See this? >> Hi. >> Hey, Gina. Good to see you. That's this that's okay for you. Extra That's this
is >> Rudy. Does this bridge What is it that >> All right. Good evening, guys. Welcome.
It is uh 6:03. So, we'll get uh started and if other committees, we got almost every committee accounted for. So, if any committees come in late, we'll just um uh roll them in. So, the call to order and roll roll call. I got
blasting, I got cultural affairs, I've got um education advisory board. No. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Uh I don't have elderly affairs. I don't have economic development. Am I right? Good. a mental
health task force. Bill's going to step in. Uh neighborhood improvement, Felicia will fill in if uh the chair and vice chair don't show. Public safety, we're accounted for. Sports Hall of Fame, Special Needs Advisory Board, Veteran
Affairs, and Youth Activities Task Force. All right. Uh you be before you should have the your agendas. If anybody wants any additions, deferrals, deletions from the
agenda. If not, then we'll set the agenda. That's the agenda as is. Is anybody here that's not affiliated with a committee want to make any public comments before we get started? She's with your committee, right? Yeah.
Yeah. Elsa. Huh? Okay. More support. All right. So, the very first thing that I wanted to on the agenda is going to be the consolidation of town events. I was going to present it, but since we have
the Huh? Do what? All right. Let's um in your committee, everybody's got the same packet, right? Okay. in your committee packet and you should have been briefed by your liaison uh already by now but uh there's a new
committee form for reporting. So the council what they wanted to do was to standardize the reporting to make it easy cuz what had happened a few times is some of the committees had gone before the council had given reports and there were things in your in the report
that required action and between the the chair giving the report and the council failing to ask there there were things that were bypassing and no action was being taken when it was really required. And we think that the form will help make sure that if the committee is
asking for something that requires council action, it will prompt action to be taken. So, and it'll make it less uh cumbersome and less confusing confusing for the uh council because now they'll have a standard form that they can follow.
Anybody have any questions or any concerns or recommendations or changes they'd like to see with the form or anything of that nature? microphone Felicia is right next to you. >> Okay. Uh good evening everybody. Um I I I of course I did the memo like I was
supposed to trying to get the right wording and then they gave me the form. Uh so um it was a little bit confusing because I started putting the information on the top and then in the new budget line item request is basically almost the same thing I
believe. I don't know maybe I'm confused other directions. Um maybe you can just simplify a little bit more for for those that you know that's all. >> So So is there something specific you wanted? >> Yeah. No, I know it's the new form that
we have to the initiative. It basically is what the project is. I mean what the the event is about the cost. >> Um is it a budget item that I understood? Council request is the pro it uh
description proposal item. I think it's repetitive. with the first page >> is more of a re the first page is like a re like a reporting page things you know your the name of your members the budget any initiatives that you're doing now so you can report
>> no that's this one the I mean this one which is the normally the one with for is that being replaced by this no >> no no I think it's it's an additional page so if there's action something that you're presenting that's a new uh event or something that you need action or
approval from the council This next page that is review for council approval um is the page that's required so that you can detail on there uh each committee can put on there what the initiative is or what the ask is that the council can follow along and be able
to provide you u an approval for things that you need their consent for. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Other directions. Okay. >> Yeah. You you reported on one committee last night and I think this con this >> Yeah, I put it in my package because it
was supposed to the memo was discarded because it was duplicating but this is taking it's taking over the memo which is what we used to use. Okay. >> All right. >> Figure it out sooner or later. >> Yeah. Listen, it's something new, so it'll take a couple times to just get
used to, but it'll make it'll make things easier for the committee, and it'll make things clearer and and more obvious for the council when there's things that they need uh to take action on. All right. And that way, nothing will it'll prevent the count the committees from having to come back a
second time. Okay. Council member. >> All right. >> Oh, we're live. Okay. Yeah. >> So, good afternoon everybody. Thank you for being here. you know, we know that your schedules are busy and we want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come in and meet with your other
committee chairs to discuss, you know, different topics like our new uh our new memo format. But I'm here to speak on an item that I introduced at the uh at the council meeting in February. So, I I
handed each of you three sheets, two Excel spreadsheets and another one with a QR code. The first sheet, I'm sure you're all well aware that I became a council member in January of last year. The first sheet that says 2025 events
and a 51 handwritten off to the side were every single event that happened between January 1st, I mean, I'm sorry, January 25th through the end of the fiscal year, not the end of the year, but the end of the fiscal year. Okay, so end of September. In that period of time
alone, we had 51 events. If you were to get the events between Dece um October 1 and January 25th of this year, that list would increase by another 28 events. Okay? It's a lot of events. And and it
affects our budget. It affects attendance when it's an overwhelming amount of information that's out there. And sometimes they get lost in the shuffle. people don't come to these events and you know it's it's disheartening that we put you guys put the the good faith forward you put the
work forward the staff puts their efforts in too and you know it's it's disheartening when only a handful of people show up so what I came up with the solution the the first iteration of it is to start combining smaller events into bigger events I'm going to use for
example an event that we have called skate Miami lakes it's run through the town it was a high school project for a family here, the he's actually now at at UF about to transfer to USC, the Bernol family, and he wanted to bring skating to Miami Lake skateboarding. So, at the
youth center, at the park at the youth center, we set up um you know, ramps to go skateboarding and we give away skateboard. I went one time and a few more times after that. And the first time, two children showed up. The next few times it was one child and it was
the same child that went the first time. So that child must have a collection of skateboards now sponsored by the town of Miami D because he always won the raffle. So just to give an example that that event would no longer be a standalone. It would now be part of for example the spring fling or something
where children are going to be attending just to bring awareness. It'll increase awareness. It'll increase attendance to those types of events. This year in this fiscal year is the next list that shows 2026. We have 46 events. Mind you, we did have
to do budget cuts during, you know, the the fiscal year um last year for this year um because, you know, we had to keep the millage low and we had certain things like the police contract and other things that did increase. So, everyone was affected and believe me, the committees were not the only ones
that were affected. We are we were also affected. Our travel budget went to complete zero. So, every time we travel now, it comes out of our own pockets. Trips to Tallahassee come out of our own pockets. Anything we do, hotel stays out of our own pockets. So, believe me, you were not the only ones. It was across the board. We're not going to do to you
what we do wouldn't do it to ourselves and we did it. So, you know, we tried to lead by that example and we did it. But we still have the issue because we hear it. Attendance, attendance, attendance. Some events are just not as strong. Um, not to knock the mental health
committee, but the mental health fair last year, even though the mayor and I went on channel 6 to promote it and the mayor was in a dunk tank, you know, you could throw, you know, pay $5, get five baseball and dunk the mayor and but and that and the mayor fell every single time. Even if you didn't hit the circle,
as long as you hit somewhere on the fence, the mayor would dunk and the turnout wasn't that great. So, that is a bigger event. It's not a small event. It's a very large event. But if maybe it's this the stigma it could be of mental health where people don't go out of their way to say, "Hey, yeah, you
know what, mental health, I'm going to go see that." But if they're walking by a tent, maybe we can combine it and make it into a fall festival where there's mental health tents along with activities for Halloween for kids and things like that to try to make it a more cohesive community event and not just mental health. That'll help with
the attendance. It'll bring a spotlight to mental health because people will be walking by. is a good time because I am a strong believer that people just won't go out of their way because of the stigma that is mental health. A lot of people don't realize that they have mental health or don't want to admit to it and seek help. So the 988 helps the
988 signs that the mental health task force is doing I think is going to be a good step forward but it's baby steps to get there. Okay. So I like to see collaboration between the committees. I come from committees myself. You know, I was there when the veterans ad hoc
became the veterans committee. Myself and Gary Cardin stood on the podium and asked at the time Wayne Sllayton to please make us into a full-blown committee. So, I come from committees. Most of us up there come from committees. You know, Brian and and Steven with you in Blessing and Angelo
and uh and Josh has been on so many committees and I was on PNZ and JC too. So, we come from committees. We know the dedication that you guys are into it. So co bringing those groups together making those small changes I think will go a long way. Okay. You know I'm I'm PMP I'm
