City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Good evening.

Thank you.

Thank you. I don't have my copy in front of me, but I think I memorized what I need to say. I'm here completely opposite of Judy. I am here as a neighbor of Ibis and Rural Cruz Alvarez requesting your approval for their carport for the reasons the attorney stated. My presentation is not an architect presentation, but it basically, I was more focusing on last hearing we talked about obstruction of use and have demonstrated properties that have hedges that exceed 15 feet. height and almost 10 feet width which again also obstruct their neighbors from seeing the house next to them or if your house is being burglarized can you catch you know maybe the license plate from the vehicle you can add in the samples of the pictures that I demonstrated I don't know if you want to add I mean, again, I understand everything Judy was stating, but I don't believe that the way that this is being designed, it's going to be something that's going to obstruct or disturb any of the neighbors. On the contrary, it does increase the property value of the properties nearby on Deer Run or otherwise. I reside on 381 Navarre Drive. The block right behind it. And again, these are pictures that I took of properties. I'm not saying they should take their hedges off. Honestly, that's their property. They can do what they wish. But it is a complete obstruction of view from those properties.

Unlike the carport.

The carport has no obstruction of view. I know there's a variance, but I'm here basically supporting them, requesting your approval for the variance. Thank you.

Thank you. ANY POINTS YOU WANT TO DISCUSS BEFORE I?

MR. MAYOR, THE APPLICANT DID RESERVE TIME FOR REBOTTLE.

I just thank you for that. I just want to reiterate that we obviously believe special conditions exist that would warrant the granting of the hardship based on the configuration and the location of the property. And it's a protection of both personal property and possible injury to humans. So we appreciate your consideration.

Thank you. Thank you. Through the chair.

Go ahead. Ms. Mejia, you passed this out, right? This is a rendering. Does it look like what they showed us?

In my presentation, it has dimensions of what they...

I'm sorry. Can you speak to the mic, please? Because it does not look what the applicants have shown us.

I was basically demonstrating the measurements that are there. Those are the measurements of the carport.

How long is a carport? 24 inches I believe I mean 24 feet under a carport like that I'm sorry how many cars would fit on their carport like that like that would say With that with maybe two to three vehicles depending on their size that you have two to six and any time At your house to three to six vehicles on any one time They have the capability of putting their vehicles some six three to six at any one time at your house No No? Okay. So, I mean, what I'm saying is that at any one point, there will be a car exposed, whether it is a carport or not.

Ma'am, you'd have to speak in the microphone. I'm sorry. This is being recorded.

I want to make clear that, you know, we're all talking the same thing.

What was the question?

Good evening. Sorry. So I will make a point on making sure that my cars are covered. That's the purpose of the carport, not having my cars exposed. I would not have cars exposed. What's the point of doing this? That's the same thing as relocating it, right? We've looked at all the options of relocation. And even in the backyard, there's no space. But even if there was space in the backyard, why would I put a carport in the backyard if the balls don't hit me back there? There's no point in doing that.

The balls don't travel?

They don't cross my house, no. So far, unless we kind of figure out a way that there's a magnet that's going to pull them that way, no. They haven't gone to the back yet.

That's to my earlier point about the gravitation anomaly.

Not yet.

I'm just wondering, I mean, overall, just just in general for protection from cars, there will be a car at some point that will be hit by something. You can't protect every vehicle that comes to your house. Understood. And then I just think that this cannot be unique to this property. I mean, I don't know if we're looking at a wider question of something applying to all the homes eventually on Deer Run because, I mean, I think anyone could possibly claim a hardship like this moving forward. I mean, even your neighbor, Mrs. Walton, could... possibly claim that same hardship.

I mean, she is contradicting because she says she's never gotten golf balls and now she says she has gone. So I don't want to go based on her testimony because I don't feel that she's accurate. And what she says, it's just inconvenient because it happens to be on the side of her home and she doesn't want anything on her home side.

So just wondering if a variance is really what we're, we should be looking at here. Maybe we're looking at a bigger, a bigger question. Is there, some type of condition? Because this is not unique to their house. I mean, I would say that it applies to a lot of the other properties on Deer Run. So is the variance the property channel for them to come to? Or are we looking at some type of, I don't know, some type of special zone or something for homes around golf courses?

If I may respond. That's an option, and that is a possibility. I go back, though. They've lived on deer run since 2002. And at the old house, they never had a problem. So it's not as though they've come into the area recently, and this is just something they want to do for convenience sake. If it was, I'm sure they would have tried to do it at their old house. So maybe some sort of overlay district from a zoning standpoint. maybe it's moving I don't know the whole configuration of the golf course but maybe it's moving the tee box for the fifth hole so that it's farther away or you tee off at a slightly different direction

Through the chair.

