Town Council - Regular Meeting

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Good evening, everybody. Welcome to our town of Cutler Bay regular town council meeting. Today is Wednesday, March 18th, 2026. Mr. Clerk, if you could please take the role.

Before we start, I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone that might be watching online. Right now, the Deus camera doesn't seem to be working. They should be able to hear everything. Presentations that we put up, they'll be able to see. And anyone that comes to speak at the podium, they'll be able to see that view as well. Council Member Ramirez? Here. Council Member Lord?

Here.

Council Member Duncan? Here. Vice Mayor Callahan?

Here. Mayor Maribod? Present. We have a quorum. Okay. Councilman Duncan, I understand, will be here very, very shortly, so we'll let him correct the record when he shows up. All right. If you could all please join me and rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Good evening, everybody. Welcome today. It's a nice town council meeting. We are expecting two speakers today, but they're not here yet. So we are going to be hearing from two of our state representatives today. Actually, our state senator, Alexis Calatayud, and hopefully Omar Blanco also, who is our state rep from District 115, will kind of give us a rundown on what's going on in Tallahassee. And a reminder, they're the ones that are up there working on our behalf. So I'll be glad to hear from them. So until we'll get there, I'm going to open this up, the floor up for public comments right now. Anybody who wishes to speak from public comments, please come forward. And if there's anybody else wish to speak rather than sitting and waiting, please get in line and then I will see if the end of the line that is so OK. Anybody else wishes please please get in line.

Please give us your name and your hello. Hello, my name is Charles Ellis. I'm 8710 Ridgeland Drive. Been in that house since, we've had the house since 1960, okay? So, and the Cutler Ridge, Cutler Bay pool has been critical to, you know, my whole life. You know, I was a lifeguard on Miami Beach for 29 years. And that was where I learned how to swim in the 64 and first job in 76, okay? And it's just there's so many people. It's a hub of the whole neighborhood. You know, people are training it every day. We have elderly using it. And it's just a shame that after all these years, it's going to be shut down. You know, and I'm just wondering, you know, I keep hearing, you know, three years for a new pool. But, you know, is that really going to happen in three years? I don't know. Yeah. I know a lot of us might not even be around by the time the new pool's built, you know. And it's just a shame that that's, you know, how it is. You know, it's not only just for working out and for health reasons, but just it's a social, you know, like I said, you know, it's one of the pillars of the community. You know, we meet there every day. You know, we have things to talk about. And it's just, you know, I really think it's a shame after all these years to be closing it. And I know there's issues with the money. And, you know, I just wish we could find some money somewhere. That's all I got to say. Thank you very much.

Good evening. My name is Antonio Bucacci. I live at 8763 Southwest 206 Lane. I moved here in 2007, and I thought it was amazing that there was a pool here. I'm now retired City of Miami Beach Ocean Rescue Lifeguard. And it's really important that we still have a pool. Our swimming lessons, our lifeguards come from classes here, and they're the ones that are going to be working out on the beach and be saving your kids during spring break. You know, when the wind kicks up in March, you know, this is not the time to close it. Maybe back in the winter, and I'm not telling you to close it. I'm begging you not to close it and to do whatever you can to keep it open. And you say, oh, three years, whatever, find a place. I can't maybe go for three years without a swim. I've been swimming all my life, and I'm afraid I'll freeze up if I don't have that workout. And it's my problem, not your problem, but it's everybody. Everybody's got a personal reason why they need that pool open. And some of us may not have three years, and maybe that three years might put them in a place where then they can't come back and swim. So please, please, please, please. And somebody suggested one time, and I know it's a pipe dream, but to have two pools when they're going to build Southland Mall with all those high rises and all those people coming in, it's like maybe, oh, we won't need it for the way down the road in the future. But, you know, to me, you guys have been doing a really good job of buying up land so that the developers can't get us and just crowd us in with nothing. But I think two pools, I mean, please, I'm begging you, don't close it. You know, we need it. We really need it. Thank you.

Good evening. Stefano Fanfani, 7991 Southwest 186C. I feel like I'm repeating myself. This is going to be the third time, but... I wanted to talk about finances and the budgets that have been established to fix this pool. We have gone, I have been present at the advisory committee, whereby the We were able to discuss the budget. Vice Mayor Callahan actually came up with maybe a possibility of lowering the budget to about $550,000. I discussed the fact that the city has a budget of about 58. And again, I'm talking the end of 24, 25 fiscal year. You have a budget of $58 million. You had $30 million in reserves at the time. At the meeting, it came out that by now you were down to 23, if I'm not wrong, which means that there is some money out there that could be used for a project like this. And veering away from the money, With these people behind me and the people that were there at the council last time and at the advisory meeting, there is a community, a community of people that not only enjoy swimming, but also represent the social part for them. They meet their friends there. They, particularly since a lot of them are old, including me, We enjoy being able to just spend some time and avoid being what is a problem for this country, mostly for everybody, the solitude of the later years. Besides that, you have the classes for the summer for kids that, for them to learn to swim in a county and in a city that has countless canals, pools, oceans, swamps, all kind of things. And, you know, learning to swim is a very important part of life in South Florida. Thank you for your attention.

Hello, good evening. My name is Rembrandt Peralta. I reside at 21062 Southwest 103rd Place. And first off, I would like to recognize the mayor and the council for doing, I think, some amazing work within the last few years. I think there's been fantastic projects across the town in the shows, and I think a lot of residents can obviously agree to that. A few points that I would like to take the opportunity to share with the council would be, I try my best to stay abreast with all of the capital improvements, all of the public works that are done within the town. One that I guess didn't come on my radar is whatever happened to the project that happened, of course, with the bridge on Caribbean Boulevard. It seems like that's still at a standstill. I don't remember seeing any communication. A second point would be regarding social media. I was looking actually at the report, and I found it interesting that most of the traffic within social media, as we know, it's 2026. This is the way that most of the community and the public interacts, right? A concern of mine that I've noticed is that we don't allow any public commenting for a lot of these public items. So it's interesting to see the report showing the downward trend in participation. I think it's a missed opportunity for the community to be able to get a better pulse on the town, see exactly what they may opine regarding all the different, you know, let's say initiatives or actions taken with the council. So I think it's an excellent opportunity to allow a little bit more engagement and interaction with the town. Yeah, and that's it. So thank you for your time.

My name is Sandra Anselmo, 9915 Montego Bay Drive, 33189. This was brought to my attention by my sister who just came down to visit. Keep telling her what a wonderful place this is and how much we're getting. And she said, you know what? I have to tell you, when you come in here, the first thing you see, like he said, the highway's under construction, the mall's under construction, Caribbean Bridge is under construction, Frangio's under construction. All not our fault, but not a good look. We bought, we sold this office space. We bought new office space, which is a lot better than high rises. We got paths on old Cutler Road. We widened it. It looks beautiful with the plants. But to get that, we lost one of our favorite trees right there on Marlin. That tree saved my life a couple of times. We built on land that wasn't supposed to be able to hold the weight of that supermarket there and everything else. We're getting a new town hall. All sounds good, but all the land we buy is contaminated, which costs us a lot of money because it was a farm. We all know that. Again, not our fault that we have to pay for that. But We can't walk on the pathways on Old Cutler Road because the bums are always sleeping on the bus benches and hiding in the bushes there. It's not real safe to be walking alone, especially at our age. If you want to cross Old Cutler, like I have to, to get to the shopping center, you're lucky if those people stop at the pedestrian walkways. Even though the lights are running, they could care less. All of our parks either seem to be in progress or used seasonally for mostly kids sports. We lost football at Holy Rosary, and it's too damn hot, excuse me, to be outside in the summer. Only one park is used all the time, and that's Cutleridge Park. It always has walkers and kids in the playground, programs in the center, sports teams, special events. And the pool is used every day of the year. And with people with various needs to be able to use that pool is a great thing. Now, you go over there now, park's almost empty. Nobody's there. Sometimes I see Michelle's truck there all by itself. And I hate to say it, but shame on you for taking away something wonderful from all of our townspeople. And I hope that there's no kid that drowns in this city before we get a pool.

Again, if anybody wishes to speak, I ask you to please come forward and get in line. I'd like to move the meeting along as well.

Hi, good evening. My name is Kathy Chavik. I live at 8971 Ridgeland Drive. I spoke at the park and recs meeting. So some of this is a duplication. Moved here, moved back here a year ago, decided to buy a house that did not have a pool. my sister and I because we had the pool. I've really enjoyed this community and this is how I've met so many people in Cutler Bay and I've been very pleased. I am a nurse. I do feel very strongly that not having a learn to swim program after seeing so many near drowning cases or total vegetables when I was training as a nurse. I do. I know that there are financial constraints, but I do feel that it is a big loss to the community. And in particular, the things that we do in the pool cannot be replaced in any other situation. And I think I used to swim at the JCC pool with my daughter. They closed it. It was supposed to be six months. It took two and a half years just to remodel it. So I really, I'm sorry, I'm doubtful that the permitting and everything will happen in three years. So I think it's a big loss for people over 65 or over 55 people who have injuries or conditions they cannot wait there. And they are prescribed actually medically to exercise. people who have swam all their life and that's how they continue their cardiovascular. So I've said these things before, if there's any way that you can, as we discussed at the park and recs meeting, if they can do something to have the pool, you know, fix the pool until the other one's ready, because my guesstimate is it's going to be five or six years. And I think that's a big loss for the community. So thank you for your time.

Is there anybody in the queue who wants to speak?

One in the queue.

Morgan Schneider, 9495 Southwest 188th Street. Some of you guys know me. I'm a former lifeguard at the pool. Worked there for a long time. It was my first job. Very proud of that. Taught a lot of kids how to swim. Very, very important. Was the first water polo team, swim team at Cutler Bay Senior High. Saw the first loss, saw the first win. It was very, very important to me and all the people sitting behind me right now. But I don't want to talk about us as much. I want to talk about you guys. You guys have connections to this pool, whether you believe it or not. Ramirez, all the firefighters that you talk about all the time, they get their certifications at that pool. They work out when they get off shift in the morning. The most tired that they are, they come to that pool to work out every day. Callahan, you showed us all your medals, your lifeguard certification, all that stuff. Mayor, your moms, I see her when I work there every Tuesday and Thursday. These people care about the pool. I don't really have a connection anymore, but they do, and I think it's worth fighting for. I don't think it's fair what you guys are doing to it, and I'm not here to parade anybody, but... I think that pool deserves a second chance. It wasn't given one to begin with, if you ask me. But that's all I got to say. I really hope you guys rethink the decision here. And I appreciate Vice Mayor Callahan for giving us the opportunity to bring this against the council. So thank you guys.

