City Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our May council meeting. Today is Wednesday, the 13th, and the time is now 10.04 a.m. I hereby call this meeting to order. Just a reminder to please silence your phones. If you must take a call, we kindly ask that you step outside and we maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilman Nicole Reynoso. Present. Councilwoman Maureen Porras. Here. Councilman Rafael Pinheiro. Present. Vice Mayor Degna Cabral.

Present. Mayor Christy Fraga. Present. Mayor, you have quorum. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilwoman Reynoso.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Okay, we will now have our invocation led today by Pastor Eduardo Key from the Keys of Heaven Church. Welcome. Thank you for joining us.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to everyone. It's an honor. I was thinking how I'm going to start this today. And God put this, something that I learned 20 years ago, read the book of Proverbs every single day. If you guys don't do it, I'll invite you to do that every single day. There are 31 proverbs in the Bible, and after 20 years, I find out that every single question that everyone may have, the answer would be right there for everything, for family, for spiritual, for peace, for health, for finances. Most of them were written by Solomon, which is known as one of the greatest, and calling by God. The man with more wisdom after Jesus. And one of the important part of this is that he was so, he got all this wisdom and in his life, he just lost track. He kind of like stay away from God and he did wrong things. But finally in his life, he just turned back to God again. Thinking about this, it's like, well, if this was Solomon, he received the wisdom directly from God, and he did all this. What about us? So what I bring today to opening this meeting today, it's something we find in the Book of Proverbs 16. 16 is saying, how much better is to get wisdom than gold? To get insight rather than silver. Now, the thing about wisdom is there is no wisdom without the fear of God. And as we know today, everyone calls God, God. That's the way. That's God's name. But we live in a time when we should ask, what's your God's name? Because, you know, I don't know if you know, but it's like around, I was reading about this, it's around one million different gods in this earth right now. People, they call God a rock, an animal, a monkey. So I want to make sure the... We get clearer that I'll be praying for the God who gives his son, Jesus Christ, for our sins. And he resurrected on the third day. And the God of the Bible. And I'm very pleased that I live in a city where they have the courage to bring someone to pray. Because that makes a difference. And I think this is part of what this city makes a difference. Other cities, they don't do that because they don't believe that God is important. They don't bring God to the table. It's like, don't worry, we got it. So I would like to start and say, thank you, the Lord. Thank you, God. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this opportunity. Thank you for this city. Thank you for every single person who work in this city, from the mayor and all the counseling members, every single person who work in this city. I ask you to please bring wisdom to every single person on the fear of God. So every decision is made in this city will be, you will be The person who asks first if we're doing the right thing or we're not. And I ask you to please help them because they're here to serve the people. But things got pretty messed up when people, they want to serve people without serving God first. When we want to please people without please God, that's when things got pretty bad, pretty ugly. So I ask you to every single person who works in this city to give you the courage and the the wisdom to work with the truth in every single area of their life and every single thing that they do for the city. We present this time for you, and we thank you. Protect the city. Bring your angels around the city. And help us to always give you the glory to you, the only one. Our creator, heavenly father, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Thank you, Pastor Tony. Thank you very much. I feel honored for that.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. All right. We move on to the agenda order of business, starting with the manager's office.

Madam Manager.

Good morning, Mayor. I don't have anything.

Okay. Mr. City Attorney.

Good morning, Madam Mayor. I'm going to ask if we can defer item 20D, which is an item to be heard in the evening, ordinance vacating the street related to La Jolla, to the June 10, 2026 meeting. Yeah. So to move the item 20D, which is an ordinance vacating the street related to La Jolla, to the June 10, 2026 meeting.

Perfect.

So just.

All right. Councilman Pinedo.

Good morning, Mayor. I don't have anything new. OK. Thank you.

Vice Mayor Cabral? No. Councilman Reynoso? No, Mayor. I don't have anything. Councilman Porras?

I'll be pulling 6A.

OK. Madam City Clerk?

I have nothing.

All right. So we're going to hear item 6A after discussion items. It'll be after 9D. OK.

There's nothing else. We'll move into the public comments portion. We'll now open the floor for public comments. Each speaker will have three minutes to address any item on today's agenda or any matters related to the city of Doral. Please begin with stating your name and address for the record to ensure you are registered with the city clerk. We will first hear from those who have pre-registered. I have a list of names, followed by any walk-in speakers. Once all the registered speakers have spoken, I will invite any walk-in speakers to have final public comments. As a reminder, in accordance with our city's code of conduct, we ask that all remarks be made in a respectful, courteous, and orderly manner. Personal attacks, offensive language, and disruptive behavior will not be permitted. Let's work together. to make this a forum that is productive and constructive for all. The only name I have registered at this time is Mr. Richard Gladstadt.

Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Remember this every time they make laws to hurt a particular group of people. If you have to make laws to hurt a group of people just to prove your morals and faith, then you have no true morals or faith to prove. That's a quote by George Takei, who was one of the actors in Star Trek. These are some of the groups that have been attacked and still are being attacked today. Women, black, brown, Asian, indigenous, immigrants, refugees. LGBTQ, religious minorities, you name it, we attack it here. Today I'm going to talk to you about Mr. Anthony Verdugo. Verdugo in Spanish, have you translated it? It means executioner. So you could say that this man indirectly is creating the execution of a group of people. He's been after them for over 20 years. I don't think he'll be happy until they disappear from the face of the earth. He's the man that started the Christian Family Coalition in 2003. He promotes public prayer and religious expression, as long as it's what he wants. Parental rights, charter schools, limits on LGBTQ instruction in schools. He's pro-life, anti-abortion. He was arrested in August 2002 on one felony count of false swearing, forging names to repeal the Dade County ordinance. It was called Take Back Miami. It was limiting LGBTQ rights. It was an ordinance protecting this group of people. Now, my family had to wear yellow stars in Germany. when the Nazis were in power. And they didn't just have yellow stars. They had stars of all colors, depending upon the group that you were categorized. And like gay people had to wear pink stars. So Mr. Verdugo, I have a suggestion. Why don't you just make all the people in the gay community wear pink stars so we know they're all gay? That's no way to run a democracy. If you want this country... to progress, to be free, especially free of hate and discrimination. You need to stop associating yourselves and catering to this man and this organization, holding hands with him and praying. Because if you do, you're just as guilty as he is legitimizing his hate group. His group should be considered a hate group. and investigated by the FBI, in my opinion. It's very corrupt.

Thank you, Mr. Gladstadt.

I have no more registered speaker at this time. Would anyone else like to speak? This would be your reasonable opportunity.

Being none, are you here for a specific item?

Yeah.

Okay. Public comments is now closed. Madam Clerk, I'd like the worker to reflect. Anyone else choose to speak at this time? We'll move into the consent agenda. Madam Clerk, can you read the items that were pulled and the consent agenda?

It'll be all of the items on Section 6 with the exception of 6A.

Okay. I need a motion on consent agenda. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Aye.

All right. We will then now move on to the minutes. I need a motion on the minutes. Motion. Motion to approve by Council Member Pinedo. Second. Second by Council Member Reynoso.

All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Let the minutes and the consensus then be reflected as passing unanimously. We'll now move into presentations.

Item 8A, Keep Drill a Beautiful Business Award.

Mr. Del Toro. Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning, Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the Council, Madam Manager, Mr. Deputy Manager, Mr. City Attorney, Madam Clerk, Danny Del Toro, Court Compliance Director. This month, we are pleased to recognize Gateway Plaza at Doral for their outstanding commitment to keeping Doral beautiful. The property for which they are being recognized is located at 2000 Northwest 87th Avenue. Gateway Plaza at Doral has been the city of Doral for 11 years. The property is approximately 322,000 total square feet and is managed by three employees. Gateway Plaza at the route is a commercial property managed by JCT management and comprises of office, medical, and retail spaces. Currently, it is home to 16 local businesses. Some of the recent improvements and ongoing maintenance efforts at the property include seal coating and striping of the parking lot, BI-MONTHLY LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE, BI-ANNUAL WINDOW CLEANING, AND THE PRESENCE OF AN ON-SITE MAINTENANCE TEAM RESPONSIBLE FOR DAILY MAINTENANCE OF EXTERIOR AREAS. IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE THAT WE NAME GATEWAY PLAZA AT THE ROAD FOR THE KEEP THE ROAD BEAUTIFUL BUSINESS AWARD FOR THEIR CONTINUED EFFORTS TO KEEP THE ROAD BEAUTIFUL. MADAM MAYOR AND COUNCIL, HERE TO ACCEPT THE AWARD ON BEHALF OF THE PROPERTY IS SENIOR PROPERTY MANAGER EDUARDO GARCIA AND MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR ALBERTO MERCADO.

All right, wonderful. Are they here? Hello, welcome. Come on up. Would you like to sing anything?

Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good morning, everyone. Yeah, I'd like to say a couple of things on behalf of the owners that had to leave out of town. Obviously, we're very honored. It's a privilege. On behalf of the entire team, I'd like to sincerely thank everyone for this recognition. Winning the award is truly a privilege. When the building was renovated in 2015, the vision was to bring a fresh, forward-thinking design to the area. I think we accomplished that. We were concerned about keeping it welcoming at the same time, so it was a balance. And I think the award reflects the hard work and the dedication of our ownership, our maintenance team, and management. Beautiful buildings don't stay beautiful without the people who take pride in them. And I believe we have pride in our properties and pride in our hard work and our dedication. We're believers and supporters of Doral. And we are privileged to be a part of its growth and evolution. Thank you for the recognition.

Thank you so much for your investment in our community and for keeping it beautiful.

Can everyone take a step this way please? Thank you.

Wonderful. OK, let's move on. Item 8B, development services and manual report.

OK. Ms. Jane Decker, how are you doing today?

I'll keep that close by. Thank you, Dani. Clicker presentation, the books were handed out, Ms. Connie? Yep.

Awesome.