Go ahead.

So the ordinance is the ordinance. That's the variance. We're trying to give you guys an opportunity to show us something to be able to do this, especially to keep the peace with your neighbor. And it's what it is. And 94 people in Miami Springs feel the same way about it. YOU KNOW, AND THERE'S NO VIDEO EVIDENCE. THERE'S, WE DON'T, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT TRYING TO COME ACROSS IN NO WAY BESIDES WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE VARIANCE. THAT'S WHAT IT IS. AND IT'S NOT, WE'RE NOT GETTING, WE'RE NOT ASKING, YOU'RE NOT ASKING FOR FIVE FEET OR JUST A COUPLE, YOU'RE ASKING FOR 20. 22. 22. 22. YOU KNOW. AND WE GET IT. IT RAISES THE PROPERTY VALUE. Miami Springs residents really push for us to keep everything Miami Springs the way it is. That's something that I hear from the residents on a daily basis. Even with the box homes that people build and stuff like that, it's not about money all the time either, and that's great. It raises property values, but it changes to your neighbor. not only does it go against the variance, but it changes Miami Springs to her, and we have to...

If you're not on the mic, we can't... She's saying that it's designed to stay with the improved architectural design of the home.

HOW MANY HOUSES THERE ON THAT BLOCK HAVE A CARPORT LIKE THAT THAT GOES NONE, YOU KNOW? OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE IT'S NOT IN THE VARIANCE. SO YOU WOULD BE THE ONLY ONE WITH A CARPORT COMING UP TO, YOU KNOW, WITHIN EIGHT FEET. SO IT DOES CHANGE. I GET IT. IT STAYS WITH THE DESIGN, BUT IT CHANGES THE OPEN FRONT LOTS THAT WE LOVE TO HAVE HERE IN MIAMI SPRINGS. But that's also. Well, we'll get to work on that and see. You know, we have a list here now of properties that have it. And we'll see. We'll work with our team and see what we could do about that. But right now, we're working on your case, you know. And what I would hope to see is, you know, at least. Because from when Judy reached out to me, she told me how nice you guys were, you know. And that this isn't personal or anything like that. So.

All right. OK. Our options are to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the variance. Unless you guys have any questions, I'd like to entertain a motion to do one of those three.

Mr. Mayor, if I'd just like to.

Sure. Hold on. Go ahead, Vice Mayor.

Yeah, so my I like the design agreed is in keeping with the architecture of the House. My concern is which I didn't realize until was brought up last time that it's a 77% encroachment on the setback just significant, you know, I know. And we've had to deny people for one foot and such a letter in here somebody at the night for a foot so I understand. I was hoping for a compromise that if we could reconsider, it could be reconsidered to be put in the other side, smaller, so it's less of an encroachment. I do believe that I understand maybe the geometry of the tee box, et cetera, does create a special condition. It could happen. I think what nobody can get past is eight feet from the sidewalk and 77% encroachment. There's nothing else like that.

May I offer something? Yes. So as designed, I think the staff rec says 19 feet by 24. I think on the plan it shows 18. But we'll stick with 19. If they were to turn the proposed carport so that you would enter it as you were driving in from the street, you would just drive straight in, that would take the 24 feet going left and right, and now it would stick out 19 feet from the house as opposed to the 24 feet. Actually, I think it's 18, but just for a little bit of buffer just in case. So that takes it down six, seven feet. And so you now end up being, let's assume it's- From 24 to 19 is five, right? Yeah, but I think it's actually 18 on the plan, but let's go with 19 just so we don't- end up with a problem of one foot. So 19, yeah, that's five. So now it ends up being 13 feet from the property line.

Still a significant encroachment, but yeah.

OK.

So any other comments?

Sure. Right ahead. was reasonable as they come and i've been thinking about this as much as i could because obviously i think sometimes variances for a reason and they do set an unreasonable hardship on people and then of course to me aesthetically like councilman lamas mentioned they did a great job i think it's different than a lot of the carports that we see out there and yeah definitely code enforcement I think work if I see those edges those are the ugliest things I've seen but overall the encroachment is is big but more importantly to me was there there wasn't if there wasn't a reasonable alternative and I can't lie to me I think there is you know alternatives that would be less of an impact on this including as the councilman mentioned and I mentioned the last meeting I know aesthetically we have a difference of opinion on the other side of the house yeah I know view could be obstructed but the way you have that carport it wouldn't be as impactful on the view so to me that's been the biggest thing that kind of

made me lean a certain way is that there are reasonable alternatives and If I didn't think that there was then it would be something different, but I think there is And We have a pretty unique situation today and I don't mean to call out our Golf director, but I mean just to make sure you don't leave anything on the table is there anything that if he's willing to you know, to ask him about the box or?

