City Commission - Regular Meeting

Everybody, and welcome to the city commission meeting this 05/05/2026. Thank you all for being here today. We have quite a long agenda, so we'll try to get through it tonight. Just to let some folks know that after the consent agenda, we're going to break and go back to the afternoon agenda in which we're talking about a a park design plan that was proposed for the beach. So for those of you who are here for the first time, welcome.

We begin our meetings with the pledge of allegiance, a moment of silence, and then we have some special presentations tonight. We have two tonight. So if I could please invite Shauna Roberts, Zuri Williams, and Zoe Williams to please join me by the podium so we can all do the pledge of allegiance together. And may I ask you all to please rise? How are you? You all good? You all set? Put your your right hand on your heart. Do you your that's it. Very good. And you may begin.

The rose my lightness is the flag of The United States Of America and to a clever one nation on a god invisible lives here just for all.

Spell that.

Token of our appreciation. Thank you so much. You wanna take a picture?

Yeah. Come on.

We're gonna go in front? Okay.

Come on, mom. You come see. No. No. I can't. Okay. I mean, how do they represent, sir? How pretty? Very

good. Thank you.

Okay. At this moment, I'd like to invite everybody to share in this moment of silence. And tonight, keep especially in your thoughts, the following people who recently passed away, Mary Cotton, Hattie Corley, Dorothy Bailey Young, and Joseph Almaturo. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you so much. At this time, I also like to take a point of privilege to announce some recent retirees in our from our our community. These are, individuals who have worked with the city for more than twenty years. We have Yvette Martinez, police officer, who's been with us twenty three years. Thank you, Yvette, for your service to our city.

We have Derek Armstrong, who is a paramedic firefighter, who's been with us twenty three years. Thomas Filia, who is a firefighter, been with us twenty five years. And Ricardo Pardo, who's captain in fire rescue, who's been with us twenty seven years. So thank you so much for your service. Okay.

Hard shoes to fill, but, thank you for your service. So, before we vote on the agenda, we have a few announcements. We have a walk on resolution calling for a special election to be held on 11/03/2026 to elect a city commission candidate, with regard to commission District 1 and to establish a qualifying period for the special municipal election. Second walk on is a resolution providing notice of intent to enter into a comprehensive agreement for a qualifying project for the Melrose Manor stormwater improvement projects. And the third walk on is a resolution providing notice of intent to enter into a comprehensive agreement for a qualifying project for the Riverland stormwater improvement project.

Also, r five, the CAM was updated to add exhibit two resolution to the CAM, and exhibit two resolution was added. So, may I hear

a motion to approve the agenda and the minutes as, as amended?

Move. Second. To move the seconded, please call the roll. Oh, first of all, let's call the roll of the commission.

Commissioner Herbst? Commissioner Glassman? Here. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Here. Vice mayor Sorensen? Here. Mayor Trentos?

Here. Now please call the roll on the vote to regarding the, agenda and the minutes. Commissioner Herbst?

Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Vice mayor Sorensen? Yes. Mayor Trentos?

Yes. And the the minutes and the agenda as amended have now been approved. So let us begin with the presentations. I'd like to ask and invite our vice mayor, vice mayor Ben Sorensen, to present a proclamation regarding amio amyotrophic lateral sclerosis awareness month in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And if I can please ask Gabriel Walker and Tina Duane and, Sadia Polagun of the ALS Association to please join the vice mayor. Are any of you folks here?

Thank you. Come on up. Thank you for being here.

Yeah. I

I have.

Oh, okay. Good to good to see you, Gabriel. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Well, this is in recognition of ALS month here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. I'm want to share this with you and then ask you to share some some words would be fantastic. And just share with me Gabriel's mom has ALS, so this is especially meaningful for you. So thank you for being here, Gabriel. Yeah. Whereas ALS, also commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles, slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe.

Whereas thousands of new ALS cases are diagnosed each year, and on average, every ninety minutes one person is diagnosed, while another loses their life to the disease. Whereas the causes of ALS remain largely unknown, there is no known cure, and certain populations, including military veterans, face a higher risk of developing the disease. And whereas the ALS Association is the largest philanthropic funder of ALS research globally, having committed more than $154,000,000 to support over five fifty projects across The United States and 18 other countries, while also providing critical support services to individuals and families affected by ALS. And whereas ALS Awareness Month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of the challenges faced by people living with ALS, recognize the profound impact of the disease on individuals and their families, and encourage support for ongoing care. Now, therefore, we as city commissioners of the City Of Fort Lauderdale proclaim May 2026 as ALS month here in the city dated this May, June May 2026, signed your mayor, Dean Jay Trantellis.

Hello, everyone. I would like to thank the city of Fort Lauderdale, for their decisive action in, making this proclamation. I sent a auto generated email that was created by the ALS Association, and I was not expecting to be here tonight. So thank you again to the city of Fort Lauderdale. Thank you to the ALS Association for all the work that they do, and thank you for the support that you have provided to my mom. It's not easy, living with a person who has ALS. I wrote some stuff down, but, you know, I would like to speak about my mother, Iris Cortova Martin. ALS has taken many things from her. It's taken her ability to walk. It has taken her ability to even raise a cup of coffee to her own lips.

It will take her voice away soon, and eventually, it will take her life. Those are not easy things to say, and I've come to terms with that in my own way. Maybe my mom hasn't. Maybe the rest of my family hasn't. I'm here today to talk about that because it sucks.

But importantly, it's taken away her agency. My mom has always been the matriarch of my family. She did everything for everyone, and we are picking up a lot of slack now. It's hard. It really is.

It has given me some things for diagnosis. It has given me some time to grieve with my mother. I don't think many people get that opportunity to grieve alongside the person who's dying. It's given me the opportunity to speak to her and tell her all the things that I have to say and things that maybe I didn't wanna say earlier before, you know, she goes. It has given me time to reflect on the foundation that my mom has provided for me, but also for my family, for my brother.

It's given me new perspective on what I wanna see from my own life. But, yeah, this is dedicated to my mom, Iris Martin. Thank you.

Hi,

everyone. I'm the development manager for South Florida. I just wanna thank the city commission and, first importantly, Gabriel, for what you did. Your mother's a hero, and I want you to know that. And I also want you to know anything that you all are able to do to support all we do at the association means so much, and you are heroes too. Thank you, guys.

Thank you so much, vice mayor. I appreciate it. Our next presentation, I'd like to invite, commissioner Glassman to present a proclamation regarding National Small Business Week here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And in doing so, I'd like to invite the following persons to accompany him at the podium. Russ Clint from the Economic Development Advisory Board, Alison Myers also from the board, doctor Kimray Mizelle Hill, and David Lang, both from the Economic Development Advisory Board.

From the Hispanic Heritage Chamber, Mary Sol Mary Sol Gonzalez. From Broward County Library, Frank Panetti. From the NFTE Arrow, that's Daniel Williams. Todd Holt and David Coddington from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance. Portia Garcia, director of community services here in our city, Katrina Johnson, assistant director of c d CSD, and then the following four people from the economic development division, Melissa Mata, Sharda Sobers, Vaughn Howard, and Amber Cabrera.

I wanted the rest of all of you come on up here now. Let's just let's get everybody up here. Okay. Thank you, mayor. Good evening, everybody.

It's a pleasure to present this proclamation from the office of the mayor, city of Fort Lauderdale, in recognition of National Small Business Week. Whereas for more than sixty years, the United States Small Business Administration has celebrated National Small Business Week, recognizing the vital contributions of America's entrepreneurs and small business owners to the strength of our economy and communities. And whereas small businesses play a critical role in economic growth, representing approximately 97% of all businesses in Broward County and serving as a driving force behind local job creation and innovation. And whereas the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance serves as a key partner in advancing economic growth in the region, providing leadership and strategic support for business attraction and expansion. And whereas the AERO Small Business Expo provides Fort Lauderdale entrepreneurs with access to vital resources that strengthen the foundation of the local business community and whereas the City of Fort Lauderdale's Economic Development Division in collaboration with community partners and members of the Economic Development Advisory Board, supports small businesses through targeted initiatives and programs, including Cis Drunk Community Talks, StartUp FTL, and the building business with Impact Pitch Competition, connecting entrepreneurs to capital, mentorship and growth and long term success.

And whereas the innovative tools such as SizeUp FTL empower small business owners with data driven insights to benchmark performance, identity opportunities and make informed decisions, supporting a more competitive and sustainable business environment And whereas, during National Small Business Week twenty twenty six, the City of Fort Lauderdale launches the Small Business Big Impact Shop Local campaign, celebrating the entrepreneurs and industries that define each commissioned district and encouraging neighbors and visitors to support local businesses. Now, therefore, we, as City Commissioners of the City Of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, do hereby proclaim May 2026, as National Small Business Week in the city of Fort Lauderdale and urge the residents of our community and communities across the country to support small businesses. Dated this, the May 2026, and signed by the mayor, honorable dean j Trentalis.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay. As we proceed into the agenda, at this point, we'd like to, ask each member of the commission if they have any item from the consent agenda that they would like to pull and vote on separately. Let's see. We're gonna do that for the consent agenda. Okay. Some people have signed up to speak on the consent agenda items, but we'll see if any of them are gonna be pulled. Commissioner, Herbst, do have any mem any items of the consent agenda? Okay. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?

