Village Commission - Regular Meeting

Let's proceed anyway. All right. So regular commission meeting, obviously, July 9th. I believe Jonathan will be joining us, but he'll be running a little late. That's the consensus. So let's get started. Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call. I'm Tim.

Mr. Vice Mayor, we need a roll call.

Yes, please. Thank you.

Commissioner Ansler. Yes. Vice Mayor Gonzalez. Here. Commissioner Huntington.

Here.

Commissioner Samara. Yeah. Mayor Groff. Mr. Vice Mayor, you have a quorum.

Before we get started, is the attorney, he said he was going to join us. He's online. He's on? I'm here. Hey, John. Hey. Now that we're going to be talking about additions, deletions, and withdrawals, I have an item that I may just withdraw, but I just want to make sure that I clarify with you and so that everybody is aware, and that is Robert's Rules of Order. You mentioned that we already have that voted in and it's in place, that we just haven't been adhering to it. Is that the case?

um mr vice mayor that is correct uh you know you all have adopted uh a rules of procedure and it does provide currently for i believe a five minute limitation on community on uh commissioners discussions on any particular agenda item uh to the best of my knowledge um i do not believe that that has been enforced i do know some jurisdictions that will split that time uh three minutes uh first go around every commissioner has an opportunity Once that is finished, then those who desire have an additional two minutes. It's at that how you split that five minute time, if at all, is up to the discretion of the commission.

Okay. And do we have to vote on that before every single item? Or do we just call it right now?

No, if you all adopt the rule now, eventually we will codify that in the form of bringing back the resolution to specify that. If that's the desire of the majority of the commission is to split that five-minute time limitation.

Okay. Okay. All right. And so is that something that we can discuss? We have to just wait till the item at the end to discuss?

Yes. Or during commission reports, I guess, in theory, you all could raise that issue and direct us. It's at the discretion of the commission. obviously there's a discussion item scheduled if we're getting short of time and you all want to take that out of order then you certainly can make that motion to do so at that point okay perfect all right um okay so uh then I guess I'm mine is going to stay so anybody else have any deletions withdrawals I do

So I'm going to start by amending my vote about procurement procedures ordinance together with the resolution of last month. I voted for a yes. I'm going to turn it into a no. I'm in the midst of trying to understand what the protocol is for making sure that we have a process of control on those procurements. So I know it still passes since it's a four to one, but I wanted to state that for the record and amend my vote. Is that is that all yes, so I make a motion to amend my vote for a no on the ordinance related to procurement okay.

That also apply to the corresponding resolution.

Yes, at this time, I think you know I know it's still passes, but I want to be sure I have sort of check my my boxes before so i'll say both.

Okay, I need to do we need to do anything with it.

I'll leave it to the attorney to confirm. I'm not sure.

I think that to the extent that the minutes of that meeting are scheduled to be adopted today, it would be to approving those minutes subject to that one change in the vote. And once the minutes are approved, then that is the vote that will carry forward historically.

Okay, so i'm actually pulling those both meetings john so you let me know how that works, because I will be pulling those together with so just to give you some order here art. i'm pulling from consent nine be. Nine ah nine I. that's it.

Yes.

PB, Lupita D Montoya- So you let me know how that works when we get to the minutes discussion john. PB, Lupita D Montoya- You heard me yeah okay.

Yes, this one.

PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, so we're we're we're where would we put that.

The items that are being pulled from consent agenda, particularly the resolutions would be put at the, you know, either at the front or the back end of the other resolutions that are under section 11 or paragraph 11. We would add them at the end and take them in order. And then same with the minute votes. We would put those either before ordinances. You can take up the minutes. I think that probably would be the most expedient thing. So after you adopt consent agenda, you can take up items H and I on the consent agenda, the minutes, to reflect the vote of the commissioner. And then the resolutions that have been pulled would be added to the end of Section 11.

Okay. End of Section 11. Got it. All right, john if you're still with us by then, and I failed to see that just remind me, will you please. will do, Sir, thank you all right is that it does anybody else have anything. All right, we move along public comments. we're going to start here at. Oh sorry the presentation sorry Dave I did I missed you. Go ahead, Dave. Thank you.

I feel like I'm going to a Sunday family dinner at my Italian house, because I've known you all for so long, so it's good to see some really nice faces here. I am going to just talk about a few things, and then I'm going to introduce some very special guests that we have today, who are going to talk a little bit further about some of the highlights of this past session. As you know, about a couple days ago, I sent you all a very detailed outline of the bills that passed. 5 sessions and they were pretty detailed as I mentioned their compilation of the research and data from the Florida League and also the Florida Association of counties. So they're really good tool to use. uh but what i do want to do is just uh pick maybe a few of them real quick and highlight and then go ahead and make some introductions here tonight um to move forward with our uh our our final update for the 2026 legislative session um before i start i do again want to thank our manager and our mayor and members of the council and commissioner huntington as well for uh getting the chance to come up to Tallahassee this year and actually see, you know, what we actually do up there. It's a lot different, I guess you would agree, than what you hear. And it's an intense process. It's one that you've got to be on top of. And, you know, there is a reason why you have folks, you know, up there watching out for things for you, because especially when dealing with cities and municipalities, once again this year, no different than any other, they're always a target. and we've got to do everything we can to limit, especially for the smaller communities. And I think we've done a good job over the years to do that. We've had a couple of years, but we always come back stronger in the following sessions. So with that, I want to start out. One of the bills that passed was the local government finances, and it requires local governments to conduct a workshop. It's not... saying it's a mandated thing to enact, but it's something that they're saying that you have to conduct a workshop in which the governing body will perform a budget reduction exercise that identifies different strategies in the ensuing fiscal year to cut the budget by 10%. and so the exercise must be posted once it's done on the local website government's website in a downloadable PDF format and the exercise has to occur at least 14 days before the final budget adoption and it takes effect in 27 so you're talking about next year having to do this exercise so that's something for you manager to take a look at and make sure that the commission goes ahead and at least moves through that process. Each tentative adopted and final budget must be posted on the local government's website, as I mentioned to you. It might not impact us, but it imposes new substantive procedural constraints on how local government school districts and special districts will calculate their impact rates and fees. Two, suits against governments. That was another one that many of you had some issues with because what it did, fortunately, it was vetoed by the governor. So we had our effort there worked pretty well.

Sorry, I didn't hear you, Debbie.

Yeah, the suits against government. You know, there was a limitation on how much they can sue and how much the counties and cities. So what happened was this would have amended to increase the sovereign immunity caps on tort claims to 350 from 200. and to 500 up from 300 but like i said the governor vetoed and so we're at the same cap rates which is a very good thing for for all of us uh official actions of local government um The bill prohibits counties and municipalities from funding, promoting or taking any official action relating to diversity, equity and inclusion. The bill further provides that a county commissioner, municipal governing member or other local official acting in an official capacity who violates that will be considered committing a misfeasance or a malfeasance in the office. Going through this quickly, because you have the details that you can look at after, but I just want to highlight some things. The bill also requires a potential recipient of the county or municipal contract to grant or certify that it does not and will not use local government funds to require employees or contractors or agents to be instructed using DEI materials. local government cyber security was another it was a grant program that will be administrated by the florida digital service provided to the communities and the grant award preference is going to be given to fiscally constrained counties as well so that's going to be something that's going to be new that you all will probably have to implement as well on the building permit side and inspection side Provides that local government building permits for a single family dwelling expire 1 year after the issuance. So that's something that will be new that you all are going to have to make sure you implement prohibits inspection fees that are based on the total cost of a project or that exceed the actual inspection costs. So that's something that's also going to change. It also exams. This is the big 1. owners of a single-family dwelling or the owners of a contractor from obtaining building permits for any work on the property valued at less than $7,500, except if it's for work on property that is partially or entirely located in a flood area, electric, plumbing, mechanical, and all that kind of stuff as well. Requires approval of a building permit application within five business days if the permit is for structural, accessory structure, alarm, electrical, gas, irrigation, and many others. Private providers requires all local government agencies to establish a registration system for private providers. It cannot limit people from using them. It also prohibits an imposition of an administrative fee for registering in the process. It requires the building permit fee is charged to be based on the cost incurred, nothing more. Prohibits a local building official from reviewing plans and constructions or drawings that were determined by the private provider to be compliant with the Florida Building Code. So there are some nuances there that you all are just going to have to readdress and make sure that you implement and follow the guidelines that the state has set for you. There's they had a regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, which is detailed in the report I gave you and then also code inspector body cameras just says that the local governments have to create that allow these cameras have to create policies and procedures relating to the proper use and make sure they go through the proper training for that. The mobile devices, if you remember, there was a section where they were doing, they wanted to try to regulate electric bicycles on the roadways, which was a big one for everybody. Unfortunately, the government governor vetoed that one. So that's not in effect as well. So those are just some of the highlights of what came from that big list of bills that you had. And so today, always very exciting to have the leaders of our community. We have with us today Representative Dottie Joseph, who is on Zoom, as you can see. We all see you. You look absolutely amazing. and we also have carrington from sharon jones senator jones office here and thank you so much she has been such a pleasure to work with on the appropriations and i look forward to continuing you know wherever you uh go and do but uh we're all rooting for you so thank you so much for for being here we also have special guests with us remember last year we had anna maria rodriguez who helped support and that's the one thing about this community we always uh work together and that's the great thing about the leaders of this dade county community we do that we have with us representative blanco who sponsored our playground equipment as well and and he'll say hi in a little bit but what i'd like to do is turn over to our wonderful representative Dottie Joseph to talk a little bit about some of the things that you wanted to share about what happened up there. And I know we'll get to at some point, you might even want to just start into it with the property tax issue that passed that we're going to be facing in November.

Sure. I'm going to get to the property tax in a second. I'll just mention briefly that we did successfully get the septic to sewer project in the budget. It was a master plan to help transition approximately 1,200 homes in the village of Biscayne Park from septic tanks to our more modern sewer system. Unfortunately, that was one of the projects that was vetoed by the governor. In addition to that, I know you want me to focus on property tax, so let me touch that on briefly. So there was a proposal that came through from the governor's office, which was addressed in a very short period of time. And in that proposal, it is taking away property taxes. And instead of addressing property insurance premiums, which is where most Floridians would rather address this issue, they went about it with the property taxes. Now, the proposal that we have right here, I'm just going to talk about the impact on Miami-Dade County and then small villages like Biscayne Park. So according to the Miami-Dade County estimates, the proposal could result in a first year revenue loss of approximately $385.8 million in in 2027 and 696.7 million by 2028. What services are we talking about? Things that are potentially on the chopping block at various levels would include police, fire, rescue, libraries, parks, transit, community services, cultural affairs, and Jackson Health Systems. One thing that is protected in the current version of the bill are schools. Everything else, including police and fire, are things that they can use as an authorized use, but not protected. So that's something to keep in mind. So if you're okay with Tallahassee holding the power of the purse for all of our local spending, then you probably want to support the current version. If you take issue with that, like I do, then that may be something you may want to revisit. What I do support is targeted tax relief for people who are low income, seniors, veterans, targeted groups of folks. In addition to that, there was a proposal that unfortunately was not considered that the Democrats had proposed that would have made sure that we had a trust fund available to backfill needs, particularly for fiscally constrained counties, but also villages like Biscayne Park to make sure that you would not have a shortfall come the adjustment to the property taxes It also made sure that we covered essential services like police, fire, and that they were not a possibility of being on the chopping block. So that's the short version of the property taxes. And then in terms of other legislation that I filed, I'll just highlight a few. One of them was the Healthy Florida Act, which in addition to expanding Medicaid and protecting Floridians from aggressive tactics as it relates to medical debt, it would have provided comprehensive health care for all Floridians. The other bill that I want to highlight is the Real Affordable Housing Act. That one provided a number of very creative solutions to tackle the underlying problems that we have in affordable housing from limiting the amount of single family homes that institutional buyers like private equity firms and hedge funds could purchase that are just single family. It also tackled allowing local governments to be able to experiment with things like land trusts, protecting the Affordable Housing Trust, the Sadowski Trust Fund. That's another bill. Another one that I filed was the data center transparency bill, which requires data centers to share information about their energy and water resource usage in advance of approval, as well as restricting surveillance pricing. So those are some of the bills that I filed. in the legislature this last session. And these are some of the things that I would hope to address. For those who don't know, I am also a candidate for governor of this great state to try to tackle some of these issues head on. Thank you.

Thank you so much representative really appreciate that the detail report just going back to the property taxes as everybody knows there is a couple of lawsuits I believe out on that right now 1 challenging the actual language as potentially misleading. And then also challenging, I believe the constitutionality of the. treating out of towners that haven't been here for longer than five years. I think it is differently in their obtaining the required allocation. So that's still up in the air too. We are obviously because of regulation limited as a government counties and municipalities, from actually going out against or for anything. So that's something that the manager and the attorney will have to be careful with. And I'll have some conversations with the manager as well as we talk about this and any options to make sure that the public is educated on this particular piece of legislation and how it could really impact them down the road um so that's just one i wanted to say that um so what i'd like to do is uh karen i know i spoke to the senator and uh he was unable to be here he's traveling a thousand miles an hour uh but i know he really worked hard he took the brunt of a lot of the uh of the uh sponsorship on the senate side and it's not easy and just to go to what representative was saying uh and i'm sure uh representative uh blanco will also will share a little bit too uh this is a tough season um as you know i mean the senate the house the governor no one got along for some reason uh and you know obviously you don't like to see that but it happens uh the budgets it took a while for them to come to an understanding of you know how much they wanted to spend the house wanted to you know reduce which they've been trying the senate wanted a little bit more they finally found the number but what happened was in the end a lot of the projects either didn't make it in there or got cut to half and we were fortunate to at least get some of ours full you know through that process and that's important because This is an election year, so the administration that's there now is not going to be there. It'll be a new one. And so next year we go out even stronger and hopefully we'll come back looking good as we did last year. We were one of the few that got maintained last year. So it happens and no excuses. I always take full responsibility for it. But we work hard and everybody knows that. I do want to see if Representative just wants to say hello because this gentleman here has really done an amazing job as well in in coming into a community and when everybody here says they represent the community they really mean they represent dade county not just their district so and and while he's coming up i want to just take a moment of personal privilege to thank representative blanco um and i i will attest to some of what of what mr caserta is saying

The day delegation really does tag team it. We work collaboratively whenever we can to make sure that the needs of the community are taken care of. So I just wanted to say a special thank you to Representative Blanco as he's coming up.

Thank you so much, Representative Joseph. She's absolutely right. You know, the secret sauce to what we do is working together across the aisle on issues that impact our communities, our residents, and the people we are up there to serve. Unfortunately, the appropriation we carried this year didn't make it. You know, while it's disappointing to you, I can't tell you how disappointing it was for me. You know, it's like fighting for a championship, you know, game in and day in and day out. One move one step in the right direction two steps in the right direction you getting momentum just to have a veto pen dismiss all that hard work, so my commitment to you and continue to work with my partner. The representative Joseph to continue to do what we can to bring it back. I know it's an important thing to this community. And like I said, continue working together on the issues that directly impact our residents. So I'll be around if anybody has any questions. But thank you for the warm welcome. Thank you for having me today. And continue to count on me as a friend up in Tallahassee. Thank you.

