Virginia Key Beach Park Trust - Regular Meeting

Virginia Key Beach Trust meeting for January 8th, 2026. I am joined by my colleagues, Commissioner Ralph Rosado, Commissioner Escalona, myself, Commissioner Gabela, and Commissioner Rosado. We're going to open the meeting. Madam Executive Director, welcome.

Thank you, Chair Rowland-King. At this time, we would like to call the meeting to order and start with approving the minutes for the following meeting, which was October 9th, 2025.

May I have a motion? So moved. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Minutes have been approved. Would you please, Mr. City Attorney, read the title into the record for the item before us?

Just before that, would you like to open for public comment?

I want you to read the title of the item first, and then I'll open the public comment. Thank you so much. Fair enough.

Thank you. A resolution of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust with attachments pursuant to Section 18.1.12 of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended, approving a memorandum of agreement with the Florida Division of Emergency Management for the provision of weather monitoring stations and related data sharing and maintenance obligations services for a term of 10 years from the date of installation of the weather stations with FDEM, furnishing the weather station equipment at no cost to the trust and prepaying the first three years of maintenance and with the trust paying the remaining seven years of maintenance during the balance of the term at the estimated rate of $2,500 per station annually. authorizing the Executive Director to negotiate and execute the memorandum of agreement in a form acceptable to the General Counsel, with FDEM for the services consisting of the terms set forth herein, further authorizing the Executive Director to negotiate and execute any documents including amendments, renewals, and extensions, all in forms acceptable to the General Counsel, and subject to all allocations, appropriations, and prior budgetary approvals, and in compliance with applicable Provisions of the City Code, including the City of Miami's Procurement Ordinance, Anti-Deficiency Act, and Financial Integrity Principles, all is set forth in Chapter 18 of the City Code and in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations as may be deemed necessary for said purpose, providing for an effective date.

Thank you. At this time, I will open the floor for public comment. If there's anyone that would like to speak on this item, please come forward.

Chaplain Stanley Young, 500 Northwest 2nd Avenue. I'm all for what you want to do at the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. I think it's a good idea, it's a great idea to have posterity So people would know, like myself, who only been here for 10 years here in Miami, the Miami area. But my question is really directed to the chair and the people that's going to develop this museum at the park. My question mostly is stability. How is this museum is going to be sustained financially to continue the work that we're going to do here today to develop, to build, and to maintain a museum that's going to preserve the heritage of this area. See, even right now when you go to the beach there, it looks like it really do need some work done to it. I understand that it's not under the Park and Recreation Act, They don't do anything there. Everything is done by the controllers of the beach. And that's just one of my concerns with this. What is the stability? What is the money that's going to come?

Pastor, the item before us is to approve a weather monitoring station.

Weather monitoring station. That's going to help sustain the beach.

Yes, it's a weather monitoring station.

That you're going to build there.

That is for the emergency management provision of a weather monitoring station. The museum was just funded in our commission meeting at a tune of over a million dollars for the administration and the maintenance and using the museum once it is built. a commitment from the city of Miami of over $1 million a year for the next 10 years. So this item before us right now is only about the weather monitoring station to monitor the weather in that area.

And that's going to generate, once again, that's going to generate the income to sustain the beach. No, no, no.

It's just going to monitor the weather. It's not going to generate any income. This is just about monitoring the weather.

Monitoring the weather, okay. That sounds good, but that's a great idea. I mean, we need to know when storms are headed this way, what may have you, to monitor.

Particularly because of the wildlife that we have at the park, the nesting turtles and the birds.

Okay, this and the museum and the beach, it's all separate.

It is a separate. The item about the museum was this morning at the commission meeting. Right now, for the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust meeting, we're talking about approving the weather monitoring stations.

Okay?

Okay, thank you. May I have a motion? Oh, I'm sorry. Anyone else for a public comment? Seeing none. The public comment period is closed. May I have a motion?

So moved.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor?

Aye.

Motion carries unanimously. And there is a quarterly report from the executive director of which all of us received. Does anyone need to have her say anything about her report? Seeing none, this meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.

We do have the absentee waivers for Vincent Brown and Peabody who are not here today.

Okay. Do you need a motion for that?

I do.

May I have a motion for the absence waivers? I have a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you all. Thank you. Happy New Year.

And thank you for passing the item. Thank you.