Village Council - Regular Meeting

All right, everybody, good to see everybody. The regular council meeting for Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 is called to order at 7.06 p.m. We're going to first have a moment of silent meditation followed by a pledge of allegiance. Madam Clerk, now please have roll call.

Roll call, Mayor Nickerson. Here. Vice Mayor Martin. Present. Councilperson Erbaum. Present. Councilperson Lightfoot-Ward is not here. Councilperson Winters. Present. Also present for the record, Janice Jacoby, Village Clerk, David Roseman, Village Manager, and Joseph Geller, Village Attorney. You have a quorum.

Thank you very much, appreciate it. Next, I'm gonna ask for a motion to approve the agenda, but I do wanna have, we're gonna add one presentation, and that is going to be for Mr. Ian McKenzie on behalf, or for Sergeant Gutierrez, and so we'll do that. I spoke to Commissioner Regalado earlier. She's gonna try to make it, But understand, this is not her district, so she's coming from a long distance. All right, so we'll see what's up with that. Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda with those adjustments?

So moved.

Thank you very much, Madam Vice Mayor. Do I have a second? I'll second. Thank you very much, Mr. Councilman. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay. Hearing none. Moving on to good and welfare. right now anyone can come up and or would you mind you guys if i just do mr mckenzie first for the presentation is that okay we guys we're good with that all right come on up mr mckinsey come on up sarge go ahead take the mic uh uh mr mckenzie right there at the podium

Often we think about the police as giving tickets, maybe catching speeders, things like that, but they do a lot more for our community and we're fortunate to have a police force that really does care and does a lot for us. Sometimes we don't know about it, but they really do. I just want to recognize Sergeant Gutierrez here. He went above and beyond helping me out when a person, a contractor, a fake contractor, stole money from me. Turns out, without his help, I went to the state of Florida, first of all, and the state more or less said, okay, you have to do local. He went to Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade said, oh, no, we don't do that. Or they said that I should go with El Pertal. So I went to El Pertal. Through your diligence and your hard work, you really came through. We apprehended the suspect. He was found. He's going to court now. So that's in a Cathy Fernandez-Rundle purview right now for prosecution. But I just want to say that without... all the work and there was a lot of work believe me i spent months working with the state trying to get things filed from them so i know what sergeant gutierrez went and i just really want to thank you and i gave you a little plaque thank you thank you it says excellence in law enforcement sergeant thank you and thank you and thank you chief

Mr. McKenzie, speak to us about, because I remember when you came in, I remember how this was. Speak to us about just how diligent you were, how long this case was.

This took over a year and a half almost, and it still hasn't ended. So we're in prosecution phase right now. But he's preyed on other people, too, according to the records. Absolutely. Oh yeah, he was a resident of Broward County, so it's harder, believe it or not. It really is.

I think that's something that so many people can relate to, because I always get calls about contractors who people don't trust, or do you know any good contractors? contractors that are being slow with the job, or contractors that took my deposit, and I can't get them back on the phone for months. So this is something that I think a lot of people deal with, so it's really good that you stuck to your guns, because a lot of people are like, once these things happen to them, and these contractors don't act in an honest, responsible way, a lot of times, people get so frustrated, that it's hard to continue to stay on these individuals. And a lot of times, because people wanna get the work done, they'll just say like, hey, let me just find another contractor that will come in and fix what this person couldn't and things like that. So it's really good that, Sarge, that you stood on top of that. And Mr. McKenzie, you were always adamant and stayed on top of the whole situation. Thank you. Thank you all.

Thank you very much.

Mayor, is it okay if I read another comment from the state attorney's office?

Absolutely.

