--------- Okay, good evening everyone. >> It is 6:34. Call the meeting to order. >> Commissioner Styverent >> here. >> Commissioner Joseph >> present. >> Commissioner Viscara >> here. >> Vice Mayor Lama >> here. Mayor Setchin >> here.
>> All members present. Ma'am. Okay, we'll start with the pledge of allegiance. We don't have an invocation. Um Ari, would you like to lead us in the pledge? >> I'll do it. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Mario. >> Okay. Um, so we are
the regular city commission meeting of January 15, 2026. Um, we're going to start off with uh the approval of the minutes which is item 3A, the summary minutes for the November 20th, 2025 commission meeting. >> Okay. I'll take a motion. >> Motion.
>> Second. >> Second. In >> favor? I >> I >> Okay, Mauricio. >> Let's do the um your opening statement. >> Oh, please go ahead. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We appreciate your attendance and thank you
for joining us tonight. Before we begin, there are a few important reminders regarding conduct during our commission meetings. Please ensure all electronic devices are turned off or set to silent mode to maintain the integrity of our
proceedings. Mutual respect is a foundation of productive discussions. We ask that everyone remain silent and attentive when someone is addressing the commission. Clapping, applauding, heckling, or any verbal outburst either in support or opposition of the speaker
are strictly prohibited. Any individual wishing to address the commission must fill out a public speaker card and submit it to the city clerk before the relevant item is announced. Each speaker is granted a maximum of three minutes. Should you exceed this time, the chair
will notify you to conclude your remarks. Speak directly to the agenda's points. Remain concise and avoid redundancy. Should an individual speak without the chair's permission or continue speaking after a warning, they may be escorted out of the chambers. It
is essential to avoid making impertinent slanderous remarks or becoming boisterous while addressing the commission. Such behavior may lead to being barred from future commission appearances unless the majority of the commission members present vote otherwise.
The presiding officer may disallow signs or placards in the commission chamber. Please exit the chamber quietly and without disruption. The goal of our meetings is to facilitate public input and participation. However, disruptive or disorderly
conduct hinders our collective objective. Individuals who want to speak on an item on the agenda are asked to fill out a public speaker card and give it to the city clerk before the item is called. Speakers are asked to speak to the issues, make comments concise and to
the point, and refrain from making duplicate comments. All speakers will be limited to one threeinut comment per item. If you exceed the 3minut aotment, the chair will advise you to finish your comment. If you speak out of turn without permission from the chair and or
you do not cease speaking after one warning, you will be escorted out of chambers. In order to maintain orderly conduct and or proper decorum at these meetings, anyone who interferes with the orderly process of the meetings after a warning
may be removed from the meeting and may be barred from further appearance before the city commission as permitted in S286, 0114, FS, and SS74-5 and 74-21
of the city's code of ordinances. Any necessary removal will be made at the direction of the mayor and will be carried out by law enforcement or designated sergeant-at-arms. It is essential that attendees adhere to these rules of procedure to ensure productive
meetings that serve both the public and the city commission. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. >> Okay. Uh good evening everyone. Welcome. Happy new year. Um love that there's so many people here because it was really cold in here earlier. So, thank you for
warming it up. I want to welcome everyone because most of you have never been here before. So, uh I appreciate and as this entire commission appreciate you all being here. I will give you many opportunities to remind you that there are the public speaking cards, but I'm going to start now. I um I'm losing my voice a little bit. So, please follow
the the rules that you just heard as far as the threeminut rule and the rules of um this body. Uh same goes for my colleagues over here. If you would like to fill us public speaking card and you're not sure if you're going to speak, that's okay. Just fill it out now. You could give it to the clerk and
you may change your mind uh at any time if you would like to, but once the item is out of the uh public speaking, then it's closed. Okay, Mauricio, >> I sorry, I would just like to uh make one clarification if I could. >> One one second, please. Um could we do
the order of business first? >> Yes, sir. Okay. >> Okay. Okay. So, we have a couple of changes to tonight's agenda. We're going to hear out of order uh the following items. 6A, excuse me. 8A,
which is an ordinance amending the land development regulations will be heard um at the beginning as will ordinance um amending the future land use map which is item 8B.
We are also going to hear out of order item 5C which is a zoning application by Central Pay Beach Developers. That'll be the first application that will be considered. And then we also have
a few items by Commissioner Viscara which are based off of the discussion at the 3:00 workshop regarding the legislative priorities for the city. It's a resolution supporting or opposing each bill. >> Okay. And that is up in front the
additional. All right. So, if you were here to speak on 5C, >> please uh go ahead and fill out the public speaking card now. I imagine most of you are here for 5A, but 5C, if you were thinking about uh speaking on that, please go ahead and fill out the card in
the back. You need you had a point of clarification. Please. I just wanted to also even make it more clear that if you're regarding uh the Sanrope signage, please mark 5C. If you're here regarding
the um the um approval for the Miami Beach Club, please mark 5B. >> Okay. Thank you. just so there's no >> Thank you for that. Okay, >> no problem. Um, Mauricio.
So the first item that the commission will be considering is item 8A which is an ordinance of the city commission of the city of San Beach Florida amending chapter 265 article 7 section 265-44 of
the land development regulations entitled specific use regulations by establishing procedures for the review and approval of certified recovery residences and creating a process for requesting a reasonable accommodation. from any land use regulation that serves
to prohibit the establishment of a certified recovery residence in accordance with section 397.487 4875 15A of the Florida statutes providing for repealer providing for servability providing for transmitt to the state
land excuse me providing for servability and providing for an effective date and this is second and final reading >> all right so if anyone wanted to speak on 8A please go ahead and fill out that card now um I'm going to give a lot of latitude because I want to make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to speak on any item they want to and a
reminder you can speak on multiple items um however if you do need to have a conversation, please take it outside because the acoustics in this room bounce and every single conversation you have, we hear up here and it's very distracting. Please go ahead, Amy. >> Okay. Uh, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. This is second
reading of the ordinance regarding recovery residences. Um just as a reminder, this past year the state passed legislation regarding certified recovery residences and it requires that the counties and municipalities um adopt an ordinance that establishes the process and procedure for certified
recovery residences and a process for reasonable accommodation requests. So this is second reading. There have been no changes since first reading and I'm available if you have any questions. >> Okay. Do we have any public comment? >> No, ma'am. >> All right. Do we have any questions from the commission? I'll take a motion, please. So move
>> motion >> second by >> second. >> I'll second >> Mauricio. >> Vice Mayor Llama. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Styverson. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Viscaro.
>> Yes. >> Mayor Satchin. >> Yes. >> The ordinance passes 5 to zero. >> Great. Thank you. Next item please. 8B. AB is an ordinance of the city commission of the city of Sanos Beach, Florida, amending the text of the f future land use element of the adopted comprehensive plan, providing for
repealer, providing for servability and providing for an effective date. >> Thank you. >> Okay, this is second reading of the text amendment to the future land use element of the city's comprehensive plan. After first reading um in November, the amendment package was transmitted to all
of the reviewing agencies and the city did not receive any comment letters or letters of objection. So therefore, it's before you for second reading. Um there have been no changes since first reading either. But just to provide a quick reminder of what this amendment accomplishes. It adds critical definitions that are currently not
included in the future land use element. It updates the statutory and date references, eliminates redundant policies, and updates the population projections, and it also establishes the upper levels of development for five future land use categories. I'm available if you have any questions.
>> Thank you. Are there public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> All right. Are there questions to the commission? I'll take a motion, please. >> Motion. >> Mauricio. >> Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Steen. >> Yes. Commissioner Dcara,
>> yes. >> Vice Mayor Lama, >> yes. >> Mayor Setchin, >> yes. >> The ordinance passes 5 to zero. >> All right. Now, we're to five state. >> Yes. We're into the zoning applications. And if I may, I'm going to read the introductory statement.
Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, this evening's agenda has three zoning applications and the city commission will be conducting public hearings to review and consider these applications. In these matters, the city commission sits in a quasi judicial capacity and will hear testimony from city staff, the
applicants, and members of the public. The materials attached to the agenda are considered part of the record, as well as any additional documentary evidence that is introduced and accepted into the record during these hearings. If you intend to speak or provide testimony on any zoning application, you must be
sworn in and should have also filled out a public speaker card and handed it it to the city clerk before the agenda item is called. If you are called to speak, please state your name on the record, your address, and whether you've been sworn in. Please make your comments
concisely. As a matter of procedure, the city staff will present first. After city staff has made their presentations, the applicants will then make their presentations in support of their applications. Thereafter, the hearings will be open to members of the public to speak in support of or against the
pending applications. The city commission may set a reasonable time limit, which is 3 minutes for members of the public to speak. After members of the public speak, both staff and the applicants may make additional statements or rebuttal, and the applicants have the right to
cross-examine any witness. Thereafter, the public hearing portion of the item will be closed, and the commission will commence deliberations and make a decision on the application. Ultimately, the decision made by the city commission at the conclusion of the hearings must be based upon competent substantial
evidence which has been presented during the course of the hearings and must adhere to the essential requirements of the law. Competent substantial evidence is defined as evidence that is sufficiently revalent and material that a reasonable mind would accept as adequate support to the conclusion
reached and includes documentary evidence in the record, the city's staff report, comments or opinions of professional staff, factbased comments of neighbors, residents, and lay persons, and opinion testimony, but only by witnesses who are qualified as
experts. Competent substantial evidence does not include conjecture, speculation, or generalized opinions or statements in support or in opposition to the matter. Attorney testimony is generally not competent substantial evidence unless the attorney has some
expertise in a relevant area. So with that, the zoning preamble. Um, in accordance with the LDRs of the city commission of the city of Sonia's Beach, all items to be heard today have been legally advertised and notices have been mailed and posted on the properties. All
persons wishing to speak at this hearing, please raise your right arm to be sworn in. >> This is for 5C >> for all three applications. >> Okay. All three applications. >> Any zoning item, even if you're not sure. Mhm. >> So, if you submitted a a public speaker card, please raise your right arm and
including the applicants and the property owners. So, do you swear testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and not to put the truth. So, help you God. >> Thank you. Okay, perfect. So the first item, the first application that we will
consider is 5C, request of Sanrope beach developers for a site plan modification for the property located at 16990 Collins Avenue. And mayor and commissioners,
um just really quickly, um do any of you have any exparty communications um that you've had with the applicant? >> Yes. Yes. Yes. So, uh each one of you need to disclose the context of those conversations.
>> So, who would ever like to start? >> Yeah. They called me to ask me uh to explain me the what was the requirement. >> Thank you, Commissioner Joseph. >> And um I received a call from uh Mr. Ma regarding um the hardship that um is
relevant to their restaurant. >> Same. I had a conversation with the applicant >> vice mayor. >> Same here. >> Commissioner, >> thank you. Okay, Amy. >> Okay. Evening, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. This is zoning
application PZ 2025-16 for a site plan modification and signed ordinance variances at Milton Tower. The applicant is the owner of the property, St. Nature Pay Beach Developers LLC and the property is located at 16690 Collins Avenue on the
corner of Sunny Isles Boulevard and Collins Sunny Isles Boulevard and Collins Avenue. Uh the property is zone Town Center District and is developed with the Milton Tower project which is a 13story office building. The applicant proposes installation of a new 10 square
foot monument sign facing Sunny Isles Boulevard which requires three items. The first is a site plan modification to the Milton Tower project to have additional signage, a sign ordinance variance to allow two monument signs on a single parcel when only one is
permissible, and a second sign ordinance variance to decrease the monument sign step setback from 6 feet to 3 ft 1 in from the right ofway. This is a picture of the existing monument sign that is facing Collins Avenue. It is located just north of the
only vehicular access to the development. And this is a rendering of the proposed monument sign facing Sunny Isles Boulevard. The proposal is to install the sign within the existing planter box, which um I have the red arrow pointing to on the screen. Um as stated,
it requires the two sign ordinance variances. The zoning code has three criteria for sign ordinance variances and the proposal meets some but not all of the criteria. First, the property is located on a corner lot with frontages on two
multi-lane arterial roadways which is a special condition that does not result from actions of the applicant. Additionally, installation of the sign is not contrary to the public interest because it is small in size. It's about It's only 2 feet tall on top of the planter box and 10 square feet in size
and it does not impact any sight visibility triangles. However, literal enforcement of the code provisions would not result in an unnecessary hardship. Uh with that, staff has compiled the relevant facts of the request and recommends that the application be
considered by the city commission. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. Iris Essara with offices at 333 Southeast Second Avenue. I'm an attorney on behalf of the owner. I I thank the planning department um for reviewing carefully our application and
confirming that we meet two of the three criteria. I am here to present that we meet three of the three criteria. The third criteria with regards to hardship. A restaurant signage is critical to the restaurant success. The building it is is developed
in order to meet FEMA standards. So, it's an elevated building. So, folks to be able to see the doorway, to see the restaurant, to engage, to go up those steps, sometimes pass by. It's a it's a busy highway. It's got four lanes going in front of it. So, the sign that we're
proposing is in the landscape planer. It's a modest sign. The code allows for 78 ft. We're only asking for 10 square feet. and it is in fact a hardship for the restaurant to not have enough sufficient um signage for the viability of the restaurant. So we ask this board to consider that as the third meet
meeting the third criteria and granting the variance. Thank you. >> Thank you >> Mauricio. >> We only have well I think we have one speaker Esther Cohen. >> No. >> Okay. So
>> no other speakers. >> Okay. Esther, did you want to speak on something else or you just changed your mind? >> No, I'm not I'm not forcing you to, but did you want to speak on this item? No. >> Oh, okay. So, if we could just note that on there. Oh,
>> no, no, no. It's fine. It's fine. We We >> got it. I got it. Thank you. >> That's why I tried to allay the confusion. >> All right. Uh, no other speakers, right? >> No other speakers. >> Okay. Uh, any comments from the commission? >> Yes. I would just like to say because I've gone to Rose Cafe
>> myself with my wife for lunch several times and if you're if you're um someone looking for a place to eat driving up Sunny Isles Beach Boulevard, unfortunately this building does not lend itself to
clear view and you would easily pass by this restaurant. Um the way it's inset creates a hardship, a financial hardship for the restaurant that uh isn't
um clearly understood um unless you delve into the fact and you know um you know you you've been in business and you know that visibility is so important to having access to to and
getting people into your uh restaurant. So, in that regard, I'm 100% for the uh signage um that it um is so relevant to having a successful business at this
restaurant and um I'm all for it. >> Thank you. Anyone else in the commission? I'll take a motion then. >> Motion. >> I'm sorry. Who made the motion? >> Vice Mayor made the motion. Commissioner Stubent seconded.
Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Sison. >> Yes, >> Commissioner Riscar. >> I'm a default no on variances, but I see it's going to pass. So, um I just wanted to dis I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to distinguish this variance from the
other uh places that are that are there because it is a corner lot. I So, I don't want to see a bunch of other signs in planters. I think I thought this was tasteful, but if I don't have to vote on the variance, I won't. So, sure. No.
>> Vice Mayor Lama. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. >> Mayor Setchin. >> Yes. >> The application is approved. >> Okay. Thank you. You're free to go. Thank you. Um I just want to remind everyone please and I I I think you
could hear that I'm losing my voice. If you have not been to a commission meeting before, um just if you can keep your conversations to outside. Also, when you are going up to speak, all your comments need to be directed to me, the chair. Uh
please do not uh name anyone. There's no personal attacks. Uh this is the rules for everyone, including everyone on this day. We're going to model that behavior, but uh this is in order to maintain decorum. So I ask you please all to uh
to allow for everyone to have the opportunity to speak. So uh please be cognizant of the rules. Thank you. Next item please. >> Okay. Next item is 5A and we're also going to be hearing its companion item
9A. So 5A is a request of MIA43 Inc. for a site plan modification of a bal balcony enclosure. the property located at 17749 Collins Avenue, unit 4301 and 4302.
And 9A is a resolution approving the purchase and assignment of transfer of development rights and the amount of 305 square ft of floor area and zero dwelling units from the city's public TDR bank account to MIA43, Inc. Thank you.
>> And one more time, mayor. Um, any exported communications, any be disclosed, any communication at all with the applicant? >> No. >> No. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. Um, this is zoning
application PZ 2022-12 for the balcony enclosure at the mansions at Aqualina project for combined unit 4301 and 4302. Um, the owner is MIA43, Inc. And the request is to modify the approved site plan for the mansions at Aqualina and to
purchase and assign transferable development rights from the city's public TDR bank to increase the floor area of the unit by $35 square ft. The price for purchasing the TDRs will be a total of 38,125. The site plan modification will increase
the overall floor area for the mansions at Aqualina development from 436,325 ft to 436,630 ft. Um here is the existing floor plan of the unit and highlighted is the um
western terrace that is subject to the application and here's the proposed floor plan which will convert a portion of the balcony to a 305 foot office space. Um the cons the request is consistent with the comprehensive plan and the land development regulations and I'm available if you have any questions.
>> Okay, Mara, do we have any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> All right. Are there any questions from the commission? >> No. I'll take a motion, please. >> I'll make a motion. >> Need a second. >> Second. >> Commissioner Vascara. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Lama?
>> Yes. >> Commissioner Joseph? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Styver? >> Yes. >> Mayor Svetchin? >> Yes. >> The application is approved. >> Okay. 5B. >> Okay. We're also going to be hearing five, excuse me, 9 B and 9 C together
with 5 C. 5B, excuse me. So 5B is a request of MBRE Investments LLC for a site plan approval for the property located at 19051 Collins Avenue. 9B is a resolution approving the purchase and assignment of transfer
development rights in the amount of 120,972.2 square ft of floor area and 48 dwelling units from the city's public TDR bank account to MBRE Investments LLC. 9C is a resolution approving the terms and conditions of a promisary note for
the payment of approved bonuses and transferable development rights in the amount of 26,649,84959 for the approved site plan application PZ 202258 submitted by MBRE Investments Inc. Okay, Amy, before you start again, I'm just
going to remind everyone if you wanted to speak on 5 A, 9B, or 9C, this is your opportunity to please fill out the public speaker card. Go ahead. >> Okay. Okay. >> And sorry, Amy. Um, any exarty communications. >> Commissioner Stoson. >> Yes.
>> The nature of those communications >> project commissioner Joseph. Yes, I had communication as well. >> And the nature of those communications >> uh regarding the project, any questions I might have? >> The same.
>> The same. >> The same. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Please. >> All right. Uh, good evening. This is zoning application PZ 202508 for site plan approval of the Miami Beach Club development project. The applicant is the owner of the property MBRE
Investments LLC and the subject property is located at 19051 Collins Avenue. It is a rectangular lot located on the east side of Collins Avenue and it is currently developed with the Miami Beach Club condo hotel which was built in 1951 with 104 units. The future land use
category of the property is mixeduse highdensity resort and the zoning district is mixeduse resort. The application before you tonight has seven requests, which I'm going to walk through each of them in the next slides. So, the first request is for site plan
approval. The proposed project is 62 stories tall and per code, the maximum height is determined by the Federal Aviation Administration. The applicant provided the FAA determination of no hazard letter and the Miami Dade Aviation Department determination letter
which is establishes the allowable height at 828 ft. Um and these letters were attached to the staff report. The project proposes 145 condominium units or 72 dwelling units per acre. This is below the maximum number of
units the property is eligible for based on the future land use category. The maximum is 104 dwelling units per acre, which would be 209 units. On the lobby level, there is a 2,390 ft private restaurant space intended for
residents and their guests. In total, the project has 524,212.8 ft of floor area, which is a 5.98 floor area ratio. This is the maximum F that the property is eligible for with transferable development rates and
development bonuses. Um the proposed project is um consistent with the future land use category in terms of density and intensity. There are no variances requested in the site plan application. And in terms of concurrency, the applicant submitted all
required evidence to confirm there's adequate facilities for water, sewer, on-site drainage, solid waste, parks, public schools, and transportation. All of the supporting materials for concurrency were attached to the staff report. This is the proposed site plan, and I
want to highlight a few of the elements. First, all of the setback requirements are either met or exceeded. The required front setback for the tower is 75 ft and the project proposes 211 ft and 6 in. The rear setback is 25 20 ft or the
bulkhead line whichever is closer to Collins Avenue. And the project proposes the bulkhead line which is 35 ft 4 in. The north side setback is met at 20 ft and the southside step back is exceeded at 26 ft and 2 in.
The 20 foot beach access is provided for along the northern property line running from Collins Avenue to the Sandy Beach. And there is also on the beach a 10,000 ft public oceanfront park easement that's provided within their private property. Um it is to be open and
accessible to the public during daylight hours and maintained by the property owner. The project proposes two vehicular access connections to Colin Collins Avenue. The southern one will be the service entrance for loading and garbage. And the driveway towards the center of the property will be for
passenger vehicles arriving to the development. So that's the first request for the site plan approval. The second request that is part of the application is for the purchase and assignment of transferable development rights. The applicant is requesting
120,972.2 2 ft of floor area and 48 dwelling units from the city's public TDR bank. The third request is for a payment agreement in the form of a promisory note for the TDR purchase and the development bonuses.
The payment agreement will allow for the principal amount plus acred interest to be paid over time, but for the full amount must be paid within 90 days of issuance of the first temporary certificate of occupancy or TCO for the project. The fourth request is to defer the work
of art requirement to after site plan approval but prior to TCO. This is because the code requires that the public art piece be presented concurrent with the site plan application but the applicant is requesting for this uh to be deferred. The fifth request is to use graphics and
murals on a temporary construction fence. The code allows us for development projects adjacent to Collins Avenue or Sunny House Boulevard subject to commission approval. The sixth request is regarding extensions of time. First, the applicant is requesting an extension of time to
obtain the below grader or master building permit from 24 months from site plan approval to up to 5 years and an extension of time from 24 months from site plan approval to 5 years for completion of the project. The final request is for a shared
parking agreement between the residential condominium units and the private restaurant uses. If calculated separately, the project will require 306 parking spaces and the project is proposing 298 parking spaces. An independent parking study was
submitted by the applicant which was reviewed and accepted by the city's traffic engineering consultant and the agreement proposes that eight parking stalls will be shared between the two uses. Um that study was submitted and also included in your backup materials. Uh with that staff has compiled the
relevant facts. We find that the application is consistent with the comprehensive plan and land development regulations and recommends that the application be considered by the city commission along with the conditions um outlined in the staff report. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Okay. Is the applicant going to come up and present anything? >> Yes. >> Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> My name is Tracy Slavvens. My address is 3800 Northeast 1st Avenue Sweet 200 and I'm here on behalf of MBRE Investments
LLC. Um, the applicant is a joint venture between Desert Development Related Group and BH Group and is comprised of experienced developers of high-end residential projects, including numerous successful examples in the city of Sunny Isles Beach. um they've
acquired this property which was a condominium motel and have um bought out each of the units and are now ready to present the Miami Beach Club project for your consideration this evening. Joined with us tonight are our team of consultants from Cohen Freriedman and
Senosa Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Kimley Horn Engineering and Skyrise Engineering. We're here to discuss the redevelopment requests. um staff did a wonderful job summarizing them and we thank them for their support and their work with us throughout this project. They've been diligent and
receptive to everything we've proposed to them and we appreciate it. Um I do have a brief slideshow that we will take you through to explain the project. Um as noted, the property is zone mixeduse residential and it consists of 2.012
acres. Here's an image of the currently existing Miami Beach Club. It is, as noted, a twostory motel um with 104 units situated between our Monikasa and Ocean 2. As you can see, the building
stands out as outdated and out of character and totally out of line with the development in the city today, particularly along Collins Avenue. The applicant proposes to demolish the building and replace it with the proposed 145 unit tower.
Um here's a rendering of the site with the site plan placed upon it. As you can see from this image, um there is quite a bit of open space. Um the staff presentation also indicated and Sandy Piece from Peaceman from CF Architects will walk you through, but the building
is as skinny and set back as possible in order to provide as much open space and light throughout the property as possible. Um, as noted, our requests this evening are seven. There's a site plan approval
application. uh purchase of the TDRs or transfer of development rights in the amount of approximately $15 million, acceptance of the payment agreement, deferral of the artwork requirement for the public spaces unit, use of the
murals and graphic designs on a temporary construction fence, the extensions of time to allow for up to five years for site plan approval and for permitting. This will allow us to ensure that the sales are in place in order to get financing to begin permitting and construction. And then
the construction process for a building like this to make sure it's of the highest quality um will take more than two years. Um and lastly, the shared parking agreement is before you this evening. This is a a code anomaly. Um the code requires separate parking for
the residents uh and for the restaurant. And since this is a private restaurant to serve only the residents of the building, no additional parking was determined to be needed because the parking for the building already incorporates guest parking and staff parking requirements. Um, so with that,
I will turn the mic over to Sandy Peaceman of Cohen Freedman and Senosa to walk you through the project. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm Sandy Peaceman, uh, principal and president of, uh, CF Architects with our offices at Miami Lakes, Florida. Um, as you can see on
this on the the the building is situated on the site, um, to allow for the most um for the smallest footprint of the building to occupy the site so we could have as much open space on the site as possible. Um, we, you know, we decided
to, uh, condense everything and use the height that was given to us and allowed to us so that the building could be tall and narrow and preserve all of the sight lines on the north and south side of the building and get ourselves set back as
far as we can from the from the front property line. Um, in this slide, we can see how the building and the site are organized. Um the bottom three light layers are parking followed by the amenity level uh
the lobby level with a few amenities. Um the restaurant that we've been talking about. The next two levels are um the amenity floors and then the floors above that are comprised of all of the residential floors.
Um, as you can see, this is the this is the lowest level, the parking level where um uh residents and people would um get to the site. And as we said, the the the southernmost access point is strictly
for loading and um um loading for the units and loading for trash and um and uh delivering from Amazon. And then the middle access point is for
all the residents and their guests. Here we can see this is the lobby level. You can see sort of the processional of the site. Um residents would enter in the middle of the site and then come around a a ramp that that um guides you
past a nice greenery a greened intermediate deck with a sports court and then up onto the lobby drop off point in front of the lobby. Um this is the two floors above the
lobby. This would be amenities and this is amenities as well. On this floor we move on these floors we moved the volume of the building back above this on the eastern portion of this plate are balconies. Here we we filled
that in so the residents um using the amenity floors are closest and have the best view of the water. Um in this view, these are the the the lower two um uh uh components of the
building. These are the floors that have three units per floor. And all of these units are organized so that all of the public spaces of the units, the living room, the dining room, the primary bedroom, and the um primary bedroom's
bathroom are all oriented east so that the best views from these units are of course to the water. And all of the units all the way up the building are organized that way. These are the two floors that we we call the cutout floors. And those floors have the volume
of the building sort of inset from the uh um the envelope of the building giving um much greater uh uh open terraces at those floors and sort of defines the architecture a little bit better
on the upper upper third of the building. These are floors that are contain only only two units. Um, again having a a a long perimeter along the east of the building, we have even more
of those spaces with great views of the water. And then the up the last two floors, the upper two floors are the penthouse floors. And again, the building sort of steps back and um gives the idea and the relationship to the water. Here you can see this is the
entrance way. And what we wanted to do at this site is sort of celebrate its its its location on the water. So in all of these slides, we'll see how the building sort of addresses its location and its proximity to the water. In this
particular um uh slide you can see as you enter the landscaping is sort of will be sculpted and is undulating sort of reflective of the water and the um uh how the how the ocean sort of laps
against uh the beach. Here you can see the the the processional again entering the site in the middle making a left and then going up the ramp. And if when you get to that top of the ramp, there'll be sort of a portal that you can see through the
building and all the way to the ocean. And then you wrap around the front where there'll be a reflective pool. And then you go in, get the same sort of vision through the building to the water. And this is the the uh entrance
porticochair where you're dropped off at the top of the ramp. And then this is um right as you're being dropped off right at the lobby. And the idea here is that we framed the view through the building
um to the ocean. And if you look at the the the flooring of the of the lobby on the way there, it's sort of pointing you or pulling you through the building, taking your eye um through the building,
across the floor, across the pool, and then to the water. And then that idea again of sort of undulating forms. The waves on the beach are reflective in the ceiling in the ceiling panels and the reflectiveness of the of the ceiling
tiles directly over the drop off. Here again is the a view across the the pool deck and to the water. And this is a view from the ocean to the project. Here's how the the building in context.
Um, and you can see how we've tried to go very slim and very tall. Again, affording um vision corridors to the north and to the south of the building. Another view of the building in context.
And then this is um a view across the the rear of the building. And you can really see how the waves of the ocean across and then lapping on the beach are
reflected in the balconies um the undulating balconies. And uh that's my presentation. Thank you. >> Thank you. So, as you can see, this has been designed with the tropical modern
classic aesthetic. Um, it's a it's a beautiful building, and it is, you know, intended to use the highest quality materials to create a beautiful streetside aesthetic, a beautiful oceanside aesthetic, and to truly contribute to the city skyline. Um to
achieve this design, we do propose utilizing the bonuses allowed under the MUR district regulations and TDRs to accomplish the number of units proposed. And the total um fee for both the
bonuses and the TDRs totals a payment of $29.6 million to the city. Um this will allow us to achieve this design and will you know really truly contribute to the quality and economic success of the
city. Um in connection with these bonus payments and TDR payments there is a 10% non-refundable payment made to the city upfront. So, at uh the time of of um within 90 days of of this approval, we
will be providing uh $2.96 million to the city. Here's a breakdown of the TDR uh calculation just for reference. As you can see, the base is 100 units and then the 45 units are part of the bonus
and then TDRs account for 42% of the F. um I'm sorry 30% F and that totals um the 145 units which is 73 units per acre and the total F of 5.98%.
On the bonuses we are contributing to all of the bonus categories. So, this includes the beach access bonus, the beach uh enhancements, the Collins Avenue streetscape, the parking bonus, uh oceanfront and open space bonus, and
the educational and cultural bonuses. The shared parking analysis was done for both weekday and weekend um volumes and it was determined that we are overparked um based on the amount of use that the restaurant and the residences will require.
So with that we conclude our presentation and we are here to answer any questions that you may have. >> Thank you Mauricio. >> Okay so we have several speakers for for this item. Um just as a reminder you're limited to three minutes. So please make
sure that your comments are concise. We're going to start with Diane Trapkin. >> Okay. And and again uh until the public uh comment is closed you are free to add comic um speaking cards but once it's closed you may not and um please address
everything u through me the chair um and keep it concise. Thank you. Go ahead Diane and your name and address for the record please even if we know you. >> My name is Diane Drapkin. I live at Ocean 219111
Collins Avenue. Um I've lived there since the beginning of the building and am a resident of Sunny Isles and have seen tremendous growth and the lack of the quality of life disappear in Sunny Isles. I do not deny that this building
should go up, but I'm concerned about how it affects the quality of life of the residents that live at Ocean 2 and Kasa Armani. Um, I'm concerned about the height of the building. I'm concerned about, you talked about the setbacks
from the street and the beach, but I'm concerned about where the sides of the building, how much what the distance is between each of the buildings. Um there's a wind tunnel um that it exists
now when you leave uh my building ocean 2 and you're facing south and it is so strong that I cannot even walk my dog sometimes. I mean I literally can get knocked down. So I can't imagine and I
have to go out that way according to our regulations to walk the dog. So I'm concerned about wind volume. Um, I'm concerned about setbacks. I'm concerned about uh climate change and the
structure of the building, the noise. Will they be building at night? Will they, as I see some of the buildings are allowed to do? I'm just concerned about the quality of life in Sunny Isles. And I'm especially concerned with what you
did not address is the traffic. How are these people a huge amount of people going to get in and out of the building? As you all must know, there are certain times you cannot even drive down the streets of Sunny Isle. So, please explain that to me. That is a big issue.
Um, the building looks beautiful, but I think that these questions of the quality of life need to be addressed and I would like to hear from you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Diane. >> Thank you. The next person is Andrea
Breer. I apologize if I mispronounced the last names. >> Hi, Andrea. Your name and address for the record, please. >> Hi, how are you? I'm um Andrea Brader and I live in Ocean 2 as well. I've been
a um I've been in the building since conception. My family has been. And I just have a few questions as well. She touched on something. One huge uh concern for me is traffic. I already see
like my apartment faces the um both sides and I see the bottleneck already happening daily. I'm curious how you're going to um address that and if that's even possible. Like I can't imagine
having a ginormous building that belongs in a downtown area or something of the sort like New York City um bringing that much amount of foot traffic and um car traffic. Is there a limit on how many
cars are um are allowed for each resident of this new building that's being um built? I'm curious what your um opinions are on that. Um, second of all, I worry about the value of the property
around it. So, Ocean 2, for example, we have a great beach right now, and we have um this like sunlight coming in and already being blocked at a certain hour. This will block it even further, like
maybe at 12:00 p.m. from what I'm um understanding. So, that that concerns me as well. And fi sorry finally um is there anything um does does Aventur the rest
of the South Florida um is are is there um how how are they affected because I think the skyline overall with a massive building like this would completely change the trajectory of this area
specifically and that's my concerns. Thank you. Thank you. >> Deborah Hamul. >> Good evening. I'm Deborah Ham. I'm also a resident of Ocean 2 since the beginning. Um, and my main concern is
safety of all the residents in Suns. We know, we've read that the buildings are sinking. They're sinking more than the engineers have estimated before. So I am very concerned that a tower as high as
this one that's going to need bases, huge bases in Sandy and in the area of Florida um next to the beach. This is very concerning. We were very frightened when
in Surfside there was a building that collapsed. I am very frightened that the buildings are sinking more than expected. I am very frightened at the miscalculations of engineers and then
I'm an engineer myself uh not with this expertise but in a different matter. Uh so I'm very concerned about our safety and also quality of life and traffic and all that but mostly it is safety. I am
afraid of the buildings next door this particular building in itself also because it's going to have residents and we don't know re we really don't know if it's going to hold. So I totally oppose
such a high building. I expected something would be happening with this land. Absolutely some development. But this height of a tower absolutely unadmissible. Um so basically that's my input. Thank
you >> Oliver Trapkin. I think Diana was here. My wife. >> Wait, wait. Please come up to to the mic so we can hear you. Yes, please. Your name, your name and address. >> I think I I too am very concerned. >> Oliver, if I can just have your name and address, please.