All right. Public comments is now closed.

Sorry, Alison Mulder, 19105 Frangio Road, Cutler Bay, Florida, 33157, 27-year resident in Cutler Bay. I'm actually here because I came to a media, I saw it, heard on social media from Ralph. Actually, I should all thank you for being here. Thank you for being here. It is my second attempt of speaking on this, but I had the opportunity of seeing Ralph on Instagram, social media, telling us that the pool was closed. And for the past probably four or six years, we probably knew that the pool should have been closed a long time ago. And the fact that it wasn't was a surprise. I think every month that it stayed open. And now it's almost like we knew all this time we could have been fixing it and should have been fixing it. And I thought it was behooved me to come to the meeting when we had the Parks and Recreation here to listen to why. And I didn't get a why other than it was $30,000 a month in water. Maybe the why is going to be when you present on whatever legal matters or plans that have happened. But I'm of the mind of this community that we come together and we work hard to save the things that we have. We haven't been able to save a lot because we've grown a lot. One of my best days in my daughter's memory was winning a water polo tournament or game against Coral Reef, the rivalries of it, that energy it brought from the schools, it brought from the communities, the parents. There's a lot of yum around it. And then we had COVID and we kind of lost that yum and we lost the programs and we still have these kids that are still trying to learn and we're closing this thing. So I guess what I'm here to do is say, they said, oh, We're going to bring it back before council, but we're here talking to you about this, but what does this actually mean? Are we talking to you about it so that you'll maybe put it to the community to then put a vote to say we want to keep it open? Is it an opportunity to have the community come together to do some fundraising? Is it part of the community to come together and start writing grants? How can we get this? I spoke before about, you know, really being in the community, and Ralph, you know me. Mayor Mirabat, you know me. Susie, we've seen each other. We've all seen each other in passing in all kinds of community events, whether it's Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Greater Miami, Kendall, Coral Gables Chamber, Chamber South. We've all been together working for this community, and this is important. Not just, it's really... to the community it's not me individually or me my emotions in it it's how can we save this to keep it so that we have it if it's putting a band-aid on it for the next three years it could be four years five years we keep finding contaminations everywhere let them have it let them have this one thing let us come together and make it work for our community so i mean i have lots of little notes here from my last speech people have dropped things off in my mailbox um I got his time.

I got somebody's time.

Somebody can give me their time. I got lots of- Thank you. Thank you. You need to give him his address. I'll let you go on, but you're not allowed to give other people your- Okay, no, that's cool because I do have these notes and these are just questions that I have because I really don't know why we're here. Are we here to put it back on the docket? Okay, let's say we close it and we don't have this pool anymore. What are we doing with it? What is it going to cost to do whatever in the next phase?

We're going to go ahead and work through that. Correct. So again- You're asking questions, probably you'll address, so-

Correct. So again, these are just the things that when you're thinking about it, we want to know as the community, what is it going to cost? What is it going to be next?

Go ahead and give the answer. Cool.

Okay. I'm done. I'm done. Okay. All right. Bye.

Is there any way else?

All right, public comments is now closed. That'll take us to our town and council announcements and reports. Oh, sorry, you're right. I'm going to move Ralph's, one of our presentations. Senator Calatayud is in attendance with us. If you could please come forward. She's, again, I spoke highly about you while you were away. But this is Senator Calatayud. She is the one who represents us up in Tallahassee. And she's got a fine history of doing a great job for us. So I'm interested. Thank you, first of all, for being here. and giving us an update on what's going on in Tallahassee.

Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members. It's a pleasure to be with you today. Congratulations on another amazing Wings Above the Bay event this past weekend. It was awesome. I hope you guys were able to go out and enjoy. We have concluded our 60-day legislative session in which I can talk a little bit about the policy I was part of, but we have not yet concluded our budget. And so we're likely to have a special session on the Florida budget in mid-April. At this time, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President are trying to arrive at the top budget number, whether that's $114, $115, or $116 billion for the state. In terms of our budget projects, so our Cutler Bay priorities, which is our Sheriff Emergency Operations Command Center, it's the Legacy Park Brownfield Soil Remediation Active Adults Program, and additional water quality improvements, those are currently in a placeholder in the budget today. And so as soon as the special session on the legislative budget begins again, we'll be going full throttle to make sure these projects are funded and that we're able to support the local community on these really important initiatives. You all have tremendous fiscal responsibility and how you handle your budget investments, I can do nothing but salute. And I think other municipalities across the state would do well to understand how you invest taxpayer dollars. This past legislative session, I was able to pass several bills related to infill development for contaminated lands to help ease the cost of that process. As I was mentioning before, that's a concern, as well as a domestic violence package that rewrote the Florida statutes regarding domestic violence when personal violence injunctions can be submitted in a survivor-centered manner. approach with Representative Deborah Tendrich of Palm Beach, who herself is a survivor of domestic violence. Also proud to share I helped submit, sponsor, and pass the amendment that blocked any reduction to the vote threshold of the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners for new projects that want to be added and change the urban development boundary line. We were successful with the Senate to have a united bipartisan position to preserve the urban development boundary. And one of the other projects we were able to initiate is we had a lapse of more than $30 million for the statewide low-income HIV medication program. And myself, along with the other local senators, Garcia and Rodriguez, as well as our colleague to the North Miami, Chevron Jones, Carlos Guillermo Smith from Central Florida, were able to put together a $30.9 million package that has currently been presented to the governor today to fill the shortfall in the fiscal year for this important life-saving medication. We've been working diligently to address education issues. I passed one of the largest education packages this session to make sure they're providing greater flexibility and opportunity for our local public schools to shine. It's no clearer than visiting Coast Academy and visiting our incredible public schools in Cutler Bay. What happens when we give our educators and administrators and moms and dads in the community the tools they need to see their kids shine? So thank you so much for your support of our efforts in Tallahassee. They'll be ongoing, particularly as the state legislature and the governor have indicated. We will be hosting a special session on property taxes. And so we will be working closely together, not just in what our community's voice will be on that issue in Tallahassee, but love to partner with you all in sharing with the Cutler Bay community how you are investing their taxpayer dollars, which it can't be seated in resiliency, in mitigation efforts. The fiscal responsibility of your council has been tremendous and an example statewide. And I just want to say it's a joy to work with you all. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve with you.

Right. Senator, thank you very much. I do appreciate it. Again, you know, the work that you do up there fighting for just the tax dollars that come back and make our community better has been great. I love your stance on UDB, which is one that I think that we support. As you know, Cutler Bay has been a leader in trying to protect the environment. So that goes a really long way towards that. So real quick to see if I have any questions for the council. Councilman Duncan.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a quick comment on behalf of myself and the mayor, who we both have an item on the agenda today specifically tailored to the UDB, urging the Florida legislature to protect it, keep it intact. I do want to thank you preemptively for protecting it ahead of even this vote tonight. So just thank you for looking out and continuing to serve the town and protect the overdevelopment from perhaps happening in that urban development.

Absolutely. I think urban sprawl is one of our most challenging problems. Thank you.

You're good. OK, that's right. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Council. And thank you, Senator, because behind the scenes, you know, that's how we do everything. You know, getting all the appropriations in. And I know that the senators said very humbly all the different projects. But I want to say at least publicly that. She has included a $1 million appropriation in the Senate budget for our EOC command center for our legacy park. So, you know, once again, you know, thank you. Cause that's the heavy lift. You know, you get to pick only so many projects and that made the Senate side of the budget. And it also made the house side of the budget at a tune of 500,000. So right now we're working behind the scenes to make it, you know, a million each that way it's cohesive there. So, so thank you. You know, Senator, it's a pleasure working with you and, and your staff and our lobbying team as well.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your work. Appreciate you. And Mayor, I also received a text from Representative Blanco that he sends his regards. He just was running behind. He's at the Biltmore and you can imagine the traffic from the Biltmore here. So, but again, you know, just echo what we said. As Senator mentioned, she did a lot of the work for us. She kind of like, you know, listed all the different appropriations and all those projects are also on the House side as well. So we want to publicly thank, you know, Representative Blanco as well. So thank you, Senator.