And again, this is a very important part of what we do. I know sometimes it seems very routine. We'll show up. If it's something simple, we'll look for cameras. This is something a lot more intricate to the point of where when the subject lives in Broward, you actually have to extradite him. So we needed the help from the Broward Sheriff's Office. And that's why the case was complicated, and it took a while for everything to come together. But that's the end result, and that's what makes you proud. And aside from that, I'll show you another example, and this is a commendation from the State Attorney's Office for exploitation of the elderly. This comes from Commander Christine Molina, Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Unit, Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office. to the Chief of Police, Alejandro Mendez. Dear Chief Mendez, I'm writing to formally commend you and your members of the department for your outstanding assistance and professionalism in support of the State Attorney's Office during the recent elderly exploitation case that resulted in a conviction on all counts. The diligence and coordination demonstrated by your agencies were instrumental in ensuring that the justice was served. Cases involving the exploitation of vulnerable elderly victims require not only technical expertise, but also compassion and persistence. Your team exemplified these qualities throughout the investigation and the prosecution process. From the initial response and ongoing collaboration with our office, your personnel consistently upheld the highest standards of law enforcement. Their commitment significantly strengthened the case and contributed directly to the successful outcome in court. Please extend my sincere appreciation to all those involved. Their efforts reflect great credit upon your department and underscore the critical role of interagency cooperation in protecting our community's most vulnerable members. Thank you again for your leadership and for fostering a culture of excellence within your agency. Respectfully, Christine Molina, Commander.

It has been a pleasure to bring experience from prior to police departments. I retired from Hialeah and after so many years of exposed to all kinds of cases, I was able to bring the experience here to serve the community and I thank you guys for it, for giving me the opportunity to serve the community.

Thank you very much, appreciate that you guys. Now we're moving on to Good and Welfare. Anybody has anything to say about anything at all, come up, say your first and last name for the record, and say your address please, and the floor is yours. Just come up to the podium.

Hi everyone. First wanted to start off just by thanking you guys for all your hard work. I think this was a nice example of you know what our community is doing. Excuse me. Oh my name. Kelly Gomes 269 Northwest 86th Street. So thank you for your hard work managing the village. We definitely appreciate that. Last time I was here you know I came kind of with an open mind of trying to understand what was going on with the Raider Church and why it was just knocked down. kind of no formal notice or anything like that. And really forming an opinion because you know I saw countless people come up and then come up again and counter other people's comments and things like that before my own opinion about the project overall. So I wanted to come today with just some kind of overarching thoughts about how I feel so I can give you my point of view as a community member. And also ask a question at the end that you guys can circle back when it's time to answer questions. So I think you know my point of view is definitely against the project with Adam Neumann and his and his people for the school that they want to put in our community. I just don't think that you know We have the infrastructure to support something like that. We're a very small community and to be quite frank I've seen schools pop up in very dense spots and the outcome is always very irritating. We don't have the space to control cars and where cars are going to queue up multiple times a day. What typically ends up also happening because one thing is the traffic concern but the other part of it is what parents start to do because they don't want to wait in line to pick up their kids. So they go three blocks down which will probably be around here somewhere and park on somebody's easement and mess up their grass and wait for their kid to get out and walk down the street to actually get picked up. So these are all the things that our small community which is only a few blocks are going to start to get exposed to. unnecessarily. I'm not against the idea of schools. I just don't think a school makes sense for El Portal. And that's my my point of view on it now. I also don't think it's acceptable that they they won't be paying any taxes. That's another reason that I'm against the project. I think for the amount of revenues that you guys have to rely on to plant trees and do all the things you have to do. I don't think you can effectively do that when such a large part of the community is not paying taxes and then in addition to that they're buying other properties nearby that will eventually you know whether they say it or not will end up becoming a discussion of oh we want to expand the school and we own these three properties over here so we just need to expand our parking lot and now it starts to balloon and take over more and more of El Portal. and change the fabric of the community that we have. I'm new to El Portal so I'm not like an old G where I grew up here or anything. I moved here in 2020 but it still means a lot to me to be here and I love the community that I live in. So with that said I just wanted to get an update from each of you on the council to really understand where you stand on the project as of today to see where your heads are at. And also I know last meeting there were a lot of different things brought up about our code and what's allowed and things like that. I was wondering if you spent the last 30 days kind of digging into those discrepancies to be able to give us a little bit more transparency on what defense we have against this project. And that's it. So thank you. Thank you very much.