And just to expand on what Representative just said, next year we're going to come back with some other different projects, maybe some road stuff or what have you. But that's going to be my goal to sit with our manager and work things out. And then he'll be able to share with everybody some of the thoughts we had. And then as you all begin doing your workshops, you'll be able to gather your thoughts and see what's important for all of you. And we're going to go all out next year and make a difference. That concludes my report.

Vice Mayor?

Go ahead. Can I just ask a few questions? Sure.

First of all, thank you both, Representative Blanco, Representative Joseph, for being here this evening. We really, truly appreciate all you do for the village of Biscayne Park and all the hard work and fighting for us each year. And especially, Representative Joseph, please don't forget us. Once you get into the governor's mansion, don't forget little Biscayne Park.

But having said that... Never that, always in my heart.

All right, thank you.

And no vetoes.

No vetoes, yes, absolutely no vetoes. So having said that, about the big item that's on the ballot come November, the tax reform, from both of you, what would be your advice to the Village of Biscayne Park to notify how do we go about notifying our residents and talk uh educating them on this process and about uh you know uh about this uh what's exactly on the ballot and so that they are informed and and uh well let me let me help answer that if i could representative um you know that that's

That's a big question because of the limitations that I mentioned about before. So that's something that I think we're going to have to, you know, take a little bit of time, take a look at what comes back from the lawsuits and what have you. to take a gauge of where the polling looks like it's going, as I'm sure they're gonna start getting an idea of what people are thinking about this. It has to pass with 60%. That's a lot. So who knows who's gonna be educated, who's not gonna be educated, who's gonna come out against it outside, any organization that might come out. So what I'd like to do, if I could, is to really formulate some thoughts, talk to some of the other communities, and then sit with you mr manager uh and and start to go over a few uh a few thoughts that we might have and then see if those are viable or not that sounds great thank you again representative blanco and representative joseph for being here thank you all and i hope next year we we try to get more and more folks to come up and see the it's a pretty incredible system so yeah does anybody else have any questions or comments

Yes, thank you, first of all, for everybody to be in here and giving us an update. PB, Lupita D Montoya- So I have an item today about what can we do what can we do as just ourselves with all this changes that are currently happening, I mean it's such a big scope of what you just described. PB, Lupita D Montoya- Is there something that you would recommend individuals should be doing, besides all the effort that you, you know. PB, Lupita D Montoya- You put forward for us and everybody else in the League of cities and stuff it feels that we're such a little grain of sand on this big scheme of things is there something you would recommend that we.

So what I will say to that and it's still going to what with the manager had mentioned I think you need to assess I Don't say the damage but assess the impact here once you know that then you can gauge, okay, what are our options? Are our options charging for this, putting this at the county, maybe individualizing some things within the community like public works or for whatever it might be. and then see if those actually shave some costs. You're gonna be doing your budget experimental process that the state requires you to do now. So that might help you come up with something. So I think there's a lot of factors that still have to be known for you to be able to say, oh, here's what you should do. I do think everybody should do their homework. And that homework is going to be based on the impacts, how it is going to impact residents. Are there services that are going to be lost? I know the bill says you can't touch fire, you can't touch police, you can't touch those. But there is a concern there, too, because it doesn't say that you have to continue to expand those services. So when the populations grow and all of a sudden you need more police and you can't or you need more firefighters, that might be an issue. So people need to just really do their homework on this one and not just sit back and say, oh yeah, this is great. I'm not saying it is or not because I don't know the exact impact here in the community, but I know you've got a great manager right there and he'll be able to put those numbers together and you all will be able to assess the different budgets that are of importance to you and see exactly what is the impact. And once you know that, I think then you can begin to assess.

And when it comes to this, my last question is when it comes to all the appropriations, because yeah, we're heading into that budget. So what sort of mindset do you enter? Are we, you know, knowing what just happened and the veto that happened? I mean, it's not news to us. It's happened before. Now, in this circumstances, even more when everything is sort of up in the air, how do you see maybe other municipalities and your experience and contacts approaching budget with this uncertainty?

I honestly think they're all in the same position as you are. They're like, what do we do? And it all starts with, well, the first thing we've got to do. And I think Florida League and Florida Association has done a great job in sort of compiling all the numbers and the total impact. And now they just need to get the message out to folks that, okay, here's what really is going to happen. I know it's not giving you a total answer yet, but I can't.

We don't have it.

Right, right, right. But you move in that direction, and I think you move in the right direction to come up with a good response on how to handle it. But everyone is in your same spot right now, especially the other seven smaller cities here in Dade County. I can imagine.

Thank you. Several questions. Yes. First off, I want to thank you for being here and all the other individuals that are here tonight. Do we have an idea when these lawsuits are going to go through? And are we going to have enough? Hope I explained this right. Are we going to have enough time to figure out what our...

I asked that question to a couple of folks saying, you know, it's a short period of time. They gotta have this stuff ready by August. But the court system has a way of creating a scenario where because this is imminent, they will have all of the issues addressed. Even if it goes to Supreme Court or wherever it might go, they will be able to address it prior to the election period so that they will be able to put something on the ballot with regards to this because the state did approve that this would.

So once you find out after the appeal process and will you be able to put together the numbers on how it's going to affect us?

I wouldn't be responsible for the numbers. That would be your manager and his team and all the departments.

To have the numbers in time for before the election to understand what our impact would be.

Yeah, I would think so. Yeah. Yeah, I would think so.

Okay. Again, thank you for your presentation.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you again, everyone. Yes, absolutely.

I have any questions, David. I just want to say thank you to Representative Blanco, Representative Joseph and Senator Jones's office and Senator Jones for the warm welcome this past January, your advocacy. I know I saw the process. I saw how the hard work it was just to get to that finish line. And I know you share your disappointment with that veto pen, and I know you'll work hard for us next year. I will be seeing you all. Representative, I won't be seeing you, but hopefully we'll see you in the governor's office. But I will be seeing the rest of you in Tallahassee this January. And thank you, David, as well, for all you do. I saw the hard work. I saw, you know, the miles you put on those shoes down Tallahassee. That is not a small place to walk around.

And as Commissioner Ambler said, I also put some mileage on my hair, the color.

God here and one one more Thank you, I want to thank representative blanco for his advocacy for the country of Venezuela to get both top floor task force one and task force to out the door. And the great work that they did there for over a week, I just want to thank you for that I know that was hard work we're in the Department of State to do that so.

And Mr. Manager, I will sit with you. Thank you so much, Commissioner, and for you for coming up as well. Mr. Manager, if you will at some point sit down, if you have any questions, we'll figure out, you know, some time to sit down and be able to work this very important issue out. Sound good?

Sounds great. Thank you, David. Thank you. Thanks. All right, let's move along to public comments. We'll start here at the log cabin. Remember, you have three minutes. Please adhere to the three minutes. We have a long agenda guys tonight. Thank you.

Good evening. David Raymond, 11520 Northeast 9th Avenue. When I started talking about this issue to some of you, I did not need glasses to do so. So, you know, I just want you to know, you know, I bought swampland here. You know, they say you can sell swampland in Florida. I worked my way through college selling real estate, and I worked for this guy who was a Holocaust survivor, and he used to buy back lots from people who thought they bought swampland over these developments in collier county cape carl golden gates estates these people thought they bought swampland it turned out to be okay other than a couple of times a year when it was flooded well that's our property our property if the drains aren't cleaned it's okay David Apsley, David your time is stopped right oh it's not but it's still going. David Apsley, Okay, so our property when it when it rains a lot in the drains are not cleaned. David Apsley, We have literally cars bobbing down our street they get stranded there the police have to come and put barricades people move them. so some of you have heard this before some of you had heard it so many times you don't want to hear it again but for those of you haven't this is why i'm constantly advocating for the drains to be cleaned so um i've been asking the question i'm referring to what's in this commission agenda packet is letter to commission which is four four pages of when i worked for the county i used to call this baffle them with bs i'm sorry al but there's so much in here i don't know if you've even read this no less the contract but but what's in here basically i only asked two questions when were the drains last cleaned and when were they supposed to be cleaned and instead there's a whole dissertation in here and i've called some of you um brian i know before you got elected we talked about the drains you said you're going to be on it i've called you didn't get a call back i called jonathan i didn't get a call back i did speak to art who spoke to the manager and clarified a few things that i greatly appreciate that and vero emailed me as well So this particular letter to commission that you have in here, basically what I was asked to do a public records request for was put onto all these pages. And it says a lot, but it says a lot about this contract, which expired in May. The contract with the drain company expired. And my question to the attorney, if he's online, is can this be renewed without commission approval? I don't know. But I don't see it on the agenda for tonight. So right now we have a drain contractor who's, I believe, still cleaning drains. He did one round. And I understand that the gentleman had health problems. I'm really sorry to hear that. I've dealt with health problems myself this year. It's no fun. But my question is, does he have the capacity to do this? Because it was supposed to be done months ago. The contract's now expired. Is the contract being renewed? And will the commission need to approve that? So, um, this, this issue actually got me so riled up. I actually considered running for commission, but God bless you. I don't have the heart to do what you all are doing here. Um, this, this four pages also says that the, the, um, at one point it says that there's no information. about the frequency of when the storm drains would be cleaned. But in another section, quoting the contract, it says annual inspection and cleaning of catch basin storm manholes, recording the sediment depth in each structure. I don't think that's happening. I know my time's out, but some of it got used. Okay, and then there's a whole thing in here about how we had a drought this year, so the drains didn't need to be cleaned. The drains don't need to be cleaned of water. They need to be cleaned of dirt. It doesn't matter if we had a drought, and the issue is that the drain company was called in January. We've budgeted $30,000 a year. My understanding has been, and I met with the manager when he first got here. He was gracious enough to meet with me on his first or second week, and I talked to him about this, and we've all talked about it. about the drains being cleaned twice a year and $30,000 being budgeted for it. That's not apparently what's in the contract. I'm not sure what's in the contract. I can't access it. What's online doesn't include all the attachments. But I will tell you this, you all are up here representing us and supposedly reading over all of these contracts. There's one on the agenda tonight. 9d for planting the trees that has gone up like 20 something thousand dollars and i'm all for planting the trees but in there it says the frequency of the watering shall be determined when i was on the parks and parkway committee that was in the contract it was you know the first week it was every day and then it went to this much and that much that's that's not in the contract i point that out to say i know it's a pain i worked in government But your job is to read all these things before you pass them. So I hope that you do that. And one last thing on the question that you asked our lobbyist here and the representatives, when I ran the Department of Children and Families down here and we would get these big budget cuts, foster care, food stamps, the way we would address it, we would do these budget exercises, but we would make it known to everybody how important it was. Nobody wants to come to budget meetings, right? They're like snooze fest. but if you tell people this is going to affect your property tax, there might be assessments, there might be this, there might be that, they will show up. Anyway, thank you.

Thank you, Dave. Anybody else? Comments? Please step up to the microphone. Please state your name and address for the record.

Good evening. My name is Jorge Malagón, 1032 Nautista, 111th Street. I also have a problem like him, drainage and flooding. I understand now there is a project going on on drainage. I've been in contact with Commissioner Vero and this village manager, and I was told at the end of the road that where I live, I live close to the railroad tracks, the ugly part of the city, I live there. It was going to start soon and now I understand it's not going to start that soon. I would like to see or have any update on the project if it's possible to give it to me, please.

He can address it once all the public comments are, if he'd like to address it right after the public comments, he can address you. We'll address.

Who's he?

The manager can answer you. Yeah, once public comments are.

Thank you, sir.

Anybody else have any comments here? No? Okay. You want to read the public comment? You have something for?

We have a public comment for Melanie Oliver. Dear Mayor and Commissioners, regarding the traffic accident on Monday on 6th and 121st, this was one of multiple we witnessed in 12 years, including one when I saw a motorcyclist fly through our trees. Each time an accident occurs, which is sometimes once a week, we speak with our neighbors and who's across the way who's terrified that a car will go through her baby's bedroom. It almost happened before. I know there's a safer street project underway and I'm truly appreciative of that. We've recently asked different commissioners to make this intersection safer, and it gets nowhere. I'm cautiously optimistic. Please note that the comprehensive safety action plan shows only 10 accidents on 121st and 6th in the past five years compared to the 23 that happened on 119th and 6th. I don't believe this is a full picture. We're always home and we believe that there is more accidents on 121st and 6th than 119th. Many of the cars ends up a few feet into North Miami side, so North Miami police respond. Please include their numbers also. We're afraid to mow our lawns in the swell and take out our trash. We love the idea of putting a lamppost on 119, which will help both of these dangerous intersections. On another note, our village manager is no longer giving residents answers to simple questions, but tells us to make public record requests. This may be why we have to go from one full-time clerk to two full-time and one part-time clerk. For instance, I was charged $100 for a record request in February and was asked And I asked him why two healthy, non-invasive North Fork Pines was cut down by my home when all red arbiters reported labeled them as one invasive Schefflera tree. Instead of answering this, he told me to make a public record request. Was this a mislabel or a mistake? or a cover-up to justify non-too-invasive trees to be removed? Whose job is it to oversee the vendors when they are doing their job? Why no one cares to respond to these questions, which I've asked multiple times? The trees and the animals of our village deserve more than that. as a a public record request as now are now the only way we can get answers residents deserve full transparency around this process questions that she asked was where did my hundred dollars go why was i charged this time and not before what questions justifies a public record request and why Are we paying our child to know to know in what communications? I don't want to waste time with this. I do expect our village managers to be transparent, to know what's going on in what he's managing. And I expect the commission to evaluate his performance and hold him accountable. Thank you.

All right. Is there anybody on Zoom that has any comments? Oh, I'm sorry. Gage, you have a comment? Go ahead.

I'm sorry I'm late. I was listening on Zoom. Gage Hartung, 1029 Northeast on 14th. Just two things. David's report that he got back from the state legislature of everything. Can we get a copy of that? Can that be made public to the residents? I'd just like to get an idea of everything that was done. And then... The other thing too is there's the thing about no permits under $7,500. I believe that we are not, that does not apply to us because we are in a flood zone. So I just want to make sure that's clear that, you know, that sounds great, but we are, you know, we do require permits because we're in a flood zone. So I know that was mentioned during the report. So on that, that was it. Thanks.

All right. Thank you. Thank you, Gage. Did we have anybody on Zoom or no? Nobody on Zoom? All right. All right, then we're close public comment. Does any commissioner want to reply to any comments made?