All right, thank you so much. All right, that takes us to the Town Council Announcements Board Committee Reports. We've all submitted our reports, and we do have one item on there, 3B, Park and Rec Advisory Committee. Rob, it's going to be you leading us off, or is it Vice Mayor Callahan? Okay, Vice Mayor Callahan, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. At the last council meeting, I had requested that the pool report be referred to the Parks Committee for further consideration by the committee. On Monday, March 2nd, at a regularly scheduled Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, the committee was asked to consider the technical memorandum dated January 28th, 2026 regarding the Cutler Ridge Park Aquatic Facilities Repair Evaluation. This was in addition to the Aquatic Facility Condition Assessment of Cutleridge Park and Mechanical Equipment Report that was dated September of 2022 by Terry Gallant of Stantec Consulting Services. I wish to thank Councilmember Lord and Town Manager Ralph Cassells for being in attendance and providing comments and answering residents' questions. As expected, there were many members of the community that were in attendance and through public comments expressed their support for keeping the pool operational until such time that the new pool facility is available at Legacy Park. A careful review of the report was presented, which included the estimated cost of repairs from the 40-year inspection in the Miami-Dade Health Department in the amount of $782,685. A motion was made and seconded and passed unanimously by members present to refer the cost of the repairs back to the council for further action. On March 10th, 2026, I had the opportunity to tour the pool facility along with town manager Ralph Cassells, parks director E.T. Bejarano, aquatic facility manager Michelle Horn, and engineer Terry Glunt from Stantec to verify items in the January 2026 report. As of March 10th, 2026, the Color Rich Pool is in such condition that continuing operation is not possible unless identified repairs are made. After reviewing the items on the estimate, it was apparent that the cost of $782,685 was an estimate based upon items that could be identified. What we know that is required is the following. These are repairs that are required. Plans and permitting of $50,000 by Miami-Dade Building Department. Electrical bonding of 30,231, the requirement of the 40-year inspection. The gutter drain replacement, in the cost of 85,345, a requirement of the Miami-Dade Health Department. Pressure line replacement in the amount of $64,000 is required because of the leaks, the current leak in the main system. A pool beam and curb for 22,500, a requirement of the Miami-Dade County Health Department. New electrical panels and upgraded to the building electrical system, $27,000, a 40-year requirement. Removal of the additional decking, a requirement in order to repair the main pressure line and gravity line, and a contingency of $70,000. This makes the required repairs a total of $358,076. Questions regarding the lining of the pipes have been raised. This option was discussed with the engineers and the following was determined. The gutter drain lines are two inch lines and therefore are too small to be considered for this process. The main pressure lines could be lined, but with no guarantee that the sleeving would be effective due to the condition of the pipe. In addition, the pipes will be exposed as part of the bonding replacement. Therefore, it would be a better process to replace the existing pipes than to consider aligning. There is possibility that there may be additional requirements made by the Miami Dade Building Department and or the Health Department. These following items are items that we know that may be required. upgrading to the pool lighting system, a new collector tank, pool resurfacing, and new pool markings for a total of $244,250, which brings the possible repair to $602,326. What is a bigger concern is what we don't know or what we can't presently see that will require repairs. This includes hidden conditions that may be discovered once repairs begin and such items that were identified once the water was drained, such as large cracks that appear in the bottom of the pool. These repairs will require engineered permit drawings to be reviewed by Miami-Dade County, the Town of Cutler Bay and the Health Department. We are of the opinion that each of these authorities after reviewing the plans may require additional repairs for the permit to be issued and bring the pool into current code. These items cannot be determined until the plans are submitted for permitting. After many hours of reviewing the details surrounding the closure, I would like to make the following recommendation. The council approve an unbudgeted line item request in the amount not to exceed $50,000 for the development of engineered repair drawings that can be submitted for permitting to develop a true cost of their repairs. And at such time, this matter be brought back to the council for further consideration. This process would need to be done regardless, even if the repairs were to be approved at tonight's meeting. In addition, it is important to understand that these repair process could take close to a year to complete, which includes plans and permitting. Unfortunately, the pool cannot operate under these current conditions. At this time, Mr. Mayor, are you back? And we'll be happy to answer any questions from the council.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Vice Mayor. I'll open it up for the council for questions.

Comments?

Councilman Ramirez, you recognize? If we can, if the town manager would give us a little update as far as, because I believe at some point in order to do some of these repairs, we have to actually raise the pool. We have to raise the pool from its foundation and do repairs underneath. That's not where we're at anymore?

We were never at that.

We were never at that. No.

I think what the Vice Mayor is proposing right now is a comprehensive engineering expert look to really itemize what needs to be done at the bare minimum and what the actual cost of that would be and also how long it's going to take to do that.

What I'm requesting is that we move forward with the plans and permits. for the repairs. The identified repair, the total identified repairs that are needed to bring the pool back into operation is $358,076, right? But there are other line items that may be required once we get into permitting. The health department may require that the pool lighting be fixed. They may require a new collector tank resurfacing and markings. We won't know this until the plans get into permitting. And these are things that have been identified but have not been called out in the 40-year report. And those costs are $244,000. So the repairs that are required, $358,000. Repairs that we know that could be required, $244,000. So it could be that we're looking at $602,000. And that's just what we know. There could be additional repairs that are needed that we don't know. That's why I'm requesting that we move forward with the permit plans.

All right. Well, Councilman Duncan or Councilman Member Lord, do you have any questions on this at this time? No?

Oh, you do.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I guess the question that I have, and I'll defer to the Vice Mayor on this, just from your expertise and the Parks Committee. Do we know yet what the timeline would be if the council were to authorize an amount up to $50,000? How long it would take once that is allocated and spent to determine the next steps on this pool? And what I ask that in that If we do have the $4.3 million pool that we're building in Legacy Park, and that has already been approved, we already have those plans, and that is slated for end of 2029. I'm curious as to how much time that this current pool is not going to be usable that we're going to spend money on. to determine that either we can't move forward or we will move forward, depending upon whatever those costs come back. I'm just worried or I'm concerned about what the time is. Are we looking at spending $50,000 and this taking six months, a year, and then we find ourselves in the same spot 12 months from now, $50,000 out, just to be told that, oh, no, it's actually going to be more based on... Because the last thing I... It's a slippery slope in trying to balance... The emotional attachment and the role that that pool serves the residents, especially right now with all the classes that people take, learning how to swim. God forbid anything happened to any of our young residents that are learning how to swim if they don't have that opportunity. I'm worried about the amount of time that the current pool would be out of commission. We already know that the new pool is roughly three years away, give or take, depending upon any further delays. And then if we're going to invest up to $50,000 to determine permitting and whatnot and what the actual official cost will be, how long it will take us to get to that point where we know what that is? Is it a month, three months, six months, 12 months? And then at that point in time, if we've already... Burn that amount of time between now and then with the new pool, then that's a conversation for this council or a future council, depending upon how long it takes to determine how they want to move forward. Already investing the $50,000 and that amount of the time commitment more so is what I'm concerned about.

Yeah, thank you very much, Council. I guess I should start by saying that if the pool is to be considered to be reopened, it must go through this process, okay? There must be plans and permits, okay? So it's not that we can fill up the pool tomorrow and open back up. okay because we have to do the required repairs we have to do the bonding we have to do the gutter drain you know these are things that have been called the electrical panel repairs these are things that have been called out uh that need plans and permits um God, if I could give you an exact answer as to when a permit would be issued, I could retire tomorrow, okay? But my best guess estimate based on municipality permitting and the connections that we have, I would assume that the plans and permitting could be ready within 60 days.

Okay.

At that time, we would have a much better idea as to what the city is or what Miami-Dade and the health department are going to require. Are they only going to require the $358,000 or are they going to require the entire $600,000? We would probably have that answer within 60 days. Okay. It's going to take about eight months to complete the repairs. Okay.

And then I guess a follow-up question, and this really is just a question for the council to at least consider writ large. If the determination, so we invest $50,000, determine what the cost is, we get that back 60 days. Whenever we get that back, the pool's inoperable until any sort of work potentially happens. Let's say it comes back, and whether it's $300,000, $700,000, or more, from an economic efficiency standpoint, I guess the question that I have for the rest of the council to consider would be, Are you prepared when we have a new pool at the Legacy Park in the future to either operate two pools and or spend the $300 to $700 to whatever it is for a two-year pool usage? It's really more so just to consider because that's the decision that all of us would be making at that point in time.

Well, we have spent a lot more to get a lot less. right we spent a lot of money to get aqua a brand new i don't i don't know if you remember when we were researching the aqua facility we spent a lot of money to get those plans and those plans are basically in the garbage can right i think that an investment of up to 50 is i'm not saying it's going to cost i'm just saying that it's a it's a it's a estimate of up to fifty thousand dollars to have the plans and permit drawn to be able to tell us exactly how much the cost is. And I'll be honest with you, it's just my opinion. If the cost is $358,000, I'd be willing to spend that because that's the amount of money you would have lost in water anyways over the course of a year. So that makes sense to me. But if you start getting up into $600,000, $700,000, then I think it's going to take a little bit more consideration. But that's my opinion. That's why I'm asking for the the appropriation for the plants and permits.

Thank you.

