's not that we're going out and just tapping a company that's never done work for the city This is a company that has already done work for the city I would imagine through you Mr Mr Chairman the
this company not only did work they also uh were won this bid competitively before this started and this is the exact same process that we did for those Washington have lights which included not only the favor recommendation but the bid waiver I would want to make sure that again just for purposes of optics
and transparency that that that's explained properly in the memo Right now it just mentions a bid waiver but it doesn't mention the fact history that this was indeed in fact a competitively bid uh contract and that there was uh an
an award done through a transparent process So that just could be explained properly in the contract in the in the memorandum We'll do Okay If if I can Sorry trying to get all this down So I think now we
would have it returning to commission with a favorable recommendation to be considered as part of the FY26 budget process the installation of wraparound lights uh wrap I'm sorry wraparound palm tree lights uh as amended locations with with a bid waiver and for and
information uh on the expand on the cost of the expanded locations and input from the North Beach CRA uh advisory board on funding and that I'm a co-sponsor Okay Uh you're making that motion I'd like to also co-sponsor Okay
Can we get everyone i'll join us as a co-sponsor too Kristen Okay there you go And through the chair I think um Jason you and I can speak offline but we may need a referral to the CRA advisory committee so that they
can return a a recommendation back to the commission And actually it would be a recommendation to the CRA board I can I can make that recommendation Well as chair can I do that so we'll we'll change it from input to referral too Yeah we need a referral
to the North Beach CRA committee And we'll be showing uh Commissioner Rosa Gonzalez Fernandez Bot and Suarez being added as co-sponsors Fernandez Yes Fernandez And we'll show Commissioner uh who Commissioner Bot you're making that motion Yep Okay I'll second Okay All in
favor i All right we'll show it pass three nothing Thank you Okay thank you Sounds good Thank um our CFO says this is going to be a quick item NB4 MB4 discuss the potential installation of speed tables on 47th Street in order
to reduce traffic speeds and increase safety MB4 I move it Oh sorry At MB4 uh Commissioner um just being informed that our our Commissioner Magazine has requested to be added as a sponsor Um you move it Yep I'll second
All in favor i we'll show the item return to commission with a favorable recommendation to implement the administration's uh recommendation Okay So Alan is a co-sponsor of that I like that that area has a lot of cut through traffic Yeah Yeah Put me on there too
Kumbaya We're going back to being the Kumbaya The Kumbaya Committee Okay So I guess now that we're on um beautifying how about we do OB1 discuss beautifying Washington Avenue by enhancing lighting and streetscaping on Washington Avenue
Uh OB1 discuss beautifying Washington Avenue by enhance enhancing lighting and streetscaping on Washington Avenue Obi-Wan Uh Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez it's your item Good morning Good morning Jay Um wait Jay before you introduce it
I don't think we need to spend a lot of time on this I think that both Commissioner Bot and Commissioner Fernandez I don't know if you saw our presentation on the new sidewalks um that we have iconic sidewalks using pavers Um yes we have a whole
presentation And I mean I think overall that when as we begin to repave with this beautiful new iconic design that we eventually choose are we being asked to choose a design today Jay because I know that what the way this was written we
were considering de several different types of sidewalk materials but I think the idea behind this is to use the lighting that they designed which kind of rings palm trees Correct And then the pavers So through um Mr Chairman the I was
going to piggyback on exactly where you're going with the presentation that was done by Calvin Gordono and associates at the Ocean Drive Um they did present both lighting They presented a number of alternatives as far as the sidewalk goes Do you want us to pick
which one today or what kind of direction do we need to give honestly that's not my my ask when what's explained in the in the memorandum is okay Okay If you do red sidewalks it's X If we add a little more it's Y We can go all the way up and spend $9 million if
you want the Taj Mahal of sidewalks along Washington Avenue What um I think was alluded to in the presentation for Ocean Drive was that there are certain areas between the blocks that looked at how do we highlight those on the
intersections They're I don't want to say plain Jane but it's really utilitarian And the approach that was taken was to highlight between the intersections In a conversation with Troy Wright and he was here earlier um the Washington bid does have their
own um presentation It will be coming through the next commission to I believe neighborhoods referral for their areas where they would like to see enhanced and through some designs that they're contemplating What the ask really is and we've talked about it a number of times