So I'm working on two items for August. Actually, I'm going to put them on my commissioner's report. One of them has to do with public record requests, and the other one has to do with a meeting that's just been scheduled this past couple of weeks. The public record request addresses Melanie's comment. I already spoke with her because she put us all in the copy of that public record request she's talking about. David, I hear you. That's part of my point of public record request. I don't think we need to go to the extent of having that put together in a LTC, none of them. I mean, I think it's a simple question to the manager to be answered. Sometimes we have to go through bags of stuff and I know there is a lot going on, but I concur with you and I'm hoping that all of us can talk about how to make that easier for residents in a way. And then, Jorge, thank you so much for staying on top of this. I really don't know the answer. That's the thing. So I'm very glad you came here. And that's an answer for the manager to give you status. You're worried about your corner. You want your corner to be done. I know that. We've talked about it. So hopefully the manager can address, you know, based on your address, what that looks like. That's it.

Any other questions?

Just that I'm sure there is an update for your project. I'm sure that we'd like to give the manager the time to update you on it. I don't know your specific address to know where you fall on the project plan, but I'm sure he can touch on that. And I'd love to hear the update on it.

Yeah, I'm aware of your address because you've come here before and we've talked about this before some time ago, probably two managers ago or a manager ago. Yeah, yeah, I remember. And I know where you live out by the railroad track. So, Mr. Manager, do you have that information that you can provide him now or can you get it for him and provide it to him?

I'm in constant contact with him and I speak to him almost on a weekly basis. Okay. I provided him the update, and he said he wanted to escalate it to the next step, and he was going to call the mayor and commission. Okay. He wasn't happy, so that's what it is.

And can you tell us what that update is? Because I'm not aware of the update.

Yeah, I'll do it in my report. Okay. Perfect. All right. Great. Thank you very much.

All right. Yes, go ahead.

to stay until the report is done from the manager to hear about it or?

That's coming up next.

Okay.

Yeah. So it's not going to take long.

So just give us a second. We'll get to it.

All right. Any other comments? Everybody good? Beautiful. All right. So let's move along. Two reports. All right.

So first report is the village manager's report.

Good evening, Mr. Vice Mayor and members of the Commission. I think the Mayor was texting me and said he was going to try to jump online. But I'm glad to see everybody received the notice for this meeting this evening and also received the calendar invite. I'd like to congratulate ESA on our Parks and Recreation Department's successful 4th of July event. uh this was the first time in the village I think we had a fourth of July event that occurred on July 4th it was a great success the the Swan family uh took first place and and many of the uh uh many of the forces oh I got a participation medal yeah so uh uh and thank you for commissioner Samaria Commissioner Samaria had generously donated, made a generous donation for the event, and there was a match from an anonymous donator to match Commissioner Samaria's fund, so that covered the expense of all the ribbons and the event. So nothing came out of our budget for this event. uh we hope i don't know if we're gonna continue to make this a annual event uh it was so successful uh isa but um i guess you can address that now if you want if this is going to become an animal but i know you look like you're having a lot of fun and i saw the pictures and people were texting me after the event and how great it was so thank you very much

And definitely want to give a super shout out to the police department for being there in full force and keeping everybody safe. Had about 26 people who showed up, families of all ages, some runners, some walkers. Everybody got a participation medal that just says 4th of July, 2026, 250th anniversary. We took pictures. We had refreshments. But what I want to say, what came from that, I want to turn this into a quarterly walk-run event. where we were going forward, we'll invite different boards to participate and just kind of have this talking dialogue time. I think that's what everybody enjoyed the most out of it. The walkers really had a good time just chatting along the walk and knowing they could walk in the street freely because we had police in front and back of us. The runners ran ahead. I ran ahead with some of the runners, but they burned me. So the young girls really, they took it serious. And what also came from that is Some of the walkers want to start a walk club. So I have two representatives who are going to spearhead that. And then the runners who are running want to start a run club. So have two representatives, all village residents who are going to spearhead those clubs. And it will just be something we kind of put out there. And if you want to have people to walk with. we'll meet at a location if you want to have people to run with you meet at a location if nobody shows up you know it's just an opportunity for people to socialize and um meet their neighbors so it turned out great got everybody out of there so they go start their barbecue um no injuries safe and it was a wonderful event so thank you commissioner um for sponsoring that and uh anonymous uh donator as well so everything turned out wonderful thank you thank you thank you very much

You were not there.

All right. Go ahead. So, Mr. Vice Mayor, also on Saturday, June 27th, we had a little traffic safety study workshop here in the log cabin. The consultant, Kimberly Horn, had hosted that workshop. The residents were able to voice their concerns with the traffic safety. The Andersons here, thank you for attending. Survey is still online on the village website and will be available to July 15th. I encourage all our residents to complete that survey. I thank Commissioner Huntington, Commissioner Gonzalez, Commissioner Ansler for attending the event and providing your input. During the workshop, the police chief provided some traffic citation statistics that were inaccurate. I'm going to ask him to come up and to set the record straight about those the statistics that were mentioned during the workshop. I think it's important that we correct the record and make sure that anything that we're saying in the public is accurate. We had a police chief here prior that went to federal prison for distorting the truth, and we certainly don't want to go back to that culture. so we want to make sure everything that we're saying is accurate and uh um sir if you could just uh you meet you and next day uh several days after the workshop the uh police chief called me at home and said hey look i i must miss spoke i gave the wrong information i want to correct the record and we have contacted the consultant already but we want to now the first opportunity that we had to correct the record

Good evening to all. Carlos Avila, Chief of Police, Biscayne Park. So at that meeting a lot of questions were being thrown around and at some point out of the blue I was asked about how many citations we had written in a time span and it was a one-year span between May and May. We didn't have those numbers so I immediately asked uh the captain to go ahead and get the computer and let's start going through it we're trying to go through it as quickly as possible and the number we came up with I believe was 8365. Even after I said it, the number wasn't sitting well with me, and after the meeting was over, I went ahead and I told the captain, we need to go ahead and do an audit right now. That number doesn't sound right. It just didn't sound right. One thing is to have encounters, and the other one is to have the actual tickets. Obviously, it was my mistake for not double-checking, but the total amount was actually 3,831. and which is a lot it's still a lot that's why i was concerned after i said what i said because there's something going on that i that i know that publicly nobody else knows and and i know that we're way ahead of everybody around us close by and that wasn't the number so we went ahead and contacted tracks and that's the computer system that that tracks all our all our stats to to make sure that i was corrected and i ended up being corrected because that through may or june That was between May of 2025 and May of 2026. For a full year. For a full year, between May and May. The numbers may change between June and June and that kind of thing. But yeah, I don't know whether I was dyslexic at the time, I looked at the number. The number that was written down was the 8,365.

One more question. Do you guys measure when you see somebody and give them a warning? Is that all?

Yes. Yes. That's counted in there also because that is a traffic stop for a traffic violation. Yes. I mean, I have the exact numbers now if you need it. But the total contacts are

with a civilian driver uh was a total of 3831. okay thank you so much for just coming and saying that makes mistakes it's absolutely okay and there's so much pulling at that meeting of you know give us a number one i mean

Yeah.

These are usually exercises you come from, you know.

Listen, I didn't sleep that night. I didn't sleep that night concerned about the number that I gave out.

I appreciate you just coming. And I don't think it's, I mean, it's an error as long as you come here and just state it. It's corrected. And I appreciate that. And to be honest with you, the only thing that kept, it wasn't so much the number. I remember it was over 8,000. I was like, wow, nobody's going to want to, you know, do anything in this area because we got the numbers to prove it. But. The truth is the main thing was how to connect that data. And I think I brought it up with the study in a way. And I know you mentioned this is very hard.

Yeah, it's very hard because it's going to have to be it's going to have to be a hand search because that's not something that is actually tracked in the computer. And unfortunately, now everything is a computer. We we've been basically shut down. They don't want anything in the state of Florida. That's that's handwritten.

Yeah.

So.

know if if they don't do it then we have to do it one by one and it's like providing and again i don't know how it works i'm just you know throwing it out there i don't know what this means but just i know it's public records certain stuff has to be public right i don't know what except i don't know but having the vendor maybe utilize all this data they themselves doing the job oh you're talking about the vendor the state of florida

yeah you're not a vendor 3000 data points that you have just hand it over the vendor say can you map this with your data they won't do it for one city that's not something that they do that's not something that i could ask them to do because they that that would be a lot of work yeah and if they do it for for example we're small we write more tickets than our surrounding agencies So if a big agency decided, like the city of Miami or Miami-Dade County, that they wanted to go ahead and ask tracks to do that, which is a state agency, they would probably start laughing.

And maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think you're talking about the state. I think you're talking about the vendor that's currently working on this project.

My idea was you have data that currently We know where the issues are because you have the data showing it. This vendor is...

Yes.

Correct. So the vendor is grabbing all the data from residents. What are your concerns from different ways? Is there a way to connect those? Just give them to the vendor and say, we are going to do the job. It might be an extra budget to consider. I don't know what it is.

It tracks as the organization and tracks as a state organization. They're not going to do that for us. they're not going to break it down no okay all right no i mean but we don't have that many accidents i can give you the accidents where they're occurring because that's how they're getting they're getting copies of the accidents that one is simple traffic ticket and accidents are two different things yes they're tracking it on the on their little map and whatnot it's just a bigger scope yeah and then yeah and to give you an idea sixth avenue obviously is the big one yeah is is the big one uh you know when we move away from sixth avenue and we go in the interior because people are complaining that people are running stop signs then obviously i focus like a fireman there's a fire so i send the fireman there to put out the fire then they complain about Sixth Avenue. So I gotta move, I have to move around. I only have two guys at one time. I'm lucky if I have four, because I'll have a couple of reserves. So I need to put out the fire wherever the complaints are coming in. And that's- Thank you, Carlos. You're welcome.

And just that I have you, congrats, because the feedback I get is that you're very visible. And so I think with the numbers you just said, there's bigger than other municipalities. I think that speaks volumes. So it's working. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Carlos. Do you have a number as far as how many people have actually participated already in the survey? Do you know what that is? Do we know?

The last number I got was about 67.

67 people?

69. But we're going to close it as I announced. We're about to close it. So we would ask people to go ahead and go on the website and finish that survey.

All right. Go ahead.

So is there going to be a communication you're saying until, was it deadline 15? 17. The 17th. So you're pushing out until the 17th as a reminder, is that what it is?

Vice Mayor, can I answer that?

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah, so we're trying, I'm saying it tonight, Commissioner Amsler, so I'm trying to get the message out tonight with my report that we're closing it on the 17th.

Okay, so I'm just going to propose it. Since we have, I know you put it on the website, since we have and all of this, and we have a few weeks left,

I think Issa's already done that. Issa's already done that. I saw it. I saw it.

Yes. How visibility you give in. 66 people out of the village. I mean, I have to say that, you know, it's not as representative as I was expecting compared to what we did for strategic planning session the whole day. I know it took longer to collect data. It was a different project. But, you know, maybe that would help people just show up and share the comments. So I appreciate that.

Vice Mayor, can I continue with my report? With respect to our projects on stormwater projects, the one on 112th Street has begun. The residents that were available were individually spoken to and notices were hand-delivered to each of the properties on 112th Street. As you you're aware, this project is being funded by arpa funds, and we're on their time constraints to finish the project timely, so that the arpa funds will be fully funded. This project, when the storm for order projects were first developed that back in 19, 2,021, which your property was included. uh that was all one huge project and I think I explained this to the commission before and I explained it to you also um but that because of because of uh of the time it's took now to get to permitting and everything that projects that now has developed uh it was originally one million dollars now it's two million dollars the whole those that whole project So we had to bifurcate it to one project using ARPA funds and then one project using the state appropriations fronts. So that second project is included in your home. The reason we did 112th Street first is because 112th Street by the consultant said that was the area that they felt was most critical. uh to that needed the most and um so the 112th Street was split and that's that project was started first um the second project they're still in the the design phase it's about 90 completed um we're going to hopefully be going into permitting finish design going into permanent and then award the contract so we're not looking we're not uh and i told the uh the resident that we're looking to probably about december 31st before uh the end of december that we're uh be awarding the contract to be brought before you for consideration for that contract this december this december yesterday okay that's that's where that that project is and then once that's approved then how what's the pro what's the length then once the project once the contract is awarded then we would meet with the design team and the uh and start uh going as we did in this project yeah we go we'll go out to the residents and start notifying them that the project has been approved been awarded a contract get a starting date and issue the then once again have a agreement with the church so we could stage all the uh equipment there right and then uh move forward so okay so you anticipate that this will be done fully done by the end of it by next year by 2027 yes yes yes yes right so December 3rd and then and also commissioner vice mayor because we those are state appropriations funds and there's time constraints on those right right right they need to be okay reported and they're you know spent okay by 27 so all right All right. So the FP&L, the Public Works Storage Building, the FP&L disconnect has occurred. Demolition of the building will be occurring as soon as the, I'm glad the chair of the planning board's here because that's coming before you to go ahead and approve the demolition of that building. And once that's approved by the planning board, then the building department can issue the demolition permit. uh Village Hall re-roofing project is moving forward you have an item on the agenda this evening to approve the second most responsive bidder since the first bidder the shingle shanks were not approved by Miami-Dade County product approval and that would take another six months to get approval and we're also waiting for a state historic division to give approval to move forward we talked to them this this afternoon uh they're short staffed that's why it's taken so long for the state to get approval from the historic division The planting of the trees for the Steinberg grant, we had to go along with the second bidder. The negotiations broke down with the first bidder. That's on the agenda this evening also. And once that's approved, we hope that they will begin on Monday to start planting the trees. then we have the tree trimming grant project quotes were received for the first three projects that we have identified the project number one is the two mediums east of the log cabin uh we're going to trim the trees back on on on those two mediums the medium on 113 13th street from 6th avenue to 9th avenue and although and our as a second project we're going to trim the trees back on those and then the third project is all of 10th Avenue so we've gotten three quotes for um for contractors and we're going to go ahead and uh award those contractors within my spending Authority and will not need to go out to bid uh you heard uh you heard the disappointing news this evening about our request for state money the two projects that we felt were very important for the village the playground equipment is an emergency and we'll be placing a request on this year's upcoming budget to fully fund that project Our budget process is underway, and as the finance director, I have begun meeting with department directors in preparation for the budget workshops that begin in August and then the two budget hearings in September. We'll once again try to reduce the overall spending of the village at the same time, increase our level of service. We had a former police officer with the Village of Piscicane Park that recently passed away. Commissioner Samaria, Commissioner Gonzalez, I think you both attended the services. and uh it was a very sad event uh my my son knew him very well i think commissioner samaria will be speaking more about that during his report and our our thoughts and prayers are with the family on the agenda this evening is also an ltc that speaks about the recent training exercise that the police chief hosted with all the department heads and our insurance consultant in preparation for the hurricane season The LTC notes that I have appointed the police chief as the director of emergency operations to streamline the processes and ensure that we are operating at a high level of effectiveness and efficiency during times of emergency. We hope that we're not faced with an emergency situation, but if we are, we're well prepared. Mr. Vice Mayor, that's the end of my report. I know the mayor has logged on to Zoom now.

