please yes chairperson Michael mcar present Committee Member Kenneth each pres Committee Member Naomi blure present Committee Member edwi Clark Committee Member Blanco coo Committee Member
ashaki Bronson marcelus present chairman you have a quorum to proceed okay fine uh can we have the Pledge of Allegiance I to the flag the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands
one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all we have the consent agenda unless a member of the CRA advisory committee wishes to remove a specific item from this portion of the agenda tab a constitutes the
consent agenda this item is self-explanatory and is not expected to require additional review or discussion this item will be recorded as individually numbered item adopted unanimously by the following motion that the consent agenda compris of tab a
through tab a b adopted okay um we have minutes as part of this would somebody like to make a motion to approve the minutes okay
motion made in second um can we all in favor Hi I hi okay can we uh um move to agenda item number one agenda item number one these are
advisory committee appointments good evening Mr uh chairman and members of the board uh this person um Claudia RZ Gonzalez is being appointed by board member EST Irvin um
as her appointee at the uh C Advisory Board okay um so we have Claudia rev Gonzalez that is correct okay um do we want to vote on that is that what you're
asking us to do of course okay all right um I think did everybody have a chance to look at her resume um she evidently is a lawyer uh got her jur doctor from St HS St Thomas
College of Law uh she was a law clerk at Keystone law firm uh where she is presently she's a real estate paralal um prior to that and prior to that she was a senior power legal the former Law Firm
um does anybody have any input or motion what why are we voting on an appointed isn't that person being appointed by the uh the council yes so again remember this is an advisory committee so that you can make your advisory recommendations to the board based on
the items that they're going to be hearing at their meeting coming up I mean I think it's all well and good but the city council is the people that appoint them I guess as I never seen this done before in all the Committees were on well I think that this is uh the
um executive directors um what she said is that basically they're looking for us to look at people that were nominated uh she did file out fill out the city um request um uh through the clerk's office
so we're just saying this is a good person and leave it up to the council to approve or disapprove I'd like to make a motion to approve okay and I'll second is there any um any discussion all in favor say I I okay the
motion passes agenda item two okay revised commercial guidelines okay you want to go over those with us annelle um Mr yeah that would be me I believe we have a presentation if we could put it up please
yeah thank you have do these differ at all from our former commercial Grant guidelines no this is uh an amendment to the existing this is an amendment to the existing commercial guidelines so where was the change um we we're going to we're going
to go over it now okay all right oh boy all right um this is going to be an uh an amendment to the existing commercial guidelines uh we currently have four programs under those guidelines and these are the changes
that we are requesting uh we are proposing um to the uh Advisory board and the board uh guess we have oh here it is can do it thank you um the first program we can
continue um is the beautification program we are now um proposing to rename the uh the beautification program to facade grant program to focus solely on exterior improvements um increasing the funding
cap from 25,000 to 30,000 because 25,000 is no longer what it used to be 5 years ago uh and require a 5-year maintenance agreement um before we used to require a 3year by the time the project is done it takes maybe 15 months to build the
project or the renovations and we usually have some hiccups uh when we request a 3-year now if we are able to require 5year maintenance I think it would be best for the grantee and the C okay uh next oh yeah this one
uh the following thing we are looking to do is to limit the um the the the program only to Street facing businesses only and introduce a pre-approved contractor poll uh the reason why we want to introduce the pre-approved
contractor is one the small business owners they don't have the experience um in construction and nor do they have access to qualified contractors if we are able to create a pre-approved contractor pool the same way we have it
for the residential program then they would have access to that pool and whenever they need work done they could just tap into the pool okay is there an RFP that went out asking for local contractors to participate once this is approved then there will be an RFQ we'll be working with the um purchasing
department to create the RFQ okay very good I have a question sure the um the fiveyear maintenance what what would that incl what is that inv the fiveyear lease there is a maintenance period once the project is completed we require five
um uh 5year maintenance um period and that means the business cannot leave the location to move somewhere else or if it's a property owner you can't sell the property for 5 years it's just that they OCC and operate I'm sorry it's just that
they occupy and operate out of there nothing other than that no yeah that is correct okay and they they have to maintain it they have maintain of course okay okay before the beautification included the a mural Grant and what we are
proposing is to create a separate mural Grant um that we will we are currently working on it and if this is approved then this is a program that we will be able to propose to the board at a later date