at this committee different uh treatments different sidewalks different options We'd really like to do is be able to work with the Washington bid so that we can work where they want to enhance to enhance certain sidewalk areas Um and then really be able to try
and get along or move this project along so that it gets done in time for the the games that are coming next year And that's the Washington Bid School Um but there are a few items that we're going to need to um probably design minimally
as far as ADA compliance There's some drainage on some of those sidewalks because they're actually lower than the street level Um so I really don't want uh to choose something today How long how long do you need Okay so here would be this would be my motion Um do you need
more than a month do you need two months to negotiate with watch to to sit down with the bid and find out what they're recommending as quick as the bid can get in front of the commission to present their view and visions and sort
of their um ask as far as the cost would be associated with that because all that's coming out of that GO bond pocket for the $10 million Okay So then I would suggest that you sit down with the bid show them all the patterns I know that
is Troy here He was here earlier He was here Unfortunately he had to go And then come back to us when you've picked something that you like with the budget and uh with the lighting And you know I would recommend that you use and I think he you will this new study that we
commissioned because now we know which sidewalk material is best We found out that it's pavers we could design the papers and then from there we can you know bring it to the HPB so that they can also appine But I think that this is going to be defining for Washington
Avenue It's going to be iconic It is going to be unique It's going to set them apart in terms of sidewalks Once you see you know the new lighting down the center the lighting um on the palm trees and these brand new sidewalks it is going to brand Washington Avenue and show the world that we care about our
historic districts that we care about preservation And this investment is going to go a long way putting our you know money where our mouths is and just you know walking the walk instead of talking about it And this will be our first serious in investment in
Washington Avenue um the first of what I hope are many serious significant investments across our historic districts in Miami Beach after many years of what I think was a managed decline and neglect So it's an exciting moment
Vice Mayor Bot Sorry Yeah And I would like to you know I've got an item I believe coming up on the April agenda um about doing you know contemplating doing something like this for North Beach as well And not necessarily the same pattern that gets selected but and we need to figure out who's paying for it
because there's some question about is it CRA is it potentially the CRA is it FOT is it the city we need to figure that out And I know there are documents floating around that are being reviewed but um you know maybe as we look at costs um there is you know it won't be
necessarily installation because it's going to be at a different time frame but um you know we've done the walkth through on on Collins Avenue going from 63rd up to 75th and we know that the same conditions exist of problems and so if there's an an economy of scale that
they get looked at evaluated and addressed at at the same time maybe not executed at the same time but the the engineering work happens at the same time Um and when people figure out what they're going to need to buy to implement the the papers like let's think about it again holistically so
that we're not um you know the vendor doesn't come back and say "Oh I wish you had told me this a year ago because I would have done the work the same time for half the cost." Because that will make me very sad Um and it's not good for budget concerns that we know we're facing Yeah So wait wait till we have a residential in Washington Avenue Mr
Chair I have a question Um so this is before us today Is this the timeline for this was was did the city have a program to move with
this now uh explain that to me There there there's no necessarily program This is being funded through the geo bond project So we have the funding for funding is available Okay And let me ask you this because we're going to as as
Commissioner Suarez uh mentioned there's the Washington Avenue residential component And in the past like for example the beachwalk the beachwalk didn't always look as beautiful as it does now Um some would say before it looked more beautiful I think it looks
beautiful now But it was through development agreements with the historic hotels where they came in and they did their portion of the beachwalk as they were improving the hotels and then the city came in and did filled the gaps
between them In fact Mayor Bower uh was a big part of that that history over over time Um with Washington Avenue with the residential incentives that we have in place or that we're looking to to to put in place does it make sense for us