So good morning, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor. Welcome back, Madam Manager, City Attorney, my colleagues in the audience and residents, Jane Decker, Development Services Administrator. First, I'd like to thank Councilman Pinedo because you brought this to our attention that we don't do a good enough job sort of marketing and advertising ourselves in development services. So thank you. And that's the impetus for how we arrived here. So much of the work that we do goes on behind the scenes and usually, and hopefully, quietly. So you don't necessarily know that we're doing a good job if everything's going right. And I'd also like to thank my fellow directors for being here, because this isn't just the Jane Dee show. They are the team that supports me. If you recall, development services was sort of reincarnated back in October, and it's the umbrella that encompasses building, code compliance, planning, zoning, and business licensing. So the goal is simple. One voice, one standard, building a stronger and safer Doral. More formally, we want it to be less of a maze and more of a guided path. The goal of development services is to operate as a unified group. So we need to keep performance strong every day. This summary also reflects many of the same themes that the mayor recently touched on during her panel at the Emerge Americas Conference, the connection between service, innovation, technology, economic activity, and how the quality of life is maintained in Doral. So development services directly affects how residents experience their city, how businesses open their doors, and how investors evaluate Doral. Over the last six months, our focus has been on maintaining strong day-to-day performance while building the systems, the staffing, and the culture needed for long-term consistency. We're always working toward making all the processes more predictable. And in government, predictability is a very underrated compliment. This slide represents our everyday guiding framework, operational excellence, performing dependably even when demand is high while maintaining community safety through consistent practices. Second, customer experience. We want to make sure residents, contractors, and businesses can reach us, understand us, and get meaningful help. Digital transformation, and that's not technology for technology's sake, but tools that actually improve transparency, workflow, and service. And lastly, workforce stabilization, because even the best process in the world will still fail without trained and supported people carrying it out. This is the structure behind the work, and it helps keep all divisions moving in the same direction. So a few key initiatives that are helping move this framework forward, Launch 45, which is still in its early stages, not quite fully grown, but is already on the way. The concept remains focused on reducing review times for qualifying permits while protecting the quality and safety and standards expected in DRL. You'll see the note there that average time, total time to permit issuance from application to issuance, right now the average is running 32.37 days as of Monday. With EnerGov Assist, we're making marked improvements. Our new system analyst, a strategic grab from one of our neighboring cities, has already taken the bull by the horns. We're seeing real workflow improvements, and we're targeting a system upgrade, don't shriek or roll your eyes, by the end of this quarter. So we're very excited about that. We're not talking about just optimization, but actually getting into the weeds and fixing how the work moves through the system. You'll also see some of our process improvement efforts. We're working on special events permitting and also outdoor dining applications. May is also Building Safety Month. So this was a proclamation we did back in April for the month of May. Public Affairs has been instrumental in pushing that messaging forward. And we've had amazing traction with Open Office Fridays and Meet Your Local Building Official. We've had about, I'd say, a dozen or so people each of the two Fridays so far and more scheduled to come. For first and second quarter, we continue to meet our guests in the Solutions Center in less than 10 minutes, so there's not a lot of waiting around. In building, our first round plan reviews are under 10 business days. As of this morning, it was about four days. Planning and zoning is coming in right behind, especially now that they are fully staffed this quarter. No pressure, Alex. But truly, this is the benefit of stabilization. When staffing improves, performance improves. Inspections, still a big success in Doral. 99.5% of them are completed next business day. For a city with active development and high customer demand and regional coordination Requirements these numbers matter and they reflect not just speed but discipline The building department continues to deliver at a very high level construction activity is strong calls are getting answered plenty of customers are served in the solution center and We have some exciting stuff happening that will be formally approved next Monday, so stay tuned for that announcement. And also an upgrade to our solution center. So we've been doing a lot of work around the city, and the solution center deserves a little bit of love, too. Also, importantly, private provider work remains under 1%. And that tells us something. So when the city performs well, customers don't necessarily need to outsource that confidence. they can find it here. The building department also continues to maintain IAS accreditation, which is an important marker of consistency, professionalism, and public safety. Planning, zoning, and business licensing are all critical pieces of the Development Services umbrella. This team supports site planning, zoning determinations, inspections, VTRs, address creation, council items, and also coordination with internal and external partners. The numbers here reflect the breadth of the work, and this division has also gone through some significant staffing stabilization, new hires, promotions, and leadership changes. And this matters because planning and zoning is often where the bigger development questions start. So having a stable team there improves the entire customer journey. Code compliance continues to balance enforcement, education, and responsiveness. So the first part of the year has generated significant revenue in dollars. Revenue dollars in permits, fines, judgments, work without permit cases, lien searches, and default property registrations. But the goal of code compliance is not just revenue. It's correction, safety, accountability, and community standards. And so the real win is when properties, businesses, and cases are brought into compliance. They've addressed BTRs, expired BTRs, and reportedly only nine businesses vacated the city. They've worked on a few dozen properties for the 30-year building recertification efforts with multiple submittals coming in weekly and keeping Virginia on her toes. Code continued partnering with police on recurring noise violations and quality of life concerns. And this is where Code Compliance functions as more than enforcement. They're problem solvers, translators, and educators. The biggest improvements happen when departments stop operating in silos. So co-compliance is instrumental in working with licensing, with building. We're also excited that next week we will once again host our annual interagency meeting, something that was started a few generations ago under prior building leadership. This meeting brings together our local and regional partners so we can continue improving coordination with agencies that affect development in Doral. Because as we know, from the customer's perspective, they do not care which agency or department owns the delay. They just want help moving the issue forward. And that's what One Voice is all about. So looking ahead, we've got several important initiatives that are moving forward with the help of IT, our zoning consultant, and public affairs, among others. We're working on the AI resident assistant. That's an embedded round-the-clock chat bot that will help customers 24-7 through all city departments, not just development services. That kicks off this week. Code compliance accreditation is expected this time next year. So they've already started working on that. Critics, which is the zoning management app that's going to help internal and external stakeholders navigate the complexities of the land development code. We're going to expand customer service surveys and feedback loops, ever, ever important. And I'm also excited about developing a Let's Build Doral Together step-by-step development services guide. And these tools are all aimed at the same goal, clearer information, better access, fewer surprises for the customer. We are listening. We are mapping the pain points. We've just got done working on a big internal workshop that was truly eye-opening for us. And we want to make the improvements that customers and staff can actually feel. So I want to thank my team. They're sharp. They're smart. They're good looking. and the city manager's office, all our partner departments, counsel for their support as this new development services umbrella continues to mature. So thank you very much, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Jane. Any questions? I have a comment. Council Member Pinedo.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I want to thank James for actually putting this together. We had the conversation. I want to thank the manager as well, the administration, because this is a department that sometimes you don't hear quite often in a good term, let's put it that way. or the advertisement that sometimes you hear is not, we're really taking place inside the city, inside the building, inside the city. So I'm glad that you guys put these together. It's very good. And as a matter of fact, I will recommend to put it on the website as well so that we can actually have it there. But more than that is to realize that Look at the numbers. When you see what you guys do or have been doing in the last seven months since we started the new fiscal year, your average is about 200 permit applications every month. That's pretty high. And when you look at the waiting time and the return time when it comes to permitting processes, the fact that we're at 32 days average That's pretty good comparing with other municipalities, not even counting the Miami-Dade County services. The perception sometimes is wrong, and that's why I wanted to have this conversation, because I know how hard you guys work on this, and especially when we're looking to improve our services and experience for residents and business owners. So I'm happy that this is the result. I was not expecting anything less. uh so but again it's something that we have to keep advertising promoting as a city explaining how you guys do it what we do what's coming and i think that's also part of our communications department too which we started that process a couple of years ago, and I believe it was one of the mayor's initiatives. We started running campaigns, marketing campaigns, explaining the process in English and Spanish, and kind of letting the residents and business owners to know that we're here to help, to serve, and to make their life easier. Some of the stuff that you hear outside is when they don't have the right people doing the jobs, when they don't have an architect that is supposed to be a licensed architect but is not, or when you have a GC that is not a GC, or when you have violations in one of these particular places that now they have to legalize. So there's a lot of things that takes place inside the building department. That is not really what sometimes you hear outside when you hear some negative comments about it. So I just want to say thank you. To you and your department. I know you guys do an amazing job, and I'm going to keep supporting you all the way. Thank you. That's all, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Forrest?

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say, and I meant to say it during the strategic planning session, but I didn't get a chance. You're doing a really great job overseeing the department's And the entire team and all the directors are doing amazing. Their response time, every time I send an email, an inquiry, they respond right away. And by the way, I don't expect you to respond the same day, but you do. And I do get a lot of good feedback from the people that you guys are helping. So I really want to say you're doing such a great job. And I'm also very eager to see all of the new things that you're planning on implementing. And I love seeing how the departments are working together, which is, I think, what has made them more efficient. And I know that you're still also incorporating some of the other departments as well. And I think it's a great goal to see all of the departments. So I just wanted to mention that because I did mean to mention it during strategic session. residents, constituents, whoever reaches out to my office and I send to you guys, they're very happy with the response time and how you guys help them. Because it's not just about calling them and responding, but you actually assist them. And they're very grateful for that. And so am I. So thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Jean. I just have a quick question. Did we print enough of these to have them on the second floor?

We have about 75 left that will be rotating on the magazine racks on the second floor, yes.

OK, I'd get some more printed and put them around the city or maybe not just your office, but even with constituent services. We're doing constituent services days again. So I think it would be extremely helpful and a way to get the information out. We've had the conversation several times of you guys are extremely responsive. and diligent in your work. And I have talked to people throughout the county that say that we're one of the best departments to work with. So we're always happy to see that promoted and boasted about because we know how much work you guys put into it. So I think that we're just continuing to improve. Launch 45 is really just a way to get that information out and continue the progress and obviously help those who take longer because they don't start with us. So that's really the purpose of why we launched that program and the One Voice. So I congratulate you all and share my gratitude with the fact that we've gotten it moving quickly. So you, Linda, the entire team, Alex, who came in and hit the ground running, and Kenya and everybody, and Danny, I know, as well. So thank you for the work that you guys do every single day. And we want to see this promoted more. I'll work with public affairs, too, through and make sure that we continue to promote that.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, Council Member Reynoso had a comment too. All right. Sorry, Jane. Hi.

So like always, Doral is a city of excellence, and this department is definitely helping us propel to that. I would also suggest maybe working with realtor offices. And drop this off.

We have actually something scheduled for June 10th. We're going to be at an event.

Okay, great. So yeah, I'm glad that's being done.

We should have them for that event. Yes. No problem.

Yes, and start reaching out in addition to that event to them because they are really like the gateway of people that come and invest in our community. And I love the pamphlet.

Yeah, awesome.