Kevin, you're not the one hitting the balls into their yard, are you? No, no.

All right. Ms. Clerk, could we have our golf director sworn in?

Please raise your right hand. Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth? Yes. Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, I've been here for a little over two and a half years, and I haven't gotten any complaints over there. Is it possible? Anything's possible, right? Especially in golf. T-Box has not moved since the renovation. That is one thing I did look up. But again, anything's possible. Balls can go over there. There's a lot of trees on that side, so I'm sure they get caught in the trees. I'm sure they're probably not flying into the home. They're bouncing off a cart path or off a road. And, you know, going across. So from that standpoint, again, anything's possible in golf. There's a lot of good golfers, but there's a lot more bad golfers than there are.

Good. Is there anything that maybe the attorney might want to ask? Thank you, Kevin. Sorry to single you out.

I appreciate the opportunity, and I'm sure he doesn't like being put on the spot. And if I said, can we move the fifth tee box, I'd love to hear the answer yes. But I'm sure that's going to take a little bit of study. But I did just hear that anything is possible in golf.

There you go.

So if you were to look at that, I mean, then it could potentially go further down or further back. When you purchase on a golf course, those are inherent risks that you take when it comes to your cars, your windows, et cetera. And every course that I've ran has been with homes surrounding it. So it's just something that I've seen before.

From where the tee box is in that hole, how likely is it for someone to, you know, slice it out that far out or...

You know, I wouldn't be able to put like a percentage on it or anything like that. Um, some of the people I've seen it's, it's possible all the way up and down here on, on the second shot, it doesn't even just have to be off the tee shot. You know, the biggest thing I see is a lot of the other homes do have big trees in front. So maybe that curbs it a little bit, but again, it's, it's so hard to tell there's we're fortunate enough to have a lot of golfers, right? So there's a lot of variables when it comes to that.

DO WE HAVE ANY TREES ON THE GOLF COURSE SIDE?

A TON ON DERON. THANK YOU, KEVIN.

I'D LIKE TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO EITHER APPROVE THE VARIANTS, APPROVE THE VARIANTS OF CONDITIONS OR DENY.

MR. MAYOR, IF WE COULD CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AT THIS TIME.

YES. CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT.

Anyone? I guess I'll motion. Oh, I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Go ahead.

Well, then I'll motion to deny the variance for 381 based on a lack of hardship.

So we have a motion to deny the variance. Do we have a second? I'll second. OK. We have a first and a second. Call the vote.

Vice Mayor Llamas? Yes. Councilman Santine?

Yes.

Councilman Dionne?

Yes.

Councilman Perez-Crespo? Yes. Mayor Fahed? Yes. The motion carries.

OK. All right. Thank you. All right, so we move on from the public hearing. Turn our attention to the consent agenda. I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.

10 A, B, and C. Through the chair, I want to just let them know that you guys are valued residents. We appreciate you. And I really hope that you guys could work this out with your neighbors. It's not personal. I don't want anybody to feel that way.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

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THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

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THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

Vice Mayor Llamas? Yes. Councilman Santin? Yes. Councilman Dion? Yes. Councilman Perez-Crespo? Yes. Mayor Fajette? Yes. The motion carries.