to use all of our GOB dollars when we might potentially be able to get private development to help cover some of this cost no you're commissioner you're exactly right I mean one of the things that we would look to do and I'm sure the bid would be feel the same way is
look at where are those planned or programmed developments that could possibly happen and do we skip you know sort of that block so that when they do redevelop it it takes care of the initial installation cost rather than putting it in and they either have to redo it or rip it up in Yeah
Incorporating it as part of the work that they need to do Uh so that so that we get to save some of that some of that money Um I would also like and it's related to this because it relates to Washington Avenue but it goes back to the investments we make on Washington
Avenue using the taxpayers dollars but making sure that that as we're using the taxpayers dollars that we're seeing a meaningful improvement on Washington Avenue And to me that meaningful improvement means that nuisance uses
that contribute to the problems that we've experienced in the past on Washington Avenue are being phased out And one of the things I would like staff to do is that as those nuisance uses close up we should be notified of it because I I really do want to see we
just invested on the lights and the lights are great but I had an issue of using the taxpayers dollars to invest in a street where I did not feel that the property owners were coming forward and being good property owners that they've been bringing in bad tenants that are
contributing to the ailments that we're trying to fix in our city So as we make these investments I want to know I want to be getting updates as to what changes the city is making changes to improve the street but what changes are the
private property owners doing to improve the streets are they getting rid of the bad uses that are contributing to the crime and the issues we've seen in the past because that is going to be shaping a lot of my decisions on the investments
that I uh commit my vote to in the future as it relates to to Washington Avenue Thank you Mr Chairman Um Commissioner Fernandez would you be more in I've walked the blocks between Lincoln Road and 15th Street and they
are in desperate need of an upgrade Why don't we start there and just do those two blocks with this new iconic design it will be the first time that we've ever done it a patterned um design Let's start there That's not going to be so expensive That way we can see what the lighting looks like We can see what the
pavers look like It's not the entire street but at least we're fixing something that is right now not just blighted but I would say dangerous in many places because as I walk down that portion of Washington there is a lot of uneven material that needs to get fixed
And this could be um an opportunity to beautify a block that most people say is where crime is committed where um you know it's it's it's an intersection that does need help So why don't we just start there and do those two blocks from
Lincoln Road to 15th that's where I think we should start Do two blocks Two blocks east and west and then come back to us sit down with a bid That's reasonable Come back with two or three designs and let's start there But but just doesn't the Lincoln Road East
proposal contemplate getting rid of uh not getting rid of it but closing off Washington Avenue through it contemplates closing off Lincoln Road between Washington and Collins
Right So I don't want to put in pavers on between Well it wouldn't it would be it would start on Lincoln Road Correct I don't think it'll be affected I think You don't think so no I don't think so I don't think so I think I think it drives off So then my motion is to do
the two blocks 17th to 15th Come back next month because it's not a big thing with a couples after you speak with Troy come back with a few options for us to look at that we can choose from Um and bring it back to Do you want to bring it back to finance or do you want to refer
the two blocks just my motion would be to just refer them to the full commission because it's not the whole street You're saying 15th to 17th yeah just 15th to 17th and let the whole commission decide I mean I would say honestly I I would go if we're going to
go up to 17th what I would do rather than 17th I would do Lincoln Road South Okay So do So do Lincoln to That's what I was saying Lincoln It goes Lincoln 16th 15th right yeah I wouldn't go I wouldn't go north Let's do Lincoln to 15th That's what I meant 15th to Lincoln
right 15th to Lincoln So that would be my motion and I would give um I would recommend it to the April commission meeting giving us um a few the design that we can um pick I I think um I I I would like to to come back to finance u
considering that our chair is not here and so that way he can at least chime in on it I'm I'm okay with referring it back to finance and doing that That's not my motion My motion because let me explain why Um because finance is about
looking at the amounts and we will have that opportunity The funding is already there and frankly we go in circles and circles and this is only two blocks It's a wonderful investment I know that it's going to beautify I know how how worried
you are about public safety in that area This is just an opportunity to beautify It's just the east and west It's two blocks the east and west side of the avenue So my motion would be to refer it to back to the commission with a