a project manager and I have an agile background. So when I create cross like the cross functional teams that's trying to to get you know different aspects maybe if it's a subcommittee the chairs don't have to be a part of it but start you know you have members if you can
start doing those little things to make those events a little bit more well attended and because now let's say um the bike rate the bike ride that NIC is trying is trying to bring back if you combine with the veterans and they bring the legion and now you have a you right
back with a bunch of veterans and you get the kids involved with the YATF. So you start combining events and it brings awareness because sometimes we post it on social media on the lake and things like that, but not everybody sees that. But if we use our own networks that we have and we start feeding through the
proverbial grapevine, those events start getting more and more attended. July 4th, it's a staple in the community because it's July 4th. The Veterans Day parade, great turnouts. They're never the same time. There's always the Sunday before. We know that it's always a Sunday before Veterans Day to not break
up the long weekend, but then all those families start telling other people and other people and other people. And vocal reference is a big driver of communication when it comes to finding out about events. Now, the final thing is the first new
business item that I ever did when I got up on the day is I started it in February of last year. This QR code allows students in high school with their per with their parents to sign up to find out when we're having volunteer
opportunities for events. So if you have an event, I'm going to use the spring fling for example, you needed 100 volunteers, 150 volunteers, right? There's another aspect of it. So people
did sign up. Not everybody that signed up showed up. Okay. So, there's another aspect to it that I'm in the works of of creating uh that will drive that will motivate more kids to actually follow through with with what they're doing. And I think it might involve some parents and you know, not just sending
the email to the students themselves, but also CCing the parents since they that registration has to be the parent and the students since we're dealing with minors. The schools do have this. I reached out to district 4 to Robert Alonzo. He sent it out to the schools and the schools sent this out to every
single high school in the area. So, Barbara Goldman, Miami Dix Educational Center, HML, um, all those schools, the middle schools, Jose Martine, they have this. So, it's a good pool. It's it's a good pool of of students to find out. So, if you need help, the resources there. doing things to enhance it, to
get more participation, but it's a workforce that little by little is incrementing, you know, and as soon as you have an event, you let your community leazison know, hey, we need x amount of volunteers and they have access to send out the email to request volunteers to come out. I'm working on
what I'm working on is a is a resolution that will create for certain events x amount of hours. So, it's if it's more labor intensive, for example, this weekend we had the sandbag event. Not many kids showed up, but it's a labor intensive and it was one to one an
hour. So, I'm going to try to figure out a way of making it a little bit more appealing when it's that intense. Other fun events like spring fling, Halloween, those are they work, but it's a big party, too. So, it it'll be a fair amount of hours, but it won't be as
intense as the physical where you're out there in the sun sweating and shoveling sand and trying to get bags ready for hurricane relief. But that'll be a different aspect. Um, but yeah, I just my the ultimate goal, step one, try to combine events, little ones into bigger
ones and low attendant attended ones, try to see if you can rephrase them, re recatategorize them with other committees to get more attendance out there because sometimes, and I've seen it on my own social media, if you post too much, people start looking away because it's too much. It's it's um it's
too much noise. So, it's quant it's quality, not quantity at times. And I feel like this is one of those situations. And if our director of communications wants to relay anything on that communication aspect go
oh um what I was saying is that social media you have to be very sensitive to the consumer. um they get that social media fatigue and they just start to swipe and not interact with any of our
post and the less that they interact with our post the less they will show up on their feed and then we become mute uh to their to their feed. So, we have to be very sensitive to to that because we do want our um residents to to know what
the great things that you all are doing. Um and social media provides us that avenue to to get them that information. >> Yeah. >> Oh, there's one right here. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Hi.
>> Hi. Uh my name is Elsa Reos and having worked for so many years at Our Lady of the Lake School as a director of development. I'm a firm believer of getting the children to be involved for the volunteer hours. As a matter of fact, we're having the paint the picture
for mom >> the day before Mother's Day. And I already have six students coming to help us. And we do that every year. And then um Isabella will be sending them a letter saying that they did they get
hours from the town of Miami Lakes and they get their community hours. >> Absolutely. >> Now there's sometimes if we have liquor involved then we can't. >> No. >> So that's what happens in the Hispanic heritage when we had our events because there was liquor involved we couldn't use the students right
>> but we are very aware of that and we try and have students help us all the time if we can. >> Yeah. I can make a recommendation for that one. So you can have students just not where liquor is located. So you can have students, for example, picking up around the tables or or checking uh the
the the visitors for the Hispanic Heritage, checking them in, giving them a wristband because I remember going last year to the Peruvian one and it was standing room only to the point that I was fearful of a fire code violation of how many people were in there. um you know but that's just me military side
just trying to uh to make sure that everything is safe but yeah I mean there's different aspects so I help a lot Robert Alonzo when it comes to the car for the cures car show my sons volunteer every single year with him um and we do have the beer garden section which is 21 and over they
serve beer and there's a chong and all that stuff but the individuals in that section alone are at least 21 years old or at least not even 18 to 21 and it helps with college applications with volunteerism you know uh that that goes on the resume. I supported my local community. I was there to engage. I
helped with with hurricane preparedness. Like all those things look good, really good on a college application. So the town gets a benefit of, you know, of of being able to help kids and have exposure to our events because usually the Veterans Day parade. Why is this so popular? The veterans are a huge aspect,
but you also have a lot of children that come with their families. So when the students come to volunteer, so do the families to see the event. Oh, I had no idea that was going on. and you're going to be there volunteering. Absolutely. We're going to go and it starts a feeder pattern. It's, you know, it's not going to be from one day to the next, but it starts a pattern and before you know it,
all the events have great attendance to them. Yeah. So, it's, you know, it's beneficial not just for the town, but for the students when it comes for college applications, silver night awards, everything like that. >> Um, if I may, a number of years ago, I proposed a committee day. Um the reality
is committees are the the lays on between the community and the government the the uh the local government in this case. Um and exactly what you're saying some of the committees such as ours were too small. We don't generate the impact
that that a larger committee uh will do. Um that being said, if we did a committee day, which we would then engage the community and basically thanking the committees at at that moment, we're highlighting, showcasing all different committees. We're allowing
the the community to see what what is available um that things are being done. Many to this day, I mean, it blows my mind that people don't know the BAB exists. >> Um they know the issue, they but they don't know the the existence or they don't know what we're doing, >> as an example. Um, so if we did a
committee day incorporating exactly what you're saying, I think would it would encompass all this and it'd be uh budget friendly and that we're combining u um pulling if you will from different committees the event. Um it'd be very cost- effective.
>> Maybe we can do like a a committee rush, >> a community run, a bike ride, a bike rodeo. I mean there's a lot of different things. >> I mean I'm thinking there's 12 committees in total. technically 11 if you the PNZ is is a committee on its own. We have 11 meetings per month. I mean per year. There's one meeting that
we don't have for for the council members in December, but we do have 11. If we can highlight one committee per se per RCM, but that's something that we have to discuss up there. Um you know, and possibly start in June or July or after the summer months because in the
summer months, you know, it's it takes a dive a little bit with uh with residents in town. Give me one second, Felicia. Colonel, >> um, I have a few recommendations. Um, >> first of all, some committees only have very few events. For example, you mentioned the mental health task force.
They only have one event, the fall festival, >> right? >> And it's only the second year, so it's just getting started. And right now, if we build the network of all the providers and stuff, and we're getting the word out. >> So, I think over time, it'll be much
better attended. Um, does that mean it's not a good idea to partner with another committee if if uh if possible in order to make it better? Absolutely. But >> yeah, >> you know, it's I don't know if we should do it with the uh nightmare and mantros group. >> No, no, no, no, no, no.
>> But, you know, you know, it's a it's uh it's one of those things where, you know, if it's the right match, it would work. you know, keeping the mission of the mental health task force in mind >> and only also because we only they only
have we only have one event. >> Um, >> but I would recommend get more visibility out there, more people to see you. >> Well, I mean, it's only the second year we've done it. So, the third year, fourth year, give it some time, you know. I mean, what what year we're at for the Veterans Day parade? >> 27.