I'm sorry, I didn't, what did you say?

That's the end of my report and the mayor has logged on. He's logged on on the Zoom. All right.

hi evening everybody i didn't want to interrupt the flow apologies for being late we hit some traffic on the way back so sorry about that but happy to be here with everyone all right shall we continue yes sir all right so uh on to code uh i'm sorry the building building does anybody have any questions on the building all right go to code does anybody have any questions on code Marks and rec.

And I have no questions like again, I just want to thank Easter for what you did on July 4. And I look forward to talking to you and the city manager and hopefully North Miami mayor in reference to the nine or 11. Hopefully we're going to be trying to do something with the city of North Miami combined with that. So we'll be talking more about that. If you do that as much as well you did this, I'll be very happy. Again, thank you.

Right. Police Department. We already heard from Carlos. But do anybody have any other questions for Carlos? No. Carlos, you're off the hook. All right. Public Works. Any questions? All right. um cip report do you want to go through that or or we just it's it's there posted that's there for your i gave the highlights of that report from in my right great all right so then that goes through reports all right so let's do uh commission reports uh who would like to kick that off

Well, before I go off of this, I want to say Americans too.

Thanks. I always, when I first met Nick, he never liked to be called by his last name because nobody never get it right. So I know I'm going to mess it up tonight. So Nick, forgive me. I hope my fellow commissioners, members of our police department, along with the residents of Biscayne Park, will join with me today to honor and remember the life of Nicholas Nick- I apologize, I got it wrong. A dedicated public servant, respected law enforcement leader, and a steadfast advocate for the safety and wellbeing of communities he served. Nick devoted his career to protect others. During his years with the Village of Biscayne Park, he served with distinguished as a police officer, commander, and chief of police. His leadership was defined by his professionalism, integrity, and his genuine commitment to serve in the residents of Biscayne Park. Retirement from Biscayne Park did not mark the end of his commitment to public service. Instead, Nick continued to dedicate himself to making Florida's roads and communities safer through his work with the Florida Department of Transportation as a law enforcement liaison. In that role, he worked closely with law enforcement agencies and community partners to advocate traffic safety initiatives, reduce roadway fatalities, promote education, and strengthen group efforts that help protect countless lives. His passion for public service extended far beyond his badge. reflecting a lifelong desire to make meaningful differences in the communities he served. Nick's legacy is one of service, leadership and compassion. His work touched the lives of fellow officers, public officials, first responders and citizens throughout Florida. The impact of his dedication will continue to be felt to the safer communities he helped build and the many professionals he mentored and inspired. As we reflect on Nick's life, we are reminded that those who dedicate themselves to serving others often carry burdens that are not always visible. His passion is seldom a reminder of the importance of mental health awareness, particularly within the first responders and public service professionals. We honor his memory by engaging open conversation, supporting one another without judgment, and reminding those who may be struggling that they are never alone. Seeking help is an act of courage, and every life is valuable. to his family friends colleagues and anyone lives he touched by his service we extend our deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers may you find comfort in the memories you share strengthen one another peace and knowing that nick's legacy of service will endure for generations to come rest in peace nick thank you for your unwilling dedication your leadership, your lifelong commitment to protecting and serving others. Your work made our community safer. Your example inspired those around you, and your legacy will never be forgotten.

Thank you.

Very, very nice words.

And I have dedications of anybody, copies of that if anybody wants them.

Thank you. I always try to figure out why Nick was a police officer because he was just the nicest guy. I don't know. The guy didn't have... Yeah, no, you're okay. But I mean, he was seriously the sweetest, most humblest, nicest. And yeah, he will certainly be greatly missed. So I appreciate those words from you. Anybody else?

I want to say, Commissioner, thank you for your words. There was very kind of you and share my condolences with the Wolfs Lager family. And a question to my fellow commissioners and the manager, maybe we can find a way to honor former officer Wolfs Lager maybe dedicate a police car in his memory graphic on the car as a good meaningful gesture to the family.

I just can't do that. Just set the record straight. There's a there's a problem with that. And I would prefer to let you finish your career, because I think same idea you had, but this. How about.

i'll leave this we'll find a way for the police department to honor him in a way, they find fit very good that's good perfect I like that idea all right great commercial or anything.

PB, Lupita D Montoya, i'm just sharing stuff i've been working on so um I don't know if any of you, and this is a question open for everybody have heard about South Florida water management district, they decided they were going to come and do a workshop for the residents of the village, if you remember somewhere in February. PB, Lupita D Montoya, It did reach out, they say they were open to come I don't know, Mr manager if you've heard from them and then made themselves available to come on oh.

Vice Mayor, can I answer that? Yes, absolutely.

So, yes, I've had numerous conversations with them. In fact, they're bringing an item, hopefully next month, that they're wanting to use the lot that's on 6th Avenue. They're going to stage some equipment there to start cleaning the canal. So they have an interlocal agreement with us to use that lot that is going to come before you for approval. um but they've been they've been working on uh the design of the the dam they just said they're not ready to come back and have any community meeting yet so i'm sorry which lot are you referring to a lot the lot on on griffin on on sixth sick yeah on on six and the light oh okay got it by the bridge yes yes they want to use that that as a staging area for equipment and to uh start cleaning the canal in preparation for their the the dam

I sure hope we share that with the residents that are around.

Well, it has to come before you. So then you will have to come before this commission for agreement. But once they're in the process of drafting up the agreement.

So I was wondering, so we had that that workshop was supposed to be about this. PB, Lupita D Montoya, plan that they have of expansion on right here right by the golf course, and you know what the construction would do and they had a commitment to come so i'm wondering, you know in your conversations they haven't mentioned any of that. PB, Lupita D Montoya, they're saying they're not ready to have a talk okay alright, so I think that um. Mary's just a check-in because that's gonna affect us for a few years over here. People need to know. Animal services, Miami-Dade County, we're hoping to come this month. It might come next month. They really have been great on just offering help, you know, communication, flyers, whatever it might be. A mobile TVNR is what I proposed. I wanted them to explain to you all what that will mean for the village. So hopefully they can make it for August. And then I've been working on 2 different items i'm gonna put them as public records. One of them, I think, an important one of them relates to chapter 119. These are just food for thoughts. These are gonna be in the August agenda. I'm gonna give it as public record for the clerk. This is just to make you guys think about what this means for the village. I think there is policy that we need to work around Chapter 119 and how that gets applicable to everybody. Fairly timely, you know, as per the law requires. I've had multiple conversations about this with the manager, with the attorney. I think we are due to have a conversation seriously about how to address it at the village level. very draft i'm going to share it manager if you can pass that to the clerk to make it a public record and if you can please provide a copy for my fellow commissioners That's one. The second has to do, I just wanted to say, so Albert, you put a TLC, that's a channel, LTC about the meetings that happen. My recollections are very different than yours. So I'm welcome to sit down with you and understand, you know, your records and mine don't match. But so I felt it was important for me to put on the record what I meant, what I said. what sort of communications have happened around the two meetings. I want to be here at every meeting whenever I can.

So I'll make myself available when I know it's coming.

And having that said, there is a conversation that usually goes around and how that gets set up, how we address it, at least on my end that has, you know, my experience of how we've done it and how this was treated has been different. So I'm going to also give it to you as a public record. So it's a special meeting procedures and availability confirmation and notice requirements. This is just a proposition for policy. Again, it's a draft. It didn't make it to the deadline this month. I might change it, add to it. I need to check with the attorney. It's not finalized, but it's in essence something I want you guys to be ready for August meeting because it's coming. that's also for the public record and if you can just give a copy to my um fellow commissioners and i think that covers the the most of it yeah all right thank you jonathan you have anything for the commission no no sir not this evening all right thank you all right um so what else do we have that's it we're done with uh reports um

I'm sorry. Okay. All right. So we move on to consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve as amended?

I make a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Perfect. All right. So we're, uh, into our ordinances. All right. Uh, John, you're up.

Um, Mr. Vice mayor, we had discussed, uh, when we were setting the agenda that we would, uh, take up the discussion right now of the, um, uh, two items that were, um, uh, pulled by commissioner Amazon regarding the minute, the minutes that would be nine H and nine.

All right. So thank you for paying attention because I forgot already.

And I believe, excuse me, I believe at least one of the items is her desire to change her vote in the minutes with respect to the ordinance and resolution adopting the new purchasing policies and procedures.

Okay.

Sorry, I didn't understand that. Can you repeat, John, what you just said?

Yes, Commissioner Amsler, one of the minutes that you have pulled is to change your vote on the agenda item that took place. I believe it's the minutes of the regular commission meeting of June 9th, 2026 on the ordinance and resolution adopting the new purchasing policies and procedures to show a no vote.

Right.

Okay.

And because I pulled those out of consent agenda, are we visiting to talk about this minutes later on or this is the time to do that?

Now is the time. So unless there's something else that you have with regard to H, I would assume the discussion would be regarding the Uh, item I, but yeah, I know.

So I do have it. And so my, my whole thing is, is we continue to have issues with minutes in general. There's a lot of stuff missing. Um, there I'm still pending October, November and December, the commission majority, um, accepted to amend. So I wanted to put it out there that, you know, it's now July. Those are still missing there. And so there is we need to do something about this. So, John, I know we're talking about incipient policy and, you know, and we're touching agenda procedures. I think a conversation needs to be happening about incipient position. Sorry, incipient policy, I think you call it. and what that means in terms of formatting and expectations regarding minutes. At this stage, I would just pull it, I'm not approved for them to move forward as a whole. I think they need to be revised to reflect the record for everybody. I'm speaking on myself, but I know there are several of them missing. And so that is my proposal. I don't know, again, procedural, let me know if there's something else I need to do.

All right, but before we're going to get into this 9B, H, and I, right?

That's what I'm saying. I'm talking about both 9H and 9I. I pulled both out of concept.

Yeah, B, H, and I, right?

I have 9H and 9I. Do you have a different number?

The resolution we'll put in the back end.

Okay, great. Got it, got it, got it, got it.

So right now, all we're talking about are the minutes.

Yes, we're just talking minutes, so you have the same number as me, Art, right?

9H and 9I. Before we get started, I'd like to make a motion that we limit debate to five minutes, as we already have that rule in place. I have an agenda, I have an item later that we're going to discuss about extending that to 10 minutes. But since we already have the five minutes, I'd like to make a motion that we limit debate to five minutes. And if somebody feels that they need an additional time, they can make a motion and ask for an additional two minutes, I would say, per request. But I think we need to stick to, we have a very long agenda and we need to stick to the five minutes.

I'll second it.

All right.

I have a question you talk about five minutes per person as it's on the resolution now.

yeah yes five minutes per person it's already we've already uh no it's on the wrestle yeah I get it I was just making sure that's what it is okay five minutes yes um and I further would also further ask that uh somebody from the uh staff um deep track oh okay perfect great all right um all right so then let's get started um then we're we're going to be discussing 9h correct

PB, Lupita D Montoya, Those are the two that I pull out of consent and just right so yeah Mr hams are you have the stage. PB, Lupita D Montoya, I thought I did, so I my my point with john was i'm so i'm making motion to. PB, Lupita D Montoya, How do you say differ those meetings, so that they reflect the actual. discussions accurately, because the only record that remains for the Commission about what happened is the minutes, and this is an item that continues to come. So my proposal is that on the next meeting I will have the opportunity to sit with the attorney to see if we can do something about the formatting that is expected. And so this doesn't continue to happen and we need to address it openly and talk about it so we can fix it. But I am a no vote to move forward with this meeting as they're standing. For both 9H and 9I.

Okay, so you're combining both of them. Okay, perfect. So does anybody else have any comments on 9H and I?

No.

I have 1 question. Can I just ask exactly exactly what's. What, within those minutes, uh, commissioner answer your, your identifying is incorrect.

So, Jonathan, hi, 1st of all, so I have, you know, sort of the same situation we've been having since I mentioned, I don't know if you've heard me. We still are missing October, November and December. that we as a majority requested amended the same way. And what you're asking me to point out is different aspects of four hours of meeting that I'm not gonna do. What I request that at the time, this is the job of the clerk. I understand now that a lot of time goes by, but we have a clerk, an assistant clerk, and I think another vendor that helps the clerk. this needs to be solved. I am just going to say no, not to extend the five minutes that I've been given to your question. I think the question is the staff. I invite you, Jonathan, or any of you to sit down and compare what you've said versus what's written and address. If you see they do reflect, please let me know because maybe I'm just a pain. uh and maybe it's true so you know tell me because if you all are seeing something completely different and it's fine um you know maybe my expectations again are not not within line so i'm happy to talk about that next meeting understood that's it thank you go ahead small comment sorry but jonathan jonathan was still jonathan you have anything any follow-up with that

I just want to know what the motion on the floor is. I understand the motion is not to approve them, but then following not approving the minutes, what are we doing with the minutes? We're asking staff to review them with the tape. Is that what we're doing?

Yes. So I made a motion to defer those minutes to the next agenda so that they can reflect right the record. Got it.

All right. I'm confused. Okay. Attorney or city manager, explain to me what exactly is in the minutes. It's not, if I'm correct, it's not word for word what commissioners say, is it? I mean, just explain to me, you know, what exactly the minutes.

It's a summary of the action items that occurred here. It's not a verbatim transcript of the meeting, but it's a summary of what occurred.

the attorney probably could correct me if i said something wrong no what the manager said is correct uh when this issue first came up several months back um i prepared a um rather Detailed memo that got distributed to all the commissioners. I can redistribute it. Expanding upon what the manager just said, which is absolutely correct. They are action minutes are rules of procedure and Robert's rules of order. And for that matter, state law, chapter 119, the public records law does not require verbatim minutes. They require action minutes, which are brief summaries of what was discussed and how the item was voted up or down. There are some, the ability to, for commissioners on a case-by-case basis to ask for the minutes to specifically reflect how they voted or the reason why they voted a particular way. But overall, the minutes that are produced by the clerk are what are considered commonly referred to as action minutes uh and not verbatim uh minutes uh and you know at the end of the day it is the uh function of the the commission by majority vote to approve um up or down any of the minutes or all of the minutes let me rephrase that let me make that very clear all of the minutes including the three uh that have been um held back that Commissioner Amsler mentioned previously, as well as now H&I. Obviously, to the extent that this was already discussed, then in theory, to the extent that H&I are approved, we already know that we would modify The minutes of the commission meeting of June 9th, 2026 to show a no vote by the commissioner on the ordinance and resolution pertaining to the purchasing manual purchasing manual and the policies and procedures.