Good evening. Noel Pace, 206 Northwest 91st Street. That's my home and then business owner at 8661 Northeast 2nd Avenue. Hey, I just want to thank the council. I want to talk about a couple things. First of all, I second Mr. McKenzie and, you know, probably the entire community that's here about what a great job our police department's doing. Their presence patrols, obviously that collar of a rogue contractor was a great one. I still remember when my wife's school, Miss Claudia's Village Academy was broken into and the police were actually able to lift prints off of different items around the school and they were actually able to apprehend the suspect the state's attorney's office prosecuted them and they ended up going to jail. And so, you know, because I think that, you know, when they get good collars like that, that's a deterrent. All right, and it's great to see that it's in the media. Again, if you haven't noticed the presence of patrols at night, especially in the middle of the night with the lights on, you know, the big Suburbans and so on, I think that's a great, you know, deterrent for people who are maybe passing through in our community. So police department's doing a great job. Second thing I wanted to mention was the Arbor Day celebration. So again, Mr. McKenzie, other people that were involved with Arbor Day, some old friends, actually prior residents who now live in Biscayne Park came back to participate in Arbor Day. I saw a council member, Erbaum there, and the police were there, obviously. But Arbor Day is a great thing. I know that there is a resolution about trees here that's part of this agenda. I think that's a great thing. This is a Tree City USA. That being said, I also do want to talk about the proposed project at the Raider Church site. So thinking back when two other schools were proposed at that site and then the sanctuary was proposed at that site, it was all about preserving the building. The building had unique architecture and had been around since the 50s. There was a famous architect that was part of sort of the Miami look here. And that building, I think every developer, everyone wanted to make use of the building. The thing is now, the building is gone. And so since the building is gone, I'm sure that the council is definitely aware, I'm sure that the public may be aware that El Portal was the home of an ancient Indian civilization, American Indians, or Native Americans as they're referred to now, the Tequesta Nation. In fact, the Tequesta Nation's capital is potentially considered right in this area here along the little river Now that we have a cleared site, we've had buildings and it's been occupied for 60 years, now that there's a cleared site and we don't have much open space here in El Portal, I was wondering if the council or if the staff, has anyone worked with potential authorities in this area to go and explore the site in terms of ancient artifacts and other stuff in terms of, you know, civilization. I mean, normally in most people's houses that exist here, you know, my house in El Portal is 100 years old. So, you know, it ain't going anywhere. But now that that land has been cleared, I think it's probably a good time to go and check that out. I know that archeologists from FIU have come here, have explored our Indian mound and so on. And the reason why I bring that up is because our future use map, part of our community plan shows that the future use of that site was destined to be a park. And so I know that the gentleman that spoke before about potential exceptions to rules and variances and so on, I mean, to me, I think, you know, exception to the rule or variances that are granted for a project should benefit, you know, it should only, really should benefit the whole community, okay, versus one particular group or one particular constituency. And so if you're going to, you know, be requested to make exceptions and variances and all those things, I think, you know, the hard line should be that, hey, It's got to benefit the whole community, which according to the 400 plus pages of the proposal of the project I've read, it doesn't seem that being a fact. Now, again, I'm not anti-school. I'm anti-school at that location. I think there are plenty of alternatives, including the Little River Farm, which also should probably be explored. I don't think it's ever been explored by archaeologists. I know that there are some browns fields contamination that needs to get cleaned up there. But in summation of what I'm trying to get at here is I think, you know, he mentioned the fact that they, you know, bought that land there. They have proposed a project there. There's also evidence that a lot of other properties have been purchased, including the Little River Farm. Now, maybe it's not exactly the same people or the same entity, but they're all interrelated according to news and media reports. I hope this council, you know, really asks them for a comprehensive plan for all the properties before they make a decision just on one. I think we have to know what the totality of the circumstances are for their overall planned project. As you just mentioned, you can sort of have a moral hazard here or a slippery slope of, well, hey, we now have developed this property and we own all these others, so we should try to make it all into one development. We've already seen them do that. Actually, a tax-paying home has already been torn down that was here, so eroding our tax base literally. And so I think that's important. The last thing I want to mention is I want to mention, and so these are things I hope you guys consider. Again, I'm pro El Portal, I'm pro community. I think we have a great community plan. We have a great set of ordinances here. I think anything that is considered in terms of exceptions or variances has to benefit the whole community. You guys should take a hard line on that. Again, you know, after six months, you know, it would have been great if the developer had proposed, you know, an alternative location where their ecological school would be well suited right on the Little River, right across from the new Pelican Harbor Station, which I mean is a beautiful project, I'm sure you guys have seen. And so it's something to consider. Last, I want to mention in my role here as a member of the Military Affairs Board for Miami-Dade County, appointed by Commissioner Keon Hardiman, representing District 3, I do want to thank the mayor for inviting me, and Councilperson Winters was also there. At the last Miami-Dade County League of Cities meeting, I talked about National Military Appreciation Month. If you didn't know, The month of May now, and it's been this way since the 90s, is National Military Appreciation Month. Why is that? Because there are a number of military-related holidays that take place. You know, there's the Victory in Europe Day, there is National Military Spouses Appreciation Day, there is Armed Forces Day, and there is Memorial Day. And so on behalf of the 165,000 military veterans and their families here in Miami-Dade County, I hope all you guys look into the events that are gonna be going on here in Miami-Dade County in celebration of National Military Appreciation Month. A very big one is the Air and Sea Show that is over Memorial Day weekend that will be at Miami Beach. It is a completely, it's the largest military display of training and skill of pilots and Navy SEALs and Army Rangers and so on. at the beach it's a family affair they have all kinds of competitions for your kids to be involved involved with and so um just check it out you can google it um it's there so uh with that i think um i appreciate you guys time thank you very much thank you