favorable recommendation I don't know how you feel about that Commissioner Bot If I So it's the return of the commission with the favorable recommendation direct administration to implement sidewalk improvements on Washington Avenue from Lincoln Road to 15th We don't even know what what what the materials are going to be yet right
i mean it's not fully We absolutely do We had a um presentation at an Ocean Drive meeting Um most of us were present here You can get a briefing in the interim from Jay and everyone else We spent we actually it was a great study that you should really see because what the city did was vet all the different
types of sidewalk materials It was a sunshine It was a sunshine meeting Yes It was scheduled Um it's actually you can have you can read the copy of the report uh between now and then So I I know that Commissioner Fernandez was at was there So it was Commissioner
Magazine Um and pardon and Commissioner Bot Yes I said I said yeah No Commissioner Bot was there And um you can see that we've already determined via this study which is the most resilient type of sidewalks that we can display And the beauty of these sidewalks is that not only are they
interchangeable but um they're super resilient And it's kind of the same material that we're using on the beachwalk only they have different iconic designs that we can choose from In addition to that we are not doing the um street corners We're just doing sidewalks in between the street corners
because that's where all the electrical connections and all of the other stuff is So I don't see why we really need to um beat this Madame Mayor is there something you'd like to say i I'm sorry You know don't ever invite me here again
I love it Uh uh I think it's a wonderful idea and I just want to tell you that Leonard Harowwoods that came with Barbara Kappman did two blocks I think it was
two blocks also It could have been one but I think it was two to show how and we used to have a picture We did um gave money to the people that rented
or owned this thing to renovate the facade Facade renovation I'm surprised I remember all this facade renovation And when the people saw how it changed the street by doing that and they were all
different and all very nicely people got very into Lynn uh Bernstein was the one that was working with us then at uh Miami Beach Development Corporation went and sold it to everybody It was a matching
grant So people do get very enthused and people do better when they are dressed in code and the same thing happens when the street changes and they see they're very visual So I really support this uh
in a I think you sold me But I don't know if you pick one design or not that it's out of my hand Well I guess that moves me So I'll be in favor as well Okay And I I talked to public works of Mayor Bower to get here That's all it takes And we'll when this comes to
commission that some of that spec hashing up the specificity we'll have Okay I'll second it Okay So we'll show meet with the bid and just send it to the full commission with choices Okay Final choices Right Okay I show Commissioner Rosa Gonzalez making the
motion and Commissioner Suarez second All in favor i show pass three nothing Okay so uh let's let's clear up some more beautifying Miami Beach um with some trees which we're all we're all um
in favor of Uh so can we call multiple items up that that's been up sort of similar item items 7 10 and 11 were noted to be linked and would be heard uh together if you wanted to have it Okay So I'm going to give me a moment as I read them into the record Yes please
MB7 referral to the finance and economic resiliency committee to discuss take action to fund expanding the North Beach tree planting pilot program uh to additional parking spaces located at 78th 79th and 80th Streets or other potential locations That's MB7 Uh MB10
finance and economic resiliency committee uh discussion to take action on the favorable public safety neighborhood quality of life committee recommendation to expand the tree canopy north beach through a multi-disiplinary firm for two main thorough affairs such as Abbott Avenue or Dickens Avenue and explore Park View
Island with associated funding MB10 and then MB11 referral to the finance and economic resiliency committee to discuss the appropriate mechanism to fund a trans transformative tree canopy project in targeted areas throughout Miami Beach MB11 Thank you
Okay So so I think we have multiple sponsors on this We have the tree canopy in North North Beach expanding it through multi-disiplinary approach NB10 we have NB7 uh expanding the pilot program for the u the planters in North Beach And then we
have NV11 that's generally everywhere in Miami Beach I have a few questions but so these items work in conjunction with each other As everybody knows we have large portions of our city that have no trees and shading whatsoever And it's costly to drill through the concrete and
figure out how to plant trees so people have shade Now we did do a pilot program in on 78th and 79th Before we even and I'm not seating my time I'm just asking a question How are those trees doing that we planted on 78th i mean are they thriving are they sure We actually have