Mr. Vice Mayor, thank you. Okay, so I respect any commissioner because we want to have the record straight. But I want to have, I know in reference to your vote changing votes, because I've done it in the past myself and you have to come to the next commission. But what the attorney just explained, maybe I'm confused. What exactly are you saying in reference to the minutes? So what you're saying is not showing up in the minutes? Because if that's the case, he just said that that's not what they do. So I respect you to check. I want to have the record straight, but I'm just trying to, you know, I'm confused on what you are objecting to. Is it what you had said in the commission meeting was not in the minutes? Again, if you can explain a little bit for me. Thank you.

So I think it's both and we've already talked about it. So I will let Vice Mayor tell me how much time I have because I'm not keeping the time.

The manager is about a minute left.

Right. So, you know, this isn't new. We've been talking about it. And what I keep saying is the exact same thing. The record needs to reflect the votes. You've heard me amend votes. They're missing. Your comments might be addressed. Mines are missing. There is inaccurate information. There is, whether it's the month or, I mean, you guys have the meetings just like I do the minute to see them. If you don't see in detail those differences that I'm noting and you're okay that you are maybe not stated correctly on the record, then that's your, you know, you can address. And I think what the attorney is saying is you can still move on and approve it. I just want to be on the record that it's not reflected in my vote because it continues to come up. Two things. We voted to correct October, November, December. That is seven months ago. Still are not coming forward. We voted, if you remember, going back to the fact that the attorney's making at some point to have a format. I brought this item up as a commission item. We agreed there was a needed to put it in writing because staff was going to help and ensure that I'm vice mayor. So all I'm going to close with is we've had enough conversations. I propose ways to work around that. Continues to happen. And based on that, I'm not up for minutes.

I just have two questions for John. When you said it's to reflect what was discussed, by that you mean the resolution, the title of the resolution and the body of that, not what I said to the dais, what the body of the item was, right? The resolution.

Essentially, that is correct. The title of the resolution or the ordinance is in the minutes, the person who made the motion, the person who seconded it, a brief description of the item, what the discussion was, and then the vote. And that is historically how the village has provided or produced its minutes. Again, that's consistent with your Rules of Procedure and Robert's Rules of Order. I do believe that there are Um, 2, maybe 3 specific provisions in your rules of procedure, I'd have to go back and take a look at the, um, um, at the, uh, at them and the memo that I produced where I think it basically stands for the proposition that a commissioner can ask that the that on a particular item subject to the approval of the entirety of the commission that the minutes reflect. You know, they're. opposition to or their support of the particular item in some minimal greater detail is the best way I can describe it. Again, I will recirculate that memo and to the extent that any of you all have any questions, obviously you're free to give me a call or to reach out to me and we can discuss it further. But ultimately, you you the the commissioner ambassador is is correct you will have to at one point or another either vote up or down the um the the minutes um uh as they're presented to you um and you know i i i don't know um i i I can't, to the extent that even though I'm not involved, but it's hard for me to understand what our any concerns that any commissioner may have regarding the minutes without some level of specificity. So, you know, we as staff can potentially go back and look at that particular item. Um, you know, uh, uh, and and I think that's reflected.

John, do you have a proposal?

I've had a second question. I hadn't finished yet. So my second question is, I'm not asking you to review H&I for detail, but is this a proper example of an action item minutes, H&I? Is that the proper format? Are the things that are included, you listed, are they included in these? I'm not asking for detail as everything it reflected, but is it a proper example of action item minutes? That's what I'm asking.

I haven't reviewed them in detail. I think that that's a more appropriate question to be directed to the clerk and for her to answer since she is the one who produces the minutes. But historically, in looking at all of the minutes that I've seen as your village attorney, what you have are I would call appropriate action minutes.

I'll refer that question to the clerk and clerk. Are these appropriate action item minutes?

Yeah. So let me let me answer that, Mr. Mayor, Commissioner, if I can, Vice Mayor. So our clerk, this is not her first job as a city clerk. She's worked for a number of different agencies, and she's also certified as a clerk. master clerk and she has trained has training on taking minutes and if you look if you look at others uh minutes throughout the miami-dade county they're they're ours are are beyond summary minutes and she certainly is going to be uh be above what she's what she's entitled to do so i think yes she's doing exactly what uh what's required of her above what she's required to do

All right, guys, there's a motion on the floor to defer this to the next meeting. Uh, let's I'm sorry.

Yeah, there's no second. So there's a motion.

Yeah. Okay. Is there a second? PB, Lupita D Montoya, And I, as a point of order, you can ask for emotion to extend your time and then we'd have to agree to it.

PB, Lupita D Montoya, But if you would like, and I have a minute to extend my time yeah sure you're good yep. PB, Lupita D Montoya, Go ahead, thank you i'm just to close up, I want to remind you, this is the same clerk with experience that left us out of an entire year without minutes. PB, Lupita D Montoya, One full year without minutes, we had to hire a vendor for it, we currently have another vendor helping as a. PB, Lupita D Montoya, dress in the ltc a consultant a second clerk and the same clerk with all the qualifications and we all agreed. on a certain way of proceeding. Having that said, John, I think to your point, you are not precluded for the previous conversations that we've had and the different discussions, and you're asserting the right thing, the minimum is met. If you all feel that's comfortable, go ahead.

That's it. Thank you. All right. So there's a motion on the floor. Do we have a second?

No second?

you'll second it so we have to vote okay so there's so it's just a yeah all in favor yes no no all right so it dies right john okay there's it would be no but so the the

alternate action would be a motion to approve the minutes as presented if that is a desire john we have a jonathan jonathan yet all right i only heard two of the votes so it's thai right now yes two yeses and two no's all right well i'll vote no because i'd like to just check for the accuracies then yeah i'm sorry yes to the motion my apologies yes to the motion thank you

All right. Perfect. Okay. So then, uh, what, what, what are we doing now? The ordinance that is correct. Okay.

Do you want me to read the title?

No, no, just just one second. If we're going to move this over to I don't want this to go past next month. Yes. I mean, we did this for September, October, November. And I'm still trying to figure out how those minutes I thought we approved those minutes after October, November, whatever the month is correct me, we approved it. So I don't understand what it's saying. We haven't approved it. That's all I gotta say.

They were not approved. We're amended to the same way these two are amended.

Let's clarify this right now because the clerk's saying, we have a commissioner saying it's not approved. We have a clerk saying it is approved. So let's get a detailed summary. Are these minutes approved or not?

Again, that's what the minutes are for.

If you look back at the minutes, you approve them with the corrections. I was to go back and make the corrections, but you approved it.

No, we approved it for you.

If you all, I'll find the exact. Listen, there's a vote. We've already voted to move it. Let's move it. Let's move on. I'll find the exact place on the tape for you and send it to you so you can see.

And I'm happy to sit with you to show you an example so it doesn't continue to come on. If that helps everybody.

i'm sure that will absolutely i will definitely do that yes commissioner would certainly help me because i understand you're saying that there are inaccuracies in the way that you bring presented in in arguing or not arguing excuse me presenting or discussing something or voting on something but when someone brings this up to say hey there's inaccuracies but i'm not going to tell you where they are like that's very difficult for me so i will i'm i'm very happy to move it down to say okay that's fine show us where they are so If that's going to be, you know, if that's going to be the representation that there's something wrong in the minutes, then I just I would be very happy to see or hear what they are. So I'm happy to vote to move them to next month. But certainly, if we're going to do this again, then I'd like to see where those are.

All right, guys, we're moving on to ordinances. All right, John, you're up.

Thank you Mr. vice mayor. This is ordinance 2026 03 entitled in ordinance, the village commission of the village of Park, Florida. I'm ending section 16.13 exterior painting permit of chapter 16 permits and certificates of the Biscayne Park land development code to ensure the provision is in conformity. with section 166-0483 Florida Statutes providing for inclusion in the code, providing for conflicts, providing for scrimmage errors, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. This is on the agenda for second reading and approval. I can go on and tell the Commission that I did have the opportunity to sit down with Gage Harding and staff to go over the ordinance and the concerns that were voiced and what you have before you. We collectively believe addresses the desire of the village to continue to have oversight over color, you know, that painting of buildings in the village, but also implementing the requirements of the statute and making it easier for residents to apply for and get that approval from staff.

All right, is there a motion for this? Yes.

I make a motion to approve Ordinance 2026-03, amending external paint requirements. Second.

All in favor? Aye.

Aye. Aye. It's an ordinance. I need a roll call vote.

You need a roll call.

Okay.

Public comments?

Yeah, you need public comments. You need to open up a public hearing, Vice Mayor, and then have a roll call vote.

Got it. Sorry, I forgot about that public was here.

Are there any public comments?

I don't particularly have a comment. I'm just going to say I'm making myself available if you have any questions. Sorry.

Thank you. All right. Any commissioners have any comments on the ordinance?

I'm sorry?

No.

Oh, Zoom.

Yeah.

I just have one. Under 16.13.2, the sentence that reads, if the village determines that the proposed color is white or on the pre-approved color palette, the application shall be refunded to the applicant. Why does it say if it's white or on the pre-approved color palette? Couldn't we just serve the same means to an end by just saying if it's on the pre-approved color palette and remove if it's white completely? I mean, white should be on the pre-approved color palette. So wouldn't that just make everything simpler? We just strike that white out?

If I may, Commissioner, the white was actually, I was under the impression, a request by the Commission to include white. But if it, you know, to the extent that white is on the color palette, I defer to staff. I've not seen the color palette myself. So if it is, then we can strike white. That's not an issue.

It might have been a commission request or it might have been something that just kept getting copied and pasted on as revisions continued. But to me, it's just simple. If we just remove that out and just put, if it's on the pre-approved color palette, there's no interpretation of off-white, this-white, warm-white, cool-white. A lot of different kind of Home Depot, we go to a bunch of different palettes of white. So we just say pre-approved color palette and that's it. I think to me, that's just simplicity.

I agree with that.

Oh, if that's the desire of the Commission and majority commission will make that change if it gets voted subject to that amendment.

will have to change my. Change my motion right okay I like to make a motion to. prove our 2026 23 mending external paint requirement as a man.

Second. Again.

No.

All right, so anybody else have any comments in regards to this ordinance?

No.

Jonathan, good?

Nope.

You good with Frosty White?

Sounds good to me.

All right. OK, so then now we got to vote, right? Is this just a roll call? Go ahead.

Commissioner Ansler?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Gonzalez?

Yes.

Commissioner Huntington.

Yes.

Commissioner Samara. Yes. Mayor Graw.

Yes, ma'am.

The item passes on second reading 5-0.

As amended.

As amended.

Thank you. All right. So we're moving on to Resolution 2026-42, ratified by the Board of Trustees to have an immediate landscape.

Wait, wait. You have one Resolution 9B from the consent that was pulled.

9b it was you wanted to commissioners if you want to take it uh at this point or put it at the end that's your discretion so me okay it's a quick one um Okay. I'll read the title. Give me a moment. This is Resolution 2026-53 entitled the Resolution of the Village Commission of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida, acknowledging and accepting the City of Doral's donation of two used Harley Davidson police motorcycles, authorizing the village manager and chief of police to take all actions necessary to accept the donation and transfer legal title of the motorcycles to the village and providing for conflict, scrivener's error, severability, and effective date.

Mayor Mrakas, Mr may I make a motion right, Mr Vice Mayor make a motion to approve resolution 2620. Mayor Mrakas, 20 sorry resolution 2026 53 accepting donations from the city of dole second.

PB, Lupita D Montoya, yeah so I I pulled the item it's very quick. PB, Lupita D Montoya, I just want to make sure the resolution number 2026 53 I think it repeats on item 11 D. PB, Lupita D Montoya, john or staff, just to make sure that's my only comment on this before we move forward.

John Potter, We have the correct numbers or I do. John Potter, Your yeah.

And so I have 2026 53. But then on item 11 D says 2026 53 as well for the resolution, let me show you 11 D is calling general election November 3 2026 53, he should have been 6061. So does it need to be corrected?

We'll correct it when we read it.

OK. All right. That's it. Because I noticed there was a duplication there. Thank you.

No.

So we're moving back to the top?

Or don't we have to approve it? We have to vote on it.

OK. All in favor of this one?

Aye. Aye.

Yeah. Approve with the amendments. Aye.

absolutely yes yes thank you thank you chief all right um so back to 26 uh 2026-42 ratifying proposal sixth avenue median landscape um john you're reading that too uh i have that as uh 42 as the approving final solid waste assessment maybe it's on my name i have the wrong agenda Tom Epstein, Yeah 11 a resolutions. Tom Epstein, Six time 2026 dash 42 ratifying proposal six having made me the last Tom Epstein, I apologize, maybe my error.

Commissioner Tom Epstein, Going Tom Epstein, And Yes, I'm sorry, 2026 dash 42 and title resolution 2026 dash 42 entitled a resolution, the village commission, the village, this came park, Florida, accepting the ranking of proposals received for this Northeast 6 Avenue, median landscape, maintenance services, authorizing the village manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with the top rank proposer and then related documents on behalf of the village and provided for conflict scrivener's error, severability and effective date.

Yes, Mr. Mayor. Vice Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Resolution 2026-42, Reference Proposed Sixth Avenue Medium Landscape. Second.

Do you have comments on this? Comments? Jonathan, no comment?

So if there's no other comments, I would just ask Al. Al, can you just... for our benefit, just very quickly explain, we're approving a contractor right now, right? And then this would be subject to being funded during the upcoming budget planning, correct?

Mr. Mayor, you're approving the ranking and giving me authority to try to negotiate a contract with the most responsive bidder. And then we would put this into the upcoming budget for 26-27. And I think if you look in the cover memo, it indicates that. And if we need to cut back on our expenses that we're probably anticipating for 27, this would be the first area that we would cut. But I think we had discussed with you that this is our entrance way to the village and we would certainly like to enhance that entrance way and make it look like all of our surrounding neighbors and to get somebody that's a professional in there and bring it up to a standard that then we could take it over.

Understood. Mayor and Commissioners, just to clarify, we will make sure to include what has become a standard clause in our procurement contracts is that the effectiveness of any agreement is subject to proper funding by the Village Commission. So if there's no funding, then we have the right to terminate the agreement with no penalties.

Very good. Easy out. I like it, John. Look, Mr. Manager, I certainly agree with that. I think that the medians certainly need some help. And that road is the most traveled in our village. So certainly representative of our community. If there's no other comments, I would make a motion to approve it along the ranking totals. But I noticed on the ranking totals here that the highest is the second most affordable. But the second highest rank was, I think, the most affordable. So I would, if you look at it in the chart, it's 274, 238, 271, 203, 244. I would move to adopt the resolution and approve those contractors along the lines of their total rankings.

All right. Is that your motion?

That's my motion.

I'm sorry?

Isn't that with the motion I made?

But we had to rank them. We had to rank those contractors. So that's the way that I would propose we rank those contractors. All right.

So we got to.

But there's a motion on the table by.

If I'm correct, you have to vote my motion down. Then you can prove.