>> Yeah. So, you know, we got a lot of visibility. So, give it some time, you know. And uh so also for the veterans, we really only have three events. And so my recommendation um is to take a look at those committees that have many events
throughout the year and rack have the committee chairs rack and stack. You know, how many are really going to these events and how many people are not going and how can they maybe combine it? Like for example,
um the Legion does a fishing day already and we bring the orphans and we get the veterans and we do a barbecue. So we can do a Father's Day fishing tournament with the, you know, cultural affairs folks. You know, we can we
>> Yeah. Our our fishing tournament was the original one. Uh and uh we noticed that the veterans are doing also fishing tournament. And of course, >> well, that's not what the was her first chair is in it. So that's probably one of his ideas. >> Well, that's actually not the committee
doing it. It's the American Legion Post doing it with the Knights of Columbus. The Veterans Committee doesn't do the fishing tournament. >> No. >> Um does a parade? >> Yeah, we only do a parade. We only >> day and reindeer run. We don't do a fishing tournament. >> So, but I mean we could I can get the
Legion to get involved in your, you know, maybe that would help, you know, get some attendance there. Well, the ultimate goal is to have those events that have lower um volume of of visitors, get them more attention, you know, get them We don't want to eliminate them. That's not the goal
here. Is to get them more attention. >> Yes. Um a few months back I was trying to do like a questionnaire, never submitted it to a committee to view. Is which committee or which event has the more the most attendees?
>> July 4th. >> That is Yeah. Okay. July 4th. I know we have a table, we hand out stuff and and basically we like I said we do have a booth. I don't know if the other committees have a booth. I think uh BAB had one last year. I don't know what
other committee has it. I mean we had almost 9,000 people in that event. >> Whether we're going to have the same amount this year, hopefully we'll get good weather and and we'll have them. >> But the idea is is to do like um because I know the the uh what is the food and
wine? I don't know. It's not a committee that it's the town that does it. >> It's a foundation >> if a foundation foundation >> but you know it's it's trying to get everybody into what what is it that we're doing because I I think the community doesn't know really what we're doing and then they say, "Oh, I didn't
know we had that event and this and that. I'm going to be out of town." Because people plan things because they don't know what we're doing. I think if if they see what kind of events we have and they're fun events and they they'll stay, you know, and the idea is to bring people from outside and our people are
leaving. So, it's it's just uh >> you know, figuring out what's the best solution to this. Also, speaking of the fishing tournament and I spoke yesterday on it when we were doing the new improvement committee report is that one one time we had our fishing tournament
combined with the neighborhooding committee for lake awareness. We had little coloring books and stuff and and handouts for everybody for the kids to know. Uh because um what I basically do the event I went to educate whoever goes there and we had the different kind of
fish with pictures of the fish and then they would go oh this is the fish that I caught and it's an educational thing and we tell them about the awareness of the taking care of the lakes. they they learn about fishing and it is it's something that will get them involved
and engaged in in the activity not just going fishing and leaving you know or or trying to get the raffle you know winning something is um it takes work I know but it's it's all of us working together like when I saw that again that they were having that I said but we already have a fishing termite why do it
again one time they wanted to do one for the elderly uh and I told actually Lewis I said We can have a category all these fishermen bring the grandpas in you know and and that's you know that's why you know we >> remember that fishing tournament is not something done by the by the committee
or the town it's something done through the American >> I know but but basically I remember that elderly affairs wanted to create their own fishing tournament I said no no we already have one just we create another category for the old oldest fisherman actually the youngest and the oldest >> we all have something in common right
even though you're on your own committees what is the one thing that combi that combines us all. We're all Lakers foundationally. We're all Lakers. So, it doesn't matter if it's elderly affairs or youth activities or the veterans. The events are the town
events. We're all Lakers. So, if elderly affairs wants to do a fishing tournament, invite them to join yours and that way you expand your resources. You know, how many times do we do an event at Veterans Park where we have to rent a stage? stages are not
cost- effective to not say another word you know and they can they can add up very quickly. So if you bring it from maybe three to four events bringing a stage to one to two, that's money that now becomes available because you combine events for other things that you want to do within your committees, you
know, and it's awareness, awareness, awareness. More people are going to find out because now they're going to come to that event and they're going to be like, "Oh my god, I didn't know that the town had this feature like the Skate Miami Lakes or other things." I'm just using them because they're the freshest in my mind from from recent events. But yeah,
you know, work together, have that synergy, create maybe because within your your committee chairs, since you're not voting on each other's committees, create a WhatsApp to communicate with each other. There's no sunshine violation in there because
you're not in each other's committees, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But but at least if you're on a on the board of one committee Yeah. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. One one thing that I mentioned it yesterday very briefly, but I think it's key in in letting people know because let's say when I go to the park and I see people, I have flyers, I hand them out, oh, I didn't know about this. Yeah, we're going to have a concert in a month and this and that and and I said check
the website and the thing is when you go to a website there's nothing there. They have to really look for it like uh for example the events you have to go to government then to uh committees and then on the committees you have to go to events. So my idea is I know it's cost
to redo the I mean the previous website I loved it with the with the pictures of the town and the lakes is um create a banner and then if there's an event coming up pop it up because people look people look for for the website but then
they they get lost and I I me as a Laker I get lost myself trying to find who's doing what. So because the the events are hidden within sub uh what do you call them sub and it's hard imagine someone who's not from here
make it more people friendly but the banners I think is important I've seen other all the communities and and I think is is important that you know you you put that banner there for every event that's coming Maybe. Nightmare on Monroe Street is the second
most attended event right behind Fourth of July. And I would say it's kind of close, not super close, but Nightmare on Monroe Street is very, very well attended. And Spring Fling as well, just on a different, you know, >> that's
give us feedback. Which ones you want to stop? The boots on the ground for these events are you all. Tell us these events need more attendance. We do them, but it's just not enough people showing up. Tell us which ones so we can start, you know,
putting those events together. If it's an event that involves kids and it's not done by YTF, we can reach out to YTF. Hey, would you mind taking this on as part of your event and, you know, and combining with this committee? So, use your resources, but tell us which ones you want to see. what events from
historical or even as as a retrospective meeting after the event we wish more people showed up. Let's use that. Okay, let's start to bring more awareness and show the town, hey, yeah, the your tax payer funds are going to this type of event. But if people don't know that it
exists and they don't go, they don't see where their money is going. I I did want to mention before when uh Felicia was speaking about the 4th of July um our board, the special needs advisory board, we actually at the Mary Collins
Community Center, we have the room which I I know a lot of you have visited. I know Councilman Sanchez has been there. And we also, not only is it a space for them to go into, we actually leave half of the room dark. um they come in, we give them headphones, um noise
cancelling headphones which they can keep. So we also participate in that. And I know Fourth of July does not need any anything to be put out there, but I will say I think it's a good idea. of the ones that are like maybe less um
visited. We are like our board I will say has been doing you know some smaller events but they've actually been very well like we had the art gallery and we had over 100 people here. So I was it
was our first year I was very surprised. So there are certain events that I think by themselves, you know, are good, but I think those that aren't, I I think it's a good idea. >> Something else I wanted to bring up, one of my items earlier this year was a
database of sponsors that was already created of sponsors of companies that have sponsored in the past and maybe they just were not reached out to again for your events. I know we've been insisting a lot on, you know, try to find sponsors. Two reasons. Number one, it saves us taxpayer funds. And number
two, that company will market the event for you and they'll put it out to their networks. Hey, we're doing we're sponsoring this in Miami Day since they're paying. They're going to feed it out so as many people as possible show up. So, it's a two-sided coin. It's cost-saving for the town and they're
going to do marketing to say this is happening. We're paying for it. But I I do have an issue with that councilman because >> like I personally have worked very hard for my sponsors for the car show and I heavily rely on them. >> So if we got other folks coming in and taking my sponsors marketing budget then
at the end of the year for my event they won't have it. >> But if you notice I mentioned sponsors that have historically done it but haven't done it recently. I mentioned that specific >> and and maybe the database needs to be geared towards the committee. All right. So, if it's a committee, you know, if
that sponsor worked with that committee in the past, that makes sense. >> But like somebody like me, I rely heavily on the car dealerships and different companies that want to showcase their business on the car show, >> right? >> I I'm sorry. I I need those funds for my event. So, that's where
>> and again, some of those some of those car dealerships are historical sponsors from from years ago. you know, Miami Dod Mall with Fred Senra and and headquarter Toyota. They were the initial sponsor of the reindeer run that started back in 200 2018 was the first reindeer run, I
think it was. >> Oh, duty. >> Oh, that's true. Okay. >> Yeah, he was a little >> was running but somewhere else. >> He was chasing rain somewhere else. >> But but nonetheless, you know, that's that's my two cents with that database, you know. Um, >> but that was just a starting point. So,
you know, in everything project management, everything has sprints, everything has iterations, and you can improve upon it, but you have to start from somewhere. And that was just done for the first time. We have a database that shows every sponsor that we've ever had. Doesn't matter if it was from the year 2000 or from the year 2026. But
they does show when was the last time that that sponsor was active in the community. So, we can reach back out to them because, you know, we we went through a a turbulent a turbulent time with the pandemic. the events were just not done. Sponsorship started going away. There's pre- pandemic and
post-pandemic economy. So maybe those sponsors that we've used pre- pandemic are just thinking the events never came back and we can reach back out to them now and tell them this is what's going on. Even earlier today um the CEO of Baptist is retiring. um the her
retirement ceremonies on Friday and I'm doing a little recognition for her and her director of government relations reached out to me and told me council nice to meet you I wish we would have met before but anything you need from Miami D if it's sponsorship money if it's activation events anything you call
me and we're there so and it's not just specifically to a committee it's to anything town and obviously Baptist budget you know when it comes to sponsorship I would assume is larger than some other companies >> so it's you know It's it's creating those bonds, creating those networks and
reaching out to those that used to, but maybe they're not aware that we still are doing events and looking sponsor for those events. >> You know, I would just state that if that database can have where they have donated before, where they have sponsored before. That way, the committee is kind of geared towards that
sponsor that did their event in the past that just fell off the planet for whatever reason. But speaking of Baptist, I know that every year there was a hospital, I forget who it was, that used to meet with the town and essentially say, "Okay, this is what we're going to do for this event, Y event, and Z event." Is that Baptist? >> Either memorial.