photos um for you and we sure we can show them So we tried to plant on our own with the city and I'm I'm not saying that they didn't look great but it wasn't really what we what I think that we need to be doing in terms of transformative planting And we know that
in order to transform it we need like $15 million And I would say that $15 million is not even enough money So this is two things There's your item Commissioner Suarez which is a feasibility study which is I guess the initial study that we would need And
then there's the item of actually putting something on the ballot and asking our residents to vote for trees and shade in a meaningful way Um so it's twofold Because we need like we're saying 15
million for trees I would tell you that a feasibility study is going to come back and say that we need $30 million to green this area Why do we want to green the area Commissioner Fernandez because when you look between Oh you're not It's just so expensive to do one parking garage But why does it have to be on a
ballot I would Well I mean if you can because I think we need to bond out money for this I think that we actually need to issue a debt unless you can find you know the 15 or $30 million We have all of our other capital projects are underfunded right now They're completely
underfunded And I'm not going to try to to pretend like we're going to find the money when every other when we're going to have all of our payo funds are going to have to be used to fund all these other projects that are in the pipeline I think trees need their own If you want
transformation then it needs to be its own serious funding mechanism and it's going to be expensive Um I saw that in my memo it says $15 million That's just for one What how much is that that's not
for the entire city That's just for that one area of North Beach Correct Before you answer that Amy um I'd like to vote to extend the meeting for another 15 minutes Okay fine with 15 minutes because I waited six months to get these tree items Her trees are not sexy There
is no building involved There's not a lot of money involved The only thing involved with tree we're voting Yes Yeah We have to we have to extend the meeting It ends at Oh yes I vote to extend the meeting Meeting is extended to 1:45 Thank you And so I would propose that I mean that
we put this on the ballot because what we found and we did I've been working on this for years 78th and 79th Street when we don't spend significant amount of money and figure out how to cut through the concrete to plant the trees What we
got was kind of a mishmash and it is so expensive because it was poorly planned and these are areas where we don't have canopy bus there First of all there is zero tree canopy We have seniors A lot of our multifamily residents in affluent
areas they have beautiful tree canopy areas but in some of our you know more humble areas of the city there isn't a tree to be found anywhere And Commissioner Rosing and that's something that we should all be dedicated to I don't think anyone here is against the trees I I mean I sponsored an item you
sponsored an item Um I think Commissioner Vice I just don't want people to be shocked when we say "Let's put this on the ballot because I really do think that that's what we need to do." Yeah I don't necessarily think we should be I I don't think we want to set a precedent of putting projects on a ballot to bond out I think let's find
the money in any which way possible Um a and and and make it happen for the finance committee I think that's the right approach Uh you know I mean look if we have to tighten our belt a little bit but look and another thing when you go down Meridian Avenue that that is
probably one of the most iconic streets in in America I mean it's always like 15 degrees cooler It's beautiful during the day It's beautiful It's even more beautiful during the night North Beach should have something like that Um and you know lo and behold there's a huge
project pending in North Beach right now you know I hope the people who are watching u looking at this maybe that is something that can be funded uh to to to really invest in North Beach If if you're going to be set to to put a big
project in North Beach this is a a fundamental uh generational investment in the community of North Beach Um just an idea but I I don't think I' I'd be in favor of putting on a ballot But I think there there's definitely many more ways that
we can um attack this approach So Amy if you can discuss um there there's the pilot planters correct is was that an effective program because the last you have some pictures Sure Sure Maybe we maybe PJ maybe can we show the pictures
of the pilot sure And and good afternoon For a sense of history too um these um we're kind of calling them tree pits um kind of they're very different because normally you wouldn't just dig a pit in the ground and put a tree But I think you know Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez was trying to be very innovative and just
see like might this work because no one wants to give up parking and that is kind of one of the biggest challenges in North Beach is that the streets are very um small they're very dense there's a lot of buildings and there's not a lot of open space and we have you know small sidewalks that are barely wide enough