Okay. We have no previous or unfinished business. We have no new business, but we have other business. A request by me to discuss the Northwest 36th Street corridor height limitations map. There was a map that was created and shared with us. It's in the backup of today's agenda. it is a map that shows all of Northwest 36th Street and it shows that area that is the buffer for residential so you guys remember that the Northwest 36th Street district currently has height restrictions as part of the zoning there and it is basically ANYWHERE WITHIN 150 FEET OF RESIDENTIAL, WHICH ON THE MAP THAT'S IN THE BACKUP IS DESIGNATED, I BELIEVE, IN GREEN. THE HEIGHT LIMITS FOR ALL BUILDINGS IS FOUR STORIES. AND THEN BEYOND THAT, WITHIN THE NORTHWEST 36th STREET, AS LONG AS YOU'RE 150 FEET AWAY FROM RESIDENTIAL, IT GOES UP TO 12 STORIES FOR ALL BUILDINGS. AND THAT IS THE UNDERLYING ZONING. And this map is important because on November 3rd, there is a ballot measure. And the residents of Miami Springs, voters, will be asked to exempt an area of Northwest 36th Street that we have defined east of East Drive. That's what's on the ballot on November 3rd. So Northwest 36th Street District, east of East Drive. And voters are asked to consider an exemption within that area to a charter limitation that limits anything residential to three stories, which is below what is the existing height restrictions. And so there's actually the map in question is up. You guys could see it on the screen. It shows all of the Northwest 36th Street District and anywhere that's within 150 feet of residential is that green area. AND IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE ENTIRE NORTHWEST 36th STREET DISTRICT IS NOT WHAT IS ON THE BALLOT. THE AREA THAT WE DESIGNATED IN OUR BALLOT MEASURE WOULD BE EAST OF EAST DRIVE. SO NORTHWEST 36th STREET DISTRICT EAST OF EAST DRIVE. OUR CITY PLANNERS ARE ACTUALLY CREATING A MAP THAT WILL BASICALLY SHOW THE SAME INFORMATION, BUT FOCUS JUST ON the area in question on our ballot measure, which is the Northwest 36th District, east of East Drive. And that'll be a much more useful map for residents to be able to look at to really understand what it is that's being asked in that ballot measure. And so again, usually the first question that residents ask is how tall YOU KNOW, COULD RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS BE IF WE REMOVE THIS EXEMPTION? AND THE ANSWER IS, ONCE AGAIN, WITHIN 150 FEET OF RESIDENTIAL, UP TO FOUR STORIES BECAUSE IT WILL JUST DEFAULT TO THE UNDERLYING ZONING. SO FOUR STORIES WITHIN THE 150 FEET AND UP TO 12 STORIES BEYOND THAT. AND THEN A QUESTION THAT HAS BEEN ASKED AND I WILL ASK OUR CITY ATTORNEY KNOWINGLY BECAUSE I KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT PEOPLE ASK TWO QUESTIONS. IF WE VOTE FOR THIS EXEMPTION OF THE RESIDENTIAL HEIGHT RESTRICTION TO THREE STORIES WITHIN THIS AREA, EAST OF EAST DRIVE, NORTHWEST 36th STREET DISTRICT, WHAT IF THEY CAN A FUTURE COUNCIL CHANGE THE UNDERLYING HEIGHT RESTRICTIONS OR CAN A FUTURE COUNCIL EXPAND THE BOUNDARIES OF THIS AREA THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? BECAUSE THEN I GUESS THE THINKING IS THAT BY VIRTUE OF VOTING THAT EXEMPTION IN, It would leave it open and then future councils could do anything. So Roger, what would the answer to that question be?

The answer would be that the code would be frozen in time as it relates to this specific exemption as of November 3rd, 2026, which is the date of the election. So no, the council would not be able to then change the height after November 3rd. It would be what was in place for that exemption.

And we can't, we wouldn't, a future council wouldn't be able to change the boundaries?

Correct.

Okay.

It's east of East Drive as

Okay. All right. So the ballot language has been posted. We voted on it. This map that we're going to be getting in a couple of days is going to be very useful, I think, for the city to be able to Read what's on the ballot, look at the map, have a better understanding of what it is that they're being asked to vote on. And then there's going to be more information that we put forward and events to try to answer any questions that residents may have leading up to this vote. So do you guys have any comments, questions, concerns?

I'm still hearing comments from residents. I'm still reading comments. I'm getting people coming up to them saying, you're destroying the city. You're putting buildings all over the city. Folks, please be informed. Listen to what the mayor said. Look at the map. Please inform yourselves. Don't believe everything you read. Don't believe everything you hear. Look for yourself. This is it. this is what this is the proposal there's not going to be condos you know in the bird section this is not it so please be informed and don't fall for click bait and the algorithm that rewards the negative comments that they're being generated by a couple of people in the city so please just learn the facts thank you mayor

Okay. Any other comments? I have a comment. Sure. Go ahead.

I, too, get stopped or calls all the time about how we don't want condos. We'd rather have hotels. High-end hotels is what we need. Perfect. Bring them in. That use will not be taken away. You can still do it at any time. To date, we haven't been able to draw any. If anybody has a personal connection, please bring them. I'd rather have them, too, but they're just not coming. So all we're trying to do is raise the height and give more options. to better the edge of the city, and really, we need the income.

And Mayor, please, all of you who are not familiar with this area of town, go take a walk. I did it. It's eye-opening. Go take pictures. Go. Go on a Friday night. See how you like that. Go ahead. Get out of your comfort zone and go see for yourself what's there and tell us that you're okay with this. I mean, we keep kicking this can down the road. Let's finally do something about it.