>> Yeah, memorial is the one that >> memorial and um the one in Halia on 60th and Mount Si. >> Mount Si. Okay. Yeah. >> Just cuz I know that used to happen once a year. I don't know if they're still doing it, >> but Baptist is so involved in the town. They have the emergency room, the urgent
care, and I found out last year that for the South Florida region, the entire thing from West Palm all the way down to the Keys, their pharmacy that fills their prescriptions as mailed is in Miami Lakes. >> Wonderful. So, they're very involved in Miami Digs and they want to be more involved. So, they they reached out and
>> well, any any of those large businesses, it might be good just to have like a proposal that just state these are all our events >> and they can pick and choose what they're passionate about, right? So, it's just literally a docket that our marketing department will have and just you just put it out there, you know. I'm sorry.
>> Well, part of the convers they can't sponsor. >> Oh, beautiful. There you go. It's done already. >> So, they are they can't sponsor any more events through September 30th of this year. But she did tell me, "Get me a list of all the events we're doing for next fiscal year. They have the same
fiscal year as we do, and we'll put them into the budget to fund them already." >> Yeah. I I remember from years back that the the corporations the best time to to request u sponsorship is April and
October is when they I guess check their books and and see of the budget and also um uh as far as you know collaborating uh I know I bring back the 4th of July because it's a big event is is having
each committee like for example I think I mentioned to you for our 250th Independence Day is to go have like a patriotic card show or something like that that you you can combine the one that you do what was it that you did the last one
card for heroes you can you know rebrand it or something and and you go have a big turnout I mean is creating like this maybe it's too much but since you that's what you handle is the car show we can have people assigned to each activity uh we're in the process if if it works uh
is to at that uh uh freedom truck in coming in in October, I mean in November for the veterans parade which uh the comment that I had was that yeah we have a lot of participants but not enough attendance. If we bring that and we are allowed to to have them, it's going to
bring people in. So it's again collaborating, helping each other and and bringing people into Miami Lakes. I also um received an email the other day in my office inviting us to an event in Miami Springs uh for uh Glen Curtis. Um I recommend you go to the airport and
see it is is the history of um the founder of Miami in Miami Springs. And the person who sent me the invite is the director of the Miami and the beaches group. I mean I have his contact if if we can send stuff to him. I'm sure he
will be happy to because that that website reaches out the entire if not Florida entire world because people go to there to see what's happening in in Florida. So it would give us great exposure. I mean if I get the go ahead I
can just reach out to him through my office and and see how he can help us. Cultra first uh Miami date. >> No no this is this is the Miami and the beaches. Sir, >> chair,
>> I I apologize, but I have to go to another meeting at 7:00 and if we can get back on the agenda cuz I don't think this is going to be solved in this meeting. >> No, I I I don't disagree, but >> and also could I have be moved up and brief those two uh my two items,
Veterans Committee and Mental Health Task Force. Thank you. >> All right, council member. Anything else? Thank you. And listen, this group since I've been here now over seven years, soon after that, it was a focus. It was an emphasis of this group of trying to
and they've done a phenomenal job of trying to combine. Is there still room to for improvement? Absolutely. And and just that reminder, but they they do a lot coordinating events. There are events that they do individually, but then there's a lot of events that they coordinate two and sometimes three uh
committees together. So the objective is uh we're we're on the road there. So, all right. >> I wanted to ask if ours can also be moved up because I have to go at >> Okay, >> all right. The last thing that I have before we go around the room just real
quick um is you all should have gotten information from your liaison. We are once again it seems like it's a never- ending uh cycle. We're back in at the beginning of budget season. So the the liaison should have provided you
some information about that. There's also an email that came if you haven't met since this email. This email just came out yesterday. So it'll be presented to you at your next meeting uh from our budget manager. The important date for all of you to remember is going
to be June the 4th. June the 4th is going to be the um special call meeting of the council to listen to all of the committees, pitch the any ideas, pitch any uh increases for your committee,
changes to your committee. All of those uh things are going to be um pitched at that June 4th um uh council meeting. It's only going to be for committees and committee budgets. So, what you're going to have to make sure that you do is uh
you're going to have to talk about uh proposed dates for each event, estimated attendance at each event. If it's a recurring event, uh cost of the event, and number of sponsorship dollars collected for the event in prior years, make sure that you get that and between
now and June 4th, make sure that those are uh conversations that you have within your committees so you can take votes. So when the chairperson goes on June the 4th to pitch uh the idea to the council that it's something that's been vetted and approved by the entire uh
committee. And that's all I had as far as items on my uh agenda. So let's go. Um we'll start with uh uh Bill Perez for veterans and mental health task force and then we'll move on to special needs.
>> Uh thank you very much chair. Um for the mental health task force, um our focus right now is the 988 signs. Um we have full funding from sponsors to uh buy and install those. I already gave the information to Noah as to the size of
the signs and stuff and and we'll work with Jeremy and everybody to figure out where they want to put it. The goal by the chair is to get some kind of grand opening ribbon cutting event um in May. Uh so we'll see. I mean that's uh when
we're trying to do it and so that's like next month but uh you know we'll see if we can maybe make it then by then. It's a long month. Um for the veterans committee um things are tracking uh really well. Um we raised over $62,000
last year from the reindeer run and uh 75% of it is going to the veterans monument that's going to be built in the town. Um, last, uh, I was at the Chamber of Commerce meeting in Miami Lakes and we got somebody to a sponsor to give
$35,000. So, um, so it's going pretty well and, um, I'll be working with Jeremy to see how if we can cut the cost that we're estimating so we can maybe build it for less and better, but, you know, who
knows? Um the other thing we're working on is uh the the Memorial Day event and um that's coming together well and uh it'll be a really nice solemn event. That's all I got. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Special Needs Advisory Board. >> I'm still going to stay for longer, but I just in case when I got to go. Um, so I'm representing um, Chair Vivian Levy
and our board has been pretty busy. Um, we've had um, a number of events. Uh, one of them, if you walk through the halls, you'll see some paintings of adults that have special needs, um, neurode divergent. Uh, we had a great
event. Like I mentioned earlier, we had over 100 people. That was completely blind-blowing, especially was our first um as I believe this is going to be our fourth year will be part of the Fourth
of July again. Um the sensory room, we're going to also have something that we're going to have for the first time, which is um game night. Uh it's May 15 and we got news today that it's sold out. So, so it's already 110 people have
signed up for it. It's going to be at the Roberto Alonzo. So, very excited about that. We we're also going to be participating at the in and I had the email open. Oh, it's right here. We're going to be going to KBIS gain and we're
going to participate. It's Miami Day County Disability Advisory Board Summit. Uh we're going to be going on May 13. Um I believe right now it's three of our members if not four. We're also going to be going to in Orlando um there's
something called the family cafe which is the biggest cross disability event in the nation and it has to do with disabilities and it's from birth to retirement. It's an array. Um my family will be going as well. This is our
eighth year going in person and I can say every year I learn something new and not just one thing a lot. So six of our members are going to be going. So very excited about that. Um the other five have never been. So this is going to be
huge. Um I know we have a bunch of other stuff. Um, we participated at the veterans which that's something we always do and we love to be a part of it. Um, we also have a resource fair which we partner up with arts for
autism. We have our dance classes that are happening every Saturday. Our animation classes are going to be starting as well. Um, let me see what else I have here. Oh, our karate. Um, we also have our
karate which happens at the youth center that happens twice a week every week and they are learning so much and they love it. And if you hear the parents, I think they love it even more. If I've seen it in person and you know you you're
talking about children and adults that have special needs and sometimes it's difficult for them to just you know get in line and do what the sensei is saying. Well, I can tell you they go in and Sensei doesn't even say anything and they're ready. They're ready.
