##VIDEO ID:f8ThTw9ZePs## okay folks it's 3 o'clock Mauricio yes call this meeting to order thank you commissioner ston here vice mayor Lama here commissioner is here mayor fetchen here and for the record commissioner viscara is not here yet okay um great thank you we have a really packed agenda first I want to say um happy New Year to everyone um and we we're going to make a little bit of a change because some of the people are not here yet so we're going to start with uh 2C 2C is the city manager Awards missed mebody here everyone's here to see yes everybody's here that I need needed to see here great thank you mayor vice mayor members of the commission uh this for me is probably the most important thing that I do each year and recognizing our employees for outstanding service I know that many of you deal with them throughout the year and it's very difficult to narrow down the selection uh for the three awards that I have today so it requires a lot of thought and consideration because our staff is what makes the city great and I wanted to start off with the employee of the year I try to hold these um nominations and awards in great confidence so I try not to let people know who it is so they have to wait till the last minute but our employee of the year is this person in some way or another has helped every Department in the city they have the most important quality that I look for which is a positive can do attitude that along with their expertise and skill has enabled us to rebuild many of our departments over the past three years her work ethic and attitude is outstanding and she has had that while handling 77 recruitments in three years so the employee of the year for 20124 is lria we [Applause] so if lria we're going to ask her to receive her award and sit down please and then we're going to have all three of them come up so they can take a group picture with all of you so congratulations to Las Sabria the second award is the city manager award and this award I look across the organization for even though everyone is special I look for someone that is unique and ordinary uh unique and does extraordinary things and this person when I when I reveal to you who it is you're going to know because you including the elected officials have dealt with this person off and on throughout the year this award looks for someone who goes above and beyond they help all of us including the elected officials with Grace and support I've never heard this person in all of the years that I have known them say a bad word or a bad thing about anything or anyone I think in this day and age it's truly rare to meet someone who's a true gentleman and to further share the importance and significance of this award this is the first time ever that the city manager award has gone to a part-time employee the city manager award goes to Marco Sanchez [Applause] Marco congratulations thank you have a [Applause] seat mayor Commissioners our last award is a city manager Achievement Award I do not have this award uh every year this I look back over the past 20 years at someone who has done something but not just the dayto day but implementing some change that has helped us throughout the organization and that has been significant this person has consistently created new and innovative ways to recruit hire and retain qualified staff especially in our efforts to completely rebuild the police department when other departments were losing officers the commission gave me direction to make Public Safety our number one priority it was their suggestion to implement a hiring and retainment bonus which was a pivotal factor in successfully hiring now to date 18 new police officers 18 it was their idea to produce and expand monthly reports agency accreditation first for the police department and now we're working very closely with the building department and their support in achieving these accomplishments Have Been instrumental in the success of the Departments particularly the office of the city manager so the city manager Achievement award goes to Yayo londono [Applause] thank you so if we could go down and take a quick picture please and then we'll do and then we're going to do the police [Applause] [Applause] than congratulations I want to quickly acknowledge uh Alexis Mosley from commissioner Mickey Steinberg's office thank you for being here and Gabriel Beres from uh Israel in Miami who is the director of Hispanic and Interfaith Affairs thank you for being here please Mr manager go ahead mayor mayor next uh award um I'm going to ask to call up the police chief to give out the police officer of the year of the Year thank you chief good afternoon mayor vice mayor Commissioners Mr manager as a police chief this is one of my um proud moments um and I'm honored to be up here and I have Goosebumps I would like to call the 2024 Office of the Year up to stand next to me as I um read what I prepared detective Amanda [Applause] follow dear detective ralo congratulations on being named officer of the year for 20124 this prestigious award is a well-deserved recognition of your outstanding service to the city of Sunny Al's Beach these are some noteworthy achievements you were nominated and awarded the 2024 Anthony deato Legacy award for your meticulous work on an armed sexual battery case which led to the successful execution of a search warrant at the crime scene the recovery of vital video evidence and the subsequent arrest and full confession of the offender responsible for this hangous act you're additionally selected by Command Staff as officer of the quarter for October November December of 2024 for your investigation into a domestic armed robbery at gunpoint aggravated battery with a deadly weapon aggravated assault with a firearm and eight counts of domestic battery the victim later reached out to express her heartfelt gratitude for your professionalism compassion and unwavering support throughout this difficult case highlighting your dedication during a very challenging time this recog is a testament to your remarkable contributions tireless worth ethic and unwavering commitment to Justice we are incredibly proud to have you as an esteemed member of our team on behalf of Command Staff behalf of the mayor vice mayor Commissioners and the city manager's office I'm honored to present you with the 2024 officer of the year award [Applause] pi I love I'd like to recognize uh The Honorable Ron Silver former Senator and former representative of Florida thank you for being here okay I see now that okay they're here we're going to go back to then the proc the first Proclamation yeah so the first item is uh 2A a proclamation presented for the Nova Music Festival uh exhibition day okay um like I said we have a pretty packed agenda and all of these items are um important to to each of us and and all of us so I want to give every one of us time to um talk about why we put this on the agenda um we as a commission have been very supportive um as a body and individually of um combating anti-Semitism condemning terrorism and supporting Israel and um it really is my honor uh to give this proclamation to the founders of not only the Nova Music Festival but also the Nova Music Festival um exhibition so I want to hear from them more than for me but I do want to read the proclamation into the record whereas on October 7th 2023 during the Nova music festival in southern Israel a horrific and unprovoked act of violence took the lives of 411 innocent attendees staff and security personnel and resulted in the Abduction of 44 individuals to Gaza marking the largest massacre in music history and whereas in the aftermath of this tragedy survivors and Visionaries of furir Omri sassy yel Roni Yoni fold Scooter Braun Joe Teo and Josh Caden United to create the Nova Festival the Nova Music Festival exhibition an immersive and Powerful tribute to those who lost their lives in this brutal Massacre and whereas the exhibit sets out to recreate a festival dedicated to the peace and love that was savagely cut short by a terrorist attack on that faithful day and and whereas the city of s Al's Beach Grieves alongside the International Community for the lives lost and erably changed on that tragic day and extends its heartfelt condolences and unwavering support to the survivors families and loved ones affected and whereas the resilience and it is a testament to standing together against terrorism whereas the city reaffirms its commitment to condemn hate and all acts of terrorism now therefore do I Lissa fetchen as mayor on behalf of the city Commission of the city of sel's beach hereby designate January AR 16th 2025 as the music festival um exhibit Remembrance Day in the city of seal's Beach I believe we have a video for those that don't know this is our third major city since the moment we decided we were coming to Miami the community showed up for us so thank you the most painful times in our lives are those that in retrospect cause us to grow and ask the questions who am I and what really matters to me watch the stories listen to them and bring friends who didn't know this place makes a difference day in and day out it's incredible it's mindblowing and I definitely feel like you know everyone should see this and everyone should know the truth on our dance floor it doesn't matter where you come from it doesn't matter who you are what you believe in we are all the same dancing together as one every day I'm thankful you are here and sharing your story may your voices endure the ages if you look around the room tonight every person here cares about you and prays for your well-being thousands of community members Bound by their same faith and shared values your light will never fade away you are the ones who show us the way and because of you dear people who came here today the Nova generation and all of us will dance again and again and again um before we come down for a picture uh I wanted to hear from from you all if you can come up those that don't um and say a few words and I know we have some U people in the audience that wanted to say a few words I want to also recognize vice mayor Michelle lazro from Hollandale Beach thank you for being here Mar would you like to come up here hello hi and mayor vice mayor the city of sun I'm really touched and honored to be here standing here and speaking in front of you and beautiful city of um Sunny Isle I live not far away from here and I feel I first have to mention I feel so welcome and loved here in in Miami in Sunny is especially so thank you very much um so I'm one of the producers and founders of the Nova Festival and also the co-producer of the exhibition um while I was escaping when the terrorist um started to closing in on us and the rockets started to shoot in the sky um I got shot in both of my legs and I'm lucky to be standing and walking today and the days after October 7th after we realized that we lost so many of our friends and families and over 40 people were taking hostage we understood that we we as the producers we have to take action and take care of our community we realize that if we don't do that then no one will and so the next days we open a Healing Center for the survivors and the bief families to come and heal together and deal with the trauma and after a month while we were running this healing facility um we understand that we have to do something for the memorial of our friends and families that we have lost one of the co-producers his name is om Sassi he lost his uncle and his cousin she was five months pregnant and her husband so he comes to us and says guys we have to do something for the memorial of our friends so everyone can see what happened to us cuz we are Community Without Borders and there in the South there are the villages and the Kim where you can come and go and pay respect so this is where the idea of this exhibition started and as a exhibition for the memorial but after a few days after we open the doors we understand it's not only for the memorial of course we will speak for those who are not here today but we see that everyone that walks through this exhibition how he relates to it how he got affected by it so we understand it's such a strong tool to show the world after so much hate and denial and so on social media and the lack of support from the music industry we understand that that with this exhibition we can show the world what happened to us we will with this exhibition not only memor remember our friends but we will also fight hate fight anti-Semitism educate the people that have no idea what's going on what happened to us and so four months after we open in Tel Aviv we bring the exhibition to New York we had over 100,000 people see it in New York and then in LA and I'm very proud that we open here a month ago the again the support that we get from Miami from the city of s and and all this there it's it's it's incredible and a very important message uh that we that is important for us at this exhibition when you walk through it has nothing to do with um with religion or politics or Israel it's what happened at the biggest massacre in the history of Music Festival and through that through through that message it's easy to bring anyone to see this it's not about taking sides it's about good and and and wrong and evil and and and good and so I ask you and everyone that's here please come to see the exhibit we need everyone needs to see this this is how we can educate and bring our allies together again and I'm very honored thank you to be here talking today thank you thank you thank you um vice mayor Laz you want to say a few words I don't want to put you on the spot Gabriel please Shalom good afternoon bis um first of all thank you very much for the city of sun I mayor and Commissioners for your support um also for the reprentative from Nova even though at the consulate we've been working since October 7 2023 uh um well this terrible tragedy of Massacre it's really really helps to go and see the exhibition actually we make us very emotional because we cannot believe in year 2023 even today things like that happen we can read something about the history many many ancestors but not today unfortunately with the creation when you see the images is what you feel is like even though I'm I'm a person that I don't hate people because I I feel like I put love person but it give you some kind of hate because when you see so many innocent people who were killed and children innocent women adults uh it's impossible to tolerate so honestly to have the exhibition is to remind us what happen every day and to prevent for the future and this is not a tragedy for only for for Israelis for the Jews for the humanity so it should affect everyone everyone should think about it unfortunately to defend ourself sometimes we have to do stuff that we don't like but it's a matter of survival okay so just as a reminder it's what happened in 2023 October 7 just remember also Twin Towers the two terrist attack in Argentina remember Madrid