I'D LIKE TO JUST CLARIFY FOR THE VICE MAYOR. HE SAID THAT TRYING TO RAISE THE HEIGHT. SO AGAIN, THE NORTHWEST 36th STREET DISTRICT IS ITS OWN ZONING DISTRICT. IT HAS ITS OWN CHARACTER. THAT'S WHY YOU CREATE DIFFERENT ZONING DISTRICTS. It has always had its own character because of its location in the southeast part of the city Abutting a major thoroughfare right across the street from the airport. It's always had its own character And that district has its own zoning as it relates to how high Buildings can be built FOUR STORIES WITHIN 150 FEET OF RESIDENTIAL, 12 STORIES BEYOND THAT. THAT IS FOR ALL BUILDINGS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF IN 2006, A CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE THAT WAS WELL MEANING AND WELL INTENTIONED. uh... put a three-story limit on everything residential throughout the entire city of miami springs and that makes a lot of sense in a lot of the springs i wouldn't want threes more than three stories in some places i wouldn't even want when one story BUT THERE IS A THREE-STORY HEIGHT RESTRICTION ON RESIDENTIAL, ANYTHING MORE THAN ONE RESIDENCE, RIGHT? SO ANYTHING MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL. AND THAT IS KIND OF ARBITRARY, AND THAT IT LIMITS WHAT THAT DISTRICT THAT HAS ITS OWN CHARACTER, THAT HAS ITS OWN ZONING, IT WAS USURPED BY THIS CITYWIDE RESTRICTION THAT ONLY APPLIES TO RESIDENTIAL. And so for all the various reasons that we've talked about, about why residential is a strong market, and we had a company come and do a market analysis, and you guys will remember that the Economic Development Task Force recommended that we engage this issue. And after 20 years of having that restriction on residential, WE HAVE TAKEN A LOOK AT IT BECAUSE IT'S JUST AN ARBITRARY LIMIT ON RESIDENTIAL. IT'S BELOW EVERYTHING ELSE IN TERMS OF HEIGHT LIMITS THERE. AND IT'S ARBITRARILY WE HAVE FOUND. WE WERE TOLD BY THE MARKET ANALYSIS THAT THAT IS CONTRIBUTING TO WHY THAT AREA, WHY WE HAVE WHAT WE HAVE THERE. We are just asking to restore just in that one exempted area that cannot be changed down the line. No future council can change the boundaries. No future council can change the height restrictions. We're just asking that that charter limitation be exempted just in that little pocket. OF NORTHWEST 36th STREET EAST OF EAST DRIVE SO THAT WE AREN'T ARBITRARILY LIMITING AND BASICALLY BANNING MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL IN THAT AREA BECAUSE MANY BELIEVE THAT WOULD HELP THAT AREA.

Yeah, so for me, one of the things I've heard the most is all the crime on 36th Street from the moment I started running, actually from when I moved in here and I grew up in Miami. So like all the crime on 36th Street, they want to get rid of the crime on 36th Street. wanted us to do something and We're doing something that the hotels are a big problem not to single out the businesses or anything But the hotels are the biggest problem there on 36th Street. That's what's bringing in a lot of crime I don't think we're gonna attract more businesses unless we have People to visit these businesses to change the area. We need to change the aesthetics of it. So Yeah, I think we also need to focus on the messaging of the crime on 36th Street and how this is going to affect or better the area.

Okay. George? Sure.

I think there's a misconception in people's thoughts about zoning and city planning. It's not about preserving a use. The reality of it, their initiative is to see what complements, what's a good benefit to the community itself. And obviously for over 30 years or more, zoning is the same one that we're not even going to change. But I think it's our responsibility to look for alternatives, that are going to be more helpful to an area that obviously has been detrimental as of the last 30 years in reference to the tax base to crime so it's our responsibility to look for alternatives there's i mean if you if people can come up with something they have and they continue to mention yet that's exactly where our zoning allows now and it's not happening so i think it's a responsible city planner or council or is that you consider something that can make it better and you know back to the same you know definition of insanity right continuing to do the same thing over and over and over because someday you're gonna hope they're gonna have a better result I think 30 years starts to put to that point that we would be kind of insane thinking that they could stay the same

Well, if you look at, if you drive down 36th Street past Lejeune into the next municipality and you follow 36th Street all the way to Overtown, which is pretty much what we hit there, it's the same thing. You know, you don't get to Miami Springs and see anything different. And we definitely have a vibrant, you know, family community over here. But if you go into that area, I mean, you're talking about trailer parks and you know run down businesses and just you know very low income type stuff and we just have a continuance of that so like I would like to see some some change and I don't think that you know this is gonna it's 12 stories like you could put a hotel there already that is 12 stories um