Very informative, very nice, very clean. Well, you guys do an excellent job and I'm proud to have you guys representing the city of Doral. Thank you. Yes.

Thank you. All right one move on Madam clerk discussion item 9a a resolution of the mayor in the City Council of the City of Doral for approving a tuition reimbursement benefit policy for the mayor members of the City Council providing for implementation incorporation recitals and an effective date all right, so this is my item so pretty self-explanatory the city has already a policy for tuition reimbursement for professional development and for our employees. So this extends it also to elected officials. The only difference between the city's employee policy and ours is that we have to be in office while doing it and it doesn't extend. Employees have to be here for an extended period of time after the reimbursement. For elected officials, the benefit is go get more professional development. It has to be geared towards government. So whether it's public policy, whether it's public administration, even if it's a speech class, to help us represent the city better. I think it's important that we promote professional development. So it's another incentive that is extended to elected officials to continue educating and being better public servants. So I did the Good Governance Initiative when I first started, and it was an incredible benefit to me. I actually paid it out of pocket, which was fine. But I think that this will encourage elected officials to go into more... professional development that will enhance their way of serving. So that's the only difference. Obviously, there has to be budgeted funds. If there's no budgeted funds for which we have a pot of money, once it's exhausted, you can't dip into it. So we'll budget to have a little more funds for elected officials. But once that fund is expended, it can't be used. So this is just an enhancement to education and promoting professional development. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to take them. If not, I have a motion.

I have a comment.

Yes, Councilwoman Forrest.

So during this review, I actually didn't know we had a reimbursement policy for employees, which is, I think, really great. I actually thought we had kind of like a partial COVERED OR FOR TUITION. I DON'T KNOW WHY. BUT I THINK THE REIMBURSEMENT POLICY FOR EMPLOYEES, I THINK IT IS GREAT. I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT HELPS TOWARDS RETENTION towards recruitment, but I just don't think that we should have taxpayers pay for the education of the city council. That's just my opinion. I think that if any of us, one, because we're not here permanently, we're here, however many years right but we move on and we move forward I don't think that we we should have taxpayers paying for honestly our education because from the way that this reads it seems like someone could get like a bachelor's right if I'm reading it correctly because it's towards undergraduate degrees once you finish your questions I'd be happy to answer and so I think we learned from the pensions and different things that we should not be paying for council members to get more education. That's something that each of us wants to do individually. I think that's what we should do. I'm not supporting it. I don't think it should be on the taxpayers. And again, we're not here permanently. I think it's a good policy for employees, but I just don't think, and I don't see why we, like mayors and council members, should have our taxpayers pay for our education?

So a couple of things. It's not a full reimbursement. It's a partial, same as the employee's benefits are. And we spend a lot of money on, I think, a lot of things that are more wasteful. For example, we spend a lot of money going to events. And sometimes some of us don't even show up after we spend the money to go to these events, which are taxpayer dollars. And that's in the thousands of dollars. And I don't necessarily think that it's unbeneficial. We're networking and promoting the city, and it's part of our role. I think all professional development provides a benefit. Like I said, I did the Good Governance Initiative. I did it when I first got elected. I also did... a first-time elected officials course, which that one was covered by the city. And it only enhanced my ability to serve this community and understand budgeting, understand policymaking, which makes our jobs more efficient in what we provide to the residents. So I understand your perspective. And I think that you can turn it any way you want. But I think that any professional development that enhances our ability to be better public servants is well served to this community. You know, you don't have to take advantage of it. And like I said, it's only when budgeted funds are available. But I would say that it's more wasteful to go buy a purchase, a $15,000 table at an event and not show up. Any other comments?

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. Any other comments? All right. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Motion to approve, made by Councilman Pineda, seconded by Councilman Reynoso. Councilman Pineda?

Yes.

Councilman Reynoso? Yes. Councilman Porras? No. Vice Mayor Cabral?

No.

Mayor Fraga? Yes.

Motion passes. All right. Thank you very much.

We move on to item 9B. 9B, a resolution of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Doral, Florida, proclaiming the month of June 2026 as Children's Digital Wellness Month in the City of Doral, directing the City Manager to coordinate with the Miami-Dade Public Library System and the Parks and Recreation Department to develop related community programs, providing for implementation, incorporation of recitals, and an effective date. All right.

This is Councilwoman Reynoso's item.

Thank you, Mayor. So this item very simply is to make the month of June Children's Digital Wellness Month. In the summer, it's hard to entertain our youth, typically between the ages of 10 and 17. And they rely a lot on the tablets, the Nintendos, the online gaming. And this just gives an opportunity for the city along with the public library system to work on some programming that children can participate during the summer to kind of get them away from that. So I think it's very beneficial for families. I think it's obviously very beneficial for our youth. And I think it's good that the city takes note of the needs within our community and And I think this would be a beneficial program for them. So I ask for your support, my colleagues.

Absolutely. Any questions? Need a motion?

Motion.

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. Is there any additional questions? Hopefully the new library will be open very soon and we can work with it.

But if not, the other one on the boulevard will be just fine. But the new one is... extraordinary. It's going to be a great asset to our community. All right. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Motion to approve. Made by Councilman Pinedo. Seconded by Councilman Reynoso. Councilman Pinedo.

Yes.

Councilman Reynoso. Yes. Councilman Porras. Yes. Vice Mayor Corral.

Yes.

Mayor Fraga. Yes. Motion passes. All right. Item 9C. Item 9C, a resolution of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Doral, Florida, supporting the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States through a citywide patriotic flag display initiative, directing the city manager to explore a community flag distribution program for running for limitation, incorporation of recitals, and an effective date.

Council Marine also this is your item Thank You mayor well as many of you may know this year we're celebrating 250 years as a nation so our July 4th should be the most spectacular show and all of maybe our lifetimes right to celebrate our nation our Commissioner Natalie Or million Orbis which is not really our commissioner for this district, but she does support a lot of our initiatives and great programming within the county Came up with the agenda item that I'm supporting today within the city to promote flags within our city so the idea is Have as many homes businesses display an American flag on time for July 4th now from her office I have her deputy chief of staff Gina Vargas if we can allow her to say some words. Yes, absolutely.

Thank you Welcome miss Vargas Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning mayor council members and the leadership of the city of Doral I My name is Georgina Vargas. I'm the deputy chief of staff to Commissioner Natalie Millian Orbis. Thank you for inviting us here today. She could not make it. She's at a committee meeting this morning, but she has sent me to extend her congratulations and appreciation to the city of Doral for supporting such an important patriotic initiative. Flags Across Miami-Dade was created to promote patriotism, civic pride, and unity as our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the United States. It is encouraging to see municipalities like Doral stepping forward and embracing these efforts in their own communities, especially at a time when our country faces so many challenges. Initiatives like this help bring people together around the values that make America exceptional. freedom, opportunity, and pride in our nation. Commissioner Millian Orbis looks forward to continuing to work alongside the city of Doral and municipalities across Miami-Dade County to promote patriotism, a community engagement. And if there's any initiatives you guys are having in the city, we would love for you to share with our office so that we can participate.

Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you. Please extend our gratitude to Commissioner Milian Orbis and our congratulations as well for coming up with this initiative. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. I do have a motion that I need to make. I need to amend some things in my item. Yes. Okay. First, I would like my colleagues to consider this resolution with the following amendments. The title of the resolution will be amended to strike, directing the city manager to explore a community flag distribution program, and also the sixth whereas clause, which states, whereas the mayor and the city council find the authorizing a citywide patriotic display initiative and exploring a community-based American flag distribution program in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary serves as a compelling public interest and reflect the values and identity of the Doral community. This to be stricken and replaced with whereas the mayor and the City Council find that in furtherance of the city's responsibilities to foster civic engagement and promotion of our nation's democratic values and Principles it is in the city's best interest to promote the proper display of our nation's flags throughout the city of the city Accordingly, I move to have this resolution passed with the amendment, please Okay, we have a motion by councilman Reynoso second second by councilman Pineda

I have a comment.

Yes, I really like this initiative. Thanks for bringing it forward. I was getting asked by people like what the city was doing for the 250th. And I think this is a great way to celebrate it. I know that in maybe like two years ago, we talked about having a parade. Hopefully. We can look into that maybe next year. Obviously right now it's too late. I think that 4th of July should be celebrated a lot more and just have a lot of the community participate. So thanks for bringing it. I like it. I really do.

Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, this is a wonderful item. We're happy to support it and promote it within the city. And we are working on several 4th of July initiatives coming up for the summer. that will celebrate the 250 year anniversary and this will just be another thing that we can continue to enhance and promote throughout the city So Thank You councilman Reynoso and thank you to the commissioners office.

Absolutely.

We love working with her.

Thank you Motion to approve as amended may by councilman Reynoso seconded by councilman Pinedo councilman Reynoso

Yes. Councilman Pineda? Yes.

Councilman Porras? Yes.

Vice Mayor Cabrera? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. All right. Thank you very much. We move on to the final discussion item. 9D.

Discussion item 9D, advisory boards, committees, and commission member nominations. In front of you are some nominations received by my office for your review and approval.

All right, this is just advisory board nominations. If there's no questions, please, I need a motion.

Motion.

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilman Reynoso. Please call the roll.

Motion to approve the nominations as presented, made by Councilman Pinedo, seconded by Councilman Reynoso. Councilman Pinedo? Yes. Councilman Reynoso?

Yes. Councilman Porras. Yes.

Vice Mayor Cabral.

Yes. Mayor Fraga. Yes. Motion passes. All right. I think we have item 6A.

Correct. Item 6A. A resolution of the mayor and the city council of the city of Doral, Florida, finding that the acquisition of private property through negotiated conveyance of an domain serves as a public purpose and it is necessary to provide for improvements, upkeep, and maintenance of Lakeway Drive and Geneva Way. which is privately owned and serves as right-of-way utilized by city residents, business owners, and guests. Authorizing the city attorney to initiate eminent domain proceedings. Authorizing the city attorney's office to retain experts as may be necessary. Authorizing the city attorney's office to take further actions that may be reasonably necessary to acquire the property described in Exhibit A. Providing for implementation and incorporation of recitals in an effective date. This was pulled by Councilman Porras.

OK, Councilwoman Porras, you have questions.

Thank you. So I just wanted the attorney to put on record what this was about. We spoke earlier. If you could just briefly, just so that we can educate the residents and also have it on record.