remember Paris London same type of groups still alive and doing stuff against the world so just to say thank you um of course go to see the exhibition because it's a an amazing an amazing work they doing and as I always do I would ask to everyone if you can stand up for a second um Israel is having a has been having a difficult time but we need to support especially the solders who are defending the state of Israel they are defending democracy and they're defending every single person in the world who really would like to live in peace so I just ask for an Applause for every sold who even my life thank [Applause] you thank you very much thank you good afternoon thank you so much for inviting me before you start V I just I I neglected to say that it was you that did this first and gave me this idea and it was amazing so thank you and thank you for coming here this we have never met before outside of a commission meeting and we met in in a very unlikely place and I happen to mention it and I really feel like this was meant to be you know um I just want to say you know I could stand up here and talk about October 7th but this is really about them and the festival and and the exhibit it's it's about the Testament of survival but also that they have been brave enough to put themselves out there and continue to live through it in some way and that by having the exhibit by talking about it it's I think also not only painful but cathartic it helps them I think I don't want to speak for them but to process it so it's so important not only that we get the message out but that we continue to support the survivors in that way you know people have been I've been to the exhibit three times and the first time I went was opening night it was you know very it was very hard to really take it in the second time I went I stayed for 2 hours and that's where I met ofir and I basically demanded that he's getting a proclamation I didn't even ask I just said we're giving you a proclamation and then I I felt bad I was like maybe he doesn't even want to come to a commission meeting but he was more than willing the third time I went I went because I made somebody go with me I was actually bringing somebody there I feel this way people say they're too sad it's too painful it's too hard and I say well if you can't do it please buy a ticket and give it to somebody because we need to continue to support the Exhibit while it's here and I did that a few times and people said that's a great idea you know if you can't go still buy the ticket and try to give it to someone else but I just want to thank ofir and the other survivors for coming to Miami for being here and being a part of our family while you're here and thank you so much for the hard work and thank you to this body for doing this and recognizing them thank you thank you um Senator Senator Sil you want to say a few words please no take your time please should be your reputation precedes you so we know um Madame mayor and Commissioners it's great to be here I uh played a very active role when I was in the house and the senate in creating the city along with Senator Margolis and uh I'm just happy to to see the progress that you're making I just want to say I'm very supportive of what you're doing as one who I said 24 years in the Florida legislature and I know what you can do as an elected official you can do something or you can do nothing and you all by virtue of this have elected to make your views known and for that I congratulate you because you could sit back and just not do anything and Nod your head but you've taken more of an action so I congratulate you on that and I wish the very best for for all of you and uh I just wanted to come here and be supportive and as I say it takes me a little bit longer to get there but I I get I guess I'm getting there anyway thank you very much appreciate it thank you um before we go down for a picture was anybody on the commission would like to say a few words no okay we'll go down for a picture let me give you as fore thank I don't want something I just want to say the exhibit is open until mid-February is that correct is it mid Fe mid-February it's open until mid February okay all right and if uh anyone here anyone in the commission wants to go I'll be very happy to buy your ticket um thank you so much oh and tonight not that I don't want you to come to our commission meeting at 6:30 but at the exhibit they actually have uh Noah one of the uh hostages that was um not released uh rescued uh actually the Saturday that I was there is going to be speaking that's a really really big deal so I mean still come to the commission meeting but that's once in A- lifetime kind of thing so thank you guys okay stay down we're going to do another one so we'll go on to the next one mayor um item 2B it's Proclamation presented for the 80th anniversary of liberation of [Music] owitz okay so we've had a few of these proclamations um this one is uh a little different in in that we have done these in the past year but the people that we have to accept the proclamations are are I'm really honored to to have here so I'm going to read the proclamation and then I'm going to ask uh Helen to come up to say a few words whereas January 27th marks an 80th anniversary of the liberation of Ashwood breno the largest and most infamous Nazi con concentration and extermination camp where over 1 million innocent men women and children lost their lives during the Holocaust and whereas the solemn anniversary serves as a powerful reminder of the horrors of hatred bigotry and inhumanity as well as a call to action to ensure that such atrocities are never repeated Liberation whereas the liberation of as's broken now by the Soviet Army in 1945 revealed the true extent of the Holocaust Horrors and stands as a significant moment in the fight against tyranny and oppression and whereas the city of s Al's Beach joins a global community in honoring the memory of those who perished celebrating the resilience of survivors and reaffirming our commitment to combat anti-Semitism racism and all forms of prejudice and whereas the 80th anniversary of this historic Liberation reminds us of the importance of Holocaust Education in ensuring that future Generations learn the lessons of history and embrace tolerance respect and human dignity for all now therefore do I Lissa fetchen as mayor on behalf of the city Commission of the city of s Al's Beach Florida hereby designated January 27 2025 as liberation of ashit bural the city of sel's beach to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of uh German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in ashz um um it's very sad that unfortunately we have to have these two items because normally in the past um we just had this one and we always were able to say never again um as we all know that's not the case um so we as a commission uh and again I applaud the entire commission for consistently with every commission meeting showing their support of combating anti-Semitism but more than that really understanding how important it is for all of us to understand that hate is not just uh for the Jews it may start with the Jews but it doesn't end with the Jews so um I am honored to to have some people here to accept um this uh Dr Nikki fredman education director of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach and Dr Helen saak chasset daughter of two Holocaust Survivors who were longtime sib residents Secretary of Miami date Holocaust Survivors Inc and volunteer dosent at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach also board member of Jewish Community Services of South Florida uh which serves our survivor needs and um is also where a lot of people don't know was uh born in an interment Camp um that's another part of the history that most people don't know so uh Dr chassid if you can come up and say a few words to accept the proclamation I'd appreciate and then we'll take a picture thank you Madame mayor and Commissioners uh uh my my mother was a taken to aitz towards the end of the war and from aitz she was sent to robinbrook women's women's Camp uh mu Housen which was a subcamp of buin Wald and then Bergen Bellen where she was liberated by the British both my parents were survivors and uh I want to thank you for this um Proclamation uh if my father had been alive if either of them had been alive on October 7th they they they would have probably died that was a horrible uh reminder of hate that still uh flows in the world uh Dr Nikki Freeman here is the education director of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach where we are building a uh new education center it's currently under construction and due to open fall of uh of this year fall of this year so uh we're even though there it's an open construction site we are still see seeing visitors uh every every day of the week and including Saturday and Sunday and we invite you to come down there's always a dosent like myself or a Survivor there that you can speak with thank you for this Kyer you just came in did you want to say a few words you don't have to no no no no your eyes getting big Okay no Okay thank you very much I'm gonna ask the commission to please come up two two more proclamations mayor yeah just please the next one the next item we have is to e Proclamation presented for Florida Arbor Day Myra good afternoon mayor Commissioners Myra Alan assistant to the city manager this Proclamation represents our ongoing commitment to maintaining and cultivating a city with healthy beautiful trees that provide countless benefits to our community I am also proud to share that in in 2024 we were recognized as a tree City USA for the sixth consecutive year as we Proclaim today as Florida Arbor Day I'd like to invite everyone to our upcoming Arbor Day event taking place this Saturday at 8:00 a.m. at Sansom Ocean Front Park we'll begin with a beach cleanup followed by a tree planting ceremony at 9:30 I look forward to seeing you all there and continue our efforts to keep our city green and thriving for more information you can find the Flyers of this event at the table by the entrance thank you okay and the next one is the last one twf Proclamation presented for National human trafficking prevention month so this is another one that we have done for um for a number of years and I this is really personal for me because um I work directly with the PD with Sergeant Gonzalez for for many years to develop a program to edate the students at U Norman aset Club Ka about human trafficking and uh often people uh back then and even now until recently thought that this was really just not a problem that uh most societies like ours has and regrettably as we have seen what's happening in the UK this is again something that's in the headlines and sadly um this is not just perun this is something that we really need to pay attention to so I'm going to read the proclamation whereas more than 20 million men women and children worldwide are victims of human trafficking and whereas human trafficking is an assault on human dignity affecting people all around the world and whereas through coercion and force human traffickers deprive millions of victims of their unable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and we as often referred to as modern slavery this intolerable blight in society involves force and involuntary labor or sex and affects people of all ages genders races religions and nationalities and whereas this evil undermines the rule of law robs millions of their dignity and freedom enriches transnational criminals and terrorists and threatens Public Safety and National Security everywhere and whereas like the United States many countries around the world have worked to implement the 3p Paradigm of Prosecuting traffickers protecting victims and preventing the crime through the passage and implementation of national anti-trafficking laws and whereas the city of s Al's Beach reaffirms its commitment to continue to raise awareness in the hopes of eradicating this abhorent evil to support victims and survivors and to hold traffickers accountable for their heinous crimes now therefore do I live a suspens as mayor and on behalf of the city Commission of the city of s Al's Beach thereby proclaimed January 2025 as human NA national human trafficking prevention month thank you for s had a good time okay next item next item is now uh a discussion item 3A a discussion regarding on demand microtransit honorable mayor vice mayor and commission for quite some time we have been discussing on demand Transit and you all have expressed support of that option um recently well over a year ago the better bus Network made some significant changes to the local routs which affected our residents even more so um we have been working diligently to find the best option for sunny Al's Beach Additionally the process requires us to if we want to have the funding through the half penny sales tax we have to go through a process and have an interlocal agreement with myam day County for that so to fulfill all of those needs we have done a Transit step study which was presented to you last week uh last year I'm so sorry and we recently did a survey and we will now share those the results of all of that with you through a somewhat lengthy power point but it is necessary so I apologize okay so um we looked at all the options we also currently are in the need of having to upgrade the software that we use for our shuttle app because it's not good our GPS tracking is not accurate um our online cameras onboard cameras which were required to have um require like a download that would take several hours um to capture if an incident happens so we have an opportunity to combine everything into one package that would be the GPS tracking the um shuttle app the the passenger counters the camera and also a customer service through either phone or app so it's not just an app like some of the applications are so with that um we are recommending to um go with a company named via VIA is the current company that is doing the Metro connect for Miami day County um they have both the you can order the vehicle through the app or or you can also make a phone call so for those who don't want that um to keep it well I should probably I jumped ahead I'm sorry the blue line through our stats the blue line is very limited ridership it costs a lot per hour per ride um we recommend removing that that's the one that several residents you know will miss because it goes up to Hallandale to the fire station right now but doesn't take them to where they really wanted to go which was Walmart so by eliminating the Blue Line we could add in a microtransit option that would um provide the those stops that we would lose with the blue line um with that we would also keep the orange line and add an extra bus to the orange line so that the Headway would be more frequent so we could carry more people more frequently so I'm going to get to the survey in a second um