>> I beg your pardon. >> Your name and address for the record. >> My name is Oliver Drabkin. I live at 1911 Collins Avenue and here in Sunny Isles. >> Thank you. >> And u I'm very very concerned about the traffic particularly when I bought my condominium here. I can say I had some
relaxing days. Now everything is tension. If you want to take the car out, you may be going like one minute and have and and run into the car in front of you. I think there were already we were very well populated uh on the beach and I'm really kind of uncertain
why we need a building. I I think two acres also concerns me very much. I don't know if they're comparable buildings that high on only two acres. My wife and I are privileged up north to have a a summer home with five acres.
And to have all these people on two acres defies my um imagination. I guess it's supposed to set a precedent for height in North America or at least they're advertising that. Um also the wind tunnels are horrible. They can
almost knock a person down. Um and now it will probably be even worse. And I also think that loss of daylight on the beach um would also be a very uh unfortunate occurrence because already uh when they built Albani Towers right next to my building, they really cut
into the square footage of daylight on the beach. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Darren Williams. >> Darren Williams. Okay. Good everybody. >> Hello. >> Hello.
>> And chair and commission. Um I'm concerned my wife and I >> Please your your name and address for the record. >> Right. >> Darren Williams. Uh I reside at 18975 Collins Avenue. Um we're concerned about several things and they've already kind of touched on that. One of which is the
wind tunnels. It's it's pretty aggressive and and getting aggressive more and more as climate change uh comes about. Um the second thing is definitely the um the parking the parking uh not
only the parking but the the way in which the traffic people zip up and down the streets. It it's pretty aggressive. And with the new development taking place, um we just are concerned as to
it's going to be more traffic, more foot traffic, but b basically during the holidays, the holidays the aggression of that ex accelerates even more. So, so we just basically wanted to know what's the plan, what do you guys plan on doing to
um kind of bring this to a better medium so that it can be safer for especially our seniors. So, that's that's concerning for my wife and I. All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Chandrash. Meth meta
Chandrash. C H A N Shrush, >> are they here? >> Step down. Okay. >> Naen Zafi. My name is Mayor Safrani. I live uh
18975 Collins Avenue. I understand that development should be driven by the city, but it has to be rational. We want to make to make sure that this
new building will not damage the structure of our building. We are concerned about the environmental impact that a project of this magnitude
could have on our city. We want the city to be vigilant and protect us. How are you going to do it? Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Juan Aendano.
Hi. Uh, my name is Juan Abandano. The address of my home is 19 18975 Collins Avenue. Um, basically um I'm really concerned on on the hire of the building first of all because I know that we're going to have to be, you know, they're
going to have to be making a huge digging uh to prepare, you know, for such a huge structure. what's going to happen, you know, when they're digging, uh, are they gonna have, you know, equipment to calculate the vibration
that this is going to be causing to the building next door? What are you going to be doing to make sure that you don't damage, you know, the structures that are already there, you know, and on top of that, you know, uh, I'm really
worried as well on the traffic today. You know, it took me about 19 minutes to turn around. Once you land, you know, the the crossway, you have to come down and then turn around. You have to make a U-turn to get to Armanic Assa. This
building is going to have to do the same thing. So, when you start putting all these cars together and on top of that, we have a building that is two towers that you already approved that is going on that is going to bring a lot of people too. So if you start adding
Armani, the one that that is being built right now and this and you put all these cars to turn around in that intersection to get home, how are you going to do it? How are you planning to to manage that? Okay. Are we going to have a crisis there? Are we going to have a traffic
lag? Are we are you going to make a bridge? What are you planning to do that? You know, because uh right now as it is, I don't see how you're going to make it happen. And I think the city should be responsible, you know, to make sure that is before you approve
anything, you have a plan because it seems like you guys approve stuff and then you try to make it come up with a plan and it shouldn't be that way. So basically that's what I uh have concerns about. >> Thank you.
Joel Simon. Uh Joel Simon, 18975 Collins Avenue. Uh Armani Kasa. Yeah, a lot of this stuff has already been said. I mean, the traffic is clearly an issue. And one of the things that hasn't been mentioned about the traffic is emergency vehicles.
If it takes 19 minutes to make a U-turn and this is a nonh holiday time of year, how are we going to get an ambulance or a fire truck or police anywhere? Collins Avenue has turned into a virtual parking lot where I don't even leave the
building until a certain time. I look out my west terrace and I see the traffic stopped on the causeway just to come south. I go nowhere and I won't go anywhere because it's impossible to go anywhere. Dinner reservations are late. Everything is pushed because the traffic
is terrible. We have Bentley coming up. We have two towers of the St. Reges coming up. We have this building which is about to go up. We can't There's no there's no room for these cars. You're talking about thousands of more cars. That's not also including the fact that we're going to
have additional Uber traffic. Talk about another thousand Ubers on top of the 2,000 cars that we're going to have additional that's going to be in this area and you cannot widen Collins Avenue. So, you're nodding that you had an idea about the traffic. Nothing's been discussed about it. So, I don't
know how we can approve anything without having an idea how we're going to actually support Sunny Isles because people are going to leave. If you can't get around Sunny Isles, who was going to want to live here? Clearly, it's a beautiful building and I think the architects did a wonderful job, but I
think it's very very shortsighted on how we're going to actually support the amount of traffic and the amount of people that we're going to have to have here. Um, as far as the digging and yes, Armani Casa, we're concerned about the vibrations, we're concerned about
debris, we're concerned about all of it. I'm not sure, sir, about the about the sinking, but it's very very close to Armani Kaza. It's very very close to ocean ocean 2. It's it's like shoehorned in there and I just don't know how the
city is going to maintain the integrity that we all want it to maintain which is why we all bought here in the first place. Yes, it's going to be beautiful, but there's going to be other developments too. There's a Harris eventually going to come down. There's going to be another building there. At some point, it's just going to be like a
big brick wall that's going to block the ocean and nobody is going to stay here and property values are going to tank. But it is a nice looking building. >> That's all I got. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Alessandra Stillman. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. My name is Alisandra Stiblman with offices at 4000 Hollywood Boulevard, sweet 265 South, and I am an expert board certified in condominium and plan development law. I am here
today on behalf of 18975 Collins Avenue condominium association, Inc., also known as the resences by Armani Kasa, and they're the occupied tower immediately south of the proposed Miami Beach Club project. At the onset, I want to be really clear about the association's position. We're not
opposed to redevelopment of the site. We're not challenging base zoning, and we're not asking the city to stop growth. What we're challenging is the scale, density, and intensity created solely by the requested transferable development rights, or TDRs, and the city's ability on this record to
lawfully make the findings that are required to approve them. In other words, we're opposed to what we perceive to be redevelopment on steroids, void of any meaningful safeguards to protect against adverse structural, environmental, and social impacts that are foreseeable in light of recent
events and existing scientific scientific studies. This is not an as of right approval, but rather it's discretionary policy decision. So with greater power comes greater responsibility and we're aware we are aware of the opinion that it would be
irresponsible to issue a site plan approval given what we do not know and what has not been done in connection with the project. So again this is a decision about scale and without these TDRs the project would be significantly smaller. With the TDRs, what is proposed
is 62 stories, 105 145 unit tower, 828 feet higher than any other building currently approved or built in Sunny Isles. And under the code, the TDRs are not automatic. So, additional height
creates adverse impacts. And the evidence in the record today is not support the need for this or the fact that it will not have an impact on all the other residents. The approval expressly postpones a lot of the traffic analysis, environmental, there's no
shadow studies. There's no lighting and phototric impacts, ballet operations, the shared capacity. We all know there is an issue in the code in that every unit if it's over 1,800 square feet, I believe, only requires two parking
spaces. But these are mansion style units. They are staffed. There's vendors. There's service providers. And ultimately, even with the necessary code required and code compliant parking, if it were even approved with that, which right now it's proposed at an eight
parking spot uh def deficiency, it still wouldn't be enough to deal with the issues that are ongoing. And the elephant in the room is the fact that there are studies and there are substance as a result of construction in all of Sunny Isles. And I have copies
here of a report that I cited in my correspondence. I know I'm running out of time. I don't know if I can share this. >> If you can just give it to the clerk, please. >> Okay. >> Did you have anything else you wanted to add? >> Yeah. Can I um I did please. I'm just going to ask everyone please refrain
reflain refrain from clapping so that Did you just want to finish up whatever you were saying? I want to give you the >> Yes. Thank you. Um there's a lot of concerns about safety. There is a report and I think that there is a responsibility on the commissioners
today and on staff and on everyone here to really consider what was not available before and as a result of the tragedy and surfside we now need to consider the evidence that we have available and the taller the building the deeper the digging the more of the
impact. So the TDRs are directly correlated with a greater impact and a lower qual quality of living. Sorry, I'm trying to speak too fast. Um, and ultimately there I I ask and on behalf of the
association, we ask that you consider all the impacts and there is a letter that I submitted that I'll give to the clerk and I brought copies as well as a report and this is only one of significant amount of studies out there that is looking into this and I beg you guys to do your due diligence and there
is no reason to approve this now for a building in 10 years. Ultimately the pro the promisory note they don't start paying until five years down the line and they're asking for five years when the standard is two years. So two plus two would be four years. They're asking
for 10 plus with not much immediate benefit to the city. >> Thank you. If you can just give it to the clerk. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Mauricio. I know this is emotional, but if you could please refra refrain from clapping.
>> Ma'am hearing her. >> Everyone, >> thank you. >> Thank you, Elizabeth Eisenman. >> Isn't that just her? >> That was her.
>> Elizabeth? No. >> Oh, okay. All right. Next. Next speaker. Patrick Dunn. >> Mauricio, for those that stepped out, if you could just keep those on the side in case they come back, please. Your name and address for the record. >> Good evening, Madame Mayor, Vice Mayor,
Commissioners. Patrick Dunn, 317 191 Terrace, Sunny Alice Beach, 33160. tough act to follow. But, you know, with children and my grandchildren in the city, you know, I have a real tough time
accepting, you know, that the continued destruction of our coast is inevitable. You know, it so I am in hopes that you don't rubber stamp another monstrosity to this city. You know, it's not about the aesthetics. As everyone's made note,
they're beautiful, okay? It's about the size and requirements of the foundation and these massive pilings that are going to go into the ground. And every time we have another one of these massive developments, the property around my house actually sinks and gold shores. I
kid you not. Um, I know we've touched on a bunch of items here. Um, what I didn't hear is anything about storm vulnerability, environmental studies that were done to our ecosystem, um, as well as, god forbid, we have an
emergency evacuation of the city, how will this additional building add to the inability for us to clear the island? You know, while we're unable to reverse engineer years of profitdriven overdevelopment,
you know, you have an opportunity to make a decision that will affect the entire community, okay, and generations thereafter. Please make a wise choice. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Patrick,
>> Esther Cohen. Mr. Cohen, 1911 Collins Avenue. Thank you for allowing me to speak. We are facing, we the people, we're facing a faronic building,
tall and narrow. That's how it was explained. But they forget that the lot is very narrow. So they are trying to maximize their
profit by going high. I know 26 million if I recall correctly will go into the coffers of the city. Do you really need that money? We're one of the richest cities.
Now I invite you all to walk Collins Avenue right there. It becomes two lanes. All the new buildings don't have enough space for the
deliveries. You have all the trucks, the furniture, Amazon, God knows the post, the office, everything that blocks already one lane.
Now, it's going to be one lane being taken and we're going to have only one lane in that space. Add to that all the traffic lights that we have over there. Even when I leave the property, I have
to be extremely careful not to get hit. I also invite you to walk, Collins, and see instead of it being a beautiful walk, you see one dumpster after the other after the other, not even covered like
in B Harbor. I used to walk my dog and I used to get scared because there was glass, there was dirt. Nobody bothers to go and visit the
receiving areas of these buildings. They're minuscule. We in Ocean 2, we have plenty of space for them to come in and we have to have a special time for them to do the deliveries. While the other buildings
dare to block >> the flow of Collins, what one person talked about the emergency vehicles? What are we going to do? Do you want to have that in your
conscious? I used to I lived here since 1993. I took a 10-year hiatus in Surfside. I lived in Biskai Island right there where where the champagne fell
collapsed. That was horrible. We are Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Sonia Schoffer. >> Good evening. Sonia Schoffer, 1 1911 Collins Avenue, Ocean 2. So, I'm here
representing I'm the Ocean 2 board president. I'm here representing over 200 units of who could not make it here and I have a couple things to talk about. I will speak quickly. I see time ticking. Traffic is obvious, so I'm going to kind of breeze through that. I
didn't come as prepared as everyone else, but it's pretty obvious to me. What I really need to talk about is safety. We are all very very scared in Ocean 2 and our Monikasa where my mother happens to live. The vibration, the drilling, you guys know the rest of
the story. What I didn't hear is some magic words. One being study. I heard them talk about their nice, very, very large and high building, but I didn't hear the word study, I don't believe, once in your lovely presentation by the three architects. So, I'd like to talk
about a shadow study first, which I believe I heard this young lady mention. If you I don't know if I can refer to one of their exhibits, but in their exhibit, you clearly see a rendering where Ocean 2 has zero sun. I don't know if you guys saw I'm sure they'll be
happy to pull it back up to show us, but I just want to emphasize one more time, zero sun. Someone else mentioned after 12:00. It's not after 12:00. It's all day. We have zero. So, it's really great that the people in that building are going to live with uh I forgot the word
he used for those beautiful balconies, but we're going to have zero sun from the east and the west. So, I would really love to see if they had a shadow study done. The second thing I'd like to talk about with respect to studies is a safety study. We all know what happened
in Surfside. I didn't hear anything mentioned about a drilling study or a vibration study. Again, maybe I missed it in the beautiful presentation, but I didn't hear it. I would love an answer to that question. And what I'd like to say to you guys as human beings, I don't know where you guys all live, but how
would you guys feel if you were Ocean 2 or a Manikasa? Every day you wake up and you're scared. It's a apologize if it's the wrong word. Monstrosity. What's going up? It's a tiny little piece of land. I've lived here for 24 years and
they're they're smart. They're optimizing their, you know, bang for their buck, if you will. They're going high instead of going wide, like we all know. But that doesn't me make me feel safe or my six-year-old son. I I know other people talked about children. I believe the gentleman talked about his grandchildren. I also have a dog. I have
a nine pound multi poo. When I walk my dog right now, the wind tunnels are so strong. I'm scared he's going to blow away. And I can't imagine this is going to make it any better. What do I have? 30 seconds. No problem. Let's talk about cars quickly. I didn't have them or I didn't understand in
layman terms, which is what I am, right? Like you guys, normal people living in a neighborhood, valet parking, people have individual parking spots. I didn't hear them mention any of that. So, we're talking about traffic flow. I would love for that question to be answered. I have a couple other things,
but in summation, what I am requesting on behalf of Ocean 2, and I'll speak for my mother's building, Armani Casa, is for you guys to defer voting on this plan. And until we get all the questions that were raised today answered or at least some of them like the studies and
safety, I would really really respectfully ask if we could defer the vote for this. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks person. >> Thank you >> Rebecca Moni Mosni. >> Rebecca. Okay. Next speaker
>> Chandress Meta. He left. >> Elizabeth Eisenman. >> Manny Herring. Herring. >> Ma'am Herring. >> Mauvi. Okay. Next person. >> That's all. >> I submitted.
>> That's okay. Just what's your name, sir? >> Joe. >> Joe Lavine. Just give us a minute. No, please go ahead. Your last opportunity. If you'd like to submit, I'm going to give you another opportunity. Meaning, this is it. This is the opportunity. >> Joel, fill out a form if you if you
need. >> No, I filled it out. I showed it to >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. No, we we we >> Yes. Joel Lavine. Yeah. >> Okay. >> All right. So, um, again, ladies and gentlemen, before you before you start your time, Joel, if you would like to fill out a public speaking card, please
do so right now. And as you saw, if you changed your mind, you can, but once it's closed, it's closed. Okay. Um, Maurice, are you ready? Okay. Please go ahead. Your name and address for the record. >> The advantage of going last is I don't have to say everything from the beginning.
>> Yes. >> Um, the other advantage is that I can speak from my my area of expertise. So, I'm a physician. >> Wait, wait, Joe, just your name and address for the record, please. >> Sorry. My name is Joseph Lavine or Joe Lavine. I live at Armani. >> Great. Thank you. >> Uh, I'm a physician and my specialty is
sudden death and sudden death prevention. I'm an electrphysiologist. So, I can speak to the safety issues from a scientific standpoint as an expert. I'm also a scientist and so I can speak from the geologic standpoint and also the environmental standpoint.
So rather than rehash all the issues, um I'll just go through those things. What hasn't been mentioned is the environmental effect of all of the extra units on the light on the beach and the turtles. Sunny Isles is exceedingly interested in turtle safety. And uh
we've reached out to the uh coastal construction central line department of uh environmental protection Florida fish and wildlife and they will require uh some consideration and again you're creating a situ where we're what you're
going to vote on tonight is discretionary and you're adding an extra 25% volume to the building on the high end. That's 25% extra light onto the o onto the onto the waterways. Not to mention
the shadow effects on on the fauna in the ocean. In terms of sudden death prevention, uh you have one and a half minutes to uh basically guarantee survival. You have four minutes to guarantee it um without with CPR,
without brain damage. You have 10 minutes to save the person. If somebody's calls for a cardiac arrest and you have delays getting to the area, you're risking people's lives. You're risking not only the people who neighbor the building, you're risking the entire
escape route for all of Sunny Isles. And you have you can't stop a building from being built, but you certainly have the discretion to limit what you can, and it could become a precedent for other developments that come. I'm a gasp by what's here. uh in terms of the geology
of it, I echo what's been said already, which is that you need vibration studies and moreover, you need to ensure that the contractors and the developers put in the proper vibration management systems and monitor it. We know of buildings that have been affected by the
by the St. Regious and I stand stood in front of this board worried about it and you the answer I got and it wasn't somebody here maybe was well we trust the contractor's developments they're good contractors that's a lot of crap you need independent studies and you need to know what it is and the
developers have to be held liable to monitor their neighboring buildings um those are scientifically all-based nothing personal the building won't affect my view for the record >> thank Okay. Where are you? >> Hi, Clash.
>> Hi. Your name and address for the record, please. >> Slash, Ocean 2, 1 911, Collins Avenue. So, I'm trying to be realistic here for a second. And most what I wanted to say, it's been done and been said by everybody. There's something that
bothers me a lot is the density that the gentleman just spoke about it. I know the density the increase of density going to increase the revenues for the city a lot. Hi J and that's going to bring a lot of money that all the uh people that live in in
Sunny going to going to benefit from that. But my question is why we are talking about that density that brings that the issue of extending the time of completion from two years to five years. That's actually an arrestment to the
people who are living next door. Five years approval until completion is un unheard of. So can you would would you be able to reconsider it and really to give a lot of thought about it? That's number one. Number two, uh in addition
to the to the density, I would like to know what's the reward for all the damage that we might have that everybody here knows that we're going to have those damages in our building. in the ocean too or their money. Things will happen if it even if it start with dust
to the neighbors there next door. Can we force the developer to put some kind of a bond or some kind of a reward and unconditional that we can use it to satisfy the owner that live in the building? Can we instead of just running
to the insurance and having and spend time and our cost and association cost and that's not right because we know it's going to be damaged especially that we are so close and our our line end of the line based on the two survey that I
saw them they touching each other and there's no no setback really from the from the left I mean from the north from the north and the south so where they going to all the crane going to be and how the fence going to be there and how is our dog way going to going to be
there when there is so much noise and so much dust and impossible to breathe. So I believed I don't know if it's possible but I believe that you can force that the part of the reward that goes to the city going to be reward to ocean too that we can use that money for whatever
necessary to bring our life to normal or at least close to normal than we are used to. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you, >> Mauricio. Do we have any other speakers? >> That's all for public speakers. >> Okay, so this is your last chance. Public comment is about to close. Did anyone else want to speak?
>> All right, public comment is closed. Um, I'll start with uh the commission if they would like to uh ask questions of the applicants. Uh, who would like to begin? Commissioner Joseph. >> Um, I'll go last if you don't mind. >> No, please go ahead. You've been >> No, I'll I'll hold off.
>> You're being recognized right now to Mr. I'm still considering my questions. >> All right. You're being recognized now, though. >> That's fine. >> All right. Who would like to start then? >> I I would just um I would just like to ask the applicant to address the the
questions that were raised by the uh residents. >> So, I think I I'm not sure if you were writing down all those questions. Um I think that would make it easier if you were. Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. Um and thank you for giving me the opportunity to rebut. Um, so this is a tall building, but it
doesn't mean that it's more density. Neither the TDRs or the bonuses affect the allowable height. The code states that the height is dictated by the Federal Aviation Authority and Federal Aviation Administration and they
determined that the height of 828 ft is permissible. The number of units within that, the F within that are separate and apart from the height. Um, and as I mentioned, and I think it was also mentioned in the staff report, this is only 37 additional units from what's
there today. So, the Miami Beach Club today has 108 units. We're proposing 145 units, which is only 65% of the allowable density that would yield 220 units. So, we are significantly lower
than what could be permitted. Um, essentially, this is a tall building, but it is still a boutique building. you only have at most three units on a floor. Um, and and the project basically is less dense than the Armani building and it uses the same TDRs and bonuses
that that project did. Armani has 163 more units than this building. Um, the requests for the extensions of time likewise just allow for quality construction. A two-year construction window um means things have to be very
much rushed and most likely the developer would have to come back and ask for an extension because if anyone has built even a single family home, you know that two years typically doesn't even get you through construction of the two-story building. Regarding traffic,
um our traffic engineer is here and available to answer any questions. Uh we did do a full and complete traffic study. the methodology that was used was over and above what was required by the code. So, we looked at intersections, we looked at evacuation routes, we looked
at loading, we looked at valet operations, we looked at stacking, we looked at everything. Um, and and as I can show you in the site plan, if we want to go back to it, there's the entrance to the building uh from Collins Avenue brings you in, and there are two
ways to get around. There's a a a path that will take you for the loading and direct resident parking and then there's a path that will take cars up to the valet. Each of those has more than 200 feet of stacking and is fully compatible with what we believe our level of
traffic will be. So at the end of the day, there are 68 net new project trips created by this building. That is 22 entering trips and 46 exiting trips in the AM peak hour. And it's 64 total net
new trips in the PM peak hour, which is 40 entering trips and 24 exiting trips. And if you'll notice that in the morning, the exiting trips are are higher because people are going to work and in the evening the entering trips are higher. Um but overall it's it's
approximately 68 trips for the morning total and 64 in the evening. For the valet uh we did an analysis for both drop off and pickup and the pickup and drop off time is less than four minutes for each operation. There will be four
valets on during the peak times and that will be adjusted in the off- peak times depending on what the volumes are expected to be. Um, somebody asked about setbacks. Uh, I don't have the setback information to Ocean 2, but I I know that the setback between the Armani
building and this building is over 70 ft. And the distance between the building to Ocean 2 is greater, but I don't know exactly how much. Um, our structural engineer from Skyrise Engineering, his name is Eric Stern, he is here. He can answer questions about
the structural integrity of of the design, about the the process for building the foundations and and the digging and vibrations and and all of the details to the questions that were asked by the audience and and we are prepared to answer all of them. You
know, I I want to say I I made my presentation brief um in the interest of giving everyone time to speak and understanding that if everyone gets three minutes, this can be a very long night. So, there were a number of details that we didn't cover, but I can tell you that staff was very thorough
with us. We've done photometric studies. We've done traffic studies. We, you know, will comply with all of the code requirements for operations during construction, operations once the building is built, lighting both during construction and when the building was
built, turtle protection, you know, all of the issues that were brought up, we have either analyzed them or we will be required to do so prior to the issuance of a building permit. And uh this is a developer that has done number of projects in the city of Sunny
Isles and is committed to being a good neighbor and to working you know with the city working with their neighbors to make sure that this is a painless project that you know is not going to have any negative impacts on the city. Um so with that, you know, I I'll leave
it to you to ask us questions and our team of experts is here to answer them. So thank you. >> So let me follow up with some of that. Um the first question that I have is probably would be my most important uh because you obviously see you have both sides of of um of your property that
were here in opposition. Did you meet with them? Did you speak to them? Were you you know having these conversations with them? >> No, we we were actually unaware that there were issues until today. Uh we we understand >> Wait, guys, please. No, no, no. >> No one reached out to us. They they've
they've engaged council. Excuse me. They've engaged they've engaged counsel. She never reached out to us. We were unaware that there was this organized effort and and so I apologize. >> No, no, no. Let me let me rephrase my question. I don't mean this organized effort. I don't think you would have to
expect that. I meant normally when you're building a building, you reach out to both sides to to sit down and, you know, discuss any possible issues or questions. Something as simple as will you provide some sort of amenity to the neighbors so that their cars don't have
dust on them. That's something standard normal that always happens. Did you have those conversations is my question. >> I personally did not. >> Someone from your organization did anyone have those conversations is the question. >> If if you could develop I I will just pause that for for a moment. Um so if
you can you can speak to that and then I have some other questions based on some of the things that were asked. >> Helen, >> how are you? Eric Fordon, managing director, the related group with offices at 2850 Tiger Tale Avenue in Coconut Grove. Also the developer of Ocean One,
two, three, four, Armani Casa. Trump uh one, two, and three was by my partner and on. We always have conversations with our neighbors. It's once we're ready to start construction, we always
enter into good neighbor agreements. >> Okay, >> that's our protocol. We've done that for the last 40 years. Um, with regards to construction, we're going to have our engineers come up. This building is being built between two
buildings that we're very proud of that we developed. Our Monikasa was built next to this with very shallow foundations that was a also a 57story building next to a two-story building. No issues
with the Miami Beach Club. So, I understand people being concerned. We're going to do the best in class and it shouldn't be an issue, but we'll have our structural engineers talk about that. >> Thank you. It's >> freezing up here. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Would you, Madam Mayor, would you like
us to bring up our structural engineer now? Would that be helpful? >> Um, let me just ask a few more questions and then and then yes, because these are some of the things that I don't know if it's a structural engineer or if it's you. One of the questions that I personally have is something that comes up often. Um, parking. Uh, Armani Kasa
is a building that I've met with often because they don't have enough parking. And I know that it's, you know, within the code. However, uh, the amount of I don't know if someone mentioned it, the amount of staff that's associated with a building of like this. Well, really all the buildings on the ocean have a lot of
staff and it's one of the reasons that everyone loves living in Sunny Als Beach. It's really high-end. Um, so I just would like you to address the parking and the the deliveries. Um, you know, the every single building that's come in front of us since I've been here
says that there's plenty of room for deliveries, no problem. And yet we all that live here experience the backlog of Amazon, FedEx, you know, so I just want to get clarification on on those two things. And then I'm sure we'll have other questions, but I want to make sure that I touch upon that before you have the structural engineer.
>> Absolutely. I I will cover the parking and Sandy will cover the deliveries. So, with respect to the parking, one of the issues um that I understand at at the Armani building, which is probably where a number of the complaints have been, is that they designed their parking with uh
vertical stacked parking. And a lot of those stackers weren't designed for the size of the SUV that the residents tend to have. The majority of the residents have SUVs. And that wasn't accounted for in the design the same way that we accounted for parking at this building
here. There are no stackers. There's only surface level parking and tandem parking spaces to accommodate multiple cars within a parking space. So, our parking is more is is functional and is intended to accommodate what we believe
is the demand for residents of of this type of building and is encompassed with, you know, some consideration for both employees, workers, staff, and others. That's why we have full valet operations as well. So, to the extent
that there's someone's having a party, there's an ability to tandem park throughout the lower levels of the building. Okay. >> Um, as far as loading and stacking, one of the wonderful um, consequences of pushing the building so far off the
street is that you have those two long runs of, uh, driveways where you enter and you go um, immediately left or immediately right and you go up and you go around and then you're up at the drop off. that allows for um
probably stacking of 20 cars before you even get to the valet station. The valet guy takes your car and he doesn't go back out on the street. He stays on property. So that takes all of that traffic off of the street. As far as
loading and deliveries go, the southern um driveway um accounts for all of that in the same way. Those car, those trucks and and uh uh delivery vans all come down the side of the building all the
way down um that drive until they get to our loading docks which are almost on the other side um of the tower and it's a two-story space and they pull in under the building. So all of the loading, all of the trash collection, all of that
happens under and within the envelope of the building. It's nowhere near the street. Um, and just to um put this into perspective, if you were to go on Google Earth and look um on what the condition
is on the site right now from the street edge to the first parking spot on that lot right now might be 30 feet. As soon as that car back, you know, backs up out of that spot and somebody's coming in, you're backing out into the street. We're actually
improving the condition that exists there today by doing this. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh yes, I recognize that and I neglected to say for those that are still here, I really appreciate all the speakers, uh thank you for staying within the three minutes. Your your comments were thoughtful and and respectful and that sets a very good
tone for us to have a very, you know, good conversation. So, thank you. Um, okay. Structural engineer. And, um, I'll turn it over to anybody on the commission that has additional questions or I'll keep going.
>> No, I Please go ahead, Commissioner Viscara. >> Well, I mean, I was jotting down the the questions that the um that the um residents had also. Um, okay. So, a just number one, I think this is probably for
the city attorney, the the discretionary piece. That word came up a lot that this is discretionary that we can just say no to the top third of this building. Can you address that, please? >> I believe the discretionary reference
came in the form of or the conversation regarding TDRs. So, your code does make the TDRs discretionary. Um, with regards to everything else though, not necessarily. Obviously, one of the components of what you are tasked to do is following the essential
requirements of the law, which essentially means you have to follow your code. Um, so in that instance, it's not discretionary. If they tick off the right boxes with regards to what's required, and they've done that, they've done that. But I believe that reference earlier was made in the with regards to
TDRs. TDRs are discretionary. >> Okay. Um the other question was um the the fear that people expressed uh the sinking buildings issue the you know there was um maybe it was a maybe a year
ago uh the um uh report from the Miami Herald that I believe had come from a University of Miami um if I'm remembering this correctly it was a University of Miami piece um and then some of that I think was discredited But
there were other studies. So can you address that, please? >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Eric Stern, Skyrise Engineering, office address, 3701 Southwest 47th Avenue in Davyy. Uh we are the
geotechnical engineer of record for the project right now. I've been practicing for about 20 years in South Florida and I've worked on multiple highrises in Sunny Isles including Armani, Jade Ocean, JB Beach, Jade Signature, and the Porsche Tower under various companies
that I've worked for. The geology at this point based on what we've done is typical. The geology is typical for Sunny Isles. From the drilling that we've done, we haven't found anything out of the ordinary. Um, so I'm going to go down the list. Is there anything I miss? I just took some notes during the discussion. So, let me know if there's
anything else I need to address. Um, we talked about drilling. The drilling process right now is going to be done with the most modern technology similar to other projects that are going on right now. Right now, the shallow soils are planned to be improved with DSM uh
during the soil improvement process and the piles will be installed with augers. There's no pile driving or driven piles planned on the job at this time. vibrations. The owner uh plans on putting a vibration monitoring program
in place. They also plan a on a precondition survey to be conducted uh documenting the conditions of both adjacent properties. Um I've worked with uh this developer for you know the better part of 20 years and they have
typically set up communications between the project and the and the adjacent properties to ensure that this type of communication the information is is brought to to all sides. Um, as Eric mentioned, Eric Ford mentioned, uh, we worked on this develop, this development
group has worked on Armani and there were no effects to Miami Beach Club during during development. Um, as for the study, um, there's a lot in there. Um, it was done, it was it was a survey study that was
done. I have not reviewed the data to um see if whether or not there was whether or not there was settlement after the fact. I have not reviewed the data from their data collected other than what's been written in the articles. Let me see.
This is actually the first time that I've heard about wind tunnels among those buildings. Were you aware of the wind tunnels uh issue? >> So, I'll admit I'm the geotechnical engineer, so the wind tunnel study would be out of my knowledge.
>> Okay, let me see. So, I'm I'm looking for my questions around your in your category. >> Uh no. Okay. I think um Okay, I think that those are my questions regarding your category. >> Okay. Uh, Vice Mayor, did you have any questions that weren't covered? C,
>> can you tell me what DSM is? >> Sure. DSM is deep soil mixing. >> Okay. >> So, it's the they inject cement into the shallow soil conditions to stabilize the soils to assist in the excavation process for construction of the pile caps. >> Okay. And then you mentioned something
about using a technique where you're not going to be drilling for the pylons. I mean, c can you maybe I misheard. >> So, they are going to be drilling for piles. You're going to be drilling. >> Yeah, they're going to be using auger process. >> What process? >> Augur. Auger. Auger cast piles. >> Okay. Drill and pour.
>> How does that >> drill and pour? >> Let him answer. >> Okay. Hold on. I'd like for him to answer. Yeah, no problem. >> Can you explain how that process? >> Very typical to the current foundations that are going in, you know, up and down the beach. >> They use a hollow stem augur. The augur
drills into the ground to the required tip elevation. The soils are excavated during the drilling process. The um grout is installed through the hollow stem augur. As the augur is extracted
from the ground, once the concrete or the grout is placed, a reinforcing cage is placed into the hole. >> Yeah. Okay. And how deep do you go? Usually, >> uh foundations in South Florida are installed anywhere. deep foundations.
I've worked on piles that have been installed from 40 feet and to my knowledge uh >> 200 >> piles on the property down this down the street at St. Reges are going into about 200 feet. >> 200 feet. Okay. And what about the um
you know again uh what Commissioner Biscara mentioned the the the subsidance. Um if you could just touch upon that and from your expertise if you could address you know a little bit of what those uh
reports coming out of the M and Miami Herald published if you could address those concerns that some of the residents uh expressed. So settlement is a >> known and anticipated condition for
high-rise construction in South Florida. Those those settlements are calculated. They are included in the design. They are um included by the structural engineer who is also here to account for any differential settlement of the structure during construction.