Yeah. How about this? Dan, if you agree with me, would you agree to amend your motion?

How about this? How about this? I just amend my motion and to go by what the mayor said. That's why we don't have to vote it down. Okay.

If that's okay with the mayor.

That works for me, Dan. Thank you.

So I make a motion to approve it with the amendment.

Perfect. I'll second the amendment. Perfect.

All in favor? Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Perfect. All right. So we move on to resolution 2026-51. Make sure I'm. Yeah, that's your solid waste assessment.

Yeah. So, resolution number 2026-51, entitled Resolution of the Village Commission of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida, adopting the annual solid waste assessment for fiscal year 2026-2027, establishing the assessment rate for solid waste service against assessed property located within the Village of Biscayne Park for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, 2026 through September 30th, 2027, and providing for conflict, scrivener's error, severability, and effective date. Vice Mayor, this does require a public hearing and a roll call vote.

Thank you very much. All right, zero resolution to move this forward.

Yes, I make a motion to approve Resolution 2026 51 approving the final solid waste assessment.

Second.

Oh, well, we got to get the comment. So does anybody have any comments on the on the item? None here. Anybody on zoom? None on zoom.

Okay, so we're closing public comments.

Any comments from the rest of the Commission on on this.

Vice mayor, can I just make a comment? So we're, we have been consistently keeping the same, the finance directors online, but I don't know if he wants to chime in on anything, but we're, if you read the cover memo, we've been consistently keeping the same rate for the last couple of years. And I think the finance director for working on this and the, our vendor had asked for an increase, but we had,

who said no to that that uh we're going to keep it at the same rate great job all right so roll call vote commissioner ansley commission vice mayor gonzalez yes commissioner huntington yes commissioner samara yes miyagra yes the item passes 5-0 thank you all right moving on to uh resolution 2026-52

Thank you Mr. Vice Mayor. This is resolution number 2026-52 entitled Resolution of the Village Commission of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida establishing the proposed millage rate of 9.3 mils for fiscal year 2026-2027. Establishing the current year rolled back rate to be 8.68 mills and establishing the 1st and the 2nd, public budget hearings as required by law, directing the village clerk and finance manager to file said resolution with the property appraiser and tax collector, Miami-Dade County pursuant to the requirements of Florida statutes and the rules and regulations of the Department of revenue of the state of Florida and providing for conflict, scrivener's errors, severability and an effective date.

Right right, may I like to make a motion to approve resolution 2026 52 adopting proposed military 2026 dash 27 second.

Any discussion on this item.

it's pulling the line.

Yes, I am.

PB, Lupita D Montoya, hey Paul so so this, so what we're doing right now. PB, Lupita D Montoya, it's just. PB, Lupita D Montoya, Setting the ceiling. PB, Lupita D Montoya, Yes, set in the ceiling, thank you for saying, and then we go ahead and. PB, Lupita D Montoya, Can we got to do it and revise. PB, Lupita D Montoya, Yes, ma'am. PB, Lupita D Montoya, Thank you.

Mr. Vice Mayor and members of the Commission, if I may have a point of privilege to state that pursuant to or in Section 4 to announce the public hearing dates, so they're on the record, The 1st, budget hearing date is scheduled for September 8th, 2026, starting at 6. P. M. at the village came park log cabin and the 2nd, and final hearing on the adoption of the tentative budget and millage ordinance is September 22nd, 2026 at 6. P. M. at the log cabin.

Say that day one more time, John.

The first public hearing on the millage and budget ordinances is September 8th, 2026, starting at 6 p.m. And the second and final hearing on the budget and millage ordinances is scheduled for September 22nd, 2026, also starting at 6 p.m., both at the log cabin.

John, and that's that hearing that all commissioners have to be present, correct? The second one or both of them?

Both of them. Particularly if you're going to vote to increase the millage a certain percentage above what it was last year under state law, it either has to be a super majority or a total majority depending upon the final millage. And we're setting this one already as a ceiling of 7.12%, so you're safe from that 100% requirement a little bit.

Okay. Point of order, Vice Mayor. Do we have what the workshop date yet? I know it's going to be in August. Have we set up the date yet on what it's going to be?

Yeah, Commissioner, those are August 4th and August 18th. They're on the city calendar, village calendar.

Okay. Thank you.

August 16, you said? 18. It's the wedding anniversary.

OK. All right, guys, let's move along. All right, so on the floor, there's a second, right? All right, so this is just a voice vote, right? All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Aye. All right, so we're moving on to Resolution 2026-53.

Thank you, Vice Mayor and members of the Commission. This is resolution number 2026-53, entitled Resolution of the Village Commission of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida, pursuant to Section 5.02 of the Village Charter and Section 2-64 of the Code of Ordinance of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida, calling for a general election to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, for the purpose of submitting to the electorate of the Village of Biscayne Park the names of all qualified candidates For elections, the position of village commissioner, providing for runoff election, if necessary to be held on Tuesday, November 17th, 2026, providing for polling places form a ballot voter registration qualification candidates and notice of elections providing for conducting the elections and providing for conflicts. Scrivener's errors, severability and an effective date.

Mr. Vice Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to... Mr. Vice Mayor, for the record, we changed this one to 61. Resolution 2026-61. Got it.

Oh, I'm sorry. You're correct.

I like to make a motion to approve Resolution 2026-61, calling for village of Biscayne Park general election.

Second.

Second on the item. I didn't think so. Okay, good. All right. So vote. All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye. All right. So now we're moving on to 2026. Is this the number right here? This one, 2026-59? All right, cool. Go ahead, John.

Okay, this is a resolution number 202659 entitled a resolution, the village commission, the village of Biscayne Park, Florida, a printed agreement for debris monitoring services between the village and I can't have the name. Give me a moment.

Debris tech. Debris tech.

Debris tech. That's correct. Authorizing the village manager to execute the agreement, take all action necessary to implement the agreement and providing for a conflict, scrivener's error, severability and an effective date.

The Vice Mayor like to make a motion to approve Resolution 2026 dash 59 to pre monitor and service agreement.

Second, second. Right, you have any discussion on the item. Right.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Beautiful.

Move it along. I like this. All right. Where are we at? 2026-60.

Yes, vice mayor, members of the commission, this is resolution number 2026-60, a resolution of the Village Commission of the Village of Biscayne Park, Florida, amending and modifying resolution number 2026-48 to establish Village Commission meeting dates and corresponding agenda item submission deadlines for the remainder of calendar year 2026, providing for Village Manager authority to modify deadlines upon notice, authorizing the Village Manager to take all actions necessary in furtherance of this resolution, and provided for conflict, scrivener's error, severability, and an effective date.

Vice Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve Resolution 2026-60, establish a meeting and agenda deadline dates for the remainder of the calendar year of 2026.

Second.

Again, which one?

2026-60F. I can't hear you. I'm sorry.

No, I'm just reading this. Oh, okay. Oh, so John, this is the one you updated from. Yes. Yes, I do have some comments. If you go to page number two of the proposed, minor, but it has asterisks to it. There should be three asterisks subject to Commission election not to meet pursuant to the procedures.

There should be Yeah, there's, there's three. There are one asterisk in the meeting date, staff commissioner submission to village manager 10 day prior, there's one there. On the next one, on July 9th, 2026, Monday, June 25th, 2026, there's two asterisks. And then on the table cell below that, August 4th, 2026, there's three asterisks. And I see what you're saying at the, yes, we'll subject to commission election not to meet pursuant to the procedures that needs a third asterisk. Thank you.

yeah and so and the other question on the following section three where it says such modifications may be made when necessary due to conflicts holiday margins or other unforeseen circumstances can you explain what unforeseen circumstances would fall under in this case

I'm sorry, give me a moment. Let me get there due to do the conflicts, holidays, emergency, or other unforeseen circumstances. It's basically a catch all for, you know, if there's, you know, some type of. I guess you could say something like civil unrest could fall underneath the category of unforeseen circumstances or, you know, some might consider that to be an emergency. But it's, you know, If we as staff or as the commission attempted to identify every circumstance that might trigger this provision, it'd get pretty lengthy.

Yeah, no need. My question was, so 15 days in advance, no matter what, will be the notice? Yeah. Okay. That's okay. And so 15 days, is it calendar days or is that consecutive days?

um i think that's the intended to be um consecutive days not um not uh i when you say calendar days you're talking about work weeks correct yes the 15 days working days is calendar days calendar days that's correct that's calendar days it would include weekends can we include that just to say calendar that's the only amendment that i would make to it and um

just so it's clear, and I'm okay with the rest.

Okay. If that's the will of the majority of the Commission, we'll make that change. As well as the asterisks.

Yeah. Eliminate asterisks. All right. I'm good with that. Anybody else? Sounds good. All right. So, all in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right. So, now we're off to... New business. Old business. There is no old business, so we're going to do new business.

I'm sorry. The approval is approved 5-0 as amended. Correct.

Okay.

All right.

So we're in new business.

The first one is mine. I'm not going to use my five minutes, but I'll make this really quick. Guys, we had a very long agenda today, and obviously, when we adhere to the rules that we already have in the books, these meetings go along much faster and, in my opinion, much smoother. The problem is I don't run the meetings on a regular basis. Rules are only as good as the people that enforce them where they don't enforce them, right? So I personally think that five minutes is too short of a time. I think that 10 minutes is a fair amount of time. Not everybody's going to use their full 10 minutes, but some people may want to use their full 10 minutes. So I propose that we... allow folks up here to use 10 minutes. And then just like we said earlier, if they need more time, they can make a motion and request more time and then it would have to be approved by the rest of us whether we want to allow it or not. But I think it's fair. I think 10 minutes is a very fair amount of time for everybody. So that's all I got to say about this. And feel free to discuss however you all feel.

I completely concur. I think time limits are needed. I will say I'm a little concerned on 10 minutes because, I mean, if you just multiply the number of items we had, even if just one commissioner takes 10 minutes for each item. uh that would that could take up all four hours and then if each commission or all five of us take 10 minutes each that's 15 minutes per item we could i think maybe a good counter to that would be 10 minutes for ordinances five minutes resolution and then you ask for an extension back for that that would be a good counter because i think ordinances usually more heavy topics that allow for that discussion that resolution should be Should be able to finish up a resolution session in five minutes. And then you always have that ability to extend top of that. I think you need to put a little more curb on that because if you start multiplying 10 minutes and five times the number of items you have in real quick.

I agree with that. I think ordinances, which is the most important thing, should be 10 minutes. A person should have enough. And five minutes for resolutions. Like tonight, I think we did pretty good on resolutions. So I agree. Because truthfully, we as commissioners have to read what's in front of us. And the reason I come prepare is not because I haven't read anything. It's because I've met with the city manager and I've gone over all of the you know the items in the past i have not done that this time i have done that and i find it makes it much easier to do it so i agree for ordinances should be about 10 minutes and resolutions should be five minutes and if they need more time they can ask and i think i think the chair is pretty good about giving more time that you give more time hopefully that the chair is going to be willing to give more time that's the only thing i would object to is that wouldn't be the chair making the decision it would be permission as a body i hope that the commission would be willing to give the individual if a commissioner is talking and he needs a little bit more time i hope that this commission will give them if it's reasonable more time so that's everything

My last point is the most important part of this is whatever rules we decide is an adherence to the rules. Because if rules aren't respected, if rules aren't enforced, that's when this goes off.

And also, to the point, does Robert say anything about the timing?

I have it here as a backup. It's 10 minutes.

but you can change we can we we as a body can decide i mean you know this can be uh this game park rules doesn't have to be robert's rules but but the point you know like he was just saying you know that we negotiate and we say okay 10 minutes for an ordinance i think that that's very fair uh so i'm good with that so uh what anybody else uh want to comment on it um i'm fine with whatever you decide to be honest with you i think um

You know, in my case, like I told Jonathan the other day, I tend to be the one kind of going over and trying to explain. I welcome any one of you at any time to tell me, Commissioner, we're going to wrap it up. It helps me. So I don't discourage that. The only thing I'm going to say is. And it has nothing to do with the timeframe. 10 minutes seems to me more than fine and doable. It has to do with, I was gonna pull out of the agenda, this item art and part of our procedures as that we put together a memo explaining sort of what we expect with this. And I didn't understand what this was. So when I read what you attach and it has no memo, And and the reason I bring it on, I hope you don't take it the wrong way. Um, this has been used in the past to block items if commissioners what I'm sorry to block items. So if commissioners don't bring a memo to their items as it's required by our agenda procedures, that has been, uh, you know, sort of an item pushed away. I wasn't sure, and I'm interested to hear what this was about. I didn't know to what direction it was because there's a lot in the attachment that you shared. If your proposal was just about the time, I'm 100% on board. I think 10 minutes and it's more than enough. And again, I welcome you all to raise your hand and tell me if I need to wrap it up.

Jonathan?

Yeah, look, very comfortable with five minutes when i go to court and i'm at umc hearings i get three minutes so remember like the discussion portions of this stuff are are really more designed for us to bounce ideas off each other because we can't discuss this stuff in advance but you know we come prepared uh we ask the questions in advance that we have to ask we get the answers from the manager from the attorney from whomever um And, you know, we've taken some measures in the past, like, you know, Veronica, like you mentioned, the backup thing was something that we did a few years ago to try to reduce the amount of time that we spend discussing. So I think five, 10 minutes in ordinance, five minutes for resolutions is very, it's, I'm very comfortable with that. Um, it's, it's, it's parliamentary nature. And, and I think that we are all very capable of getting our point across in that time. So I think that we can all do a perfect job in adhering to those, um, those limitations. So I'm good with 10 and 5, 10 on ordinances, 5 on resolutions, if the rest of everyone is.

Can I make a...

Since we all agree with it, how do we make this, as they say, official? That's where we can start.

Well, so, sorry, Dan, I don't mean to interrupt you, but having had these conversations, generally speaking, when it comes to this type of thing, there is a timer. I know we started doing that just this evening. There's a timer. A lot of times commissioners will take a certain chunk of time. Let's say we have five minutes. You take your three minutes, you ask your questions, um, you make whatever point you need to make and you reserve two minutes for like a rebuttal point. Um, we don't have to do it that way, but I think the easiest implementation, this was something, an impediment to have us having done this in the past was how do we logistically deal with this? But we have to just try. So I think the, I think when we put the timer up and we have the clerk I don't know, Madam Clerk, I'm sorry, I can't really see you. So I don't know if you were keeping track of the discussion minutes for us earlier or not. We start there, you know, we start with the five minutes per, you know, for each commissioner, and then you can see the rest of your time as you see fit, or, you know, reserved for rebuttal. But I think that we said, I'm just using five as an example, we use five, we use five minutes, we use the timer, and we just, I think we all trust in each other to to adhere to those, those time limitations so that we can we can make more progress more quickly.

So the consensus is 10-5, right, guys? The consensus is 10-5, 10-4 ordinances?