okay the next program we wanted to talk well the next two would be um business attraction and expansion Grant and Commercial Rehabilitation grant program those two programs they usually work in well not work hand in hand but they they have similar um guidelines one is for
attracting new businesses to the CRA and the next one is for existing businesses in the CRA um and we did a SWAT analysis for those programs the strength um well we are able for to attract new businesses we have a large funding
capacity up to 150,000 which is good because we are one of the um not not many CRA offer up to 150,000 to attract new businesses and we are also proposing to increase that 150,000 to 200,000 to to make it more um attractive to
businesses looking to come to North Miami uh weaknesses no upfront Capital verification um and because it is a reimbursable program you spend the money we reimburse you we don't usually
require you to show the the the match requirement because we are expecting you to have it well now we are asking you you need to show that you have access to the capital um opportunities we are able to attract high value Industries like
healthcare entertainment Tech um and what we're also looking to do is Implement a phase reimbursement we before we would allow up to four reimbursements um at 25% 50% 75% and once the project
is completed now we are going to have a table where you would know exactly when you need to submit for reimbursement um and some of the threats that we've noticed businesses may receive funding without creating jobs we are trying to find a way to um limit
that and rent hikes could displace small businesses as we are attracting um larger businesses or we're working with property owners we don't want them to push out the the smaller um businesses and we're looking for ways to protect them
okay um the recommendations are uh it require proof of capital before first reimbursement and what does that mean is you are able to go through the process we can take your project to the board as long as you meet all the requirements but before you could get a signed
agreement but before you could get your first reimbursement you would need to show proof that you have um access to the capital to comp the project what does that allow it allows you to well you know now that your Gap was 150,000 you are approved for 150,000 you could
leverage that to get a loan or however you want to move forward with um completing the project the Implement phase reimbursement tied to project Milestones um we are looking to enforce a 30% local hiring requirement for
grants that receive guideline waivers and ensure 10 do not experience experiencing exorbitant um rent hikes um the rec this is the phase um yeah this is the Milestone phase
reimbursement we discussed earlier pre uh we have four phases uh the first one would be going through the process you are approved um then you you get a grant agreement phase one the project starts
the permitting the Contracting phases is done you have access to 20% of the capital you were approved for phase two 50% of construction completion you uh you will now have an additional access to additional 50 30% of the funds
release phas 2 75% construction um completion and uh extra 30% of the funds will be released and then once the project is completed um per our grant um agreement there will be a 20% hold until
the project is completed as long as you you submit proof that the project is completed in ways of certification of occupancy final permits and business licenses then you would have access to the 20% of funds um for the
project um I don't know if we have any questions before we move to the next one yeah I have a question so the first question that I have really quickly if we're trying to retain would if we're trying to bring in new
businesses wouldn't the requirement to show the proof of funds be a barrier to some small businesses who are trying to obtain this grant well if the project if you're looking to change the use of a property and it's going to cost you 500,000
mhm we are a gap funding agency you come to us you show us the the project you're relocating from are one area to another and you're telling us it's going to cost you 400,000 to um renovate the place and move into the new location so we know if
we the CR is funding 150,000 then there's a then you have 250,000 to complete the project if you don't have that 250,000 you're going to get stuck you're going to get stuck eventually and it we've had many instances where that has happened
before okay so this is a cure for prior is exactly no problem thank you and just additionally um remember that for the attra the business attraction we are not targeting startup businesses we're targeting established businesses that already have locations in other areas
and that have been doing well so to be able to produce your match we're expecting that you're able to do that because that's why we're attracting you to the CRA area and is this specifically for relocation or same business second
location same well yes same business second or third whichever location or the expansion which isn't used as many um as often if you're currently here and you want to double your footprint or even more than that and you are able to do that then that's even better but you
would have been here established for a while before you're able to even double your footprint but again that would assume you do have the funds available because operating opportunities for businesses who want to scale up correct got it thank you okay a
question under restaurants that does not include food food trucks right no you would have no it would have to be a breaking Mor any other questions yeah under restaurants um I see we have to have a business plans but restaurants come and go pretty frequently they how