but that was one of the concerns with the survey so this particular option through the app um you know how if you use like Google Maps you have the choice of walking driving Transit this would do the same thing so it will give you all the options you can wait 30 minutes and get a a vehicle a shared a shared ride or you can wait 10 minutes get on a bus and get there in 25 minutes something like that so it lays out all those options for you and that it's up to you to pick so that is one of the advantages of this um I am going to skip to the important part here's the process the transit study an updated survey then an interlocal agreement with Miami day County then we would work on procurement and bring it back to you for commission approval so we already did the transit study um that was a year ago we now completed the the results I do have to go over these because it's part of our interlocal agreement requirement um they're going to want to know that we did cover those so I'm going to skip ahead to the the results key takeaways so the blue line is not utilized as much as the Orange Line the shuttle service is not frequent enough 89% of respondents would use microtransit if it was available the majority of those 48% would wait 15 to 29 minutes for for on demand the majority of the respondents 67% are either satis satisfied or very satisfied with the current Transit service meaning the shuttle that we currently provide um respondents want there was an option for them to put some comments many said that they would want a simple system and to be shown how to use it so a lot of what we had heard through through all of the community meetings was these apps are hard to use they're hard to navigate even Metro connect it wasn't easy um The Uber vouchers that the county was providing wasn't easy so it wasn't a fan favorite um for our residents so that's one of the things that they're looking for so they want a bus that they can rely on that is going to come to a bus stop they want it to be handicap accessible so we did order the bus with a ramp with your approval and as we replace our Fleet they will all have that new feature um they want it to be reliable and then they would like an on demand option to get to these other places and they're willing to wait up to 29 minutes to do that so our proposed solution as I discussed is working with via um who can put together a full integrated package it would be hybrid we would keep our shuttle service that would perform better would be the expectation and there would also be the option for those outliers of microtransit that would have some parameters of a max weight time of 20 to 30 minutes a mac oh a Max walking distance of a quarter of a mile so this is not door too to be the most efficient it would be curb to curb so I'm going to use Winston towers as an example um currently we have several bus stops along Winston Towers those residents would still get out and walk to the bus stop or outside it would not come like under like an Uber wood right and pick you up like a valley service um but if you needed the we would be required to have a vehicle that would be Ada accessible if you ordered that vehicle it would come to your door so if you were leaving Maran towers and you wanted to go somewhere that would pull into the ptic CET to pick you up and drop you off so that's that's the difference there um there would be a detour allowance of 50 minutes so if I'm picking you up at coastal towers and I'm taking you to Publix and somebody in Winston Towers also wants to go to Publix they're going to detour and pick you up because they're multi-passenger Vans or Vehicles no less than six passengers per vehicle that's the way to make it most efficient to have the on demand option continue to be free um these are just some statistics on you know how the microtransit will replace the blue line and what they would expect daily ridership right now we have approximately 25 they would estimate 100 um productivity doubles um and the peak Fleet size would be three those three vehicles that I had previously mentioned um as I mentioned the same company would also manage the app so we would have a brand new app easy userfriendly um you could call for a ride on there you could check the shuttle you could also Lodge a complaint you could ask a question they also have um dispatchers that will answer the phone and answer your questions as well so it has a very high level of customer service available and then this is just a little bit about via they are not new although we weren't really aware of them until the whole better bus Network happened um and now we have gotten to know them a whole lot more so Miami day county is currently using them as well as several other um destinations it offers as I said the rider booking tools the Operation Center and the drivers have an app and they provide us all of the reporting and the statistics which right now our drivers are doing for the bus our drivers will continue except now we have passenger counters on the bus um TurnKey operation customer service they will come out and educate our residents they will hold Community meetings and they would do all that and that is basically it you can turn it off now please thank you um so what we're looking for today really is Direction on how you feel about this integrated program um and if we should continue to to pursue that route okay thank you um who would like to start please go ahead commissioner Joseph who is picking up the cost so we currently have one we're estimating $1.5 million in the half penny sales tax money this coming year um we tend to spend a lot of money on buses if we're eliminating some routes we will not be buying more buses anytime soon um our maintenance cost will still continue but most of it would be funded through the CIT fund and I I I was hoping to have an exact ballpark for you um but our conversations with them have gone from them managing the drivers and the buses to us managing the drivers and the buses so we think that at the end we'll probably be within you know a slight increase of for next fiscal year it's probably going to take us you know time we'll be okay for this fiscal year next fiscal year there will probably a little bump up but with each year we've had an increase just based on salaries fuel prices insurance and everything else right okay um is there an age limit on this or minimum rather we can make that um we can't make that a requirement through their app We There are all kinds of safety features that they can include so by taking away the Blue Line how does that affect all those kids up north that it'll actually it'll actually improve that because now we have three orange buses running through so what was the orange route um we would continue that route but with an extra bus so it'll be more frequent but it would go up to 190 Second yes oh okay this will solve that problem that we had with um the better bus network not going to the ocean view area okay and what what are the parameters how far out will we be able to use we would designate those spots so right now it was um it would still go to aventur mall and Inter Coastal mall and we included the Walmart and Aventura like the that shopping plaza because that was a a big request from our residents okay and it's you know we can see how things go and be flexible we can change things just caution that once you give them something it's hard to take it away right so we can add on as we see that there's success in that and then regarding the curb to curb versus the door too so you mentioned the bus stops so will those be the curb stops or how will they be determined so it's within a quarter mile so if it depends on where we have a bus stop or where your departure pickup time is so you know five people in front of Publix well there is a shuttle bus stop there I'm trying to think of some place that doesn't have an actual bus stop and I can't think of one I think North Bay Road by there's one on on 163rd but like where Plaza the Americas is we don't I don't think we was stop there right so if you're in Porto bagio there yes that is a great example down 172nd Street in North Bay Road there is no bus stop so that's a good example of where they would pick up they would be like meet me on the corner of but would it stop on Collins yes okay and with that I would like to give a little shout out to David thank you for meeting with our team and talking about the challenges that you saw with our previous route changes yeah do you have a picture what these vehicles look like they would be custom designed for us they would Custom Design the app we would or do you mean the physical vehicle looks like a little van yeah is it a it's like a van it's like a little van yes I have a question why are not we bidding this why are we choosing and picking and choosing a very specific vendor for this because when we looked at all of the vend ERS that could offer the different amenities this is the one that can provide the full the full system the GPS tracking for both our shuttle buses and their vehicles which is of my the cameras like we didn't know even about this company this recently right so if we put it in on demand and we go and bid we might find a company that maybe is in Seattle or DC or whatever you know so I always feel very uncomfortable giving contracts that usually are for a small period of time and become Forever by the finger maybe it's because of my background I'm from Venezuela where the public corruption is rampant so I don't feel Comfort I'm not saying that this is the case here okay so my point is that uh we have an amazing uh finance department and procurement Department sonto Department uh which they do an amaz aming great job and I will feel more confident knowing that they went through a bidding process and put it out there with the different um services like on demand and we might find another company that we don't even know is in the market you know so again um and and all the work is already done because we know what we need and we know what we want and we know already a provider so I think it's more transparent it give um it level the playing field it give more uh I want them to compete to be part of our of of our city I don't feel Comfort giv it by the finger and I am perfectly agreeable that we can go out to bid for this Genesis is um we can absolutely go out to bid for this I have I welcome that um it's a long process so I just want you to understand it's not going to be like super quick um and again we have a procurement path that is perfectly legal but I totally understand going out to bed and now we do know we we do know from our research what options are out there so it'll be easier to put it together to complete what I was saying for example the Uber voucher uh Service uh that we know because we had it um I know a lot of people that were using it and they were very happy it took them time to get it I understood but finally when they get it uh they were very happy with it suddenly it stopped I remember we were in one of the workshop of the senior round table and they were asking her like what happened what happened uh because it just suddenly stopped but finally they got it and they were happy with it so my point is that maybe uh bringing like these competitors to the table Uber freebe whoever is out there and telling them like I said you guys did an amazing job the presentation is really good and very complete with what is it that we're looking for um so I think we are in a very good space to make them like I say fight for us you know yes okay I have some question okay go ahead yeah I um okay so a couple things so just wanted to get a refresher on the orange route uh I know we're going to have three buses now for that I mean or at least that's the proposal so hold on just wanted to know if that's going to fulfill some of the gaps you know due to what my they did with their better bus uh service or you know because I I just wanted to make sure that we are able to transport people that cannot walk to the bus stops to the regular bus stops so they could have access and um pretty much continuous actions through throughout the day you know not wait long gaps to be able to you know get that bus ride to the to the bus stop another thing is that when we're talking about on demand if if we have people that let's say we take them to Walmart right and they are shopping there for groceries walking a quarter of a mile it's tough especially for older people so I I don't see how practical that is to be honest with you no and that's what I mean by it will be no greater than a quarter of a mile so if it's a destination like a Publix like a Walmart like the library like Windixie um they will take you to to that destination the quarter of a mile is um an example uh you want to eat in a particular Plaza in Sunny 's Beach that is known for you get in and you can't get out we have a couple of those they might you know drop you off right at the entrance of the plaza they will not stop on Collins Avenue unless if it's a bus stop but they would let you off there and then you walk to you know into the restaurant that you're going to yeah no not bring you right to the front door of the restaurant that you're going to okay understood but if you have somebody that's older than their groceries yeah they'll drop like somebody at Winston Towers they'll get dropped off at let's Sayers 300 yes yeah I mean they would probably drop them again we have a bus stop right outside of Winston Tower is 300 so if there's the reason of the the curb to curb over door to door so much is to be able to meet those minimum thresholds right so if it's a slow day and the bus you know the the vehicles are not in high demand and traffic is low they might bring you right to your door or pick you up right at your door and through the app they will tell you I'm here you know just like uber does um they'll have that ability you know meet me here if it's a day that traffic is extremely difficult and they have a whole lot of people waiting in the queue to pick up they're going to drop you on 174 Street you'll have to walk through the walkway into your building so that's the the way that they meet that that time threshold okay and then how many on demand Vehicles would they be providing three three on demand Vehicles this is what they're believing that they would need and as it grows or you know we we can add more but but with more comes a greater cost okay so trying to keep it with a similar budget to what we're currently doing you know I was hoping Linda Morris was going to be here and she can explain it so much better but we do have a very good shuttle bus service that currently is transporting no less than 8,000 passengers a month up to 13,000 passengers a month that's a lot of people to move in individual Vehicles so the shuttle ser service is working it does work and people do use it especially during the peak hours so this is finding that happy medium of still being able to provide I'm going