None.

I have none. Commissioner Glassman? None. And vice mayor?

CR two, please. CR two? Yes. CR two.

Okay. So several people have signed up to speak on other items, but, just for questions only except Kiara Stevens. You want to speak on c m three? Is Kiara here? Is Kiara here?

No. Oh, questions only? Okay. Alright. So, except for, c r two, do I hear motion to approve all the consent agenda items?

Moved. I hear a second?

Moved and seconded. Please call the roll.

Commissioner Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glossman? Yes. Mister Beasley Pittman? Yes. Vice mayor Sorenson? Yes. Mayor Trentos?

Yes. And all those consent agenda items are now approved except c r two. You're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting if you'd like. C r two resolution establishing a living seawall permit fee assistance program. Vice mayor.

Thank you, mayor. Just wanted to highlight this. It's, I think, a shining example of our commitment to our waterways, and it's something we've been working on for a while. And for those of you who might not be familiar, a living seawall is a seawall that is often three d printed with a material that's pH neutral, so more advantageous for our waterways. It is oftentimes designed similar to mangrove roots so that it allows for greater adherence of oysters, seagrass, other marine life to it, which allows for better marine environment for all of our marine animals.

It is what this ordinance does is allows for a 100% rebate when a property owner, business, or resident decides to build a living seawall and chooses a living seawall rather than a traditional seawall. So it provides economic incentive to that resident to build something that's really going to have a more profound, positive impact on our environment and our waterways. And we have, many examples of living seawall being, constructed and considered in the city, in large part, as a result of this ordinance. This ordinance will be the first in the country first in the country that allows a 100 rebate of fees for living seawall construction, which is gonna benefit the entirety of the city. We have, it looks like Harry are here from, Church by the Sea, which is exploring a living seawall, Rich Walzer.

We've been exploring living seawall possibilities as well. So there's, just mayor, I just wanna thank everyone. And and, mayor, I also wanna thank our former chief waterway officer, Marco Aguilera, who was very helpful in this. Todd Hinshu, thank you for your great work in this. Again, leading the way in waterway quality, waterway improvement, not just in the city, but in the country.

It says a lot about what we're doing. And city manager, I also wanted to highlight city attorney. City attorney, if you could just share with us just because city attorney's office doesn't always get recognized. But if you could just share with us a little bit what you and your team have been working on to bring this to us today to to so we can better understand city attorney's role in something like this.

Well, thank you, vice mayor. It is actually a collaborative effort with the city manager's office. We've got a a great team working on projects like this, and we work together to develop and craft something that is beneficial and meets the intent of of your request to have an ordinance do this. We we work as a collaborative team.

Thank you. Thanks for that. Thank you.

Thanks for that work. Thanks for the recognition.

Yeah. And I appreciate it. City manager, thank you for your work on this. It's a it's a really a great moment in our our history, and I think we're gonna see more and more living seawalls coming across the city, which is gonna be fantastic. Yep. Thank you, Nancy. Susie Bailey also might not be here, but she's also been very helpful in this, instrumental, as have many of you in the audience. So I just want to thank you for that work. Mayor, I will move the item, if that's all right.

Okay, so CR2 is being introduced. Just to just to piggyback on your comments, you know, it's we have a lot of seawalls in this city. Right? We do. Over a 160 miles of waterways, and, you know, it behooves us to start somewhere.

You know? Just in one place is not going to make a big difference, but over time and collectively, we'll continue to find ways to nourish our our our sea life, the the marine life that exists in all of our canals and and our rivers, And considering what we've you know, how we have polluted our waterways over the years, it seems that it's about time we turn the clock and try to do the right thing. So I, I applaud the efforts of the city and, and our city staff in moving this forward. So as the resolution has been introduced, please call the roll.

A resolution of the city commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida establishing a permit free assistance program to encourage the installation of living sea wall walls providing a 100% discount on city based building permit fees for qualifying projects and providing for an effective date. Commissioner Herbst?

Yes.

Commissioner Glassman? Ditto everyone's comments. This is really a great step forward. Yes. Thank you.

Yes. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Vice mayor Sorenson?

Yeah. And I see Steve Whitten out there, marine advisory board chair. Thank you, Steve, for your continued work on this and other efforts. Yes.

And mayor Trent House.

Yes. And that item is now approved. Thank you. Okay. So, so now we have to pause the evening agenda and move back to the afternoon agenda in which the issue regarding, the parks improvement on the beach is called business four, and a number of people signed up to speak.

And so I just wanna begin that process. I'll call your names three at a time, and, and I'd ask that you take the two minutes that you're allotted and and and convey your remarks within that time period. So we'll start out with Lorraine Saunders, followed by Fabian, Camille, and a lot of other names, and, Aspen Vincent. Are you folks here? Is Lorraine Saunders here?

How about, Fabian? How about Aspen Vincent? How about Nancy Thomas? Followed by Tricia Halliday. Followed by Mikaela Conka.

Good evening. I was gonna say good afternoon, but now it's evening. Nancy Thomas, 41 year resident of Fort Lauderdale. I think our beach is wonderful. All my guests and relatives love it because you can see it from a one a.

You don't have to have buildings blocking you like you do in Miami. The rendition that EDSA has put together, it just doesn't give the public enough information because this is a public beach, the whole thing. And this is only part of it. And there have been a lot of questions raised, which I don't know how much you'll hear because not everybody could stay, about it's just not enough information for the public because we need a full rendition of the beach. We've passed the bond the bonds for it.

I guess EDSA, I'm not blaming them, I guess they're you know, they were asked to do this section. But the city needs to provide a full rendition of what's proposed here because it's our beach.

Can

you hear me?

Saw I'll stop the stop the clock. Do you saw the you saw the renderings on the backup? You saw the renderings on the backup. Right? You saw all the dip all the pictures. There was some elevations, and there's that schematic. What let me help you out here. What is it that you don't understand so we can kinda bring

you through? What what has arisen among the public are some of which some issues were addressed earlier. The picnic tables, the grills, the shade, the restrooms, the playground. If you just looked at this, you really wouldn't know what the rest of the beach was going to look like. And and that's the main thing is that before this goes any farther, the public wants to know, well, how does it affect the other parts of the beach?

Because that's a public beach, and we've we passed the bond issue, and half of the money spent on this is gonna be for that.

Well, the thing is this this proposal that that's before us is only regarding this section. There are gonna be many projects throughout the beach over the years, and that's and I don't think this I don't think the city is prepared to give you, you know, one big master plan, which has never really been contemplated in this this particular proposal. So I don't want you thinking, like, that something else is gonna be built or added to the beach other than what's here attached. This the only thing the only thing that that's we're considering as a commission is what you see. In fact, I think it's on page 13.

You're just showing one page, but this page 13, which is the 13. Yeah. Which has the let's see.

Mara, I'm asking them to pull it up. Pull it up if you want. Yeah. Could you please Yeah. Page 13?

13 or the one right before this one. It's hard to see. K. We'll we'll get we'll get some options up. Page 10. Excuse me. Page 10. Could you pull up page 10?

I printed off page 10. It's one of these two.

No. No. No.

It's not?

No. No. No.

I paid printed pages ten and eleven.

Page well, you you printed up 11. Page 10.

Is that what you're bringing up?

I'm bringing up page 10. I don't want you to be misunderstanding anything. I want you keep going.

Keep going.

Page 10. There we go.

I got both of those right here.

Well, it's okay. Now everyone can see it. So this is all we're contemplating, what you see here. Nothing else on the beach. Nothing to the north. Nothing to the south. The only proposal that's before the commission right now is what you see there.

But, mayor, the public didn't know that when they looked at this.

It's it was attached to the agenda.

That nothing else was going to be moved, that we weren't gonna have any limited space for what's there already?

Well, look at this picture above there. What you see above there is what exists. And right now, all we have there are the basketball courts, which are staying where they are.

Okay. Yeah. That's great. And that that's a wonderful concession. I appreciate that. Okay. Well, I'm just telling you that the public may see something that you don't, and not everybody is able to go to the agenda and read all the backup and know what's going on.

It's only 12 pages. It's not all of the agenda. It's only so this is a perfect opportunity. You said you you didn't have enough information, so I don't want you leaving here tonight thinking you're leaving without all the information. This picture tells it all. We this is what we wanna create. Looks nice, doesn't it?

It does, but we don't need four pickleball courts. That takes up too much space.

Okay.

Two basketball courts, two pickleball courts. That was the original plan, and that's all we need.

Okay.

It looks like it goes pretty far south, and something's gonna be lost with an extra two pickleball courts.

K.

And that was a request by the city commission. I read all that. I was I heard it. We don't need four, and I will stand by my word. I've talked to a lot of people about, well, what's the rest of the beach gonna look like? We half this money is bond money. We've been waiting since 2019.

Okay. Well, we'll see. We don't know. That's not what this is before, though, Nancy. This is just the only thing

we've you, what people want is they want a full rendition of what the beach is gonna look like in case there are changes that we don't like.