many of them succeed and how many of them fail and kind of I'm looking at uh the French restaurant we have right over here on 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue and 100 25th we put a lot of money into that the
guy sold it and uh now I I don't know what the hours are the hours they close at 4:00 in the afternoon or in the evening and I think they might be open on Friday I there's got to be a better way it seems like we're taking this money and we're putting it into a
business and the business doesn't succeed or stare for three or four years and out the door I don't know how long how long was Cafe crem there for 5 years four years yeah I believe they were longer cuz the maintenance period was 5 years and they had they before they sold
the property they completed they sold the property and now this gu's closing a four or what was that other one across the street on 9th Avenue in 125th street now it's going to become a burger place um did we ever look back at the history of the
CRA and list our businesses and have a report on which businesses succeeded and which businesses failed I think we should should do that do some kind of an audit and in the long run to see what the heck we actually are what businesses
are succeeding what's failing and where is the money going because what I'm seeing is I want to see nightlife I like to see the downtown area rejuvenated but it's not doing it we're keeping some of these businesses alive artificially and
and is this the right approach that's my question I I I I I know the intentions are good but is that the is that the right way to go and that is precisely why we're asking for the business plan I I'm sure oh that that that is the reason why are we asking for the business plan
we want to ensure that one you know what you're doing two you did your homework just because you had a restaurant in Hollywood doesn't mean and you were do a business plan before didn't we well it was preferred not required so can can can we I'm sorry I said it again it was preferred not
required and now it's being this is going to be mandatory yes yeah I I you know I look at what's the other one then cats cats I don't know how many different businesses were in there we put a ton of money in there you know I
bet you we put about 700,000 bucks into that building well during my time we only we've only done 250,000 are we in partnership with these people or are these people going to get up and running and have a business that's going to hire people and people
are going to go in there and you know I like to know what succeeded and what failed I think that's a a fair a fair assessment of what we're doing of course we will prepare that report and share it with you okay the other question I like go ahead and I I'll bring it up later around thank you
look okay any other comments I think I just have one question I've noticed that all of these um grants to attract businesses most of them in my from what I've been seeing is only um for-profit
they have we do not have any go ahead you see where I'm going yes and you are correct because the CRA does not fund nonprofit businesses or nonprofit organizations and this is a rule or this is yes as a um under
chapter 163 we do not see this as an allowable power of the CRA or an an allowable expense of Tiff money okay so C do fund for profit so it's not just North Miami C cras in
general I am not going to speak to other cras I will say that under our understanding and operation the city of on our understanding of chapter 163 the north Miami C does not fund nonprofit organizations all right thank you I'm sorry do we have a motion under agenda
item two we're not finished well we have one more uh oh I'm sorry the capacity building and retention um the SWAT analysis well for the strength we are able to support small small businesses in the Redevelopment area and we have a fast
approval process which we do in-house uh weakness it's only weaknesses it's only to 7500 um and there is no impact reporting requirement opportunities we are requiring um businesses to track growth
metrics and we are introducing a businessman um mentoring and training program for them to uh be able to participate and apply um a threats there there is a risk of uh businesses business closures despite
receiving the funds and limited awareness about the grant uh recommendations we are proposing to increase the funding cap from 7500 to 10 uh 10,000 requires six-month impact report tracking to show
how the funds help and a tie uh we're proposing a tie funding to participation in business in C business training uh for example we create a workshop about marketing you want the funds you would participate complete the workshop
propose a submit a plan on how you want to utilize the 10,000 and then you would be approved forward uh summary of the recommendations rename beautification Grant to facade increase facade grant funding cap to 30,000 and introduce
phase reimbursement for business attraction Grant and and Commercial grants um enforce rent uh um rent stabilization agreements increase capacity F uh building grant funding and
require business training Implement fund verification and impact tracking for all programs okay you're done okay sorry okay do I hear a motion as to agenda
item two so move Mo second okay moved and seconded all in favor say I I uh agenda item three agenda item three a resolution of the chair and the committee members of the north Miami committee North Miami
community redevelopment agency advisory committee authorizing the executive director and the north Miami C attorney to negotiate and finalize an agreement with senovsky romanique LLC to provide Professional Services for the north Miami
CRA um no the north Miami Northwest 7th Avenue entry concept designed for an amount not to exceed $85,500 okay do I have a motion for agenda item number three so move second all in favor say I I okay next