to call it mass transit even though it's not really CU we're small shuttle buses and the individual vehicles that would fill that Gap so that we can stay within a reasonable budget we can throw out the shuttle bus and have 20 you know door to-door buses uh vehicles but it's not efficient and it would not um it it wouldn't be a good service for our residents and it would be very expensive and as I said that Lind is here okay um we were just talking about the efficiency of our shuttle bus versus door Todo and how our ridership has been you know reviewed and it has been studied that our R to continue our shuttle bus is the best approach and and not to lose it completely commissioner viscar so I want to talk about money okay the penny tax so we're perfect timing for Linda you're given you're given a a criteria a list of criteria and you know to qualify for it right including the study this meeting you know everything else so assuming so to commissioner stenson's um thing about um going out to bid and looking at different companies is are are these monies tied to particular kinds of companies no it's tied to how you're using it so 80% has to be used on Transit 20% can be used on transportation and these monies assuming that we qualify for them is it every year is it a one-time thing to get it going no it's every year okay the half penny sales tax we've been using it since it started I don't know how many years ago 20 2002 um and every year it's it's it's based on sales tax so the more money people spend the more money we make um and it's based on our population and we would be able to add this service within this budget and plus maybe some um maintenance cost we would probably again if we if we go with a hybrid and we continue to maintain our shuttle service and we use on demand on a limited basis we will be close to this this budget without having to okay so it wouldn't be a huge hit to our budget to it should not be but again so that's a that's good once we have some solid numbers it's still up to you I know I know and we could scale it back you know but I I like this solution because we had never really talked about this option before and so to be able to to plug into that we can solve a problem even if we have to increase our cost but we we're addressing a an issue for you know in an affordable way so I like that you went that route I think my other questions have been answered the the Orange Line basically would just cover the whole city yes right okay um and include the inter Coastal Mall in North Mii Beach and Aventura okay mall so that Transit Center there which also then connects to Broward County Transit the Hallendale circulator shuttle that they have um we've been working really close with the county as far as how the connectivity they got Hallendale to bring their bus to aventur so that our residents could that we have a lot of people who who use that for working yes and one of the complaints that I got is that the the city shuttle sometimes it was like a 2hour gap or something I don't know if that's accurate because I I haven't confirmed it but a two-hour Gap it's a it's a big thing when you're trying to get home after a long days you know or maybe you can catch the the 100 but it was a twoh hour gap and so that was one of the things that I was hoping we would resolve and that's the efficiency of the blue line that we discussed earlier you said that um we we have a an ADA bus coming or we only have the one all of our all of our existing buses are handicap access accessible now they all have the you know the ramp that comes down uh it's a lift so you have to stop the bus put it in Park open the door and then this lift comes down very slowly and then you get on and then it goes back up um what we've ordered new is the ramp that when they stop this ramp deploys like this so even if you're not in a wheelchair you can walk off so no matter what Bus shows up if you have that need we can meet that need absolutely so always then good and and you must have a cell phone to use the service no you can you you can call you can call the number it is much more helpful if you have a cell phone because they're going to tell you I'm two minutes away I am arriving I'm pulling up and you're going to get that if you have a cell phone you and I okay so that was just cuz not not everybody does or sometimes you don't you know you ran out of minutes or you know so U so that's you don't want to give out your number but I I do like the the curbs using our existing bus stops just because people are already familiar with them and if you start I understand there may be times where you need to create a place but if you don't need to I think if people already know where to go that's probably the better way and then you're keeping you you're you're shortening the wait time for the next person correct that's the key so that's you could pull into a portic cochet and get stuck behind somebody delivering or you know and then it delays everything whereas if it's more C to curb we could use the bus use the individual Vehicles more efficiently I think you've put a lot of um good thought into this so I I would certainly support um pursuing it and with with looking at other I mean we understand that it would take longer right so I don't know how much longer how much longer would it take the procurement process I mean we can probably get the beted out pretty quickly since we already have the scope um and then it'll probably be out for at least 4 weeks so you're talking at least 2 months before we're back to you with a recommendation and so probably at best I mean I think safe to say the April meeting we would have an award for you and with this if we were to move forward just with this one how quickly would they be you're not going to shave off a whole lot of time I don't even know that I could have an actual anything to you for I could well for sure March but possibly February so it's not a huge difference it should not be okay and is is via why why did we why did did you go with via we met them through the county and Metro connect because they're already working in similar they're actually working in our city we now have a metro connect Zone at the north end of our city where Ocean View is that's currently fulfilling that need that do you want to share anything anything about Metro connect or how that works or what you've heard back any feedback sure uh good afternoon I'm Linda moris I'm the chief of service planning and scheduling for the county um and so right now we do have Metro connect operating in Sunny Isles um we originally had um some service at 192nd is that the ocean view yes yeah and so uh as we removed uh we put in a stop gap of an Uber Voucher Program um and we had to discontinue that program for financial reasons and then we were able to deploy over it the Metro connect Service uh which helps provide that Mobility from that specific area as well so um we do have 11 zones within the county with metr connect um and we're we're very happy with that service as well okay do we have any feedback from the community in terms of their satisfaction with the service um I'm not sure if there's any quantifiable feedback but but certainly we um we have positive testimonials the whole time okay um I know South Miami is a big proponent of the service um and uh and C La Bay as well uh has a very large ridership there okay right so when we were having many conversations with the county about all of the changes and at one point I said to Linda I'm like can't we just add a Metro connect Zone in Sunny's Beach and you know that's when we got into the conversation about how successful our shuttle bus program really is in moving larger quantities of people and between our shuttle and their 100 Route and 75 route which again thank you for getting it back over by Maran towers and bringing it inside the city again thank you for that um you know we have a good healthy transit system so this would just complement it and so you know that's how we met via was because because Metro connect was okay um do we have consensus that we want to take it out uh to viid or or do we have any opposition well I believe that you just never know who's going to pop up that offers a service so let's give it a shot and see especially if the time difference is not going to be not very much and let's see who's out there yeah okay okay so so Cutler Bay is using v as well yeah the countsy provides all the service with cut Bay just like you're doing to us here right in Sunny Al's Beach um so it's different we we cover the entirety of cat Bay right now it's with with one zone um and so we've been they were I think the first metric connect Zone that we had got it got it it's not that they've contracted via on their own right it's in conjunction with they are Contracting the county got it got it got it okay all right thank you thank you so you yes your marching orders okay thank you next item are we okay uh going forward yes yes okay next item is 3B discussion regarding donations mayor vice mayor and commission um through the budget process we had talked about um you wanting to have the donations put back in the budget and vice mayor Lama has asked for some guidelines as long as well as some others of you so the the memo pretty much spells all of it out and then you have these lovely handouts um that would define the process of how it will go um oh here so sorry well now I don't have one but it's okay no no no no keep it oh no here I do um which one are we looking at because there's look at the um application and guide uh no the commission one that elected official guideline elected officials guideline yes that's the one so we would create a seamless Doc and any applicant would fill out the seamless doc they would have to include all of the information that we have listed in here as to what they um you know their their 501c3 eligibility the budget for the project or the organization some key performance indicators for their success the donation request form filled out and a formal letter of a um to a particular commissioner if they wanted to ask somebody specifically um to sponsor their item so we would take them all in the goal is that it would there would be an application period right so at the beginning of the fiscal year the application period opens we would receive them the application period closes we would make sure that the application was complete any completed accurately completed applications that are eligible we would forward all of those to you and then you all would choose if you want to sponsor that item or not and then it would come to you would bring It Forward at a commission meeting um individually sponsor you could yes you would each you would choose which one you're going to sponsor okay the minimum amount that someone could apply for would be $500 the maximum would be $2,500 if they're awarded this year they would not be awarded the following year but then they could apply again the year after so that um the concept is that they don't rely solely on your donation for their success they need to be um using other funding sources as well okay and I know that we've spoken before about M Municipal purposes um that has to be that's one of the criteria so they have they have to prove them they have to explain the municipal purpose yes and then it's up to you to you know determine if it's correct correct yes so staff would not be involved in this at all we would yes if it's not if we don't deem it as Municipal purpose we wouldn't even forward it to you is that right Alan well that's one option or you could forward it to them and then advise that it's the opinion that it's not a public purpose or sufficient to meet the criteria questions yeah I have a few um are we going to have a policy as well for in kind donations because in kind is a form of monetary Alo donation in kind donations reduce the recipients need to spend money freeing up funds for other uses so for example if we're giving somebody a free office space that it would cost let's say $5,000 it's like giving those $5,000 that now they can use for something else because now they don't need to spend that so also um in kind donation they create like a high hidden channel of influence because some people are getting them some people are not there is again not a policy for in kind um again um in kind donation give Financial relief to who whoever is receiving it okay um in my opinion we should treat both type of donations equally there'll be more accountability more Integrity uh will be more consistent and so we are going to give in kind donations and monetary donations the same exact guideline again will be consistent okay um because like I said before I believe and this is my personal opinion that in kind donations are being right now treated um for influence and specifically for political influence so if we want we don't want to go into that path uh let's treat them all equally both in kind and uh monetary donations otherwise I'm completely against this guideline this guideline is only going to give us the excuse why not to give money to certain uh institutions or or whoever is asking before so as we have completely uh open door for in kind with zero guideline and it's been used for politics but now we are creating and we are tying up uh our hands with this guideline again that is going to give us the excuse or we canot give to these people that is coming uh because of guideline number three plus the period of time I think it should not be there because what is what if the time period for the application passes and then we have a tragedy like what happened right now let's said in California and let's say that we have some drums or vehicles or whatever that we we can spare and send them to them it will be an in kind donation so again the period of time and I know you guys have been putting a lot of time in this and I know it was consensus even though that I voted against uh giving you guys the direction to create this guideline but I like consistency and consistency keep people the it makes them feel more trust in what we are doing right here so if we are going to do this guideline maybe it is some tweaks but I want to include in the same exact level with whatever guideline we approve both monetary and in kind donations so I am we can absolutely include in kind donations here as well I know from a staff level if we have an ink kind donation we do bring it to you North M Beach Lally using the baseball field is is an example if there's a value to it um and the timeline so typically when you're granting funds like that there is like an application period so that it's kind of organized and people don't wait till the last minute um if there is an unexpected tragedy like you suggested it's the commission can always you all can always put it on the agenda to add you could do a budget amendment to add more donation funds if you've already already allocated everything or or bring it forth that way so there's always time throughout the