Councilwoman through the mayor this item is specifically with the lake drive we may remember that a little bit over a year ago through councilman Pinero's office this item was brought up about exploring possibility of having this road lake drive and Lake Geneva, it's in Doral Gardens, too. It's a private road, but it's a road that has been historically poorly maintained. It's had a lot of issues. It doesn't meet our code. There's poor lighting. There's no sidewalks. And so the idea was, what could the city do? Well, obviously, if it's a private road, there's not much. So the idea was, how do we transfer it? So we engaged with various, several conversations with the general counsel for Doral Gardens, too, with their HOA. And then eventually as things have moved forward, We've met with the HOA has engaged the firm of Siegfried Rivera. And so one of the conversations that we had more recently was about doing what is called a voluntary taking under threat of condemnation. So the mechanism is the eminent domain. Once we follow the eminent domain, the idea is to negotiate the actual taking of the road. It's really at no cost to the city. That's what we desire. And then eventually, we'll take a look at how we, once we

have taken possession of the road and it's now a public road how we can enhance it and bring it up to to code so that's basically the idea yeah and just again for the record there they will have to decide whether they want to give the road to the city correct if they don't do it it's not voluntary yes yeah okay thank you

That's it, motion. Okay, motion to approve by Councilwoman Porras. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilman Pinedo. You have some questions.

Were you able to get the information that I requested or to work on that, the deputy and to, when I have the meeting, you were not, you were out.

Yes, and you were inquiring as to the long-term maintenance amounts for the road, right? So we have...

I see the different...

Scenarios or the different Ways so the public works director did look into that it was numbers that were run preliminary based off of previous projects that the city has conducted similar length and as far as until we're not in there and determine what is the ultimate design that's installed what lighting is used what that long-term cost could vary you know we could provide the preliminary numbers of what that can look like on the on an approximate design And I know Carlos is ready with some numbers, but it won't be exact because we won't know until we're in there. It's identified exactly as to what we can do based on the spacing that's provided there. as far as what the stormwater design will be, as far as what the lighting will be, sidewalks and all that.

And my other question that when we were reviewing the agenda is that how is this going to be covered? I mean, later on, if it is the city who acquires the maintenance of it, of the drainage system or the streets, So that was my other question at that time.

When we had the workshop and the understanding of everything that happened, we are going to do an assessment. They are going to be assessed for the work that is done. But yes, eventually, since we are taking it over and it will become a city road, we will be responsible for the continued maintenance of that road. But for the work, yes, there will be an assessment that will be worked into their taxes.

That was the question because that was not mentioned when I was making the, I mean, when we're reviewing the agenda. So those were my questions on how is it that we're going to be forward, being able to carry the maintenance of those roads and the lighting. So if it was going through a special tax, like sometimes has been in different communities when it comes to the light. So because during the time of my review and now I didn't have any answer. So that's why. I wanted to see if there was any information that you might gather.

Yes, we went through it yesterday with the public works director. And like I said, we also don't have exact numbers because once you start to, it's hard to do estimates. But once you start, you may find things that are different. But again, the initial work and all of the work that is going to go into fixing the road they will be assessed for that. The city will just take over after all of that is done to do the ongoing maintenance like we do ongoing maintenance for all of our roads.

And the thing is that my question was not to give to get numbers. It was afterwards if there were other alternatives for to alleviate the city to be able to have to do the maintenance, even though we were going to acquire part of the streets. It's on the other with the drainage and all the other different areas that need to be then covered.

Yes, that will be assessed. In other words, the work will be assessed to them.

Yeah, that was my question, but I'm asking here because I didn't have any answer in between. But thanks.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, Councilman Pinedo.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to take the opportunity to thank the city attorney and the administration because since we started this conversation back in 2024, I know has been an ongoing effort from the administration and the city attorney in making this happen and Congratulations, because it's a big step. I mean, it's a big step when I remember we used to hear comments from current and former elected officials saying that that was going to be impossible, legally speaking. And I do remember one of my comments was, you know, nothing is impossible if we have the willingness to make it happen. And especially when you're talking about not hundreds, you're talking about thousands of residents that actually live in that area. And they have to face every single day issues when they have their kids walking to school. You don't even have a sidewalk. There's no lights. There's not drainage now that we have the raining season starting again. They have to go through different issues every day, every year. And look, the city has been incorporated for 23 years. And for the first time, we're giving a hope and a light to these residents that, unfortunately, it's not their fault. And they're in a limbo when it comes to quality of life. So when I started this conversation in 2024, I thought I was going to be... It's going to be reasonable, and it was going to make sense for us to take action on this. That's why I really want to thank the city attorney, because I know there has been a lot of calls, a lot of emails, conversations with management, with the legal part of the associations as well. And let me tell you, the people on the other side, they're happy. They want to do it. The residents want to do it. The associations want to do it. Everybody wants to do it because they're going to see the benefit. When you see Doral, everything that we do around the city, you have downtown Doral, but then suddenly when you go to 79th Avenue, it's like you're in another part of the county, which, by the way, 79th Avenue should be part of the conversation, too. Because it's our road. And we have a lot of work to do on 79th Avenue as well. And we cannot stay quiet when it comes to these type of issues. And we have an opportunity to make a better job when it comes to our own roads. So 79th will be on the list as well. But going back to Lake Drive Street, again, we're making or we will be making the life of thousands of residents. Much better. So I'm happy that we're doing this. I know there's more work to do. But after two years of work, it's a clear message that whatever we decide to do, we can make it happen in order to have a better community. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. Any other comments? I just wanted to, yes, go ahead. When was the second round? Go ahead, please.

I just want to clarify something. I know that the city has been always trying to get together the HOAs and the residents for that area. And even the last workshop that I remember Very few people even showed up. Those are private roads, and I just want to say that I am supportive of trying to resolve issues when it comes to our community. But we also have to take into account that being private roads and that the board was not engaged on trying to resolve this issue, it doesn't mean that the city has left them for many years in the limbo. So I don't think that that's the right statement to make when it comes to that. We actually, at that time, even though we try to get together again, these are roads that are responsible, the HOAs, they are like all the different HOAs of the community of our city. We even... made a way to help to drain the water, and I think the public works can confirm that, to the canal that is adjacent to it, to try to alleviate that. So that was something that we work on, and trying to get together with the board of that community. I hope that they will get together, and like the attorney said, and they give the authorization for us then to take over to the roads. So I just want to clarify that.

Thank you. So just some clarity over the last two years. The last workshop we had was overwhelmingly attended with residents in that area and the boards. You didn't go to that one. But the boards were extremely engaged in wanting to get this done. And they've shown interest in trying to get this done for years. And unfortunately, the city just didn't provide an avenue to do so until We pushed. And honestly, their attorneys pushed back. I actually attended the meetings with Lorenzo. And the attorneys pushed back. And the reason we ended up at M&A Domain was because it's really the only legal avenue for us to take it over. I was actually... I also pushed back on eminent domain because I didn't want to set a precedent. But we came to an agreement that they were going to give it to us for no cost and that there would still be an assessment. So that's the understanding. We've had several meetings. We've been on top of this. I mean, we follow up. I know Councilman follows up, and I follow up at least every two weeks with Lorenzo on this and directly with their attorney. to get this done. So I think we've made tremendous progress, honestly slower than I wanted to go at that workshop. We told them about a year it would take, and it's taken longer. So we're trying to do this as quickly as possible. We don't have a sum of what it will cost to fix that road, but the residents are in total understanding that it will be an assessment that will be divided up amongst all the properties in that area because it's not fair for the rest of the city to carry the burden of fixing a road that has been theirs for many years and had easements to be able to access all the different communities. The problem with that road, particularly different from a lot of other scenarios, is that it was a road that was owned by one association, but several associations were supposed to pay into the fund and were supposed to maintain it, and that never got done as it transitioned, as we see in many HOAs today. in certain cases. However, this is a road that's used for public access quite a bit. So after the assessments were made, conversations with public works, several workshops that we've had, and conversations with the board. We've met with the board several times as well. We have determined that this is the avenue to move forward in a way that will not burden the city. And moving forward, yes, the city will have to maintain the road as it does all other roads. So I think it's definitely an important artery that provides access to thousands of residents, as Councilman Pinedo has correctly stated. So this is a benefit to a sector of our city that Tremendously needs the upkeep and absolutely 79th Avenue is definitely one that we still I think one of the only areas in our city that still suffers severe flooding so I'm fully on supportive of that councilman Pinedo that we address these issues. And I know all the state funding we've been trying to apply for and stuff is going to those areas and improving the drainage in that area because it does cause significant damage to properties when those areas flood. So we do what we can to provide a service and to enhance the quality of life of our residents. And I would encourage all of our council members to join in doing that in the time they have left.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Motion to approve by Councilman Porras, seconded by Councilman Pinero. Councilman Porras?

Yes. Councilman Pinero?

Yes.

Councilman Reynoso? Yes. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. All right. Mayor's report. Mayor's report.

All right. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I would like to thank Public Affairs Team and the Parks Department for their hard work and dedication in making National Day of Prayer a meaningful and successful event. You all know that that's one of my favorite events of the year. And it's such a great opportunity for us to come together as a family and praise. So thank you very much for joining us and for staying and for just making it so special. It really is a fabulous night. I have two requests. We need to change the October council meeting to October 7 because it will conflict with our PP4K golf tournament, gala, and State of the City. So excuse me, I'm asking that the council meeting be moved to October 7th. And also we need to change the November council meeting to November 18th. There wasn't a meeting on November, but charter change, there's no runoffs, so we should have a November council meeting. That'll give us enough time to certify elections, welcome the new council, and get on with our work. So looking forward to that date. So we're going to go ahead and move the November 18th council meeting. And for the final mayor's comments, we have several birthdays this month. I want to just wish a happy birthday to some members from my team. Marta Briseño was on May 7th. Happy birthday. We have Luis Amor from Economic Development was May 19th, or is May 19th coming up. Roman Martinez from Procurement, happy birthday, May 22nd. And our chief's birthday, Edwin Lopez, May 30th. Happy birthday. And two very special birthdays. We have our councilwoman, Nicole Reynoso, on May 28th. And today, we have our city clerk, Connie Diaz. I left her for last because today is actually her birthday.

So happy birthday, everyone. All right.