Thank you. I have four pages of notes here, and I'm going to not go through all of them, just for your benefit. I do have some comments, though, that I think need to be shared. One of them is Ralph Casals, it was within his discretion to close the pool. And at the time that he decided to close the pool, We that month spent another $36,000 on a water leak and I know that the ideas we should have been fixing the pool up to that point. But I can tell you that if we are continuing to hemorrhage $40,000 a month and water leaks. I would venture to say Ralph Casal's job might have been in jeopardy at some point. So I think the idea of closing the pool with that kind of water loss, you know, it isn't a popular idea, but I think it was prudent for him to do so. He is our town manager and we trust him to make these decisions. And he said more than a few times up here that he stands by that decision and by the engineer's report. And ironically, today at two o'clock in the afternoon, as I was preparing these notes for the meeting, Mayor Cava sent out a mass email telling everyone in Miami-Dade County who received that email that she's declared this week fix a leak week because we've had the water shortage warning. And I find it quite ironic that I got that while I was I was preparing these notes. I have met extensively with residents. I have had numerous emails, phone calls, text messages. I went to five different residents' homes, people I've never met before, the weekend before we had the Park and Rec Advisory Committee meeting. I have done my due diligence here. The bonus of all of those meetings, most of these people were not in my district, by the way. They were looking to be heard. I don't believe in district lines. If you know me, I serve this entire town. But I will say the bonus, I got to know some of you very well, some of you who are not here. And I got to reconnect with a friend of mine from high school who I haven't seen from 30 years, who is a dad on the water polo team, right? This affects absolutely everybody. Morgan, you don't know, I grew up at that pool. I've been here for 46 years. I learned to swim in that pool. I spent many a summer at Cutleridge Park with Ms. Penrod. When I toured the pool, I too had the opportunity to tour the pool with Engineer Glunt on the same day that Vice Mayor did just a few hours apart. The pool is in, we're not talking about cosmetic repairs. I know that one of the residents says, I don't care what it looks like, wherever you're at, we can swim anywhere. And that is very true. That comment is very true. Once they drain the pool, there are massive cracks at the bottom of that pool, right? And so my question to the engineer was, wow, that's a pretty big crack. What are the odds that the water is actually seeping? Some of it is seeping out underneath the pool, right? We may potentially have years of earth degradation underneath that pool that we don't know about. So I always tell personal stories up here. I had a water leak in my master bathroom. My adjuster came, gave me a very small check for it, and we demoed my master bathroom to fix it. And guess what? Four rooms in my house had to be repaired at my cost. That is my concern with this pool. Now, I'm so highly concerned about the fiscal impact to repair the pool, even at $602,000. That's a lot of money. You know, like $50,000 for a plan is a lot of money. Nowhere in my life am I ever going to be able to say, sadly, that $50,000 isn't a lot of money. And guess what? That's not my money I'm spending. It's only partially my money. It's all of your money as well. It's 45,000 residents' money. So the idea that we spend this money to perhaps, and I echo your sentiments, end up exactly here, but with a bigger bill. If that's what you guys want us to do, I make my decisions based on what you guys want to do, largely why I met with so many people prior to the Parks and Rec Advisory Committee. But I will say this. I have done an enormous amount of research on this. That's what I do. I research for a living in my real job. Everything I reviewed, these studies that were done in 2016, photographs of public involvement in 2016, which was a great deal of involvement. I was very happy to see that. That's how we know a pool is very important to this town and make no bones about it. I'd love to see this pool remain open. My children learn to swim in that pool. That pool is the foundation to all of us long timers in this town. That pool, since 2022, I learned, has been closed 34 times. I don't know if it's for a day. I don't know if it's for a week. But 34 times in four years, and that's an average of eight times a year. We knew the pool was a problem. We knew that we would get here at some point. When we found out in 2022 that there is up to a $2.2 million pool, price tag on bringing the pool to where it needs to be we as a council decided that's that's a lot for a 60 year old pool so hey let's build a pool at legacy park that pool was never in our original plans or ideas for legacy park when we asked for the geo bond and we did 20 plus meetings and i attended every single one of those at no point did we discuss a pool being at that park that this cutlerage pool was always supposed to be our pool in our municipality And another fact that I've learned in doing research for this is there are only two municipalities in South Florida that offer a community pool free of charge to the residents. We're one of them. Right now it's closed. I think in the future with Legacy Park, we will again be one of them. And Homestead is the other one. Every other municipality has to pay for a pool in some way, shape, or form. And in no way do I want any of my residents to ever have to pay for the use of a pool, but... $600,000 in tax dollars to fix the pool. You're paying for a pool, right? I mean, broken over in your taxes. I spoke with Mr. Glent about the possible earth degradation underneath the pool, and he said that that is actually a real concern and a probability that we haven't considered. And imagine us spending even $300,000, which I agree with the vice mayor, I'd be 100% on board with that because I've dug through our budget, by the way. I didn't find $2.2 million in it. I found $200,000 in a line item in Parks and Rec for capital outlay. I think that was for our inclusivity park that I don't think is being built this year because we're halfway into the year. Maybe we can use that money. Capital outlay is... in particular used by governments to upgrade and amend amenities and and and make them work and so i think that would fall within that line item so you know 200 000 potentially right there right i have been beating the bush and looking uh as everywhere everywhere for this but You know, I can tell you emphatically, you know, once we look at this plan and potentially start doing this reconstruction, we're inviting the Department of Health to get involved. We're inviting Durham to get involved. We're inviting the fire department and the building department because this is a commercial pool. All of that I'm 100% for. If we can afford it fiscally. We just heard our senator say that we are a beacon of financial responsibility. We really are. That is our biggest job up here is to make sure we're spending your taxpayer dollars wisely. I would love for us to have two pools, but I think that's sort of overkill. Two pools four miles apart for 45,000 residents. That's a lot to ask. But again, we can do that at $300,000. I'd sign off on that in a second because I think that that is the people's will, right? So we also have to consider too that we have another park that nobody's talking about that's been closed for three years. We have no grants coming in for that park. We have an amazing grant writer. We still don't have any money for that park. And I'm not, it's Bel Air Park, by the way, for those of you who don't know. That park is highly used as well. Right now, all we have is a field there. The building is essentially condemned and red-tagged. Our playground equipment has been removed. The pool is very important to all of us. Cutleridge Park is very important to all of us. But Bel Air Park is also very important. So I'm bringing all of this up. And with that, I'm telling you, I would love to see the pool stay open. This is the conundrum that we as elected officials are struggling with, right? There's a very emotional aspect to it, but also there is a fiscal responsibility aspect to it. Initially, I was coming in here with the idea that I would say absolutely no to a plan. I don't want to throw away another $50,000. But if at the end we determine through that plan that we can make repairs and have a guarantee that we're not going to have the pool collapse in a sinkhole. I would be for that. But honestly, we're never going to have that guarantee, according to the engineer, until we start digging stuff up. So we're walking on a very slippery slope here. if it is your will for us to spend the $50,000, maybe less than that to do the plans. And hopefully we don't end up exactly where we're at in three months or six months. The engineer told me total repairs he said was upwards of a year and a half or maybe two years with the permitting issues. And then we are on the precipice of having another pool. So that's our conundrum. And I repeat to you, I would love nothing more than to see that pool remain open. But please bear in mind that we have a fiscal responsibility to our taxpayer dollars. By the way, I did the math. What I spend in taxes here in the year from my home, would only cover two and a half days of the water leak, my entire year of taxes. So we had to shut it down. We had to stop the bleed.

Thank you. Council Member Miller.

First off, thank you, Council Member Lord, for your deep dive. That was very interesting and very, you know, information, you know, just put out there like that, and Council Member Duncan as well. So I have a question. Like the hypotheticals here, let's say that they do the whole study and everything, and, you know, we can do it for $300,000, all right? What is the lifespan of those repairs going to be on that pool? Is it going to be two years, five years, another 40? So it's an estimate. I know there's probably not a solid answer, but what would the appropriate lifespan be? And before you answer that, I want to thank you guys all for coming and sharing your thoughts on this too, because your voice, a lot of times you go to meetings and your voice, you feel that your voice isn't heard. And in this council, everybody's voice gets heard. So thank you guys for showing up for that.

Yeah, thank you, Councilmember Ramirez. And speaking with the engineer, he is pretty confident that the repairs would hold through three years until we open up Legacy Park.

Councilman Duncan? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I do have one other comment. This council has previous, we have set a precedent previously for parks that have been in need of repair that have served our community for multiple years. And that precedent is Franjo Park.

Mm-hmm.

where after extensive hurricane damage, even within our own plan for the town, was that if the park was ever to be destroyed to that point, we would not renew the baseball fields. We would just make it a passive park. But this council... Previously, you know, earlier on when I was first on the council, this council approved, I believe it was up to $2.8 million to restore Franjo Park, really for the exclusive reason of we've had generations of Cutler Ridge kids going and playing baseball at that park. So with this Cutler Ridge pool, it kind of puts us in a similar situation where we have a pool that's been there for generations, for decades. that has served the community, that has served generations of Cutler Ridge kids, Ridge Rats, that have learned how to swim there. And the council has already made a precedent of investing some sort of financial resources into those types of facilities. So I think with your recommendation of spending up to $50,000 to at least get a better understanding on what the... potential total cost could be. I think that would be in line with what this council has already done previously at other park locations. And it would at least give us all the information that we would need to have to be able to make the best decision. And as Councilmember Lord said, you know, if we have line items within our current parks budget, where we can pull money for some of these expenses that we've already budgeted for, then perhaps the most apt thing to do as a council to kind of check every box and operate with the best amount of information that we have is to do that.

I'm going to have to go ahead in this discussion. We have this quasi-judicial is required to start at 7 o'clock on the button, so I want to try to see if we can. wrap this up in the next three minutes or so.

Do you have comments?

I'll make it real quick. Okay. You know, again, there's only two pools as old as ours in the county, ours being one of them. All the rest of them have been closed. And we know that this pool is not going to last forever. We knew this pool was in need for repairs, but we're hoping to be able to keep putting the chewing gum and duct tape on it until our new pool opens up. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Thank you very much for your comprehensive report on it and also the rest of the council's input on the importance of things like this pool, Brangel Park, part of the legacy of the community that you want to preserve, those type of things. I think we've had enough information to kind of decide what counsel what vice mayor Callahan right now is not asking us to say, hey, yes, let's repair the pool. Um, what he's saying is they look with either way. There's gotta be a next step to go forward. Um, which is a smaller step is not committing the 600,700 or even 300,000. Um, it doesn't give us all the answers. We don't know pairs are going to take, um. But it's what he's proposing as a start. One thing we have to keep in mind is that either way, we're going to be without a pool for a long time. I know our town manager has been working hard, shaking the trees to find alternative places for the community to use in the downtime. We're still working on that. We don't know where that is yet, but A lot of good information. You know, Councilman, Vice Mayor Callahan's proposal has been put on the table. So since we only have one minute left, I'm going to ask just for a real quick... Do I need to motion? No, it's because it's just a direction for Ralph to go ahead and obtain a report. So I just need a vote from the Council on whether they want to go forward with that or not, which is an allocation of up to $50,000 for an engineering report. So... Not to exceed $50,000. So, Maurice, if you could just take a real quick vote for us, please.

Council Member Lord?

Yes.

Council Member Duncan? Yes. Council Member Ramirez?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Callahan? Yes. Mayor Mirabod? Yes. Motion passes.

Don't get too excited, folks. There's so many problems. As Councilmember Lord pointed out, we are the most fiscally responsible city in the state of Florida. And we're going to try to be that. Sometimes we spend money where our heart is, but most of the times we don't. But we do want to do what's right. So let's please, let's not get our hopes up. The pool's in bad, bad shape. We know that. So we're just going to take a closer look at it because we know how important it is to the community. With that being said, we need to go ahead and move on to our quasi-judicial, which starts at 7 o'clock on the nose. So we're right there right now. So we'll table the other agenda items after that. Would you like me to read the quasi-judicials?

Yes, please. And have the witnesses sworn? Yes, please. All right. Quasi-judicial public hearing notice. Please be advised that the following item on the agenda is quasi-judicial in nature. If you wish to comment on this item, please indicate that you would like to do so and address the announcement. An opportunity to speak on each agenda item will be afforded the individuals after the applicant and staff have made their presentation on the item. All testimony, including public testimony and evidence, will be made under oath and affirmation. Additionally, each person who gives testimony may be subject to cross-examination. If you do not wish to be cross-examined or sworn, your testimony will be given its due weight. The general public will not be permitted to cross-examine witnesses, but the public may request that the council ask questions of staff or the witnesses on their behalf. Full agenda packet on each on this item and the town code of ordinances and town comprehensive plan is hereby entered into the record. Persons representing organizations must present evidence of their authority to speak for the organization. Further details of the quasi-judicial procedures may be obtained from the clerk. Any lobbyists must register before addressing the counsel on the item." Disclosure of free hearing transactions pursuant to Section 2-237 of the Town Code of Ordinances. All applicants are hereby required to disclose on the record whether any consideration, monetary or otherwise, has been paid or offered to or requested by any person or entity in exchange for any promise or agreement to support, oppose, or refrain from from supporting or opposing this item. The disclosure shall include the person or entity to which consideration was paid or offered or by which such request was made, whether the consideration was received and the position such person or entity agreed to. or promise to take. This time, the clerk will swear in any persons who wish to testify on the quasi-judicial item. The town clerk shall confirm receipt of any ex parte communication disclosures that were received prior to this public hearing and members of the council should disclose any ex parte communication that has not been previously disclosed.

Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth to the best of your knowledge and belief? We did receive the contact logs from the lobbyist prior to this meeting. Thank you.

Read the first item, please.

A resolution of the mayor and the town council of the town of Cutler Bay, Florida, approving modifications to certain conditions in resolution 19-37 relating to the educational facility use in the South Place City Center, formerly Southland Mall, located at 20505 South Dixie Highway, as legally described in Exhibit A, consisting of approximately 90.35 acres and providing for an effective date.

Rob, sir?

Thank you, members. Council, tonight we have Julian Perez, our Planning and Zoning Director, to present the item.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the Council. Excuse me. Julian Perez, Planning and Zoning Director. With us today, or tonight, we have an item, as the town clerk read the caption, is a modification to a conditional use. This item was advertised in the Miami Herald on March 8th of 2026, courtesy notices were sent out on March 5th, 2026, and the project was posted online. posted on March 10th of 2026. The applicant is the National College of Business and Technology Company, DBA, the Northridge University, and this is the former Florida Technical College, Northridge. Project number Planned 09-2400113 and it's located at 20505 Ocala, excuse me, South Dixie High. It's right in the mall. The future land use is Town Center and the zoning district is Town Center. The applicant is requesting approval of a modification to Resolution 1937 to remove all culinary related conditions and references to revise the interior square footage from 28,945 to 30,017 to replace the culinary program with a nursing program. The proposed, there is a set of conditions that were laid out on the resolution 19 37, and specifically two of them are going to be replaced with a new set of conditions that reflects the future use now, the nursing program, right? So number one, first one, is that North Rich University, the institution in this case, shall offer a minimum of five faculty supervised active adult classes or workshop per year. And what this tries to do is it tries to bring the community, especially the adult community, into the program. branded as a recurring community program and aligned with their academic offering. And this could be wellness type of programs or workshop, technical help, like skilled labs, or created connection. Meaning that, for example, since you're going to have students in the nursing field, then they can come in and, you know, have the plus test, excuse me, or blood pressure and so forth. The next condition that we worked with them was to make sure that the university or the institution was really integrated within the community. So here on this second condition, the institution agrees to participate annually in one or more programs in the town of Cutler Bay active adult wellness programs by financially sponsoring such programs. And there's a whole list of programs that they can select from. Okay, program as, for example, the Mall Walking Mondays or similar fitness-based offering to help offset instructor costs currently funded through the Alliance of Aging grant. The institution also has the option to select one of those programs and take it from point A through point C, meaning that they will do all the organization, the coordination, and the whole works instead of us as a town. in lieu of the contribution. The request was reviewed under the Conditional Use Evaluation Criteria. In our code, under section 339, two from A through L, as you know, of the Land Development Code, there's a series of standards that we have to evaluate this proposal again. And in all of them, they check the box. So that was very important in us, you know, making our final determination. Then second, we went to another section of the code that specifically requires us to evaluate education use standards. There's a series of standards that we went through. And that was on the section three, two, one, two, six of the land development code. They checked the box also. All right. So as a result of that, and as a result of the conditions that they agreed to that were a community benefit and were a good substitute to the ones that were eliminated, the department recommends that the town mayor and council approve with conditions the proposed modification to certain conditions, which were part of the conditional use Approval per resolution 1937 for the Southland Mall, now known as the South Place City Center, as set forth in greater details in your resolution. So all of this information, all of these recommendations are part of the resolution that is before you. And in addition to that, in the manager's report, there is more information as to the background, the history, and so forth. With us here tonight is the representative of the university, Mr. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. And if you have any questions, you know, we'll be more than happy to answer your questions or concerns.

All right.

Thank you.

We have a positive recommendation from the staff. All 12 of the criteria required in your code.

use approval. We meet all five of the conditions, specific conditions required for educational uses. And this is a wonderful opportunity to create a win-win scenario for both the community, the mall, of course, and for the applicant. And I ask for your support. I'm here to answer any questions. Thank you. Sorry about the mic. I thought it was on.

Councilman Duncan, recognize? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. I want to thank the applicant for considering making changes. If you have curriculum or if you have things that are not serving you, you know, yourself as the applicant, but as well, the residents, the citizens, and replacing it with nursing and things that are going to benefit our aging community. I think those are definitely positives. The only question I have with specifically South Place City Center, Does your client have a long-term lease or what exactly is that? How do they relate to the redevelopment and how that's going to be moving forward?

Sure. So it doesn't in any way conflict with the redevelopment program, the very ambitious and fantastic redevelopment program, I might add, for what used to be Cutler Ridge Mall, but is the town center now and will be a town center in the future. So it is within an existing footprint that is really sort of a dying retail area, if you will. Right now, the college, which has been operating within the mall since about 2014, over a decade now, 12 years or so, is in several spaces within the mall. This is all interior, by the way. We're not affecting any of the site plan, if you will, of the mall, any of the footprint of the mall. It's all an internal remodel. The spaces are being consolidated in one area, one cohesive space, a couple of points of entry instead of scattered as it is now, and it will in no way interfere with the redevelopment program that has been laid out for the town center and for the mall. We've included in the file, and it's part of the public record, Of course, you know, the property owner, the mall owner is in support and a letter enthusiastically supporting this realignment, if you will, by Northbridge. Thank you so much.

Any questions?

No.

I'm going to open it up now for public. Oh, you have a comment. Okay. Yes. Vice Mayor, you're recognized. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, just a couple of quick questions because I certainly was, you know, part of the council when we entertained 1937. And, you know, so there were several concerns that we had when we approved 1937, right? Because the college came before us and was asking for additional space to open up a culinary school, right? And so we just we needed to make sure that it met certain conditions. And And one of the other things, too, was the increasing space, retail space that the college was continuing to take up. And so we kind of said, OK, the culinary school sounds sounds like a lot of fun. We agree with that. But we really want to you need to stay within this this approved score footage footprint. Right. So now we're moving to a nursing a nursing school. Right. Is that is that that's correct?

So the school, to answer your question directly, already has a medical assistant program. It has a nursing program in their campuses, actually, in Tampa and Kissimmee. And it'll be a nursing program that will open at the Cutler Bay site that we're talking about. Right. And that's both LPN and RN programs.

So currently, the college is operating in several locations. And so what this is doing is reconfiguring into a general space. And as part of that, we're increasing the footprint by how many?

A total of 1,072 feet. It's de minimis. 1,072 square feet. OK. OK.

Yeah, that's all I have. Thank you.

All right. All right. Anything else? No. All right. I'm going to open it up for public comments now. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council.

Board is now open for public comments on this item. If you wish to speak, come forward. As there is none, public comments is now closed. I'm looking for a motion on this item. Board's further discussion. So moved. We have a motion by Councilman Ramirez. I second. I second. We have a second by Councilmember Lord. We'll call the vote, please. Council Member Ramirez. Yes. Council Member Lord. Yes.

Council Member Duncan.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Callahan.

Yes.

Mayor Maribod.

Yes.

Motion passes.

There you go. All right. We're going to jump back. Thank you very much. We're going to jump back in and try to get back on track here. So we are at the consent agenda. Oh, I was going to skip that because he already talked. Ralph, we'll go to your town manager report.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the council. And before we get to a report, I'd like to recognize Olivia LaRoche and Ethan Moore who are here on behalf of Representative Blanco. I know you had maybe some quick statements on behalf of the representative. I know that he's still stuck in traffic. So you can, Olivia. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Olivia Lara-Shell, and I serve as a District 8 State Representative Omar Blanco, District 115. On behalf of the Representative, thank you for the opportunity to be here this evening. Unfortunately, he is unable to attend as he does have prior commitments on his already demanding schedule. The representative greatly values the work of this council and remains committed to collaborating each of you in service to our shared community. It is an honor to represent him today and provide an update on the 2026 legislative session. During the 2026 session, the representative focused on advancing a range of policies that reflect both the needs of our state and the priorities of the various communities he represents in his district. His work centered on improving public safety, strengthening education, monitorizing regulations, and ensuring accountability across our state government. The representative sponsored legislation aimed at protecting families and neighborhoods, including measures to improve school safety, enhance student health protections, and give batterers intervention program the option to incorporate faith into their recovery. He also worked on common sense public safety reforms like hands-free driving to reduce distracted driving and prevent avoidable accidents on our roads. Understanding the importance of economic growth and responsible regulation, he introduced bills to modernize professional standards in fields like public accountancy, veterinary medicine, and commercial driving schools. At the same time, he focused on emerging challenges by working to advance cybersecurity standards and addressing environmental concerns like PFAS contamination to better protect public health and our very own firefighters. In this area of justice and accountability, he worked on legislation to improve transparency in complaints against law enforcement and to ensure intervention programs are effective and accessible. He also remained committed to helping constituents directly. sponsoring a claims bill to deliver long overdue relief to a Miami-Dade resident who suffered serious injuries due to government negligence. At its core, the representative's work this session was about delivering practical, result-driven solutions, making our schools safer, our communities stronger, and our systems more accountable, and our state better prepared for the challenges ahead. Though the representative has already secured over 1 million in funding for the town of Cutler Bay, he remains committed to advocating for additional resources in the future support to strengthen this community. As the legislative session is still ongoing, the final outcomes are not yet determined. Once the session has officially adjourned, the representative looks forward to returning to provide a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the results and the impact. Thank you, Cutler Bay.

Right. Please pass on our thanks to Omar for the hard work he does up there for us. He does great jobs.