Okay. Thank you. Trish Holiday.

Good evening. It's been a long day. I know you guys have put in a

Day's not over yet.

I know it's not.

It's getting started.

However, I I have the same question that Nancy had, and it's a beautiful picture. Looks great. However, one of my first questions was, I thought originally we were supposed to have two pickleball courts. When did we go to four, and how was that determined? And then I know this afternoon, it was decided that we don't have to have plastic grass.

We can do other things. But in fact, I think you the terminology was used that ecological something rather. Renourishment. Thank you. And building dunes, which would be wonderful. I think that's a wonderful idea. However, the plastic brass, because, you know, with the heat index issues and the vapors and everything, would not be the greatest thing there. As so we were hoping that that will be next. And let's see. What else did I have written down here?

And well, on here, I can't see. I was wondering question about the the picnic tables. So I just wanted to verify again that this was a you've done a wonderful job, but this is a public beach, and I want the public to be able to make a choice. Okay?

Thank

you. You can

answer me about the the number of pickleball courts, that would be wonderful as well.

Okay. Thank you.

Could I ask a question? I I'm just curious because I know a number of people have objected to the turf, and I'm just curious why.

Why? Because it breaks down. Number one, it's hot. It's so hot. If it's 90 degrees, nor you know, regular turf will stay around that time. If if it's gonna be in the sun, which it's gonna be in the in there, I mean, it'll be an extra 10 to 15 to 20 degrees hotter. And not only that, you'll get vapors coming off of it, which are not since it's plastic, it's not going to be very good for the

You know, there there's a lot of people at very high end houses that are putting these into their backyards, and I understand that. It's incredibly popular right now. So I'm

I understand that, but we can't do anything about people in private

residence since we can. But but but no.

What what I'm getting to the point of, though, is that I pass along? It seems to be very popular. You're suggesting is that people won't like it out there, and I wanna understand why. Because people are paying tens of thousands of dollars to put this in their backyard so that they can enjoy it. Apparently, they don't find it to be a 150 degrees and not tolerable. They they're they're literally spending $20.30, $40,000 to install this.

I understand that. And I just I have a feeling it has to do more with education and communication out there to what exactly they are putting in their backyard.

Your point, commissioner, I I would also agree with you. But to tell you that the quality of the artificial turf has really progressed over the years, the makeup of the material is very different from what it first was. And I will also tell you, in my district is the Las Olas Oceanside Park. There's a large area of artificial turf that people are doing yoga classes on every weekend. People are gathering. My office has never received one complaint about the artificial turf at the Las Solas Oceanside Park. First of all, it's cleaner. You will not have to use pesticides on the grass, and people would, of course, complain about the pesticides if we had to use pesticides. We will not have to have an irrigation system. We will not have mosquitoes.

We will not have everything that the natural grass would do there, and it has proved to be really very successful at the La Sola Socanside Park. Again, no complaints. People are gathering there in all in all weather, hot, cold, you name it. Again, for those classes, for the gatherings, have festivals there all the time.

How long has that been down so far?

Just out of curiosity.

About five years? About five years. At least five years.

Okay. Good. Now I I will guarantee I will I will say that there are variations of of the the different types of of brass.

By the way, I think the sand would be as hot. Sand.

Sand is very hot.

But you don't think the sand is gonna get up on top of that artificial turf? I mean, come on. Let's let's I

think we

can go natural, which you said that you could do earlier.

And, also, by the way, the maintenance of regular turf would be at least 100,000 a year to keep that Right. As opposed to something far less.

You know what? This is a city.

Yes. It's a city.

That that that was so excited. I mean, and I was excited too when you decided not to use plastic straws on the beach, and you're gonna put plastic grass on the beach. Come on.

Come on. Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

On. Alright. Come on. Alright. I I I wanna answer one more question. There is another question. Alright. Yeah. Mikayla Wait. I I no. So so By the way, have a question about the restrooms. It's important to know. The reason we're not seeing that is the restrooms, the picnic tables, the grills are not affected by this. That's all to the south, and it's still staying there. That's why that's why it's not on the on the renderings. Thank you.

Alright. Mikayla Conka?

She's not here? And and, mayor, while

we're waiting for that so, commissioner Glassman, wanted to ask you that because that actually came up in my agenda briefing last night where we talked about the Oceanside Park. And I said, I wasn't aware of any complaints. I've been I've been there a lot, and I've never noticed that it's particularly hot when I've sat there, or I haven't burned myself when I've been there.

No. No one has. In fact, we gather there even for the city events. We'll be gathering there for the American beach party at the end of this month. Right. And we always have the ceremonies there. It's it has not been an issue. That's all.

Okay. No. Thank you.

I appreciate that. I I I wasn't sure if your office had heard anything or not.

Not at all.

Okay. Continuing. John Roth, followed by Leo Lorenz, followed by Vicky Mowry. Jean, I know you were here this oh, there you are.

Right there.

Ready? Okay.

Ready. Okay. Commissioners, sit sit on.

You're on.

Okay. Commissioners and

The mayor.

Everyone mayor and vice mayor and everyone who's on the days and all of the public that's here. My name is John Roth. I live in 4 Seasons Condominium, which is just over the Intracoastal Waterway. I've lived here thirty five years in the same place on the water. I'm a boater and very involved with the marine community because that was my business. Anyway, I'm not a basketballer. I'm not a pickleballer. But my wife was

Maybe you should start. It's fun. It's fun.

So anyway, the deal is that I walk this area for many, many years, and I'm a mechanical engineer. I look at how things are built, how much they cost to work, to make work, how much it cost to clean. And I'm just gonna start with a couple of things that I've noticed about this, especially directed to the the landscape architects and the people who have conceived this project. My overall opinion is that there's not been much market serious market analysis of the future customers and clientele of who would use this facility. You say it's the same people that we have now.

You're saying no one's gonna use the basketball courts? No.

Oh. I'm not saying that. Who are the people that will come? And so I would say that, for example, people who are the kind of customers who use the St. Regis will not usually brush shoulders with the people, our basketballers.

I don't know about that.

Probably not. I don't know about that. Because I've worked in worked in 40 large marinas around the world. Right. And they're all similar to the St. Regis. And the clientele of the people who have a 120 foot and larger yachts do not usually hang around with low level mechanics like myself and or managers. So they have to look at who is gonna be there.

And what

are the conditions?

What does that have to

do with the viability of this project?

Well, the thing is is if people don't like it, they won't come.

But the argument has been for us to retain the basketball courts because we have a public that uses them. That has nothing to do with the same reason.

About I'm talking about cutting down all of the pine trees so we don't have any shade.

There are no pine trees

there, sir. On this picture. This is what they've What

are you talking about?

Well, I'm looking at the picture right in front of me, and I see all palm trees where there used to be pine trees.

Look at the picture in the in the corner. That's the existing condition. Tell me where all where all these trees you're seeing.

Well

That's an aerial view of what's there now.

Well, that's an aerial artist's conception, and it's been managed. So on the right hand side

Is that a is that a modified I can't hear you.

The Google Earth aerial?

It's a Google Earth aerial.

Trees are located just south of the image, the artist rendition Right. South of that.

That image been modified in any way?

No. No. That's not true. But, anyway

I I'm gonna I I will take him at his word. Thank you.

Okay.

So the thing is is that you come over the bridge. They've got major work done at the on the bridge itself at the bottom. They've got an area which is be make a nice raised patio. You could put a band down there for music or something if you wanted. And there's an exit and an exit.

And you've taken out a lot of the space underneath and replaced it with very small little cubicles for the maintenance on the guys on the beach. And I just look at this from the point of view of maintenance of the artificial turf. You'll probably need more machinery to maintain the artificial turf than what they have now. So they're gonna need space for that and none of that stuff is small. And everything that they're showing on the drawing is small spaces.

So some a lot of work needs to be done to make this thing compatible with Parks and Recreation Department and the financial side of this. So there was a mention just when I heard this morning or this afternoon that said that the people can move their picnic tables around. The picnic tables are heavy, and they use a high lift to move them around. They don't use people picking up your

own family picnic table. Said people pick them around. I think the city staff boos them around.

Not once you get there in the morning. Insinuation was that I heard was is that when you get there and you're gonna have a fantastic place to move in and if there's not spaced to your liking, you will be able to pick one or your family would be able to pick up a picnic table and move it.

We don't want people picking up picnic Okay.

That's fine.

Can you please complete your remarks because your time

is Okay. My time is up. Thank And I hope that you do more work on this because I've had projects before in my life and you think everything is just perfect and hunky dory.

Okay.

And nobody comes.

Alright. Thank you.

Thank you.

Nobody come. Nobody John, those pickleball courts will be full. People will come. Trust me. They'll come. The people will come. They'll play basketball, and all four pickleball courts will be full all the time.

The

pine trees are all the way to the south. I don't think they shade that area.

And Because it's not part of this it's not something part

of the open plan.

Project. Not

part of this plan.

Okay. Okay. You Okay.

Deep

pitched football, and they're starting to break 90 degree sun. They like to find some shade.