So we're going to sing happy birthday to everyone who's Birthdays are here. Join me. Ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Connie. Happy birthday to you. Thank you, IT.

Thank you, IT. I love it. All right, that concludes my mayor's comments. All right, city manager's report.

Good morning again. Mayor, I just wanted to highlight, I know you all received an LTC regarding this, but I wanted to put it out so the residents could, whoever hasn't seen it, we're pleased to inform the city of Doral has been recognized as a 2026 USA Today Top Workplace winner. Yes. It's a distinguished national honor that highlights organizations with exceptional workplace cultures. This recognition places the city among an elite group of nationwide organizations in the employee size of 500 to 999 employees. We were selected for this honor. This achievement underscores the city's ongoing commitment to fostering a positive Engaging in high-performing work environment and notably this award is based entirely on employee feedback collected through the EnerGage Workplace Survey, making one of the most credible and authentic measures for organizational culture. More than 240 City of Doral employees participated in the survey. providing valuable insight that directly contributed to this recognition and continues to guide improvements across the organization. So we're very happy. Thank you, HR, for always leading these efforts. And that's all I have.

Thank you, Madam Manager. City Attorney.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm going to be asking in the future to schedule two executive sessions. I'm going to read the case numbers, 125 CV, 2885 RAR, and 24 CV, 2286 JV. OK, thank you. Anything else? That is all. All right. Thank you.

City Clerk's Report.

It's attached. Thank you all for the birthday.

You're welcome. Appreciate you. Have a great one. God bless you. All right. That exhausts our morning agenda. I need a motion to recess, and we'll be back at 6 p.m. Motion. Motion to recess by Councilman Reynoso, second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right. We'll see you back here for protocol hour, and then our 6 o'clock meeting.

Perfect.

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our May Council evening session. Today is Wednesday the 13th. The time is now 6.11 p.m. Hereby call this meeting to order. Reminder, please silence your phones. And if you need to take a call, we kindly ask that you step outside to maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilwoman Corrinoso. Present. Councilwoman Maureen Porras. Here. Councilman Rafael Pinedo.

Present.

Vice Mayor Degna Cabral is not present. Mayor Chrissy Fraga.

Present. Mayor McCormick. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Pinedo.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, I don't believe there's any changes to the agenda order of business. I know that earlier today we pulled off item 20D. Correct. It was deferred to the next council meeting in June. We'll move into public comments. All right. We will now open the public comments portion of this meeting. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak and address any issue on this agenda or any matter related to the city of Doral. Please begin by stating your name and address for the record to ensure that you are registered with the city clerk. We will first hear from those who are pre-registered to speak, followed by any walk-in speakers. Once all the pre-registered speakers have spoken, I will make a final announcement for any walk-in speakers. As a reminder, in accordance with the city code of conduct, we ask that all your remarks be made in a respectful, courteous, and orderly manner. Personal attacks, offensive language, and disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. And we ask that you please adhere to these policies so we can work together to keep this forum productive and constructive for all. We will go ahead and start with Antonio Carballo.

97 55 Northwest 52nd Street apartment 413 and I'm not sure word the item is on the agenda, but I got the email regarding the homeowners association, and I just wanted to shed some light on that With my own example when I moved into that condo sold the big house my wife and I moved into the condo we were paying 400 and $50 on association dues. We're up to $1,093. Another $117, a special assessment, which is going to go on for seven years. Our community, if you're familiar with the Royal Oaks, the villages of the Royal Oaks, there's townhomes and there's four buildings. This building is the oldest one. Some of those residents have gotten on the bigger apartments have gotten hit with $58,000. So that erodes any equity that kind of limits you from selling. Nobody's going to buy when this situation is going on. And my thing is to vent a little bit. And, you know, we are very different from the awful incidents in Surfside. We don't have underground parking. We're not by the ocean. We only have five stories. We're not a 12-story building. But in our unit, aside from where I'm paying, The structural integrity report said that we have to replace the facade of that whole building, and we have five years to do it. So I'm looking at more expenses. And just the fact that I give that knowledge to all of you, it might be of help. But I think starting that committee that you're starting with the homeowners having to deal with or issues with dealing with the condos, it's a great idea. And I thank you for that.

And thank you for your time.

Thank you. We moved on to, the only thing it says is Giova, Jovu, Jovu? It only says G-I-O-V-U, Jovu. OK, sorry. That's all it says on the registration.

Thank you. GOOD EVENING, MAJOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING FORWARD THIS IMPORTANT INITIATIVE. MY NAME IS JOANNA SOUZA, AS I MENTIONED. I AM HERE TODAY IN SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSAL CONDOMINION AND H.O.A. ADVISORY BOARD. THIS INITIATIVE IS BOTH TIMELY AND NECESSARY BECAUSE CONDOMINIONS AND H.O.A. COMMUNITIES ARE NO LONGER A SMALL PORTION OF OUR CITY. They represent a significant part of how Doral lives, operates, and grows. Thousands of residents depend every day on the decision made between these associations. These decisions impact not only finances and property maintenance, but also quality of life, community stability, and long-term property values. Many associations today face increasingly complex challenges. Boards are often made up of volunteer residents who are expected to navigate financial responsibilities, legal obligations, operational decisions, budgeting, vendor relationship, reserve planning, collections, and governance matters. of them without access to sufficient guidance, education, or practical resources. At the same time, homeowners frequently struggle to understand processes, access to information, or effectively participate in the communities where they live. This can create confusion, lack of transparency, frustration, an available conflict between associations. That is why this initiative is so important. The creation of an advisory board could provide an opportunity to the city to support communities through education, shared resources, best practices, and constructive communication regarding recurring challenges affecting condominiums and HOAs across the world. I want to emphasize something very important. This proposal is not about interference in the autonomy of associations, nor replacing the authority of boards or management companies. It's about strengthening communities through knowledge, guidance, and access to better tools. Strong communities, strong associations create a strong neighborhood. Strong neighborhoods create a strong city. An initiative like this can help promote better governance, more informed decision making, greater accountability, and healthier communication between stakeholders. It can also help identify recovery patterns and trend affecting multiple communities, allowing the city to better understand the evolving needs to its residents and advocate. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

All right. Odell Torres.

Madam Mayor, council members, and staff, saludos y buenas noches. My name is Odell Torres, one of 250 Northwest 66th Street, president of Landmark at Doral HOA, president of Landmark at Doral Condo Association, and chair of the Landmark at Doral CDD. For the record, I have over 40 years working on HOAs, COAs, and CDDs. I'm here tonight to support the possibility of the creation of a city of the Royal Condominium Homeowners Association Advisory Board, item number 19 alpha. The city of the Royal is composed mostly of HOAs, COAs, and rental units. We have folks that are the voting elements of this city. It is time to have a voice in the city government. I want to provide a bit of a history that some of you may not be aware of. Doral is a city today thanks to the HOAs and COAs that were the first created in the Doral area. Thanks to the vision of our founder father, Mr. Morgan Levy, and the Wednesday Federation that he created, united all the HOAs and COAs to work as a team to help with the creation of the city. Unfortunately, once the city was created, we lost the links of all the HOAs, COAs, and CDDs, and now we are all working as independent mini-cities. Yes, we share some differences, but we also share many common elements, since the Florida statutes, chapters 190, 719, and 720, are the law of the land that we all must follow. One of my biggest concerns is that while the COAs have the DVPR to help with some of their problems, however, the HOA do not have a place where we can go to complain or look for guidance. I'm fully aware that the city cannot interfere with our covenants and rules, but by creating the advisory board, it may become the voice that we need at the city and the state level. Finally, I would like to recommend a friendly amendment to the council to please include the community development district as well in this proposal since they all go hand in hand with the HOAs. Thanks for the opportunity. And if the proposal moves forward, I would love to throw my name in the hat and become one active member. Thanks again.

OK, final person who's registered, Cesar Abarca.

Hi, good evening. My name is Cesar. I have been in this desk in the past. Now I am going to start working on this because this initiative really is very good, and I personally fully support it. I remember that you organized here a meeting that invite the community in order to understand the problems that we are facing regarding the homeowner association, okay? I would like to give you a couple of data so you can understand. No, I know that you understand. So you can be aware of some statistics that can help us to understand the size of the problem, okay? I will start saying that Miami-Dade is the city with the highest... problem regarding homeowner association problems, all right? This is the number one. The number two is Broward, and the number three is Palm Beach, you know? Los costos, the cost in Miami-Dade is very high, and Broward are high, And the financial risks are very high in the case of the Miami-Dade, as well the participation is very high regarding the problems that we're going to talk about. So in this context, the homeowner association in the area are characterized by a lot of violation of the rules. Among those violations, I would like to mention illegal fine to the resident, you know, is estimated in about 30% of the total expense or the total violation. The second one is a lack of transparency. That is very key. And the third one is, I would call it a spurious election. That means that the election normally, you know, are taken for a few group of citizens. Consequently, there is no real quorum that can legitimate that election, you know. So this is the just three or four most important violations that are happening in the environment, you know. So now I would like to comment on On the election, you know, election are related to the concept of legitimacy. If an election is not supported by the right quorum, the election is not legitimacy.

Thank you, Mr. Abarca. Unfortunately, we only have three minutes and we can't go over that. There's currently a lawsuit going on in different cities that if we allow any additional time.

Correct. I just want to close quickly.

I can't allow one second over three minutes anymore. I'm sorry.

All right. Well, anyway, thank you very much. I appreciate your attention.

I'm sorry. We have to protect the city. Thank you so much. Is there any additional speakers at this time? Being none, OK, public comments is now closed.

All right, Madam Clerk, we move on.

Item 19A, discussion creating of state of drought condominium and homeowners association advisory board. This was deferred from the April 8th council meeting.