So much. Thank you members council and I apologize we didn't have enough time to squeeze it in we had all the folks here that were discussing the pool but a couple points just to bring up as you mentioned mayor I am working with the following agencies and I'm proud to announce for example our new partnership with Eastridge particularly I want to recognize their executive director Robert Keel We were able to coordinate with his staff and we'll roll this out through our social media pages. Effective April, they will be providing the town of Cutler Bay Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.30 to 10.30, at least it's an hour, for up to five active adults to start it at no cost to the town. The active adults that know our system, they'll be able to make the reservations through our app, and then we'll provide it with them. Again, they want to start off just with five, and then we want to go ahead and start growing that. So that'll be effective April 1, 2026, and it'll be for aqua aerobic classes that they have there. Secondly, if it had active communications and conversations with Cheryl Woods, the president and CEO of the YMCA, We're working on possible agreements with the YMCA to have a promotional swim for basically trying to roll it out where it's going to be 90 days for $90. So basically a dollar a day. at their brand new multi-million dollar for city facility that is uh scheduled to be open here in the summertime uh again that's something that we've been working behind the scenes uh with the ymca and lastly uh most importantly i have a meeting scheduled with christina white uh who is the uh parks and recreation open space they call it pros uh director to look at two possibilities of the most adjacent pools, Goulds Park, as well as the new South Ridge Park Community Aquatic Center that's earmarked to open sometime in June. um to look at possible some type of interlocal agreements for example ghouls park is open mondays through fridays but they open from 4 pm to 7 pm so we're going to see what we can negotiate and bring back an agreement to the council to see if we could have that pool open earlier and it's going to benefit everyone in that region And then also the same thing with South Ridge Community Aquatic Center. Christina and Brian Eichler, who is the assistant director, they were very receptive. We're meeting on March 31st. So hopefully by the April 15th council meeting, I could have a report. So those are the three, I know mayor, you said that we're working behind. So these are the three that, that we're working, which is the most adjacent pools that we have. So, uh, that's something that we're working on. So, so thank you for that. Um, um, secondly, I like to make a good recognition to, uh, Alfredo and his team are Southwest 200 street. and 103rd Avenue traffic roundabout, if you know where the footbridge ends on that side. It was a project that received a grant. It was a $523,000 project. Folks, we just received project of the year for the entire state of Florida for a project under $2 million. So kudos to Alfredo Yanir. They're going to be receiving the award during the APWA Florida Chapter Expo in Tampa in April. Also, secondly, another award for Management Innovation Award for Stacy Sakudui-Senge. I know if I butcher your name, sorry. We call her Stacy. She is our FDOT LAP Compliance. I know you've heard us say all the time, Florida Department of Transportation Local Agency Project, LAP Compliance. There are pages and pages of compliance that you have to do. And I could tell you, you know, Stacy keeps us in check, right? Keeps us in compliance and keeps us in good grace with the Florida FDOT Lab that we just received another million dollars for Marlin Road that we haven't finished design yet. So that she received FDOT Lab project services. She received the Management Innovation Award for the entire state of Florida as well. so that they're going to both be recognized at the Tampa Conference. So, Mayor and Members of Council, that completes my report.

So much. All right. Town Attorney, you have your presentations that you want to do, Ro? Oh, yeah. Sorry.

I started the awards, but I forgot to have Emma on the line. So Emma Jones, our update for Design's 16-acre Legacy Park. It's going to be the update. We also have here in the audience Charles Michelson as well from Salts. And Emma, I was so excited about the awards, Emma, that I forgot you. So we're back at you now, Emma.

Oh, no worries. I was excited hearing about them. So that's fantastic. Good evening, everyone. Emma Jones, owner's rep for the town of Cutler Bay. Hopefully you guys can see my screen. Let me know if you cannot.

Yes, we can.

We all good? Okay, excellent. All right. So my monthly update, and we've got some exciting things to update everybody with. There we go. All right. So first of all, the phase one GMP one site remediation, um, as previously reported, we completed all of the final soil imports in February of 2026. We, um, just took, um, soil samples across the entire site to comply with the DERM closeout requirements. And, um, we are awaiting those results and DERM approvals. So to give you a little more in depth on what we did, you can see the plan below. We took samples at 23 points across the site, specifically in the designated green spaces. We collected those samples at depths of one foot intervals. So from ground level down five feet, And then also a composite sample from the surface elevation down to the water table. And the water table is at 2.3 feet. The firms that were on site for all of the sampling were obviously Town of Cutler Bay, Kaufman Lynn, who is our contractor, Kimley Horn, our geotechnical and environmental, NB5, Redland, and Cemex. And here are some photographs of everyone in real sort of inaction. This was done last Friday on the 13th. So you can see that we've got the drilling rig. We've got some pictures of the core samples that were taken. We have Ralph in the bottom right with his hands on his hips, observing all that's going on as well as all of our other consultants there on site. So the next phase that's upcoming is phase two, which is our GMP2, again, underground utilities and site work. We have proposed some additional testing locations for the exfiltration trenches and irrigation wells. We are waiting for DERM to approve our updated plan. But just so you know that while we're waiting for DERM to provide approval for these locations, we are moving forward with getting bids for the GMP2. We're expecting that draft on March 23rd. So this slide shows the proposed temporary monitoring well locations for that study that we have proposed to DERM so that we can finalize the locations of the exfiltration trenches. Phase three, which is the vertical build, also known as GMP3, the bid documents obviously were finalized in December of 2025. We've got ongoing value engineering, but the permit documents have been submitted. They are under review. As you can see the action shot on the right. And we should be receiving the GMP3 initial bids at the end of March. So a part of what we were discussing last month was sort of the green build. and what are the green building requirements for this project? So I just wanted to review that and just sort of what is required versus what is voluntary. So there are two types of green building standards in the state of Florida. Type one are the mandatory baseline standards and those are embedded in the Florida building code. And those are requirements that all commercial buildings must satisfy before a certificate of occupancy is issued. And that basically means that we can occupy the building. Everything has been constructed to codes and requirements and approved. And then the second type are the voluntary certification programs. And these are an additional layer of performance targets on top of the mandatory baseline, i.e. the code requirements. The The most common systems you see in Florida are LEED, and that's the U.S. GBC or U.S. Green Building Council, Green Globes or GBI, which is the Green Building Initiative, and FGBC, which is the Florida Green Building Coalition. And then just a summary for everyone, the purpose of green building standards. as you can see there, to encourage building owners to adopt green and sustainable strategies during design and construction of projects. So there's, as you know, as it says before, there's the mandatory baseline standards, and those are the standards that we have to adhere to, but then there's the voluntary. And the voluntary certification, as it says sort of in the definition at the bottom, is to receive recognition, and that's voluntary, whether or not you want to do the certification programs. So as I mentioned, those three programs, one is the LEED certification. We've seen that LEED Gold was a goal for this project. And here below the certification process, there's registration, credit documentation, design and construction review, and then the certification award. But with all that comes a cost. So the cost for registration, pre-certification, review and re-review is approximately $100,000. To have a lead consultant involved, consulting fees, documentation design, to have the buildings up to that level between half a million to $750,000. This also increases construction costs when these elements are brought in, which would increase our construction costs from about one and a half to three million. So the overall additional project cost or budget for obtaining a LEED Gold certification would be between two million and four million. Our next option would be Green Globe. A Four Globe certification is similar to the gold certification. And similar to LEED, there's a registration, a documentation, design and construction review, and then the certification. Fees for Green Globes are approximately half of LEED, but again, not insurmountable cost. So the additional construction costs are a million to two and a half. So additional project costs would be between one and a half to three million. Then there is Florida Green Building. Again, similar certifications. The registration is a little bit less, but once you really add in the design and construction components to adhere to the regulations, you're still looking at between $800,000 to $2 million of additional project costs. So what we are suggesting is based on section 3-71 of the public facilities under Cutler Bay Florida Code of Ordinances, it states that public facilities should be constructed to meet the USGBC, Green Building, other public facilities high performance green building rating systems. So it does not say that they have to be certified, they need to be constructed to meet. In our designs of this project, the buildings in Legacy Park have both by design and by virtue of the energy requirements of the Florida Building Code have included significant green elements, sustainable strategies and energy efficient components. So we are we have designed to these initiatives, but I think our goal is not to have the certification or a plaque on the wall because that does increase cost considerably. There are obviously listed items here that we have already, or sorry, elements that we have already included in the design of the project and are a part of most energy efficient and sustainability designed buildings in Florida. I'm just highlighting a couple of them. We've got low water consumption plumbing fixtures. We're using recycled materials, construction waste management, and we will be recycling construction waste using low emitting materials like low VOC paint, hurricane resilient structural design, and stormwater and flood resilient strategies. As a reminder, option three is what we're headed for, the total cost of 49.9. As you heard earlier, there have been a couple of items that were brought forth in the legislative session, one being the emergency, the EOC command center for requested $1 million. Another item is the brownfield soil remediation. Again, another million dollars. And then in addition to that, we have submitted an application to the state of Florida, a grant to purchase a 800 kilowatt generator for the town hall because it is an emergency operation center. And that's a $1.2 million request. This is just, again, the overall review of the project timeline. What I would like to just add is appreciating and understanding the concern of the closure of the other pool. We have had discussions and had intended on phasing this new project so that the community center and pool will be completed first um our goal is to have that completed in um i'd say mid to late 2027 um pushing it forth as as much as we can um and then you know following that with the park um and then the town hall building we like to joke that no one really cares about ralph's office or what it looks like. So that's sort of the least of our concerns. So really, I just wanted to reiterate that it is the understanding of the team as well as the council that we do understand the importance of the community pool and we are working to make sure that that is online first for this new project. So that's the... That's my summary and I'm happy to answer any questions.

All right. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I recognize you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Emma, just to clarify, when you state that the community center and pool you're pushing forward to possibly be open or finished in 2027, you're talking about the public being able to use those facilities? And if so, how is construction of the

town hall is that going to interfere with the the pool opening um it is not let me see if I can go back on the slides um so if you can see so the goal obviously section a if you can see on my screen um that is the community center and um the pool building on the pool Our goal would be to open, obviously open that first. As you can see, the identifier B is removed from that area. So our goal would be to focus on A, obviously community center and pool. If there's a way that we could open the pool and pool building ahead of the community center while keeping the community safe, we are looking into that. But safety obviously is paramount for us, for the community. So really getting the parking lot D and the community pool and pool building open, that is our prime, our number one focus in the new park. Then the second would be obviously opening the park space and third would be the town hall.

when or how confident could you be in getting more of an exact time when phase eight would be completed? Because that really affects a decision that we talked about earlier in the meeting.