Hello. My name is Jorge Carabelli and I live at 120 Northeast 90th Street. I want to speak today to voice my objection to the proposed school on Northeast Second Avenue. My wife and I have been living in El Portal for over 38 years. We moved into this neighborhood because we liked the small town intimacy, the lush tree canopy, and the quiet pace. Every day we walk around the village, we greet our neighbors, pet their dogs, and remark on how their children have grown. Although the walk is generally peaceful, we keep to the side streets and alleyways for safety. On days that I-95 is backed up, frustrated drivers use Northeast 2nd Avenue as an alternative. When Second Avenue is thick with traffic, they use the alleyways and the side streets, like 90th Street where we live. This seems to happen two to three times a week. During these times, my wife and I have been subject to angry drivers speeding down the alleyways, honking their horn, and yelling at us to get out of the way. We frequently fear for our safety. This happened a lot in the past two weeks. Whenever there's some kind of incident in 95, it gets worse. Any additional traffic on 2nd Avenue would increase this danger and upset the quiet enjoyment we have all come to appreciate in our lovely village. Any proposed new building, such as a proposed school, that will bring more traffic to El Pertel would exacerbate this problem. The creation of a school zone would also make this problem worse, forcing cars to slow down and back up even more. Others have spoken of the reduced revenue of having the school there and something we all know that this village cannot afford. Then there's the issue of parking. The school wants to demolish three multi-family homes to make a parking lot for their staff. An open parking lot is against our code and would remove needed revenue from El Portal and be an eyesore in the neighborhood. These pedestrians walking from the parking lot to the school will cause traffic at the crosswalks to stop more often so they can cross Second Avenue, thus leading to more traffic slowdowns, more cars racing on the alleys, more cars and angry drivers speeding down the side streets. The proposed school is estimated to bring hundreds of cars to the area twice a day, five days a week. This is not acceptable. The addition of the school and the subsequent traffic it will bring will seriously impact the quiet enjoyment of our neighborhood. I implore the council to consider the damaging effects of any project that would bring additional cars and traffic to Second Avenue. There's no benefit to the village of having the school built on Northeast Second Avenue. This project will make a negative impact on the peace and tranquility we have all come to enjoy living here. No longer will we be a quiet family community. I strongly object to the granting of this project. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, my name is Chantal Rodriguez. I reside at 48 Northeast 86th Street. Before I begin, I definitely want to commend the police officers, the team. May she rest in peace. My mom had dementia and for about three years she'd get lost until I put a double lock on the door. But many times I would look and she would just disappear. and the police were just so, they assisted me. They were just so helpful in helping me find her. One time they found her in Miami Shore. She walked from 96th Street to 96th Avenue and 108th Street. And she was carrying a tray that I had given her with food and pajamas and slippers. So, you know, when you have dementia, unfortunately, and they found her, but every time they were just so patient and they would come back and they would tell me, you know, they were so helpful. They were giving, telling me, do this, do that. And I commend them. And believe me, with having them at my side helped a lot during, you know, the time when she was alive. So, again, thank you for that. So bear with me, I'm going to read from my phone. And so I thought I would have time to memorize, but unfortunately it would work. I cannot, okay? So I want to preface an article I read in the Biscayne Times March issue. And it was titled, Miami is a Whore for Developers. It also said that they search for governments with weak links. So they infiltrate and they get to do whatever they want. And this is why, you see, not too long ago I was watching television and there was an incident, and this is in West Palm Beach, a restaurant owner who was actually being forced out and all of the storefronts as well because the city of West Palm Beach wanted to build a water park, right? And at one point, they stated eminent domain. This restaurant owner, who has been there for a very long time, took it to the media. And imagine, this is his livelihood. And no matter how much money you give this individual, you can't just ask them and tell them, okay, well, we want a water park. Well, when all of that came to the surface and that came to light, all of a sudden, the mayor of West Palm Beach, I apologize, had a different take. Now what they're going to do is that they're going to incorporate whatever businesses that are there with the water park. But, you know, there's a way around it. There's a way to work with businesses. the businesses with the residents, but you can't just come in full force and think that you're