OK. Thank you. Go ahead. I think it got touched a little bit that you mentioned it, Mayor. We have huge guardrails that no other city, no other municipality in this county, whether at fault or not, you can say, somebody have an argument about the group of people that ended up putting this on the ballot, which obviously the state preempts it now from ever happening again. But ultimately, the people spoke. They voted. This is exactly the point here. We've carved out, that's one thing I've heard from a lot of the residents. I know a lot of different groups of residents, and I talk to them, is that, you know what, we're carving out an area. We're not just doing this blanket, talk about every area of Miami Springs or everything on 36th Street in particular, since we're talking about 36th Street. We've actually carved out a little pocket that we know for a fact that it has brought a lot of negativity. So we have that guardrail that you have to go back to vote. So no council here is ever going to change that. It's going to expand it. You've got to go back to vote. If the people in the future want more, it's up to the people to bring it back up. But that guard rail in the city of Miami, Cora Gables, North Miami Beach, North Miami, they do not have that. So this whole thing about, yeah, that's how they start. And tomorrow, they're going to go to the next block, and the next block, and the next block. And before you know it, they'll be down Heron Avenue. IT IS NOT TRUE. WE HAVE A GREAT GUARDRAIL, WHICH MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE A CHARTER AMENDMENT AND VOTE BY THE PEOPLE TO GET THIS CHANGED. SO TO ME, WE'RE DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY. WE'RE BEING RESPONSIBLE BY TAKING ONE STEP AT A TIME FOR THIS TOWN, BECAUSE THIS TOWN IS VERY DELICATE, BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY WE LIVE HERE. WE WANT TO PROTECT IT. So we decided to carve it out, and we have the guardrails there from any future change without the people's vote. But like I said, it's part of the responsibility. 30 years, this zoning is the same. We're not even changing those zoning uses. All we're saying is we have to try to figure out what could complement this and be a benefit to our community.

About doing like a social media campaign on all the crime on 36th Street as it happens and

so i'll i'll just uh refer to what you mentioned uh councilman santine that um so it the state has disallowed what they call uh zoning by referendum which is what happened back in 2006. uh they have since disallowed uh that um but hours from 2006 is still in place I THINK THAT IT'S WORTH ALL INTERESTED PARTIES CONSIDERING WHAT THE EFFECTS OF THAT DECISION BACK THEN HAVE BEEN AND WHAT THE EFFECTS MIGHT POTENTIALLY BE IF WE WERE TO MAKE A CHANGE AND THAT'S WHAT'S ON THE BALLOT AND IS BEING PROPOSED. AND THE MAP THAT WE'RE GOING TO RECEIVE IN A COUPLE DAYS WILL HELP. AND, YOU KNOW, THE CITY WILL BE POSTING, I MEAN, IT WAS ALREADY POSTED AND VOTED ON PUBLICLY, BUT THE BALLOT LANGUAGE AND SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, THERE WILL BE RESOURCES AND PLACES FOR PEOPLE TO GO TO GET ANSWERS AND THEY'LL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE MAP AND KICK THINGS AROUND AND ASK US QUESTIONS AND WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO ANSWER. AND THEN THE PEOPLE WILL SPEAK AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE.

I KNOW WE COULD DO IT. I MEAN, THE PEOPLE SAW SOMETHING IN US THAT BECAUSE EVERYBODY RAN ON 36TH STREET AND BRINGING, YOU KNOW, CHANGE TO THE AREA AND THEY SAW SOMETHING IN US TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE, YOU KNOW. SO I THINK WE JUST HAVE TO STICK WITH IT, CONTINUE TO WORK HARD, AND IF WE GOT TO COME BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, WE'LL COME BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL WE BRING SOME CHANGE TO THE AREA.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Okay, so we move on to reports and recommendations. And we'll start with our esteemed City Attorney. Take it away, Roger.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the Council. Pleasure to be here. I have two comments today. The first is that the Saturday Centennial Celebration event was phenomenal. I enjoyed it very much. And I have to say, the Mayor, you gave an incredible speech. I really, really, really liked that, that historical approach. um the second point that i want to bring up is in relation to the fpl mou for placement of utilities in the alleyways i've been working with the city manager in lockstep in trying to resolve some issues that we see with the mou as it relates to serious liability that the city could incur we're working in good faith with fpl we think that they're working with us in in good faith as well um and i'm sure jc will talk on that if if i'm missing anything you're hitting it perfect But you should expect that in the near future.

Thank you. OK, move on. Report to our city manager.