Okay. Have you been on any of the city's pickleball court?

Alright. Alright. Alright. Okay. You haven't been.

Alright. Alright. Alright.

I'm telling you they're playing all day, all night. They're playing. Okay.

They're playing.

Thank you.

They're playing.

Yes, sir. Wait a minute. Mayor, there was Yes. Quit Your honor.

There was

there were mentions about Palms. I just wanna, you know, advise you all that. Again, this is a high level conceptual that is being shown here. There is some data that we do have that suggests that approximately 21 pounds will be removed from the site to accommodate the pickleball courts, and we're estimating that 80 pounds will be installed

as part of this project. Okay.

Great. Thank you. So that's a net of 60 pounds. Okay.

Quentin, just one any pine trees be impacted?

Based on what we have at the moment, no pine trees will be impacted. There is one tree that would be removed and 21 palms that would be removed.

Okay. Thank you. Leo Lorenz. Is Leo here? Followed by Vicky Mowry, followed by Ted and Sarah.

Good evening, mayor and commissioners. The proposed plan that we have come up with and that we've reviewed negatively impacts the residents and the visitors to the park. There's a growing uproar about the proposed layout and the fact that it is not being generated by the city internally to accommodate the wishes of the community. It's been confirmed that this plan has been put forth only for the benefit of the developer of the Bahia Mar and the CDD. They sugarcoated, saying that it's a win win for all the residents, but we don't see it that way.

Okay. Number one, it removes the exercise equipment and the stations from its current location, and it puts it at the south end of the park near the bathrooms away from where the basketball courts are. Yes. People use the facilities together and do not wanna hike back and forth between the locations when they're playing basketball and then working out at the workout areas. People wait their turn to get into a basketball game, typically.

They go over, and they work out at the exercise stations while they monitor the progress of the game to fin to the finish. According to the drawings right now that you're showing, you you can't see the basketball courts because you got the pickleball courts in a way. Everybody wants to keep the workout stations in its current location. They don't want it changed. Number two, the proposed plan removes the picnic tables and the grills to the South side.

Nowhere on those pictures up there do they show picnic tables and grills in their current location now. They're being shifted further to the South. Parents can no longer have a watchful eye on their children while they're playing basketball on the courts. And we got children out there that are, like, from six to 12 years old. They're always on the courts. Parents supervise them while they're there on the picnic tables and the grills. They can't see them if they're way down on the other end.

Okay. Please conclude your remarks.

And the placement of the four pickleball courts on the beach, doesn't make any sense out there either because most of the pickleball players that we know, they say that it is not a good idea to be playing out there. Two pickleball courts might be good, but not four. And I'll just let it go at that.

Okay. Great. Thank you so much.

Vicky Mowry?

Be before you start running that clock, may I ask for two for a correction on earlier today, way earlier. Believe the gentleman from EDFA said that mentioned shade structures, which was not listed on any of the material that I looked at. Also, there was a

Wait. Wait. Wait. What did

you just say?

Shade structure.

What about shade structure?

That was mentioned as one of the options.

Options where?

Coming into this area. Okay. It wasn't on any of the written material. Okay. It was just mentioned.

Okay.

Secondly, staff, I believe, is

who mentioned that indeed where

the pickleball courts are, there are grills and picnic tables that will be moved. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.

I don't see him, but okay.

I am Vicki Mowry. I live at 1 Las Olas Circle at the beach. This beach is really the people's beach, and the people who use it do so in a variety of simple, enjoyable ways. They picnic. They sunbathe. They relax. They shoot hoops. They exercise. They have quiet time, or they party with family and friends. They know what to expect when they go to that beach.

Expansive views of the ocean and seemingly endless sand and sun. This is the people's beach. Why are you, our elected officials and guardians of our city, even entertaining the idea of mucking up this area with 1,700 square feet of concrete for a welcome pad or central plaza, as though the natural beauty isn't welcome enough. Artificial service surfaces and blocked views with fencing and dense landscaping around pickleball courts is not needed or wanted. And about these pickleball courts, the developer who has a long and enriching lease on our property should build those courts on his property, not on this.

The beach isn't the the beach isn't some bargaining chip to be batted back and forth for the benefit of a developer's project. We, the people, are not a project. What we need from you is continuing maintenance. I'm about done. Upgrades as necessary, such as the exercise equipment, and keep picnic tables and grills in plentiful supply. We need you to listen, and we expect you to respond accordingly. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mayor Mayor?

I I just need I I need to address a couple of things, Vicky, but I thank you for your input. But I I want folks to understand something, and I know there are people in the room that don't seem to like pickleball. And I you know, whatever. I I hear from people all the time that they're excited about this. They want more courts at Holiday Park. There are trust me. There are people out there that like pickleball. They are there. So here's the deal. Why are they not here? Because typically, the people that come to the meetings are people that are opposed to things. That's been our history, I think. So that's the reason. So let me just explain. We signed an agreement as a commission.

This commission in January 2024 entered into an agreement with the Bahia Mar and the Taxing district that they created for themselves to raise money. We entered into an agreement with them in January 2024. It's a legal binding agreement more than two years ago. That agreement says that the basketball courts will be removed and replaced by pickleball. When that word got out, people were upset, and I understand that.

They came to the commission. They said, please don't do this. Do not remove the basketball and replace it with the pickleball. So we went back to the developer, and we said, okay. Look. There's a public outcry. People do not want to see the basketball courts go. What can we do? So the first thing I asked for them was to extend that agreement past January 2027. We are legally obligated right now legally obligated right now to have all of this finished by January 2027.

We can't do that. That's impossible. So what we said to the developer was please tell your CDD, your community district, please tell them that we need an extension. So our legal team is working on that extension now to give us more time so that we don't get sued and lose. So the development team said, fine. We will reconsider. So we will keep the basketball courts. By the way, those basketball courts don't look great today. They're all being totally, totally refurbished. Okay?

I'm not arguing that, of course. The as they should. They're being totally refurbished. Remember, the legal contract says they're to be removed. And the only way that we could get around that was by both parties, the city and the community development district agreeing to that. So here's here's here's the crunch. Here's the crunch. At any point in time, this developer could actually say to us, you know what? We're just going back to the original legal agreement that we have with you. So what

do you think about that?

And then we'd be we would be behind between a rock and a hard place. It's not true. It's true. It it's true.

Alright. Let's stop.

We're not gonna get into a disagreement with that, but it's it's true. So what everyone tried to do was come up with something that made sense for everybody so that we could move forward, so that we would have the pickleball that was guaranteed in the legal agreement. We could have the basketball that we brought back, and in the meantime, make the area really a very much a community area. This is not going to be a private area. I've heard that misinformation. It's not. This is open to the public. Of course, this is for the public. This is for all the public to enjoy, all of the new fitness equipment. By the way, there is a designated fitness equipment area right to a gym, about 2,500 square feet, I believe, right to the south, which on your view would be to the right of the pickleball.

So I I I think that everyone came up with a great middle of the road compromise where everyone should be happy with something. Will everybody be happy with everything? Probably not, but we never see that anyway. But there's, I think, a lot of reason to be happy about how we got from where we were with the elimination of the pickleball I'm sorry, of the basketball to something for everyone. And in the meantime, doing some really nice landscaping. I think when this is done, people are gonna be very happy. People are gonna enjoy it. I think people are gonna say, wow. This is a really pretty little area of the beach on both sides of that pedestrian bridge that crosses a one a. So it's really important just to know the facts.

I wanted everyone to understand the legal the legal ramifications of what's going on here and how we had to finesse and make sure that we just don't get sued and lose and then everybody loses. The money is not all of the Parks Bond money. The money is just some of the Parks Bond money. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the development team's also kicking in a million dollars on this, I think.

Yes.

The community development district will reimburse the city up to a million dollars for eligible improvements.

That's what I thought. So that's where we are. That's the history of how we began this discussion, and this is where we are now. That's all. I just wanna make sure everyone understood everything. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Ted and Sarah followed by, Kendall Antoine, I think it says, and Mary Furtick.

Hello, everybody. My name is Ted and Sarah. I'm the president of the River Oaks Civic Association. Thank you everybody on the dais for letting me be here. Boy, that was I don't even know after that, mister Gasman, if I even need to speak or not. I guess it's already, made up. But what I'm saying what Vicki said was absolutely correct. This is the residents' beach. This is the people's beach. This is the one area.

It's the wide area of the beach that we can come and picnic, that we can come and park, we can play some ball, we can go into the water, and this is the part we we have. Anything to the north, it's all the hotels. Everybody is all into the, you know, having their little private beaches or or their own beaches in front of the hotels. This is for the residents. It always has been.

Because I was born here in 1956 in Broward General Hospital. I've lived in River Oaks for sixty years, and I'm still there today, and I wouldn't live anywhere else. But this part of the beach you know, there's two iconic views when you're riding around, Los Oles Boulevard I mean, Fort Lauderdale. When you make that turn onto Los Oles and you see those beautiful, magical, lighted trees going down the median strip on Las Olas Boulevard. That's magic. That is boy, that says Fort Lauderdale. That's and you guys are gonna take that view away from us. The other one is when you're coming east on 17th Street, you make that curve down by the Yankee Clipper, and then you're going around there, Portland. You got that straight view. You see the ocean.