going to take over. So the second statement, which talks about the weak government, sadly, I have to say that I feel that the government of El Portal exemplifies weak government because I see a lack of collaboration and a lack of harmony. Everyone has a different vision, and it shouldn't be that way. It should be one vision for all of you because you are all here to represent the residents of El Portal. We voted for you. You didn't put yourself in office. We voted to have you there to represent us and our best interests, okay? So as it pertains to the Newman project on Northeast Second Avenue, it's evidence that the council has conflicting interests and points of view and having nothing to do with what is in the best interest of the residents. And it's very important to note and to remember that The residents are El Portal. It's not vice versa. El Portal is not about the residents. The residents are about El Portal. We make El Portal. We've made El Portal the way El Portal is right now. I want to go back as well to the Cavista groundbreaking ceremony, which was on May 11, 2022. where the mayor stated, we are excited to have a new development in our community as we take pride in being diverse. As we move forward into the 21st century, we are prepared to face the challenge of a small but growing village but at the same time remain connected to our past and true to the values that make our village extraordinary. This building has been thoughtfully designed inside and out to reflect the village's history and to our ongoing efforts to preserve nature. This is contrary to everything that's happening right now. I think that we've forgotten about that. So what about the village's history, which they were talking about the radar church, that it was historical. Nothing is being preserved. These developers believe in just coming and knocking down and being in control. I've been a resident since 1998. And since then, I've witnessed positive growth and development. But we need to set a precedent for all developers. Rest assured, many more are going to come and knock on our doors because they've seen Newman come. So this is just an invitation for other developers to come. So we are open to development. that benefits us not just select residents developers should not be allowed to come in and create chaos in our village and to disrupt our lives newman is not concerned about our well-being only his desire to control and get what he wants i'm pro-education and pro-development however This project does not benefit El Portal and its residents. There will be zero returns on our investment. We will be plagued with traffic, increased property taxes, and outsiders who have no regard for our village. Let's not mention Live Local. What happened with Cavista? No one knew about Live Local. All of a sudden he came. Mentioned Live Local and the taxes. Now we have a shortage, right? Well, Newman is proposing the same thing, so what are we going to do about him? Are we going to allow him to come in and do the same thing? No, we should not. We need to stand firm. We can't let developers come in, and I'm referring to all of you. We cannot allow developers to come in and take over our village. This is not their village. Like I said, we are pro-development, but there are limits to everything. And it's time for us, right? It's time for us to stand together. One voice, one vision, El Portal's government should not represent, should represent its residents and not developers. This is our refuge, this is our safe haven, and this is our village, and I would like all of you to remember that, okay? And I know you sit there and you're all shaking your heads, but sometimes I'm wondering if when people come up here and they talk, if you're just being... respectful and shaking your head to say yes. How much of what we're saying are you assimilating? We want to be heard and we want to be respected. Thank you.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Tanya Coligny. And I live at 430 Northwest 89th Street. My parents have been living in that house since 1978 since I was three. My two daughters Kayla and Tamia grew up in that same house. My daughter Tamia went to Radar. So when I found out and saw that the school was just demolished it did something to me because my daughter went there. When I found out about the project I was lost for words. I have there's a lot of familiar faces. Miss Claudia's husband I recognize you Omar you actually tutored Tamia. You tutored also my nephew Aman at Miss Claudia's. I have my neighbor right here. So I'm this is my first meeting. I do work overnight. I work for American Airlines so on Tuesdays I am unavailable to be here so I'm proud that I am here. because El Portal is my home and I would like to be heard in my home and I would like the our community and just everybody here on this panel to just work together and just keep El Portal just for us. I am totally against what what's being proposed. I don't want to sound like a broken record but the three people that spoke before me I totally ingredients to everything they said so does it make sense for me to repeat so with that being said I hope I can come to more meetings I want my voice to be heard this is something I tell my daughters all the time you have a voice let it be heard so yeah that's it thank you