for ADA requirements So we did something kind of innovative Um so PJ if you want to show that slide you can see how the trees are doing We planted six satin leaves in sort of the triangular areas um um at the diagonal parking public works did that in house It was um a
pretty big effort for them They had to take a look and and and take a look at the underground infrastructure even broke some old pipes They had to you know do cut into the concrete um create all the different mechanisms So if you go back one slide you can see the trees
There's um six in the ground and it's hard to see them in front of um you know with the with the words um it's also in your packet Um they're doing okay We wouldn't say that they're thriving It's been about a year and a half and right now they're looking a little sad because it's the dry season In the next couple
months we would be able to see how they're doing We never expected these trees to thrive and become really nice canopy trees What we expected is they would provide some short-term vegetative relief Um so in in how they were planted we think they're doing about as expected
Do we expect them to be 15-year big canopy trees probably not So if you want to be a little bit more visionary thinking I guess the the NB10 where you have the tree canopy in North Beach Yeah Um that's something But now
where are we with that is that So sure So for this one here one the commissioner had asked we look at another option So instead of doing the tree pits we would actually do these but doing underground infrastructure and doing less of them So that was another proposal we we actually put through the
item Um and that would be about $180,000 um to expand what we currently have or add more underground infrastructure and that would be like a million dollars but we'd have to give up some parking So that's for this particular item So we gave a couple of options And how many trees i have to leave I'm not in love
with the tree pit idea simply because it was a little bit awkward and um I don't think transformative enough I don't really care if you guys want to do the treat pits Um I'm on board with it I'm on board for anything that would actually green the area a little bit I'm also in favor of the feasibility study I
have to leave right now Um even after all of this I could see that you're not on board for the bond idea So I will um we'll find the money We just don't have to put on a ballot Okay All right I'm you know I think that I don't know I
mean that's fine Um I don't know how you're going to find the money It's been hard I I I a year and a half ago we passed um an item to plant some trees in a parking lot That has not been done yet Just to practice I don't know where that item is in the pipeline Um I wish that
the item um had been heard but it was not I just think from my perspective you know if you're borrowing money over 20 to 30 years um to plant trees that may not even last that long You know hopefully they do but you don't know
that they w would I mean usually you want that money for for uh for hard projects you know roads buildings our our our infrastructure system It's not ideal And I think we had extra money for this And you can look I mean you can
bring it back next month and find ways that we'll tell you just for million that would be my motion for and for purposes of transparency Part of the reason why I can't support this is that I'm separately working with staff uh with the with the attorneys at looking
at a housing affordability bond And for me that's like something that that is more in line with some of our pressing needs Uh I know the trees are a pressing need but I think we have other revenue sources that we could use for that including grants that we might be able
to apply for So could my motion on this item be that it comes back next month and Jason can find the $15 million for the transformative tree canopy like Commissioner Suarez and Commissioner Fernand I think he's going to need more than a month Two months I think he's going to need more than a month and and
like money seeds for that money Vice Mayorbot So Jason can you start um buying printing ink for the printer in the basement so we can If I can just But but I actually have a serious thing Um
so you know we all want trees for a lot of very real reasons like it it the cooling mechanism and walkability and you know North Beach has no trees except until you get to the park basically Um literally Park View Island is called
Park View Island and there's nothing There are no trees there except for the little tiny green space that was created in 2016 transformed into this lovely park So that kudos to that But the and I think Commissioner Fernandez is exactly
right and and we have bigger more pressing issues We have pipes that are failing 80% of our pipes citywide are at or about to be at fail failure give or take 75% 80% Um trees are incredibly
important for many many reasons but I I'm not sure that I'm willing at this point when we know that we're looking at a tough budget year um to spend 15 or $30 million from our budget where it doesn't currently exist to try to do