Um, as for post settlement conditions, I have not reviewed the data, the specific data that they've gathered. They've they've produced the article, but they've never released their actual data. So, I have no data that I've reviewed as to where they've they've put
their uh their findings together. And and from your experience, I mean, when you have settlement, um, that occurs in is there an average period of time in which that settlement occurs or is it something that continues to occur?
I mean, I'm I'm just trying to understand. >> Sure. >> Settlement occurs. Yeah, >> sure. Settlement occurs during the construction of the building as the as the property is is structurally loaded. The main structural components in the building that would apply load to the
ground would be concrete of course, uh drywall and glass and glazing. Those are the three heaviest components. Um and we do monitor settlement of the structure during construction. Again, it's not a sudden movement. It is an incremental
movement as load is placed on the piling. >> Yeah. And do we know what the weight of this building will be? that I have not been provided yet. >> Okay. I'd like to know that just out our curiosity and the weight of the Armani Kas as well. Uh it'll be interesting.
>> I'm Nicholas with the structure engineer. >> Nicholas, can you come to the podium please? >> Good evening. I'm Nicholas Jamilo with the structural engineer who offices are located. >> Okay. Can you get closer to the mic? >> My name is Nicholas Jereo. >> Yeah. >> I'm work with B&J Consulting engineers
who offices are on Florida. So the overall weight of the building basically initially has been basically set the the for the initial design is not completed yet. Obviously the design of the building is not basically until we don't
get an approval basically the building doesn't get basically completely fully designed. On regards to the settlement, there is no any report on the differential setment. Basically the reports that you get from M was
basically findings of survey over the plaque of the island not basically in regards to the developments itself affecting the neighbor sites. >> Okay. >> Can you repeat that please?
on the report that actually you see from the city basically of the the University of Miami there is nothing basically that states differences that have been affecting basically neighboring buildings on relation to one development in particular.
So there is nothing basically that says anything like that. So, so if I understand correctly, you're saying that the settlement or any movement and the soil is not necessarily related to the buildings. I'm I'm trying to follow. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. There is no specific basically for
one building affecting the the neighboring. Exactly. >> Oh, the neighbor. >> Exactly. Yeah. >> Okay. Um >> when you do the analysis and design for the foundations, >> it's hard to when you do the analysis and design of the foundations for any
particular structure, you take in consideration the loads that you're applying to the so >> you analyze basically how much devel the the settlement on your site and your specifics are going to go depending on the distance between the load and the
and the nature of the soil. So what Eric explained is before the depth or the foundations were not as long as we have it now. What that gives us basically is the capacity to affect
less the structures on the side depending on the height on the depth and obviously the new techniques and equipment that actually allow us to go deeper and have better capacities that affect less basically or on site on the
of the neighboring sites. >> Okay. And then regarding obviously there's going to be drilling there. Um >> the way the auger cast pals are drilled is there is no vibration or the
vibration is really low. Normally what with the cast pal basically process the machine goes and actually starts digging. And I don't know you have seen basically on the other projects that you have have on the city the M chin basically extracts some of the soil
injects concrete into the soil and then actually install the river inside the concrete that actually replace the natural salt that you have in place. So the vibration that you have is only from the friction that goes the machine when it's actually removing the salt
when you are injecting the concrete. There is no pounding, there is no pow driven like you have on a roadway, there is nothing like that. When you normally actually do the monitoring for vibration that is not on
the code but is more ordinance on some of the municipalities is a requirement for instance on the city of Miami. There is requirements like that on city of Tampa but it depends on the size of the location of the development. When you have structures that actually are a
special nature, you always try to protect the vibration from those structures. >> Okay. Now, you you're still going to be monitoring obviously during construction. >> Yeah. >> You mentioned that you're going to obviously also monitor the impact on
your adjacent buildings as well. Yes, we will survey the buildings actually to the sides not only for protect and basically make sure that actually we know what is the state of those structures because we also want to know what was the state of the structure or the buildings before the construction
started. >> Okay. Yeah, I I don't have any more questions for now. >> I'm ready. >> Please go ahead then. >> Okay, good. Thank you. So, um, first I want to say that I don't have a bone to
pick with any developer or any any, um, thing that's happening here. I'm on this commission to represent the residents of the city and the questions that I ask are 100% to alleviate the residents
um, fears. >> Understood. Uh first I want to say that I believe that this whole question should be deferred for tonight. Um allowing the two buildings on either side of the construction to have enough
enough time all the time they need to have um whatever questions they have answered. Uh you're already saying that your construction is going to go on two to five years. So there is no rush whatsoever. Um, I also have a question
myself regarding the city, regarding um the TDRs and the bonuses that uh you've been offered, whether they're uh required, whether they can be pulled back in order to lower the height of your building.
And that's something that I want to look into myself. something that actually is not prepared for. >> I have other questions. >> I want to address I want to address your when you're doing DSM, you're in the ground for 12 months.
We're trying to stabilize not our not only our property but our neighbors properties when we do DSM. So construction is going to take that long. and to defer it. With all due respect, we've been deferred already for over two
years. We've been working with the city and being patient with the city for over two years on this. So, we've bought this site. We have tremendous interest expense. This is not something that's new to the city. So, I
understand what you'd like us to do. This is the same presentation that's been done countless times for the last 20 years. Well, I understand. I'm one vote on this commission, but I also deal in logic and I believe that with there's
a lot at stake and that the residents have a right to have their questions alleviated and um any studies should be done regarding traffic and whatever um other ramifications your building is
going to cause. the city should be discussed in full length and um until you know if there's any >> the traffic study is not going to change >> if there's any remediation that needs to be done or considered >> um I'm asking hello you you all had your
time I maybe spoke too soon when I said you were being respectful please keep it up >> the residents deserve the time to have all of those questions answered >> did you have a question >> now I have questions regarding um the construction myself. Since I'm
happen to be the only award-winning builder on the commission, I have my own um questions. So, I happened to have met with Gil Desert a few years ago and he said something to me that has stuck in my
mind even till today. He said that the higher he the taller he builds, the more structurally sound the building is. Do you believe that? Normally yes because of the mass you normally actually have two ways to actually dampen the effect
of the wind on a structure. One is basically dampen it with by with basically an active damping basically system right. The other one is by mass. So normally the higher the structure basically then the the mass is going to be more rigid. There is restrictions
basically on the code on rel relations to the drift. That is basically how much the building moves in relations once you apply the load. So normally the structures that actually are taller are way stiffer and actually stronger than the other ones.
>> Okay. >> Even having same or less mass for instance on city of Miami we don't build ultra tall buildings normally just because of economics. It's not because of we don't have the science or anything like that. The companies that actually
work here and design buildings here are the same ones that actually design buildings on on New York. On New York, we see basically a stick that is in the middle of Central Park that actually you see, okay, that building has 150 ft B story. We don't have that here. Not
because we don't have the resources or the knowledge. It's just basically economics. >> So the higher the building is, the more stronger is going to be, the safer normally is the structure. >> Okay. So >> that's a fact. >> Okay. So, um, the other buildings that
you've done, Ocean One, Ocean 2, Ocean Three, the Trump buildings, do any of them have 200 foot pilings? >> Uh, Trump was done on 2008. I actually participated on those two buildings on
Trump one and two on 185 Ocean R is the other on that one. So the back then the drill the rigs for drilling piles were not able to go that deep. So what you did back then actually is you increase
the size of the foundation basically you make increase the footprint. Nowadays what we can do it since we have better equipment is we can do the footprint can be reduced but you can go deeper. when you do that actually you
engage the lower rock that actually is stronger and you have less issues. >> Okay. So beneath your uh property you have limestone correct? >> Yes. You have a couple of layers of limestone and things in between but you want to talk so I call Eric to come.
>> Okay. So, um, limestone the the depth and the thickness of the limestone varies per property and even on one property you're going to have variances in the in the thickness of the limestone. Correct. >> Correct.
>> Okay. Have you done studies um regarding the uh depth of your limestone or the thickness or the uh vulnerability of certain um thicknesses of the limestone to be affected by your drilling
>> on this particular site? >> Excuse me. >> Yes. Yeah, we as we >> So, you have reports on the um uh on the studies regarding the limestone below your property? >> Yes.
>> Okay. And are there any um uh any portions of the limestone that um are is fractured or now within the limestone there's w there are pockets of water. Correct. Water table's only a few
feet below surface, >> right? >> So, it's water continuous. >> Yes. >> Once you hit the water table, the water table's continuous. >> And within the limestone there's there are cavities, right? >> The limestone down here is referred to as buggy. So, yes, there are
>> there are pockets. It a is the limestone is a cemented sand, >> right? So, as you drill into certain portions of the limestone that's that could uh crack and fracture, correct? as it as they place the concrete, the concrete bites in into the
various formations of the limestone. That's where we gain our friction from, >> right? So, you have um like an echo, let's say I'm referring it to like an echo cardiogram or something. You've done
uh whatever uh topographic studies, >> soil borings. >> Yeah, borings. Well, not borings, but don't they have like a um like a scan of the ground so you know
exactly what what's underneath. So borings were sampling. >> Excuse me. I'm sorry. Could you speak into the microphone? >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Thank you. >> Uh so boring study, we sample on average every five feet. So we are able to put
together the strategraphy of the site and connect the layers from boring to boring. >> So there's not a type of scan machine that that gives you a full scan of what's below your property. >> Uh not down to the not down to the depth
of the borings. No. >> Mhm. Okay. So, but but there are cavities that could be affected by your drilling that you might not know that there's an issue. Is that correct?
>> That that are you referring to are you referring to sinkholes >> cause settling? Yes. >> Sink holes are not common in South Florida. >> There are sinkholes in central Florida, the West Coast. sink holes are not a
formation that we see in South Florida. >> Okay. So, another question I have is regarding the um setbacks between the buildings. What are those setbacks? Is it evenly spaced your where where you're
planning to build? >> That would be the setbacks would be the architect. I'm sorry. >> Between Armani and our building. >> Yes. >> Is 70 feet. 70 feet on each side. >> 70 feet on the south side and on the
north side is even greater than that because that's where we have our public beach access. >> So our setback from that property line is greater than the setback on the southern property line. >> Okay. So I know on the Bentley the
product that's on the fascia of the building is quite reflective. What is the fascia on your building? You mean the reflectance of the glass, not the fascia? >> I I I want to know the reflective value
of of your finished structure and how it's going to >> We haven't chosen the We haven't chosen the final glass that's going to go on the building yet. >> Okay. Because I'm concerned with how it's going to affect the buildings on either side regarding when the sun comes around and
the reflectibility. >> Understood. And that is also another benefit of going so narrow and so tall is that you don't have these big broad facades that are facing each other, right? You know what I mean? If we were short
and squat, you have a much broader um facade that could reflect glass. >> Well, so narrow and tall. >> Yeah. So, do you have any type of um
non-reflective um film that you're going to put on your glass? >> I know the glass that we will choose will be chosen for its energy efficient qualities. >> Okay. But in that regard, what you do to
>> and and turtle compliance is right. >> Well, internal. Yes. And having reflective glass is what keeps the interior cool. But it affects the >> not necessarily. No, it's about heat gain. It's not reflectivity. That it is
very different. >> So, okay. >> Solar heat gain. The building gets warmer from solar heat gain more so than if we have have a higher reflectance on the glass. That's >> but if you don't have reflectance on if
you don't have a reflectant >> barrier uh coating then you're going to have your heat going more into the glass which is not what you want. >> Is is there a a reflectance factor that you're looking for on a building? >> I'm no I'm just concerned
regarding the buildings on either side that they're going to be negatively affected by your reflection. >> Understood. And I would say that Armani to the south of us that building comes to a point right that comes to a point
that is on our facade. So we if there is any reflectance it certainly wouldn't um it wouldn't wouldn't affect that building at all because all those buildings are arranged so that as much of their surfaces facing the water. So,
it's almost end to end to end to end, not broadface to broadface to broadface. And that's just the the nature of getting as much of your facade on the water as you can. >> Okay. So, I know on my house, I live in
Golden Shores. I have my next door neighbor has a tin roof and I have to have >> We won't have a tin. >> Well, no, I know that, but I'm talking about reflectibility. So, I have to have my hedges high because when they were
short, before I planted them and before they grew, I was tortured by having their reflection from the sun in my kitchen all day. And it was torture. So, I'm trying to have Armani and
Ocean 2, the residents, not be tortured in the end because now we can only talk about it. How are you going to, if you, if you reflect into their windows when the building is completed, how are you
going to compensate them? It's a good point. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. So, Armani and the other building are north and south of us. So, reflectance won't go that way. The reflectance would go back east or back west. And Armani is a
completely glass building in it in and of itself, right? So, there's a certain of reflectivity coming off of that building as well. >> Wow. Okay. So all of these questions will be answered when this uh hearing is
deferred because these people have the right to have the time to have all of their questions answered and I believe tonight is not the night and I don't think there's any hurry and the the other people on the commission
should also think logically that These residents have the right to have another month or two months to have all of their questions answered. >> Okay, Commissioner Joseph, they're here to answer all of the questions. So, let's keep going with the questions rather than cutting them off. They're
here. >> You're finished. You're sure? >> Yes. >> Okay. Commissioner Stuison, do you have questions? >> Yeah, I have. >> Okay. >> For the staff. >> Okay. >> Uh, your microphone's off. >> Your microphone's off. So, um, the claim that there are no
variances being requested relies entirely on the commission approving the TDR purchase, right? Amy, >> that's right. There's no variances requested from the development standards of the MUR zoning district. The TDR
request is not a variance >> precisely. So the calculations that they are doing to go as high it is assuming that we are allowing them to buy the TDRs. >> Well, it's one of the requests that's
part of the application is for you to approve the TDR purchase. >> Okay. >> Well, just like a yes or no question. So again, I'm going to rephrase it. um the calculations that they are doing is assuming that we are allowing them to
purchase the TDRs, >> right? Because the the development proposal, the total that's before you is the total floor area and the total units >> which includes a TDR purchase >> which include the base, >> the bonuses and the TDRs.
>> And I think it was established that the TDRs are um according to um they are discretionary. They are not as of right. Correct. >> Correct. The code says that they are discretionary. That's why it's one of the requests in the application package.
>> Exactly. So I'm I'm going to rephrase the height, the density, the intensity, etc. is assuming that the commission approve the sale of the TDRs. They're proposing a development project.
And yes, it does include a request to purchase TDRs. >> Okay. Okay. Good. So um that's never I haven't finished. So >> if the TDRs were denied then the project will require massive variances
to exceeds to to to the current size and hardship as well will need to be proof right no this isn't a variance request the height is established by the Federal Aviation Administration which they received the approval for the letter of
no hazard determination and the TDR request is not a variance I think what Commissioner Stuben is asking is if there was a scenario where the TDRs were not approved, how would this project differ if it would be how would it look is the question if I'm if I'm
understanding you correctly. >> Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, if the v if the um TDRs were not approved, uh clearly they cannot have the site that they're having right now. So they will have to come and ask for massive variances to be able to get to there
because we established that we are assuming that the TDRs are going to be sold to them as they are asking. So the calculation of the high intensity and density are tied up to the very to the um purchase of the TDR from the city. So
it's it's based on the design of the project. Let's say if it didn't include TDRs, it could still be 828 feet tall. Okay. >> And narrower because the TDRs for this project, it's not giving them additional units. It's giving them additional square footage.
>> Correct. FS. Yeah. >> Correct. >> Yeah. Okay. So, but to the point, uh to have the project the way it is designed as of right now, uh if the TDRs were not sold, then um they couldn't have uh um
the design probably the high. Yes, because the FAA already cleared that. uh but they will need them variances to have the intensity and the density because they are adding over like around 45 units uh based on the purchase of the TDRs
>> and bonuses. >> Yeah. But the bonuses are it is like a checklist. If they do all the checklist they can get it. So we have three components. We have the base that is the right because they have the purchase of
the land. So clearly something is going to get built because if anyone buys a piece of land you have the right you you bought it with that in mind not just to make it a green space. So something is going to get built as of right. Now uh
the calculations is where I'm going right now because it is three components base as of right bonuses if they also um if they meet all the requirements and then it comes the TDRs the TDRs is at
the discretion of the commission and I do believe that's why we are here because it's everything um if we didn't need to discuss that kind of impact then what will be the point of bringing that to to the commission all together. So that is the issue. So with the um we
would need variances if the TDRs were not being sold. >> So not necessarily. >> Okay. >> Um the code even says that a variance can't be provided for density or intensity. It can only be variances apply to the development standards of
the project. Setbacks um the FA F things like that the lighting the signage of the property. So that the providing of TDRs doesn't mean that there would or wouldn't be variance requests. It depends on the design of
the structure. Okay. So the other question is now regarding parking. So um by sticking to the minimum of the code requirement and even reducing it further via chair parking. This is for you too. Sorry. So, I'm going to repeat. By sticking to the
minimum code requirement and even reducing it further via share parking, the project is virtually guaranteed to have a parking shortage. Is the share parking an exception to the rule or is as of right?
>> No. So, per the off- streetet parking requirements of the code, we have a shared parking um piece of it. And so if the applicant submits an independent study about the use of the property and when those uses are used during different times of the day and then
that's reviewed by the city's consultant and accepted then they can request the shared parking agreement. >> Okay. So we are relying in the independent study of the applicant >> and the city's review by our traffic engineering consultant.
>> Okay. And uh the calculation as it is the calculation as it is is two parking spaces per unit >> and we are even reducing when it comes to the restroom. Um and there is two parking spaces even if the unit is a
five bedroomedroom mansion. >> That's right. The zoning standard is that it's two units um two parking spaces if the unit is larger than 1,800 square feet. >> Okay. So um the chair parking reduction is discretionary.
Correct. Um and honestly the parking calculation is not credible. Um hence the issues that that the the people is pointing out. So um
the it seems that the project failed to the sufficiency of the off street parking criteria. And my question will be now probably as to the applicant is that what what will be the plan B? So once you are full capacity or if you are
at full capacity, what will be the plan be to uh accommodate those extra vehicles? Because um if history shows something is that as of right now the city is accommodating multiple buildings
with the parkings under the causeway, gateway etc. So which um you might think also is one of the reason why we are not able to use those spaces uh for the entertainment of the public which is another conversation but I'm talking
specifically under the causeway. So what would be the plan B if it shows in the future that the calculation of the parking wasn't um correct or maybe it's up to code because I understand that the
code says two uh vehicles per unit. The thing is that it's not realistic. >> Um if I may the Yes, this is our traffic engineer Derek Deski from Kimley Horn to answer this question. and Derek Deski A201 South Peters Road. Kim Association
for the mic. >> I'm just gonna remind everyone, please, if you're gonna have conversations, take it outside. I want to make sure that we're able to hear him up up front. >> Yeah. My name is Derek Deski. I'm at Kimley Horn and Associates. Address is 8201 South Peters Road, Plantation, Florida. So, um, a couple points I'd
like to make. Yes, I prepared the shared parking analysis. It was prepared conservatively. Um, as Tracy mentioned earlier, the restaurant is ancillary to the building. In our analysis, we assumed that it was open to the public. So that's the first thing I
want to, you know, just first point I want to make. Second point I want to make is the expected demand, the results of the shared parking analysis. The expected demand um for parking for this site is around I think 264
264 spaces. We're providing 290 spaces. And so as Tracy mentioned earlier, we are overparked. So I mean that's what the analysis is showing. >> Okay. 290 spaces for an ultra luxury
145 units. And a lot of that has to do with this isn't the majority of the residents necessarily first homes, right? There are people that come here maybe six months of the year. They come at different times. So there there is that consideration that's made. >> Okay. One second. Let me stop you. Let
me stop you one one moment, ladies and gentlemen. Please, we're going to otherwise be here all night. Give them the respect. Allow them to answer the questions. >> And um they please, everyone has their time to speak. So, it's their time to
speak. No outbursts, please. And then what I'm going to ask is as we're having these conversations that uh the city manager or the city attorney please chime in because I need to have an understanding of if we're discussing something that is of right and is within our code and they
are meeting that code or is what you're saying exceeding it. Um is that germanine to this conversation? Well, certainly um any commission in your position is in a difficult position because um you have a certain code. So,
for example, the FAA height, right? That's in your code. So, you have to stick to the essential requirements of the law, which is your code. Uh I'll give another example. Uh reference was made to a shade study. Your code does not require a shade study, right? So,
you can't require that of the applicant because it's not in your code. So Florida statutes is very strong on that is and you have to follow your code otherwise you set yourself up for reversal of whatever decision you make. So you always get in a tough position where you have to follow your code. So
correct if they check off the boxes and they comply with what the code requires. you're you're now there you can challenge some things obviously that you may feel is not you know and and I set you the criteria in my memo uh yesterday um that there's certain things that you
could look at but for the most part if it is a requirement that they've met that's essentially what they're required to do >> right and if we're having discussions about the fact that we may may or may not
agree with that code uh what is that set for the future if anything >> for the future of what? >> Well, let's just assume that the with the parking um you know because it's come up a few times now um and in my conversations with the applicant as well because of what conversations I've had
with Armani. For me in general, I think we don't have enough parking in the city. If it's within in our code and they meet or exceed it, it's not it cannot be something that we can deny them. >> Correct. Not on that basis because they've met the code. So, if your code
requires two spaces for I can't remember the square footage above square footage. That's what your code requires. You can't now change it and say, "Well, no, it really should be three." >> Right. Okay. Um, Commissioner Sus, you had >> we we we certainly should be um changing
the code according to what makes sense, how we do almost in every meeting. Um, so, okay. Um, another question. So that he has to uh do let me see. So having a private restaurant and private cabanas
um which clearly points out to the privacy luxury exclusivity of the project. How realistic is that the general public is going to have access to the public ocean front park which is one of the bonuses that is giving you um
access to have extra units. The restaurant is within the building. It is is structural, right? The the public open spaces, the oceanfront park, the beachwalk are all exterior. They're outside. They're on the ground level. The there is no fencing. There is no no
guard, no it's open to the public. It's open air. There are pathways leading you there from the sidewalk on Collins Avenue. There are, you know, access from the beach is open. um like you see in front of the other buildings such as Aqualina or Armani or any of the others.
Um and I can show you the site plan reflecting that area if you if you go back to that. >> Yes, I remember. Yeah. Okay. >> Um and so that is open to the public and will not be you know it during daylight hours will not be restricted access. >> Okay. It will be not strict as of right
now to get uh the project approval but maybe in 10 years when it's ready and there is a whole new commission here they will come with now uh site approval change and probably restrict the assets because um if it's going to be as exclusive as and luxury as it's supposed
to be um since I've been here sitting down in this commission I seen how site approvals uh has been fluidly changed according to the influence of the applicant on the commission. So
>> respectfully, I I would have to disagree. The applicant will be required to enter into an agreement with the city to provide these easements and to provide these open spaces. That's something that is public. It's recorded on the public record. It runs with the land and it cannot be changed. This is
part of how the F was accomplished. So this is a an extended agreement to allow this to be public open space. And if I may address one of your questions about the TDRs and how that affects the building because I think that is important to touch on again. Um what
happens if the TDRs are not awarded to this evening by the commission? Essentially the units get smaller. The building stays the same height. The building stays with the same number of units. Everything stays the same but the square footage of the building is reduced.
>> So right. So, you know, the just, you know, I just feel like it's important to say that again that the density and the height do not change. >> Correct. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Um, so to your point about the site approval that once is approved, it cannot be changed.
Um, well, actually last year we have a zoning to change the site approval of the offsite parking of Aqualina. So, they have to uh take care of the underground of the utilities. and they came here claiming that they want to
make sure to get the certificate of occupancy for a parking garage. Um, and we had this discussion here uh the the conditions that were approved by a previous commission to approve the site
plan just like today. uh once they came here and they did a very nice presentation and after throwing thousands of dollar parties for certain elected officials here in the city uh then they got the S approval and then
modification and then they didn't have to meet that requirement no more. So now it is to the taxpayers to pay the underground utility of the site approval that is supposed to be able to be modified. So uh with all due respect it
has nothing to do with you guys. Okay. >> It sounds like a very different scenario. Totally. You know like this is this is a bonus for F purposes. Yes. So if the if the public benefits that are committed to as part of this a site plan approval and b recorded document were to
be eliminated then the building would not be in compliance with your comprehensive plan. So I you know I think it's a >> and we have a lot of that as well and we hear that our comp plan in our land development regulations have not been in compliance hence many issues that we
have had with Talahasi and other buildings. So, and that's why this this project has been delayed quite frankly, right? We were waiting for the comp plan second reading to be so that it was corrected, so this was accurate, so that these numbers do match and so that there is a very obvious commitment to comply
with both your comprehensive plan and your code. >> Yeah. And that has absolutely nothing to do with you guys. And I want to um really um point out and be very clear that um I believe that if I was in your shoes of the applicant, I will be doing
exactly what you're doing right now, trying to get the maximum of everything um in the maximum profit and benefit as me as the applicant. And I do hope that you and everybody understand that if you were in my shoes, you will be doing what
I'm doing right now, which is protecting our residents and, you know, in the benefit of our community. >> And all of these things, >> all of these things come with consideration, right? There's consideration made here. So, there is a, you know, $29.6 million fee paid to the
city for these for these maximizations, right? for these bonuses, for these TDRs. That's That's >> okay. I'm I listen listen. I'm gonna then I'm gonna I'm warning you, please. Okay. >> There are public Let her speak. >> There are public benefits given to the
city in exchange for this design. Right? There are a lot of extra things that are being committed to that balance out the consideration between the design of the building and what the concurrency and the public benefits and the economic
benefits should be to the city to ensure that both the developer and the city and the residents get what they need to make sure that this city succeeds in the long term. >> So um another question and this might be also for the staff. So, uh, did we got
an independent vibration and subsidance study? And this is for the staff. I'm so sorry. I would like to know that from from our people. >> I'm so sorry. Can you repeat that? >> Did we get an independent vibration and subsidant um study other than the one
that the applicant submitted? Do we have one on? >> Yes. Do we got one pri prior to considering voting on this? Do we have an independent vibration study? >> No. This project is not required by the code for the submitt of the site plan. >> So we we didn't get it. Okay.
>> Well, let me explain. So what you have tonight is a site plan approval. It's basically a zoning approval. It's a conceptual design. It's a conceptual site plan that's permitted under chapter 166 Florida statutes. the building itself, the construction of
it, the actual building plans haven't even been drawn up yet. So, it's two separate processes. When you get through the building plan process, there's a whole other process you go through and things they have to satisfy in order to advance forward and even get the permit and inspections and so on and so forth.
That's where you get into the vibration and those types of issues. here you're sort of relegated to your zoning code and those requirements under chapter 166 as well with regards to this they're two different types of things
>> okay and with regard that with that on that so the staff report suggests approving the project now right but requires the applicant to submit critical plans like vibration construction staggering uh monitoring
etc later when those are submitted later if right Mr. attorney, they had to submit all those later on >> when they could go through the building plan process and all this. Yeah, that's >> But then no, one second. But then none
of that is going to come to us because that's it goes to administrative approval, meaning the city manager and staff are the ones that are going to be reviewing this and we are not going to have this anymore. >> No, because it's Florida. It's Florida
being >> it's Florida. No, no, it's not a yes or no. >> One one second, ladies and gentlemen. Okay. I I don't want want to say it one more time. We're going to have to take a recess if you can't control yourselves, please. This is an important conversation. Okay. And I want to make
sure that everyone has their opportunity to not only speak, but that we all can hear the answer. >> So, it's not a yes or no because that's dictated by the Florida building code, right? So the requirements in building and everything else that they have to they have to actually follow is so our
building official is relegated to enforcing the building code. We can't impose our own building code. So for example, if we want something more stringent than what the Florida building code provides, we're not authorized to do that. We can only comply with what the existing building code is. And
that's our role as a regulatory body when you get through this process with the building and building permits and so on. >> And to tack on to that, everything is public record. So anything that anyone wants to see is available to them, right? I mean it can be tracked, it can
copies can be requested, it can be analyzed by the public at any time. Um you know, >> but it would be approved already if it gets approved today. So now >> no what he what there's two phases, right? There's a site plan approval, which is what we're here for today, which is the conceptual drawings, right?
Here's what it's going to look like. Here's generally how people will access it. Here's generally what the floor plans are, what the landscaping is going to be, but all of the minute details of the structural, the electrical, the plumbing, the mechanical, everything about the details of the construction
that is not ever discussed at this stage because that happens as well, right? It's important that the public understands this too, right? There's a lot of questions that are asked this evening that are related to what would be involved in a building permit plan
set and and not necessarily done at this stage. Um, you know, there is this underlying understanding that these are very experienced developers that have developed many buildings in your city quite successfully. And these buildings,
you know, are have all delivered to, you know, to look like what they're going to look like, which is really a lot about what tonight is about. but then are designed in a manner that they're safe and that they that they, you know, are compatible and consistent with what the
city skyline is. So, this is >> Wait, wait, wait. Commissioner Joseph, let let Commissioner Stson finish. She has the floor. Okay. >> So, so um so we really clearly can uh calculate the adverse impact of the building um with what we have right now.
So, having said that, I have a couple of questions more for the staff. So, um, for how long had the staff of the city been in communication with the applicant regarding this project,
more or less? >> Sure. The application was submitted in May 2025. Okay. May 2025. Well, that's interesting because one of the applicants said that they've been in communication with you guys for like two years. So um I I I can understand the
application was formally submitted May 2025. However, for how long this project has been um kind of uh maybe the idea uh being around and the staff being um part
of it since when or for how long? We had a pre-application meeting I believe in February of 2025 and so that was my first introduction to the project and that's required by the code that they have to have a pre-application meeting with staff before submitting and at that
pre-application meeting we generally discuss the process what's going to be requested and then they made that formal submission it was in May 2025 okay so the two years is not accurate that they've been waiting for two years for this stuff apparently it's not accurate
okay so anyway if you guys uh have been talking about this for um almost a year since February 2025. It's very interesting because um we are asked to um make this decision
today based on a package that we at least I I'm not going to talk for anybody here but I received last Friday night. thousands of pages that I just got last Friday night and from the staff
I just got the um respect of having a 30 minutes more or less uh briefing of those thousands of pages. So um it's clear that we are not the experts that in any of these uh different um
categories. However, we are make we're the one who are supposed to make making this decision. And I just want the the public to understand this. I saw this package for the first time Friday night or I receive it Friday night and then
thousands of pages uh even though that the staff is being in communication with the applicant for at least a year. Um I don't know if the code say that we are not supposed to get informed that I had no clue but um and like I said I got
more information more input from the applicant from phone conversation that I had with them uh and for a meeting that I have with them that from our staff. So it's a little bit hard to to to make a decision when we are having been even
presented with detail the the information. Um, also I find out about the project uh because I got uh phone calls, emails or whatever. I don't remember right now when it was published in the news about the FA approval. So
just the lack information of not being part of the process. Um it's just a little bit hard to then make the the determinations. So um that for now
>> um I don't know if this is for you Amy but since we do have actually no it's not for you Amy thank you um since we have the applicants who have so many years of experience working with our city and specifically with the two properties that have objection um so that we have a sense of normally how
this works because clearly I think there is a little bit of misunderstanding of how this process works. So I appreciate it if you can just walk us through for instance you literally built the Armani. >> I literally built the Armani. >> Okay. So when the Armani went through this process, we'll use that as an
example since it's a more recent building. >> How does that differ from what we're doing right now? >> We weren't asked to provide all the construction details that are being asked of us today. We everything that we've done today is what we've done
countless times like I said for ocean one, ocean two, ocean 3, ocean 4, Armani. The difference is ocean two, ocean 3, Armani, they all maximized their TDRs with regards to density and
square footage and height at the time. >> They didn't. We're not doing that. We're taking less density now from the bonuses than we would be allowed with the bonuses. We could be building more units if you didn't want to with your
discretionary TDRs provide to us. So the only thing you'll be penalizing us with is less square footage, which is less >> No, it would be it'd be the same building. It would just be a skinnier >> No, no, it'll be the same It'll be the
same building. It'll just be skinnier >> because it'll be less square footage. So, and it won't be less people. It'll still be 145 units. >> So, it at the end of the day, you'll have less marketable units at the end of
the day because the market today opposed to when we developed Ocean 2 and even Armani for that matter, there were more investors. There are people who weren't living here full-time or for three and six months. They're literally investing
and then renting them out. That's not who the market is today. The market today for the projects that you'll see whether it's at the St. Regis or the Bentley are for the larger units. That is what's marketable today for people who are coming and we're not selling to
Russians and Venezuelans or people from China. You're not allowed to sell to them. So, at the end of the day, we're selling to people from the Northeast and people in South Florida who are looking to upgrade and take more space. So, these are really replacement units at the end of the day for people who want
to sell their unit at Ocean One or Ocean 2, Ocean 3 or not. But at the end of the day, they're if they're looking for a larger unit, that's what this provides because the the la the stock of inventory prior to this cycle has all
been smaller units. So the market today is for the larger units. And that's ideally what we're looking for here. >> Okay? And as >> and less units, by the way, because if the market was for more units, we would be applying for the 200 and
something units, which we would be allowed to with the TDRs. We haven't done that. >> And to take the conversation back to the parking because when we met that's one of my major concerns was what happens when you have people that are buying these apartments that >> don't have only two cars. Uh
>> right. >> What what is your plan for that and and how do you you know >> based on you know the design right now versus what is actually going to happen? >> Right. So, the design right now is for two levels of parking. And what I
communicated um in our meeting was the way the code is written, and I'm sure Amy will correct me if I'm mistaken, is once you go above a certain level, I I believe it's 20 some odd feet. If we did another level of parking, it would count
towards F, right? So if we did another level of parking, we would whatever space is built for the parking I believe would count towards our F and would eliminate sellable area which is tax increment for the city at the end of the day. So that's why we don't have a third
level of parking and to build a a a lower level uh underground is not something with the flooding that goes on in Sunny Alice. We'd rather not build another basement uh parking structure. So, if I'm So, if I was going to buy an
apartment in this um building, I would know how many parking spaces I have. >> Yeah, we have 298 spaces planned for 145 units. >> Okay. >> And no stackers. >> All right. Um,
additional questions. Commissioner Viscaro? >> No. >> Vice Mayor, go ahead. So I um I went through the application and um thank you for addressing some of the concerns. Obviously, I think that from the time
that the Armani was built and the other buildings to now, there are very understandable concerns given what happened unfortunately in and in and Surf Side and some of the reports whether they're accurate or they're half
accurate, whatever, >> you know, um I think that the concern is is is palpable from the residents and obviously from from us as well. Um but regarding the application itself and what I don't see here is that regarding
levels of service I only see a traffic study. I don't see a school impact. I don't see sewer. I do not see evacuation routes. So is that existent? I I don't see it in the application. So >> yes, all of those analyses were done. Uh
we provided uh school concurrency analysis through Miami date county public schools. we meet concurrency. We did a water and sewer analysis. Uh it calculated the the volume of usage that will occur from both the units and the restaurant and all of the amenities. The
water will be provided by North Miami Beach. There's capacity. Sewer will be provided by Miami Date County. There's capacity. We also did a solid waste analysis and provided evidence that there's capacity uh by our solid waste handler to accommodate whatever is
generated by the project. And it was a very conservative higher end of the spectrum uh analysis of of the level of of waste created by the building. All of that should be in your agenda package. >> Here's the sewer. >> What water?