I was just going to make one comment.

Go ahead.

Ordinances come twice in front of us. In essence, we're given 20 minutes per ordinance versus five minutes. I would just suggest, because resolutions is still policy and it happens once. it is important because we make a lot of that as you saw today in the agenda um they're not less important it's just a legislative process is longer for ordinances people can come twice and speak and and and so um that's fair i just wanted to point that that maybe 10 minutes for resolution will be just to keep things more balanced um yeah all right so

I think that again, I, I, I, I, I understand what you're saying, but I think the consensus with the group is 10, 5, right? 10 for ordinance 5 for resolutions. All right. Perfect.

So commissioner commissioners do to what the, the mayor just mentioned. as we move forward with drafting the resolution or modifying the resolution to now reflect this do you want it to be split um you know where um on the resolution uh three minutes um everyone has three minutes and then someone can use the extra two if they wish and the same with the ordinances five minutes um and then five minutes um once you've gone through everyone Just leave it at five and ten.

Yeah, in my opinion, I think, you know, whomever, somebody on our staff is going to have to keep the time. And obviously, when a commissioner is speaking, they'll start the time. And when they finish, they'll have to log it down. And then they'll have that amount of time left over to rebuttal. So if they only use one minute and they want to use four minutes in the back end, however they manage it, I mean, I'm comfortable with that. I don't know.

I think just leaving it five and ten. And I think, John, if we can just put something in there that a commissioner can reserve their time as they see fit. I think don't spell out where your steps or your time. Just you reserve your time as you see fit. As they see fit. Yeah. If I use nine minutes and I got one minute left in an ordinance, I reserve my time for my one minute rebuttal. You manage your own time.

Correct. And we also discussed extending the time by a motion and by a consensus of the rest of the Commission.

And I will point out for Commissioner Ames, or what she said, is if we ever come upon a resolution like we had, I think, last month, we were talking about purchasing agreements. we can suspend the rules. If it becomes a resolution that is very heavy, that's going to take us a long time to spell out, we can suspend the rules as a consensus. So there's always that ability to modify these things when major topics come up.

Okay. All right. So I think we have a consensus.

We'll bring it back to you at the next meeting in the form of a resolution modifying the rules of procedure.

No. Well, everything. Okay. To your point, I think everything else should also be included in there. And I think that is five minutes. Everything other than an ordinance is five minutes. Everything.

I'm fine with that. I think, I don't know if you heard that, John, but I'm fine with that is that resolutions or ordinances, 10 minutes and everything else. Yeah. Talking items, five minutes. I'm sure. I've got that as well.

All right. So we have a consensus there. All right. We're going to move on to discussion on policy and procedures. And by the way, Commissioner Adams, there's something that you said about the memo thing. Two things. Number one, my computer was broken, so I couldn't write nothing. So I actually sent it to Hal, and I said, hey, can you put this in? Because I didn't have a computer when I sent this. and the other thing is i believe and i may be wrong um that the issue was it wasn't a discussion item not that there was a mem wasn't a memo attached so you know there was it was not a uh it wasn't a discussion item placed on the agenda thus you couldn't bring in a discussion item uh to discuss it if you hadn't even put in a discussion item i think that that's what the issue was it wasn't that there wasn't a memo so there's a title to each one right and and unfortunately i wasn't able to you know to use my computer but but i think that that was the issue that uh folks were trying to bring discussion items that weren't uh placed on the agenda not that there wasn't a memo attached i may be wrong but i think that that was the deal

So the one I'm referring to, just to be clear, it was items that were put as discussion items with it just a title, you know, and then, but again, I think that was the issue that yeah, in this case, no, no, my point, just so you know, is It always serves me at least, I'm going to just say me, to know what the intent of the conversation is going to be so that I come ready with some thoughts. And I just didn't know because it was a lot of text what you wanted to get out of it.

Well, I think the first one was self-explanatory to me. But the second one, I think if you had questions, that one I would have had a question. But the first one, it was pretty clear. But anyway, let's move on to B.

Yeah, point of order, just for point of order. I've noticed that we don't have, maybe past commissioners have changed it, but we don't have, we replace an agenda items with discussion items. Is that what we're doing? Because we used to have where commissioners can have agenda items.

Agenda item. I think they were the same thing.

Like if I want to bring up an agenda item or subject matter, so that's what you're replacing. That's what it's now going to be called discussion items. Agenda items is if I have an item that I put as an agenda item and then the foster commission either votes it down or something. And on discussions, you don't get to vote it down.

We've discussed prior as a body, if I'm wrong, is that we want to forego that commissioners placing resolutions straight on the agenda. We'd rather things come through first as a discussion item. We discuss it and then we get the follow up. I couldn't hear you. I'm sorry. I can close enough. Yeah. That we as a body have discussed bringing things forward first as a discussion item. And then if we think a resolution is needed, we would post that the next night.

It's not a resolution. It's an agenda item. So what you're saying is that if you put an agenda item, then you have to bring it as a discussion. Then you have to go back. If the commission's okay with me bringing up something as an agenda item, then I should be able to... That's double work.

Which is the same thing that just happened for mine. Now, he's going to go back and put that on... John is going to put that as... Well, they're going to revise the...

Yeah, we'll come back as a resolution to formally adopt it. I'm confused what you're referring to.

No, we used to have, if you look in the past in commissioners, it has agenda item, where a commissioner will bring up an item as agenda, and it would either be voted down, not as a resolution, not as a discussion, it was an actual agenda item. Let's say if I want to bring up a Mayor Mrakas, agenda item to bring back in in the public works that will be an agenda item and then a Commission with this. Mayor Mrakas, But if to bring it up a discussion and then a Commission decides Okay, I like that idea, we have to then go back and put it into the same thing as agenda item.

Mayor Mrakas, They should have been I don't know why we stopped that I wasn't on a Commission that last time I think that's a question for john not for us john are you are you are you hearing with Commissioner. Mayor Mrakas, Some areas saying about placing an agenda item as opposed to a discussion item.

Yeah, I did, and I would say I'd make two observations. On every one of your agendas, it's number 14, the next item, after the discussion items, the request for placement of items on the next meeting agenda. Any of you all can... make a request to place an item. As far as your rules of procedure, the section says it's 4A. It says all reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract documents, or other matters to be submitted to the village commission shall be delivered to the village manager no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled commission meeting and shall be accompanied by or in the form of a signed memorandum from the party submitting the materials. No additional items shall be added to the agenda after the agenda closing date, unless it is deemed to be of an urgent emergency nature as provided below. I read that section to primarily be directed to staff that when we put items on the agenda staff items. You know, they need to be submitted and they need to have a cover memo. The section of the code of the rules and procedures goes on to state. All agenda items, including materials in support of the agenda item are to be submitted to the village attorney, the finance director, and the village planner if required for review and submittal for the recommendations of the village manager no later than 7 days prior to the scheduled meeting. And then the final agenda gets sent out no later than 5 days and it says the mayor village commissioners village manager and village attorney are authorized to place matters on the agenda of the village commission meeting for discussion and or approval by the village commission.

That's not what I'm asking. People are not getting what I'm asking. We used to have in the past where if I want to put an agenda item on the commission, I have to have backup. We have more than we have the discussion. That's what I'm asking. We stopped doing that to where if I want to put an agenda item on the agenda...

You can. So basically in the agenda that you have in front of you, if you go all the way to the bottom where it says discussion, all the way to the bottom, you're going to have a section discussion. That's where we're at. And you can add over there.

Here's the confusion that I have with what you're trying to say. Right. I understand. Okay. So This is the agenda. The whole thing is an agenda. There's no agenda line on the agenda. So where would you put something?

If you look at past agenda items at Biscayne Park, there was agenda, it says agenda item 5C, Commissioner Samaria's agenda item on, let's say, helping homeless. That will be an agenda item. Then the commission would either vote it down or not vote it down.

All these discussion items are agenda items because they're part of the agenda. You get it?

i'm just i was just asking i mean it's because discussion is is just discussions it's not voting on it agenda items get voted on just but during during if say you you brought a discussion item to help the homeless uh you know uh you we could give direction to the manager to do some to do something uh and then we can bring back a resolution next month to codify it Uh, but voting primarily happens in resolutions. It doesn't happen in.

In discussion, yeah, if I may buy by direction by consensus of the commission, you can any, you know, the commission can direct staff to take and follow up on any discussion item. whether it's old business or new business. But to your question, Commissioner Samaria, as I read and understand the rules of procedure, you have the right to ask for any item to be placed on the agenda for discussion. And then depending on how that discussion comes about, it may then come back on a future agenda as an action item.

Right. you're going twice you can just have a person just put in a gen i mean i'll do whatever the commission wants well it's just an agenda item has to be voted on a discussion item is not voted on the item is discussed and then you're going to bring it back at a future meeting which is a you're going around in circles you should be able to bring an agenda item and then vote on it but you're doing it twice you know just discussion items is not voting if i may john wrap it up please yes

The commissioner, you're equating two different issues. There are certain things that we do as a commission and as a village that have to be adopted by resolution and have to be adopted by ordinance. And some of it, some things we can do by direction of the commission. A majority of the commission gives the direction to the village manager and the village attorney and village staff. We then go out and implement that policy directive. But to your point, yes, sometimes, not all the time, an item will have to come back because it needs to be in the form of an ordinance or a resolution.

All right, john Thank you I listen, Commissioner summary, I think that you know, maybe this is another conversation that you take offline with with the manager and with the Attorney and you can get better clarification session items doesn't accomplish anything. I understand what you're saying. All right. Let's move on to B, discussion on policy procedures regarding construction in the village. So I brought this as well. And the reason that I know the answer to these questions, but I've been getting a lot of complaints, not a lot of complaints, but complaints. And I don't get a lot of complaints, but I get some. When I get complaints, that's a big problem. And it's in regards to construction in the village. I can tell you from somebody that walks every single day, including weekends, especially on Sundays and after hours, there is construction happening in the village all the time. I see it on Sundays, I see it after hours. So the question is, do we have a clear policy and procedure in place to address this? Because as we know, code, is only here a certain amount of time right and we also know code is not here on weekends right so who is managing this and is it a written rule and policy or is it just Hey, do me a favor and do this and check it out. You know, I think that this is a problem that we have, and it needs to be addressed in a proper orderly procedure. So that's the question, and feel free to discuss.

So I'll start I'm sure this is a question for code and for police because I know that the answer is when you, when you know code is does a very good job and they're, they're very involved in the village but they can only be here so many hours. If someone starts a construction project at two in the morning. Besides being a code violation. It's also construction violation. The only person still in the village would be police and that's why our police officers are also code officers. So, there could be some better education to the residents that when you get something like this on an after-hours time, Sunday, holidays, 3 in the morning, that call to the non-emergency line is your best bet because you're going to get a police officer who's going to respond. As long as you get through the non-emergency line, which is the hiccup, it's not usually our officers responding, it's the non-emergency line. you're going to get an officer responding at a very quick time i've done it personally in the last year uh and they're going to mitigate the issue for you uh but i think that's where this hiccup comes is the education to residents that when you're faced with that situation of construction on a saturday construction too early uh our code is in the village a lot but they're not here all the time and so that's the issue the the the catch-all is that police officers are here 24-7, and they are code officers as well. So when you get that noise complaint, construction after hours, wild party that's gone too long, whatever it is, that call to the non-emergency line is your best bet.

That's being reactive, not being proactive. And then the bigger question, the bigger hiccup of it all is that folks aren't calling and complaining about residents or construction or anything else because now they have to give their name and addresses. And we've discussed this with Doreen in the past. So our calls for complaints have gone down because people are afraid to complain about their neighbor or complain about, you know. So that's a problem. So the question is, for me anyway, and the reason that I brought this up is, is it a written policy somewhere? Are officers being trained? Do they have a policy in place that they're following? Because again, guys, if I'm walking on a Sunday and I'm seeing construction and nobody's complaining and nobody's doing anything about it, that's a problem. And it's also happening after hours, also happening on holidays. I think we need to have a rules, a policy and procedure in place. One of the things that I asked was to bring that sign today, right? Hopefully you brought it. And if you don't mind coming up here, because that's something that we discussed at the previous meeting. I think that this will help tremendously if these posters or tarps or whatever you want to call them are actually posted on the work sites and people can read them.

That's something that you can talk about for, I don't know, a few years now.

So, Mr. Vice Mayor, if I could address your concerns. So, yeah, our staff has been here on holidays, and we're starting to have staff on the weekends to just look at not only construction, but other activities that are going on on holidays and on the weekends. So we're trying to, with the limited staff we do have, we have two code compliance officers to switch them around so that they can be here on holidays and weekends and reinforce those concerns. But I would ask you to, if you see construction going on and that it's on a holiday, call me, call me right away and let me know. And we'll, we'll take care of it.

We'll, we'll, uh, I appreciate that, but honestly, that's not my job to do. And, and I'm, I don't like to do that. I really don't. I, I think I, I just mentioned 1 time about a fence that was under construction that didn't have a construction fences. Cause I thought it was a hazard, but I don't like, I'm not a guy that calls around calls and says, Hey, the guy's dirty roof and. That's somebody else's job, and the villages should be responsible for that.

Understandable, but, Commissioner, we can't be, just like the police officers, they can't be everywhere at all the times. So we're a very limited staff. We try to do the best we can with our limited staff. And I also drive around on the weekends, and if I see something, we'll handle that. But myself, I can't be everywhere at all times. And I know one of our last holidays, the co-compliance director was here and took action against a number of construction sites that were performing work on holidays. But all the contractors know. uh about the uh about the ordinance they've been advised about the ordinance we had we had two readings of the public uh when the when the ordinance was changed we had two public hearings about it we went out and uh uh we had the meetings before the co-compliance uh board they they chimed in on on the ordinance so i i think the construction workers are are fully aware of it but um i'll turn it over to doreen if you have anything to add during

Yes, the commissioner is right. There's a problem, the manager is right as well, that staffing issues are one of the reasons why we are unable to follow up or unable to be proactive. However, I have made it a point to come to work myself. I've worked the last, I'll say the last five weekends. I come on Saturdays, I come in on public holidays. For example, in Juneteenth, I went to every construction site. I issued 14 violations. And at every construction site, I spent time educating the people that were there that they cannot work on a federal holiday. And this is just me going the extra mile to make sure we educate people on this. But going forward, we have done a sample of the sign that we should have done a long time ago. One of the problems we had was the way Commissioner Kennedy wanted the sign was a little bit difficult for me to put together because he put the entire Land Development Code Chapter 18 onto that sign. It was a lot of wording. And I'll give you an example. I did one example, and this is just one section of the chapter. And I translated this in three different languages, in Spanish, English, and Haitian Creole. It looks horrible. And it will be difficult for people to actually read this. It's too much information. It's very confusing. So what I did was go through the type of violations that we have. And the most violations we've issued are parking on the median.

which we have done a smaller sign, which will look similar to this.