Mayor, thank you very much. I just wanted to, I don't want to steal your thunder, Councilman Santin. This weekend, honestly, I mean, three years ago when I started, that was the main thing you and I worked on. Everything from the centennial, just everything. And to see it there coming to fruition, it was a really proud moment for me as a city manager. But not just because of what was accomplished, right? incredibly just just completely incredible and i think we can all agree on that for me as manager it's how we accomplishment how we accomplished it right so i do want to acknowledge our team um because it was every single department that pulled this weekend off from the clerk's office from you know from um from the clerk's office to invite sending the invites out um we had juan pena public works, handling the construction of the actual facility, and then also making sure that after the event everything was cleaned up. Kevin Morris at golf for the drone show. We had Caitlin Smith and the Parks and Rec team handling pretty much the entire weekend of events. Chief Sandoval, Deputy Chief Vargas handling the security. Michelle from my office handling the invites and ordering the plaques from where Juan from the clerk's office left off. Ulysses and his building department permitting the actual structure. Adi from the PD handling the social media. And then Chris Chiocca, our finance director, making sure that the checks were ready to pay the bans and everybody being taken care of. And then last but not least, I can't forget about Omar because Omar, like, this was happening in the middle of budget season. So I'm preparing a budget, and Omar's like, I got this. Don't worry about it. And he handled it. I mean, he coordinated. He was having meetings almost on a weekly basis. And then there were some curveballs thrown in. I'm not going to say curve, you know, who it was, but we have to adjust, and he adjusted. I just couldn't be any more proud of this team. This city is spectacular. It's really special because of the people, but the employees here, second to none, honestly. And I also do want to mention a resident that was there in every meeting with us, Lynn Brooks, you know, helping out. She did the River Cities Festival. And so she helped us out because this was kind of like a mini, on Saturday night, it was like a mini River Cities Festival. And so she knocked it out of the park as well. But to the staff, thank you. Thank you.

Omar.

I'll keep it brief. Just like the manager said, the staff, amazing. I mean, I called a lot of them at random times. The day, night, it didn't matter. Right away, the phone call was picked up and it's, what do you guys need? What do we got to do? And that's, for us and for me, that's unique and it's special. Because it doesn't matter whether it's the chief, the deputy chief, the public works director, the golf course director, it didn't matter. It didn't matter, everybody just came together for one cause and it's really cool to work with people like that. And for me, it's a blessing. It makes my job so much easier to be able to count on people of that nature. So I wanted to thank them and you guys for your support and trusting us and putting on that type of event. It means a lot, and we appreciate it.

Awesome. Thank you. All right. Reports from our city clerk?

No reports tonight, sir.

Okay.

All right.

Fabian, we'll start with you. Reports from city council.

So Mayor, Council, I want to thank, from Friday night, Omar and Chief Sandoval, we were out there getting the monument ready, cleaning it, doing what we, everybody pitched in to get this thing ready. You know, I think back before I was elected, the origins of the statue. and all that drama behind it. And it kind of seems so past, right? We made it. We did it. And I just credit to you, George, for pushing through. I mean, there was up. There were highs and lows. The Centennial Committee switched a lot of ideas at the last minute. But they did it. We pulled it off. And we should celebrate our successes and be proud of what we did. Thank you, Mikey. THE MUSIC WAS GREAT ON SATURDAY. REALLY, THE BAND WAS REALLY GOOD. AND I WANT TO SAY THAT A COUPLE OF RESIDENTS ASKED ME AFTER THE DRONE SHOW IF WE COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S A SUBSTITUTE FOR 4TH OF JULY. I MEAN, FIREWORKS, THERE'S ALWAYS FIREWORKS. BUT PERHAPS THEY SAID, HEY, HOLIDAY, HOW ABOUT A HOLIDAY SHOW? AND I SAID, WELL, ASK US AFTER NOVEMBER. Ask us after November elections. So you don't know. If we can pull that off with more sponsors to do a holiday drone show, why not? So I just wanted to throw that out to you gentlemen. And last, I just want to say that the Pelican Playhouse, there's a flyer downstairs, Centennial Celebration Performance. This is a special performance for the Centennial Celebration. And they're doing a thing about my son's time capsule project. He doesn't know it. He's not watching, I think. But it's going to be a special thing with him in the future. I think it's really cool. So anyways, my son will be in the lobby with the time capsule, folks. The time capsule is on tour around the city. Thank you, city manager, for allowing it to go to different places. It will be at the Centennial Performance. in the lobby and then after that we start winding down items to put in the capsule so if you want to know more about the capsule please contact myself and i will and i will explain it's a beautiful project complements our centennial celebrations i think very appropriately thank you mayor thank you

Vice Mayor. Just want to echo everything that's been said. Beautiful events. Everything was great. Thank you to the police. Thank you to everybody on staff. But in particular to George. I know he gave birth this weekend. He suffered through this for over a year and great job. Thank you.

All right.

Councilman.