rest rest of the year to be able to do that there's another Avenue to do that yeah in my point with in kind donations if that for example I know that is going to be at the end of the month an event in one of our Parks um which is basically an in kind donation I find out about it because I received the invitation from the organization so those surprises those kind of use of our um infrastructure that if they were going to be renting it it would cost money uh is my point you know so I want to see everybody treated equally uh if we are going to have a guideline for certain groups we should have the guideline for everybody unless of course mitigating circumstances like tragedies and other things that can happen is outside our you know like we cannot be planning for that but um yes um I will be okay with that guy guideline if it's going to be for everybody not just for certain people or certain organizations right so may I ask um and and actually I'll work with Alan after this about how we would manage then sponsorships because I think there's a difference between an in kind donation and a sponsorship so I will um I'll work with Alan on that I would like this I could add I could add also that you're correct that any kind donation is is the same as an actual donation uh legally from a legal standpoint they should be treated the same um so to the extent that we have a schedule for actual donations for the amount that's been budgeted um if that you could still apply the same criteria to in kind although it's not spaced out necessarily with that same calendar that same schedule but the same criteria should apply yes I may uh then I would like to see also a guideline for sponsorships okay because a sponsorship um if we're giving our spaces or whatever it is that we're g giving that it can have a monetary value also should have a guideline because um it seems that up to right now is being like pick and shoes um without let's put it a guideline uh and I believe it will be more transparent and we will give more public trust if we are the same way that anybody can apply for an incine donation monetary donation also there should be an application for sponsorship and if it's the guideline ER can be part of the guideline I would like us to be the ones also find have the final decision to vote for the sponsorships as well okay yes which you will that's how it's built now ultimately it's your decision yes anyone else yeah um thank you very much for putting this together uh I think this is a great starting point obviously there's going to be some changes to it from what we're discussing now um one thing about the application period um if we could extend that to at least to April so it just gives organizations uh a little more time because January is basically like a dead month you know people are getting back from vacation etc etc so it just gives them a little more time especially you know if um we're requiring some of this do documentation and uh I understand that you know we meet once a month and um obviously we need some time to to process this so we're looking at you know if we get an application we're looking at at least 3 months before we could approve the funds uh whether we approve them or not but yeah the process takes a while so I I would give you know organizations a little more time perhaps uh end of April and then uh yes in kind donations have to be um yeah I I assume that this meant in kind donations as well um it could be the same guidelines perhaps I you know just right in in kind donations as well um but then it leads to another question mark you know especially from bullet point number two in page three right obviously we've um we all know you know that there's some in kind donations for some some events in the city so we'll just have to see how those uh are treated uh and you know how we we could approach those so they could happen religious yeah yeah yeah yeah those those events how would that be treated yeah would there be I mean I know this has come up before but how we could work that in there as a city of I'm not sure I I I I sent you an email earlier at the beginning of the holiday season um the Florida Constitution has a specific no Aid Clause with regards to um financial assistance to religious organizations and that could be in kind as well as uh stroke a check mhm um there's few exceptions with regards there's one case out of the second DCA I think where uh for example if you have a religious organization that offers and in that case they were offering drug rehab services non-religious but just drug rehab you wouldn't be precluded from donating donating money or using money public funds for that purpose because it's non-religious even though it's a religious or if you have a church that makes a table and you need to buy tables right you can buy the tables even though it's going to a religious organization but anything other than that uh whether again it's in kind or whether it's stroking a check uh would be prohibited by the Florida Constitution so as we've apped because you've directly asked us before with regards to direct donations you can't give direct donations the same would would' be the same with in kind but we can have the event like it can be our event and that would be on a case- by casee basis it depends what the event is and what it constitutes um we'd have to look at it but yes it could be okay so if we wanted to for instance I I see Rabbi ker is here so historically we have given in kind donations to him to to Rabbi Baron I think Rabbi Omar um the church those would then become our events that that's the well you have to again it depends on a case-by casee basis if there's a religious comp component to the event at all you wouldn't be able to do that either then that becomes tricky because what defines a religious component well again it becomes on a case-by Case basis and what you're actually doing uh at that given event holiday event and without saying what kind of events right but that's where you have to kind of get into the details of what's if there's going to be if if there's a religious ceremony involved in it there's prayer or things of that sort then that would be precluded but if it's just uh for kids to go out and have fun you know that's different so you'd have to really look at it on a Case by case basis okay so it would not necessarily preclude us from holding a Hanukkah event from holding an easter event from holding all those events as long as there's no prayer right so you get into as we all know there are secular portions of our holidays that although they're rooted in at one point was rooted in religion um you know courts have looked into like the manora itself is not considered a religious symbol in and of itself same thing with the Christmas tree right but if there's a religious ceremony that's attached to like the Nativity scene is deemed religious but a manur is not but if you let's say like the manur and there's a huge religious ceremony with prayer then it becomes a religious ceremony but again it depends on what's transpiring the event that would right regulate whether you can contribute money either in kind or directly to I I I think that so that we don't don't get off on a whole Workshop just about this we can probably do something uh separate but um it would not preclude us then from continuing what we have historically supported without knowing the specifics of what's occurred at those I I couldn't necessarily say that but but generally speaking generally as long as again the the religious component can't be there that's that's the best that I can say and again if the criteria we have a discussion about what constitutes a religious component then that that that there's a thousand examples that you could use it that's why it's on a caseby casee basis but generally um if there's a religious component you know that it's going to prude you from doing it but I have a question so if we don't have the guideline then we can continue in a case by case as we've been doing it so far Al you can but it's good but like to your point though legally you should treat everybody the same correct especially when you get into particular groups that are trying to advocate for a particular event you don't want somebody coming back and saying well you didn't do it for me because I'm this group or that group so you want an objective criteria that you apply to everyone else that you apply to everyone and at that time that's why there's that component that discusses what what the purpose of your organization so let's take a right stroking a check donation they need to explain what they're going to do with that money and if it's something we're going to do Beach clean up for sunny Al perfect wonderful you know Municipal purpose there it's great that's fine so we put it on them to give us the details as to what the money is going to be used for and then we use that information to determine whether it's something that you can use public funds for okay well Municipal purpose is something very subjective to it is but the The Guiding principles are um so your primary purpose has to be for public benefit so a benefit to the public itself so for example if you have a condo let say you have 300 residents in a Condo building so you want to help those 300 residents you're helping the public right but you're not really helping the public if for example their roof is collapsing and they don't have the money to fix it you can't use public funds to give it to them to fix their roof that would be for a private purpose even though it benefits your constituents it's not for a public purpose so it has the primary benefit has to be to the public at large and the any in any benefit to an individual or Corporation or an entity has to be secondary and incidental okay so if you wanted to run the same event that we've had uh in years past without the conundrum the city could have the event and have the rabbi run it correct no you get into the same problem if there's a religious component you can't do it anyway you can't give the money for it under the Florida Constitution then you also can't do it as a governmental entity I mean we had the same discussion when we were approving the the event and then we just went ahead and approved it right yeah oh commissioner V she hasn't had an opportunity it's fine uh okay so I think it makes sense to to have guidelines for both um I'm okay with this criteria um I really didn't have anything else to add um but I guess if we're going but I think it should I think it should be the same criteria but I don't know if it should be two separate documents because this limits Us in terms of dollar amount right there's a there's a certain amount of money and you know people can apply for it we can by the way the the the deadline or the the it it's arbitrary I mean we put January through but we can make it February through April or we can make it summer or whatever I mean commissioner if I we we put this for this year in particular ideally the application period is over the summer or you know to hit the September October so that you have the whole fiscal year and part of it too is that and correct me if I'm wrong but part of it too is one of the components we had put in the guidelines is that they need to spend it within that fiscal year so if you wait too long and you give it to them in August they only have few we but if it's our first year we can we can make that but you also you could also make it calendar year versus fiscal year on the expenditure so that may give them more time so you can play with it but I think there's answers you're correct that you can certainly separate out using the same criteria but separate out the process for I do think that that needs to be done because an ink kind donation let's say that it's um I I know I don't remember numbers but the the ink kind donation that we gave about um Gateway that was a big number and that and I don't honestly I remember it but maybe it was like 20,000 or something perhaps we should have two sets of numbers one that is right because if we if if we Clump them together that one in kind would use up and and while the dollars are untouched so I do think if you want to make amounts fine but but there there's the dollars and there's the in kind in terms of the the value the you know am I making sense like they need to be treated differently so um but the criteria I should be the same as well and in terms of we have to be careful like well it'll be a city event but we'll just give it to others to run or it's it's a City Event it's a City Event it it also doesn't mean that um we're not telling in in the these particular uh two events that we're talking about we're not saying you can't use the city facilities we're saying you can't have it an in kind donation the way you've been having it they can certainly pay for it if they want to use it like I know that they did that at Heritage uh or if it's going to continue along this path where it's going to become a city event it can't just we can't just switch out the label and then business as usual because then it's a City Event it would be different so I I think we need to manage expectations in that sense too um but yeah if we're going to use the criteria we might as well tackle both issues at the same time but I do think that they are different because one is dollars and the other one is costs there's actual costs but the dollars are coming out of the bank account in a different way so I those are my thoughts I I want to add to your point that it it starts getting a little murky when we talk about Municipal purposes because if you use the example of um Rabbi Baron's event he had over 500 people um who they weren't there necessarily because they were all celebrating Hanukkah they were there because they have traditionally you know gone to this and they appreciate and they have fun and there's dancing and so um I can't imagine having us now telling Rabbi Baron or Rabbi CER that you have to now pay for something that they have traditionally uh basically sponsored because they have they pay all the other costs associated with it and we have so many of our residents attend that becomes really challenging for me I understand that what I'm saying is if it's going to be the the other way if it's going to be stay as us we have to make it a city event that it's not going to be the same I agree that's all I'm saying true so it's it's going to it's going to be some version and if you that's not acceptable then the other option is to pay right but it's we that's what I'm talking about managing expectations it's not going to be well we're just going to switch out the names think another option is just we don't have the guideline and we go Case by case you know because if we're going to be picking and choosing when to apply I'm against the GU guideline I I don't want the guideline point of having guidelines is that we're not picking and choosing but we've been doing it until right now a guideline well I think