You see the beach. That's another iconic view of Fort Lauderdale. And now you wanna take that away from us. Everything seems to be geared towards the visitors. You know, people actually live here. And but it's like we couldn't just have a swimming a hall of Fame swimming pool. We need an aquarium. Oh, I'm I'm surprised with all you you guys like to cruise that we don't have a roller coaster on top of the aquarium because we just need to cram as much stuff as we can everywhere we can. So so let's let me see if

I understand this correctly. Well,

so I

don't I might not even

You you're going down the street here. Oh, yeah. East on I'm talking. Stop. Okay? Stop. Come on. Some some never So we're going down a one a. Right? And what do you see? Parking lot with cars. Right? Parking lot with cars. Okay? No no obstructing of the ocean there. Right? Then you got a wave wall. Okay? No obstruction there. It's two feet tall. And now all of a sudden, a a pickleball court, which is on the ground, is suddenly obstructing the view. Tell me how tell me the thought here.

Because look. What? Like you said with this picture, it tells it all right there. That's all you need to know

about it. What view is now being obscured by pickleball courts?

The ocean. When you're coming in your car, making that great curve around 17th Street by the Yankee Clipper

Yeah.

Right there. You are not gonna have the view that you have coming over. Just like we don't have the view that per great view coming over Los Solos Bridge anymore. Ted, come on.

Come on.

And then the other thing

is this.

Nowhere near We do not need to pour

in endorsement. Ted, this is nowhere near the Yankee Clipper. You know that. Correct?

Yeah. Was born here.

So so you're you're talking about something that's a thousand yards down the beach.

Okay? 800.

Yeah. Okay. So, mom, let's I know you wanna talk, and I know you have a point of view. Yes. And I think your point of view is to be respected, but I just want to keep it in context and listen. You can't create your own facts. Okay?

Oh, I'm not creating facts.

Okay. Alright. When you say you're obstructing the view when you've got you've got two rows of cars and a wave wall, I can't see how pickleball courts that are flat

on the ground are obstructing your your ocean. Those those palm trees are not there now. Those are part

of the 80 You don't want palm trees?

I'm I'm speaking now. Yes. And that you you don't have the palm trees there right now that that you normal you would have obstructing the view. They're not there. They're gonna be planted there. And you know what I think too when it comes to these pine trees that they say they're not gonna touch? I know this city and I know these developers. Suddenly, they're gonna be deceased just like the trees on Las Olas Medium. Why? And all those pine trees have to go because an arborist that they paid for is gonna come not next I mean, very, very soon and claim that they are sorry. All these pine trees are diseased. They gotta go. Even though he sat here and told us that, oh, we're not touching the pine trees. Okay. I've heard that before so many times.

And you know what I see when I see this picture right here? Yes. I see about 20 cement trucks pulled up pouring concrete on our beach, the beach sand, which should never happen. This is a turtle nesting area.

Do wanna play basketball on

sand? Spot.

Do you wanna play basketball on sand then?

That's there. That's there.

Oh, but you're saying you don't like concrete on the beach, so why don't

we We said pouring more concrete. You were listening.

You were hearing it. Insane.

Isn't that good enough?

What now?

Yes.

This is gonna be I could see 20 of those round cement trucks just in line pouring that thing right down on our public beach, the people's beach, on the beach sand, which they should have no be able to get any permits to pour this cement on our beach. Ted, don't you realize that people like to play sports? Oh my gosh. We have pickleball. You almost run into a pickleball wherever you go. Right. Why is that? Why is it? We need it in everywhere, then let's let's take out this, this gazebo over here on Espanon Park. We need pickleballs over here too. I'm surprised you don't work on it. Ducks along the river walk with pickleball courts on Good idea. Good idea.

Alright. Next. Thank you, Tim.

While he's going to his seat. Thank you. Yeah. I and, mayor, you know, I I love the concrete phobia. We took away a lot of beach when we did that whole sidewalk along a one a. We took away a lot of beach. When we built the iconic wave wall, the length of the beach, we took away the sand. We took away the beach. Where was all the concrete phobia then when we built those things from concrete? I I'm just wondering.

It's okay. Okay.

Thank you.

Kendall followed by Mary Fertig followed by Chris Tchaikowski. Is Kendall here? Nope. Okay. Mary Fertig? Oh, there's Mary.

Hi. How are you?

I'm good.

How much time do I have?

You have two minutes.

Two minutes. Alright. Well, then I better get this out quickly.

Come on, Mary.

Alright. So we're

listening to your presentation earlier. I had a question. When the bond passed in 2019, what was contemplated for this space? You don't have to answer these questions, but you can. And then I just could when this when you got a contribution from the CDD, and I know that was a lot of conversation about that, but I have to say that having attended the meeting on Lockhart ten days ago, I have to wonder what are they getting for their $1,000,000 contribution.

Maybe nothing, but that would be a question I have. What rights to this do are they given for the contribution? Alright. The next thing I wanted to say was this this really blew up about a year ago, a little more than a year ago. So I was glad to see they picked EDSA, and they're local, and that's great. So that makes me wonder, did you have a meeting with the community about what the community would like to see at this site before coming up with this traffic? And if not, who who did who who did they meet with? These are all questions you can answer. You can write to me, mister.

And you said before the Central Beach Alliance?

Don't take my time, though. I love Bill, but just add me a few more minutes in.

Well, I'd love to come, Bill.

But mister Brown is the president of the Central Beach Alliance.

I I

would say that. And his neighborhood association would be the one that would be the public. And he says that because we're not voting on anything tonight, it's gonna be presented to them at the next meeting.

And my question is, because I believe, and you can add some more time in for the time you took, but you spoke so well that I'm glad you

shared it.

Yes. Thank you. My

my point on this, Dean, is and that's great, but I believe this this beach belongs to everybody in Fort Lauderdale. I believe it really belongs to the people in the county, the tourists we entice to come here. This is, as Vicky said, this is the people's beach. So I think it's wonderful they're going to the Central Beach Alliance, but I think there's some other constituencies they should have met with as well. And maybe there's time for that.

And then you could bring people in instead of closing people out. So I just wanna I don't have much time, so I wanna say I like to think in 1953 that my grandmother went to the polls to vote on the ordinance on this speech, which keeps it public for all time. Now I did bring it, and I could read it to you, but you're cutting me off on time, so I won't. So can you let me just read the end of it? Because we have a lot of conversation about a public speech.

And this speech, unlike almost every other one that we talk about, this was subject to a referendum of the people. And so it said, as aforesaid, it shall not be amended or repealed except upon a vote of a majority of the electors at any regular biennial municipal election. It gives it just that much more strength. And so this is a public beach. It was a conscious decision by the voters to make it a public beach. And so whatever you do with this piece of property, with this beach, I hope that you do it by including everybody in this room and everybody who couldn't come tonight that wants to speak on it. Mary, can I ask

you a question? Yes. Looking at this picture, can you show me where in this picture the public is being excluded from the use of the beach?

Well, I think that came up earlier when the advertisements, which are still online, discussed a private beach club. But that's not

that's not what we're

Private beach.

Not proving.

And I'm not saying you are, Dean. I'm simply saying because I know you wouldn't you wouldn't because you know this referendum was passed in 1953.

And we make it very

different unless all

of us got together and said we want to make it a private beach club.

Right. But it's not.

It's not.

Yeah. Every single square inch of this, what you're seeing today, is open to the public. I can go there. You can go there. Everybody can go there. And So we're not taking away anything from the public, and I don't know why people keep saying that.

So I would just say I'm glad you're making that statement. And if and the one thing that I think could really help the public to really accept and adopt that is if you start meeting with all the people who have tried to have a voice in this and haven't been able to before you come back to the next conference meeting. And then see what their vision is for this beach. Not what the vision of a few people is, but what the vision of the of the people who own the beach would be.

Got it. Okay.

Thank you.

You're welcome. Chris followed by Barbara Stern followed by, Jeris Goss.

First, I'd like to start off by thanking commissioner Herbst for all of his service. You will duly be missed in your fiscal common sense, man, which is something that seems to escape us here quite a bit. First off, there's a lot of different things that were covered here, and we'll start off with the big one. The outrage came when we found out that it was gonna be a deal done with changing out pickleball for basketball courts. Nobody knew about that. So we really got ticked off about that. The whole pickleball thing to me, we're so sick and tired of hearing about pickleball enough already. It's Patel now. We you guys are missing it. Fake grass at the beach.

It's called the beach for a reason. You're gonna put fake grass there. And, since everybody's typing away on their computers, go ahead and just Google for a second. Is fake grass harmful? Go for it. Because the environmental protection agency, the National Institute of Health don't take my word for it. The National Environmental Institute of Health, three different colleges, and the sustainable advisory board that mister Ansir and I went to proved that all of these things are bad. Not just the heat, not just the bugs. You're still gonna need, pesticides to kill the weeds and everything else. Bad idea. This whole thing is a bad idea. Private developers have no business on public land. Oh, well, it's public. It's public. Where are these concession stands coming from?