Um, we also had our our Valentine's Day painting with a twist, which we've done every year. I want to say we had about definitely over 30 participants, which is I think what we're able to have cuz it's every participant and then someone
that goes with them to, you know, assist in any way they need to. And I know that there's more, but I didn't think I was going to get it so quick. But yeah, I I we're doing great things. Thank God. And I also want to thank Isabella. She's amazing. I can't believe I was
forgetting. You see, so today we actually So I don't know if you've ever heard of um communication board. So, some some pe some people um children and adults, they use a device like an AAC device to communicate when they're
non-speaking or non-verbal. Well, someone from the community at one of our meetings, they actually spoke about a communication board that they saw at a park. So, it's it's you know, it's you just point at at the at the picture and
it has a word on it. Well, today we actually did a ribbon cutting at Veterans Park. We purchased both of them. Um, so there's one at Veterans Park and there's one at Royal Oak Lokes and we're going to be purchasing two more. And I actually the person that
gave the idea to to begin with, she was saying how she had taken her son that is non-speaking and he was using it. But the amazing thing was that neurotypical children were coming over and they were using it too. So that's the main reason
for it, you know, for not just awareness, but also acceptance and for everyone to become aware of what's truly, you know, because they if you're not exposed to something, you're not going to learn about it and what we don't know sometimes we fear. So
I think that's about it. >> Thank you very much. Let's go. If you could pass your microphone over to public safety and then we'll go back and then we'll just follow the room around. And I should have said it from the beginning and I apologize just because in case there's new people in the room when you about to start your just
introduce your your name and which committee you represent just so everybody can get familiar with each other. >> Uh thank you Mr. Manager. I'm actually here with John Carlo. My name is Carlos Andre. I'm from the public safety committee. Nice to meet you Bill. Uh thank you. Thank you for your service.
Um, nonetheless, um, guys, you know, we're all in this together. And this is the conversation I have with Bill, um, you know, and I have with so many people, you know, um, around here, right? We help out each other. I think what's so important about and and let's
just for right now, I don't let's put aside PSC for a second. We got to help each other market. For the most part, you know, we have, I would say, probably the same network group, but if we can just continue to repost our events, uh, cheer them on WhatsApp. You know,
Felicia is the hardest working volunteer. I want to take just one moment. Felicia, thank you. All right. Felicia has been doing this for a long time. I appreciate your passion. We we all, you know, literally feed off it. So, we appreciate you very much. Uh, but just continue to help each other out. And if it's something that you're
passionate about, you know, maybe give a little bit of help, right? So, I'm passionate about the veterans. I help out with with the parade. Um, you know, if I'm passionate about Main Street um concerts, well, Felicia, uh, Spring Fling, sorry. You seems like you have like the whole town helping you with that event. Uh, but, you know, anything we can do to help each other is is is
huge, right? So, I think that's the commitment that we owe to each other and and really outside of the box. We experimented something this weekend called back to nature. It was an event that we did uh with neighborhood improvement committee. Uh, it was really for Earth Day, right? to go ahead and have you know shred uh have people
recycle their electronics uh batteries bulbs to veterans keeps going in and out right so um it was it was pretty decent right but again it was an opportunity that I saw and I took it so we need to you know continue to be you know very instrumental on how we can work with
each other um and save some dollars on it and um so that that's my spiel about working together public safety uh thankfully we're we're very busy I would think. Genie, you think you agree? Yeah, Isabella. Yep. All right. So, what we have going on, we have a law enforcement
awareness month. Amidor, right? Yep. So, we have law enforcement awareness month coming up next month. I actually totally forgot cuz I was too busy trying to defend money for the MLLP last uh council meeting. Uh but, you know, we probably should light a town hall in blue uh at some point. That would be kind of cool for me.
Perfect. Just just keep it there. Uh so, we have uh we're going to be presented to chamber. Um, we're going to be doing a coffee >> fire. >> There you go. Fire in October. We got you in October. All right. So, we got coffee of a cop coming up uh uh which is on peace uh officers memorial day on May
15. Um I think that's the date that you know we're going to do. Um we're going to go ahead and and and do um now I don't know if you all have experienced issues around town with speeding. Um I think all of us have, right? Uh and this is where again our collaboration is very
important. if we see an opportunity, let us know, right? Um, and so we're going to be putting up uh yard signs around the town that say slow down. Simple as that. Just slow down. I'm sure Bill wants to, you know, put some a speed bump in front of his house cuz people keep speeding down Miami Lakeway South. Uh, so, you know, that's going to be
something instrumental for you all to have our back when someone says, "What is this yellow sign doing here?" Well, it's here because literally the police are like, "What, you know, they're out there giving someone citations cuz people are speeding." Um we're hoping to uh do a uh swimming lessons course.
We're working with Clarisel to get something together with Miami date county uh for the summer. You know, we have we're surrounded by so many lakes here. So hopefully we can get something with Miami date in writing so we can do that in the summer. Uh we're working on we'll do the 911 memorial event. Um get a lot of help from the other committees
on on that event and also um the you know uh the American Legion and then uh we have our a lot of PSAs that we're trying to do. working with NIC for uh the uh you know life saving rings that we see around town. We're do a PSA on that and then we're going to be moving
into our car show. Very successful. Last year we had 100 cars um over a thousand attendance attendees and this year it's going to be even larger. Uh so uh really excited to work with you all. Please reach out to any of us. Our committee I mean we're out listen I get 100% attendance from from all my people in my
committee. I'm very very very lucky to have them. So and they're willing to help. So count us in for anything you need. That's it. I'm done. >> Okay. I ran the Miami Lakes senior softball game this afternoon. and I ran the Miami Lakes duplicate bridge game.
On my way out tonight, I have a little dog at home that looked up at me and said, "Hey, I hope this is not going to be long, so could I go next?" Okay, thank you. Okay, I represent the Miami Lakes Sports Hall of Fame committee or board. And uh
last December, we had our induction of four people. Uh that was Joe Weber, Karina Sid who is the sister of the former mayor uh Rivers Demsby
and a former excellent football player for the University of Miami who's been the longtime color broadcaster uh Don Bailey Jr. Very successful event. Uh we had a great evening at the Miami
Lakes Optimus Clubhouse which houses our hall of fame which includes now over uh 30 uh photographs of the people who have been inducted into our hall which includes Don Schula.
Uh we are looking forward uh for getting nominations for this year which are due to the town on August the 1st. The ceremony uh for this December is uh on the 12th and will be our ninth class
to be inducted. Um we are going to start planning for this coming year's celebration and ceremony and also start early discussing for next year which will be our 10th year our
10th anniversary of the hall of fame. Uh the attendance has kept growing every year and sponsorship continues to go up which bodess well for our future and we
appreciate the uh support we get from the town. It's been excellent and uh we hope that we are doing justice uh for our great town of Miami Lakes. Thank you. Miguel Martinez. Good afternoon everybody. Uh plastic advisory.