item agenda item four a resolution of the chair and committee members of the north Miami community redevelopment agency advisory committee authorizing the executive director and the nmc attorney to negotiate and finalize an interlocal agreement with the city of North Miami to provide funding in the
amount of $100,000 for the FIU construction trades program authorizing the executive director to execute the interlocal agreement with the city of North Miami authorizing the executive director and the nmc attorney to negotiate and finalize an agreement with the city of North Miami and Florida
International University for the FIU construction trades program authorizing the executive director to execute the agreement with the city of North Miami and Florida International University authorizing the executive director to take all action necessary to implement the terms of the interlocal agreement
and providing an effective date okay any questions yeah what is okay um what do we we given we're given fyu 100,000 we are working with f so I was just going to go over
the our deputy director is going to give you the overview of this program oh yeah well this is uh this is a proposal we've been working with FIU now for almost over a year um and creating um a Workforce training program as you may
have noticed throughout North Miami we have a lot of construction happening and one of the things we require the developers to make best effort to hire within North Miami unfortunately we do not have the for Workforce all the time
and this program uh proposal aims to provide Workforce training and key trades such as electrical plumbing and HVAC to North Miami residents this is um a partnership with the city of North
Miami Economic Development Department uh the program is going to uh cover three trades 60 students it's going to be a 36 Monon uh apprenticeship program um the CRA will provide up to
100,000 and the city of North Miami will cover the rest okay so I think vocational training is great I think it's needed I think that it will do a lot of good my question is
how are how are we going to work with FIU to ensure that those that are scouted recruited in and chosen for this program are individuals within the city of North Miami that really need this and
so I can speak to that the reason this even came about was is this was a program that existed in other parts of the county particularly in Homestead and the director of the program said that the majority of her Homestead class were North Miami residents okay and she says you know it made no sense for them to
have to keep traveling all the way down there to bring the need is already there the need is already there we toi overwhelming know that they're going to be coming from North Miami and we will be targeting that will be a requirement that you have to be a North Miami resident again this is the cra's funding we have to spend it within a certain
parameter now will it be fiu's responsibility to advertise or will it be a joint responsibility it will be a joint responsibility excellent thank you now the other question is where are these people going to be trained at we'll have a location within the CRA
boundaries yeah we will have a location in the CR boundaries that they'll have the training we will find somewhere within North Miami C boundaries so they're going to be trained in you said the construction trades yeah
okay so which which trades okay so HVAC electrical and plumbing are the three trades that we Sor okay so you talk about air conditioning plumbing and electrical and electrical yes okay now is any of the unions going to be involved with this or cuz I thought the
unions a lot of the unions put out some trades also but this is going to be strictly FIU is running a curriculum correct yeah they've done this this is something okay we're just bringing it here correct all right okay it started
in 2018 they so they they have been doing it for a while now so it's electrical project management Plumbing painting heavy equipment operator HV ACR construction craft laborer solar photo
voltaic install installation they they do offer a lot of um trades but we are only doing three for now oh so it's not all of these no not all of these we've chosen three that we're going to start off this is the first time we're doing the program so we chose the three most
popular ones to make sure that you know those who graduate from this program are pretty much guaranteed jobs yeah oh so um f FIU is giving these on other at other in other cities yes yes yeah yeah I can just say that I think this is a
very valuable program I don't yeah it's very job no asking a lot of questions you for get on so anyway do I do I hear a motion so
move so move second all in favor say I I okay uh agenda item five second direct this is a request for additional funding for the American Czech Slovak cultural
club uh me again yes you again it's your agenda uh in 20 well in 20 um 2022 the nmc board approved uh 444,000 for the American Czech Slovak
cultural club uh during the construction period they realized that they had an additional seven Australian pine trees that needed to be removed unfortunately that was not part of the original scope and they are requesting additional funding of three
$23,750 to remove um the Australian pine trees yeah and just as an additional once they found the additional P trees they don't have the option not to remove them so they do have to they have they're obligated to remove all of them and since this was something that was not
anticipated at the time that they were funded we are requesting approval okay um uh our attorney Steve um again I mentioned to you earlier that um I'm a member of the club I'm just a regular
member I'm not a board member I don't get paid but I want to just disclose that you know correct and um this obviously came up when we did the initial Grant agreement right and the opinion was then that there's no conflict of interest no