Where are these shaded areas coming from? What should be done with the beach should be maintained by the city? And if the city was doing its job, we wouldn't need any of this. You guys should be maintaining the basketball courts. You guys should be maintaining the exercise equipment. That's what the park bond was for. But here we are. We're gonna take a million dollars from the guy across the street that nobody knew was happening so we can build his little dream because we're legally obligated, right, to pickleball courts. We've had enough of this stuff. You guys need to get your act together. Thank you.

Good evening, mister mayor. Before I go into my speech, may I just have a point of privilege to answer one of your questions about where did all this concern about the privatization of the beach come from? And I believe that was the messaging from the developer. Good I

I don't dispute that. You're not wrong on that, but but that's been that's been changed or will be changed. Yeah.

But will be changed.

Yeah.

Okay. So the problem is it's not being changed now. And quite frankly, I'm glad to see that these materials refer to this as the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park because in Jimmy's writes dedication of fiction that he sent to the commission and the historic preservation board in his attempt to block historic preservation designation for this beach. He refers to it as the Bahia Mar Park, which it is odd. It is the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park. So I'm glad at least that's part of the presentation.

We've settled that tonight.

K. Well, thank thank goodness for that because he continues to refer to it as Bahia Mar.

We got

And I believe that's part of what the problem is because all these additions that we're seeing, there are things that have been in advertising for the Bahia Mar St. Regis project. For instance, I'll pass around the advertisement for yoga on the beach, which they are doing in the sand. Why do we need a concrete platform for yoga? It's being done in the sand. We should be able to continue doing it on sand, but it's something to promote what they have in their advertising materials. We heard about a shade structure. If you go through the Bahia Mar St. Regis' marketing materials, they're advertising a little gazebo on the beach to enjoy your sunset. So when people talk about, is this for us?

Maybe it's because of the advertising and marketing materials coming out from the Bahia Mar. They are the ones who have created this problem. That is why we were here today. The agreement was for a two pickleball courts, not four. Commissioner Glassman asked for four. I don't dispute that pickleball is all the rage, and they will probably get used. I think it's a horrible location when you think about the wind velocity and trying to play out there. In terms of of the grass or artificial turf, Have you ever tried to get sand out of that? Have you traveled around? I've seen it in California. It's a joke. How are we going to maintain it? This isn't what the people wanted. This is what the Bahia Mar St. Regis wants to match their marketing.

We don't need to move the exercise equipment. It should stay right where it is. What kind of welcome center do we have? We had to hear that it needs to be more welcoming for the people, make it usable. People are on that beach all the time. We don't need this to make it usable. Go down there on any given Saturday or Sunday. It's packed. We did hear today, it doesn't show up in the materials, that the grills and the picnic tables will have to be moved somewhat. Go down there on a Saturday or Sunday.

I'm gonna date myself and bring up the united colors of belt of Benetton because that is what it is like down there. It's like the United Nations of people enjoying that section of the beach. And when you're pushing it further south, all I can seem to ask myself is, are we trying to move that from being in front of the St. Regis? So as you come up with these plans, I encourage you to reject this current design. The exercise equipment should stay where it is. The picnic tables and barbecue grills need to stay where they are. Figure out your design. Go back to the two pickleball courts. We were not in threat of being sued.

That agreement said it could be modified. The CDD doesn't even have the money yet. Last time, according to their financials that were filed for the September, they only have about $6,000 or maybe they're negative $3,000. They don't even have the money because they haven't even broken ground. Have they even sold enough units yet to break ground to start collecting dollars? So maybe mister Tate can give us a a timeline for when that'll happen to find out, because I thought we should already be at that process by now. So thank you.

Alright. You're welcome. Thank you. Jarvis, followed by Nicole Holmes, followed by, Michael Gerhardt, and then wrapping up with Maggie Hunt.

K. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. I'd like to start by assisting regarding the turf question. The space has become more engineered structured. We're losing natural flexibility and so and social feel that made them valuable in the first place.

Regarding Ted's point, the obstruction views the obstructive views is valid because public spaces aren't just about movement through them. They're also about the openness and experience being there, the skyline. Although there are broader environmental impacts considered, like storm water, drainage concerns, maintenance, lifespan maintenance, and construction waste, my focus here today is preserving the existing community, staying with connection and un staying with the connection and unintended consequences. EDSA designs spaces for the people. I'm here asking you to also account for the existing human culture already happening.

I appreciate the courts being preserved. Thank you. My concern is the connection displacement of the existing workout and community space. The plan shows and talks about everything connected, but the space already functions as one socially, not just physically. As far

as this

slide up there, I'm guessing the concrete line is where the workout space would be because we don't wanna divide that area. I'm not 100 sure on that. I haven't really looked into all that. But if you divide it, you still have the same pieces, but you lose what makes it special. It's energy and quality of life.

Elevation should come at should elevation shouldn't come at the cost of what's already there. Regardless of curb appeal, these plants are breaking up something that's already that already functions organically. I understand there are legal infrastructure obligations driving parts of this project. Just please consider revisions. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Is Nicole Holmes here? No. And Michael Gerhardt, you've already spoken. And Maggie Hunt. Maggie, are you here? Is there anyone Maggie, there you are. Anyone else wish to speak on this item? Okay.

Well, I know everybody is not necessarily environmentally, you know, caring as some other peep as others are. But, you know, when when the rain happens, it's gonna wash chemicals and all the nanoplastics that are in that grass out into the ocean, and we're already starting to see fish with little plastic particles in there. While I know most of it comes from plastic bottles and waste down in the ocean, I just don't feel like we need to contribute. I don't think it's a necessary area. And, you know, when you talk about Central Park, that's a more necessary area because you've got really heavy foot traffic there with the festivals and the music events.

And, yes, it looks better, but it still looks like plastic. When I'm thinking about enjoying an idyllic place on the beach, it doesn't involve sitting on a big giant piece of green plastic grass. You know? I would avoid it, actually. And I I don't know if it gets hot or not, and I appreciate the fact that there's a lot of shade trees there.

I hope whether there's sand or whatever, I hope that there's enough trees there to to provide a little bit of shade there. As far as yoga goes, people that make a point of going to the beach for yoga go there for the uneven surface in the sand. If you're a beginner, you might not be able to do it, but then you could maybe Bihumar would have a place over by the intercoastal. It has a beautiful view where you could just be on the grass there for beginners. It's just not a necessary place, as I see it, to have artificial turf there.

You go to the beach. People go to the beach because they want in the sand, and the presenter said, who wants to sit in the sand? Well, me and everybody I see there on the weekends and the holidays that pack those beaches that are there and so happy to be on sand. And I see them picnicking, and I picnic there, you know, with a towel on the ground. In fact, if you want a picnic with grass, we have so many public parks to picnic in.

I think one of the I think as the more artificial turf that we have, I think, in our parks, more people get upset about it. And maybe you haven't gotten emails about it, but if you go look on social media, there's a lot of people that aren't in it. Yes, I have seen in people's backyards on the water and stuff. I I don't know what makes what percentage makes popular, but I appreciate the point that some people think like it. So the other the last question I have too is about, you know, when we did those parks bond and we planned all the other parks, there was stuff online, you know, to say, oh, what do you want here?

What do you want there? What do you think about this? What do you think about this? And way back then, I didn't I mean, I didn't see I filled out that survey, and I didn't see anything on there for the beach. And that's a park. Right? And I so would assume the same process would happen. And maybe it happened, I just skipped over that part and didn't see it somehow online. But I was there something way back when we passed this bond and we're talking about what we wanted at parks where people got input as to, hey. If the beach is gonna change and have this park area, what would people like to see?

Because I got some ideas that aren't on there. I'm I'm sure there's people that would've wanted pickleball also, but I'm sure they would anyway. I'm just wondering where that where that was in the beginning. Thanks.

Alright. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wish to speak on this item? Did you sign up?

I did earlier, but I didn't hear my name.

Oh, I'm sorry. Well, come on up. Tell tell us your name.

Tell us your name. Good evening, everyone. My name is Fabian Diaz.

Oh, yeah. I called you earlier. Yeah. Oh, you did? Yeah. I'm confused. That's I couldn't pronounce your the rest of your name, though. You had a lot of names on there.

Go ahead. Well, hello, everyone. Thank you guys for your time today. So I've been a Broward County resident for the past six years, but I have been using these bars and the outdoor equipment at Lauderdale for over ten years. That's actually when I started my calisthenics journey. I don't know if you guys are aware what that is. It's body weight training, basically. But with that being said, I really don't think that the pickleballs are needed. I don't see South Beach or Miami Beach having pickleballs everywhere. They rather have upgraded equipment and also volleyball courts as well.

So that's something that could be considered for this. But overall, I think we just need an upgrade to upgrade the already existing equipment and not and not add many of these things that are just I don't know. It just I love the beach the way it is right now, and I feel like many people are very familiar with the way it is already. And, basically, it's it just needs to be upgraded with new newer equipment, better equipment. And I also think that instead of the pickleball courts, we should be adding more workout areas so we can help our youth also have more accessibility to workout equipment even if they cannot afford it.