>> Where where is it here? this under >> Amy, can you tell me because >> uh Vice Mayor, so the staff report included the level of service analysis on page five and then attached to the staff report in your agenda memo. >> Okay. >> So included in the staff report package
attached are all of the letters for the water sewer water service sewer service drainage solid waste and schools. The only thing that was separate was the traffic impact analysis which is a separate Okay. >> Yeah. >> All right.
Um, now when it comes to school, so please correct me if I'm wrong. So I know that it could say it's obviously it will be able to accommodate, but that is based on
the county itself, right? Not necessarily this school. >> Correct. The Miami Day County Public Schools looks at all of the area schools within the feeder pattern and then it further looks at if there isn't availability within the feeder pattern,
the next adjacent schools and there is availability here in the feeder pattern. So they didn't need to do that next tier of analysis. Um and that so one other thing to mention the school concurrency analysis
is done now at site plan and it's done again at building permit. So if between now and building permit there's an issue with student stations, the applicant would need to pay mitigation fees to make sure that enough student stations exist in the area
schools to accommodate the kids that would live in this project. >> Yeah. Okay. So I will >> let me ask you really quick before I give you Are you done, Vice Mayor? >> Yes. >> Okay. What What is um assuming the everything that you've requested gets approved as far as timing, what is your
goal time for completion, >> the date approximately? >> Um good question. So we we also tried getting our site plan approval for our sales center in at this hearing, but so I think that's going to get delayed till February. Uh assuming this gets approved
and that sales center application gets approved, uh our goal is to have that sales center completed, which means I need my construction documents and permits in place so I can start construction, call it by summer. So I could have it open by the end of the
year and start sales at that point. Uh based on pace of sales that we're currently seeing in the current market, it's going to take 12 to 18 months to get enough sales. So we can start construction. And the construction
timeline's going to be plus or minus 36 months >> to 42 months. >> Five years plus >> from Yeah. From today. Yeah. >> Okay. >> If every if everything goes perfect, >> right? You have the floor, commissioner.
>> Yeah. So as far as are we anticipating how many children school age children will be in this building? >> Yes. There will be don't have my glasses on. Why? I got to make it bigger. Hold on.
Um, so of the 145 units, there will be 12 students at the K through eight level and four students at the high school level. Um, and that's because in generally in multif family, um, that's
the that's the ratio that's used by the school board to calculate it. But I can tell you that as of today there are 33 available student stations at uh Norman Edelup K through eight and then at Tracy and Alonzo morning there are 50
available student stations for the high school level. So even if there are more students attending public schools from this building, there is capacity today and you know it's a p point in time photo but there is capacity to accommodate more kids than what was analyzed.
>> Right. >> Now your building is going to be built after the Bentley right and after the St. Regis. Well the St. Regis has two towers. So now we have to consider also how many
kids they they will have in their buildings. So actually by time their buildings are completed you may be behind the eightball. >> Well like traffic the school board the school board looks at all of the committed developments. So if you've approved those projects which you have
those student stations are factored in to this analysis. So because we've come in after these two, the student stations required but for those buildings are already reserved and this is in addition to those. So they look at what what's
left after St. Regis and after Bentley. >> Right. Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay. Anyone else? >> I would like to make a motion. >> Okay. One one moment. I don't want to ignore your motion. Um, do we have uh
anything from staff that needs to be added from the city attorney or from the city manager? >> No. >> No. >> Okay. Please make your motion. >> Yes. I would like to make to make a motion to defer this um issue until um March or April in
order to give um either building on either side of the construction enough time to uh settle whatever issues they might have. I don't think there's um any reason to rush this. This is the last time that this issue would come before
the commission and this is our time to um allow for our um best questioning uh because after us it goes only to the building department and we're out of it.
So I ask for the other commissioners to also uh think logically to the benefit of the residents. >> Okay. Um just so for clarification, if this was deferred, what what would be the next steps?
>> Well, for advertising purposes, you need to defer it to a time certain. If it's that late a date, we probably have to readvertise. I'm not sure. But um >> if you announce the date today, you wouldn't need to >> reverise depending even if it's April or whatever date you would need to do a
date certain in order to avoid having to do that. >> But if I may, you know, notices have gone out for this articles have been published. There was a lot of notice given. Um we did not receive any phone calls. The city only received, as far as I understand it, one phone call. Um you know, we have done our briefings. We
have been open about this project. We have waited for a very long time. we have been here before to and deferred already from October. Um so you know we have done what we can to be open and to to give an opportunity to to hear
concerns and to address any issues that have come up and I think we were very well prepared this evening to answer all of your questions. A lot of the questions have to do with what happens during the building construction, not about the building itself. You heard over and over again that the building is
beautiful, that they like the design, and as Eric mentioned in in one of the responses that it is their practice to spend time with those homeowners associations prior to construction to work out maintenance schedules, construction schedules, and all and
address all of the impacts that could potentially be adverse to those buildings and make sure that it's a harmonious process. >> Okay. But let me ask you a question be before you go on because I want to make sure that that >> look at at the end of the day we have to respect everyone's private property
rights and I want to make sure that we're very clear as to what questions we feel are still unanswered. >> Okay. So to be fair, when I met with the builders and uh giving them the total benefit, I did not go in with any um preconception
and we were open. Correct. In the um and it was only simple questions that were asked and answered. I had no idea that you had never met with the buildings on either side of the construction, which was a surprise to me tonight. And that
should have been the first thing that you did actually. And I believe they have they should have the opportunity to have a fair amount of time to meet with you and to have their questions and reservations answered.
I don't think there's any need to rush. You have two buildings that have a large number of concerns and you have a right to be able to meet with them and settle whatever concerns they have. There's no reason to rush and have a decision
tonight. >> We will commit to meeting with them, you know, as part of this process, but as we go towards building construction, because from what I've heard, that's the main concern. It's how is there vibration? Is there noise? Are you going to work on weekends? Is my car going to
get dirty? What what kind of dust level am I going to have on my balconies? Those are the those are the things that we would talk about with them and it would be done prior to building permit. >> But I'm not privy to the other studies that they have that they have questions regarding. So in that regard, I can't I
I can't say that that's absolutely true. You need to meet with them. We need to defer this meeting. And when they have said to us that they are satisfied, you know, to a good degree anyway, then
we can move forward. >> Respectfully, >> I believe that's fair to the res >> respectfully. We meet the code. We're not asking for any variances. There's nothing being requested here that does not meet every single letter of your code of ordinances and your land development regulations. We we this is
to the letter. And so, you know, the concerns about construction, the concerns about geotechnical information, those are all things that get addressed as our team engineers the building for building permit. Not, you know, the study that was handed out has to do with
the soil quality. That's something that is never going to be addressed by our site plan that's before you today. That happens when the engineering is done for building permit. >> Okay. From my regard, it would be haphazard for me to vote on this tonight. And I hope that the other
commissioners look at it as logically as I do to allow the residents to have their questions answered and come back another month or two months. >> What questions specifically would you like them to answer? >> I have no idea. It's that that the
buildings on either side of the construction have not been met with and that was wrong. and we were not made privy to that and I would have said right away that that was wrong that that occurred. >> Okay.
What is your motion? >> My motion is to defer this uh decision until April to give the buildings enough time to have their studies requested or whatever it is that they are looking for.
>> Okay. There a second. Okay, there's no second. Um, are there any other questions or comments? May I um I I think a lot of the
questions that I had um have been answered. I I would still, you know, because going going back to um what Commissioner Stubisan said, I it's very hard for us to
get thousands of pages a week before or not even a week before and and and look at everything. Um I think I have a pretty clear understanding. I I understand that it is within code. Okay. And obviously
we need to follow your the developers rights etc. But there are some things that I still would like time uh to review. >> So wasn't that a reason to defer? >> Hold on Jerry let me speak. Hold on.
Okay. So and obviously you have your neighbors which have concerns. I mean obviously I think some of these concerns again going back to my point have a lot to do with what happened in in Surfside uh etc. So I I wouldn't be opposed to
the idea of perhaps deferring for a month. I think that with a month it will be sufficient time to meet with your neighbors. Okay. I don't think April you know I I think it's too long. I know that they have um you know they've been
waiting for us to to to to make uh some changes to our land development codes >> in March. >> Hold on, Jerry. >> All right. >> So, let me talk. So, so I think that to be fair to to all parties here because we do as commissioners need to listen to
our residents and there's two buildings that have concerns, two buildings that actually uh the applicant built. So I think uh in all fairness uh I will be inclined to defer for one month. Uh so I
myself could take a a a better deeper look at the application. Okay. And then also you could have those meetings with your your neighbors. uh I think a month um can be can be obviously uh given it
would not you know add or subtract from your timeline uh you've waited enough so I would you know propose to defer for for next month >> let me um what what are the options as far as the voting is concerned
>> so per your code as well as Florida statutes obviously you can approve you can approve with conditions or You can deny the code also provides you the procedural motion if you want to defer as well. So you have those four options. >> What is approved with conditions? >> Approve approve of conditions or deny
and then obviously if you have the procedural motion to defer, >> right? But as far as conditions are concerned, what are some of those conditions that are >> those conditions right now are stated in the documents before you which are the seven conditions that uh Amy went through one by one as as well as the
applicant. Mhm. >> Uh those are the conditions unless there's additional conditions that are added by the commission. Again, keeping in mind that those conditions have to be those types of things that unless they're required by the code, the applicant obviously would have to agree
with >> and we we would pro if we can proceed this evening, we would profer to meet with the the residents um >> yes, >> immediately, right? if we would meet with them now and continue to meet with them and keep the dialogue going through
the construction process. Um, and that way the you can deliver the approval for the site plan that meets the code this evening and we can continue to speak with them and address their concerns relating to the structural issues and engineering of the building and for the construction process.
>> Okay. >> I'm sorry that's >> when what you're commissioner Joseph. >> Good evening. Isaac Toadono with BH Group. with the applicants. Jerry, Commissioner Jerry, did you try to ask one question to our neighbors? Why they didn't contact us to try to meet with us
while this application is spending? >> Wasn't their place? >> Just one second. One second. >> It was the developers place to meet with to contact them. >> Just one second. We filed the application with the FAA. We got the approvals. We did everything that we supposed to. met with staff, received
comments, answered answered the comments. We did everything that by the way you guys did to many other developers in the past. Other developers came in front of you with TDRs. We're not asking for anything that it's unique that it's first time happening in Sunny Isles. I'm just trying to understand a
little bit if we are getting a different treatment tonight. >> No, it's not a different treatment. It's your place to contact the buildings around you to satisfy them. So you're aware I have reached out to Armani because I've tried to make amends with
Armani because if you don't know what goes on the fi we have a 558 settlement dispute with them. I've reached out to them and they will not meet with us. So they can say we haven't reached out to them. They have not returned a phone call.
>> Okay. So, look, I I I just want again for for clarification, and I can tell you that um I I think now every single one of us has been here for site plan approval. Um and I think possibly every single one of us has stood up in opposition of a site plan approval
before we were elected. Um and we obviously all live here, so we understand the implications, but um at the same time, my concern is is that I don't know what's going to change in a month. uh the the site plan is a site plan and if it's within the right my
concern is that we're prolonging it uh without any potential for a difference because we're not we don't have any specific issues besides the fact that we don't want the residents and their neighbors to be unhappy but unfortunately when every single one of your buildings are being built your
neighbors came out and were very unhappy I can tell you that um because I was one of those people as well so I just want to get clarification if we are making any recommendation or a motion to defer that we're very clear as to what it is
that we expect to change and not just that less people are going to come next time. >> Okay. May I ask >> I'm asking I'm I'm speaking to the vice mayor so that we're >> no so so okay. So taking into consideration some of the concerns that the uh residents expressed and obviously
you know um some of the same arguments were made when the Armani uh Casa was about to when it came before us for our approval >> right >> you know um it's a monstrosity too in my opinion you know I've been here since 19
since the 1980s and and to me I'm sorry to say this but Isa callings to me it's the whole thing is a monstrosity. So that's that's the way it is. Okay. Um now do developers have a right to build?
Yes, they have a right to build. You're within code. But I think that and and I keep referring to to what happened in Surfside. I think there are very um very valid concerns where I think that a
meeting with your neighbors should occur and I think that a month that we deferring this a month will give sufficient time for you to meet with them answer any questions. I I I trust that your your your you know experts are going to be able to address those
questions. They address them here tonight. I am I'm satisfied with those. But um I think that out of respect and one month more, one month less, I think that um one month will have more of a
benefit than if we, let's say, approve it today. And I understand we're only approving this from a zoning and planning perspective. We're approving the the the the actual project, not the building and the
construction part of it. Right? That's a whole separate um phase, let's say. So, in my opinion, and to be logical and fair, I think that if we
defer one month, I I don't see how this can impact anything. >> I see more of a benefit. Yeah. Go ahead. You know, with with all due respect, we've entitled dozens of buildings and have not had a
requirement to meet with our neighbors on any of these properties. And it's not that we we don't want to. They don't want to talk to us. A lot of the times they basically don't want the project to happen, right? So the longer they delay it, the better the opportunity that the
project may not happen. Yeah. So not so my point is like you said they had a lot of questions and concerns of which they were answered by our representatives tonight. >> Nothing is going to change at that point. >> We don't know. We don't know that.
>> Yeah. That that's uh Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Arthur Gallagher 18001 Collins Avenue here in Sunny Isles. Um I just want to make make the record clear and make sure I understand something. the the commission is asking us to do something that is not required by the code, right?
That's making us go through an additional hump that's not required by the code and has never been asked by any other developer in the city to do. So, is that is that I'm just want to make that clear. You're asking us to do something not required by the code that you've never asked another developer in the city to do. Is that is that what my understanding is?
>> What is that? To meet with the buildings around you. Um, you're you're I'm asking, are you asking us to do an additional act that is neither required by your code or been asked by any other developer previously in the in the in the city? >> I don't know. Out of courtesy, has it
has it occurred before >> that when there was a construction? I I don't know because >> Commissioner just we I think we we said out of courtesy in all of our projects we meet with the with the neighboring prop properties but I'm asking clearly
now for the record is the commission asking us to do something requiring us to do something that's neither required by the code or been asked previously by any other developer. >> I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm saying that the commission that the
commission >> for the residents should defer this hearing so that the residents have a chance for to have their questions or if they have additional studies to present it to
you to get the answers that they need to get. That's this is the last one quick before this commission. >> The city code provides >> I guess we're out of it. >> As soon as you're done when you're done, I'll answer.
>> Go ahead. >> Okay. So, the code's pretty clear. I do believe that there's a notice provision that requires us to deliver notice to the adjacent property owners and to affected property owners providing a statutory period of time for which they
can ask questions of the developer, do things and make an appearance. Okay, we've met those requirements. I think the staff was pretty clear that notice was provided in accordance with the code and we're here tonight in accordance with the timeline provided by the code.
>> Second time. Yeah, second time, Mr. B. Yeah, we we've provided notice twice because we were trying to come earlier in the city because of some of the problems had to to take the uh agenda item off off the agenda. So, we've provided the the affected residents
twice with notice, months and months of time to ask questions of the developer and to do things. We've made ourselves available both to each of the commissioners. We met with you to answer your questions in advance of coming tonight and and Tonight
we're being asked just just for the clear of the record to to commit to do something that's not required by the code has never been asked by another developer. >> So I have a question. >> One one moment. >> I believe I was in a conversation. >> One second. >> So I have a right to continue.
>> No, you're not recognized right now. I want to give uh the vice mayor an opportunity because I want to get clarity on what you were requesting. So I was requesting to defer this for a month based on obviously the concerns
that the neighboring towers have. Okay. Now this has not been asked before because we did not have a situation as what happened in Surfside before. Okay. We have these reports whether they are accurate or not accurate. Okay. of
subsidance settlement um etc etc right I think that it is only fair and I I particularly don't see the issue of deferring it for a month I I don't know that what that would entail for for
for you guys you know for the developer but I think that perhaps you know we defer for a month so some of these issues could be addressed and then we move one, I understand that you're within your rights. Uh to me, a lot of
these concerns were addressed. Um I still have some some questions, you know, and and I would like to uh take a in-depth look at the application and and and everything else uh that was submitted.
So, um I I don't see the harm in in delaying this for a month >> and I I absolutely understand that you've done everything to code, but I think that you know the residents have
some concerns and some questions that >> and I appreciate that. >> I'm sure I'm sure that you could you're going to be able to to address. >> Yeah, >> I totally appreciate that. Um, we brought our experts here tonight and actually paying them money to be here to answer these questions. So, if they have
uh questions about the Miami Herald articles, we paid these people to come and answer them. That's the purpose of being here tonight. And I think at one point someone asked about the the Herald articles. I think if you go back and read the articles in their entirety, they buried it at the bottom of the articles. that said specifically that
they found that notwithstanding these questions of settlement that they were never suggesting that the buildings weren't safe or safe for the adjacent properties. So specifically quoted and stated in the articles again buried at the bottom some maybe not didn't read those. So I think we've done everything
I think you know when we met in in person you know some of that question was raised particularly by you and that's why we offered to have our experts here tonight. We specifically called and paid for them to come tonight to do that. Um I just we've been very patient and and again um understand
maybe you guys didn't have sufficient time but I think my understanding is this this report for this you know the staff the timelines they set out to make themselves available to answer questions and then when they give materials is fairly consistent what they've done for the last 20 years for all these projects. So nothing's really changed.
It's my concern is I feel like for some reason we're being targeted as a developer and I mean the the systems in place by the city have been around for 20 years. The code is with the code. We've checked every box, dotted every eye, crossed every tea. We submitted the
application a year ago. So we've been working with this sorry we've met with the city and been working on the application for almost a year which is and the only reason it's taken that long is because some of the issues the city had. they've and they've deferred us two other times. And so I'm just concerned
that we as a developer are being targeted for some reason and and treated unfairly and been asked to do things not required by your code and and this is this this causes us really financial harm. >> Ladies and gentlemen, please >> this this causes us financial harm. I mean I know no one really cares about
that, but but it is causing us financial harm every time this is delayed. And so it's, you know, again, I I I'm happy to try to cooperate with you guys, but at this point, we've cooperated for a long time, and we, you know, we'd like for you guys to approve our project since it meets the code. >> Go ahead. You have the floor.
>> So, the publication that you did, there's a certain amount of days of notice. How How long does that >> I don't know. I think the city actually is 10 days. >> How long is that? >> It's 10 days. And we originally filed the notice >> when >> we put it in the mail and we originally filed the first one. So,
>> and when >> does it run out tomorrow? When does it run? >> When does I think I'm It's your I'm not sure it's your code. You can ask our lawyers this question, but I think it's 10 days from the time the notice are provided. But again, we file we provide we I'm sorry.
>> Is today the last day? >> Today the last day. Well, you you give notice of a meeting, right? You give notice of a meeting. That's what it Okay. That we were part of a notice, I think, that took place in November. So, notice so that residents have known for several months that this was taking place. In order for the buildings on
either side of you to answer, are they in compliance if they answer tonight? If they if they need more time, if they tell you they need more time tonight, >> I think the way the code works is they're giving notice of the project and the hearing and they're given the opportunity to attend and ask questions
and and state their opinion. So that's that was sat that's been satisfied by what's happened here. But if they have reports that I'm not privy to, but I was told they have reports, how would you answer those without having the time to meet with them and and see what they
have that they require answering? >> I'm not sure that understand that question. >> Yeah. Again, I'm I'm not sure. I haven't seen any reports. My understanding is those reports are about the structure of the building. It's kind of hard for them to even do that because we haven't
designed the building yet. I mean, there's the structure and the foundations and all those things. Those would be >> But that's what I'm saying. >> But after that's part of the process, the building permit, not a site plan approval. >> After tonight, this process is out of the hands of the commission. It goes back to the building
department where we have no >> That's the way your code sets it up. >> I understand. But >> that's the way the laws That's the way you're supposed to act as a commissioner in compliance with your code. >> Yes, I understand that. But I'm here as a commissioner to represent the residents. Okay?
>> So for me, I sit here in order for the residents to be protected. That's I'm not here to give a developer their Sunny Isles day like the mayor did.
Okay. Who she's answering for tonight. >> Okay. Okay. >> Listen. >> Okay. I I am Commissioner Joseph, listen. This is what I'm going to say. You're You're out of order. We are not going truth. >> No, we are not going to have any
personal attacks. You are out of order. >> But we're here for the mayor to take control of the commission and watch out for the residents, which she is not doing. She has not spoken up for the residents once tonight.
>> Okay. >> So, So I am here to represent the residents to say that this absolutely needs to be deferred >> for a month or two months or whatever it is. If they happen to have other
concerns that I'm not privy to because I have not seen their reports. It could be that they have something that is earthshattering that might take more time. Okay. and then they would come back to us and say, "Commission, we have
something that the developers cannot answer and we need more time." So, >> one moment. I'd like the the city attorney to to give some I think we're going off topic here. Going off on any tangent, >> if I may. I I I have a responsibility to
you as the municipal body. >> Um, this is a quasi judicial hearing. We are we are sort of straying from the topic that only and I the applicant has excellent lawyers on their side. I'm not going to telegraph anything nor suggest anything or put words in their mouths.
But this level of discussion is is not helping you, it's helping them. And I'll leave it at that. Uh to the extent that we are making references to this Miami Herald report, again, that does not deal with this level of approval here with the zoning.
And I understand the concerns, but I just as your attorney have to tell you that it does not pertain to the issues that are actually for consideration before you today. >> I don't know what it it you're you're making reference to the Miami Herald report. I don't know what their reports
have that it I don't I don't know. Do you know that >> they deal with construction and construction is not an issue today. And that's my only caution to you again. >> Okay. You all are the ones to make the decisions and you can proceed with the options that you have. But as your attorney, I have to just make the record
straight and try to caution you to steer you in the right direction so that your record reflects and can be supported of your decision. For me, the only right thing to do is to defer this hearing for a month at least in order for all of the
questions to be answered and for the buildings to come back to us and say yes, we're ready to go or not. >> May I Jerry, it doesn't it it does not depend on the on the neighbors because they could probably say no. >> You don't know also what report.
>> No, but that's what I'm saying. For me, a month will be fair. You delay it a month. Let's do it a month. >> And there's concerns. Now, it is it is our job to either deny or approve. Okay. But I just want to be fair so any issues
that may come up can be addressed, you know, by the neighbors. Now, the neighbors are probably going to say always do not build. You know, I mean, >> a matter of do not build. >> No, no, no. But I'm saying that No, but Joseph, what I'm trying to say is that their their concerns could be addressed
and they they may not believe it or they could always come back to saying we don't want the building regardless, right? >> And which is fine, you know, which is fine. I didn't want any of the buildings on East of Collins, you know. I've been
here since 1984. Huh. >> They're wasting time as well. Are you I'm sorry. Are you being paid by the building? So they have >> but listen listen what I'm saying is that it's not up to the neighbors then we're giving them time
>> I propose we give them a month so they can meet and any issues about drilling about construction about any damages to the adjacent buildings are addressed that is it doesn't depend on >> vice may vice mayor if I may
>> one of one of our neighbors I believe ocean two or >> he wants to know who's going to clean his windows Absolutely. >> I profer here that we will work out an agreement whether it's for it's it's whether either for us to profer money to
their association for them to clean it. >> That's not enough. They want more. >> No, I understand. But these are but but my point my my point is these are these are all things that what we call a good neighbor agreement >> negotiate here. We need I Okay, I'm
going to remind everyone more than a month to negotiate and >> we can't muddle the issues with that >> and that has nothing to do with the site plan approval. >> They're talking for hours. >> Yeah, >> I got three minutes. >> No, ma'am. >> Okay.
>> I'm just hoping we have a third logical person on the commission that is willing to give the residents another month. >> All right. Uh >> I don't see the issue. Commissioner Joseph, my point is I'm I'm already profering that I'm going to have these
conversations with how we handle construction maintenance. That is a good neighbor agreement. That has nothing to do with the site plan approval process. >> I understand we had we had >> we have all the time >> be resolved. Now
>> we have we have things all the time that come before us that go sour. Okay. Once we agree to the if we agree to this tonight, it's out of our hands. I want to have control as long as I can to protect the residents.
>> You're voting that what you're asking has nothing to do with you're voting on whether we meet the site plan criteria, not not whether we have met with the neighbors for a good neighbor agreement to handle construction maintenance.
There's no report that they can generate that has any sort of credibility. I haven't I'm telling you there isn't because if we haven't designed our foundations, there's nothing that they could produce that would be a relevant document. >> A month. Okay. A month is not going to
hold you up. >> It is holding us up. >> Well, I'm willing to give the residents a month. I hope there's two o there's one other commissioner on this commission that will see it. I think we're being I think we're being treated
completely unfair and completely >> It hasn't been done before, but you're you're making an example of us and >> Okay. >> I guess we'll see. >> All right. So, let's um Vice Mayor. >> Yeah. I mean,
>> are you making a motion? >> Yeah, I'd like to make a motion and I'll second it. >> Well, let's What's your motion >> again? I would like to make a motion to defer this uh item to next month to be fair to all parties
um and see if somebody's it. >> Okay, >> I will second it. >> City clerk, can we just get the specific date on that, please? >> Yes, one second. So, the motion is to defer the
application to February 19th at 6:30. >> We need one more vote. >> You want to do a roll call? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Joseph? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Cyetent? >> No. >> Commissioner Viscara?
I'm going to say yes, but I'll but listen, but I'll I'll tell you my my concern is that you might otherwise end up here with a no and then you're going to give us a big lawsuit which is going to delay you more than 30 days and then
we're going to get a big legal bill because you're going to have a very strong case and then we're still going to get a big building. So, I think 30 days is reasonable. Okay. Yes. I I like to I'm a yes as well and yeah
th those uh are exactly my my sentiments. Um I'm just trying to be fair to all residents. I think a month will be reasonable. Uh given the environment and and you know building concerns, etc., etc. Um
like I said, I'm satisfied with the answers that you gave me. I'm just giving um you know some of the residents um you know some time to obviously um have some of these concerns addressed. So yeah
and and I understand I mean there there's so so basically I mean for for just to give you a little bit of background and the way our zoning has been done there's no height limits on the east of Collins. Okay that's the way
our our comp plan was was done um by previous administrations. Unfortunately, some of us don't like that. You know, we don't agree with it. But it is what it is. You know, we when we sit here, we
need to abide by the law. Okay? And the applicant right now is within the constraints or or or within the frames of of the law. Okay. Uh so
you know we in a way have to you know navigate those issues. Okay. and we need to abide by the law like the city attorney said and it's an unfortunate that you know
when the comp plan was designed and all the land development rights were designed and specifically for the east uh right on the sand you know these buildings were permitted to to be built so we cannot stop we cannot say no
here when next door you have an Armani that it was a huge building you're coming down the causeway and you see this huge huge building and you're like what what's going on here? So, you need to take that into consideration as well. The Armani was built because the law and
our comp plan allows it to be built. This building most likely is going to get built unless something happens extraordinary happens and it won't get built. But they are within their rights to build that. You know, that's what our comp plan states. Now, where we have to
hold the line is on the west side of Collins. Okay, that's where we hold the line. And we're in the process of, you know, uh fixing our comp plan and and doing other things to mitigate some of the impact of, you know, construction
does not does not conform to, you know, what the city is now. Uh so you know um I think out of fairness one month I don't I know it's got an impact on on on the applicant but I think it's a give
and take. Okay. And that's why you know I I think it's the right decision. >> Yeah. >> If I may, Madame Mayor, I I just want to say you know we we will reach out to the associations and the management offices tomorrow. Um, but there is a chance that
they will not meet with us, right? There's a lawsuit happening and there, you know, as Eric said, he's he's made efforts and we don't get a response. So, and that is in a different context in certain respects, but I just want to put on the record that we will make our best
efforts to have these meetings, but if they don't happen, you know, I just want that to be understood that we do intend to move forward next month. And I also want to make sure that it's understood that the project meets the code and it will not be changing. So what you will see tonight is what you will see next
month. The only difference will be that we will have attempted and hopefully have met with these two buildings and their constituents >> and and and I would like to meet with the applicant again. I do have some uh additional questions. I mean it is hard to you know approve a
project of this magnitude when you get the information not not even a week before. So a lot of times, you know, it takes you two three days to kind of let things simmer in your in your brain and then, you know, unfortunately some of my
most concerning questions come the day before or the right on the day just because we're not giving ample time. And that's something that I we need to address with with staff as well, trying to see how we could get briefed uh as conversations with these applicants uh
take place. So, um, yeah, we need to implement a a better system, I think, for us as commissioners to be able to process, uh, all this information, which is a lot. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Um,
>> so I have one other question if you don't mind. >> I'm so sorry, Mayor, if I can interrupt. We can't move forward yet. We still just need to finish, >> right? >> So, just for the record, Vice Mayor, you're you're a yes and mayor. Um, I want to say that to you to to
regrettably, you know, um, nothing's going to change next month. Uh, meaning that what I don't want to send the message that deferring it a month is going to all of a sudden make this a different building. And, uh, it gives a
false hope to people, uh, that all of a sudden that it's going to look very different. And I can tell you that um to vice mayor's point, although I do think Armani is a beautiful building, it is huge. It is, you know, like so many of the other ones. So, we cannot be treating uh applicants differently just
based on the fact that we feel like it. Uh we have a legal obligation to protect everyone's property rights just like we did with the Armani, just like previous commissions did with um Ocean 2 one and two. So, uh I'm a no on the on the
deferral for that reason. Um, >> okay. So, >> the motion to defer passes. >> Passes. >> Okay. >> Through the two. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Question answered or >> Please, it's 10:00. >> So, now that I understand the lack of
that there might end up being a lack of parking in the end, >> how are you looking to deal with the fact? >> So, Commissioner Joseph, this item is now deferred. So, it's done. the the hearing. >> We can answer this question for you in February. >> Yes, >> we're gonna take a five minute
adjourment. >> Okay. >> I >> you want to make that proposition? Go ahead. Uh, all right, Mr. City Clerk. Um,
done at the beginning. >> Go ahead. Where which are our item are we on, please? So we are now going to go to ordinance for first reading >> 6A. >> 6A is an ordinance of the city commission of the city of Sunny Alis Beach amending chapter 14 of the code of ordinances of the city of Sunny Alis
Beach section 14-18 entitled settlement procedures to amend and clarify procedures for the reduction of fines leans and penalties >> providing for repealer severability codification and an effective date. Okay. Who's up? >> Me.
>> Please go ahead. M >> honorable mayor, vice mayor, commission. Um late last year, you all approved um some changes to chapter 14. It was it was a large item. Um and after further review, we have one small change to
that. It's in section K. um changing the um how potential reductions would be um approved by the city manager if they were to be approved. >> Okay. Do we have any public speakers? Mauricio? >> No, ma'am.
>> Uh I'll take any questions or comments from the commission. Take a motion. >> I'll move. >> I I have a question. >> Please go ahead. >> So, what does that means uh that will be used for reductions? I'd like to know. >> I'm sorry. Repeat the question. What does it mean? >> If someone comes to you requesting a
reduction in the fine, >> I can answer. >> How do you deal with it? >> It >> go ahead. >> It first goes to the excuse me, first goes to the code department for review to ensure that they've complied. >> Okay, >> that's the first thing. Then they have
to fill out a form where they explain the extenduating circumstances of why they're requesting a reduction. So based on that, I make a recommendation that then goes through the city attorney and the special
magistrate is the final um cure of that, >> right? But within your consideration, you look at how many times and how many for how many months they didn't pay attention to the fine. Correct. >> 100%.
>> They didn't alleviate it. >> Yes. It all depends on their past and working with us to try to rectify the violation, but also what the violation is, >> right? Okay. So, >> that's also a part of the consideration. >> Yes. So, for example, if there's some
buildings that they have fines for the 40-year reertification that we know takes a very long time, I take that into consideration. >> Okay. Good. Thank you. >> Okay. Motion on by Commissioner Viscara. Need a >> second.