OK, councilwoman Porras, this is your item. Thank you, Mayor. And I want to start off by saying thank you to all the residents that are here. I know that there's a lot of residents that called, emailed, and that are probably watching, too, that couldn't make it to the meeting. So thank you for your time. And for those of you that spoke today, I want to thank you as well. As you guys know, this is a discussion on the creation of a City of Doral Condo and Homeowners Association Advisory Board. we probably the majority of us i think it's more than 80 percent of us live in one of those condo hoa communities so this is a topic that's extremely important to the city and extremely important to the residents something that you i think everyone here knows because i've had conversations with all of you i've had conversations with um different folks too that have reached out the city and we all understand does not have authority right over the internal over the internal happenings or governance of these associations. But I still believe that the city can play a very meaningful role in making sure that our residents and board members are educated, that they have access to tools and resources, and that we are connected. And so the purpose of this board is very limited. I've had discussions with with the attorney before on obviously our jurisdiction over this. And so that's why I decided to, one, turn this into a discussion and also make sure that it was understood that the purpose is focused and limited in helping three things I would say one is helping identify legislative priorities where the city can advocate at the state level and that's something that we as a council we do every year we've seen different pieces of legislation pass go through through some of our elected officials and so it's something that at the city level we can do and we have been doing for several years The second thing would be to support educational initiatives, such as community workshops for residents and board members, because this is something that it's not just about coming in and learning what your rights are as homeowners, but it's also helping give the tools and guidance and really offer best practices for those that are part of the board right now. A COLLABORATIVE WORK BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND BOARD MEMBERS SO THAT GOVERNANCE CAN BE BETTER. AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO DO IT THAN TOGETHER, RIGHT? WE AS A COMMUNITY I WOULD LIKE PERSONALLY I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE CITY HELP CREATE THE AN ANNUAL HOA CONDO WORKSHOP. AS I'VE DONE IT AS PART OF MY OFFICE AS AN INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL WOMEN'S OFFICE WITH ATTORNEYS ORGANIZATIONS WHERE WE'VE HAD different attorneys come and talk about frequently asked questions, rights, responsibilities, and we've done those workshops. I know that some of my colleagues here have also done those workshops with legislators, with DBPR, with different entities that really have a big role in in HOAs and condos. And so what I envisioned was having the city have a stake in it as well, where this board could put on that workshop together. Currently, we have, I believe it's about 10 different advisory boards. And each of them usually put on a yearly event. Like, for example, we're having a women's event this year that's being, again, supported by the city. There is a college fair that's being put on by our youth advisory board that, again, is also supported by the city. And so it would be very similar to that. And I think that's something that would be a benefit to the community. And then lastly, I think it would be a great way to communicate, to really strengthen communication between, again, residents and board members and associations and the city of Doral. I've spoken to some of you that would also like to strengthen that communication when it comes time to requesting a permit, asking questions. I think it would be a great way to, again, connect directly with the city. And I just want to reiterate that this proposal is not intended to create additional regulations or interfere with association boards. It's not our job as a city. And we've said this many, many times, but rather help strengthen awareness, education, engagement and access to information for our community. So with that, I'll finish by saying that there's other cities like Hialeah who have started really getting involved and having a bigger stake in what happens at the HOA condo level in our communities. They're doing something a little bit different. But again, this is limited to being an advisory board that can help strengthen that education and access to resources for everyone. I live in an association as well. So with that, again, I'm hoping that we can have a good discussion on it. And hopefully, maybe if we agree, we can eventually bring something back to the council to formalize the advisory board. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman. So I'd like to make a couple of comments and to clarify a couple things as we have this discussion. First, Cesar, I'm sorry I had to cut you off, but there's a lawsuit going around in different cities that if you don't give everybody a certain amount of time, even if I was to give you an extra five, six, seven seconds, a minute, we could be sued because everybody didn't get that opportunity, or I would have to open it up all again. So I'm sorry that I had to cut you off, but I have strict orders to do that. So I apologize. So I just wanted to clarify. So I know that this is an issue that has really affected many of us. All of us live in associations. I think most of Doral is under associations for the exception of Vanderbilt Park. So I understand that this is an issue that truly impacts families. It's something that I've taken a big a big priority on and roll on, I want to first talk about a couple of things that we are already doing as a city. And then I'm going to really propose something that creates real results. Because while having an advisory board, and let me explain a little bit about our advisory boards. We have several advisory boards. Our dear clerk can attest to this, and I know she has a big job. Her team actually manages the advisory boards. And we're actually reviewing and revamping our advisory boards because we haven't had a lot of success. These advisory boards are volunteer-based. And what happens is these volunteers get a little frustrated because not enough happens. They don't get quorum. They can't meet. Everybody's working. Some people can't do nighttime. Some people can't do morning. So we set up these meetings. They don't show up. The public comes. No one's there. It's very difficult because it's volunteer-based. And so the last thing I want to do, and I think any of us wants to do, is give a false expectation to anyone that this advisory board that's made up of same people like you that have the same concerns and the same issues are going to resolve them for you or are going to take these complaints, and then what's going to happen? So I want to provide you something that really has results because I think that's what we're all here for, is solutions and results-driven solutions proposals. All right. because we can all contemplate what we can get done. So first, in 2024, we set up a fraud unit. It's an economics frauds unit at the police department. There's a person dedicated to that. If any of you have a complaint or a real case of fraud that you have detected in your association, our police department is there. The person will meet with you, will take all the information down, and they will pursue it if there is a true case. Now, we won't go and do the public records requests for you, for your association, all that. We are limited to certain authority there. But we can pursue fraud cases, 100%. So I encourage anyone who has a case that they truly feel that there has been wrongdoings and fraud and theft, and you have that documentation, sit with our police department. Take it to them. They are here for that. Second, I have been hosting an event every year for the past four years where the DPPR is present, the Economic Crimes Unit from the county is present, the state attorney's office is present, our state representatives are present. I stream it live. I bring attorneys. from all different specifications and fields that relate to HOAs, elections, fraud, assessments, fees. And they give free legal advice. We're there for an entire day. We've had hundreds of participants, not just for this city. I get people from Broward, from the beach. This is something I do every year in September. We do it after the legislative session so we can inform people on what changes have taken place in the legislation. It's unfortunate to say we get a lot of attendees, but we just don't get enough for how many HOAs we have in this city. So that's a prime example of one day a year that we provide all these resources, and unfortunately, not enough people come. And by the way, they are online. They're all recorded. They're on my YouTube. You can absolutely, and the city partakes in them. So we do this already. This is something that the city and my office has been doing. Every individual council member can do their own stuff as well, but this is something that's been consistent every year for the past four years that we've done. DBPR participates, all of that. So those are things that truly do provide opportunities for residents to engage with the right people, with the people who make the decisions, the legislators, the ones who are truly going to make this a priority in Tallahassee. We are up in Tallahassee every year. We went twice this year. I'll be back there soon for special session. Talking to legislators, we have lobbyists that we pay. We make this a priority in our legislative priorities every year. Unfortunately, Tallahassee has not acted enough, even though they've made stronger changes to the laws to enforce wrongdoings and fraud and the elections and everything. So that's something that they are trying to fix, but it's out of our hands. It's something that happens in Tallahassee. And it's unfortunate, one of the things that I've advocated for for years is that they create some type of fund so that if there is an issue, residents can tap into that fund. You know, you have association managers who are licensed individuals that you can also pursue complaints and things through the DBPR. Unfortunately, the DBPR just doesn't have enough funding to, you know, really pursue some of these cases. But those are all... Tallahassee issues that we need to, as a city, be more aggressive on. One of the things I proposed last year is to get a bus, two buses. I'm happy to have the city organize it. We'll pay for it. And we get two buses of residents up to Tallahassee to go lobby for changes, real changes. Let's do it. I'm all in. I think that that's something that we can really make an impact for. So those are real things that we can do to help our residents find true relief on these matters. Because otherwise, we're just going to continue to spin our wheels as residents complaining to each other. And that's not going to fix the problem. We need to find the real solution. Additionally, I've been talking, and I'm going to two things that we're going to be doing next. I've been talking to our supervisor of elections. One of the things we're trying to set up right now is that these elections, You as homeowners can ask the Elections Department to supervise the elections of your associations. So we're going to set up a task force from the Elections Department. The Elections Department, you can request through the Elections Department. There may be a fee, but the Elections Department will oversee the elections of your HOAs and condos. I'm currently working with Alina Garcia on that proposal, and we're going to make an announcement on it. So we're working with her office to assist in that. the second thing that we're going to start doing that actually an email will go out right after this meeting on june 6 on june 9th i'm sorry we will have another constituent service day we have now gotten the dbpr to agree to be once a month in this building so they will be here available to hear from you once a month the dbpr with constituent services you can come And you can speak directly to them. I cannot promise you that they're going to solve your problem. Unfortunately, again, they don't answer to us. They answer to Tallahassee. But at least there'll be direct access to them here in City Hall once a month. And we'll be putting that out directly through the Constituent Services Office, which works under us, Mayor and Council. So we're going to be putting that out immediately. I know there was conversations about CDDs. Those are even worse because that has, I've been advocating for that to be completely rehauled and repealed at this day. I've said here, we will not approve one more, I will not vote for one more CDD in our city because I think that it's, I mean, horrible management of how, not all of them, but many of them, unfortunately, it's horrible management. I think that we're better served using that. Some people think that that money goes to the city of Doral. It doesn't. It's administered just like a, an HOA or a condo. So I think that means huge legislative amendments and overhaul are completely repealed. So we are working on these things actively in Tallahassee to really provide relief to our residents. What I would like to say, and again, we're going to keep doing all this. The HOA event, we're working on ours again for September. Starting June, you're going to have the DBPR here every month with the constituent service to be able to come talk to. So I don't believe that an advisory board is the right answer. I think it's giving you false hope and expectation. And I think those residents, unfortunately, are just going to grow frustrated. They don't have the expertise either, not to offend anyone, but it's a very complex situation. They're going to turn to us and ask us to solve the problem for them. And unfortunately, we just do not have that authority. However, here's what I do want to do. I want to place a motion to ask our city attorney to look into requiring HOAs and condos to register and potentially charge an extra fee or a BTR for HOAs and condos to create a fund that will help investigate and provide relief on complaints to residents if these HOAs are found guilty of fraud. So that would create a registry and a fund within the city to allow us to pay for... a misdoing or an investigation if we were to find one. I don't know if we have the authority to particularly do that, but I want the city attorney and the manager to look into that. And that way, when we come back and have this discussion, we have it based on something that really does result in a solution for you all. Because truthfully, I don't think the answer is in a group of volunteer Residents, as much as I love you all and I think you do a great job when you come here and you give your time, but we're all suffering from this issue. So let's find a solution and propose things that truly have answers. So that would be my motion if I get support for that. We'll move forward in having the city attorney. I'll give them 60 days to really look into that and come back at our council meeting with a response on if we can create a fund, a fee that's paid, which means that fund will be earmarked to HOA investigations, complaints, if we have to hire a specialized attorney, whatever it is. Let's actually build something that's going to respond to this community and this problem. So I think that that's a way that we can move forward as we start to look and we go back up to Tallahassee and we work on opportunities to change and advocate for real change and amendments to our laws that will help us all, towards the future, have real accountability and transparency in our associations, as we do here in the city. So that would be my proposal on this matter. Because again, my goal is to provide you guys real results, making sure that you actually get something that's tangible and will solve this problem. And I truly don't think an advisory board is. I'm already doing a huge event that many of you come to, that your boards come to, and that I hope that everybody that's sitting in this room will be at this year. I truly hope, because I think that it's a great opportunity. One more thing that we've been doing as well and will be doing now is through code compliance, we have provided certifications. So you can actually go and take a free course done by attorneys and get a certification that the board members are required to do, by the way, but it's open to anybody in the public. to come and get certifications so you can learn the laws on HOAs and condos and also learn your rights. So it's an actual certification you get provided by attorneys that are certified to do this. We'll be having another one very soon. We've done it a couple times with code compliance. And so I welcome all of our residents to take that course and get more engaged. Those are really the comments that I have. I just took some notes to the things that you all were saying. I think the key here is consistency. And having the DVPR here monthly, which is something that we always envisioned with constituent services, that you can come to and you can reach out to and you know they're going to be here on a consistent basis. consistency is going to be key. So unfortunately, I just haven't seen that from some of our boards. Some of them are great, but it's hard to get residents who are very, very busy and on a volunteer basis to come here and hear complaints from other residents. So I hope that everyone understands that, and I hope to have a support on my motion.