Good evening. Joni Gomes, 269 Northwest 86th Street. As some of you might not know, Adam Neumann's Flow Venture manages and owns stakes in a portfolio of close to 4,000 residential units across the U.S., and their primary focus has been set on Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Nashville. The fact is that this developer has acquired at least seven properties and has spent over $90 million just here in Alportale alone. They have not paid their 2025 property tax bill for the two-acre lot. The amount due is $99,939.72. This developer is having private meetings with certain council members and a select few residents causing division. Developer has not yet proposed plans for the 16-acre lot, also known as Little Farm Trailer Park, and the property was purchased back in January of 2025. This specific developer has a controversial past and has previously driven his company WeWork into the ground and was asked to step back. Billionaires are coming to South Florida and intending to build private schools exclusively for the wealthy and not for us. As mentioned, the development plans to build a religious school that will be private, expensive, and extremely exclusive, which means it would not service the residents and children of El Portal, but instead cause a huge amount of unwanted traffic flow into our streets every single day, as all of us have already mentioned. This property would be tax exempt, and it would not contribute to the village in any capacity. This overdevelopment for a small village like ours would require exceptions to the rules and would have to be granted by the village. I can confidently say that the majority of Alportel residents, which I've personally spoken to, are strongly opposed to this proposed development plans. We live in a democracy and we are the taxpayers and we should get to decide what happens to our village, not some wealthy developer who has plans to take over and change it completely. We request that the council votes no on these proposed plans at the upcoming planning and zoning meeting. And we hope the developer moves on and sells the two-acre lot back to the village, if it's possible, so that we can create a space that can be used by all of us residents. And he can build his school at the 16-acre lot. Lastly, I would like to know when your planning and zoning meeting is scheduled for May, where you plan to vote on these proposals. Thank you.