It does. What I, so let me touch base with our construction team. Obviously, you know, as we heard earlier permits, Um, you know, I'd love to have a crystal ball and be able to say that they're going to be timely. Um, but we did in all of the design documents, we focused on the community center, the pool building and the pool first, knowing that this was of the utmost importance to the community. Um, those documents are in for a permit and, um, You know, the goal is to have sort of the phase two or GMP two. um completed this year and we're hoping to um start some of the other obviously start the Community Center and pool at the end of 2026 with the goal of having it open in 2027 so um I don't want to commit to a date right now but I will provide you an update as soon as I can but it is our goal to have the pool open as quickly as we can. And it's safe.

That's fine, yeah. Next council meeting's fine.

They could actually, that information can be shared, if known, through the talent manager to all of us at a time. All right. Councilman, Councilman Lord, you're recognized.

Thank you. Emma, as always, thank you for the report. When I was sitting in the Everglades Coalition Conference and I started worrying about the cost of LEED, which is why I asked for us to have a breakdown of those costs, nowhere in my mind that I think it could be up where upwards of $4 million. So I really appreciate now that we have options and we're not tied into the two to $4 million bracket. So thank you very much for putting my mind at rest. And also, I'm sorry that all our pool people have already left and didn't just hear that that that comment about the pool. And we have one left here. Thank you. Pass along the information, but I'm sure our town manager will get it out as well. So thank you for that, Emma. That was really good news for us.

And members of council, as like Emma said, we've prioritized always to open the community center pool and the pool building and the deck first, the park complex of it, right? And then phasing in the second part, which is town hall. It's all going to be in one under one contract, but start that first and creating a safe atmosphere. But I could tell you this, that we're going to get our first test of going through all the same agencies and that we're going to go through the permitting phase, regardless if it's a new pool or repair. We're going to have to go through Miami-Dade County building, Durham, the health department. So we're going to get a really, really good test. Because these plans are already done. You see evidence from the photos that were literally, they're sitting here in the second floor. We're going to get a good test of how long that permit cycle takes place, the review cycle, sorry, the review cycle, I want to say the review cycle with particularly the Department of Health and Durham. So that's why you see us very cautiously doing all the different samplings along those areas there. But we're going to get a good cycle for that. So yes, is it very optimistic and aggressive winter of 27? Yes. That's why both Charles and I have less hair every day. Right. Because we are we are pushing that in our design team, regardless of what just happened with our pool. Very unfortunate about color, color, rich pool. We were always going to push deliver that product first, you know, and then obviously, you know, the second part. So our goal has always been to search a certificate of use. Right. And CEO for that portion of it, the item A.

Just real quick, Ralph, I just want to clarify for the record, okay? The process of the plan review is dissimilar, right? So the timeline is going to be dissimilar because Miami-Dade County, Durham and all, they're reviewing the entire set of plans.

just not the pool plans, right?

Where we were requesting just to submit the pool plans, right? So the time, we're not going to be able to use that as a good example because they're going to be taking months and months to review the entire construction documents, just not the pool. So there's going to, you know, I just want to clarify that.

No, you're absolutely right. And something we talked about internally is figuring out how we could at least know that possibly the pool portion, right? Because we know that out of all those agencies, you know, just talking to our building inspectors and building officials, is the one that takes the longest is Department of Health. You know, so we're trying to figure out very creative and with our design team, it's okay, how can you like almost, I hate to say, you know, bifurcate the plans just for the pool, just so we can get a feel for it. You're absolutely right. Is this two sets of plans? Absolutely. You know, an entire, you know, complex versus a simple pool repair part is different, but it's going to be the same process and we want to make sure it moves along. So we're trying to do, we're trying to look at different options. We just kind of sit and be in reactive mode. So I just wanted to let you know behind the scenes what we're doing in terms of those items there. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And again, you know, Charles, thank you for coming. And Emma, thank you for the presentation. Next, Mayor and members of council, we have our monthly update to Franjo Road. We had Angel Turbin here who's going to provide an update. So Angel, if you're online. As Angel's getting online, we did have, okay, thanks, Angel. Just before we start, I want to thank Yanir Vega. He covered the tent, the booth, if you saw him at the Wings Over the Bay. So he was there covering. So, you know, thank you, Yanir, for providing a lot of feedback and comments from residents there. So with that, Angel, please.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Angel Turpin. I'm here on behalf of Kimley Horn to talk about our March 2026 update for the Frangio Road Improvements Project. So first, for our construction activities, we continue to hold our biweekly construction progress meetings with the contractor, which is Acosta Tractors, the town, the EOR, and ourselves as the CEI. So jumping into our work zones, as previously mentioned in our last meeting, work zones one, two, and three do remain completed and they are open to the public for use at this time. So these zones include the proposed improvements along Franjo Road from Southwest 184th Street to Caribbean Boulevard. Currently, bus shelter installation is taking place in these zones, but that should not impact use of the areas. Work Zone 4, ATI is also working in here currently, which runs along Franjo Road from Caribbean Boulevard to Southwest 92nd Avenue. Currently, they are doing some concrete work in the area, and they are expected to complete Work Zone 4 by May of 2026. And for work zone five, they also have been working here, which runs along Franjo Road from Southwest 92nd Avenue to Old Cutler Road. And they are currently working on the reconstruction of the roadway and all underground drainage work has been completed in this area. Wanna reiterate that at all times, the team is focused on keeping the site clean and safe, as well as maintaining the MOT throughout the duration of the project. Another reminder that the phases being open to the public does not mean that the area is finalized. So a few items that could be outstanding in these areas includes things like the final lift of asphalt, the electrical service installation and the installation of those light poles, tree and sod removal and installation, along with finalizing those bus shelters. For our project schedule, We remain on track and our current duration still remains from July 2024 to September of this year, still having ATI declaring a total of seven rain days as of late. So that pretty much wraps up our construction updates for Frangio Road at this time, unless there are any questions.

No, no questions. Thank you very much, Angel. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Angel. Members of Council, that concludes my report. Thank you.

Thank you. Town Attorney's Report.

Nothing for me.

All right. Town clerk's report. No report this evening. That takes us to a consent agenda. There's no vote. Looking for a motion to approve. So moved. We have a first. Looking for a second. Second. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Real quick, we did touch upon the town council announcements, board committee reports. Council member Lord had an addition.

I do. I'm sorry that it's later in the meeting. We were kind of taken out of order. I have an addendum to a line item in my council member report. I did report that I attended the auditor selection committee meeting on March 5th. I now chair that committee. I wanted to give you guys an update. But first, I want to thank Ralph Casals and Robert Daddario, our financial director, for being in that meeting. I have a special thank you to the other two committee members who are Desmond Chin, the financial director for the Village of Palmetto Bay, and Alfredo Riverall, who's the chief financial officer for the city of Miami, South Miami. It was very important that the latter two attended because they actually provided some valuable discussion points and insight on this process, especially for me because I'm new to it, and the processes that their respective municipalities used and what they've used in the past. And collectively, we decided to sum edits to the Request for Proposal and Potential Resulting Professional Services Agreement, as well as the evaluation criteria, and in particular, We now provide language that the auditor respondent must have experience within the state of Florida rather than simply having an experience with a like municipality, which was originally the wording in the RFP. And that's significant because I learned that Florida has some very stringent financial criteria that was established. by the Florida Auditor General and companies outside of Florida may not be aware of that criteria and then may be challenged by it. So that input by Mr. Chin and Mr. Rivera was valuable to us. And I also want to just add, it's very interesting for me to be on that side of the process. Normally, by the time it comes to me and us, These recommendations are already gone through and made. So I thank you for letting me serve on that committee. It's very, very interesting. Our next meeting has not yet been set, but I'll continue to update you on that. I also wanted to take a very brief moment to mention that it is Women's History Month. Normally I do a video commenting on the month, but we have been quite busy here at Town Hall and we haven't been able to do one this year. And I think it's very important that we recognize the women who continue to serve Cutler Bay and do so wholeheartedly. We have our Congresswoman Maria Valera Salazar. She's procured $6.4 million for our town in the last few years. And that is quite significant for us. Senator Alexis Kalatayud, who was here tonight earlier, works very hard for us in tallahassee she attends our functions like she said she's very available to our residents at these functions we have our prior senator eliana garcia who's no longer a senator because of district line changes i still consider her my adopted godmother here After I was elected in 2021, no longer our senator, she did present us with a $250,000 FDEP grant to support the restoration of the eight and a half acres on Old Cutler and 184th Street. Of course, as Senator Kalata, you'd mentioned, Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez works closely with us in Tallahassee as well. We have our prior State House Representative Alina Garcia, who I consider a dear friend. She is now our supervisor of elections, newly elected, and she her heart is here in Cutler Bay. She loves our community and continues to advocate for it, even no longer serving in the House. Of course, we have our Commissioner Daniel Cohen Higgins, who is a dear friend to Cutler Bay and me as well. She attends our functions and is quite accessible to our residents. We have our school board member, Louisa Santos. She's a resident and highly involved with our EAC. Not to forget our elected Miami-Dade County Sheriff, Rosie Cordero-Stutz. And I would be remiss if I don't acknowledge former Mayor Peggy Bell, Susie Loisel, Vice Mayor, and Councilmember Marianne Nixon. And I'm very proud to follow in their footsteps. I want to say personally, it is not easy being the only female on a dais, right? It is not. I've been met with very many challenges up here. And it is naive for any woman to think coming into a man's world, which is what we're doing, no matter how respected you are, is going to be easy. But it's a challenge that challenges don't stop me and won't stop me. But I also want to point out that Yeah. The six years I've been on this dais, I've been the only woman. And in the almost 21 years of Color Bay's existence, there have only been four women up here on this dais. And so that means that that demographic is wildly underrepresented in Color Bay. So I hope I see that change. I hope 50% of us up here are females rather than just one or two at a time, I guess would be close to 50. But I just wanted to say that. I hope I see...

more women in our town run for positions in this in this um wonderful council and happy women's history month thank you for your time all right thank you that takes us to our next item which is item 10a uh we still have public comments okay over for public comments there is nobody here um question to speak it's not closed All right. We can read item 10-8.

An ordinance of the mayor and the town council of the town of Kettler Bay, Florida, authorizing the issuance of capital improved revenue bond of the town of Kettler Bay, Florida, in a principal amount not exceeding $17 million for the purpose of financing the cost of completing the Legacy Park and Municipal Complex, providing for a supplemental resolution setting forth the details of said bond, providing for authorization for negotiations, providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and providing for an effective date.