>> Mauricio. >> Commissioner Sison. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Viscaro. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Lama. >> Yes. >> Mayor Fetchin. >> Yes. >> The ordinance passes on first reading. Second reading will be scheduled for
February. >> 6B. 6B is an ordinance of the city commission of the city of San Beach speech amending ordinance number 2025-635 approving budget amendment number BA2526-1 to the city's operating capital improvement budget for the 2025 2026
fiscal year authorizing the city manager to do all things necessary to implement the terms and conditions of this ordinance providing for an effective date. Mayor, vice mayor, members of the commission, this budget amendment is mostly made up of fund balance
carryovers and purchase order carryovers from the prior fiscal year. >> Okay. Any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> Any questions from the commission? >> I'll take a motion, please. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Commissioner Viscara. >> Yes.
>> Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Lama. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Styver. >> Yes. Mayor Spetchum. >> Yes. >> Ordinance passes on first reading. Second reading will be in February. >> Okay.
>> Now in uh resolutions 9D as in David. So resolution ratifying the fourth and fifth amendments and approving a sixth amendment to the agreement with the Cordino group for planning and zoning services. >> Go ahead Amy.
>> Hey, good evening mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. Um, this is a resolution to ratify the fourth and fifth amendments to the Corodino Group contract and approve the sixth amendment. The Corodino Group provides the city with professional planning and consulting services including civil and traffic engineering on an asneeded
basis. The fourth and fifth amendments were for uh one-year term renewals. So, they were processed administratively, but we're bringing that forward to you now for transparency purposes. The sixth amendment will renew the contract for its final one-year term and increase the
compensation by $20,000. This brings the contract total not to exceed $460,950. I'm available if you have questions. >> Thank you. Are there any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> Any comments or questions from the commission? >> Make a motion, please. >> Motion.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I item, please. 9E is a resolution approving a community aesthetic feature agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation for the design, installation, and maintenance of three local
identification markers known as the entry signage on State Road 856, William Leman Causeway, and State Road A1A Collins Avenue. Mayor, vice mayor, and commissioners. This item is for the community aesthetic feature agreement with FDOT to replace
three of the welcome signs that are located within their right ofway. Those are the welcome signs on the eastbound ramp for the Layman Causeway and two in the Collins Avenue medians on the north and south sides of the city. Um in 2024, the commission approved the conceptual
designs for their replacements. Uh the signs are in need of replacement because they are in disrepair and um outdated with our current branding. So this is the FDOT's new process for installation of welcome signs that we have to follow. Attached to the memo was the community
aesthetic feature agreement and it states that the design, installation, maintenance, and removal are all at the city's expense. To finalize the agreement, we have to have a resolution by the city that indicates, we understand it is our full financial responsibility for the signage and
indicate who will have the authority to actually execute the agreement. So, in the resolution, it states that the city manager will have the authority to execute the agreement in substantially the same form as to what is attached to the agenda memo. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Is there any public speakers?
>> No, ma'am. >> Any questions from the commission? >> Make a motion, please. Motion second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> F. >> Excuse me. >> F. >> Yes, I know. I just lost my agenda. One
second. 9F is a resolution approving a second amendment to the agreement with Green Facilities, Inc. >> Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the commission, this is the company that we're using for carpet and floor maintenance throughout our buildings. Okay. Do we have public speakers?
>> No, ma'am. >> Questions from the commission? >> No. >> Take a motion, please. >> Motion. >> Motion. Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I >> 9G is a resolution approving a project agreement with Keith and Associates to provide construction administration
services for the construction of the inter coastal sports park. >> Okay. Mayor, vice mayor, members of the commission. This is the company that provides engineering and construction administration for our intra coastal sports park.
>> Do we have any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> Questions from the commission? >> Yes. >> Go ahead. You have the floor. >> Okay. So, I would like to at this time uh request from the city manager to receive a report regarding all expenses
to the um infra coastal sports park from the outset, any change orders um and any communication with the contractors regarding those change orders.
Okay. >> Okay. >> Take a motion. >> So move. >> Need a second. >> Second. All >> in favor? >> I >> I. >> Next item. >> 9H is a resolution approving a second amendment to the agreement with Exquisite Catering by Robert to provide
catering services for the city's 29th anniversary event. And before the city manager goes into this item, uh the resolution has uh a few typos. It's for um the 29th instead of the 28th the way that it shows in the resolution.
>> Okay. >> So, it's the 29th city's anniversary. >> Got it. >> Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, this is the company that we use to provide catering for our city anniversary. >> Do we have public speakers? >> No, ma'am.
>> Any questions from the commission? >> No. Go ahead. What it says two city anniversaries on the same contra year. >> Um that's because we moved it to February this year. >> Okay. But we're talking fiscal years. >> No, we're talking about
>> years contract year. So >> which goes from when to when >> uh the contract was originally entered into um I'm sorry I'm looking this up.
>> Okay. The the thing is that uh clearly I'm going to oppose that considering like the conversation that we have early today. Uh open bidding could serve um give us a better rate. We are right now paying $26.29
per person. Uh that is an extreme amount of money considering that last year they could not even provide the menu that we asked for. They could not provide the French fries etc. So there are so many other ways that we could be servicing
the people. We could be inviting different food trucks, giving the people vouchers to get the food that they want there, etc. Anyway, we are doing this party for free and to be spending that amount of money in an evening um almost
$90,000 without beating without seeing what is out there in the market doesn't make any sense. So, I'm not for this. >> For clarification, this item was bid and we only had two biders. This is a re there was a renewal.
>> Exactly. So, we could go for bid again or maybe not like we do. No, we are always process. >> We're too late. >> No. No. Why? >> Who decided that it's going to be in February? >> No, I know. So, this is all >> So, there is time. >> It's all prethought. I mean, you have to
consider these beforehand. >> Okay. We can go with you. You don't have to go with it. Well, >> because the original contract had renewal options that you approved. So, those were just exercised. That's all. >> If you want, you can go back out to bid, but there they have remaining renewals on their contract, which
>> which on its own doesn't make sense to give five years contract. >> No. And that's fine. It's just that's what was approved in the contract. >> Yeah, >> that's what the commission approved. >> Okay. So, the commission approved the the the contract. >> And when is it when is it up? No, the
contract the original contract was entered into in April of 2024 and it was for uh the initial >> for one year with four possible renewals, >> right? So you approved four renewals and
those renewals have come to you >> each time. >> Yes. When there when there's a renewal whether there's compensation or not those those are amendments and they come to you. >> When was the last renewal? >> Uh we you had a last year which includes this particular
event that >> okay >> is the second one in the same renewal period. >> Yeah. The first amendment was March 25th, 2025 which exercised one of those renewal options >> and then this is the second amendment from that.
>> So when do we are we able to go out to bid? >> You can go out to bid whatever whenever time those >> tomorrow >> those >> Okay. Okay. And you said that we had two two bids >> when we went out to bid last time. Yes. We only had two people two
>> submissions. Two submissions. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Typically the renewal options >> the other one was considerably higher. >> Okay. >> Typically the renewal options aren't mandatory. They're to your discretion. So you don't have to renew. >> So if you want to go out to bid, you can. So basically we spending a4 million
dollars in one contra year for free food for the people not including different fries. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Uh any other questions? I'll take a motion. >> So move a second. >> Second.
>> All in favor? >> No. I >> just to clarify, is that just one person opposed? I'll say no as well. >> Resolution passes three to two.
>> Next item >> 9 I is a resolution terminating the existing agreement with Bulli Trading Corporation for vending machine services and approving an agreement with Compass Group USA to provide vending machine services. >> Okay. >> Mayor, vice mayor, members of the
commission, the company we were using is called Bulli. That company was sold to Compass Group USA. They provide our vending machine services and we receive a 27%
revenue off the vending machines. >> All right. Do we have any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> All right. Any comments? I'll take a motion. >> Motion. >> Need a second. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. >> Next item. >> 9J is a resolution approving the
selection of United Healthc Care as a provider of employee health insurance. United Healthcare as United Healthcare Dental as a provider of dental insurance. IMAT as a provider of vision care. Mutual of Omaha as a provider of life insurance, accidental death and
dismemberment insurance, long-term disability insurance, voluntary short-term disability insurance, and voluntary life insurance for a period of one year. >> Any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> Any comments? >> No.
>> Did you have anything to add, Mr. City Manager? No. >> Okay. I'll take a motion. >> Motion a second. Second. Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> 9K is resolution correcting excrement error and resolution 25 2025 3782 to
reflect the correct not to exceed amount for the payment of insurance premiums. Mayor and commissioners. Uh this item as it says it's to correct the ex scriven reserves that we found in the resolution that approved the health insuranceances for last year.
>> Um basically the insurance while it reflected all the premiums the final total amount did not reflect those premiums. So, if you look at the memorandum, it's a breakdown of what each premium cost the city for a total
not to exceed amount of a little over 480,000 that wasn't accounted for in that resolution. >> Okay, Mr. City Manager. >> Oh, nothing to add. We're just correcting a scrier's error. >> Got it. Any uh public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> Any comments from the commission?
>> No. >> No. >> The motion, please. >> Some move. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> guys are running out of steam. >> Next item >> 9 L is a resolution ratifying a lease
agreement with Toshiba Business Solutions for five five copers. >> Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, you had given me prior approval to enter into basically form agreement with Toshiba and this is that actual
agreement. >> Okay. Any public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> Any comments from the commission? >> Um I I would like to know how much uh per per box it comes out to that we're getting paper from Toshiba.
>> We can get that >> per per 10 reams. I would like to know what what our price is currently >> per 10. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> That's a box. So, the breakdown >> just as a point of information, the
existing copers cost us currently $982 per month. The new copers will cost us $900 per month. >> Thank you. >> Yes, but that doesn't include the paper, does it? >> It does. It does. That includes as much paper as we need
to use. Yes, we purchase paper separately through Staples for individual copers and the copier is not on this lease. >> Okay. So, if we didn't have the paper included, how much would the copers be
per month? >> I'll have to find that out for you, >> please. >> Um, I'll take a motion. >> So, move second. >> Second. All in favor? >> I >> I please. 9M is a resolution approving the issuance of a proclamation
recognizing January 27th, 2026 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. And just for the record, Commissioner Joseph was added as a co-sponsor. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Um, we do this every year and I know that
everyone's tired, but if you can just let me read it into the record, I think it would I would appreciate it. I'm losing my voice a little bit. Um and thank you for co-sponsoring Commissioner Joseph. >> Pleasure. >> Whereas International Holocaust Remembers Day is observed annually on
January 27th, the anniversary of the liberation of Yashu's Burkanel concentration and extermination camp to honor the memory of the six million Jewish men, women, and children, as well as millions of other innocent victims who were systematically persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime and its
collaborators during the Holocaust. And whereas the Holocaust stands as one of the darkest chapters in human history and serves as a solemn reminder of the consequences of unchecked hatred, anti-semitism, discrimination, and indifference. And whereas in 2005, the United Nations General Assembly
designated January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to encourage education, remembrance, and reflection in order to prevent future acts of genocide and crimes against humanity. And whereas the city of Sunny Al's Beach is a diverse and inclusive community that values human dignity, mutual
respect, and the protection of fundamental human rights for all people regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or background. And whereas the Remembering the Holocaust honors the victims and survivors, preserves historical truth, and reinforces the moral responsibility of present and
future generations to confront hatred, bigotry, and intolerance wherever they arise. And whereas the city's committed to fostering understanding, promoting tolerance, and standing against anti-semitism and all forms of hatred through education, civic engagement, and community dialogue.
Now therefore, do I, Larissa, as mayor, and on behalf of the city of Sunny Al's Beach and the entire commission hereby proclaim January 27th, 2026 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the city of Sunny Als Beach. Thank you. I'd just like to say that also in
memory of my uh lost relatives that I never got to meet. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have public speakers? >> No, ma'am. >> All right. Any questions or comments from the commission? I'll take a motion, please. >> Motion. >> All in favor?
>> I. >> Next item. 9 is a resolution approving the issuance of a proclamation recognizing March 8th, 2026 as International Women's Day. >> I'm doing this a little bit in advance, hoping to get ahead of it. Um,
International Women's Day, and again, we do this every every year. I'm glad that we do, and I think the entire commission has always supported this. International Women's Day is celebrated annually on March 8th to recognize the achievements of women in social, economic, cultural, and political spheres and to highlight their enduring impact on communities and
nations around the world. And whereas women have played and continue to play a critical role in shaping history, advancing innovation, stren strengthening families, and contributing to the progress and well-being of society. And whereas International Women's Day also serves as an opportunity to reaffirm a shared
commitment to gender equality, women's empowerment, and the elimination of barriers that limit opportunities for women and girls. And whereas the city of Sunny Al's Beach is a diverse and inclusive community that values equity, respect, and opportunity for all residents, and recognizes the important contributions of women in civic
leadership, public service, business, education, healthcare, and community life. And whereas honoring International Women's Day reflects the city's commitment to fostering an environment in which women and girls are encouraged to lead, innovate, and thrive. Now therefore, do I, Lissa Spetchin, as mayor, and on behalf of the city
commission of the city of Sunny Alis Beach, Florida, hereby proclaim March 8th, 2026 as International Women's Day in the city of Sunny Al's Beach. Do we have any public speakers? >> Okay. Any comments from the commission? >> No. >> Take a motion, please.
>> Motion. >> Second. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. >> Item, please. >> 90 is a resolution approving the issuance of proclamations requested by city administration, >> mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. These
are kind of we want to put together a group of proclamations that we're going to issue this upcoming year for you to approve >> essentially. So, I guess we don't have to bring each one. Right about that, >> correct? >> Yes. And we're also adding one that um I
didn't include which is community resource day on March 12, 2026. >> March 12. >> What was that one? >> Community uh sorry family resource night. Family resource day.
>> Family resource day. And I I asked her in the agenda review if we can maybe get one of these for us as well. So that way Okay. Uh do we have any public speakers? >> No ma'am. >> Any comments from the commission? On another issue, I would just like to um
verify with the city manager that on the first Sunday of May, we have Jewish solidarity day that do we have on the calendar to celebrate? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, what do we have planned on
there? Um and on the budget we have at Gateway to have the entire Jewish community and other residents that would like to join us that we hope will join us to celebrate that day.
>> We're still in the planning stages for that, but yes, we're putting it together. >> Okay. Thanks. >> All right. I'll take a motion, please. >> Motion. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Next item.
>> Um, okay. So, now we're on to the add-on items from Commissioner Viscara. So, with the following, >> excuse me, I'm sorry. Yes, there's one more 9P, a resolution approving the nomination of Jennifer Riscara as vice
mayor. So, um, and I know that it's late, but and I know that this there was a a significant amount of time spent on this item last month when I wasn't here. Uh, but I do want to just take an opportunity because I know I sent a memo, but I didn't get to say this in
person. Um, I'm nominating uh, Commissioner Riscar, who I've known for for many years. I've known actually all of you for many years. Um, I I I regard you highly. I think that it's very important uh as we all know um you know
chairing a meeting and and following the rules and and keeping decorum is is really one of the most important things you could do as as a chair and um I would be uh very comfortable, very honored and very happy if uh if you served as as the vice mayor. So um I'm
making that nomination. >> Thank you. >> I would like to say something if you don't mind. Um, let me just see if there's any public comment. >> No, ma'am. >> Okay, of course. Go ahead. >> Yes. So, in all fairness and nothing against uh Commissioner Vascara or
future Vice Mayor Jennifer Vascara, uh myself, uh Commissioner Lama, Commissioner Vascara have already been vice mayor. I
think just um in the manner of fairness, we should um have uh Commissioner Styverent be the vice mayor. And I'm asking uh Commissioner Pascara, even
though I know how badly she might want to be vice mayor, to in fairness to defer to uh Commissioner Styverson. Well, I I appreciate that, but that's not the way this process works. I make that nomination. So, um I'll take a motion.
>> I just want to put on the record that um requesting an opinion and possible investigation from the state attorney's office, the commission on ethics and public trust in the Florida Bar. I had copies for you guys, but I lost them today. So, I will have to give it to you
through the city clerk. uh in regards to violations of the city's uh governing documents and Florida status. So you will guys you will be receiving those. >> Thank you. >> Oh, I'll take I'll get a motion. Take a motion. >> So moved. >> Need a second.
>> I'll second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> I oppose. >> I >> Okay. Um >> resolution passes three to two. >> Congratulations, Vice Mayor. >> All right. Add on items.
>> Congratulations, Jennifer. >> Add on items. >> For anything against you? >> I know. >> Okay. So, the next uh 10 items um are all related to proposed legislation that is at the state
legislature at the moment. I'm going to read all titles together. However, they can be discussed individually. Um but they can be voted all in one single vote instead of going one by one. Okay. Oh, Mauricio, I need to leave. So, I just go.
>> Okay. >> We'll need to know what the votes are. I mean, if we read them all, how they're going to vote. >> So, we'll read them all. We'll grouping them all together, they can discuss them, and if there's, let's say, for example, there's one that they don't
want to support or oppose, they can take that out and we'll >> So, we're going to remove it from the agenda rather than vote on it. No, no, no. It'll still be voted on as just separately. So, we'll have a motion to approve the ones that they want to move forward with and ones that they're going to oppose.
>> Is that enough? Is that clear? >> Go ahead. >> We have a good theory. We have a good >> All right. Let's try this out and see how it goes. Go ahead, Mr. City Clerk. >> So, we have 9Q. It's a resolution expressing support for the Florida House
Bill 465 and Florida Senate Bill 822. 9R is a resolution expressing support for Florida House Bill 217, Florida Senate Bill 218. 9S is a resolution expressing support for Florida Senate Bill 840.
>> Mauricio, if I can just stop you, can you read the title of the bills? >> Uh, sure, Mayor. Give me one second. Okay. So, >> can we just say the companion bills so that we don't have to say the for the Senate and and Do you have a preference,
Vice Mayor? Do you have a preference for Senate or House? >> It's not you anymore, Alex. >> I'm talking. >> It's not you anymore. >> Talking to >> Actually, he's still vice mayor. >> He's still vice mayor. All right. So, >> whatever. >> Okay. So
9Q is a resolution supporting Florida House Bill 465 and its companion bill relating to community association management. >> Mhm. 9R is, excuse me, um supporting House Bill 27 and
companion bill related to land use regulations. 9s is uh support for Florida Senate Bill 840 related to local governments affected by natural disasters.
9 T is support for House Bill 1035 uh related to nature-based coastal resiliency solutions. 9 U is opposing Florida House Bill 145 and
its companion bill related to claims and suits against government. 9V is opposing Florida House Bill 1251 relates to expenditure of public of public funds by local governments.
9W opposing Florida House joint resolutions 2011, 203 and 205 related to advalorum tax constitutional amendments. 9X is opposing House Bill 399 and its
companion bill related to advalorum tax constitutional amendments. And finally 9 Y, excuse me, I have one more left that opposing House Bill 103 and its companion bills related to advalone tax constitutional amendments.
And now 9 Z, >> excuse me. 9 Y was opposing House Bill 103 and its companion bills related to local business taxes. I apologize. And 9 Z is opposing House Bill 605 related to prohibited uses of public funds by political subdivisions.
>> Okay. So, this was the theory. Thank you, Mauricio. Um, but you did them in an order other than how I have it in my notes. So, um, where does it start? 9Q >> 9Q. So, I can read off the bills for you.
>> Um, >> 465, >> right? So, 965 is uh I mean 9Q, which is 465. That's something the FLC supports, which is basically saying that uh condo uh condos that um have an annual revenue
of more than $500,000 should have a professional uh associate a professional manager. Um so do you would you like to include that in our priorities? Do we Yes or no? >> Anyone know? >> We're good with that one.
>> No. If if you have more than $500,000 of revenue uh as a condo association, you need to have a professional managing you. >> Anyone know? >> So, we'll include that in the priority. So, N 9Q is a yes. What comes after QR? >> Why don't you just ask if anyone
opposes? That makes it easy. >> Well, because it depends on the position the FLC takes. Okay. >> Okay. So, 9R uh land use regulations 9R and 9S. their cleanup bills for the um SB80 from last year and the FOC
supports. >> I would just >> yes >> I would ask you defer those because we are in litigation regarding SB80 and to the extent that we are advocating a certain resolution or certain relief to
SB180. I don't want to compromise what we're arguing in the case >> removing them. You see that's why we're So we're removing those. I I'll check with pliff's council, lead plaintiff's council to see if they have an issue with us supporting FLC's, you know, um support of this, but uh and I'll get
back to you. >> We'll we can tackle that another day. RST is um which one was T? Oh, that's the uh naturebased coastal resiliency. Very much like the one we had last year
that that cleared all its committees and then it died. So, uh, it's it's coming back. Uh, FLC supports, uh, we supported last year, so we're good. 19. >> And what is that? That takes also into account the, uh, the, uh, printable walls. Is that it?
>> It it encourages it. >> Yeah, it encourages it. It's it's an environmental thing. >> They don't have much of a history though, do they? >> What? What? >> The seaw wall, the printable seaw walls, >> there's a relatively new thing. Um, but you >> So, we don't know how they stand up. >> A quarter to 11. And I I just want to
know if you support or >> Well, yeah. >> You're with FLC. Thank you. Yes. >> All right. What comes after T? >> You. >> Uh this is the suits against government. Uh same thing. Uh they're trying to raise the caps. Uh there's two versions.
The House bill actually started the session having passed all its and that's a crazy one. The the Senate bill is better. Um and we're opposing. >> Good. >> Okay. So that's nine new as I go. >> UV
um opposing the expenditure of public funds by local governments. Uh this is a home rule issue. It prohibits local governments from hiring contracting with lobbyists to lobby. So they don't want us to have lobbyists. So um respectfully uh we disagree.
>> Right. So >> so we we are good with opposing. >> Yes. Correct. 9V um W uh those are the U tax bills uh that are saying that they want us to remove um oh
my god like the the homestead taxes so these are grouped together the adwell taxes the property taxes >> um the FLC is opposing uh these would in my opinion there's like no data like we
we don't know how this is going to to affect affect us across the state. >> Uh they're so they're opposing that. It's super anti-home rule >> and the only carve out I might say even though they're opposing that I think maybe we just >> leave it alone for now is the one for um
65 years and for homesteaded >> um just I would I this is the FLC agenda. I would like to re remove that. So, um I I don't I would like to remove the 65 plus and then adopt the the
opposition for the rest because we just don't have the data yet. >> But >> I'm fine with that. >> Okay, Alex. >> Yeah. I mean, I the idea of um getting rid of um
property taxes for people that have homesteads sounds good, but we don't have the data yet. >> No. And remember, it's statewide. So, even if we can survive the hit, we don't know how that's going to or cities or Biscane Park or >> or some town in the middle of Florida.
You just don't know. >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh so I I would ask that we adopt their position for the um 2011 and 203 well for all whatever to except for the 65 plus. I think that might have a
chance. Okay. >> I'm not in support of that, but you guys have the majority. So it's >> all right. So, we're good with 9W uh minus the 65 plus 9X was um
the 208 Alex I mean Mauricio I don't have that in my notes. Which one was the 208? >> Development regulation. >> Okay. And that's uh we support that. >> We oppose that. No, I don't have it.
>> I'm sorry. So, that's the one that would take away our ability to um >> Oh, here it is. charge. I have it. >> I have it. It's just buried. Uh it prohibits local government building. Oh, this is the permit fees. This is the terrible one. This is like the worst
one. Uh it would b so it would basically um it would like destroy our current structure, which which is uniform, and it doesn't actually tell us how we're supposed to replace it with. So major home rule in this uh issue.
>> Anything anti-home rule? We have to >> I have a quick question. Commissioner Viscar, are any of these items uh sponsored by any of our representatives or our um senator? >> Do you know that? I don't look at that. >> Okay. >> I don't care who sponsors it. I only
care what the issue is. >> No, I understand that. I say that because I believe last year we were in support or opposed to something and um I got a request from our representative that if if we do oppose something that he's presenting for us to to speak to him directly. So if we do I just want to
make sure that we speak to him directly. >> That's fine. I don't look at it. >> Okay. >> I don't know if these are from Democrats or Republicans. I don't care. >> No, I mean our representatives >> I I get it. But I that because I don't look I don't know. >> Okay. But I should, but I don't >> because they're willing to make changes to it based on our input is my point.
>> I got the same call. Okay. So 9X was uh we're >> putting it we're opposing it according to the FLC. And what's what's next? Why 9Y is uh local business taxes. We'd like to
be able to do what we would like. So that again that's them telling us we can't tax. So that's a home rule issue. We're good with that one. >> I am good with that. >> Yes. >> Okay. So 9 Y makes it and 9 Z is um them
telling us what we can do with our uh who we can support in terms of nonprofits. So >> support home rule. Well, I mean it's not clear to me whether that includes donations or sponsorships. It just says
funding. And either way, if if it's a home rule issue, like why are you telling us how to spend the money? >> Yes, I agree with you. >> So 9Z, >> okay, >> is is good to go and I think that's it then. We have our priorities. >> Thank you. >> Is that uh legally sufficient, Mr. City
attorney, what we just did. >> It was hard to keep track. So I'll defer to the city clerk. >> So before before my attorney kills me, let me >> I had I told you we had a working theory. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> Okay. So, we need a motion to approve items 9 Q,
9S, 9T, 9 U, 9V, 9 W, 9X, 9 Y, and 9 Z. >> Okay. Do we have any public speakers? >> No. >> Did we even give people an opportunity? Did anybody want to speak? Okay. >> All right. >> All right. Uh, so moved. >> I need a second.
>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. This way I don't have to go bill by bill next. >> So and then now we need a motion to defer 9R. >> Is there any public speakers? >> No ma'am. >> I'll take a motion. >> What is 9 R?
>> I need a second. >> All right. That one. >> I need a second. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I Okay. >> Thank you. >> Now >> so now we are on to citizens forum. >> No, I have one one more proclamation.
You're right. I didn't mention that one in the beginning. So, there is a >> You mentioned it at the beginning. >> No, >> I don't remember. No, I mentioned these. >> Um, so it's an add-on uh for a proclamation. >> All right. Do we need to vote to add it to the agenda? >> Yes, please. >> Can I get a motion to add it to the
agenda, please? >> So moved. >> Can I get a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> Okay. Can you just give me the number just for the sake of posterity? What's the number? >> 9A. 9A and the name of it is a proclamation
for >> that. Uh so this is um >> no I just want to give people an opportunity before everyone leaves if they wanted to sign up. >> I will let >> go ahead. Sorry. >> Sure. >> Go ahead. >> Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Yeah. Okay. So uh this is uh to present
to uh ASPA which is the uh South Florida chapter um the American Society for Public Administration South Florida chapter. They're having a 20th anniversary um on the same day as the commission meeting. That's why I can't wait to bring it to the next commission meeting.
And they work with the um uh with the uh they often work with in partnership with the Ferrer Institute for Civic Leadership who who is presents with us in the residence academy. Uh and they're having their um 20th best practices
conference um next month. So, we wanted to present them a proclamation. Um, >> anyone in the public like to speak on this? Thank you. Um, any questions from the commission? >> No. >> I'll take a motion. >> Motion. >> Need a second.
>> All in favor? >> Okay. Mauricio. >> Okay. Thank you. So, now citizens forum. Patrick Dunn is not here. >> Patricia Alvarez. >> It's not mine. Thank you for sticking around and uh I know you're tired, but please your your name and your address
for the record. >> Yeah, it is fine. >> Good evening. My name is Patricia Alvarez, 18201 Collins Avenue, Sonia Al Beach, Florida 33160. The reason I'm here is because we have another ordinance that we having some problem enforcing dogs in the beach.
This is becoming an increasing problem. And the sad part is that um I was witnessed this long weekend because I was in the beach and I have the code enforcement who show up to tell a person that they couldn't have the dog there. Um they remove in that particular moment
the dog but she came back the day after and the day after and the day after. >> The problem if we don't enforce the ordinance that we have because we have a big sign that was provided by the city that they have a $500 fine if they have a dog in the beach. They're not getting
a warning and that's a problem. A verbal warning people don't follow any rules. I think it's important that if we have ordinance, we need to make sure that they are enforcable. If not, it defeat the purpose and it doesn't serve the people and doesn't serve the community.
Um the fact that we have a lot of code enforcement in the beach telling people that they have to remove the dog and we have the same person coming and receding doing the same problem. um it becomes like nobody's following the rules. So I will appreciate if we have ordinance
like at least start giving warnings to the people like written warnings so they know this seriously and they're going to take the ordinance in a way they should be taken as a law and enforce enforceable because other than that it's it doesn't serve anyone. >> Okay. I talked to the code enforcement
guy and he said that they just giving verbal warning. Yeah. And they are supposedly to create a log to see if it's a but at the end of the day uh if they are not giving in my personal opinion >> the only way that this is going to get better instead of worse is when we
actually give written warnings and the second time they need to get the fine. They already have the highest they already have the highest fine which is the $500 that we are allowed and it's written all over every single entrance of the city have the rules that this is not a beach >> property but they continue to bring the
dogs and we are not enforcing them. So please if we can do something about it it will be greatly appreciated because kids are playing on their urine and you know it's not nice for the kids either. >> Exactly. >> Same problem at Winston Towers Park and throughout the city. Thank you for staying to for that. And I I don't think
you have everyone here in this agreement. Anyone else? >> Okay. >> Uh Isaac Felman, >> can I can I >> No, we're not that >> because we're not voting on anything. This is public. This is their time. This is their time. Let them speak. They >> Isaac Felman 1770 Collins doing
business. >> Excuse me. Is that your residence address? >> No, it's doing business then. >> What is your residence address? >> Uh Commissioner Joseph. >> I am your Commissioner Joseph. Commissioner Joseph, you don't have the floor. It's the time. It is the time for the res. >> I have a question. >> You It's not your time.
>> My time is not being You are not being recognized right now. >> As opposed to recognized. >> I'm asking a question. >> Commissioner Viscara, congratulations. >> Post state there. You are not recognized. Mayor, you deserve it. Congratulation. >> Commissioner Joseph, I know you're trying to address everything to me,
please. Thank you. >> Okay. I want to talk about Commissioner Joseph. trying to to close my mouth, not to talk, but I'm um I have the right like everybody else. >> Uh we addressed this last year. It continues. You keep campaigning. He keeps campaigning from his seat. I don't
think it's ethical. I'm not an attorney, but we'll definitely check into how ethical it is. I know in 224 when you ran for when you ran for a commissioner seat, he came with his t-shirt commission t-shirt run around. That's also unethical. Today he was running
around telling everybody running for mayor and to vote for him. This is not the the campaigning he didn't even start yet. Okay. And what happened today attacking the mayor all the time? This is campaigning. Okay. And we all know if
wasn't this year wasn't be a wouldn't be um election year. What happened today with everybody support? I'm talking >> I I'm your more resident than you. You know when I came to San 1991 when did you come to San?
>> We are not going back and forth. I work with the first mayor 19 uh 97 long before you came. So please address to me. >> I'm in this city much longer than you even we do not keep it to the business. Keep it to the business of the city.
Okay. Anyway, I'm going to be short because everybody started four and a half hours meeting. I know. Okay. So I don't think it's ethical what you're doing and you know we see I know in even in synagogue you're coming only I'm talking even the synagogue you're only coming
during the time of elections and really and like the mayor coming almost every week you come to you came to the list a few parties to pass business card what I'm saying is I don't think what he does is uh is very ethical every meeting is
it doing the same circus attacking the mayor persona the mayor I'm talking right now. Please, uh, it's my time. I'm reclaiming my time. So, basically, um, that's it. I'm going to be short on that. Please, your job is to sit there
as a commissioner and to do job for the sals that we all love, SAL's beach, and not to attack the mayor and not to complain all the time. Okay? I tell the truth, it's time for not not where you see them. >> If I question the mayor, it's only the truth. >> You're attacking. You're not questioning.
>> That's not attacking. Mauricio other speakers. >> All right. Thank you everyone. Uh meeting adjourned. Thank you for sticking around. Good night. Part: 2
All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Hi. Uh, it's 3:01. Calling the meeting to order. Mauricio. >> Commissioner Joseph >> present. >> Commissioner Viscaro >> here. >> Uh, Commissioner Syasent is running
late. Commissioner Lama is also presumably. And Mayor Setchin >> here. >> We have a quorum. Great. Wonderful. All right. I know we had uh some changes or one change. >> Yes, we have a few changes to the agenda. Mayor, if you give me one second. >> Okay. >> So, we are deferring item 2A,
>> which is a legislative update by Representative Basavi. >> Mhm. >> We are also deferring the following discussion items. 3D discussion regarding visibility of bio seaw walls. 3E as an Edward, discussion
regarding remote voting. Item 3G, discussion regarding holiday light decorations for the 2026 holiday season. And we are um moving up discussion item
3H at the request of staff uh which is a display of fireworks for July 4th. >> Okay, we're moving that up to the uh to 3A. So yeah, >> the first discussion to be considered. >> All right, wonderful. Well, um this is an exciting agenda. Hi everyone, happy
new year. Um >> go ahead. >> So the first item is to be city manager award. >> Mayor and commissioners, I look forward to having this award each year and
recognize the staff and the great job that they do. The city manager award. I established this award to recognize someone who goes above and beyond in their work and in their approach to what they do. And I tried to share some
information about the person without everybody figuring out who it is. So this person faced a monumental task from day one and continues. They walked into a department in need of updating, fixing
inconsistencies at every turn and they've worked tire tirelessly and taken the project on as a mission. This person has also encountered more unexpected challenges than we imagine and they've approached it with
thoroughess and expertise. They've worked diligently and professionally moving things forward even though seemingly slow. They see the vision of of what we want this city to be and leave the past as it
was. The city manager award goes to Amy Canales. >> I knew it. >> So, we have a plaque for Amy and we're going to ask her to wait for our photo so that we can go down and sit with her. So, Amy, thank you. Mauricio ready.