Mayor, I will second the motion.

Thank you.

Councilman, did you have some comments?

No. Well, first of all, I just want to thank everyone that is here because certainly it's an issue that affects everybody in Doral. I mean, it's not a secret. It's not something new. We have been facing this issue for years. But at the same time, I do recognize that as a city, especially since we got elected, we have been working on this matter. as the mayor explained. I mean, not only everything that we go to Tallahassee, but the relationship that we have at the state level, and especially with our state representative, has been something that for the past, especially three, four years, has been very significant and has created good changes at the state level. I know it's not perfect. We still have a lot of work to do. There is a lot of frustrations in between. But I do agree that creating an advisory board, certainly we create a full expectation. And that's the part that I'll be concerned as well. Because I think that you guys already as a residents are expecting for us to do the job. We're representing you. Everything that we have the chance, not only as a mayor said to go to Tallahassee, but to speak to our representative, you are paying us to do that already. So it's not that we don't want you to get involved. I think that you should keep getting involved. I have been participating. I haven't done any on my own as an office because I do participate at the one that the mayor has been hosting for the past. It's going to be the four this year, which is very well attended. And it's true, you have people from all over the place. But the fact that at those particular annual workshops you have state representative, the county, you have everybody that is involved that can really make an action and a change in what we're looking for, it's important for you to participate as well. If you haven't done it... Hopefully we see you in September. But as you heard, at the end, it's going to take all of us to work together. We have been doing it. There's more to do. But I... Certainly, I think that what the mayor is proposing really can create a much better not only communication, understanding, educational resources, but at the same time, you will see a result. Because at the end of the day, advisory boards, we do have great advisory boards, like the Veterans Advisory Board. They do their activities. They host. They provide resources to veterans. So that means that they're providing, they're giving solutions. And unfortunately, by having an advisory board that pretty much everything is controlled by the state, to provide solutions to the residents coming from the advisory board will be a little bit difficult if we don't get involved. So I commend you for being here today. But believe me, I think that you're in very good hands with the current administration. And that's why I'm happy to support the amendment presented by the mayor.

Thank you, Councilman. I do have a comment. Yes, Councilman Marino.

So I feel that I can recognize the intent of the original item brought by my colleague. HOWEVER, I FEEL LIKE IT'S SLIGHTLY MISLEADING. WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO TRULY PROCESS AND DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN JUST HEARING THE VOICES OF THE RESIDENTS. NOW, LAST YEAR, ONE OF OUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES DID BRING UP A BILL THAT HAD TO DO WITH HOA. HIS HOUSE BILL WAS 98-3. And in that bill, he had said he wanted to expand oversight of board elections, increasing financial transparency, strengthening recall procedures, and enhancing protections for the homeowners. And even so, the only authority that we had here as a council was to support a bill that was already trying to be passed at the state level. And didn't pass. And it didn't pass. And he tried again, and it didn't pass. So I'm only saying this to kind of have some type of guideline as to the limitations of how far our voices can go, essentially how far the residents' voices can go, into effectuating change based on current situations within the community. So essentially all we can continue to do is hear what is happening at certain HOAs, continue to advocate to the state in hopes that they will produce a bill that will be accepted by both the House and the Senate and passed as law to hopefully change what is happening truly within HOAs. As a city, we also, like the mayor has stated, within our police department, if there are strong enough cases being brought by the different HOAs or condominium associations, right, there's a good factual base. The residents within that community have come with different backup to maybe an issue that is happening in their community. The police can continue to investigate that issue once The HOA or the residents within HOA in the condominium associations have done their part providing the facts. So those are the different things that are happening. What I don't want to approve is a sound board, a space where everybody's going to come to complain and there's not going to be anything that the city can truly do. We're aware because we do listen to the things that our residents tell us that's our job. We're aware of the issues that are happening and we do advocate for the residents in every opportunity that we can. But these are truly the limitations that you have from your city council. So I don't want to give false expectations to the residents. And that's why I do back up, let's say, for example, the workshop opportunities that we have. And also, you know, there are legal councils that dedicate themselves to the difficult, to explain and the task that is HOA law and condominium law. And those are really the resources that are available to the residents. Again, whenever there is something that we can do for all of you, that's what we do. But definitely I'm not going to sit here and try to give an avenue that is not really going to resolve anything. And those are my comments.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Yeah, I think at the end of the day, the last thing we want to do is create another layer of bureaucracy. And truthfully, I think that that's what would be caused with an advisory board. It's just another layer of some other board that has no authority. That's what we're here for. That's what you elect us for. So you guys come here and complain to us, and we do what we can to support you. So I think my motion has a second. I want to make sure administration is clear on what we're looking into. Mr. City Attorney, would you like to add anything?

No, very clear.

Clear? OK. I think that this may give us some type of avenue. And I'm not even sure yet we're going to have him. The motion is for him to go and investigate to create A fund and a fee, the associations will have to pay into yearly, almost like a BTR, that will hopefully grow over time, that will help the city pay in the case that we get a complaint that can be pursued. Fair? So I think that may be the only avenue we have to be able to create a real opportunity that will pursue a case. There's not much that can be done. However, I think what happens in many of these circumstances is that the residents' hands are tied because it costs money to pursue you know, wrongdoings. You have to go and get an investigator. You have to pay for public records. You have to do all these things to find out if your HOA is acting in good faith or not. Now, let me also be clear. In many cases, we have seen, unfortunately, through the police department, is that people come with all this evidence. Look, they're stealing. And the truth is, they're not. Just because your association decided to go with a more expensive insurance, it's not illegal. They're elected. to make that decision. Now, if you don't agree with it, vote them out. But it's not illegal for them to choose a higher insurance that you have to pay more for. That's their choice. So a lot of times I find myself explaining that to residents, is that they come with all this information saying, look, they're stealing. And unfortunately, it's not a theft. It's not a legal act, although we may disagree with it. At that point, it's important to have the community get together and Recall, get involved, join the board, all things that require a lot of time and effort. But it can be done. So we'll continue to host the workshops. We'll continue to provide the free consult, the free certifications through the attorneys that give us pro bono time. We're going to be doing that very soon. DBPR will start being here once a month. These are all our commitments to you right now. Because I'm hearing you. This is what our response is. We've already been working on these things, and we will continue to do it. If you have a current case with proven evidence, please make sure to go see the police department. They will take you, they will take your case, they will look into it, and they will do their best to bring it to justice if there is proven wrongdoings. In the meantime, we'll go ahead and look into if we can create some type of funds to create another opportunity to pursue wrongdoings. And we'll continue to lobby in Tallahassee so these changes happen. I really encourage all of you to come to the events I do once a year. The legislators are there. The representatives are there. If you have something currently, email it to us. I will make sure that office gets it. I will make sure the legislators in Tallahassee get it. and that they see what we're all suffering, so that your voices are continued to be transmitted to the right people that make those decisions. Pay attention to those elections. They're important, as important as they are the ones here in our city. So I want to thank you all for being here today. If there's no additional comments, we'll go ahead and have the manager call. I have some comments. Oh, go ahead.

So everyone here is I think everyone here is part of the board. Some right. OK, so, you know, coming in here offering a an opportunity to be part of the solutions that are being mentioned. And I think they're great, by the way. I think that it's definitely good work that the city is doing. I think the advisory board was to have better participation and organized participation. And all of you guys being part of a board, you are coming here and now hearing that you guys are going to be charged more fees. That is not a solution. I mean, I'm very sorry. I know that it's well-intended. And I think that, yes, there is fraud being committed. I didn't intend for you guys to be charged an extra fee coming out of here, by the way. I don't know if it's actually doable. I would not support the attorney looking into charging HOAs and associations more fees than what you already have. That's not the intention. The other thing is I'm going to name all the advisory boards that we have, OK? Citizens Audit Advisory Board, Commission on the Status of Women, Doral Parks Bond, Economic Development, Environmental, Faith, Military, Parks and Culture Advisory Board, Police, Special Needs, Youth Civic Committee. They're important. But I think a very important one is missing, this one. If this wasn't important, and if these issues were not important, there wouldn't be an advisory board. This is a way for the residents to directly participate in most of the solutions that I agree with that have been said today. And we can continue doing them, but again, not having a structure, not having a resident-led, organized group that can actually be, I don't want to call it liaison, but be the communicators. We're just back to where we have always been because everything that's been said that our solutions have been happening for years and we're still not where we want to be, right? So I think we should definitely try something new. I think this is a good way to have residents engage in even more. Come to these meetings. Come to the workshops because you guys are going to go out and deliver the message. You're going to communicate. You're going to multiply the people. I mean, we've tried it. We've done it. We're doing it, apparently, and we're still doing it. So obviously, as you guys can tell, the will of the council is not to create the board. I do regret that. But again, I'm not going to support looking into tacking on additional fees to the HOAs. So with that, again, I'm sorry. And we can't speak anymore. I'm sorry. That's not allowed. And so again, thank you guys for being here. And I'm glad that you guys voiced your opinion on it. Thank you.