Thank you.

Greg Steer, 120 Northwest 86th Street. You've heard me speak against this project before, and I don't wanna pile on, but I did wanna bring your attention to a recent article that appeared in the Cambridge University Press. Many of you may have heard about it or actually read it. It's been posted on a couple of the chats. The Cambridge University Press is the oldest university publisher in the world, dating back to 1534. It has 50 offices scattered around the planet, and it's considered a top-tier, highly reliable institution with rigorous research standards. The article... I'm not going to read the whole thing, but the article begins... And I quote, Adam Newman surely ranks among the most disgraced corporate leaders of our time. The former WeWork founder and CEO who was ousted from the company in 2019 became emblematic of the corporate excesses and hollow boosterism of post.com Silicon Valley. In the public imagination, his name is synonymous with failure and fraud, but to the outrage of many, he is back on the scene. It goes on to delve into his turbulent history with WeWork, his ouster, and his now new venture called Flow. But it ends with the paragraph that suggests that the venture capital group behind him looks for people who can scale a business at any cost, including ethical and moral. I quote, They seek calculated, opportunistic, cutthroat individuals capable of lying on a regular basis and breaking the law with the highest likelihood of making them outsize capital gains. Newman has demonstrated that he embodies these traits. He is a compelling and relentless salesman who will stop at nothing. So the question is, why is little El Portal so willing to partner with a man who has such a dubious reputation, a history of double or self-dealing, and other unethical business practices? He makes the Barrington brothers look like angels. At least we forget how these guys screwed over the village with their empty promises about property tax revenue. It's been over a year since this plan was hatched and still there is no actual development agreement. There is no Raider Church. There is no solution for the parking, nor mitigating the traffic. There is no discussion or presentation of the plans for Little Farm. There are no details about the feasibility of installing a sewer system. and apparently no outreach to the Village of Miami Shores about linking to that system. And no progress, frankly, on the skimpy public benefit package that they offered. And as the previous speaker mentioned, they still haven't paid their property taxes. So the village is in the dark. His own attorney is in the dark. Our attorney has reached out to them on three different occasions. These are all serious red flags. It's not about a private school itself but you have to ask yourself why does a village of 900 homes need a full size K through 12 high school when we still don't even have a park or a real commercial center. So the council has the authority and it should use it. It's time to turn the page on this project once and for all. Just vote no. Thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council. My name is George Alvarez. I live at 165 Northwest 88th Street. I also attended Raider pre-kindergarten. Miami Shores Elementary Horace Mann then called junior high because I'm old now called middle school. Elpertel is home. But the world changes. It can be scary and it can be unfair. There's only so much we can do about unfunded mandates from Tallahassee and their takeover of municipal rule. There's only such so much that we can do when it comes to property rights, when it comes to the concerns of citizens whose rights are supposedly equal to our own. but the devil's in the details i think the most important and salient aspect to remember and i hope the council takes this seriously we have a comprehensive plan we have laws we have ordinances we have standards we have a future land usage map the fact that this proposal requires real and significant amendments to the skeleton of El Pertel is a red flag. That in and of itself should be a reason for the entire council and the proceeding planning and zoning meeting to turn down this project. Now. The truth is things have changed about this project. We don't know what has changed. They went back after meeting with some residents and availing themselves in a town hall setting. But at no point did it feel like they worked with El-Pertel. So we're waiting around until July, August, or some point to hear what they're going to say. And maybe, and I had a good conversation with the mayor a few weeks ago, it's possible one has faith sometimes in life that they'll come back with some more reasonable bullet points to their proposal, to whatever their amendments to their proposal are. But I think the devil is in the details. And if the details in July or August or in the future look at all like the details that we have seen in the last several months, then the answer again should be a no. And I'm still willing to allow some room for faith and goodwill that they would want to become good neighbors. But they haven't done that. And they haven't done it at any opportunity that they could. And instead, and this is on record, there have been meetings with people who are quite pro, quite for this project. And that appearance to me kind of feels like people are jockeying to the front of the line to get favor with this developer. That bothers me. It's real life, though. These things happen. It's my understanding that this sort of stuff happens out there in big boy adult life. But I think we can draw the line. We can draw the line by adhering to our current laws and rules. We can also move the line a little bit forward, not against developers, not against schools. I'm not against a school that is proposed by this gentleman, provided it actually works and it is what it is, but the red flags of him or his company purchasing seven or eight properties throughout El Pertel, most of them along Second Avenue, this doesn't look like a school. This looks like a campus. It looks like a village. It looks like El Pertel Village no longer being El Pertel Village but being soulful village perhaps. Anyway, I'm gonna try to maintain faith that that's not the way this goes. And I appreciate the difficult position that our council is in when weighing these realities or these potentialities. It's not easy and I appreciate what you guys are doing. Last night, the residents of Bal Harbor spoke out, and their council unanimously rejected the proposal that was penciled in and discussed for years, at least four years since I heard about this proposal. Now, of course, the devil's in the details of any proposal. The proposal included in Bal Harbor a number of live local units, a number of market units, some retail and a very large hotel. And from what I witnessed in that meeting, no residents, zero were for that proposal. It goes without saying, it's logical. If you start looking at these meetings in other cities throughout the United States, who are considering whether it's vast data centers, whether it's mixed-use retail, whatever it is, zero people are for it. Sure, there will be occasional mention of job creation, but I got to say it doesn't seem to come from the current residents when it comes out like that. So, Bal Harbor knows very well that the developer who, lost legislatively is gonna come back and take them to court. So be it. We live in a nation that is still a constitutional and democratic republic as far as I know. And laws and political will are gonna be tested. We have a very well connected, very smart, and very nice attorney. His name is Joe Geller. He's been around the block. I don't think I'm, I don't think I'm your age. I don't know. Just tell me if I crossed the line there. Okay. He's seen this. We've all seen this and we're seeing different forms of it. We're seeing mandates for charter schools that get to occupy public schools. Is that right? Is that wrong? The devil is in the details. I have a feeling. I know how some of the people here will 100% think it is wrong. Things are changing for a reason. So we have to be vigilant and we have to manage the way we see the realities of these projects. And we have to be unafraid to inform our residents. and also inform our council because it takes more than 24 hours a day, 365, to keep up with all the advantages that are being given to certain constituencies. But if Bal Harbor did it, so can we. Thank you. Thank you.