>> Excuse me. The next item is 2C 2025 employee of the year award presentation. >> Mayor, >> please go ahead. >> Okay, >> mayor and commissioners, this is the employee of the year award. And in past years, we had many different
employees of the year at the same time. and I consolidated it really into one because I wanted the one person to be recognized even though our staff does an excellent job across the board. These
are very difficult to choose and I get many nominations. So like my city manager award, the employee of the year award, I try to keep it open so nobody knows until the very end. So, the employee of the year
award is open. We've had many good suggestions by our directors and fellow employees. The reason for the selection this year is simple. This person approaches their job and their staff and the residents
always with a smile and a positive attitude, which is very difficult to do, especially for me. Yet, whenever I see them, I'm always greeted with a smile, an exceptional
attitude, and a can do approach to everything that they do. The employee of the year award goes to Vanessa Vieira. We bring her out. There she is. So coming in. So mayor, can I ask you and
vice mayor and commissioners to come down with me and take a picture with both of them, please? >> This is Congratulations. Very very welld deserved. Okay, next item, please. >> Next item is 2D building department
accreditation, >> mayor. Yes, >> please. >> Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, this is really a significant accomplishment and it really couldn't be a surprise. But over the past four
years, I'm proud to say that we continue to do things here that have never been done. This started with my challenge to Chief Santiago for our police department accreditation. There were so many steps involved in the
accreditation process that at times I wonder if it would ever be done and he did it. So I issued the same challenge to our building official Dylan and assistant director Paola asking them to get the building department accredited. In the history of
our city, our police department and building department have never been accredited. Now, I'm very proud to say that they have achieved accreditation and I wanted to publicly acknowledge them and this tremendous accomplishment
and thank them for this monumental achievement. So, I'd like to recognize them and ask them to come up so we can take a picture, please. Good job. It's the entire department, right? >> It's the entire department. >> I'm just wondering if we should stand the entire department. Yes.
>> Stand back here. >> Everybody. Yes. Come on up. >> So exciting. How about you guys? Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Everyone Are we going to give them a minute if they wanted to leave or are they going
to stay? Mr. City Manager, >> they can leave. >> Okay, they have to go back to work. Okay, >> thank you. Back to work. >> That's why you're the best. Okay. All right. So we uh the next item we're
moving up the 4th of July discussion to 3A. >> Yes, ma'am. So it's uh discussion regarding the fireworks display on July 4th, 2026. >> Okay. So this this was my item, but it might as well be everybody's because I think we've all had um this come up
throughout the years. In the past, um it's probably every year our residents have uh asked for Fourth of July fireworks and we normally do it during the city anniversary and well actually we don't normally do it because it's very cost prohibitive but we have in the past. This year being the 250th
anniversary of the United States, I thought that we should have that discussion to see if we are um if we want to do it this year 4th of July. So I'm opening it up to you all to hear your thoughts. But I think at first I wanted to hear from the staff to see what are we looking at as far as price.
>> I'll let Susan pick it up. I just want to add that >> if we're going to do this, we absolutely have to know now, right? >> Because there's companies that are there's definitely a deadline, >> right? And I know there's a premium given that a lot of people want to do this. A lot of municipalities want to do
this. So please give us the uh >> the good bad news. >> The good news, bad news. >> Yes. Exactly. >> Um Okay. So, we Jonathan has reached out to several fireworks companies and is trying to get some quotes in time for today. Um, he had one verbal who backed
out as of right before this meeting. Okay. >> So, as of now, we don't have anybody, but we're looking in the range of$1 to $120,000 for a 10-minute show. >> And that would be um on a barge or off of the pier. That initial estimate is
off of the pier >> and that's assuming we can get somebody. >> Assuming we could get somebody. >> Okay. >> So, at this meeting, if you could just give us some parameters and then we can work with Genesis and, you know, see what we can get. Zambelli, one of the
biggest ones is who we've reached out to. That would be our preferred vendor. They're doing it for the city anniversary in February. >> Um, and that one's like $40,000 for a 10-minute show. And we're estimating three times more than that >> because of the demand.
>> Because of the day. Yes. But they haven't even responded as being an option at this time. >> So right now this is really just a theoretical >> theoretical conversation. Okay. >> But we would be bringing it to you in February and we would probably have to ratify it because we'd have to lock
something in ASAP if if this is the direction. >> Okay. I see. Um from the commission. Would anybody like to start? Commissioner Joseph, what do you think? >> Well, I know when I lowered the millage rate to 1.7, I had a lot of grief and I
was uh there were people writing that the city was going broke because of that. So, I just think $110,000 for 10 minutes, even though it might be spectacular, I I don't see the value in it. >> Okay.
Vice Mayor So th this will be strictly fireworks. We're not going to have anything else. It'll just be fireworks for people to go out there and obviously enjoy. >> Yeah, we're going to have some sort of setup. >> I think that it probably will I don't
know actually. It would the staff is looking for us to give them direction as to what we are kind of thinking and then they're going to come back to us and say all right you know 10-minute show this amount of money if you guys wanted you know chairs, refreshments or whatever.
Um, look, we know that the buildings are going to do fireworks. We know people personally do them. It's not advised and they don't usually get permits, which is not good. It's not safe. So, um, and I've been asked this question a lot lately. So, I want to make sure that,
you know, we're aligned as far as what we think. We're not we're not voting on anything, but do we want staff to look into it is the question I'm asking >> for me? Yes. >> Okay. >> My questions would be Uh, I thought that part of the reason that we didn't allow
it and haven't allowed it is because nesting season and environmental issues. And so I thought that that was the p like the primary reason. We don't want to have a bunch of people out there. But you're right, like they're out there anyway. >> And so and what's always frustrated me
is if we don't do it because we have environmental reasons for not doing it, but then we're not really enforcing it. I I would prefer to see the enforcement side, right? But um if we were to consider something like this because people are out there anyway. I don't
like the extra expense, right? That would be a a budget issue with and I have things that we haven't um talked about yet, which is the all the tax legislation, which was part of my concern in the 1.7 conversation that we don't know how that's going to be. It's
a lot of unknowns. But here's my my compromise. Is it possible to move our Is it fireworks in the birthday? Do we have fireworks for the birthday? >> We do have fireworks planned for the birthday. Yes. >> So, can we just take that $40,000 one
and use it in July, but then not have fireworks for the birthday? >> Yes, we could. >> So, I would I think that's some I would want to explore that. I don't I don't want an additional expense, but we already have a big expense for the party. We have concerts, we have the
setups, we have other stuff and and we already have a $40,000 value for something that would normally cost a hundred, right? So, I would consider that, but I don't love the idea of I mean, I I want to look at the environmental piece because then we
might be inviting more people than might normally be there, but then aren't they there during the birthday party? So I I so I I I just want to make sure that we're not doing something that is going against the reason that we don't do it. Does that make sense? >> If I may offer a little more
information. Um traditionally the city has not shut off fireworks on the 4th of July specifically. Um mostly in deference to the police department and their request. Our hotels are full. As you say, there's
a lot of um issues with non-compliance. um not a single one of them gets, you know, takes off. Everybody's working, including our administrative staff, um to keep the city safe on the 4th of July because a lot of people come for the
hotels. Um with that said, we did speak with um chief and assistant chief and they will make it work if that's what we choose to do this year. What >> if the week does it matter? >> I think it's on a Saturday. I >> think you're right.
Uh July 4th is Saturday. >> Okay. So, >> our hotels will be full anyways. You know, um funding if if you give us a ballpark. Um and I have to correct myself, my apologies. I would have to check and make sure that we're not
already committed that Zambelli would be available July 4th and transfer that $40,000. that I would consider it if the transfer is possible and and even if it were if we do it on on the Sunday, right, July 5th instead of July 4th, if
it's a conflict because everybody's doing July 4th, it's more than we're doing now. Um, but I I am concerned about I'm concerned about the environmental factor, but I'm also bothered that there's an environmental factor and there has been minimal
enforcement anyway. So then how concerned are we, you know? So that's we would have to find out if >> Are you referring to the environmental factors to why we moved it to February? >> No, what I'm saying is I thought that the reason that we don't do it is
because of the turtles. >> No. >> Right. And so I'm like, but we do the party there. You know what I'm saying? So I'm like, but we do the party. >> So it's it's an it's a law enforcement is issue. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yeah. I think it's law enforcement. It's
the cost associated with it. Um, >> so I, you know, my suggestion is to allow staff to look into it and come back to us as soon as possible. Uh, but I think you're probably right. The February is probably already locked in. Uh, but if it wasn't, I would support
that to to move those uh to a July 4th. But I would stick to July 4th. Uh, Commissioner Viscar because then July 5th is kind of like I mean we all know that July 3rd people are going to be doing it. July 5th, 6th, and I mean people >> I'm just saying if it's if they may already be booked, right? I'm just
saying like if if the fourth is not possible because we're late to the party, >> right? And the fifth is all I'm saying. >> Yeah. It could be cheaper or but I'm I would only support this if we can transfer it. I I I'm not in support of of the extra expense.
>> All right. But you it's important of uh staff looking into it. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um Commissioner Stwen just got it. Let her let uh her chime in. We're talking about Fourth of July if you are in support of staff looking into uh pricing for fireworks. >> Sure. >> Okay. 110,000
for 10 minutes. >> Okay. >> Wait for them to >> Oh, they've already said 110,000 for 10 minutes. >> No, we're not voting on anything right now. This is this is a quote. >> The proposal was proposal. There's no proposal,
>> but it was mentioned that it was 110,000 maybe. >> Maybe >> for 10 minutes. >> Yes. Right now we're having a theoretical uh conversation if we're interested in looking into >> but if you're asking if someone is interested you have to give them the full aspect of what we spoke about. So
I'm saying it was 110,000 for 10 minutes. >> Thank you. Okay. Uh Vice Mayor did you want to add something? >> No let's look at the at the budget. Let's look at the uh logistics of it and then we could have a >> and then also I'd like to say it's an
ordinance breaker because if if the city now is going to do fireworks, how do we say we can do it but it's banned in the city? >> Well, we've done fireworks in the past. >> Well, I understand. But still, that's another ordinance that we have that we
don't enforce. >> No permitted fireworks are permitted fireworks. So, for example, um the Trump International Beaches or the Trump Hotel, Aqualina, they've gotten permits for fireworks in the past. I think some
might even be upcoming of doing their own fireworks as long as you permit it through the fire department. It is permitted. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. Do you have enough, Mr. City Manager? >> Okay. >> Yes. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. All right. Next item, please.
>> Next item is 3A. discussion regarding social media policy for elected officials. >> Okay, Mr. City Manager, >> mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, at one of our recent meetings, you had directed
us to go back and work up a draft for social media policy. So, we have done that and we have with the addition of Ben and our team, I'm going to ask him to come up and just present an overview of the
policy and we're happy to answer any questions or accept your feedback. >> Great. Thank you. >> Uh good evening, commissioners. This is my first time presenting actually. Uh Ben Hoggarth for the record uh from the city manager's office. The social media policies came about as a result of a a
couple discussions from the commission a few months ago, if you remember, and staff kind of sat down to to talk in length about all the the difficult legal hurdles that uh we have with with any social media policy. And this is something that of course attorneys and policy makers have been dealing with for
many decades now. So, social media um policy in front of you is is strictly related to the commission, how the commission operates, but also uh we ended up addressing in there kind of how staff um handle the actual official uh city accounts. So, whether that's
Facebook, um uh Twitter or X Now, uh Instagram. So, we've set in policies that are pretty much standard best management practices. >> Tik Tok as well. Oh. Uh, I don't think we uh we actually partake in Tik Tok if I remember correctly. Um, but it
>> you have to address the younger people. >> There are there are I mean a potential infinite array amount of social media in the future that could come as well. And it's very very difficult to uh to kind of put all that into a policy especially because from an enforcement perspective
um each one of you have first amendment rights and that needs to be protected as well in the policy. And so it's difficult and we use some examples in the definitions in the draft between what is a personal account like a private account, what is a uh a elected
official account per se, uh campaign accounts as well u which have their own slew of laws that uh that are regulated. Um and then of course uh the official city accounts that that staff manage uh on behalf of the city. Um and so I don't know if there are any particular
questions uh regarding any specific item in in the uh the policy draft itself. U I can talk in specifics if there are questions. What I can tell you is that um it the policy addresses most of the the potential case scenarios that could
come up. Um and we've done our best to make it as applicable to the legal standards and the best management practices that we know. Uh but if there are any specific questions, we're happy to answer. So the policies was taken from best practices that are uh consistent with what other municipalities are doing. Where where
did you get the guidelines? >> There there's nationwide even guidelines. Um so it's again it's mostly from attorneys uh because they've been dealing with this in in local, state, and federal government now for at least two decades. um with with social media
kind of taking over um a lot of the First Amendment type discussions and and written uh discussions in particular, but also this applies to video, this applies to to audio uh recordings. So, we've done our best to try and take the sunshine laws and the statutes that that
you're all very familiar with um but but apply it here. And I know there have been instances in the past and examples that have been used. And and one thing I want to bring up is like for example the the city seal and the logo is when is it appropriate for a seal or logo to be used in in any kind of um post or any
kind of uh publication? Well, obviously the city does it for for all of our posts on our publications. That's normal. What about the average person? What if I wanted to do it as an employee? Well, using it, you know, as something official might not be appropriate or or might in fact be
illegal. But if I'm taking a secondhand post from the city and I'm recopying that or I'm or I'm sharing it with friends, well, that's there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not taking the seal and and putting my own um you know item attached to it, right? So, there's these
different standards and and different uh uh difficult questions and instances that can come up and the social media policy is basically trying to provide as best as we can the guidelines for it. And so, it's not perfect. um the the intent is to to provide the best
management practices and so that there's this consistency for all the commissioners and the only thing I can liken it to is like an ethics um policy, right? Uh the the voters hold uh the elected officials accountable, but an ethics policy is really designed to to kind of at at a local level provide
those guidelines, the the the uh the framework for for commissioners to kind of hold themselves as a board uh accountable to each other. So, um, I I kind of want to set that as as the caveat to what this policy is. This is not city staff holding commissioners
accountable. This isn't anyone coming in from the outside and and holding commissioners accountable directly on any one instance. This is the board's um ideal and idea of what a social media policy is. And so, the draft framework is is open to every kind of revision
you're looking for. Um, everything from just standard policies and guidelines all the way to even enforcement. So, um, we're open to all of that and and I hope that that best explains kind of what this is in in general. >> So, let me ask you a question as as far as uh right now our policy with staff.
So, our staff wear uniforms that have the seal and have their name. So, if they are, you know, they leave work and they're someplace where there's a picture taken of them and they're at a private event, we don't have an issue with that. Correct. >> Correct.
>> Is is that the policy? We have policies and procedures regarding that. Yes. And it all depends upon, you know, the context and the use of it. >> Well, I'm saying would it be consistent with what the commission So the commission there's there's those of us
that have, you know, shirts that have the seal as well on them and and we go to various events wearing that seal. Um we we may or may not be representing the city at that event. Does that go against the policy? >> You if I may. So you you passed an
ordinance last year, I believe, with regards to the use of the seal and the u the city logo and so on and so forth. Uh which have since been trademarked and everything else. So you have a separate policy on that. This deal just was this
deals solely with um social media. Um to the manager's point though with the scenario the question you presented, it's very fact specific. Um every every situation is a bit different. We try to from a policy standpoint to kind of clump everything together, but there's
always exceptions and outliers. So, >> right. No, no, no. Of course. No, I let me be uh more specific. So, if I'm wearing my city shirt or a shirt that I have has the emblem on it and I'm at an event that's not a city event. Let's say I went to some place in a wherever and
I'm wearing that. Um, is that against the policy? If it's >> again it would it depends on it depends on the event but I mean again it depend you you're the mayor so there may be a factor there too. I mean generally for a mayor or commissioner it wouldn't be a
problem >> right >> but you know if you're going to Publix to do some shopping no but if you're going to some CD place you know yeah there may be an issue there. So it's it's fact very fact specific. >> Okay. >> Use you know common sense. >> It's common sense. >> Common sense comes comes into play a
great deal. >> All right. Just wondering, do we all have to have an additional shirt in our car? You know, that's my question. >> It depends what you're going to be doing. >> Okay. All right. Uh that's >> But from a social media standpoint, though, uh to to Ben's point, um a
replication of something that's been issued by the city with the seal or with the the uh the logo wouldn't be a violation because you're just it's something that's already out there in the public. You're just republishing it. So if you forward
something on Facebook or you forward something on Instagram, something like that, that's not a violation. >> If if we forward something on our social media that's from the city, does that become public record? >> Well, it's public record to begin with because you have it. It's in and of itself, it's a public record.
>> No, I mean if it's posted on our social media and someone responds to it, does that comment? >> That's where if you look at the policy, there's demarcations as to the different types. So if you have the legally there's three things you need to worry about. Ben alluded to it. First amendment, sunshine and public records.
So if we take for example your private page, solely private, family, friends, nothing else, no city relation, it's fine. Not a problem. >> But if you start posting CD related items on your private page, the Supreme
Court dealt with this in 2023. It very likely now has become a limited public forum. So that brings in first amendment where you can't necessarily block people that are commenting on that. Uh you may be subject to sunshine where you have to
retain those particular posts. I'm I'm sorry public records where you have to retain those particular posts >> and then sunshine issues to the extent that one of your fellow elected officials may comment on it and then there's a back and forth that would be a sunshine issue. Uh so those are the things you need to consider if you have
a wholly dedicated public page for yourself that obviously is subject to all three first amendment public records sunshine. So the clear demarcations is I guess the most important thing.
Is it unlawful for you to post something city related on your private page? Absolutely not. But you subject yourself to all these further restrictions where uh in the case that went to the Supreme Court, it was a city manager actually that uh started doing that on this private page posting things about the
city and it was and he decided to block someone from commenting because he didn't agree with this particular person. That person went all the way to the Supreme Court and prevailed because that page had been converted to a limited public forum and this person was being denied the opportunity under the
first amendment to comment on something of a public nature. So you just have to be careful on your private pages. >> Does that become a liability for the city or for that person? >> It can depending on the circumstances. Um you should always assume that
>> whatever attorney is going to pick up that case is going to throw the city in just for good measure. So um whether at the end of the day whether that prevails or not, it depends on the facts and circumstances. But yes. >> Okay. Um this is a discussion item. Vice Mayor.
>> Yeah. I have a question. So on page four under campaign political social media accounts and pages it says under a campaign accounts should never be comingled parenthesis or combined with elected official accounts. So the way I'm envisioning this is let's
say you have elected official A and they're running. They're up for reelection and they're running. They cannot post any let's say they have a meet and greet. They cannot post about that meet and greet in their official
elected official uh social media page or account. Correct. >> I believe that's correct. I I would defer to Allen on because when we get into the campaign accounts, we have to be a little bit careful. It's not just public records accounts. It's also campaign finance law and ethics laws and everything else.
>> Right. You can't and the city can't be involved in your campaign, right? just as you can't campaign here on city hall grounds or use city hall >> uh postage or city hall envelopes or whatever you know to to use for campaign it's the same thing. So your your campaign page is fully dedicated to your
campaign. Um you can't have a link at the bottom that takes you to your official page and vice versa. It has to be wholly separate. You can of course mention that you're an elected official and you're with city als and all of that, but you don't want to have connectivity between your official page
as a commissioner or the city page itself and your campaign page. It has to be solely separate. >> What defines an official page? Let's say I go to Facebook and open up my page as vice mayor Alex vice mayor of San Beach.
It's not controlled by the city though. It's controlled but it is already okay. you're representing yourself. This is the page of, >> you know, certain cities that have districts will have it like district one, district 2 page where it's the commissioner. Uh, uh, but yes, it would
be your page. You're dedicating that page yourself to city related items. So, if someone wants to know what Vice Mayor Lama thinks about an issue, they go to that page. >> Okay. And um Okay. And then from a personal
social social media accounts, when is it okay, and I know you said this before, but when is it okay for me to block someone if they are using threatening language or bad uh language?
>> If it's so so that that's a subset of all three essentially. So on your private, you can do what you want. You're not a city commissioner on your private. you are, pardon the reference, but you're Alex Lama. That's it, right? >> So, you're a private citizen there.
There's nothing city related. >> Um, on your official, I'll call it official individual page. >> Yeah. >> Um, certainly there's certain and we have it in the policy. So if somebody's threatening, if somebody is uh using,
you know, very racial uh charged insults, things of that sort, there's certain things that you can obviously remove. If it's spam with regards to please buy these pillows or something, you know that that's completely unrelated to the post that you've had. Those things can be removed and you can
always check >> with me or with management, you know, to if you're not sure, get a second opinion on it. But, uh, those things can be certainly threats. Uh, some things get to a point of harassment. Uh, but that that's a fine line. You always want to
have somebody check that. So, you can have sort of a little bit of a protection there. If somebody accuses you of deleting something that you shouldn't have, you can always go back to say, "Well, I consulted with the city attorney. I consulted with this other person to make sure another set of eyes had taken a look at it." >> And the reference to that's on section
or page uh six at the bottom of page six for that section. Yeah. I have a question. So, let's say on my com my commissioner page, I have my private and I have the the commissioner page and I uh put some uh repost a city
thing. Okay. But nobody comments on it. Nobody likes it. It just sits there. Can I delete that? >> I wouldn't. Again, that's >> I know I should. I mean, I I wouldn't either, but I'm just thinking >> I wouldn't delete it. >> So, once posted, it's forever. >> Yeah. like that should be your official
page generally that you use on social media once it's posted. Even if you delete it, >> there's ways to get to it. >> No, I know. I'm just saying like like okay, you know what? This wasn't very interesting after all, you know, let me just clean up my page. But like once you
post it on as as a public person, it's there forever. Like it should be. >> I would that would be the best practice. It's just it's it's risky to to do otherwise because then somebody if it's if the page is cached someplace and somebody gets a hold of it because they know what they're doing and they say,
"Oh, Commissioner Viscera, she posted this but she took it down. >> Take a screenshot of it." >> And I think an interesting hypothetical is with the campaign accounts and I and I use this as a good example as a reminder for myself. If if you're running a campaign account um and and you're sticking to the campaign account, you actually uh through the case law
that's been provided, we you have the ability to block to delete comments because that you're protecting your own First Amendment right to proclaim your message on your CA campaign account. There's an interesting thing though where if you post like from an official authorative perspective from your ex
like let's say you're an incumbent running for office again and you're and you post on your campaign account something to do with an act or an official you know you're you're projecting your authority on that account. It's possible that the courts could find that you're acting in official capacity and now subject the
entire account as an official account and now you can't delete and you can't block people. So it's it's interesting how the cases uh have gone before the courts and and an account can start as one thing in my and and form to something else. So you have to be very very careful and a lot of the policy
tries to guide you in a direction where that never happens. And that's part of like the best practices that that have kind of come about over the years and what we've put into the policy is to to help steer you away from kind of falling into those pitfalls. >> Yeah. It's very hard to encapsulate all the scenarios because to Ben's point, if
you're an incumbent, it's a little different than if you're a candidate that's just starting out, right? Because you're not yet a public figure. You are becoming one, but there's certain there's different things that are going to apply to you as an incumbent because it's very difficult to take off the hat and are you really acting as a candidate
or are you acting as an incumbent? So, it gets it gets murky. >> Okay. My only other comment is that as I was reading it, it sometimes it was just in the nitpicky sense, right, that it's
it's it would refer to the commission, not the commission, like the commissioner. Um, so I thought it people reading it might say, well, what doesn't that apply to the vice mayor and the mayor, right? Because you're just saying commissioner. So I would I would just clean up like one at the top of it like
here and after referred to us, you know, and and then then use the terms so that it's clear that it applies to all of us and that you know the vice mayor is not uh you know included or whatever. >> There's it. >> Okay. >> So no one's exempted. >> No, it's it's not. And and the one thing
I will point out I think that's interesting is that the mayor um has has a unique role under the charter. And so I'll try to find the page for you really quick. uh during emergencies. I just want to point it out so that you will see this is the only unique circumstance which the mayor has a has a little bit of an additional role even from a social
media perspective with emergency messaging. So if we post something and most likely would with trying to reach people during emergency, it's actually the mayor and the city manager and their design that that does the emergency messaging during an emergency. Um so there that is the one caveat. I felt
like it's important to just kind of put that out there as a disclaimer, but everything else, yes, it's uniform and equal throughout. >> Any other questions or comments, Commissioner Susan? >> I'm perfect with it. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Next item. So, this will come before you. Do we need to bring this back to them in February for any kind of resolution? >> It typically you want to formalize it through resolution. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Next item is 3B. Discussion regarding S uh the scooter safety improvement community outreach update. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> Who's up? Mr. City Manager. Now we have a report. This >> isn't going to read. >> Deputy manager. >> Deputy floor is yours.
>> Thank you. Um as you know, we did a lot of outreach. Julia would love to be here to be able to present this himself, but he is actually at a um educational event. So you have us um if you could
please switch to the next slide. So we did the survey. Uh the survey results are posted. We had a total of 1,874 um participants in the survey. >> Not a lot. um scooter usage by the um
respondents. Um of the people who responded to the survey, 73% did not own a scooter and six did uh 26 did. And of those 26 that 26% did, uh 70% of those
were registered. So, that's um good to know that our registration process is is working significantly for those who actually own a scooter. Next slide, please. >> I have a question. >> Yes, sir. >> So, we've been now in the process of registering for how long?
>> A little over a year. >> Okay. And we still have 30% unregistered. >> That's 30% of the respondents to our survey. >> Okay. Okay. So, how do you extrapolate that to the overall usage?
>> I would have to know how many scooter owners there are in the city. And I do not have >> we don't have an idea >> a hard number on that. I do not. I'm sorry. >> Right. Okay. But we have but from the school we know how many students are coming to school by scooter or no?
I do not know how many are coming from um going to school on a scooter, but I can tell you that um Ben pulled up some pedestrian bridge stats for us and in and in November of 2025, we had 106,500
scooter scooter trips >> over the pedestrian bridge. >> And >> over the course of that time, >> that's one month for the month of November. Any and how many incidents have we had on the bridge? Any >> on the bridge? I'm not aware of any.
>> Of um near misses or people being hit? No. >> Of things that have been reported to us on the bridge? I'm not aware of any. >> Okay. >> I can find out for you. I can confirm that. >> Please. >> Okay. Go ahead, please.
Um so uh just a little bit more about the survey which we had already gone over before but the minimum we had thrown out some options in the survey. 81% supported a minimum age requirement. Um the most common suggested age was 16
years old. >> Okay. That's totally uninforcable. You can't tell the difference between a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old. >> Commissioner Joseph, just let the deputy manager finish and then we'll add our comments. Um, government issued ID
required, 72% supported that. A ban from sidewalks, 64% supported that. A complete ban from the city, only 37% supported that. >> Um, um, key finding was that majority opposed complete ban, suggesting
preference to regulation over prohibition. Um, the majority do not want a complete ban. They'd rather see us regulate it better. um mandatory safety course as an option was 80%. Was in favor? Next slide, please.
So, in summary, next slide, please. Okay. Um so, we don't have support for a total ban. So, we are um >> we have a sorry, we have support for a total ban on the sidewalks, correct? >> On the inner sidewalks.
>> I'm talking about a total ban in the city >> on the sidewalks. Hold on. We're going to do one at a time. Commissioner Joseph, let the deputy manager finish and then we'll we'll take turns. >> Okay. We do not have majority support for a total ban of scooters in the city. We
also have several logistical challenges with that. Um people coming in and out of the city from other jurisdictions. Um enforcement, if we're banning them, we're confiscating them somehow. Storage, there's a lot of logistical issues with a total ban. As it relates to some other regulations
like the government issued ID, minimum age and even to an extent the sidewalk band ban, there is logistical challenges with that. Again, some of the same is a total ban. Uh the jurisdiction enforcement where we're storing things,
collection of fines. Um we can give you some examples if if that's not very clear, but you pull over a you know someone and they give you a fake name. there's, you know, there's some challenges with that. So, after all of this, um, and we did a lot of research
as to what other cities are doing in Miami Day County around our area. So, some options for consideration is to increase the fines to encourage compliance. Um, limit the speed on sidewalks on interior roads. This would be similar to
what Aventura is trying and we would suggest giving it a little time to see how Aventura is enforcing that so that we could try to implement the same thing. Increase educational outreach to encourage safe and responsible use of scooters and an infrastructure project of adding
bike scooter lanes on interior streets where possible. So I know one of the biggest concerns that even Commissioner Joseph has brought up is that between the bridge and the school on North Bay Road. So we have potential to have a um
a bike scoot dedicated bike scooter lane along North Bay Road. So we're working with a engineer to bring you something that you could consider for that. >> Yes. But it would be a dedicated lane. So, there would be some dividers, whether it's, you know, some
people call them an armadillo. Um, you know, they're almost like little mini speed humps that separate the lanes >> or it could be completely raised or separate, but it depends on how much space we have. Likely we would have to lose some trees for that. >> All right, you're done.
>> I am. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Sidewalk. >> Hold on. Uh, Commissioner and Joseph. Um, so the the the input is is finished. There's no more public comment. There's not much public input. It's completely done. All right. So, just a one question
before I give Commissioner Joseph the floor with the respondents. Is that total number of respondents or responses? >> Responses. So, one person could have responded multiple times >> if they used a different IP address. >> So, it's based on IP addresses. I just
wanted to get clarification on that. >> Yes. And the um survey system that we used did weed out things that they considered suspicious. So if it was the exact same um
if it was the exact same answer that was like um a fill-in-thelank question. >> I see. >> Um they would >> okay weed through those. >> All right. Thank you. You have the floor. Commissioner Joseph. >> Thank you. I appreciate. So I know from
speaking with the chief we have we spend numerous manh hours now on the scooters. >> Yes sir. >> Uh more than we would like to I would imagine. Um like a lot of cities do. um like
Kiskain was doing, even though the chief prior to their uh banning of the scooters, the chief uh thought that they should continue to um allow for the scooters and do more
enforcement, but they were just overwhelmed with the man-hour not allowing them to do other important police issues. I still believe that we should for the safety of the residents, it's important to have a ban in the city for the
scooters. it. Either way, there's an enforcement issue and I I believe it would be less of an of an issue for the for our police department if there was a ban as opposed to trying to um have an age restriction
or um having to have a permit and then you have the rider not having the permit with them. It's just so many manh hours that we're losing over the scooters. We have we looked into I know Kiscane is a closed community,
>> but we also um and if we can get FDOT to come on board to allow us to ban the scooters on Collins because I've just seen just driving back and forth on Collins how it's just so crazy. And now with Tik
Tok, these uh crazy games they have where kids um have a contest to see how close you can come to a a person walking without actually touching them. It's just so insane. We and we have just one
accident for an elderly person and even younger people we've had knocked down that have been severely injured that just ruins their life. And I don't believe that there's enough of a benefit for people
with scooters to take into account uh the damage that we would do that we're doing over time to our residents. So we have reached out to FDOT but that is our biggest challenge is that we can't enforce it on Collins Avenue. So
it would be very logistically difficult. >> So then we have to do it through the state to to override them. >> Mhm. Well >> and that would be something I would work for. >> Okay. >> Commissioners vice mayor.
So, for one thing, I understand that we cannot ban scooters. That's up to the state. The state will not allow us to ban scooters. >> How did Keane do it? >> Yeah, but I don't think it's enforceable. I think you still have people riding scooters there.
>> You you you can ban them. Um, >> but the issue comes down to that's presupposing people will listen to you and you have a lot of transient folks using it here. So it it becomes you can ban them but what do you do if somebody's riding a scooter? So they get
a fine, >> right? >> A large fine. >> But but this so it was my understanding that the state does the state is the one that regulates that and the state you can you could regulate it in your cities and and that's why keep had to go
through some extra steps because well they had to go to the legislature but they also had to go through day county because that road was controlled by day county. >> Here your major thorough affair is controlled by the state. So what becomes difficult is you can't have an outright ban technically in the city because that
Collins Avenue is part of your city and you don't control that road. So for you to have a complete ban, you'd have to have FDOT on board. But from a standpoint of the the the law doesn't preempt you from banning them on sidewalks or banning them all together.
Um but here you have a unique situation. One because you have a lot of scooters and two you have Collins Avenue and then to the extent you have county roads I think 163rd is county >> 826 and William Leman is actually federal >> right so you have to have those partners on board with you
>> William Leman is federal road I believe >> so so basically we could we could ban them in our internal streets I mean North Bay Road the pedestrian bridge and and so on and so forth you could Okay.
>> I'd like to remind you though, 70% of your community that participated in the survey do not >> I understand. I I'm aware of that. So then the the other issue I have also is that okay so let's say we do impose an
age restriction. A lot of these kids don't have an ID. I mean how do we confirm what their age is >> exactly? It sounds good on paper, but then >> it that's what kind of why the state kind of kicked the can down the road. They said, "Fine, you guys can figure it out, but we're not going to do regulate
that on our own." And to the commissioner's point, it's very difficult to for one of our officers to look at somebody. I've seen 15y olds that look like they're 12. I've seen 17 year olds that look like they're, you know, 13 or vice versa. I've seen, you know, my son's 14 and he looks like he's
25. So, um, it's very hard for an officer at that standpoint to be able to determine the age and then again to your point, you know, they don't necessarily have ID at that point. >> And I wouldn't ask to put them in that position in any event. And and then the
other issue I have which I mean to me is nowadays you have these motorized vehicles whether it's a scooter you have these um >> electrical basically motocrosses that you know they're doing wheelies all throughout the city and um how come
they're not required to have a driver's license? >> Well they are well depend and I could defer to to law enforcement and I don't have the statute in front of me. Those are regulated separately. So depending on the cc's of a particular engine, even if it's an electric engine, those bikes that you see that go really fast and
those there's certain ones you get to a point where they have to be licensed. They have to be you have to have a license to operate them. You have to have registration. So those are regulated through separate statute. >> Models that are illegal. >> So can can we do something about that?
The state does I mean the the state regulates >> what can we do to enforce something where we see a 12year-old kid you know that you know they're they have these motocross >> if it's against state law then they our law enforcement can enforce
>> law it's already enforce it I mean I like to start there >> my understanding is that they do >> you do >> okay cuz I still see them around and doing wheelies and there's like a little click going around that yeah you could come up >> explain the difference. >> Yeah, please.