Keeping it brief. This this year we went to uh lobby lobbying efforts for uh the state Fabricio went to we went to Tallahassee on his recommendation. We went during day days. Um it's been unorthodox for us um and in a short time
to prepare uh such that the the lobbyists were not unfortunately able to assist in in preparing meetings. So that meant on I went so it meant on my behalf to do a lot of canvasing and uh put my steps in put it that way. Um however in
in Tallahassee state represio facilitated a meeting with the the miners mining lobbyists which was huge. Um stated that the the big issue they have
themselves is white rock quaries. um and and it's it's caused an issue on their behalf. Um obviously as as ours as well, he reiterated or he felt that many of the complaints that we file that we
state is is illreceived and illstated uh being that they're biased. Um and I quote that stuck struct um stuckcoat damage is not structural. Um, and if we're aware of construction in this area, if you have struck a stuckco
damage, it's because the inf the what's behind it, the supporting element is what's cracked. Um, they obviously don't have a clue of construction. Um, but nonetheless, it was very um informative. He also stated that he is not opposing
any bill that Fabricio puts forward. Uh, which is excellent, excellent to know. Well, the yes and no. Um, I believe him because unfortunately the bill never gets heard. It doesn't pass the committee. Um, we met with Rep. Tracy
Coer and she is the chair of the of the subcommittee that was to hear for BCIO's bill. Unfortunately, the it was shortlived the um the the the time frame for committees and they only had one meeting left. Um, so and the agenda was
already full, so it didn't get on the agenda. Um, Fabricio's bills, he he gave me his word when I met him when he was campaigning that he would do this, and he's done it. He's kept his word. He's earned my respect. Every every session, he has placed this as number one item on
his his agenda. Uh, as far as blasting is concerned, um, unfortunately, it's not up to him. it's the committees and and the chair of the committees to place the item on the agenda for discussion and that's where it falls. It never happens. Um
that being said, the the the BAB is working on several projects that are pretty um I'm proud to announce them. But the one is the the culmination if you're not aware of the Miami date pilot program.
Nday pilot program is a state sponsored uh study that collects and documents complaints from the public. So every time you feel a feel a shake, you file a complaint on their website. In their budget, they do not advertise
this this program, lo and behold. So nobody knows about it. So that's where our efforts have been. And to date, uh, let me see, we have 23,414 complaints have been filed up to the
month of December, month of November, I'm sorry. So, it's even greater than that. Um, in my opinion, that's a significant number. And that is of of our area. Um and so the we have a gentleman by the name of Edwin our in
the BAB and he is compiling the statistics by the state um and it's now been published on the town's website where you can monitor the the stats of of this program. The program not only monitors the stats of complaints, it
also monitors actual blasts. And so that allows you to compare what the official blast report from the miners to what the the the program records. Um, for the most part, they're aligned together, but there are times when the the report
records illegal levels, and coincidentally enough, the miners are not illegal on their reporting. Um unfortunately at the state level they do not um let's just say they don't honor their own report their own studies
under legislatively uh regulation it it's recorded uh by the minor's official submitt um that being said another worth mentioning I know the council just left but um that the town
it was decided on that the town does not have standing for the lawsuit that was originally approved. Um the council and and his partners along with Steven Herszburg have decided to take the endeavor on themselves pro bono. Um
there are four of us, myself included, are named as plaintiffs in suing the state of Florida. The reality is that the state has a statute that protects the minors and that is unconstitutional. If you wish to file a lawsuit, it goes
to the DOA process, which is basically a mediation at a higher level. Um, and the regulations to to submit a complaint in in the DOA process, you will lose. And me as an un uneducated I'm not an attorney. I don't play one on TV, but I
could tell you you will lose the battle on that. Um, this is what is the cloak of protection that the minors have. So, the intent of this is it it's done away with and and they're no longer protected um by this by this legislation. Um so,
we're praying that this goes forward on on praying on multiple levels. Um but this will put a an even playing field for everybody. And in respect to the miners, they'll allow them to continue to operate but fairly and properly. um having illegal blast at 76 when the
legal limit is 0.5 it's it's it's not it's not acceptable um pretty much it >> isn't it CAC >> oh >> good evening uh my name My name is Anna
Sto. I'm the chair of the education advisory board. We try to highlight the best students that we have, best students and educators in the community. We're going to have the awards of excellence coming up next week on Thursday and we'll be awarding um again
the best students and the best teacher in the town that teach in the town of Miami Lakes. And it's a wonderful evening. Hopefully, you know, we we have we have good attendance, so I'm not too worried about that. And then back in January, we had the spelling bee, which was a new initiative that our committee
proposed, and this is our second year doing it, and it's gone really well. We were really happy with it. Um, that's about it. I don't have much to say. I'll pass it on. >> Hi everyone. My name is Haley Pto, chair for the Youth Activities Task Force
Committee. We do have a lot of events. I know I'm a new face here, so it's nice to see everyone and connected, you know, the committees to the faces of the chairs. Um, so I'll just go over the list of our events fairly quickly, which must must be new for you guys. Um, so
the first event that we usually have is spring fling. So we had that on April 4th. Um, I unfortunately could not stay for the whole entire time cuz I had a medical emergency. But I have a meeting with my committee tomorrow and we're to really be debriefing. But we had a great
turnout. Um, the only room for improvement I would say is, you know, the egg hunt. But I think we're improving a little bit and a little bit every year, getting that time closer and closer until, you know, next year. I'm very determined to start it exactly at
the time we say it. Um, but other than that, it went fantastic. We had a great turnout. Um, the we had pony rides, we had face painting, we had petting zoo, the children loved it, and I it went great. The next one that we have coming up, um, which is still, you know, a
topic of discussion is the bike rodeo and safety day. Um I am meeting with we're still in the works to see you know because obviously looking at the budget we don't have you know the budget from the town for this event but we are still looking for other resources you know to
not give up on this event completely. Now I won't lie when I will say that there has been a problem in the past with attendance. um we are looking into different solutions and you know I don't know if the the committee is here but for you know the culinary bike tour we can combine that and I'm open to
discussion I you know obviously my committee as well I am meeting with the TPO tomorrow separately um on not committee related at all but I was just looking into you know getting those different um resources and you know potentially getting those sponsors for that event. Um after that we have our
Nightmare on Monrose event which is our biggest event. We are planning to have that on Halloween day since it is a Saturday. Um so we're very very excited for that. We are currently still in the process of finalizing um different you
know sections of that event. Um I would say the only complaint I have that for that event is volunteer hours. It is a very very laborintensive event. These children and volunteers are here from 12:00 p.m. until we finish
cleaning up, but could be until 12:00 a.m. And in my eyes, 12 hours, giving them 12 hours for being there for 12 hours after being very labor intensive. I'm just to go into this a little bit. These are students who are going in, you know, sweating in the haunted house.
They are shift. They are doing the manual labor. they are >> putting up the tarps. >> They are putting up the tarbs, you know, of course with the committee members as well. I would like to look into a solution for you know giving them you know a little bit extra than just the 12
hours since they are there for such a long time and you know at the end of the day they are kids. We do the best we can to hydrate them and you know make sure that they're fed. Um but I think it would be an issue coming up to really get an appeal for volunteers. Um, so
that is a concern I have for that. Um, lastly, we have Winterfest. Winterfest last year was great. Um, we combined it as kind of a movies at the park event. I'm sure you guys have heard of it, seen it, seen it. It was It was an event. It was really great. We had food trucks.