So just to clarify a couple of things, all the boards that were discussed were actually currently looking at consolidation, because Madam Clerk, How is the issue with attendance? How many times do the boards really, really meet?

Yeah, it has a very low turnout. They have a hard time getting quorum and having people showing up.

And staff has to stay over time and be able to. So we're currently in the process of consolidating our boards. There's actually an item that will be coming forward. We're letting them finish up this year. There's elections in November, so the boards will change again. So once that happens, we will actually be consolidating boards because they just don't meet. It's hard. It's a volunteer basis. So it's a commendable thing to do, but it's unfortunate that they just don't meet. So it really, again, creates another layer that doesn't result in anything. Secondly, the purpose is not to create a new fee. the companies that run your associations already pay a BTR fee. So the idea would be, and again, that's why we're not voting to create any fee. We are asking the city attorney to look into creating a real solution that would allow the city to have a fund that would not be used for us. It's used for you all to be able to come and be able to tap into If everybody is feeding into it in case there's a situation that you really want to be able to. There's a BTR fee that is paid every year. You can't. BTR is a business tax receipt. Every business has to pay for it. Every business pays a business tax receipt in our city. No, the fee, and again, that's, so we are not supposed to, can't speak from the audience, but so that's what the city attorney will go look into. It would basically be a BTR, the association as a business would have to get it like a license, right? So it's a registration. It's a registry. It's a license. Those licenses cost $60, $120 a year. I'm not talking thousands of dollars. It creates a registry and a fee that to be able to tap into it because at the end of the day, this is not a city. It's not something the city falls under our jurisdiction, right? So there's not a specific person in the city. There's not a attorney with that specification in the city, which means we would have to go out and get this. Many times there are attorneys that will do things pro bono. Again, we see them every year at our condo, expo the attorneys come they give their of their free time they give free consultations all these things but it all costs money and time and expertise so the idea and again it's something that occurred to me as we were sitting here talking about it is what can we actually do create a registry create a fund that the residents can tap into we're not talking thousands of dollars but The communities, the CAM holders, the businesses that you all hire to run your associations, you all have management companies, those management companies have to pay BTRs, business tax receipts. So basically, it can be like a business tax receipt for the HOA that creates this fund. Again, we're not talking thousands of dollars. Our business tax receipts are $60, $120, and that will create a fund that we can tap into to be able to find a solution for the HOAs. Right now, I think your best solution for many of you that may have certain situations is that if you have real fraud going on, you have a real case, is to go to the police department so that you can have them Other than that, the person who or the agency that investigates licensed individuals like CAM individuals is the DBPR. So I understand a lot of us don't agree with that. decisions that are being made within our HOAs. But it doesn't mean that they're illegal. It means you have to change your board. So again, we're going to work with the Elections Department. The Elections Department will oversee elections of HOAs so that there's an oversight committee. There's an audit of them. I hear a lot about fraud on HOA elections and things like that, ballots that are signed by other people. So I think that those are real opportunities to provide more oversight. But sitting here and saying that a board that is going to be engaged... By the way, the board is made up of five people. It's not like all of you could be on the board. It's five people that are part of the board. So if you don't have quorum, the board can't meet, which means if three people are not there, the board can't even meet. So... There's a lot of nuances that go into these boards that at the end of the day, it's going to come right back to us and we're going to sit here and say there's not much that we can do. We're already doing the things that are being proposed, which is workshops, education. So all we can do is create... Another opportunity, which our city attorney is going to look into, that there is a dedicated person in the city that can investigate or look into some of these things. But that's going to cost money. That's going to cost the city money. And we have to see if we even have the authority to do it. So we have a motion on the table. We'll come back in 60 days, give them some time to look into it, come with a proposal. You're all welcome to come back to that meeting with that proposal. Nobody's looking at charging thousands of dollars that it's going to cost you. The idea is to provide something that's really going to give you results. Because the truth is that another advisory board of residents is just not the answer. It's not the answer. We're going to end up here again and with more frustrated people because you're going to have those who are appointed to the boards who are doing it on full voluntary time, listening to more complaints and more frustration that they just can't answer to because they don't have the authority to. So let's create some type of authority to be able to look more into these issues. Other than that, there's not enough authority on the city side to be able to pursue some of these matters. I really wish that they would delegate more authority to the local electeds through our code compliance departments, through police, to be able to pursue them. But we just don't have those answers or those abilities at this time. With that, we'll ask the clerk to please call the motion. And in 60 days, we'll have another discussion about what opportunities or avenues there is to pursue.

I have a motion to direct the city attorney to look into HOA and condo registry and fees and bring the item back in 60 days, made by Mayor Fraga, seconded by Councilman Pinedo. Mayor Fraga? Yes. Councilman Pinedo?

Yes.

Councilwoman Reynoso?

Yes.

Councilwoman Porras? No. Motion passes.

All right. Thank you very much. We'll move on to the next item. We have two items left. Three items.

First reading item 20A, ordinance number 202606, amending chapter 26, article 3, shopping carts. An ordinance of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Bell, Florida, amending chapter 26, article 3, shopping carts, providing for implementation, incorporation to the code, incorporation of recitals, serverability, and an effective date.

Okay, we're going to go ahead and open up for public comments on item 266591, or also known as 20A. Anyone who would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Being none, public comments is now closed. Madam Clerk, no one has chosen to speak at this time. Mr. Del Toro.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Danny Del Toro, Code Compliance Director. IT, there's a presentation. The Code Compliance Department is recommending this ordinance amendment to create a more efficient enforcement process for shopping carts left on public property. As written today, the code requires our department to store carts for a period of five days before allowing civil citations to be issued, and it does not require businesses to have control measures for those carts. Due to the lack of storage space, it's been department practice to remove and return the carts to businesses without penalty, basically providing a free service to maintain the cleanliness of the city. As you see on the chart there, we do a good amount of cases throughout the year. So this amendment will have the two key changes we're proposing are to make requirements for the business to install car disabling devices, and secondly, to remove the storage burden from the city. With these two changes, we anticipate being able to hold businesses accountable for maintaining carts under property. We foresee a reduction of the carts on public property. And for those carts that are left on public property, we would be able to do enforcement immediately without needing to store carts anywhere in the city. And finally, it will free up officer time to address more serious violations. There will be an outreach period for the businesses of two months with an effective date of August 3rd for voluntary compliance.

Okay.

Any questions? I do, Mayor. Yes. Okay. So currently we're not charging to recuperate the carts.

No, we're just returning them.

Right. And it's an involvement that the city is having with these businesses. Okay. And now we're going to to create a code to charge for the service of returning the cards?

Well, the codexes, we're just amending it to require them to have some type of device to keep the cards on their own property.

Okay.

Yes.

Some of them have it.

Yes.

Already.

They do, they do, they do.

But in the, but we're also adding that if we do recuperate the cards, the city is now going to be able to charge for that service.

Not charge, issue a citation for the violation.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, but some form of monetary compensation for the time that it's taken the city to essentially do another business's job.

Some type of cost recovery, yes.

Okay, great.

Okay.

Motion.

Motion to approve.

That's great.

Yes, I second. Second by Council Member Reynoso. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Motion to approve. Ordinance number 20-2606, on first reading, made by Councilman Pinero, seconded by Councilman Reynoso. Councilman Pinero?

Yes.

Councilman Reynoso? Yes.

Mayor Fraga?

Yes. Motion passes. All right. Moving on to the next item.

Item 20B, ordinance number 20-2608, no hourly room rental signage. An ordinance of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Dorado, Florida, amending Chapter 80, Article 7, human trafficking signs, creating Section 80-326, no hourly room rentals, public awareness signs, providing for implementation, incorporation to the code, incorporation of recitals, availability, and an effective date.

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and open up public comments for item 20B, also known as 26-6603. Anyone who would like to speak on this item, please approach the podium.

Being none, public comments is now closed. Madam Clerk, please let the record reflect. No one has chosen to speak at this time. Danny?

City Attorney?

So this is an item that I worked with Mr. Del Toro. It's basically codifying the resolution with the instructions for us to create the no human trafficking signs that follows Florida statute. And now it's part of our code. And it's a requirement for all hotels to have it. And it creates a penalty if they don't. Did I miss anything, Mr. Del Toro?

No, and there will also be an outreach where the approved sign will be delivered to all these establishments for simple compliance.

All right. Sounds good. This is going off of Councilwoman Reynoso's item from last month.

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilman Reynoso. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Motion to approve ordinance number 22608 on first reading. Made by Councilman Pinedo. Seconded by Councilman Reynoso. Councilman Pinedo. Yes. Councilman Reynoso.

Yes.

Mayor Fraga. Yes. Motion passes.

All right. We move on to the second reading, item 20C.

SECOND READING, ITEM 20C, ORDINANCE NUMBER 2026-05, FISCAL YEAR 2526 BUDGET AMENDMENT AND ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GERALD FORDA PROVIDING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE GENERAL FUND BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2526 AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2526 AS REVIEWED, MODIFIED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AT THE MEETINGS HELD ON APRIL 8TH, 2026 AND MAY 13, 2026 PROVIDING FOR TRANSMITTAL BY THE CITY CLERK, IMPLEMENTATION, SERVABILITY, CONFLICTS AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. THIS WAS APPROVED ON FIRST READ

All right. I'm going to go ahead and open up public comments. Public comments now open for item 20C, also known as 26-6552. Anyone would like to speak, please approach the podium. All right. Being none, public comments now close. Madam Clerk, like the record, no one has chosen to speak at this time.

Good evening, Mayor. I just wanted to state there are no changes between first and second reading.

All right, there's no changes. Motion.

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Motion to approve ordinance number 202605 on second reading made by Councilman Pinedo, seconded by Councilman Reynoso. Councilman Pinedo? Yes. Councilman Reynoso? Yes.

Yes. Mayor Fraga. Yes. Motion passes. All right. Motion passed. This has exhausted our agenda. Motion to? Motion.

Motion to adjourn by Councilman Reynoso.

Thank you.

Second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. Meeting is adjourned. We'll see you all on June 10th. Thank you very much.