something which will have to take away parking from residents in North Beach which lest anybody forget is a drama that you can't even imagine I mean we've tried this this pilot program that seems to be working okay but there are a lot
of problems with it Um we're losing a parking garage for a while Um the people who live up in 87th um a 78th 87th all the way in that quarter don't even you know can't realistically avail themselves of the parking garages at
72nd or 67th So street parking you know for people who can't walk great distances is a huge issue And I'm I'm really concerned that unless we look at this really holistically like what does it do to parking what does it do to transit mobility what does it do to you know does it help speed things uh slow
traffic down maybe it's a traffic calming measure some way or another But I'm not I'm not ready at this point to to just say okay let's get trees planted Let's find it Because I think there's so many other interrelated issues that we we're not addressing at this point And there are three items And I would I
would say let's defer it for a month or two and have them kind of be merged together into one feasibility study and say "Here's what we could do Here's how it's going to affect parking." It might have the benefit of slowing down traffic where people are speeding You know is
there an opportunity to reach out to property owners and say "Would you like us to plant a tree on your lot?" Because that might be an option They're not huge lots but they're little you know they're little yards and a lot of them are paved over So what if we did a collaborative program with property owners saying we
will you know you pay the cost for the tree and we'll provide the labor whatever that might be And that might be an option but I don't think we're there yet Okay So how about Jason um if I can because you're right there's a number of
items that are that are here One of the makes sense to consolidate right well yeah There there's there's one item if if they do the tree pits of around $180,000 to put this in The one item which I think you might be landing on is is is the master plan which is I think is the 10th one Yeah So it wouldn't be a
master plan It would be a feasibility analysis and this is in response to your um item commissioner Suarez to bring a multi-disciplinary firm in and take a look at where we can get trees It becomes a transportation issue It becomes a right-of-way issue So it's a holistic approach So we estimated about
$250,000 which could be considered for next year's budget process And we're looking at certain corridors because that was your request was to look at these you know certain areas And that is really kind of where we're at there A lot of money So so but this this might
be a thing that we could defer until we know who's coming on board for blue zones because again blue zones is all about green walking safety public rights of way that are more user friendly This is deep in the wheelhouse of blue zones So maybe there's somebody who would come
on and say you know what we would like to sponsor the cost of this study and if we do it this month versus in six months from now it's not going to make a difference Yeah I'm okay I'm okay with deferring this for the next six months Okay So we'll show We have plenty of time So so we'll show all three items
were were heard and to be returned in six months Great Thank you We're we're out of time unless there's an I think uh we got one more minute and so how about just five more minutes i'd like to extend the meeting Jason what was that what were those three items that were
called 710 and 11 What not O OB or NB MB MB 710 and 11 We're going to show as heard and we'll return in six months time And then let's do last but not least uh NB20 Okay so let me read that in NB NB20 referral to discuss adding
infertility treatment as a plan for uh benefit for plan participants insured under the city's selffunded health insurance plan Thank you Thank you Mr Chair Um I'm proud to sponsor this item because I
believe it touches on something that's deeply human and that is our ability as a city and as an employer to support the dignity and the dreams of our workforce And so today we're beginning a conversation about modernizing our
self-funded health plan to include in to to include fertility benefits And this is more than just a medical coverage adjustment I believe is a reflection of who we are as an employee and how we value the personal journeys of our
employees Recently over the past few months I heard from many uh members of our workforce but specifically a city employee who suffered a miscarriage And after she sought answers and she was looking for testing she was
looking for diagnosis anything that might help her understand what happened and what to expect in the future of her reproductive journey But because our plan doesn't cover infertil infertility
related services uh once a diagnosis is suspected she was left without support that she needed um during uh that very vulnerable uh journey And I think anyone who who is experiencing anything like this should be covered by our health
insurance And that story is not unique Uh it underscores the limitations of our current policy which unintentionally I believe uh withholds care when it's most uh needed for a lot of the members of our workforce And it's something we