Same. George, great job. It's been an honor working beside you and seeing you put it all in to make this happen. It looks like the statue is where it was always meant to be. And I'd like to thank Natalie as well for paying attention to detail. For example, I don't know if you guys noticed, Glenn Curtis is looking at the AT THE CLOCK. SO THERE'S EVEN A HONOR TO THE CLOCK. JUST LIKE TO MENTION FOR THE PELICAN PLAYHOUSE. My daughter will be a star on the Pelican Playhouse. Please come out and support the kids and our community. Playhouse is going to be September 4th, 11th, and 13th. Well, September 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. So for two weekends in the evenings. Feel free to reach out to me. I'll be happy to point you in the right direction. And kudos on the time capsule. I think that was a phenomenal idea. So looking forward to that.

Councilman Santun. Thank you. Well, as many of you already have said, the staff was, this definitely was a team effort. Understatement, big understatement. Staff was remarkable, every single department. So I'm not going to go through individuals on everyone, but I am going to mention a couple of people that at least were instrumental, especially Legati, who, after Juan stepped down, was put in there to help. She knocked it out of the park as well. You know, Michelle helping me daily calls all the people and make sure we didn't miss anybody and then the actual inscriptions on the sponsorships. And like we said before, everybody in the staff, but I got to give a little special shout out I've always liked him for a long time. He's been in this city. But Omar, to see Omar on his knees, basically, cleaning those brass late on Friday night, man. Yes, that made me proud to have the people that I have around me. So thank you And of course I can't go without saying the Centennial Committee No Elvis.

I said your name, correct?

Cheryl Mikey Appreciate it and Jamie and Yvonne who worked a lot of a lot of you know events to get to this point and A lot of people that also tried to help before, and I can't say that they haven't helped. I think Kathy Doyle, Alex, and Mary Jo. And there's a team out, even Seth was there. helping out a little bit. I think he got a little bit bothered that Ken was the one that we took the lead with as our historian. But aside from that, everybody has helped tremendously in a centennial effort. I said maybe in the time capsule we might have to put a little, like the next centennial group or I guess what do you call it when it's doubled by 200 years? The bicentennial? Bicentennial. You got some big shoes to fill. I don't know what you're gonna do, but I doubt that you're gonna be able to top this year's centennial.

It's not too late to start the bicentennial committee.

For sure, we'll be ready for the next 100 years. Yeah, so that's going to be tough. And as mentioned before, I think our city manager mentioned, Lynn Brooks helped me tremendously. There's no way, no way. And I wanted the best of the best for this community, and she helped me as well as obviously staff, but her being a volunteer. is also a testament to her commitment to this community. But the music, I said, I want the best. And she's still hustling, trying to get the best prices for everything. And then the vendors as well. So she did an enormous job to help me. There's no way I could have done that. And the sponsors, at the end of the day, they stepped it up. They, you know, from the Milams to, as you saw at the drone show, ETST, you know, just one after the other. The Dunn family, large sponsorships and friends that I tapped into, you know, Tom Caprizio. There's just so many folks that really stepped it up. I mean, this thing, pretty much in a short period of time, we were able to make it happen. And obviously, it took big donors. But also, the smaller donors were also pretty big. It wasn't $100 bricks. And we got it done. So thanks to them, this celebration this whole weekend was also sponsored, a lot of it. So we got to take our hats off to all those that you see on those banners, because they really stepped it up. This celebration to me was an opportunity to put, this whole centennial, to put Miami Springs on the map. Just not simply celebrating our past, it's more than that. It's about defining where we're going to be going. So to me, we're proud of what we accomplished. But there's still, our job is not finished yet. We got a lot of work, but the best is still to come.

All right, thank you. All right, yeah, I mean, I have to echo those same sentiments. Members of the community came together as part of the boards, the centennial committee, just volunteers. Members of the community staff, staff went above and beyond. This was so much coordination and so much in terms of logistics. And every single department came together. And obviously the benevolence of donors and sponsors That made it happen And I have got to shout out councilman Santee. I think that it demonstrates your I've been up here a lot of years now with a bunch of different members and You came in George and you you took on YOU KNOW, LEADING IN AND BEING OUR LIAISON IN THE CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE. AND ANY COMMITTEE THAT HAS MIKE GAVALA ON IT IS GOING TO BE SOMEWHAT RECALCITRANT. BUT YOU LED, YOU PROMOTED COMMUNICATION, YOU LED THE CHARGE AND YOU EXHAUSTED YOURSELF. raising money, coordinating with the city, communicating, talking to all stakeholders. It really speaks to you as a leader. Everything that you demonstrated, it wasn't about the event. I feel like it really shows a lot about you and your skill as a leader. So very well done for that, my friend. okay and so obviously it was a great time uh and now we turn our attention to uh city business and the things that we have on the ballot and trying to make our city better and we're looking forward to the next hundred years so thank you to everybody and this meeting is adjourned at 8 40. thank you thank you i need to stretch my head