>> Yeah, I I'd like to understand that because >> Thank you, Chief. >> Yeah, >> Dr. is our scooter whisperer. >> Okay. Um he's done a lot of research and he's done a lot of enforcement and we probably towed about over a dozen of those bikes that you're talking about.
>> Okay. So, >> great. >> So, please. >> All right. So, with the ebikes, bicycles, >> there's three classifications. They cannot be over 750 watts in power. They're supposed to have a label that says whether it's a class one, class 2,
or class 3. There are differences between class one, class 2, and class 3 as to the way they operate and their maximum speeds. For it to be considered an electric bicycle, it must have functioning pedals. >> Mhm. >> What you're talking about are e-tos. They do not have pedals. They are
essentially electric motorcycles much like a Tesla is an electric car. They're dirt bikes of the 22nd 21st century and that's what we're dealing with. >> The biggest problem that we're encountering with enforcing them is these kids flee from us and we're not
chasing them for for traffic. We have confiscated and cited well over a dozen. We call tow trucks out. They come, they take them, they tow them just as they would a car. I'm hesitant to write 12-year-olds criminal citations for operating
unregistered motor vehicles unregistered uh or unlike being unlicensed because those are criminal citations that you're dropping on a 12-year-old. We have kind of agreed to do a lot of education when education is possible and tow the vehicles. We try to get the parents out
when we can. Some of those emotives you're talking about go in excess of 80 miles an hour. >> Yeah. Um, and they're very very maneuverable. >> Let let me ask you a question to to your point about the the uh citations and is
that something under uh Florida law that you can actually site the parent or as far as criminal >> you could cite the parents for allowing a unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle. The problem is with those it
comes down to a lot of education. The parents don't know they're illegal. They think they're buying their kids bic electric ebikes. They don't do the research. >> So, they're not even there. There's no intent on the parent. What you We've had very good support from the parents that we've gotten. Um I can tell you that a
lot of the kids that we've taken them from, the parents have sold the bikes. We're not seeing as many of the emotos on the street than we were. We do get them coming through from Hollywood, Howlandale, Bal Harbor. I stopped a 12year-old
on one from south of the broad causeway on one driving up Collins Avenue. >> Wow. >> Um we did take his his bike was towed. His parents came to get him again. He was like I think 11 or 12. I did not we know we didn't charge him criminally for
operating an unregistered vehicle and having no driver's license, etc. But he's Bay Harbor's problem. I don't know what his parents did beyond that. Our residents that we've taken them from, most have complied and gotten rid of the bikes. >> I see the kids on actual bicycles, like
electric bicycles now. >> But ignorance of the law is not an excuse. >> Oh, no, not at all. >> Right. So, okay. Um, so, but you think it's better with with what are we calling them? >> Ebikes. >> What? >> No, the motorcycles. What are >> They're emo. They're dirt bikes. >> Dirt motor. >> If you look at the manufacturer pages,
they all say they're not for street usage. are not legal for street. >> So for for you, you you believe that's getting better. >> Oh yes. >> Okay. But the the motorized scooters are still >> the scooters have gotten a lot better. >> The scooters has gotten better as well >> as far as kids wearing helmets, scooters
being registered. >> Um things like that. We are seeing a lot more compliance. I've stopped a few this week that have no registration. >> Uhhuh. >> Um it was a Christmas gift. We're working on it, >> right? >> Kind of thing. But and and you can tell
they're new. Um for the most part, I mean I I think one kid that I was dealing with yesterday, I looked at his registration number, it was like 1165 and I assume they started at zero and are going up. So I mean that's over a thousand scooters that are registered.
>> I personally logged on my phone and helped somebody register on the side of the road just that he didn't know and I actually went on and helped me register right there in the spot. So >> well I mean Mr. Mr. City Manager, if if I may, I mean, since we have them in front of us, you all are the people that
are going to be enforcing anything that we decide. I I would like to know what your recommendation is based on, you know, is it consistent with uh with what we found? >> We've had a lot of discussion about this and the challenges to enforce scooter
regulations, including the ban. So, I think at this point, we're still gathering data. I think we've had great success in registering the scooters and we've we've been proactive as you know over this past year or more not only
registering but issuing citations. You've heard that we've impounded some of these issues for especially for repeats. In terms of going forward, what we've come up with is we think two things. one, we would like to
increase the fines or the penalties. We've had >> to a large degree, >> we've had some success with that. >> So, we would like to definitely we'd like to bring back a revision to that ordinance to increase the fines from the civil side. And then we would like to
with our engineer bring you some sketches for what the deputy manager mentioned and trying to relegate at least some where we can to a certain side of the street or sidewalk or area. So that's our recommendation.
>> That would be North Bay Road only or would that include uh all the interior roads? Um, currently we're working on North Bay Road from the pedestrian 174th to 183. >> Um, we would then look at from North Bay
Road from 172 to 163rd Street. >> Okay. How about Golden Shores? >> Golden Shores, you have no sidewalks. It's difficult. >> That's almost an impossibility. We are still hoping to one day build the urban
trail >> right >> that would move people north and south >> okay >> along there but we can look at that area as well chief >> I just wanted to add one thing and is this be this is with all your support um I honestly can say in all of day county
and probably Broward County that we have pioneered in the enforcement on scooters nobody else has done what we have done so far and he can attest to that Yeah, I I know based on how much people love you
>> and we I talk to a lot of the kids that I do stop that are coming from Howlandale, Hollywood, >> they and we we they don't care. The cops up there, they get zero enforcement. >> Um we unfortunately get the transients that are coming through because they have ties to Sunny Isles, Ren MB or
whatever. I stopped a kid the other day on an emote to uh from 16 whatever the new condos are at 165th and Biscane. Mhm. >> His mom came and she again she was unaware that it was illegal. >> Um like I said, none of the other cities
do anything. Where I live, we see them all over the place with zero enforcement. >> Okay. Please, Commissioner Joseph. >> So, how many men were you wasting a lot of man hours on scooters? Correct.
>> That that mean the officer our officers could be doing other things. could be doing other things but I wouldn't say wasting because it's >> well spending sorry spending >> numerous manh hours correct >> that is part of everyday enforcement
right you know as things evolve you have different things that you have to focus on this happens to be an issue with within the city and it's part of our patrol function right >> we see it we address it >> um I don't even know how to quantify how
many hours it's You're just out there doing >> endless number. Yeah. So, I've also been told that when someone comes when someone has been hit by a scooter and they come in to make a report to the police department, they're deterred and
they're told that it's civil. >> How often does that occur? >> Um, someone hit by a scooter. How? Like a pedestrian? >> Yes, a pedestrian. >> Okay. Scooters are regulated like bicycles as of right now. There's maybe
legislation in Tallahassee that changes that, but as of right now, the reg the standup electric scooters are governed like bicycles. If they're on the sidewalk, they're considered a pedestrian, >> right? >> Honestly, it would be no different than if someone is running really, really
fast and runs into a pedestrian that walks in their way legally. >> Could you sue that kid's parents? Could you sue, if it's an adult, could you sue them? civily. Yes. It's not a traffic crash by statutory definition. >> Okay. So, I foiled and I got no incident
reports because people are told we won't take the report. Right. >> That's what's happening. >> I've never heard of anybody refusing to take a report >> because But you're telling people it's civil, right? >> No, we're telling them it's not a crash.
>> It's not a crash. Yes, a lot of them get reported as injured, sick or injured people >> or information, >> which would be no different than if a kid is riding a scooter or an adult is riding a scooter and loses their balance and falls. If they want to report that, we will. It's not a traffic crash. It's like if someone falls from a bicycle,
>> right? It would be hard to actually find because there's not a report tired scooter crash. So, it's in the narrative and it's impossible to search every sick or injured or um information report by a narrative. >> All right. So, do you have an idea how many instances we've had? >> I don't.
>> Of uh people being injured by scooters or ebikes? >> I've never been approached by anyone that said they were hit by one. >> Yeah, >> I have not. I I get a lot of, oh, they zip by you. >> I know several myself that have gone in to make reports and they've been denied
the reports saying you have to just take it to court. >> That's true. As in taking, you know, take it to court. It is civil. I wouldn't necessarily deny the report again. So >> if if someone comes in and says that they were pushed and they would like to make a report,
>> we'll write it. >> Yeah, we we doc if they want it documented, we don't deny documenting a report. So >> but it'll be documented under information or a different title. It's not a crime. It's not an accident. >> But if it was intentional, >> that's different.
Okay. >> It's crime. >> Well, I don't know. I had an intentional attack at Aventura Library last year and nothing ever occurred with it. So I'll >> refer you to the Aventura Police Department. >> Okay. >> Um are there any other questions of
>> Yes. I I in terms of pioneering. So this is what I was thinking if since there is support for the uh ID and age uh limit, right? Um, we can always, if you're 16 years
old, you're in ninth or tth grade at least. So, if you see a bunch of kids going to our school on North Bay Road at at 8:30 in the morning, guess what? They're not 16. I know it's hard to tell, but if they're going to this school, they don't meet the age
requirement. So, that that makes it easy to spot and it makes enforcement easy, at least at 8:20 in the morning. maybe we can't enforce it throughout the day, but if you uh hit them on not hit you know like with enforcement
um you know at 8:20 in the morning and at and at 3:20 in the afternoon we might see a significant reduction you know but I I've always said that this this is in part also a parenting issue
and as long as parents keep buying and then um that's where the educational part comes in. But I we may want to try the the age and ID part because those kids are not going to have it at 8:20 in the morning on North Bay Road.
>> Yeah. >> You know what I mean? So that's just >> not an age ban. >> Well, if you No, if we if we put make it that you have to be 16 years old and you have to have an ID >> effectively a ban. >> Yeah. >> Well, right. I mean, I don't call it a
ban, but it's a it's a regulation. um it would you know that the kids going to our school are not that age. So I'm just saying it would make that enforcement piece easier at 8:20 in the morning and if all you do is enforce at 8:20 in the morning and not in the rest of the day still I think you would see
an impact. >> Well what to when I say a ban at that point anybody on a scooter going to the school would be in violation. >> That's right. Unless it's a parent with a kid and has three kids on the scooter and that's a different issue. But but yes.
All right. That that was just my thought. >> Okay. Um wait, let me just if Commissioner Susan has anything. >> No, just the timeline. When is something come going to come to us for um some regulations?
>> Yes, we we just seem to be kicking the can down the road. So, we need to really uh get together and do something comprehensive at some point very soon. >> Mr. Mr. City Manager, what is the proposed uh increase to the fine?
>> Is there one? >> Would be up to $250. >> Can we make it 500? >> Well, yeah, we have to look at I I don't know about the state. I mean, obviously the to the extent there's a state charge that's regulated by the state. We're capped at 500 under chapter 162. So,
that would be the maximum. I think we currently have if we have it as the maximum in there now, but we're capped at 500. Um, usually it's a graduated schedule. Uh, first offense, it's tough to go to 500, but uh um but that would be the cap.
>> State statute for or date county fines for statutory violations of bicycles or 7750 >> for bicycles is 7750. >> Bicycle violations are $77 >> for helmets. That's for helmets, riding
multiple people on a bicycle, running a stop sign on a bicycle, red light on a bicycle, >> uh, or a scooter. $77.50. >> Yeah, the the 500 correlates to a violation of our ordinance, which falls under 162. So, it's through chapter 14,
but right, there would be if it's charged under different statutes or other uh ordinances, then those caps would apply. Well, if it's a $77 fine, we're not going to accomplish anything because people will pay that and then,
you know, time after time. So, the thing is to try to stop the repeat offenders. >> Commissioner Stew. >> Yeah, I have an So, the only thing that is coming to us is going to be the increase in the fine.
Nothing else >> unless you all direct us differently. Right now our recommendation would be two things to increase the fine and then also delineate where we can kind of a scooter or bike lane.
>> Okay. >> But we should be doing something with the age like Dal just did it as well last year and it's been very successful. Um so um I would not support anything if it doesn't have an age restriction. Okay.
>> Which is a real a real um solution to the issue. >> Okay. So, okay. To speak, >> please go ahead. >> Okay. So um what uh Commissioner Vascara mentioned regarding
the being able if we make the age 16 and then we are able to approach the kids that are using the scooters to go to school. that makes I I don't want to put any burden on our police department that
is not enforcable and and just cost you more manh hours, you know, and just is not logical. So if you were going to be able to go after younger kids who, you know, they're not 16 and going to Edal
Cup school, then that gives you a complete, you know, that's basically a ban on the scooters that are you being used currently for going to school. And my goal is to make our sidewalks safe for the
residents. I know right now I can't do anything about Collins, but certainly on our inside streets where we have sidewalks we and 70% of our residents want them banned from the sidewalks and I'm all for the residents. So, and the
city manager and the assistant city manager, we have to adhere to the majority of our residents to what they want. And I know for myself, people have been injured. They've I've seen blood on their bodies, you know, from being
knocked down and and severely injured. Whether there's a police report or not, I know there are many people throughout the city that have been hit by these vehicles. And it's time for us to like not like we've done with, you know, our
flooding issues. We need to, you know, make a stand right now on these scooters. I I totally agree because like we've been in this process for years now and also uh the solution cannot be just give
us more money and that's not what you're proposing by the way. Okay. So it's not about you guys is that that's not the solution. We need to have real solutions and to your point uh anybody over 16 years old can use it. So if they're going to volleyball practice or whatever
they will continue using it. But we need to have a real serious solution. And just to ask for more money of the people that we're going to be getting caught uh is not a a real solution. Plus, we are taking the
determination based on whoever um participated in the the surveys etc. Uh however I went to I think both of the meetings that we had in gateway uh when the people was engaging um and it was
like a 99 one issue. So everyone who show up uh was in favor of having like real solution and it wasn't about the money it was about safety. So right now just uh getting money from the parents uh it
will not bring I don't think it will make any difference to what's happening and like commissioner Joseph says I have seen also the injuries of the people especially the elderly who has gotten hit by the children or whoever riding
these these vehicles. So um like I said we waste a lot of time. Um do did we also engage any consultants in this? >> Okay. Everything was in house. Good. So at least that uh so we need real solutions and asking for money is not a
solution. >> May I >> please go ahead. >> So I think the key to this is to maintain the scooter and the ebike riders separated from the pedestrians. So obviously the
geography of the city will allow us in certain parts of the city you know with the streets obviously North Bay Road on the part of the sidewalk which is wider. So I would love to see that sketch and
then um I would like to hear what your recommendations are. You know what do you think because you're out there every day. You're the ones that are engaging. you're seeing the scooters going by a lot more than us. You know, you're out
there on the streets. That's your job. So, I would like to see what your um opinions and observations and suggestions are on how we could probably implement a structural um delineation where we keep these
pedestrians and these riders as as separated as as possible. So that's basically what I would like to see. As far as fines, I think that um you know, if you have repeat offenders, I think
there's got to be consequences. You know, if they do not abide by certain rules which are designed to keep our residents safe, then they will have to pay. I mean, you know, I think we've
been lenient. you know, we give them warnings. Um, then there's fines obviously, but if you do have repeat offenders, we could structure the um the ordinance in a way where, you know, if you're on your fourth, fifth uh citation, then I'm
sorry, you know, obviously something there's got to be a consequence to pay there. >> Do we have that information? >> We don't do we don't have handle the code violations. >> Yeah. >> Okay. just because I've heard it now a few times. I'm just wondering, you know,
is is it just your experience that you're stopping the same kids? >> There are some >> if I don't get any kind of buy in from them or their parents, those are the ones that I've been issuing the uniform traffic citations to >> because at least those have
>> more consequences because that now affects that kid's ability to get a driver's license, >> right? which when they do turn a driver's age, >> they do go through the county court system instead of, >> you know, city code violation courts. >> And I do reserve that for those kids
that I come in contact where the parents don't care, the kids don't care, >> and like Commissioner Llama said, there needs to be some sort of consequences, and that's all I have at my disposal. >> Okay. Um, Commissioner Bizar, did you
have anything to add? I'm in favor of uh increasing the fines especially um since we've been at this for over a year and you know the message is out there and to Commissioner Joseph's point we are spending spending
uh hours on it and I'm sure that the fines we're collecting are not enough to uh make up for our efforts. So, you know, let's recover, you know, some of that just a little bit more. Uh so I'm okay with that. there's plenty of notice. We've been at this for some
time. Uh and and I think and also I agree with Commissioner I mean Vice Mayor Lama. Uh so I'm okay with those things. I would like to explore the age piece. Uh but I don't I but I would like it to come from you. I'd like to hear from you what you think about that and
you may need time to see what I don't know what that would look like. I don't know what that would >> it's it's >> be for you. So I don't want to throw it on you. I'd rather if if that's a recommendation of now that you know where the community stands, I'd like it to come from you um and not impose it on
you. So, I'm good with thinking about that and and hopefully moving forward because I I do like the idea, but again, I'm not you and I'm not out there uh doing that. So, um, so I think for what's for what's on the table, I'm I'm good with it, but I would like to
continue the conversation with regards to the community input and the, um, the age and ID. >> Okay. So, we are in agreement to raise it to 500 then. >> 500. >> Yes, that's our max anyways. Correct.
That we can do. >> Yes. I guess the city manager can bring a recommended that that's the top number. I don't know that you want to hit 500 for every infraction. >> Sure. Right. I think that we need the the recommendation that we definitely um want to um
>> we need to get people's attention. >> I agree with that. Absolutely. And I did not realize that piece about them being able to then get a driver's license and and having an issue with that because if if anything then I would be in in support of not even giving a warning,
you know, really, you know, pushing for for that because I think that that's scarier to a kid than anything else is is not being able to get their driver's license. One second. Um, just one more question and and again I know you don't have the data but just because you really have become the expert on this because you're out there
every single morning. Would you say that it's primarily the the little kids that that we're having the issue with or is it just everyone including adults? Like what if you had to choose one demograph like one group to to really say, "Okay,
these guys are the ones that we need that we're having the biggest problem with." >> The bigger problem are the bigger kids. >> The bigger kids. >> The older kids. Yeah. The kids that are either here in 8th grade or the ones and you know not during school hours. Okay. >> The 15 16 year olds.
>> Got it. >> The little ones really aren't much of a problem. to my point that the only way we are going to solve this is with an age limit. So right now we are not giving you any new tool. You know you have exactly the same tool that you have now that is not working clearly. And and
my question is that it's incredible that this is just about uh collecting more money. Uh because that's not really uh um scary for many of our residents. So uh they will gladly pay the fine and continue behaving how they are behaving.
So if and again what a waste of time we had with this you know like we need more data more data well we need more accidents so we are going to finally do something there are so many municipalities all over Florida they having micromobility um summits left and
right uh just to talk about this issue and they're taking really stance that they are not popular with the people so I don't know what is it that we're scared of uh but clearly we're not scared of accidents of injury of the elderly or the children because again uh
we are not giving you any new tools only just getting more money. Um like I said if that's the only consequence that they're going to be receiving I will not be in favor of putting changing anything that is moneywise. I want real solutions
and that is not a solution. So in that regard, if we are I would like to then make the age if we're going to put an age, I would like to make it 17 in order to because what is the oldest um the age of a
person that goes to Cup? >> 14 or 15. >> 14. So it has to be above that age. >> That's why 16 is a good number because if you're 16, you're in ninth or in 10th grade. So you're not going in eighth in your
>> right but if if if our issue is with the older kids that's one of the challenges as well you know what are we you know they they have to have some consequences right right now I understand but the consequences have to be also intensified for those that are the ones creating the
>> Well I think that going the the was a county court like going that path I think that's a pretty bad um >> right >> I think that's a pretty bad consequence that we are exercising, you know, very lightly, right? So, I
mean, I I actually think that's a pretty bad consequence. >> I agree. >> We're just not using it because we've been community whatever, you know, the community. >> Actually, we do use it for repeat offenders. >> Well, that's what I'm saying. But you're you're using it sparingly is what I'm saying. That for the repeat offender
people, not you're not just hitting people with that. Like, so um so I I like that sparingly. um path because you're not hurting uh kids that that might um you know be prejudiced by that.
But if if we can eliminate a lot of the scooter usage and by the way beware of unintended consequences because that means that they might go back to bicycles and then you might have a bunch of bicycles back on the sidewalks and you can still hit people with bicycles but um not maybe at the same speed. I'm
just saying we might you might end up creating a different problem. But it is >> I think we have to clear the the we have to clear the sidewalks. Yeah. >> For it. We don't want bicycles on the sidewalks as well. >> So if we're going to make a safe lane in the street if we're And by the way,
Susan, when you spoke about taking away trees, you're talking about taking away part of the sidewalk, correct? It would be um if you're familiar with North Bay Road um by Margolas Park, there's a swale on both sides of the road that have trees in them on both
sides of the road. So, we would lose them on one side of the road and keep them on the other. >> Okay. Right. So, you have the the mound. Yeah. >> It would not impact the use of the sidewalk as it currently exists. >> Yeah. >> So, one comment. So, if we take out if
we clear the sidewalks of of scooters and and ebikes, there's also the danger of having these kids on the streets as well, and that's a concern. >> Well, we talked about a >> Let let the vice mayor finish.
>> Well, I know we talked about that, but also I I wouldn't want to see a 12-y old kid who let's say we do not enforce any age restriction, right? And the officers just said that the the the main offenders are the older kids. So I I
mean I wouldn't want to see uh small children. >> That's going to get the parents to pay more attention because they don't want their kid riding in the street. Right now they don't care about the residents on the sidewalks. No, it's the parents.
You have to be able to get the attention of the parents because right now there's no home training. There's no courtesy taught in in homes any longer. >> Yeah. Regardless, >> kids have no these kids have no regard. >> I'm just saying that that's a point of
consideration. That's a point of consideration. If you're talking about getting these kids off the sidewalk and onto the streets, I think that's there's also a concern there when they're >> make an unguarded. We need to make it a guarded
path for in the street. >> Well, we need to talk about put them just willy-nilly in the street. Go. Good luck. We can't do that to the drivers and we can't do that to the to the riders. We have to if we're going to take away the swell, then we have to
make >> well, you know, we have to put some type of >> as separate as possible. >> Yeah. We have to put posts or whatever. And that includes the cars, the riders of the ebikes, the e- scooters, whatever it is, and the pedestrians, people
walking. So, >> um I >> we're talking about three things. >> I would like to since we spend so much time on this today and even if we have to spend the next half hour and disregard the other issues, we need to leave here with
something that the police department can work with today. Let me ask you a question since you're in the hot seat right now. What what is your recommendation? >> So, I don't think it's fair for us to give us personal opinions. I would just recommend giving the residents what they
want. >> Okay. And we ask all the time to the people to go to these town halls and everything that we do. And we had a full house in Gateway um to talk about this issue. And like I say, it was a 991
issue for the people that was there. So why are we asking people their input to go and speak out and we are not even considering disregard the the the time of being there? The people say what they want. They're scared of the uh scooters
in the sidewalks. The elderly is getting hit by these scooters. Uh so we already had the data. We have the people they show up. They were there. the parents were not there. I mean only a couple of parents were there saying that that's
their uh means of transportation. So the question is that why do we continue needing more time uh to making more meetings and more um town halls if we're going to get exactly the same people with the same answer? They need a
solution and they need it right now. uh in in back in I believe October um when they gave us a presentation about the data etc. They said that within months we were going to have um a recommendation. Actually, no, I think
that was before that around September. Uh then it was supposed to come before the end of the of last year calendar year. Uh now we're in January and we continue discussing and we continue asking for more information. Their information is there. The issues right
there. Like I said, other municipalities are doing the right thing. And I don't know if if it's um that the people's I don't know scared not being popular or whatever. Uh but we are not making real decisions. It's not about money. It's about safety
>> and we need to and nobody wants to see any child also in the streets. I don't think it is we we don't geographically has the capacity of putting like a nice lanes for scooters or bicycles in our streets. It's just not a way uh
practically is is designed. So actually what we need is to make sure that you guys have the tools and thank you for all your hard work and everything that you do. Uh but you don't have the tools right now and that is apparently the discussion that we've been having forever and apparently we continue having it forever.
>> Okay. So that's for clarification. You are in support of banning for under 16. >> Absolutely. >> And what else? >> That's it. any other fine or whatever is it that they are looking to do as well, you know, but a real solution will be age. Yes.
>> So, 16. >> Sure. >> Commissioner Joseph. >> Okay. I'm for banning um scooters, ebikes on every sidewalk in the city. We need to make our sidewalks safe for our residents again. And as far as uh the fines, I would like to have them be the
maximum. My only question is when we spoke about that ebikes now are classified still as bicycles. >> Yes. >> So how do we we need to lobby Tallahassee to do more regarding that? Now is there another statute we can use
that we don't have this ridiculous $77 fine because if it's $77 then we don't have any adherence. >> No. So, we need to be able to have something stronger. How can we get them,
you know, other than with the $77? >> Lobby your legislators >> the the the motorcycle the the >> what we have in our framework. That's it. They're governed as bicycles. >> So, $77 is just going to get repeated. >> Wait a second. Just for clarification,
the the electric uh motorcycles, for lack of a better word, that's what we're talking about. >> No, he said bicycles. You're talking about bicycles or or the little motorcycles? The >> the mo the motorbikes. The ebikes. >> Ebik conflating two things. >> Oh, I I thought that you said earlier
that the ebikes come under the bicycle law. >> Ebikes ebikes do. >> Electric motorcycles don't. Right. >> If it has more than 750 watts of power. >> Yeah. Those are a partic those are there aren't that many that we're dealing with
regarding that. Mostly we're with the east. >> There was quite a few. >> Yeah, there were. Yeah. But our biggest problem on the sidewalks are the e scooters and the ebikes that are knocking people over. >> Correct. And those are currently regulated as bicycles.
>> So they're bicycles actually. They're correct. So the maximum fine is $77. That's absurd. Okay. So we have to ban the scooters and the ebikes on the sidewalks. That's our only way out. We can't
continue with the fines, a ridiculous $77 fine that you're wasting your time, no one is adhering, and it's just you get repeat offenders and our streets are our sidewalks are unsafe >> and we have to come to that decision tonight. All right,
>> that the fines, $77 fine, is ridiculous. and we're just going to go on and on with this and we have to be strong and step up and and uh protect our residents. >> All right. So, you would like to ban all uh scooters and ebikes off the sidewalks
regardless of the age. >> We start Yes, we start with the inner streets and I will work on Collins Avenue. >> Okay. Um Vice Mayor, >> yes. So, I'd like to look into um the
age restrictions. I would like to see a um the delineation, how we could keep all three separated. I I mean, I don't want to see kids uh or even older kids on on
the street. And um also look at a a fine structure depend uh based on basically a tier uh level >> and based on uh repeat offenders etc. >> Okay the can down the road. >> Wait, Commissioner Joseph, you don't
have the floor right now. Uh Commissioner Star, >> you know, like I said, I I you guys know I'm an incrementalist, so if we're going to start with the fines and the and and fixing the road, great. Um, and I would favor the 16-year-old
um age limitation with ID. Like I want I want it to be So if you're I don't care. Oh, well I'm 17. Okay. Well, you got no ID. Well, too bad, right? I've always liked the the the confiscating uh idea. I know it's it becomes a challenge because we don't have where to
put it and all of that, but um so for now I um I think we should look at increasing the fines and being, you know, being a little harsher. >> Um fixing the lane, adding a bike lane is going to take time. Uh and I would favor the the age and and ID uh
restriction, but like I said, I don't want to throw it on you. I don't want to direct that. I would like you to do your homework and tell and you guys tell us, >> you know, whether that's um a reasonable thing. I think it is, but I I need your expertise to tell me that it is.
>> Okay. >> U Mr. City Manager, wait one second. >> Do we Do you have enough information? I think we have a consensus. >> Yes. Okay. >> We don't have a consensus because we're leaving here with kicking the can down the road again.
We have 70% of our residents want scooters and ebikes banned from our sidewalks and we're not adhering to what our residents want. >> I understand that. But the the commission is looking for a 16 age limit. >> No, that's two commissioners that are
looking for that. >> Commissioner Steson also said 16. >> You're for that as well? >> Of course. Yes. >> How can >> Yes. But my question is that we who we going to get information from like who are we giving this directive to the police department or to who
recommendations that uh commissioner visar is asking for? >> You have to amend your ordinance. You have an ordinance on this. So you'll have to amend your ordinance. >> No no but we are requesting more information. Who is going to be the responsible to provide that information? >> What information? No, I'm request I'm
asking for a recommendation. I'm not I'm not saying that we want, you know, more data or whatever. We have the input. We we know what uh so I I I would ask it of the city manager who I guess is going to have to get it from from u our chief, right? So if if we have which we do, we
have the consensus for 16 uh age limit um and the addition of the um whatever it's called not iguana what is it called? Oh, the armadillo. >> Armadillo. Um, you know, all of these things, uh, and additional enforcement
have also a cost component attached to it, which we, you know, we are, I think, in support of making sure that whatever we need to do to to increase enforcement. Um, and then me personally, I would say that, you know, I don't know
what you said as far as repeat offenders, but for me, if you break the law one time, I think it should be you have to go to the county court or wherever you have to go. And I think that probably would make sense if you're 16 at that point, you are licensed, so it would be very similar. Correct.
>> You could potentially could be licensed, >> right? Well, well, well, because for me, I would like to see it. I think that there's some other counties that do this where you have to have a license. Is that something that's possible? >> For what? >> To get to for the scooter. The same as if you can't. >> Okay.
>> And what are your feelings about the scooters on the sidewalks? >> It's it's a problem. >> But of I understand that, Commissioner Joseph. >> What is your feeling? >> Go ahead, Mr. Mayor. >> If if I can try to summarize. So basically the direction I feel like
I'm being given is I'm going to go back revise the ordinance for 16 and under or establish that ordinance revise the ordinance in regards to the fine >> to uh institute some maximums either 250
500 we'll we'll figure that out. And then the third thing was to establish or give you a schematic on uh the bike delineation throughout the areas where we can. I think that's what I've heard today. >> Okay. Well, >> there's something different. Please let
me know. >> Yes. >> Wait one second. Um Yes. Yes. >> Okay. Commissioner Joseph, please add. So, if we're talking about waiting to ban scooters, any ebikes from the sidewalks until we can have a safe bike
lane in the street, that's never going to happen. So, we're not we're not accomplishing anything today. We're not accomplishing anything. I I just wanted to say that please um I
agree with um the directions that the city manager just um established that he got uh but please make sure that we can get that for the next meeting. >> Um deputy manager >> I I sorry >> go ahead. Am I the only one who is for
the ID piece? >> ID kids don't carry ID. That's the point. But that's my that was my question was the requirement for a license. So that would be >> because you don't have to have a I I think if you if you have a a state I'm just saying putting restrictions right
because so if you if you have like a state issued ID or a driver's license a driver's license is better because you know you have some sense of driving but um you know not everybody can drive but you can do a you know you can scoot. I'm just saying it it creates an extra
layer. I agree with you. When when they're getting the registration, don't they have to have a resident ID card to get the registration? Deputy manager. >> Yes, they do. So, >> but it's the parents that are registering. >> No, I know that. But, uh, you know, to
Commissioner Viscar's point, as far as the ID is concerned, if you if we're saying 16, at 16, it's very acceptable to have some sort of identification uh that you can carry around with you. I I am I am okay with requesting some sort
of ID. It doesn't have to be like a specific, you know, like a driver's license of the state of Florida or whatever because we have a lot of internationals also, you know, so we have people from everywhere coming. Uh so, but a form of ID. Yes. >> Um I I have we have to check the
statute, but I believe the ability for us to do that is contingent on it being government issued ID. Is a municipal ID considered a government issued ID? >> Uh I don't resident ID. I don't think so. I don't think you do. You issue those for kids?
>> You Yes, we could. >> We did at least the teens the teens get an ID for the spot. >> Okay, we'll have we'll have to double check that to see if the stat does it say the age on on the ID? >> No. No, it doesn't list their age. >> That's the thing. >> And then what do you do when they don't
when they don't carry it with them? You we're just >> you can't arrest them. We need to do things that are logical that we don't put our police department in a in a just a waste of time situation. >> Which is why we want the recommendation
from them so we're not imposing going around in circles. >> Right now what they can do and what they can't do. >> Okay, >> let's ask them right now. >> They said they don't want to put their person they don't want it to look like it's their personal opinion. Give them an opportunity to talk. >> We're asking their professional opinion.
when I mayor two people please let's let's uh close this out since I think we have the input >> when I bring you the recommendations that I do it's not in a vacuum >> I see >> so my recommendations include discussions obviously with the chief and
our police department as well as our city attorney to try to determine what's enforcable and to have the best possible outcome so I think I have what you've told me and to commissioner suicant's point we can have this ordinance back to
you in February. Okay. >> These revisions. >> Perfect. >> All right. Thank you. >> Now, is it practical on your part to quickly have uh a protected lane in the street? >> I don't think so.
On for me, my opinion is it's not practical. So, if that's not practical, how do we get the scooters off the sidewalk quickly, which 70% of our residents have already told you is their desire?
>> Go ahead, city manager. I think we have the direction. >> I have the direction from you. So, it's ultimately up to you all to direct me as to what you want. Well, we have >> we're up here >> to do what the residents the majority of the residents
ask us to do. Correct. >> Yes, Commissioner Joseph, we we have everyone's input in the consensus. So, we need to move on to the next item. >> Well, I just want to be sure that we're going to follow what the residents have told us they want us to do.
>> Yes. Thank you. Um All right. Um >> Thank you. >> Thank you. So it's a quarter to five. I just want to get consensus that we can keep going. Are we okay or yes? Let's get through whatever we can. >> All right. So next item, please. >> 3C is a discussion regarding land
acquisition. >> Mr. City Manager. >> Yeah. Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. This is a simple item. I need some direction on, as you know, people will approach me from time to time regarding selling their property. So I brought to
you in these past years properties that have become available to purchase. I the best example I can give you is Lulu. Every time I drive by that that's the property that was adjacent to the school. I look at it and I see an open
space and I also see more importantly a space that was prohibited from future development that we own and you all can ultimately decide whatever you want to build there. But obviously if we don't own it, we have no say over the future
and it also lends itself to development. So, periodically these lots come to me and I'd like to know your direction for bringing them back to you in the future. And there's been discussion, well, what are we going to do with this property? What are we going to do with that
property? The answer right now is nothing other than increasing our inventory and preserving it for the future. So, I still have some interest from some of the properties in Golden Shores that people have approached me.