it's working picking and choosing so I don't want the guideline gu I don't I don't want the the guideline we're talking over each other hold on hold on hold on picking and choosing you can't you really shouldn't do because that's where you get into one group's picked over and the other why well I can't tell you why it's it's too subjective you have to have objective criteria to make these selection can I just ask a clarification from the deputy manager how would these guidelines uh I know they can't necessarily prevent but how would they make it more streamlined so that it doesn't come off as we're picking and choosing what's in here what mechanism is in here that prevents that um they have to submit all of their 501c3 they have to name the public purpose they have to write a letter of request they would have to include their key performance indicators they would have to include their budget okay and then everybody's filling out the same application you're looking at it all objectively on the same and we I'm sorry and we had also thrown in um in my past experience it's been beneficial although the amount depending on the amount it may not be as impactful but to do what's essentially a Grant agreement or a donation agreement um so I've had examples in the past and other jurisdictions where $55,000 was given for a particular purpose and it came out that they didn't spend the money for that purpose and it was for something else that wasn't approved so you want to have the ability to set forth in an agreement and they don't have to be complicated but that you you're going to use the money for what you're saying you're going to use it for and if you don't move an a CLA back just feels like now we're adding a whole bureaucracy to it that who's going to be following up on that so I mean I just want to say you know as a city we have applied for similar things from Miami day County or the state and we have to we have to jump through these same Hoops it's it's a very similar process they have a Grant application period you have to fill out the forms you have to have supporting documentation this requ to hire someone no because we're intaking it we're revie viewing it if it's not right we're kicking it back and saying your application wasn't we're not going to handhold we're not going to do it for them we're not going to help them um they're welcome to come to you if they want help in that regard but unless if we have a completed package it doesn't go anywhere um and and checking that it's a completed package is pretty simple basic our office can hand I just have a question so we've been doing things so wrong for all these years that we now have to create this whole bureaucracy and you know throw out the baby with the bath water I'm not going to publicly say what you've done in the past well I'm just saying so we have I'm just recommending to you how it should go forward I'm not going to oine us to the propriety of what's been done in the past but my right my legal recommendation is for you to proceed in that manner and another comment is that um we are not going to give it to the same organization every year um then we have the same Mission with the events or for example with the Le League of baseball if they're going to continue having the program they need they have to have the field every single year so that's another provision that we it is not a good provision you know I'm okay if they're going to be needing the funds the place the park the field every year and we're going to be providing it every year they just there would only be baseball on Alternate years or or or the events or the events that that just proves the point that the in kind and the dollar donations are different we would have to create a separate using the same general guidelines and objective criteria we could create two processes um vice mayor you wanted to say something yeah I was going to say obviously there's exceptions and perhaps in kind is got to have a separate set of rules because you're not going to have little league one year and then next year no or one holiday you're going to have an event and next year you're not going to have holiday or you know so actually we don't need that if we take out that provision from the monetary donations because if there is one organization that every year needs $500 from us for that again that's the problem we cannot have two different set of rules everybody can have the five I mean the same organization can have the 500 every year the same way the letter leak is going to have the fi every year we are setting the rules so why are we going to treat certain groups one way and another groups the other way is discriminatory so we should not be doing that that's my point with the set of rules so when we are picking and choosing we are again picking and choosing we came back to the point of picking and choosing how a set of rules for one and another rle for another one okay so so you want to pick and choose but I mean that's why we're been talking about guidelines for a while precisely but now we want you want guidelines I'm trying let me get clarification same guidelines the guidelines are guidelines right it doesn't mean that it still cannot be sponsored by a commissioner to say although this does not meet the guidelines I still want to sponsor this for this organization because I feel very strongly technically they shouldn't even be applying so I think if there's consensus that they can be funded every year that you just make that recom Commendation and we change the guidelines to account for that I don't think there's any legal legality you can The Simple Solution is to take out the the the byly whatever whatever it is I don't know if it's byly or whatever it is you know we did a lot of research on guidelines that other organizations use and that is a very common practice is that it's part part of the justification for that is that and maybe when you're dealing with larger amounts but you get an organization that yearly relies on the city's donations and if you stop the organization dies and then you get under the pressure of if we don't give them money this year they die so then they get it every year because no one wants to see that organization die but then you end up being the sole and prominent sponsor of that organization that's why they have that and that's why I favor it I I I don't want to get rid of that I I like I don't want entities to become dependent on charity from the city I think we're happy to help but they need to to find funding you know in other sources and by not allowing it every year it encourages them to to be you know more more self-sufficient so I don't think they can depend on off on on $2,000 to function for you be surprised I don't know who's going to apply but I I don't I don't like the um the annual thing I think it creates an you know again you're managing expectations but if we do the money donations and the ink kind donations in Mirror d documents but you address that for the end kind I think that addresses it I want to see them treat equally that's the only way I my support what do you say commissioner Joseph I just think that we were uh on a good path before we got involved with this so you like to have no guidelines I think or no donations I'm happy without having guidelines for the in kind okay but as far as donations because we never really we we did not formalize donations whereas in kind we we by default formalize it by giving them every year but monetary donations we've never made them formal in fact what is the last monetary donation that we've given we didn't budget it last year so it was fiscal year 22 23 okay so right and then also having it um March the end of March you have uh a lot of nonprofits have taxes that ad due April 15 so they may tell us their tax returns aren't prepared yet so that might cause an issue for them as well well it would be the previous years and and that deadline is only for this year because we're coming to you mid year if we had these gu the the idea was that we would have had these guidelines early year approved so that we could have had a an application period of like October October November you know earlier in the year so I'm fine with having uh the an appropriate protocol for um uh monetary donations in order to see who who qualifies who we should be giving it to as far as the in kind I think we were on a good path the way we were all right so we're otherwise it's just going to lead to more more of a con from all right so commissioner Savon wants either none or consistent for both correct I think that's what Alan says that we need to do that's what I want no no no I want to I'm just trying to get consens so I can get for clarification if you're going to do Don if you're going to do donations to commissioner st's point that they are the same in kind or stroking a check same thing um you should have guidelines that apply to both I mean obviously with a little tweak in there if there's a timing issue with submitting but to your point again commissioner suisan if there's a major event that occurs that you want to do an in kind that's not something you can plan for so it had there has to be a separate process but the criteria should be the same minus you know potentially I don't know if we have a consensus on the the yearly even if if we get do away with it which I don't think is a good idea but let's say let's say that we do away with it we're still on the amounts so is it going to be the same is it going to be in kind $2,000 between $500 and $2,500 well part of it it's going to be the same it's going to be the same right well part of it part of it too is so you have some events where you you've approved my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong but some of the in kind that have been approved so in can be okay use the facility we're not going to charge you rent but then there staff that has to be there to open it you got to pay for the electricity you got to pay for the water you got to pay for the police officer that has to be there so there's both an ink kind with forgive so that's not something that is coming out of your budget I understand somebody's using the facility but what's coming out of your budget is for the police officer staff and so on so forth so that's where he gets murky if you treat him different differently in that regard but don't we typically charge for that this past year you did not you're in kind included staff mhm so in kind included PD yes are you certain yes yes okay yes yeah so it gets very involved okay and our you know it's on overtime so it's a no I understand okay so you're for not having guidelines commissioner um you're going to spend a lot of hours I know viscara what what is where are you leaning I think we should have guidelines I the same for both I don't I don't think that the same for both and maybe we're just saying the same things differently but if we're saying the same paper we're just going to put at the top here donations in kind and monetary it's going to be the same words that apply to everything on from page two on right that mean that's the same that's consistent and if that's the case then uh you're going to have to stay between $500 and $2,500 regardless of donation regardless whether it's in kind or cash because that's the same and is that what we're saying because if that's being uniform what I was saying is that they're different and therefore we should have a little packet for money and then a different different packet because I do think that they're different for the in kind but if you want to keep everything between $500 and $2,500 understand that that's what you're doing for both in kind and donations I don't think that we're all saying that but if we're all understanding that and you want to make it the same for everybody then okay I'm okay with that and because it's small amount we can make it every year fine well I don't think that that's what we're saying hold on let let vice mayor go ahead if I can just clar I also what I said earlier that you can have them separate but there there can't or they should be the same criteria but to your point if you all want to say for stroking a check donations it's $25,000 but for in kind we're going to budget possibly up to 50 because a lot of it's unpredictable potentially and you don't know there's certain recurring events that you deal with that you can kind of scope out but there may be things that come up there are unexpect so it wouldn't be legally impermissible to have separate funds and a different amount for each so you could separate them that way but the criteria should be the same right but you still can't give it to religious institutions according to this criteria and according to the law apparently what you're saying constitutionally corre so even if we call it a City Event it can't be a city Hanukkah event it has to be a holiday something and then we can figure out how to invite the different congregations and and that's where the facts of each event get into play as to what's occurring at the event and so on and and then we'd have to look at that as or maybe it can be a city Hanah event would it be no I'm sorry there's plenty of cities that have Hanukkah events right so Christmas and Hanukkah so the the the holiday monikers you know again a lot of them have become so secular that a lot of cities have the different ones what comes down to is what occurs at those so you could have again a Hanukkah festival okay and just like you have your Easter egg hunt or you have a Christmas tree lighting or whatever it is activity for bunch of kids and it's for the public and it's great it's wonderful you have food but then if you have uh you know if you had let's say a nativity scene and you have a religious ceremony the blessing of the nativity scene by the Catholic church and so on and so forth you can't do that because then it becomes a religious or a religious ceremony so that's why if you look at each event and see what's happening you can determine whether it's proper to expend the money so if you have sorry to but it's just like the religious organization making tables you need to buy tables it's the same thing here if a religious organization wants to put on a festival to have kid rides and you know petting zoo whatever else doesn't matter that it's a religious organization as long as the event isn't religious so there is a path though it's sounds like there is a path for the city to be able to do something uh and then the in kind Nation conversation maybe it's a different animal but we can we can still as a city proceed again and accommodate the the again it just gets tricky because there's that fine line between religious and non-religious okay so I have a question so is there all of a sudden going to be a watchdog that's uh watching these events to say oh you've introduced a religious element where there was in previous or you it's not that there's not that there would be a watchdog but the thing is it's a public event