conflict CU I you know I'm a neighbor I'm down the street from that has nothing okay thank you problem I can vot all right do I hear a mo so move second Perfect all right all in favor
say I I I okay uh we move on to the CRA attorney report no report tonight sir okay executive director no report tonight okay any public comments okay gentlemen I I see that you're here um were you thinking you had
an item on the agenda or no I do not have any item on the agenda I just come over and say hello to you guys oh you guys well thank you very much and hello thanks for being here okay is there any old business to come before us I just
want to bring up one thing okay sure um you know many years ago uh the CRA gave a grant Arch Creek Road so forth and so on and the trees that were put in about 16 17 of them were damage have not been replaced and and the city's not
maintained in the area I just want you guys to be aware of it uh the Green Island f is some of it's been destroyed I've called the city several times and it's on Arch Creek Road and a lot of these Australian fines which are uh they
they they they cut them out around the the lake they're growing back I called the city over two years ago asked them to come and cut the darn things down when they were 6 s feet tall now they're 30 ft tall and and I I think we we we should look at that and I I know the see
when we do a project isn't the city supposed to maintain it that is correct we usually maintain for maybe 3 years and then the city maintains the other thing I I I know you guys are busy the other thing I had asked for a few years back is I'd like to know
if the percentage of the Tiff money that comes from the commercial district and and and the residential district District doesn't have to be broken down R1 R2 R5 but is there a way that we can discern how much actually comes out of the commercial and how much comes out of the residential area in
percentages that would be very difficult to do we would have to go um with the property appraisers office and do par I'm not looking at numbers I'm just looking at a percentage no but in order to get that percentage we'd have to break it down parcel by parcel so not
just zip code it would have to be that street and as you know some Street have businesses some streets have residences so they would have to literally go parcel by parcel which parcel is a residential which parcel is a commercial and then parse out how much Tiff was
generated by that home versus that business and then aggregate that across the entire boundaries the reason I'm asking I'm just kind of wondering you know the 60% of the cities in the C correct and how much of it is residential and how much goes back to the residential and how much of the goes
to commercial right so it's not as neat as that cuz remember the taxing it's taxed differently as well you know what I mean so are you able to each property is going to be taxed different right it's even let's say 60 well we know 60% of
the C in the city of North Miami let's say of the CRA 30% is residential it doesn't mean that the Tiff is 30% of the residential it's not it doesn't layer that way I would like to add yeah the value of the house correct down for
example if we look at the the revenues the east side which we do receive the we um received the numbers from the Property Appraiser's office uh represents over 28% of our revenues for City and County
um which we do refund to the city but that just gives you an idea even though um Sol media does not represent 27% of our 60% a Sol is still that's still in the C district for
the Tiff are we still so technically our boundaries it's within our boundaries however we do not retain any of the Tiff funding the last that go to the county sure the city so the well the county and the city both of the tax and authorities however we based on our last interlocal
agreement we refund 100% of the Tiff that is generated east of biscane Boulevard so while we did not change our geographical boundaries and and solia is with in our geographical boundaries we do not retain any of the the ti go straight back to we don't retain tax
Authority correct did we originally ano yes that's what I thought yes I didn't think I thought it went because no we did 7030 um we retained some of it it wasn't all of it but you know I mean there were other issues as well it was a very complicated tax why we not
retaining any of it now because with our fourth interlocal agreement in order for us to lift so with the county we had a $1 million cap in order to lift that cap we had to come to a different arrangement with our city taxing Authority that was the arrangement that we came to there were many different
models that were put forth and this was the one that was agreed upon by both parties both the city and the C this and the county negotiated and agreed eventually on this agreement it was very hardly contested
by all three parties so this is just where we are and it is where we are it okay um any new business okay so our next meeting is going to be April 7th um because the first Monday in April
is the 7th followed immediately on Tuesday by the um city council meeting it's April 8th our next our our city council meeting I that is correct the next meeting will be April April 7th April 7th yes okay so please everybody
mark your calendars April 7th 6:30 6:30 yes April 7th 6:30 please everybody mark your calendar how many members do we have on the board um as of right now we have six but well tomorrow tomorrow we'll have S tomorrow you
should have seven if that vote goes positively seven so now we we're going for for Quorum yes okay that make okay yeah okay very good okay um thank you all very much um and a
motion to adjourn second okay all in favor I okay