We we know that South Florida has been becoming more of a health and wellness place lately and, you know, pushing more basketball courts and workout areas instead of pickleballs. For me, I think that's what would push people to become stronger. And yeah. Okay.

Alright. That it? Alright. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Alright. No one has signed up to speak. So this was just to disc for discussion purposes. I think now the the the the folks at Bahama are gonna take this to the CBA now, and we'll get some feedback from the community there. And then the city manager will bring it back at some future meeting.

May I find out when is that future meeting? And I asked that question because we've been discussing this properly. We've gone through several iterations. I think for two years, we've been discussing exactly where all these elements are going to be. I know that we, you know, we keep having discussion, keep having discussion. It's not bad. Some folks in the public don't pay attention till a little bit later than others. That's not bad. It's just the way it is. But I I'm just not interested in continuing to kick the can down the road.

At some point in time, we are going to have to make a decision as a commission as to what we're going to do here, and I certainly hope that will happen before we take our summer break. So city manager, when do you envision this coming back to us in the evening for a vote on the site plan? We actually did vote. Well, we had a con we had a consensus on the site plan, and then that went away, right, because there was a change of heart. And so this is not a new topic. I'm just curious as to when you see us actually seeing a boat at night on the site plan.

As shared in the backup material, we intend to come back to the commission on or before 07/02/2026 with an amendment to the interlocal agreement to extend the timeline. Between now and then, it is anticipated that we should be able to have an audience with the Central Beach Alliance to share information and gather any additional feedback and incorporate that in the materials for July 2 or before. So you

see this coming back to us for a vote prior to our summer break?

I think that is feasible. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. So that would complete our afternoon agenda for now. Right? Are we going to not we're not gonna have business, we're not gonna have the other two business items? We're gonna defer that to another meeting. What have we decided to do there?

What have

we decided to do

this commissioner? Does impact District 3. I wanna defer to the commissioner.

What do

you wanna do?

I really think we could wind this up in a discuss it in a short manner. I think we should go ahead and take care of it tonight.

Okay. Now or at the end of the evening meeting? Now. Is there anybody here who's on the let's find out who's still here. Anyone here on Business 5 and Business 6? Two oh, well, just the the I don't see

I I believe we could do it in a, timely manner. I believe we can do it in a timely manner if we could move forward, please, mayor. Okay.

Alright. Move on to Business 5 then. Presentation of the evaluation of the proposal submitted by David Mancini for Riverland portion of the, Melrose Manors, Riverland stormwater improvement Fortified Lauderdale project. Brad?

Thank you, mayor. We have Brad Cain, public works director. Before he begins, you'll recall that I shared a letter to the commission on January 5. Since then, we've been made apprised of some changes to what we know as the site conditions. And as a result, we're bringing forward this item for discussion. There is a companion item, so business five and six are very much related, and I'll allow director Kane to proceed.

You can speak to both of them.

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, manager Williams. Good evening. Brad Cain, public works director, mayor Trent Tutelis, vice mayor Sorenson, fellow commission. The presentation tonight, if I if we could flip them to Melrose versus Riverland, we could do that.

Good.

Yep. Thank you. So I'm just gonna try to highlight some of these things real quick and and get to the the real items at hand as it relates to the unsolicited proposals. Just to recap the scope of the work for these two projects combined, whereas you see in the slides here, it's basically a neighborhood design drainage and construction of stormwater infrastructure in both of, the areas, which consists of the following items there, 21 miles of drainage, five twelve hundred drainage structures, two water quality structures, and two stormwater pump stations, water and sanitary sewer line relocations, and some swell improvements. This is what I really wanted to get to, which is really, you know, one of the key updates here.

The current project status, as we have it, the the project currently is about in 60% design. But as I get to this one issue, as you'll see, the city's design phase timeline has been extended by one year, and that's because we've just learned very recently of some conflicts as it relates to some FP and L undergrounding projects that are happening in the area that create conflicts with the design of this project. And, therefore, that's going to delay our timeline in terms of completing design by about another year. The other thing just to understand, we're also working currently with the Chipmunk property to get the necessary drainage easement. That probably will come to commission at some time this summer.

That's not gonna affect this, but the other item, as I just mentioned, is really important to understand that that has an effect on our ability to complete design as we anticipated it currently. The next slide just talks about the different regulatory permits that, you know, are required for the county, US Corps of Army Engineers, FDOT, and FDEP typically for a drainage project of this size. Just kind of just pointing those out to everybody just for informational purposes.

Mister Kane, could you speak up a little bit of force, please?

Thank you.

Thank you. Absolutely.

The unsolicited proposals we received on 12/23/2025 were from Mann Conn and David Mancini and Sons for the design, construction, and delivery of stormwater improvements within the Melrose and Riverland neighborhoods. They were two separate proposals, which is why we had them in two separate, presentations tonight, but very little difference in terms of the overall information being provided, which is just a couple of slides, which I can explain, as we go through this. The Melrose Manors one, which we're talking about right now, was, submitted by Mancon, and Riverland was by David Mancini and Sons. Just a little background, on Mancon, they have over thirty years experience in the underground utility infrastructure business in South Florida specializing in stormwater, sanitary sewer, water mains, force mains, and drainage system construction. They have experience in delivering large scale projects of this size, including neighborhood improvements and pipeline.

The unsolicited proposal specifically related to Melvo's included, as I pointed out here, 62,000 linear feet of gravity stormwater pipe over a thousand linear feet of force main over 740 drainage structures, and one stormwater pump station for this particular project. This is the other slide that's pretty critical to understand. So as it stands today, our anticipated completion, for design won't incur until 2027 with a construction period in the range of two to four years. And as we get through this process of the additional design, we'll have a better idea on actually where that will fall in terms of the years of construction. The estimated completion time as far as we have it right now is somewhere between 2029 and twenty twenty thirty one.

In the unsolicited proposals we received, it's the same for both. It's two years guaranteed from notice to proceed. So, basically, if we gave them an NTP in July, they would have substantial completion by July 2028. Now this slide here is just showing the city's estimated cost of this individual project related to Melrose is about $80,969,007.21. Mann Con's price was around $91.08 $41.59.

And I need to just point out in the original, package that we submitted, there was an error on these numbers in both projects as related to information we had received from our consultant. We basically, there was some inversions of the basins that were involved. So those numbers, particularly in this one, were way higher than the difference now, which is only about $11,000,000 gap, and it still falls within the high estimate for the overall project. But I needed to point that out because it was pretty significant in this one, but now that number has been updated and corrected.

So so, Brad, just so I'm clear. So this this is post that design change based on the utilities in the, in the right of way? Just just so I'm clear on that. Right? Your your $80,000,000 estimate, 81,000,000.

That that is where we see it today. Right. Right.

As of right now.

Correct. As of now, once we go and do the additional design work and get to 60% on that again, that number will probably change. And as we get to 90% and a 100%, that number will change as well.

Sure. It'll firm up, it'll it'll it'll change, and it'll it'll it'll narrow down to what your final number is likely

to be. That's in the next twelve to sixteen months. Yes. Okay. Correct. Thank you. So we're at the point we're at today is for consideration from the city commission is, some of the things that would go into the, p three if it was accepted. We are looking at putting in significant damages as it relates to liquidation, you know, to encourage this project to be completed in a timely fashion. The contractor is guaranteeing, the maximum price with no change orders, and that would be negotiated in the agreement. And all permitting from regulatory agencies have to be obtained before any construction, on these projects, and that's the same for both projects.

But we would negotiate separate agreements, for each one based upon, the scope of work. So the next steps, at this point would be, either to reject the unsolicited proposal, continue advancing with the current design bid build approach, utilizing the city's upcoming prequalifier contractors list for this project and for others, or we can accept the unsolicited proceed in accordance with the statutory requirements by advertising the proposal to invite, competitive submission through a public notice competition period, which could be at minimum twenty one days, or by conducting two public notice meetings to present the proposal received public input and make a determination of public interest. And that's what we're looking for guidance on today from the city commission.

Quick question. So on page nine, it says the city estimate was 84,000,000 for Riverland, but the truck contractor's proposal came in at 79.

So there I haven't I haven't got to that proposal. This is specifically talking about Melrose. But I it's but

I I'm just it says city estimate $84,050,000, and then it said and that's the same number for Riverland. Am I not reading this correctly?

There there is updated numbers for Riverland 2, which I'm not on yet, and those numbers have have have varied. There's variables.

So is the contractor's proposal greater than or lesser than the city's estimate?

It's greater than in both. It's greater in both? Correct. It still falls within the overall higher end of the engineer estimates, but it is higher than both the current estimates at this time.

Okay. But, Brad, wouldn't we also be then subject to an increase because of the time delay that we would be going through waiting for all the other stuff to fall into place? In other words, how you can't really use that number today. I think it would definitely increase. Correct. Going through this process and with the design change in

the next twelve to sixteen months, and then having it back at 60% and then 90 and a 100, apt these those estimates absolutely are subject to change and not necessarily lower.

No. That's that's my point. Thank you.