don't hear about a lot because it is kind of like a taboo issue Uh people won't generally come and speak up about miscarriages People won't come up and speak about whether they have low sperm counts or not is something that is deeply personal but the fact that people
aren't speaking about it doesn't mean that they haven't been touched by it and that they don't need medical coverage for it So by updating our plan to include fertility benefits such as diagnostic uh testing um IVF and other
related services we're not only responding to real needs of our workforce but also positioning the city of Miami Beach as a competitive employer And that is a very important public purpose in here because we do want to
continue standing out as a good place to to to to work at Uh cities and private employers across the country are recognizing that inclusive family building support is not just a benefit but it's also a strategic advantage in
the workforce uh market So I want to recognize uh our human resources assistant director to take it from here They've been doing some tremendous research on on how we can support uh our workforce and also be competitive by
offering uh this type of benefit in our plans Good afternoon committee members commissioners My name is Lorena Bravo I'm the assistant uh director for HR I'm here on behalf of the department and uh the director Malar Pear who could not uh be here at this meeting today Um like
the commissioner pointed out I think uh fertility is been at the forefront of uh discussion at the federal level at the state level and uh for uh most employers in terms of how to recognize the fact that Americans are having fewer children
they're having children later in life and that age being a factor um that is a age is a factor in fertility um it's affecting uh their ability to to procreate U naturally And so um if they
have a goal of to build their family they're having to grapple with uh the cost of relying on alternative uh reproductive therapies Um um if you I I mentioned the federal and the state level Um recently the administration
issued an executive order uh in February uh seeking guidance uh to um explore how fertility could be a covered benefit um through insurance Um at the state level there's a bill pending um seeking to add
fertility preservation uh to the state group health insurance plan Um and so um it's something that's very avenguard and and you know it's seen to invest u in in employees What's the fiscal impact is
there any sure So um our uh third party administrator Sigma um estimates that adding uh infertility treatment coverage will increase uh one to 2% above our claims um our claim level So it will it
would add um uh one to 2% of claims and then it would also affect our stop loss individual stoploss expenditure um to the tune of about $76,000 a year There's a small increment What is a one 2% 2% of
claims on a yearly basis would translate to about $576,000 Out of how many claims total in general do we have and um I think this year we're projecting as of um the data available at the end of January we're projecting claims of uh 28.9 million And
and is this something that is is it set in stone is is it moving forward is this something you know let's say no one takes advantage of it can we pull it back in a couple years or is this um forever as a self-funded plan you
have total control over the benefits that you add to your plan Um I thought the purpose of um this referral was to initiate the dialogue I'd like I'd like to move the enhancing the plan I'll second it And I will say just you know um insurance in this comp in this country is super complicated I'm not
going to weigh in on that but I will say just for the record um I had to go to urgent care a couple weeks ago one of the many times I had the flu or whatever was floating around and um the doctor who is great said that he doesn't take our insurance because they he he gets
paid $15 per visit because of Sigma And so that you know Sigma has room to maneuver And I don't know if you can negotiate what the benefits are and how much they charge us for adding new benefits but their their profit margin is quite thick and so you know if
there's any anything you can do um you know but I move it I mean I second it and I would call the ro and just and and just quickly direct fiscal impact is there a direct fiscal impact to our budget with
this well it would certainly add uh the uh estimated amount to your to your plan costs It's it's us not not our budget What's that it's us as employees who are this Exactly So but but just just for the public knowledge because we had this
discussion in my in my office directly to the city's budget There's no direct impact It's to the fund right you have reserves that you could utilize to pay for the 1 to 2% increase over it's called the vote So this would So if I may yeah return to the commission with a
favorable recommendation to add infertility treatment as a benefit to plan participants insured under the city's self-funded health plan It would have to be made this the motion would have to be made by Commissioner uh Bot and and seconded by uh the chair David Suarez All in favor can we have a Can we
have a roll call vote commissioner Bot Yes Commissioner Suarez Yes Thank you Thank you Good Meeting is adjourned Thank you