so whatever happens there is is public and we would think that whoever the applicant is going to be honest and true to their word in in another comment the maximum amount doesn't need to be 2500 we can pump that to 10,000 we used to give 10,000 so this is like we are talking about we are having this conversation so the maximum amount doesn't need to be 2,500 can be more than that so that for like to your point you know but if you're giving 10,000 then you're creating that dependency not necess no I think so I that's why I voted against that $10,000 donation if we have $10,000 to the Red Cross is nothing I would I the issue the reason I think wait wait wait we're all talking over each other hold on one second let the vice mayor speak because he's been waiting so two two things so one we we used to have a $50,000 um donation budget monetary donation budget we should uh have that amount reinstated I believe right now it's 25,000 uh we have am 5,000 no it says somewhere 5,000 per um we don't have anything currently we do in this budget I thought it was 25,000 and I'm looking it up think I read 5,000 per we did $25,000 so it was $5,000 per elected official which is why we limited the 2500 for application so you would each have two so I I think it should be um it should be raised to 50,000 and then another thing the way I'm looking at this is that these are the guidelines you know all the sections stay the same but when we get to the actual monetary component we just add one where it we're talking about an actual monetary where we cut the check and then when we're talking about cost related or the monetary expense to the city related to in kind you know um so I think we should have two sets there under funding sources and donation amounts and I think the premise behind the limit per donation is that so if you have if if we do split 50,000 you have 10,000 each and somebody comes in and then you all as a body are going to approve them but it gets very hard to manage because at that point you have perhaps just one person that's getting the bulk of the money or if it's not CT at 10,000 and somebody wants 20,000 then you're taking almost half of the money that's budgeted for the year for one organization I think that's why we part of the issue I had with the way doing my my biggest concern about the entire guidelines and criteria is that it also sets a historical precedent that we're going to be doing this every single year where we not we may not necessarily have any reason to give a donation um and so it goes back to Comm VC's point about having someone rely on this to to function um I don't know I'm kind of and we try and we try any agreement that I don't okay so let's just be clear let's take for example the Hanukkah celebration at Gateway are we putting a dollar amount now on how much it's worth to give an inton in kind donation for theuse so what is the amount that we're engaging I don't remember it but it was we voted on it it was substantial yeah we voted on it we approved it we approved it with the with the and the staff and all of that I just don't remember the amount so is this commission now saying that you don't want to continue with that event no we're I'm I'm not saying that I'm saying that see no no no I'm saying that we we well we had the same discussion last time a few months ago and um same thing was said said by Allan and we went ahead and approved it it was but how would you approve it under these guidelines you couldn't you can't we just approved it you have the guidelines no no no no no but what commissioner Jose I'm not talking about the guidelines I'm talking about the law okay but now you're bringing in these guidelines how would you approve that under these guidelines well we could that that's why we need to work with Allan and see how I'm asking the question certain I mean he was so you wouldn't be talking over each other what be able to no because you got to you got to make sure because he's saying that certain religious let's say um events like Christmas and Hanukkah have kind of deal you know become secular in a way you know where you have other participants and other residents coming there I think what he's trying to say is that you cannot be you know too outwardly and have any type of religious ceremony right we're not looking to change the the um the content of the event no but I don't think the event how how are we going to continue the event itself but the the content the event itself in my eyes it's it's an event for the city it's kind of secular obviously is being run by Rabbi Keller but I okay so this coming year under these guidelines that would still be the same um in in kind donation but that I think that comes down to finance and budget Alan I think that comes down to finance and budget so I think you're you're looking at two tracks one whether it's permissible legally which let's say it is permissible based on what the event is and then you're talking about budget so if you're going to have a pot of $50,000 for donations you probably should have a separate fund for stroking a check type thing to go through a process there's a time for application and so on and so forth and then if you want to do in kind donations there probably should be another bucket of money for that with regards to funding because that's going to be completely different yeah but I I think that there's a way to to solve for this and we kind of no but we kind of did because it was originally in our budget we're just no I and I agree with you because it was in our budget Rabbi Ker's event was was in our budget it was a line item in our budget current um last year no it was not it it was not a line item it was not included in our budget are you I'm positive okay so then fine it then what about if if that's what ended up you know if we have historical things that we know are going to come up so whether it be the Little League or the rabbi caller's event or Rabbi Baron event or who whomever that we have hisf can not grandfather can we just put them in our budget and they are not included in this process is my point no I wouldn't put the actual events and what I would do is you know you could probably estimate cuz for your budget purposes you need to estimate so if you know realistically you're going to spend $30,000 you typically spend $30,000 a year on these endind donations with these recurring events you come up with a projected number like you do with most of your budgeting that you think next year you're going to spend 50,000 in any kind and budget that rather than for each actual event because then when you get on that makes it even more on the books because then if you have somebody that comes in and says Okay I want this event in kind we've had that already yeah but I feel like we're not using Common Sense here if I wait hold on hold on let commission this year budget is going to be close to three $300 million so if that's our budget then we can have a donation bucket of a 100,000 with a c of 20,000 per donation and every event like babbi kers or whoever whatever the letter letter League we are going to have the maximum amount to be able to continue providing what historically we've been providing so that'll be my proposal we can give it every single year to the same organization from 20,000 to 500 well that's what I'm asking, no it was like around 12,000 if I'm not mistake 11,455 let me finish J place so like I said it was around 12,000 so if we have a maximum of 20,000 per donation okay so from Maximum 20,000 minimum 500 then we can continue giving what we've been giving historically legally and we have it budgeted for and we are going to be transparent we are going to be consistent we are going to be treating everybody equally uh they're going to do their application and we are going to be able to provide what we've been providing and that way I think we solve all the issue we have the money for it we have the guidelines and we respectfully are going to be um asking whoever wants to participate to continue we haven't been given donation for like two years now if I'm not mistaken right so everybody is been surviving with us not giving donation Mone in kind well point we're classifying historic events so we're making we're making this a category of no understand what I'm saying from a budget standpoint you need to have a general bucket for let's say in kind you can't they're not City events so you can't go ahead and list them specifically as those particular events for that budget because they're not City events okay you're giving money to someone or whether you're doing any kind or through the the services but budget's going to have to work that out but it's not going to be you know for this event that event that event cuz that's going to change too and you want flexibility in that money in case something happens which is your point so if we have up to 20,000 per um request we can like I said continue giving what historically we been giv and there's going to be a set of guidelines etc for everybody guys resolved it not yet so how do we deal with someone like um Alex with his uh with his chess tournament that wanted to use Gateway and we said no he needs to apply you know we can right and then we'll deal with it yeah okay ultimately you're all going to decide who gets the money as a body right so it goes back to my point unless I missed something huge but if these remain as guidelines and not criteria well they really are I mean you can't CR if you're going to yeah you really should have them as criteria CU guidelines gu just if you're not going to follow the guidelines and they're going to be wishy-washy that's of no use I agree with that if we're if we're going to create rules then then it's to follow them if it's going to be well because when you know only when we like it then we just wasted an hour of conversation but that be my proposal what I just said what did you I think that in kind and money donations are inherently different so I think that we should have very similar documents but we need to separate out that value that the you know we even if we make it in one document but I think that they need to be they need they need to be treated a little bit differently logistically they're different because of the value yeah logistically they're different they are logistically a little different so I think legally they're the same but logistically they're different correct correct and if legally they're the same I you know and and and we really need to address this idea of bullet number two don't ations may not be made to religious organizations and but if we don't like that it's like wether I don't I don't care which way we go honestly I just I just want to know if it's legal and that whatever we do is legal and as long as it's legal then I'm okay I think that logistically they're a little different and I don't like the idea of just well why don't we just blow up the money amount and that way we fit everything in the money I'm more inclined to go the other way and be more fiscally conservative and be you know give well but but not uh it's not a you know a new giveaway situation uh so if we're going to be doing that then I'm more towards reducing the numbers rather than just increasing the money but as long as it's legal I'm okay go ahead vice mayor no but I mean I I agree it's it's totally different because you know one thing is an in kind donation those could easily go up to 50,000 let's say if you include let's say you're giving the park for an entire day you know you you try to rent out an entire park that that could be $100,000 a day in reality so I think that we should have a set of numbers for monetary cash donations and a set of numbers for in kind donations yeah I I think we probably need to go back to the drawing board based on the the direction we've gotten and then I think Tiffany and finance need to figure out I don't know how that's monetized or not monetized but how that's reflected in the books with regards to Ink kind donations I don't know if you know but we don't really so like later this fiscal year you will probably have a budget amendment to increase the overtime budget for the police department as an example because it exceeded what we anticipated so which is the point that inang is not inang it's money coming out of our account yes and so you know we do we are spending money to support those things through Personnel um typically and kind is primarily Personnel or loss of Revenue like I could have rented it and now I'm not um the difference was the rabbi Baron event here we actually had to pay out of pocket for something so that's a different that should have been more of like a monetary than an in kind yeah but not to belabor this but I do want to say on the record it is troublesome to me that we would make it so much harder for someone to hold an event that's open to the entire city and has such a huge turnout versus um events that we have that may have very small turnout and end up costing per person a lot more and so it starts becoming a question of what is it that the people of Sunny Al's Beach actually want to do and want to attend because that's who we're representing it's not very it's not just and and I know you disagree Allan but I don't think it's it's black and white I think that there's a lot of gray here and we have a population that is either Jewish or Catholic and they'd like to see these kinds of events and I think that once we start taking them away we're going to have a problem so go back to I want to start a whole conversation cultural problem cultural problem absolutely I'm not saying religious problem I'm talking about it culturally but I'm not who who's who's taking them away though if if we look at bullet point the second bullet point it becomes a problem so but I think like go back to the drawing board like Alan said I'm not okay with this guidelin yeah okay all right good we will go back take your comments and try to build the sponsorships the in kind and the donations into some sort of document or guideline that we can bring back to you for approval Workshop for that that' be I think helpful um yeah because it's already 510 we didn't do the extension so what are we doing are we extending or are we going to move this to the commission meeting what do you guys long commission meeting how what's the next item next item is scholarships scholar I suspect this is going to take just as long so should we stay on this and just go through can I can I can we move to maybe it may be shorter than this one depending on what all right do we want to try and then if we go past 5:45 then we'll stop well I I'd like to make sure I address the legislative priorities um only because that potentially can become something I'd like to then add to the commission meeting so all right I'm not opposed to that does anyone have any opposition continue I'm okay continue going all the way through all right let's go let's go let's do it fast we have consensus that we're going to go fast let's see Mr