So, commissioner Beasley Pipps

Yes.

What is your what are your thoughts on your district?

Yes. It's in my district. And when, I had this conversation, my drive with this is with the opportunity of the method in which this project will be done, given the opportunity of addressing in a a quicker matter of the flooding, putting down these bank these drain basins that would also address some of the issues that we're having with the flooding. With that being said, could we call up the the proposal to let them explain also, what was shared so we can understand how this would, move this process, in a manner that would be really, proactive while we're going through this process.

David?

Okay. Mancini?

We have David Anthony. And Anthony Mancini. Yes.

And if you could share with us the concept of methodology regarding the storm basins that you're proposing to put in place initially.

Good evening, mayor. Good evening, commission. This project, Melrose Manors in Riverland, is a neighborhood with zero infrastructure. It is a a quite literally a a bull just collecting water. There is there is nothing there's nowhere for the water to go.

So our first task and our first sequence, if we're awarded this project and we advance into, construction would be immediately implementing protective measures for this rain season, that would stay into effect in the next rain season until the project is complete and the lift station is fully operational. It may not prevent, but it will definitely help in a major rain event.

Where where do you see the the water flowing into? What we

would do is in the low lying areas in these neighborhoods, we would drop catch basins in these neighborhoods, and then we would set up temporary pumps where we would we would divert water from the low lying areas directly out into FDOT right away instead of using, as you remember, the large pump trucks that are maybe one fifteenth the capacity of these pumps.

When you say FDOT right away, why don't you put that into simple terms, Sonny?

Existing infrastructure to the north and south of the neighborhood.

Is there a river or canal anywhere near this neighborhood? There is. And that's where the water would

be pumped into? It would actually be pumped into existing drainage systems that the state manages in a major rain event. It would push the water out of the neighborhood.

Okay. That's all I wanted to say. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Thank you. With this, I am I want to move in, an acceptance of this unsolicited proposal and asking that the my colleagues, have a consensus and we move in this direction. I do not want to, witness our neighbors in Merritts Manors and Merritts Park experience, what we have in the last several years. If there's an opportunity to, reduce that flooding where it's not high standing, understanding that this is not a complete fix, but it is a way to address the problem to bring down this issue. So that's my recommendation that we accept this.

Okay. What does the rest of the commission think about this?

I I agree with the district commissioner. From my perspective also, and I think from the rest of the districts, actually, this project, correct me if I'm wrong, creates a little bit of a bottleneck for the phase two projects because of the size and the constraints of it. If we don't expedite this and move in this direction with the unsolicited proposal, I'm afraid that our delays of at least another year to a year and a half just to get through all of our design phases will just create an awful bottleneck for all of the rest of the phase two projects in all of our districts, including more in District 3. So I I really think this doesn't just, behoove District 3 immediately, but it also helps the entire city in making sure that our tranche two projects are moving smoothly ahead. Any other comments?

Yeah, mayor. I completely support, commissioner Beasley Pittman, and we need to move as quickly and efficiently as possible towards infrastructure, and this is vital. So I'm happy to support and excited about moving forward with, with infrastructure. Okay.

So thank you, mayor. So we had an opportunity to chat this morning. So let's talk about some of the things we discussed this morning. As I shared with you, I'm not a big fan of p threes for what's otherwise a very basic project. You know, p threes should be limited to those things that are somewhat unique in nature. Now as I said to you, and I'll say it publicly, these are great companies. We've used them for a lot of projects before. I'm very comfortable with the with the companies involved. That's not the issue. I am a little concerned about the about the process.

So talk to me, and let's share with, with everybody what you said about being able to move forward faster than we can right now. Because where we were before in terms of being previously at Brad, correct me if I'm wrong, 90% design previously before we found out about the utilities?

Six 60.

I thought we were at 90, but the previous is up.

We were at 90% design before we found out about the

About the utility. Right.

That's it.

Prior to the Right. Prior Right. Prior to current. So and I and I know these proposals had come in earlier, and I will tell you, candidly, I would not have been at all willing to consider doing a p three when we were at 90% design. We were ready to go out on the street, and so it would have made absolutely no sense. I'm willing to consider it now because of the argument that's made about advancing this and the time it's gonna take for us to get to 90% design before we can go out to bid. So tell us a little bit about what we talked about earlier about your willingness to move forward with this at your risk because I think that's a very important aspect for me.

Sure. Go ahead, Dave.

Yeah. So if this is approved, we will be taking it on in a design build format. And by that alone, we will take over the design. The city will hand us where they're at today, and we will plan to break it up in phases to be able to accelerate getting that infrastructure in the ground within three months, having actual pipe and structures installed in a neighborhood, which in the event of a rainstorm, what happens now, there's no there's nowhere to drop a pump. So there's no struct there's no infrastructure in the neighborhood as it sits right now.

So if anybody lives in Melrose, when it's a heavy rainstorm, you see they're using the vac truck pump trucks because that only needs a couple inches of headwater to be able to suck the water and dispose of it outside the neighborhood. But in changing that to a design build, we can install you know, do the design in phases, smaller phases rather than designing the entire project and putting that out for bid. We can design one critical block, get those pipe and structures installed quickly much faster than the whole project's permitting, and as a result, in a rainstorm, be able to drop our pumps into that infrastructure that we install quickly and be able to pump the water out of the neighborhood much faster.

Okay. And we're also talking that we're looking at this as a as basically a GMP with the same at risk. So, basically, you guys are gonna own your price. We own it. Yes, sir. Oil goes up to a $140 a barrel. We're in trouble. You still own the price. Right?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Which is why I'm writing. Which is why your estimate is coming in higher than our engineering estimates because you've gotta build some contingency into your numbers because that that's your that's that's your wiggle room in case everything goes even even even further south than we are today.

The there is also, in addition to those contingencies, absolutely are included in our price, the estimate definitely doesn't have that stormwater response. So we're taking on for the duration of the project managing if there is any flooding.

And that's the one thing we didn't get a chance to discuss today and I wanted to ask you about. So storm related events, I mean, obviously, anything other than a hurricane force majeure, but just regular, you know, regular weather.

Well, even in a hurricane event, we will have a plan of action to be able to address that and will. We're gonna take over the neighborhood as it relates to flooding until the project is delivered fully complete.

Okay. Well, again, as I said to you earlier today, for this kind of a project, I would not have been in favor of it previously. But given the fact that we're we're looking at a a sixteen month setback, I think it makes sense for the neighborhood to do this. So I'm comfortable with moving it forward. I also will share, with the commission.

One thing I I did share with the with with the two companies, and and they understand where I'm coming from, I don't think they object to it, is given the enormity of the amount of money that we're spending, I I would not be in favor of the minimum number of days of putting this out for other companies to bid. I'm very much in favor of the fact that whenever we're putting public taxpayer dollars to work, that we afford people an opportunity to compete for those dollars. So I I I think for anybody to put a bid together in three weeks in something of this magnitude I I do public bids for other companies that I consult with, and I can tell you it's an enormous undertaking. So I hope we have a reasonable amount of time that encourages competition. That's all. Thank you.

Just to clarify, the minimum number of days for a competition period is twenty one days, but it can go up to a hundred and twenty days. So we would want that level of feedback from the commission if there was a decision to proceed to accept the project and set a competition period.

So I'm I'm just saying not the minimum. This is not a project of $80,000,000 for each for each component that we're talking a $160,000,000 give or is is not a twenty one day time frame that I think is reasonable for the

vendor community. So what are you recommending?

I was gonna ask this. Thank you, mayor. What recommendation?

Sorry. I I think 30 is probably realistic. 45 would be ideal, but 30 is probably realistic. I like 30. Alright.

So leave

it at

I just don't wanna delay too much. And, actually, I think the I think what we're gonna find, I'm gonna make a prediction that no one else is gonna come in on this because the pricing that we have guaranteed now actually falls within the range of what we thought it was going to be. A little bit on the high end of the range, but it does fall within the range. And yet those are numbers that don't even take in as I said, that do not take into consideration what we're still facing where those numbers will really escalate. So I'm good with 30. I'll defer to the district commissioner, but I wanna get this started.

Yes. I I wanna get this started as well. I am comfortable with the 21. Too. I I wanna I want to see this move forward. I have with what we've discussed and what's on the opportunity, I believe that this is the time for the community. It may be considered, what, nine days, but twenty one days to me is comfortable. I wanna move forward for our community can feel comfortable. You know, every time it rains, we're getting these phone calls about the water, being fearful of the storm. So if there's anything that I can do to represent to alleviate that, I believe this is the way to go. So I'm rep representing twenty one. Me too.

Alright. So

I'm 3021. I agree with 21.

21.

Okay. Alright. Before we before we move on, city manager, can I ask a couple questions? How how are we paying for this? Is this a thirty year bond?

So for all of our Fortify Lauderdale projects, we utilize bond revenue.

Is that a thirty year bond?

We have several issuances. There's actually one on your agenda tonight for phase two.

Is that what's related to this project?

We already have some funding in place for this project as it's related to phase one.

Okay. So it and and how long does that bond period usually last?

I'd be that Matthew is coming forward with that detail.