So, what I would like to know from you all as a group if you would like for me to continue bringing that forward because there's time spent from the city attorney as well as me negotiating. We have to get some appraisals before we bring those things back to you.
>> Okay. Um, Commissioner Viscaro, would you like to start? I think as as a general principle, I support acquiring land because there's no you can't grow it. You know, you you I think it's
it's a good, you know, guiding principle, but we've had good opportunities. I think the one that we know with the park um with the two pieces of land on both sides of the park. I thought that was a great opportunity and uh you know we voted
against it. So I I certainly don't want to waste the city attorneys and the attorney's time if we're going to keep saying no. But as a principle, I think we should consider acquiring land because once it's you build a house on it,
it forget it like and then when we need something, we're not going to even be in a position to negotiate. So um but as a principle, I do um support it. >> Okay. Vice Mayor. >> Yeah. I mean, I'm in support of of
acquiring land if I see a use for it, a utility, you know. Um, going back to some of the uh items that were put in the agendas for for Golden Shores, I just did not see the purpose for that. I
I I just didn't see it because, you know, I know it's land adjacent to the uh current park we have there, but I think the current park the size um there um the purpose of it uh serves that area well enough.
You mentioned the the one next to Pelican >> Real, right? What's >> Shalu? Okay, that one made sense to me because obviously we have our community center there. We have the Pelican Park
and we could expand that. But when it comes to the other pieces of land, I just did not see the same comparison there, you know, uh at all. So to me, I did not see the utility in acquiring
those those um those properties, th those pieces of land. I'd rather take that money and then invest it into the uh parks that we already have. If we in the future are going to go ahead and build uh all-encompassing community
center for me, I'd rather use the money for that. >> Yeah. >> All right. Just so clarification, you are then opposed to acquiring land or for acquiring land. That's no specific piece. We're not talking. >> No, I I'm I'm in favor of acquiring land if it makes sense. Okay. to me the ones
in Golden Shore did not make sense. >> Right. Okay. Thanks. Period. >> Yes. Um, Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. So, >> I have a question. I I thought that uh Mr. City Manager, you mentioned that there was another piece of property that
>> Excuse me, Commissioner. Can you move? >> That was Yes, that was close to Larishu. Is there something else there that the city has um its eye on? Not right now. Not right now. But we're looking for any opportunities.
>> Okay. >> But as of right now, no. >> Okay. So, the only qu properties in question right now are properties in Golden Shores. >> Right now, I have three potential properties in Golden Shores. >> That Oh, okay. So, the one was the next
to the pump station. That one for me is totally out. That makes no sense. Um now there were around the park there were three properties right? >> Total of three. Yes. >> Three. Okay. So you had previously
brought us one to the right side of the park, right? But but that one you didn't bring the other property that was attached to that one, >> right? The owner. So that for that for
that um without the second property giving the approval on the first one made no sense because that had to be a package deal in order for the city to be able to present to the residents what
could be there. Okay. Just the one property alone didn't give us the ability to really do much with it. So for me, unless it was the two properties together and it was that the city had worked up some deal, then it
didn't make sense. The property to the left, which would be maybe a sitting area or some workout equipment, we can do that now in the park area that we have.
There's plenty of green space to put workout equipment. which I would like to see occur. >> Okay. So, for clarification, are you opposed or in favor of acquiring land in general? Not any specific land. >> Yes, I am absolutely in favor of the
city finding opportune properties to purchase. >> Okay. Commissioner Stuison. Well, the question was about the lands in Golden Shores specifically to continue those um making those uh um
negotiations, right? >> Yes, it's for that and any other future properties as they come up. >> Okay. Clearly um if we owe three pieces of a fourpiece block and you are able to
get or negotiate the fourth piece so we can own the whole block anywhere in the city. Clearly I do believe we are all going to be want you to do that in not a specific area but anywhere that you are going to acquire like relief whole block
or something like that. And there are few places in the city uh where that might be um possible. So for that I will completely be in favor. However, I also had voted or not
voted because actually I don't think we had to because it was in a second uh about the specific properties in the Golden Shores and I do not believe they make sense either. Uh so if is if the question is about those specific pieces that came uh from Golden Shores already
I don't I haven't nothing has been presented to me that will make ch any change of what we decided before. Uh so for those specific pieces I I I don't see the the public purpose. Um and also I don't think even the price was right
but that that's not the point. Um so but but if you find good opportunities um I'm of course for it. Yeah. >> Okay. Um Mr. City Manager, is that enough input for you? >> Yes. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Are we okay to
keep going? >> I I actually I need I need it because this is something I need to push to six. I need So just give me the f I can do it in five minutes. >> Okay, let's go. >> Okay, >> let's do it. Uh so this is the um um since we didn't have December everything
is like packed but uh I want to bring forward to you at uh 6:30 our legislative priorities and Mauricio sent to you guys uh like a bunch of bills that um with um Ben who spoke to us earlier and Myra and uh and the FLC
platform. We sort of tried to condense the things that um that we think would be applicable. And so, uh the categories, remember last year we just did the categories and try to like plug in bills as we went. This time because we're kind of like a month behind and
you're and they've already had a lot of committee uh activity before it even started. So, um, what, um, has been decided is we'll we'll do the categories, and I'm just recommending to you bills from the beginning off of the
FLC, um, off of the FLC platform. And I know that sometimes our particular city does not align with the FLC platform. That's why I'm giving you the bills in advance so that 6:30 you guys, you know, we can go, do you do you want to oppose this one? Okay. And we, no, we don't
have a consensus. Fine. put it aside. So at the end of that item, we'll have like whatever bills we do have consensus on either opposing or supporting based on the FLC platform, right? Because I think that makes it easier. Uh so if the FLC
supports something and and we want to oppose it or vice versa, then we just take that out and we individually can handle that however we want, you know. >> Okay. Um so the categories are home rule um condos which is only one that we're
that we like to support. Uh and sustainability which that same bill is back. It's very similar about the um uh so we have yeah those are the three categories home rule condo and sustainability. The the bills are on your side of the fence. Um these include
the the the tax bills, land development, uh and um suit against the government, the local business, which is part of the tax stuff. Um and um requiring a professional condo
um firm to handle associations that are above a certain amount and then the the sustainability one. So that's what was sent to you. I'm not asking you to agree now. I'm just asking you I'm giving you like a heads up on on what I'm going to ask you to
consider in terms of setting our our our legislative priorities. No, I have to push it to 68. So, if I >> but I'm I'm giving you the the preview now so that I'm not hitting you with something that you don't know what I'm talking about. >> So, if everyone could please is is it is everyone okay with reviewing it prior to
the meeting so that we can vote on it then? >> Yes. >> Yes. It was fairly short I think. Yeah, it looks like a lot of bills, but it's like House and Senate, so it's it's really not that many. Um, but it's on your side of the fence. And like I said, if we if if you don't have the time, if
you can't review it all, >> then it doesn't make the list, and then we can maybe add some next month or whatever. But I I just want to set the priorities because that we started that last year, and I want to create like a pattern of of how to do it. >> So, just one question. Um, Commissioner Viskar, there's everything on there is
FLC. There's nothing there that that's that's separate. >> All FLC. >> Okay. All right. That's the only question >> and and the FLC position. >> Right. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Because in the past you had one or two I think that you were person you were supportive of but this is all FLC >> just as as priorities and then we can
like the one that we did was scooters. There's a couple of scooter >> pieces out there but that's not FLC. >> Got it. >> We just to keep it simple. >> Thank you. All right. >> I'd like to just if I could speak uh regarding 3J for four minutes. >> Uh that's are we okay? Wait. That's our
next item is 3 I the lobbyist contract. So could we just keep going? Are you guys okay with keep to keep going? Yes. Yes. All right. >> Okay. >> All right. Mauricio. Next item. >> 3II is a discussion regarding the city's lobbyist contract. >> Okay.
>> So I'm sorry. Did we uh make some agenda changes here? >> Did they were before you got here? So just to recap for for vice mayor next month because this is a long agenda. >> 3D 3E were deferred. Uh 3 H was already
considered and discussed. So now we're on three. >> Yeah. D E FG all deferred. Oh no. E F we did it. Sorry. Go ahead. All right. Go ahead. Whose item is this? >> Okay. So about this um I request certain
information to understand why we didn't um got a lobbyist. I don't know if you city manager would like to first because he sent us an email and elaborate and then I will ask my questions and >> please go ahead. So, we've had a
long-standing relationship with our lobbyist and in doing some of the research, it's been determined that since November of 2003, we've paid a total of a,188,878 to this lobbyist in particular. So, in
going back and looking at our records when this came up, it was determined also that this contract had never been bid out. So when we had a discussion internally about it, the idea was that I could technically
under my authority go out and seek another lobbyist under the $50,000 threshold that you've given me. But in the interest of transparency and to get your feedback, especially for an issue like this, it was determined that we're
going to put this out to bid and then bring you back what we feel like is the best bid for lobbying services. So to that end, this bid will be released tomorrow for lobbyist and then once we get that narrowed down, we'll bring it back to you from there.
>> Do we have enough time? >> Wait a second. Wait, Commissioner Joseph, let Commissioner Stewen finishes her item. Okay. So, I make a simple timeline about this. So, in June of 2024, um there was an email from the city
saying that the the city manager would like to extend this agreement for another year, blah blah blah. Um and part of the benefits of working with this uh firm is that we were getting um
weekly reports about what was happening in Talahasi. So for example in March 10 the staff got week one report. Those reports were um transmitter shared with us as far as you guys know because I
checked my email and they were not. So they sent March 10, week one, March 17 week two report, March 21, week three report, March 30, week four report, April 7, week five. And the week five was very interesting because they were
talking about um the money that we were requesting for the Bella Vista Park Marine Patrol and what was happening in Talahasi with appropriations etc. Then we have April 13, week six, April, April
21, week seven, April 25, week eight. It's true that um our lobbyists um cost money and actually remember the first year when I got elected that I requested more information why we were giving this contract without even uh bidding and we
get an email and a memo about how wonderful they were etc. Uh also they secure um 1.5 millions for um one of the projects I don't find it here right now and 9.5 for the drainage uh project. So
I'm I see that they were valuable in whoever we were working with. So that was April 25. We got the week eight report. Then in September of um 2025,
there was an email sending that we were requesting um the final bill and we were notifying them back in September 11 that we were not going to renew the contract with them. So that was September 2025.
What happened also that because we were not renewing, we didn't have anybody in Tallahassee fighting for us to put any kind of appropriations for the new fiscal year. Meaning that this year we don't have any appropriations coming to
us. In a year when um there is discussions about eliminating property taxes, most municipalities were doing the opposite, telling Talahasi how much we need uh money from them to let them
know that if we are not getting property taxes revenues, uh then all the burden is going to be in Tallahassee. So we don't have anybody defending us in Tallahassee. We don't have any um any requests being made right now. We are
not even part of the discussion which is a funny thing because I was talking to my people in Tallahassee and they said that we have a very good relationship with the governor which I know we do and this is his last year. So we will been we could have been considered to receive
big money from uh Talahasi but we are not there anymore. We just uh somebody make the decision which is kind of like a policy decision because uh let me see here in my notes it says um with somebody decide not to seek fund funding
without any commission approval. This is not administrative day-to-day decision. This is a major policy shift because we've been asking for for appropriations since forever which also that give leverage to our representative over
there to sit down and negotiate. So this is like a mayor gaslight to receive in January 2026 a memo that start as you know because we didn't know or at least I
didn't know we didn't got informed that's what that was a decision that was made internally without uh knowledge from any of us as far as I know because at least I can talk for myself um We were not receiving the reports that they
were creating. We were so that as on its own is really bad. I spoke with somebody from the firm and they told me uh that they put a lot of effort in in creating those reports. They had no knowledge
that we were not getting the reports that they were making quickly and sending to to to the city. So again to receive an email a memo in January starting like as you know we decide not to renew the contract. We no that was a
decision internally that is going to be affecting many of our projects which is very interesting because we are putting in our in our um budget that we need around $90 million to continue with our capital improvement plan. So, I guess
that's something that we're just going to get from our uh residents because we are not asking anything for Tal from Tallahassee and this is really not best practices and I wanted to put it out there because I would love for you guys
to have that kind of information that I had to gather. >> Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Joseph. >> Yes. >> You said something. So, >> you had a question. >> Oh, I'm speaking in this regard. >> Right. Right.
>> Yes. So yes, I I see it as a um actually a um error in judgment on the part of the city manager to not um have the city with um some representation in
Tallahassee. To leave us without representation was a big mistake. >> Okay. Um Vice Mayor Yeah, I I I want to understand um
how you came to this decision and why the updates because we used to get them uh before we would get the updates. So why were those updates not uh forwarded to us or sent to us? So I I need to
understand what was the thought process and any reason we don't know why we obviously did not renew with with this uh lobbyist. >> We can't say the name of the lobbyist. >> Yeah, we know the name of it. Ron Book. Yeah. >> Ron Book.
>> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> So for for clarification, Mr. city manager, uh the the emails that are um that are being discussed, these are if if you can just clarify what that is and then what our process for appropriations
is um with uh how it differs if you can answer this with a lobbyist versus our representative and our senator who also are there representing us obviously. >> Right. We do have representation from our senators and the people that we know
uh in Tallahassee. So, in terms of those reports, they're generic reports, um, bi-weekly reports. At your last session last year, we had asked for some assistance in arranging meetings in Tallahassee
and our office or the city manager's office um, our chief of staff arranged and set all of those meetings for you on her own. So that with the addition of another member of our staff that has
some experience in legislative issues along with we also if you recall last year or the year prior we expanded our services through the firm that the city attorney works with to also give us input on legislative issues. So based on
all of that and the fact that this had never been bid out before, I thought it would be a best practice to put it out to bid and I still think it is. So the fact that you're being lobbyed by the lobbyist, what about the other firms that are out there?
>> What what um if you can just remind us what was the annual cost >> for the lobbyist? >> It was 7872,00 $72,500 a year. And how much addition are we giving to the city attorney's off
or company for the same reports that we were giving for those 70,000. So we were paying twice but we were getting only one of the reports because the reports that the company of Ron book made very
specific also to our specific appropriations were not given to us. They were not being shared with us. Um I would like um for the city cler to um
share the request that I made with the rest of the commission so they can read on their own uh those emails. So again we were getting two reports we were receiving one we were paying both
companies. However, one of them, the one that we were not receiving the information from is the one that we were paying to do this job. And I find out that we were not in the appropriations for the 2026 2025 2020 26 fiscal year
from a representative. They called me to let me know that we were not part of that conversation when everybody was making insane amount of appropriations because of the because of what is going
on in Tallahassee with the property taxes. We were not part of the conversation. They could not start the appropriations on their own. It's a very specific form that it has to it has to come from um our staff the the signature
for them to be able and put and said well you know what there is a big idea about doing an un a park under the causeway which by the way the people told me that they are totally for it um less we need x amount for that or we are
considering the pedestrian bridge around the wis towers whatever the point is that of the sand issues that we have we are not part of the conversation. we were not receiving the goods that we were paying for and yeah that just
>> okay >> this is totally wrong >> to commissioner Susan's question are you able to clarify why we did not ask for appropriations >> we didn't have any shovel ready projects this year >> and the governor has stated that he wanted everyone to look at tightening
their budgets and then obviously we're going into a budget year so we're going to be looking at doing the same thing Okay. Um um Mr. City Clerk, if you can share the request that Commissioner Suison is has asked for, I'd like to see that as well. >> Yes.
>> Um Commissioner Viscar, did you have any questions or anything to add? >> No. >> Okay. Um as far as uh you know, sending this out to bid, I I absolutely support it. In fact, I encourage our current lobbyists to bid for it as well.
Obviously, um I didn't realize that we never bid it out. Uh I made an assumption that we did in past years. >> No, we would just renew. It was just a >> right. I didn't I I I didn't know that. I thought that that at some point we did. >> Well, actually about the beating issue,
I pointed out back in 2022, like I said, when I just got reelected um and that I was gaslighted about that's the way we do it. So now, but it is not the way we do it. I'm all forbidding and I'm being very consistent with that. That is not the issue for me
at all. And right now I find that we have 90 million over $90 million that we need in what is considered in the budget as necessary infrastructure investment. So that is right now in a capital improvement plan. So to say that
we don't have any trouble already. Okay. So we don't need any more money for the undergrounding utilities undergrounding uh project that is in the north side of the city. That that is a question. So we don't need any more money for that or the central island.
>> I I think what would be >> I want to know the answer. >> I'm I'm cl I'm getting clarification. So, I think it would be helpful to have an understanding of how this works and and what is eligible and what's not not eligible because I'd like to know how it is that we even decide what's appropriations we request. Um, and
whether they go to, you know, Representative Basabi and or Piso or a lobbyist or our attorney like who has what role and how is that decided? >> Okay. What I do have is still the question about if we don't need no more
funding for those two specific projects. >> So, so who's representing us now? >> No one. >> We have Tallahassee. >> Yeah, we we are reviewing it oursel. We've added a person our team that has legislative experience and also we use
Allen's firm. If there's any specific appropriations that you all would like, uh, you know, let me know. We cannot request it no more for this fiscal year. And we are paying the the islands firm how much? Like $50,000 more.
>> I believe it's $9,000. It's just a little north of $9,000. >> We are paying even more than we were paying before. And we don't have over there the the the nobody representing us. This is just like not good governance, you know, and and to the point that we are not doing things the
proper way. And I still have the question, we do we or we don't need more money for the central island pro project drainage and for the underground utilities on the underground project in the north side. >> So so I would like to
>> and they should have been wait do we need money or not? That's that's super simple. Susan, you want to >> as it relates to those two specific projects, the undergrounding we cannot apply for because um those
appropriations require you to write your bid a particular way and contract. >> Thank you. That's not the question that I'm asking. I'm so sorry. >> May I finish? >> It is. So that project is not eligible. >> That's not my question. I'm asking we do need the money for it.
>> You asked about two specific projects. I was answering that question. um the Central Island drainage project, we do not believe we are eligible for any more money for that because it requires a 50% match and based on the projected pricing of this project and
what we've already been appropriated, we would not be eligible for more money because that would take us over the 50%. I can answer for those two projects specifically. >> My question is more is very specific. Do we need the money from whoever for those
two projects or we have all the money that we need to finish those projects? >> For those two projects, they are funded >> fully. So nothing is coming to us ever for those two projects. >> Yes, we have we already have an award we have two awards for central island
drainage. >> Okay. So we have all the money 50% match. So we cannot ask for more. >> Okay. We're going to go in because that's not the case. What's the if you can I know that you don't have that in front of you necessarily but can you at some point if it's possible later on
today uh let us know how much has been appropriated for that >> because that's a many many years project >> okay 9.5 is how much we got from the state >> yeah and if it goes more we just need to
match the difference >> and that's why you have people that are experts on this because I'm not the expert and I don't believe anybody here in this room right now is the expert either. So we have experts to do this to not even be part of the conversation is a disservice to our taxpayers. So those
are the kind of decision that that are always make close doors that we are not part of it. you guys knew and make this decision internally which is a policy shifting decision back in September and then they we get the gas light of an
email in January telling us as you know no we did not know putting as you know doesn't make us know about it so really this is very upsetting >> okay >> we really put the city behind the eightball it's unfortunate
>> no the residents >> so just you know I I guess My response to be all that to all of that would be I think I did exactly what you asked me to do >> which is to which is to bid out projects specifically you Mr. Stub on. So if it
had been the opposite and I automatically renewed with Ron Book then you wouldn't have been aware of it because I could have done it under my authority. The fact that it's never been bid out leads it to be very suspect. So
it absolutely needs to be bid. So I stand by that decision. I think it's the right decision. >> Is there any way to bid it now? >> It it is late in the season, but as I explained, we don't have any shovel ready projects. The governor has said he's severely limiting. Just because you
ask for appropriations. The city's going to ask for millions of dollars doesn't mean you're going to get anything. and many of them require matching funds, which you all have directed me to trim our budget. So, by utilizing the city
attorney's firm for $9,000, we saved a substantial amount of money versus the $72,500 that we've been giving every year. So, yes, it definitely needs to be bid out and brought to you, which is exactly
what I'm doing. You are going to dictate who our lobbyist is. >> When was the last time that we beat out the city attorney's firm? >> Well, I >> that was done in uh >> 2019, I believe. Yes. Well, I think I think we
started to apply the same logic to it because like I said, I'm all forbidding, but to hear the cost of picking and choosing and again, I hope we're going to apply the same logic for every other
item moving forward. Um because the cost and the impact that it has on our residents is major. And like you said, it is true. the the appropriations has become some some kind of a wish list or whatever they are asking for and that's
why they sit down in Talahasi they're not subject to our sunshine and my friends over there I said they actually sit down in a dinner table to negotiate between the representative what they are going to be supporting on what we took that leverage from a representative to
to be able to negotiate that for us so we are not even part of the conversation and I don't believe we never give that direction than not to continue asking for appropriations. If anything, like I just said, we have 90 millions and what we are considering necessary
infrastructure investment. So we could be part of that wish list because we have a lot of things still to continue doing and we are not even part of the negotiation and I know uh that is possible with the language to to manipulate everything but it will be
also very good to just confess that this was not a good decision. >> The impact to our residents is substantial in savings by putting it out. >> I I'd like to go on to the next item. Vice mayor if you can just finish up so we can go to the next item. So, so really quick, I think we should have
been consulted before making this decision. I know you have the the the sole, let's say, uh decision making capacity to to hire or to fire our lobbyists, but we should have been consulted, especially at this critical time in the year. I think the timing was
not good. And then another point is that those updates I would have liked to receive them because even if the update was there's no update um I I would have liked to see that you know I I I I would I don't need an editor telling me what am I going to see
or not. >> Vice Mayor. >> Uh yeah, >> if I may. Um Myra used to forward those to you every every week and we would get our our office would be copied on them. that she mentioned some that that did were not forwarded or or or or the city manager.
>> The one from the lobbyist that they were seen in 2025 were received. I I didn't have them. I received the one from the city attorney before, but lately I haven't received any. >> I received the one from the city attorney's firm. Yes, those received. Yes. No, they would come from >> talking about them. >> So Ron Book's office would send it to my
she would forward it to you and she would copy our office. >> When did that stop though? >> It's during session. >> That's during session. Vice Mayor, the session just started. >> Yeah, the session just started. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Let's >> And then the the other is um Yeah, I I think that we we should have a a
lobbyist um up there because it's not only regarding appropriations. I'm also worried about policy policy coming from Tallahassee, from some of the legislature up there where we could
perhaps, you know, fight or perhaps promote certain policies that will impact the uh municipality. So, yeah, that's that's basically it. I think maybe we could have timed it a little bit better. >> Yes, please go ahead. >> Thank you. Thank you for your feedback.
Would you all like to choose a lobbyist or would you like to for me to choose them for you? >> I would like the city manager to choose a lobbyist. >> I'm for bidding. So, it has to be >> right after the bidding. After the bidding. >> Okay. Then I've done then I've done what
you've asked. >> I I don't think that the commission >> placed out to bid and it'll be up to you. >> I'm okay with that. I mean, and and I agree that we should go out to bid. Um Ron Book, I mean, it's been been around forever. I I think his name speaks for
itself. You know, every time we renewed that contract, I was okay with it because just he's he's you know, it's an institution basically. Whether lately it's been good for us or not, that's debatable. But yeah, we we should go out
to bid and I think that um moving forward we need to be consulted with you know especially if you know we are lacking representation right now in Tallahassee at a critical moment of the year. You know we have legislative
sessions starting basically. So yeah, >> yeah, legislation has started, but for for I want to make sure that that um for the public and for for the record, we all agree that we have very good representation from Representative Basabi and and Senator Piso. And I think
that all of us here, I think every single one of us has been to Tallahassee numerous times and we've gotten very involved. And I think that that's great that we're doing it um as well. And I think that our city attorneys um should also be as involved as as possible in
making sure that any legislation that could hurt us uh is being flagged. >> I understand. Yeah. Yeah. But but it's it's always good to have someone. >> I I don't disagree. I think it's always good to have more, but I I'm I'm going to disagree with you that paying for someone just because they're an institution, you know.
>> No, no, no. But that's why I said that, you know, when we renewed it, I mean, I'm like, okay, it's on book, you know, it's a it's a it's a powerhouse, but um, you know, when it's time to make a change, it's time to make a change. Yeah. >> You know, whether it's a big institution
or reputable company, sometimes you need to make a change. So, I'm in agreement of that. >> I just want to be informed and not be told after the fact, right? >> And that is where I have an issue. If I may, it doesn't mean that the firm can't
>> bid, but I think we need to we need to consider them >> in in comparison to others, right? And look at No, I know. I'm just saying I'm I'm saying it's not necessarily a change. If they bid and they and then we pick them again, great. >> But
>> we're going to look at other things. So, okay. Uh it's 5:30. Can we keep going? >> I just like to say that >> No, no. >> My disappointment is the fact that we're four months behind. This should have been done four months ago. >> Okay. >> And mayor, I just want to say I always appreciate all of your feedback.
>> Okay. >> It's noted. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. We're okay to keep going. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. >> We have two more items. >> Yes. Any objections? >> All right. >> Commissioner Joseph, you're Can we do it in like 10 minutes? >> Yeah. Can we please just do it?
>> Yes, absolutely. Okay. So, um I previously brought to the commission um the the fact that um Lucas Vidal and Romero Bridto were interested in doing the designs and with the city doing the
wrapping of our lifeguard stations. At that time we were discussing three. It turns out we have 10 lifeguard stations and Romero Bridto was interested in doing all 10. I know this the mayor had thrown out that she wanted to have uh
community participation and have noviceses up against Romero Bridto, which is kind of absurd to me because you have an artist who has his artwork on uh postage stamps that wants to um
highlight our city um to our benefit, not to his. And um I believe that we should accept that they're they're in their willing to donate their time and efforts into uh doing a great job on all
10 of our lifeguard stations. Also, I was told that they now for our new inter coastal park would like to donate a sculpture to that park. So, I'm asking the commission also to consider the
acceptance of a large sculpture from Romero Bridto for our intra coastal park. >> Sure. >> Any questions? >> No, I'm good for it. >> Anybody? Any questions, comments?
Well, I would like to move it then to 6:30 if we can't have a consensus. >> What do we during >> the workshop? >> I'll have to look at the designs. I mean, Romero Breurto, I think, you know, the name everybody or most everybody
know knows that name. They know they're familiar with with his art. Um, my issue is that I would need to see what the designs are. They're going to be they would be all seascapes. >> Seascapes. Okay. And then we had
previously we had um some community engagement. So, you know, I'm still thinking about this, but I would like to perhaps not all 10 lifeguard stations would be Romero Breurto, but perhaps
we'll have a a a mix, right, where we could have some engagement from the um you know, some of the other art that was presented, you know. So, um I don't know. I'm still thinking about this. I mean, I'm I'm in favor of burrito, but
also I would like to perhaps mix it up. >> Okay, Mr. is gone. >> We we looked at the different um like at the samples I think at our last meeting there will be more >> excuse me >> and we were going um like page by page
and then we were all on with of different taste but this is I think this is something that's supposed to go through the pack and and have that committee we have we have to convene the committee and then have them um take their time and look at that. Um I I like
the city's um recommendations and I happen to like brittle art also, you know, but the two did not go together. I think of the brittle stuff um only only one of them. Did you guys get your printouts? Because maybe I'm the only one who who like turned in my prints.
>> I turned them in. So, uh, and and because I was thinking of of keeping both kind of like what the vice mayor is saying, there was really only one print that that I thought and I wouldn't mind it being repeated. I found some of the
some of the samples that we had, they were just too busy or they weren't excuse me, >> they were just too busy or too like or not beachy, right? We wanted them to be like beachy and I would like them to match the the designs that we had. So um
I I I so there there was one print if there are other prints I would consider it you know I I I do like it or maybe you can do it. So like the first one and the last one are bridto and but then we have the the more because it's not everybody's cup of tea like I happen to
like it but I know some people don't. So, uh, the you can maybe have like the bookend approach and whatever, but that's a conversation for the pack as I've said repeatedly, like I'm not a visual person. Um, and when we sat here and try to do it ourselves, it didn't go
very well. So, I would punt this to people who can sit down and exclusively think about these things. >> Okay. >> All right. Um, Mayor, >> yes. May I just add um I just want to remind you all that when we had another
donation of a sculpture and in my conversation with Lucas, they're looking at like a six-foot sculpture. Um I believe the expense of the um the foundation, the permitting, the design
of the foundation, all of that would be borne by the city and that could cost you between 15 to $20,000. So, I just want you to be aware that there's a financial impact that would have to come to you in the form of a budget amendment. >> Well, I'm in agreement with Commissioner
Viscar. If we start uh taking any sort of dis um decisions based on art, we we need to have um a group of people that are experts to be able to make that decision. Because I will say, wait a second, please, Commissioner Joseph, because to to Commissioner Viscar's
point, who I can attest is a fan of burrito. Um she's got burrito in her office that she created herself. Um we we do have other uh artists, not noviceses, but actual artists uh that have shown a lot of interest in showing
in our city in various ways. So I don't want to be the one to decide who gets to, you know, be shown in a park or anywhere, especially if there's an expense associated with it. Um because again, it's a decision that needs to be made for the entire city. But it's your item. Finish it up because we promised
10 minutes. So, I I would like to ask who is it that um decided on um and I have nothing against um Mayor Srani and um you know his his wife's company, but who was it that decided on having them
come to the city? >> What are you talking about? >> The art display that we just had at uh the first floor. I wasn't here when you guys did the art display, but um No. Who? What? You're asking the wrong
question to the wrong person. Mr. City Manager, can you please answer the question? >> Deputy, can you >> I believe you're talking about the art display, the of the sculptures and the >> Right. So, that was >> Who was it that decided on that? >> City staff. >> City staff. So, that didn't go to any
art committee >> because it was a it was an event. That's an event, not something that um we're keeping here as a permanent installation or even a long-term temporary. It was temporary installation. It was an event. >> It didn't go out for bidding. That that
was just offered to the city staff. >> It did not go out and it was just accepted or not. It was um in cooperation with a gallerist to provide an art event during Miami art week which
was a direction we got from this >> commission city in the first place. That's what I'm asking. I met her through, you know, she out she had she called us and we had a meeting with her a couple years ago, the city manager and I >> just like that.
>> We get a lot of people who who reach out to us just like that. Yes. >> I think the key to that is it was an an event for art week that the commission has approved as part of the budget. >> So, and that's temporary whereas what you're talking about now is permanent.
>> Okay. So, we don't alternate artists. We just use the same gallery time after time now. >> No, we alternate. We alternate. >> We didn't alternate. >> Do you recall we had the bird cage um exhibit? I think it was last year. It
was a different artist. So, we've had different artists for different events. >> Okay. But still the same gallery. >> Well, we also had um we featured a local artist with this one also. So, it wasn't the same. And we pay a broker to give recommendations, right? Or you talking
about the broker? >> No, we didn't use a broker. >> I asked this question last year and I was informed that the decision of the artist that was being promoted was it came to us through a broker that we had.
>> What artist? >> No, that same that he's referring to during the Art Basel week. So yeah, >> the the gallery the gallerist that features several artists. I think she has like six or seven different artists that are on display.
>> When we had that discussion, I request how we got to if we pay anything for it and that was the the answer that yes, we paid the broker to help us uh choose who we were going to display or we were paying through the broker to the to the
um artists but there was money involved on that. >> We pay for installation and removal. Yes. >> So we pay correct. So >> for installation removal, we don't pay to rent the art or to we don't pay the artists directly. >> Well, clearly because we are promoting them. So that's basically the payment
for them and and they have no cost because we are paying for the installation which is also a a high cost. This is like very similar to what happened with the lobes. This closed doors decisions. Um I don't think
there there is no transparency. They are not really good governance. that are not 2020 type of government. These things should come to us because it smell it smells funny the way things had been done. uh and then with the uh excuse that everything is there and we
pre-approve it when we approve the uh the budget uh then we should maybe take a a better uh look at the budget because that was excuse even for the first time I asked how much do we are spending in the city anniversary that nobody knew it
had to be putting together because it's in little pieces everywhere and that's how we find out that it was 150 and now we are over $300,000 but there It's not a line that it says that. So again, um h it's hard to be able to uh trust when we
are not part of the process and and and this is we are not being part of the process. So if this come to us like any other important issues, I think that'll be better. >> Okay, >> I think we've strayed very far.
>> Yes, we have. Let's go to the next item. Uh 3K is the last item. Uh Vice Mayor, this is yours. >> Yeah, this is really simple. I mean, um I keep receiving complaints from time to time about the uh cleanliness of our beaches
and specifically some buildings where, you know, once the residents from those buildings leave, they just leave a mess there and those buildings are not picking up after their residents. though we need to see how we could enforce that
on a consistent basis where it doesn't like I don't want to see it cured for a couple of weeks and then they go back to their you know bad habits again. So I mean it's their beach
too. Um so I think they all need to take care of it. You know, I know that we also clean the beach, but you know, a lot of it eventually starts getting accumulated by the grassy areas there, you know, closer to the buildings. And
um I've walked a couple times around there. And yes, I mean, it shouldn't be. It's not a situation that should, you know, we shouldn't have that issue at all. Yeah. >> Okay. >> And the buildings need to take be
responsible. We will look into that. Yes. >> All right. So, with with that meeting is adjourned and I'll see everyone back here at 6:30. Thank you.