Um, the movie was great. Yeah. Here's Yeah, there we go. Um we can always get more people you know but in terms of attendance spring fling Halloween always great attendance where we can improve for attendance is winterfest and bike
rodeo which we are actively looking for solution and we are open to working with other committees to find you know maybe a solution with attendance or anything to really help. I know I work with the public safety committee quite a bit so I appreciate your support and I try to replicate that support as well. Um, and
I think that's all I have. Thank you. >> If I may, I apologize. I I neglected to mention one thing. Um, a um a competition that that that came up an idea came up for competition and what we have sponsorship for the for the award
uh a STEM project uh showing or depicting the energy seismic energy on water saturated soils which is what the condition that we have. Um there's a there's a phenomenon called liquefaction and liquefaction's been studied um but
it hasn't been studied as it applies to to our unique situation. That being said, we want to create or promoting an event, a competition if you will for high schools, um high school students to create a model uh to to represent what
we're what we're experiencing. Um, United Dental Specialists have have provided a $500 award for the first place, 300 for second, and and $200 for third place. Um, very generous um award for for the best uh competitors. I don't
know, Clarisel that you had submitted to the school board. Did any response uh as of yet? Nothing. So, >> I have not yet received confirmation from from them. Have you Isabella? >> All right. So, it behoove us then to go
visit the schools personally and and uh and and knock on their doors and see what kind of a uh participation they want to have then. >> Yeah. So, we have to follow the protocol that Miami date county public schools has asked us to follow, which is going through their intergovernmental um
office. That's um what we've done. Uh what we can do is continue to follow up and you know hope that you know they push that along to to the local schools. >> Okay. And Haley, just a heads up, this was discussed yesterday related to the
biking events with NIC. So you might want to talk to them because there's they want to do some com combination with it. >> No, definitely. I will be reaching out to them. Okay, my turn. Um, okay. Um, I'm doing the CSSE, right? Not the NIC. Okay. Um,
as I mentioned last night, we we're very active. Our committee, I think, is is uh doing a lot of things um on site and on the sides too. And basically, like I said, we're planning, we have our
schedule coming up of different activities. Main Street Live. We wrapped up our fourth. Uh we're waiting for the last one this year and it's getting bigger. The the attendance is is improving. People are you know aware of
of our our committee and um you know it's a slow process but we're get hopefully next year we'll have as good a band as events as we had last year. Um also um we have coming up um May 9th we
have paint a picture for mom which um Elsa chairs that subcommittee and um the fishing tournament >> it's already >> yeah it's sold out already but we always get walkin so uh that's one thing that we event bright when you say sold out I
think it discourages people so somehow we we need to advertise you know that is sold out on Eventbrite, but we we don't want, you know, and where we're doing it now, we're doing it in the park at the veterans park. So,
which where we originally did it, so we don't have to worry about tables. I mean, we're going to need tables, but but it's a great setup in the park and and the kids can go play afterwards or enjoy some ice cream or whatever. Um, the next one is the Father's Fishing
Tournament. I'm hoping to to see if we can I don't know if the NIC will do it, but we need to bring more people. Like I mentioned last night, at one time we had a hundred kids fishing. Um nowadays kids are doing so many different sports that
they cannot come. Saturday is a bad day, but um we have you know uh raffles and and one time we have this guy from the fishing wild uh uh the guy that explained and and he's again doing it for the kids. the parents. Uh it's the
Saturday before Father's Day and I mean it's a tradition. I mean I wish more people would show up and if we can work with with the Legion and and the American Legion and also the the NIC to
to bring the CLA awareness. I mean that's something that is very important because without the without the lakes we would not be a town. I mean it's Miami Lakes. So, um the next one and then that's our big one is um Independence
Day celebration July 4th. Um we're working we started we had a subcommittee to assign people to do things. Uh I think uh um we have the the guy who's going to do the food trucks. We we have
our band which is the 13th uh uh I can't remember the name now. It's a military band. Um it's no cost to us which is awesome. Uh I've been talking to the first sergeant and the captains and they're very excited to do it. It's um
they play all kinds of music. They're going to provide our our um our national anthem person and um we it's going to be big. I mean, it's just that we're we're trying to to get everything on online to we only have three months to do it and
the sponsors Elsa is helping with that is going to work with Clarisel on it and that's the key is sponsors because I think we're getting the big stage and and um is u we we want to make it memorable. I mean this is like I tell
everybody I was here when the 200 anniversary uh of independence we had and it was I still remember it. That's how good it was. Not in the town but in Miami. So, we want ours to be as memorable as as that one. Um, also the next one, uh, coming up is Music of
America. We had them back. The orchestra we used to have and last year was fabulous. We're hoping to have the same. It was our biggest ones since we started. Uh, closer to 200 attendees and the the capacity there is 200. So, we
were very close to capacity. Um, I recommend it. It's classical music, but it's is is so wonderful. I mean, I I enjoy that's one of my favorite uh events uh to attend. Um, and the and the venue is
beautiful. The acoustics there are phenomenal. So, it's very nice. And then we have book talk, which uh Elsa uh shares that. We're looking for an author. Um, that's in September 10th. Then Hispanic Heritage Month. Um um we
have two members, Geraldine uh Mandola and Justin Trillo. They're trying because we outgrew the space. We did it last year at Roberto Alonso and it was a little bit of a mess at the beginning. Um so we we we uh were proposing and I
think the committee approved. They're working with the with the Grahams to see if we can do like a a street festival on Main Street and we're going to get vendors, we're going to get the mentors involved, we're going to get bands. Um, so it should be like like a big event.
It's going to be different, but it's going to be uh, you know, >> Hispanic country, >> the different Normally we we feature a country, but for this we're going to do all countries, but the idea is to have a table, let's say, for different countries and because we go to the
consulate and we get information from them. So, it's going to be informative, educational, it was going to be fun. So, um, we'll probably get more information from from them as they report at our next meeting because it's ongoing. I like I said, they uh but I I have the feeling that this one is going to be
really good. Um the the next one, oh and then on the side, and I mentioned it again last night, is we have uh we have a uh a project that uh you guys approved, the council approved, which is
a commemorate plaque for um that we're going to have at the at the 6625 building to commemorate the you know, this person is a very renowned architect here and we're going to have
an activity to commemorate. We're going to have a bronze plaque and and this I can't find the paper. Sorry. I think I just saw it. Yeah. And and basically it's just, you know, we're going to bring, you know, different people's dignitaries to to unveil the
the commemorate plaque. It's no cost to the town. That's that's one event that we're planning. We still don't know. Um we already they approved the the design. Uh some glitches that we have to fix fix on it but um his son is going to provide us
more. Yeah. Isario Candela. He's a well-known architect in Miami. He was the architect and designer and architect for the Miami Marine Stadium. Uh unfortunately he passed away of COVID in 2020 but I got to speak to him and he
was very very uh happy to help because my idea was to use that building as our cultural center and he said oh I find the plans for you but unfortunately you know it uh it didn't happen but he was I always admire him since I was he was basically my mentor we always looked up
to him to to to uh for inspiration so uh we want to honor him and is is is is very important that we have a building like of his in in our town. Not too many I mean he designed all the all the this is kind of boring for you but to me it's
important. He designed all the Miami day college buildings and um in his company. So he's he's a very he was a very talented architect, very humble guy, but uh he loved what he was doing and I I think he's his legacy is going to live
on in in our area. And now we have one as the buildings here. I found out I was so happy. So, uh, and then the other one, which is really quick, um, I don't want to bore you with too much detail, is we, uh, as you know, they're doing the renovation to the library and we're trying to protect, that was our first
artwork that we did, we did for the committee, the cow sculpture, they're going to fence it out. And then uh Marcy Groso who was the winner of the women of distinction in the arts category long before she was the winner. She volunteered to redo the artwork in
collaboration with the with the library. But um we'll see if we can move it to a safe location so she can work indoors because we cannot paint that outdoors. So we there'll be more information on that as as we go on. So um other than that, do you want to say anything else?
>> Busy people. Yeah, we're busy. Um, I need a break, guys. I need to go away or something because it's um No, I enjoy this. You know me. I I commit and I and I enjoy what I'm doing and it's creative and keeps me keeps me young.
>> Felicia, you also have neighborhood improvement committee. >> Oh, yes. Oh, boy. Okay. Uh, neighbor improvement committee. We have different also very busy. Uh, very busy. And um last night we reported on different activities. Let me
see if I can find the big package here. We um we presented different um activities that we're doing. Uh one was the the proposed green space under Northwest
8, you know, 141st and 82nd. They're going to put I guess approve some lighting under the the pass the pass through. also working on the lake awareness how to protect our waterways. Uh the other project is
the Florida friendly fertilizers which the town is working on since we're not doing the the fertilizer ordinance. And then we have the rings. Let me see if I can find it. The that um
let me see. Let me see. Where did I put it? Sorry guys. I'm looking at the package that we had. Just keep moving here. This happens. I know. I saw.