Raul, sir.

I just wanted to Let everyone know that my partner, Jeff DiCarlo, is available to answer any legal questions relating to this item or the following item, 11A.

And thank you, Mitch. Both Jeff DiCarlo and Lori Smith-Lotta from your firm have been very instrumental. We also have tonight Don Gonzalez from Financial Wives from Estrada and Segovia and our finance director, Robert Dario. so members of council before you what there was one change that that from the first second reading which is something that we were able to and a good change where we were able to negotiate based on the recommendation of our finance advisor and the entire group as i mentioned before uh the following modification was recommended to what we call the mandatory put which is a requirement for the town of cutler bay to pay any remaining amount due up to loan as you recall the first one it was going to be as a 15-year loan and then like a better word it was going to be a balloon at the end We were able to push that mandatory put of 15 years, push it back down to 20 with the same interest rate. and that way we make it as an optional put you know in the in the 20th year we could always pay it off anytime before then you know if we any type of grants or whatever so we don't have any prepaid penalty um so we were able to to extend those those terms the business terms you'll see at the following item will be the actual loan amount for td bank but at least for the orders before you is authorizing the issuance of the bond which is the loan Instead of a 15.5 years, it would be 20.5 years with no prepayment at all. So that's what's before you now. I outlined it in the memo. It's clear in the ordinance as well. And if there's any questions, we have the whole team on standby, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right, I'm going to open public hearing on this item right now. Anybody wish to speak on this item? Nobody has come forward. Public hearing is now closed. Council, do you have comments or questions? We have done. Looking for a motion on this item.

I move the motion.

We have a motion by Council Member Lord. Looking for a second. Second. Second by Vice Mayor Callahan. Roll call vote, please. Council Member Lord. Yes. Council Member Duncan. Yes.

Council Member Ramirez.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Callahan. Yes. Mayor Marabon.

Yes.

Motion passes. All right.

Takes us to Resolution 11A, please.

A resolution of the mayor and the town council of the town of Cutler Bay, Florida, authorizing the issuance of a capital improvement revenue bond of the town of Cutler Bay, Florida, not exceeding $17 million for the purpose of financing the costs of completing Legacy Park and the municipal complex, reimbursing expenditures made for the project prior to the issuance of the bond and paying costs of issuance of the bond, approving and authorizing the execution and delivery of a loan agreement with TD Public Finance LLC, the purchaser, awarding the bond to the purchaser, providing for security for the bond, providing certain other matters in connection with the issuance of the bond, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date.

All right, Ralph, very familiar at it. Thank you, Mayor, members of council. Similar team we had, Jeff DiCarlo, Lori Smith, Donald Gonzalez, and Robert Daddario working on this. Now this becomes the actual deal with TD Bank. The previous ordinance was just authorizing the issuance. Now we have the deal with the bank, and we negotiated the same terms, 15 to 20.5. It's no prepaid penalty whatsoever. uh i'm glad to announce that um the the previously quoted interest rate was 4.18 we were very nervous with every all the world events that are going on and we were able to secure and lock the rate of 4.16 So I thought I was going to be having a different tune saying it has to go up because of world events. So we were able to do that. And that's a tribute to the relationships that we have with TD Bank. So thank you to them and just the expertise that we have. So Mayor, Members of Council, the entire team is available for any questions and comments. So thank you.

All right. Thank you.

Any questions or comments?

No.

There are none.

Looking for a motion, please. So moved. We have a motion by Council Member Ramirez. Looking for a second. Second. Second by Council Member Lord. All in favor say aye. Aye. Passes. Can we take 11A and B and C together, or do we have to take them separate? You can vote them separate, but you can read them together. Okay. All right. Read them together, please.

11B. 11B. A resolution of the mayor and the town council of the town of Cutler Bay, Florida, authorizing the town manager to execute a brownfield site rehabilitation agreement amendment with Public Supermarkets, Inc. and Miami-Dade County, Florida, and providing for an effective date. 11C. A resolution of the mayor and the town council of the town of Keller Bay, Florida, authorizing the town manager to execute a brownfield site rehabilitation agreement and site access agreement with Miami-Dade County, Florida, relating to town-owned real property identified as 36-6009-005-0015 and 36-6009-006-0011. appointing the town council of the town of Cutler Bay, Florida, as the Brownfields Advisory Committee for work conducted on town owned real property and providing for an effective date.

Thank you, members of council. Tonight we have Brett Brumman from Goldstein Law Firm here to present a PowerPoint presentation, which is going to be kind of a two for one there, but we will have separate votes on each one. So Brett, welcome.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council. My name is Brett Brumman with the Goldstein Environmental Law Firm. Thank you very much for having me back to discuss more brownfields. So the two resolutions before you today would make just a simple administrative change that would yield a significant benefit to the town. So just some background on how we got here. When we first started this brownfield process, FDEP in Miami-Dade County interpreted the Florida Brownfields Redevelopment Act as requiring a single brownfield site rehabilitation agreement for each contaminated site, no matter how large. And as you can see on the aerial photo of the care zone, there's quite a large contaminated site, all one historical agricultural operation. So when we started this process, we worked closely with Publix, who developed that middle portion for their new shopping center, and we entered into a single joint brownfield site rehabilitation agreement that covered the entire collection of the Publix and the town properties and allocated responsibilities between the town and Publix. All right. And so recently in 2025, we worked with our colleagues in the industry and the Florida legislature to amend the Florida Brownfields Redevelopment Act to allow these larger contaminated sites to be split consistent with separate and independent redevelopment goals and property ownership. So as a result of this amendment, publics in the town may now divide the care zone into discrete brownfield sites that include only the property that each controls. In order to do this, we would just need to execute a brownfield site rehabilitation agreement amendment that removes the town and the town property from the existing brownfield site and then execute a replacement BISRA that covers only the town property. So the first resolution before you today would speak to that BISRA amendment specifically, if you take a look at the amendment, it is quite lengthy because we had to allocate the responsibilities between the two parties. So this second amendment winds that back to ideally return the public side to the default condition. So this would simply remove the town as a joint person responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation for the property owned by Publix and now Flanagan's on a portion of it. It also removes the property owned by the town from the existing brownfield site. And it names Publix as the sole person responsible for the property that is currently owned by Publix and Flanagan's. And all this really does is allows the town to enter into a new BISRA. And we discussed this with Publix, their agreement with this draft. We filed a draft with Miami-Dade County and FDEP, and they are working together to review this because it's a new program and a new operation for them. Our second resolution would authorize the town manager to execute that new BISRA, as well as a site access agreement, which is identical to the existing site access agreement that the town manager signed with the initial first amendment to the BISRA. It would also appoint you as the town council, as the Brownfield Advisory Committee, like you are for Blue Heron Park. So specifically, this new BISRA does identify the town as the only person responsible for site rehabilitation for the property the town owns within the care zone, so only those two parcels. It identifies only the town property as the Brownfield site and appoints you as the advisory committee. And it also preserves, this is important, it preserves the Brownfield liability protections from the date of the town adjoining the original Bisra. It also ensures the town continues to receive the voluntary cleanup tax credits and bonus voluntary cleanup tax credits for eligible costs of the town has incurred and will continue to incur. So we expect to have continuity, even though this is a new agreement, it will recognize the old agreement and the benefits conferred upon the town between, those will not go away between these two agreements. So specifically those benefits are mainly financial. Through the new bids where the town will have access to 100% of the annual voluntary cleanup tax credits it's eligible for, that's up to $500,000 a year, which as you know, that's calculated based on up to $1 million in costs, the tax credit is 50%. The existing situation requires a pro-rata split between Publix and the town if you exceed that $1 million. So that doesn't happen very often, but it's something to consider, especially with last year's tax credit application hitting about $2.2 million. Publix, fortunately, did not have an application last year, so there was no need to split the award. However, if they did, we would have had to split that $500,000 based on each entity's contributions. The new visitor would also grant access to the town to 100% of the bonus voluntary cleanup tax credits, which is up to $1 million total between two bonuses that are likely available for this project. The existing situation would have prohibited the town from receiving one of those bonuses, the healthcare provider bonus, because Publix already applied for that because of their pharmacy that they opened a few years ago on site. So now the town, by creating this new brownfield site, the town will have access to that additional bonus tax credit. The town will also have access to the entire site rehabilitation completion order bonus rather than needing to split it with Publix. No matter how much the town and Publix contributed over time, because the total went over $2 million, you'd be required to split that $500,000 bonus based on percentage of contribution over the past six years now. So this also, we no longer need to coordinate with Publix on application submittal. This is not a big deal. We enjoy working with Publix. They've been great partners with us on this, but it always is a little bit easier to operate on your own and on your own timeframes. And more specifically, the financial benefits are, we can quantify those now. So looking at our tax credit application history from when the town joined in 2021 to last year's application in 2025, the town has submitted just over $2.7 million in eligible costs, which has yielded, or we expect will yield, we haven't received the $500,000 tax credit over 2025 yet, but That's yielded about $763,000 in these voluntary cleanup tax credits. And that's just our 50% annual. However, in 2025, we did go significantly over the $1 million cap. So we're limited to $500,000 there. And then our bonus tax credits that are really intended to cover that remaining 50% up to our $2 million aggregate cap over the life of the project. So based on $2.7 million in costs spent to date, you've already maxed out your bonuses, so you can expect up to, or you can expect another million dollar tax credit once the town meets the two qualifying conditions, being issuance of a conditional site rehabilitation completion order from Miami-Dade County, which is a little bit further down the road, as well as if any type of healthcare provider does operate on the property, the town will be eligible to receive that healthcare provider bonus. And it's a very broad list of health care providers. It could be a dietician, a clinic, a physical therapist. It's a very long list, and we'll work with the town to identify an appropriate health care provider that can move in and provide eligibility for this bonus tax credit.

With that, I'm available to answer any questions. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Also, questions on these items? When I'm looking for a motion, item 11B, please. So moved. We have a motion by Councilman Duncan. We'll confer a second. I second. Second by Councilmember Lord. All in favor say aye. Aye. Looking for a motion on item 11C. So moved. And we have a motion by Vice Mayor Callahan. Looking for a second. Second. We have a second by Councilman Ramirez. All in favor say aye. Aye. With that, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our business for tonight. Good work, and you have a great evening. This meeting is adjourned.