city manager you heard that I'm ready so uh for item 3C regarding scholarships we recommend against it I'm okay I'm okay with that too wow fast against what against uh giving scholarships why um based on our review and my discussion with legal it presents some significant legal challenges and we feel like it's best to eliminate the scholarships I agree I don't I I I think that you know obviously there was an issue that came up um you know we start looking at everything that you know if something you know becomes an issue or we have an issue with something I I don't think we should you know just fold I mean I think that you know some of the recipients were very grateful they deserved it and um you know we should probably you know consider this or have a little more discussion regarding this because I do think that it adds a benefit to some of these uh to to the students that are being awarded these uh these scholarships um you know everything in life we're going to have issues here and there and I don't think that you know we should just say we're going to eliminate it just because you know we have an issue or two uh regarding these scholarships I know that there's a legal aspect to it where you are giving money to a uh an individual and is not for City purposes let's say as a whole but then again on the other side of the token it is a resident of the of the city and um so I think you are benefiting this city in a in in a way and it and it's a program that you know any any student from the city can apply to so that's I I was thinking about it a little bit so you know it was tough obviously you know I I understand what you were trying to say Alan when we met uh but then again I think it's a benefit that is is open to anybody that's in the city and that could apply so that's how I was thinking about it lately so yeah I think we're not in the business of giving scholarships because that goes back to then what does that stop someone that is uh going to graduate school wanting to get a scholarship that's an adult we're then giving individual grants I think that I'd rather have that money moved if we're going to do these donations moved over to donations that serve an actual Municipal purpose rather than an individual um but let's see what everyone else thinks and and just because not all of you were privy to my my opinion on this and it was actually my predecessor's opinion as well um but it stems from an attorney general opinion actually there was a County Calhoun County don't know exactly where that is um they were doing it in the form of a loan but the Attorney General uh found that that is a private donation because the the the public benefit is way too tenuous and too secondary to the prim it's you're really giving somebody a private donation um and found that the county couldn't do that in fact the county made it in a loan work because they wanted more doctors to practice within their County so they would give medical students loans forgivable loans and if they came back and practice medicine in the county they'd forgive the loan and that was found to be an improper use of public funds because it was a private donation versus not donation but a private use of public funds rather than uh a primary benefit to the public and that and the only reason I'm saying is not to argue with you but just because I don't didn't have the same conversation with uh everyone else commissioner viscar uh you know I'm I'm pretty predictable you know I mean if if the law indicates that we need to change gears then we then we change gears um and again I'm okay with getting I'm okay with with with not doing the SC you can certainly continue to do that's just you know my opinion obviously you don't have to it's just my opinion based on what the attorney general has held before but um you know that's obviously up to you U commissioner Joseph I'm thinking that if uh we were to continue with the scholarships that we have to change the criteria so all right well we have three against and two for so I think getting rid of the scholarships all right legislative priorities for this and um we're we're getting ready to start the legislative session so what I'm looking for from you without getting some extensive list that is impossible to move forward I guess narrowing your focus on things that are important to you you as a group that you would like us to focus on from the legislative priorities that I can work with the city attorney and our lobbyist of things that we can move forward stating that um just areas you would like us to focus on from a policy and legislative perspective let me let me ask you a question in the past historically our lobbyist really was not lobbing for legislative items but for money and then we determined that the amount of money we were getting it was too much trouble and it pro and it caused us more money to get that money so we started uh recommending against that so um how are we going to do this if we don't have an actual list to choose from I'm looking to you to give us some sort of overview or a list to work from um I guess we're saying kind of the same thing but a little bit different so saying you need a list first for us for then for you to then give me direction so if we wanted to say we want to go back to um having Rambo get us money is that one of those or is that not part of this list right now we still have a contract with Ron book but what we're looking for is we did set aside some money in this budget for a lobbyist to move forward our legislative agenda yeah so what because right now there's not a whole I think there's 12 bills right now that have been introduced not I don't know about the special session whether that goes forward but right now I think there were last time I checked there were 15 or 12 bills that were because we are fir keep track of the bills that deal with local government and um so far like I said we I think there's 15 or so so if you wait until the list of bills come out by the deadline too late it's almost too late right so I think the in conversation with with some of you the idea was to if you had certain areas that you want to concentrate on so for example I know that two of you are um uh uh interested in possibly better uh regulation for scooters so that's an area we know that you're focusing on so we could try to look out for those things you know once the bill hits we can try to get a little step up before we have to wait until all the bills are in and I think this year from what I understand I think each there going to be a scramble to follow them cuz I think there's a limit of seven per the of bills that they can file for the representatives yes but not for the Senators right for the representatives so there's going to be a flurry of them that that are going to come up but um it's just in the past if we wait until there's a list and then you choose which ones you want to Advocate it's too late like you stated so if there's something right now that you're interested in that you want us to look out for that would be good to know because then we can try to do what we can you know we're not allow fir we don't do lobbying but we can certainly you know track as much as we can and and then in conjunction with Ron book too if we know something hits early and this is something that you all are interested in then we don't have to wait the next month to come to you as a body to say hey is this something that you want us to push forward if you tell us that yeah anything Scooter's coming up push forward that we'll know to start working on that before we come back to you that way we get a little bit of advanced time so I I'll start um for and I think we've discussed this as a as a body but it would be the um amendments to the live local um anything having to do with insurance and uh any requirements for condos and reserves yeah I second that and then um scooters again I mean I think that you have a motorized vehicle people that are 16 years and older should get a license for that to be honest with you so you could start regulating that commissar okay I think that um we need to have like three broad categories that we can because the session moves faster than we do right so um and this is what I'm hoping that we can agree on the three broad categories and that then we can bring it to the commission meeting uh so that then they have their official direction right uh so what I was thinking was um the home rule issues and we don't have to reinvent a wheel on that because Miami dat County Legal cities and the Florida League do a lot of that however the sometimes our needs are not the same as what the FLC is is is promoting so we would need that filter um so home rule again just because it's an easier one anything condo relief or reform I would include live local in that insurance HOA you know so anything condo relief or or condo reform and then my third one was um like any like Coastal and storm resiliency anything related to Hurricane hardening um Beach Ocean Environmental initiatives flooding you know the I was thinking water I was trying to think of a broad word for for water but um Coastal and storm resiliency and I think those those three things really cover a lot of our issues right we're not going to be talking about agricultural cow things right right right um and then on the very very narrow the the very narrow path that's very specific to us that maybe other cities don't and also specific to keep SK is the scooters was on my on my narrow list um I've spoken to to run book they said that they could you know help us um uh you know that once we know like things that we need to push for they could help us setting up meetings again FLC is good and we can do the that part of the agenda but when it comes down when we go for legislative days so much has already happened oh it's too late yeah it's too late um and we've already reached out right to keep a SC they're you know to see what they're doing they're working with a a legislator so we're already in Communications with that and we um there is strength in numbers we're not the only city we know kusc is dealing with it and and there are this it's going to become a bigger problem so I think we need to be uh at the Forefront of that but that's not a broad category that's a very narrow category but I think for us it's it's important so if th those would be my recommendations I think it covers what everybody else is bringing up home rule condo relief condo form and Coastal and storm resiliency I think covers us and then scooters over here yes also I've um been speaking to Susan regarding the scooters as well and also Senator Al Brittain he had in 2022 he had Senate bill 26- 00971 d22 regarding reparan rights that um I'd like to see him uh um rein reinstate that um legislation to try to have that go through it's regarding reparan rights on submerged land where there's a submerged land owner it restores reparan rights so maybe that part of the coastal for up land category um homeowners so that's something that I'm going to be contacting him yes yeah that's something if you have a specific legis L that's working on something or worked on something now actually um Senator Albert and his speaker of the Senate so right so influence to have this pass so we'll see okay um condo is the number one that I have everybody's asking for more restrictions about the abuses of the condo boards and the associations that will be for me to put and we had like um representative poras and other ones that they're working on it I have very good relationship with them as well and they're going to continue working on that so condos is a number one for me uh one that is about money is to get some money for the construction of the park um under the cway we have not presented that and I think we can get some money for that and start that and have that relationship with the fdot to start that construction keep people out of the streets and put them there with the different plans that we can come up at some point tennis courts Etc that'll be perfect to get some some money for the under cway project and the third one is that last year they were also the they were trying to pass new legislation about the concept of the defamation defamation and harassment um he dies uh but it almost like it went like halfway or so so we can also um somehow find a little bit more about it and probably we would like to um help you know like push that forward I think is important uh defamation is a big thing I think here in the city of sel's beach if we can do something for the people that is going through that and doing that and to have give the police more teeth about it that is something I think we should also support thank thank you okay next item is 3E discussion on E Scooters and ebikes no that's us yeah okay okay so I already covered um part of what I was going to say I mean I yes um I don't I don't know if banning is an option but we are actively looking into it this is I think ultimately it's going to have a legislative solution and I think it's going to be along the lines of what vice mayor Lama said which is putting on age restriction and treating them as as vehicles um you know whether a ban is possible or not I don't know I mean we can advocate for that but I I the solution is not going to be at the local level the solution is I think going to be legislated the the Restriction that was made apparent by pizo and and basabi was they're seen as bicycles so making them no long that's how they're seen now correct taking them out of that definition as bicycle and more if you if you call it a vehicle cuz that's what I asked I don't remember where I was maybe it was in the meeting maybe it was with but but it's like well how what do you do with a kid you know how do you how do you handle a kid it's like well what do you do when a kid is driving a car well then you have to confiscate the thing maybe you confiscate the thing what did you say what did you say now our speed limits are going to be going up hopefully not okay what about Ki K Ki K I think they we're talking to them they're they're they're they're working with a legislators it's what I think we can we need and it's what Ron book's office said it's like uh you know strengthen numbers so we're not out here like the Cowboys just us like we need to join kisc and in in that effort they they're ahead of us in in this you know and there have to be other cities so we need to figure out who those who those cities are before somebody you know we've been very lucky oh yeah that people have have not been hurt worse but I would like to qu sponsor this with you and you okay I'm off well it's just a discussion I'm okay with the band perfectly yeah okay uh speed bumps pumps which is that the two golden CH speed speed bomp 3F the discussion on okay so uh we have that actually uh for discussion tonight because the county is uh clamping down on the speed bumps okay so then we'll talk about it later yes all right lovely see everyone at 6:30 meeting a journ thank you