Oh, okay. Let me read it real quick. I lost the line. Yeah. The beautifification opportunities on the palmetto lake awareness and waterway protection. The proposed green space on northwest 82nd and 141st. um the Florida Friendly Fertilizer
Initiative and um that's that's it. We have we have a very small budget. Uh oh, the Aden Perry Hero Ring Initiative, Back to Nation, which is the the the event that we did with uh with the public safety committee. Oh, we're also
trying to put together the back the historical tour and um getting funding for another community bike ride. Um, I know the the culinary bike used to be our event, but the town is doing it now,
but I think um, you know, I think we need to combine like you said all these different the way I see it and I mentioned it before is collaboration, not to duplicate events. It will save us money. It will save u man hours and and that way we work together. I mean I
every time we come here just to to this meeting is going to we see each other and and I work with Carlos and I work with him and going to the meetings and uh yeah it's if people knew how much effort we put to do activities they would but again we need to promote him
we need to I really recommend put that banner on the website so people just see it see it is is key to make this successful. Thank you. >> Thank you. Economic development. Yep. introduce yourself, please. >> Yeah, we'll do. Hey guys, Matthew Kasmayode from the economic development
committee. So, as you guys know, what we're here really for is to help foster the business community in the town, help them work with the town and kind of be the liazison between the businesses and the town and also the greater business community, bringing them into the town. It's kind of what we do here. I'll kind of go over the different events that
we're kind of handling right now. of the big events that are on the list, there's really only one that kind of fits the bill of the town council and it's the small business boot camp which we do usually in September. It's a good opportunity for businesses to kind of learn about um different opportunities to grow and expand their business.
Usually we focus the speakers that are coming there on specific topics. This time it's going to be more about AI and the whole current business landscape. Sorry, I I was running around. I had to do delivery outside. So after that, we've also got the networking socials.
We're way more organized this year than we were last year. You can ask Isa that our whole budget kind of lined out how we're going to break it down. Um we're doing the business boot camp, I'm sorry, the networking socials quarterly now on one. Um and now we have another one coming up May the 20th, the Wednesday at
the Trails Cottage. the first that we're not doing it at a restaurant that we're kind of trying it at a local business where they're going to have catering, local vendors, and we're going to see if that can help increase the attendance. Um, one thing that we've noticed is that there's been an abundance of networking events um
whether it's from all the different um networking um organizations that we have in the town, the two BNI's, the networking or the chamber and other individuals. So, um, we wanted to help break that up a little bit by kind of doing it quarterly and splitting it up and picking months where the chamber's
not really having one just to kind of help with that, um, help alleie that. So, for example, our next one is in May. The chamber's doing their golf tournament in May, so they're going to skip out on doing a networking social. So, we're hoping that helps with attendance a little bit. >> Um, Matthew, what's up?
>> Would it make sense for you guys to partner with the chamber and the BNI? >> Yeah, we usually do. We do that every single time. It's the chamber, the BNI, and we all do things together, right? >> Um it's just this time around since they're doing that, we decided to split it apart. It's just that there's been a few other individuals that have kind of
come into the town and have their own individual events. Um and I know at least for this month, we were a little bit misaligned because the chamber's doing a speed networker at Chella's while we had something or I'm sorry, last month the chamber had a a network of the week after ours. So, we misaligned a little bit there. So, I'm
trying to get us back on track with that. Um, and then this is phase one of that. So, I was talking with Ray and then we kind of discussed, hey, since you guys aren't going to do one then, let's jump in here to kind of fill in that gap. So, we're back on track with that. But, the golf tournament is going
to be May 27th for the chamber and there is sponsorship opportunities online. Oh, awesome. Okay. Okay. And I think Immaculate has theirs the 20th or something like that. It's like the week before the chambers. I remember seeing that. So, a lot of golf in May. It's a
big big golfing month. Yeah. So, that's the networking socials. We've also are working with Felicia and the cultural affairs committee for Main Street Live pretty heavily. So, we devoted a chunk of our marketing resources to um Main Street Live. So,
right now we're contributing, I think it was $500 for each of the events, and then we partnered up with all the local networking groups, at least the main three, BNI, Miami Lakes, BNI Connects, which is the other Miami Lakes branch, and then the Chamber of Commerce. and we had them basically match our sponsorship
to give each one of the Main Street lives, the three that we had in this session, including the next one. Um, a budget of $1,000 on social media to help push it, advertise it, and we've been paying that directly to the Grahams agency that's been kind of managing Main Street, the mall as a whole. And I think
that's a big help, at least for you guys. >> I I think their company is called Roar, and they're they're marketing the concerts really well. I mean, I don't know if you have seen it on Instagram, but they're beautiful. >> Yeah. So, that's been great. I was there at the last Main Street Live. I took a bunch of pictures, so we'll have more
content and stuff to kind of play with. And it's great to already. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, and it's looking great. It's actually been growing a lot, and I'm really happy to see that. I'm always happy going there and seeing the little kids dancing around and stuff cuz that's always like I told you the the first time I came to one of these meetings I met with Felicia after and I told her,
"Hey, I remember when I was a kid going to see Radio Disney and dancing over there in Main Street and that I loved it and that that's something that we should bring back and that's how we kind of started the whole Main Street Live discussion." So, I'm glad that it's working. You know, it's cool to see and it's cool to see it growing. Matthew, if you don't mind, I'm going to
say um in reference to Main Street Live um talking about spreading the word, the amount of people we put the table, you know, the cultural affairs committee and the amount of people that come up to us and we inform them of all the events that are happening in the town of Miami
Lakes, you know, through through the town. So, it's a good exposure and we've had incredible success. We used to do the um the uh uh concert in the park and hardly anybody showed up. So the funds
of the concert of the park, we've been investing in the main street life and it has been a great success. Definitely. >> Awesome. >> Yeah, it's been uh instead of having one concert, we're having five concerts for that amount of money. So, it's good. Uh
>> nice. Awesome. And then to round that out, I guess the new thing that we're kind of looking to do, which we started a little bit last year and we're kind of stealing it from Yuki selling the communications department and stuff, is the best of Miami Lakes that we're trying to bring that back to the EDC and help push that in the town as a whole. So that's something that I want to ask everybody's help with here at least cuz
everybody here shops, everybody here works, you know, and goes to different businesses in Miami Lakes. Um, if you have any ideas or anything to help push that best of Miami Lakes, please let us know. And just so you guys know, this is basically the voting and nomination process to vote for, you know, your favorite coffee, your favorite breakfast spot, your favorite ice cream, different
things like that. Cuz I really do think that's a great opportunity for the businesses. And what a lot of the businesses say that they want to see more of that is they just want to see it pushed more and they want to see their name, you know, in that list. They want to see themselves if you're if they're an option, they want to see, hey, I'm a nominee. They want to see it pushed. So,
we just got to get the word out a little bit more, at least on our end. So, we're going to work on that. That's our that's our goal. But that's all I got. >> All right, we lost half of our uh it was a difficult night. So, um if
there's nothing else then something that came up um with this trip for to Tallahassee. Um, I was asked in good faith to re make reservations and and purchase my own plane ticket, uh, car rental, hotel. Um, the difference is
when a town does it, the town is a nonforprofit. So, the town doesn't pay taxes on it. I am not. I had to pay taxes on all these items. Then the reimbursement came at what the town would pay. In other words, the difference came out of my pocket. So,
not only are we volunteering, but now it's cost money to volunteer for the honor to do so. I don't think that's proper. Um, it and then on top of which the delay in which the reimbursement to come in, I put it all on my credit card and then since there was such a delay, I
was charged interest on my card for the monies that that were borrowed um costing me even more money. So, I don't think that that's a proper way to go. Uh, and I would would hope and suggest that that doesn't happen in that
fashion. >> We have the the town credit card. So, we should be able to prepay if it's a town, you know, obviously covered event, then we should be able to pay for with our credit card your airfare and prepay you the hotel and those kinds of things. So,
that's that's >> typically it does, but this time it didn't. So, >> it was closer to $400 that came out of my own pocket to to to to volunteer for the for the town. >> That should not be the difference in uh in taxes. >> Taxes and and interest. Yeah, that's
what it came to. 360 or something like that. >> Okay. Yeah, that Yeah, we should. I mean, historically, we always have, I guess, right? Yeah. You're saying that in the past other years, we have paid it. >> Yeah, it was it was always paid. uh
comes out of the budget obviously of the BAB. Um but this time the the town reimbursed what was not invoiced. >> Yeah, that should be we should pay for that upfront with our town credit cards. So next time
then everybody I'll we'll stand adjourned and have a great night and we'll see you next time in the next quarter.