We'll put some color in there to make it more attractive. So it's still three different languages, but it just talks about parking on the median. The signs will be slightly bigger than these. I had these printed just so I could do this presentation. And then the most important sign is the work, I'm sorry, working on federal holidays and permitted albums. We did the translation as well, so we have it in all three different languages. And then everything else the chapter says on working on holidays. So hopefully this will help. The other thing is how are we going to pass the cost on to the contractors? I've budgeted $3,500 for these signs. which the manager and I discussed that we're going to pass this on to the building department because this is construction and it's about building. So it doesn't directly come out of the code budget. I was thinking I'll have a meeting with the building official if we can charge them for each sign because they'll stick these signs on their construction sites and maybe have them pay a deposit so they can bring the sign back because we can't, afford to have these signs printed all the time. And when they remove their construction sites, who knows what they are going to do with these signs. They'll throw them away, they'll be in the garbage, they'll be in the dumpster. But I want the signs back and we'll make metal signs so we can keep them for a long time. So, oh, I'll pass it around.

Doreen, can I ask you a quick question?

Yes, sir.

I don't know if this is for you or for Al, or maybe it would be for Pedro. Within the building contracts or the work orders that we provide the contractors to start their work, start their construction, do we know if there's something in the contract that has them expressly acknowledge the work hours?

I can't hear you. The mayor is asking in our permit application process, is there something

in the permit that you can we can uh make sure that you know the hours of construction that there's no uh construction on national holidays and uh on sundays i'm not sure i haven't looked at their permits i'm not sure they have that information but they do have a lot of information that they give up front that goes with the permits and this is probably in there i'll check and confirm that if it's not i'll i'll be happy to add it to the website so they can have these instructions and regulations up front, which I know they won't follow. We'll still have to go to the construction site and tell them, hey, you can't be here today, Saturday. So we are very proactive, Commissioner Gonzalez, I have to tell you. It doesn't show sometimes, but I do go to these construction sites and I do talk to whoever I find on the site. One of the problems we have is the language barrier. Most of the time we get to the construction sites, we find people there that will not communicate. I don't know if it's intentional or they've been instructed not to ever talk to anyone with a badge, but it happens so often that every construction site you go to is like me not picking English, me, you know, absolutely.

Okay, so the question is we pay for those signs, right? We are. Okay, if we're paying for it, what we can do is put it in the paperwork that they have, that they have to return the sign.

The sign, and we may be able to give them the little deposit.

little discount if they if they bring the sign because i think that'll solve our you know what help with our problems if we are charging them for the signs then they have to bring it back and if they bring it back you know they get a 10 then we give them a deposit back and give them something back you'll get more people to turn their signs in just to get if there's an incentive for them to bring it back absolutely so one other question i did have for you during um is

You know, the working off hours, working after hours, working holidays, working weekends, it's a code violation. You know, I assume the answer is yes. But, you know, if you can confirm for me that you, after so many code violations of this nature, that you have the power to make a referral to the building department to issue a stop work order.

I don't specifically issue stop work orders, but I would definitely work with the building official to issue them. The building official doesn't issue the stop work orders without me. So we work together.

So, yeah, it's, it's, it's hard, you know, art, I hear what you're saying and it's, it's, it's well taken, I think, but we can only put so many measures in place, you know, where we advise them upfront, we tell them of the penalties, say these bad things will happen to you if you violate this, this, this code. And then it's about enforcement in, um, you know, Doreen and her department and our police department getting out. And it's, I know residents, I've heard the same thing where art, you know, the residents don't want to put it in, attach a name to something. That's why I like when I, when I talk to them and say, well, tell me I'll, I'll put my name to him and I don't care. But, um, It's kind of like a multifaceted enforcement. It's going to come from code. It's going to come from police. It's going to come from residents. And if we can't enforce it on that level, I would defer to Doreen and John to work together to see if they can find how other municipalities do it. I'm not aware of any other way, but...

if if john has a suggestion then right yes of course the police has been very good in helping us whenever there's a big event going on if there's a major holiday coming up the police has actually helped us give flyers out because one holiday i don't remember which holiday i did print out flyers and i left them at the construction sites just to remind everybody we have a federal holiday coming up and i we don't want you on the on the side

Is there a way that we can put in the work orders that if they do work on Sunday, there is a fine? And I'm not saying that we have to be able to collect the fine, but if you put like if there's a three, you have working on Sunday, we have a $3,000 fine. It doesn't mean they're going to get the fine, but it is scared businesses that they're not going to take a chance of risking to be fined $3,000.

So with the whole enforcement process, we can't just come up with a number to charge people. We have to go by what? Chapter 162. requires of us, which is we bring them to the board, the highest we can charge is $250, administrative 250.

That day that you came out, you had how many violations? 14. Okay, 14 times $200. How much is that? That's money that we can be bringing in. right but we can't charge it up front no there's an escalation like the ones that good violations if they do it again i come out here and i find them in violation i'll escalate those violations to the board and they will get i think that i hope if there's enough hopefully we don't have that many violations but if we have enough violations then we can be able to you know have somebody work on a saturday or on a sunday right it was

Yeah, it was very effective that I did have some contractors after I issued the violations on Juneteenth come back to me and on the next holiday, this past holiday, they emailed me. Are we working this day or which day are we not working? Because the village was closed extra days. The contractors were contacting me. They were emailing me and asking. So the Juneteenth situation was very effective in reminding people that they can't work on holidays.

So let's wrap this up. Commissioner Hamzah, we haven't heard from you.

I was wondering if it's ready and you're distributing already because there's typos.

This is a sample that I had printed for Commissioner Salas. We're going to make them a little bigger. They're going to be about three by four feet larger so they can be seen from a distance.

Either of us, I'm sure, can help with the Spanish on that, just to make sure. Oh, did I do it wrong? No, that's fine. That is any chat can help you, but the, yeah, there's some type of, and I don't know if the Creole. That's Google Translate, I believe. I'm happy to help you.

Okay, I appreciate that. Definitely, we'll do better, but I needed you to see that this is what we're working with.

So when are we going to actually have these posters, hopefully?

Oh, I can put in the order tomorrow if you approve this.

Well, I got to read the Spanish. I don't know.

She already saw it. No, no, it's not. It's just typos.

I'm just going to end this by saying that my question hasn't been answered yet. Obviously, I don't think that there is a policy per se in place. But here's the here's the issue. So. Every time there's a construction and somebody actually complains and it's off hours or it's weekends, it's the police that reply. And it's the police that shut them down. I've seen it happen myself, where my son used to live on Fifth Avenue. I've seen the police come out, shut it. But from what I've seen, the point is that they're waiting for someone to call. And so I guess the question is more for the chief. Chief, would you mind coming up here? I guess the first question is, do our officers know what the rules are pertaining to construction in the village? That's the first question. And then the second question is, are they proactively going to shut things down, like, say, a Sunday, a holiday, or are they waiting? If they drive by a construction site on a Sunday and we don't close it out here, will they go and shut it down and say, oh, I know that this is wrong?

And that's the answer to your question is yes. uh but it all depends on how the day is going what's going on out there they're have the time to go by a construction site they may go by they may not see anything at the time that they go by i mean it's it's it's different yeah they they write reports all the time to code enforcement letting them know we got this guy doing this at the site you know uh code violations get reported to to code okay now i usually on something like a construction site where there's construction workers usually they'll get off and and and tell them listen it's you gotta you gotta shut it down the problem is is when they say no i'm not doing it then there's then there's the other problem now it's police enforcement so

I think these signs will help tremendously better. I think that now you'll be able to go out to a site and just point to the sign and say, hello, this is the rules.

All right.

Well, thank you.

Thank you. I'm not going to say I feel much better, but

have one final comment uh signs i i'm really concerned i don't think that i i hope that a fee and and you get your uh your um deposit back will work but if you think of the grand scheme of things if you're building a million dollar house if you lose a hundred dollar fee for throwing the sign away you're probably not going to really care you're you're probably throwing away more material and trash than that hundred dollars is worth if we see that that doesn't work is it a possibility that we could add that as part of the final inspection that until you turn in our sign you don't get your final inspection done that i mean that's question for john i don't know with our land development code if we can change that to add that language in there that if the sign is not turned in you don't get your final inspection why can't we just have them give a deposit it's like we have to do it you could but what i'm saying is if you're spending a million dollars building a house a hundred dollar deposit probably doesn't make all that Okay, it's more of the waste of the signs if you're if you're continually throwing signs away all the money we spend all the resources, pick it up. To me, I think that we should try to be proactive about not producing more waste in the village and just adding our final inspection. I'm not saying we need to do it now, but being reactionary to this in six months and saying, hey, we lost all our signs, the deposits not working. could be our future.

No, I like the idea of the final inspection because they can't get the thing done unless they have that final inspection. So there's the, I agree with you, Commissioner. There's the threat. If you're saying that unless you turn your sign in, we're not going to approve your final inspection. That right there stops them. All right, John, think about that and let us know.

Yeah, and I'll check in with the building as well because thank you.

All right. Moving on to discussion on property tax reform.

I think a lot of this already was touch this, you know, earlier today. So I leave it to that, unless you guys have a comment.

No, I think we talked about it.

The only comment I have is I'll echo back what I said last month. I think it was last month when we talked about this, that I think some form of town hall, and I know we said that the budget hearing would be our town hall, but When you put the title budget hearing or budget workshop, people automatically click off and want to go to sleep. If you put property tax town hall, you're going to pack this place with people who want answers and want to know what's going on. So when we have those answers, when we have those numbers, I would encourage a town hall workshop that's sole source to that because you're going to get a lot more participation than come to the budget workshop and hear what we're going to do. Just the title alone.

Well, you say we use the title, we address tax reform and then at the same time touch on the budget.

I would do it as completely separate meeting because people I mean, I heard this complaint this month. I don't like going to the meetings because they're so long and the item that I want to hear takes so long. If we're if we go item by item and budget and then we're all going to property tax at the end, even though we probably take it at the beginning. People might not want to go. But if you have a sole source meeting that's just for property tax and the impact that could mean to your residents, I think you're going to have way.

Also, we need to have a lot of the facts. I mean, that's the numbers. That's going to be the most important thing is on how it's presented at the town hall meeting. If people know it's going to cost them money, you know, they're going to they're going to listen. If it's not going to cost them money, they don't care.

I think my point here was how behind the bull are we? Clearly, everybody's on the same boat based on what we heard. But I think there is work in advance to be done. Jonathan, are you still there? I'm here. Yeah. So I don't know if you see it from a mayor's perspective in your conversations. Is there something else you recommend? I think based on what David said, What we can do is just prepare scenarios, let people know that this is sort of what's impacted. We have that already from Paul to a certain extent. And then we can even educate, but we can't even say that much. So I love the idea of the workshop for the budget. I think I would just not just exclude the rest of the budget because I think people need to understand they need to be part of it as well so I will try to see how to address that but um I don't know unless do you have anything else Jonathan on this point um unfortunately I was not here for David's presentation but I do recall Paul's presentation to us last last month in pretty great detail we spent a lot of time on it and my I mean yes I

A town hall is a good idea. I do have some concerns that I would share with Ryan in setting a budget, not for the same reasons, but only because we tend to take up all of our budget workshop time going through the budget. And adding another very dense topic to that with a lot of community engagement is just going to blow that meeting up big time. So it probably belongs in its own meeting. But I would I would hesitate to set that meeting and workshop until we have some more firm figures from Paul. And I mean, look, there's also litigation. There's a lawsuit right now. So we could plan this whole thing out and say we're going to address eight different scenarios on how we deal with property taxes only for the lawsuit to get a temporary injunction. This thing doesn't go on the ballot in November. That's my only concern. I hesitate to take affirmative action when there are so many questions about how it could shake out. I think the best thing we can do at this point is take what we have, ask Paul to run the numbers for us, get an understanding of what it looks like. I recall Paul telling us that, at least as far as that first, assuming it passes at what's been proposed, that we can absorb the increase in the homestead cap within the first budget year and then plan for the second one, which would be far more substantial. I don't know what else there is to do about it right now, other than say, maybe Paul, get us, if you can get us a report and some figures we can talk about as a commission to answer some community questions. um but there's a lot of balls in the air on this right now so i i hesitate to say something about one of these things now and then two months from now what i just said is completely inapplicable and people say well why'd you tell us this now it's different it's a shifting goal post it's very difficult so that's the only way i would see addressing it now is say paul can you run some more firm reports for on us maybe we can talk about it and present it now answer some questions but outside of that um i don't know there's much else we can do

And I would just concur with the mayor. I think that definitely we would blow that budget meeting up if we bring up a heavy topic like that. And hearing him say that, you know, what Paul did say last month, that if we can absorb the impact next year, there's not going to be much impact on this budget process. This could be something we host in October. Sorry, Ryan.

And one thing, I apologize, or one thing that Paul did say is not only could we absorb it in the first year and the increase of the cap, but we could absorb it without a loss of level of service, which is a huge, important kind of condition on that statement. Sorry, go ahead.

Exactly. So this could be an issue that we prepare for and we look to take up in October. But I think that's the main thing is we need to continue to be prepared for it, continue asking for those reports from Paul and getting ready to educate.

And one other thing, Veronica, on the point that you made, I mean, I I planned on reaching back out to the county and saying, are we going to continue with this education campaign? Because when we had those meetings with the county, the top item, or I guess the only action item that the county really had to tell all the 34 municipalities in Miami-Dade County was you just have to educate your residents on what it could do. I don't know that any level of education is going to stop somebody from voting to increase their homestead cap and pay less in property taxes. But I know, Art, you mentioned it. Like, this is the easiest cow sheep out on the planet. It's going to pass.

I'm all in, man.

But I don't know that there's any level of education that would stop someone from voting against their own interests. But the way that I see it is I'm happy to reach back out to the county, the folks that were running those meetings and say, is there any planned continuation of those meetings? We had them every Friday at 4 o'clock for quite a while. And they paused now, right? Yeah, they paused quite a while back after the session had adjourned during the first time. Um, and nothing had been really, uh, proposed or pushed forward at the time, but obviously things changed very drastically since then. So I'm happy to reach out to the county and ask if we are going to set those back up. Um, I would ask the commission, you know, if we want to ask Paul, if he can run a little bit more of an in-depth report for us, and then we can kind of consume it and decide if, and when, and how we want to hold a community event. Um, but there's, yeah, there's a lot of things that can happen between now and tomorrow. We just don't know.

We just don't know. There was a lot of, a lot of uncertainty.

I mean, with that, a call to action, uh, Jonathan, thank you. Yeah. And keep us updated, whatever they talk about.

I'm going to email them right now, actually. So I don't forget.

All right, guys, I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. Third, fourth. Yes. Aye. Aye. Aye. Yes.

Thanks, everybody. I think we adjourned. All right. Good night, everyone.

Like, you know,