My name is Juliana Collinger, 8650 Northeast Miami Court. I'm here because I'm really, really concerned about traffic. On April 14th, I reached out to Mayor because when I was coming home from dropping off the children, at around 836, I was coming northbound on Miami Avenue, and I made a right on 86th in order to go to my house. And as I was turning, there were probably at least four cars there, parked, waiting to make a left westbound on 86th, which you're not supposed to be doing. And as I stood there, I'm like, that's odd. Then I went and I parked my car. Oops, sorry, sorry. Then I went and I parked my car because I live like right there. And I started to walk towards that intersection and I just stood there. And it was one car after another, after another, after another. Next thing I know there was 10, 12 cars lined up waiting to make a left turn on a stop sign illegally. And I was so worried, and I was so mad, because I know every single one of my neighbors on that 86th Street. And I live on Northeast Miami Court, which is the one going north to south. They live east to west on 86th. And I know every single one of my neighbors, every single one of my neighbors. Why? Because it's El Portal. And I love El Portal. And I love my neighbors. And I was worried about them walking. I was worried about anybody walking their dog. It's no longer peaceful anymore. And this was on a day that probably something was going on on 95th, probably something was going on on Biscayne Boulevard, who knows? It is now every day in Miami. This is happening every day. Every day there's something with traffic. And then we wanna add a school with 350 people, kids. That's gonna be mayhem. So that day thankfully I have Mayor Nickerson on my phone and I did reach out to him and he did send over a police officer to police officer to be in there there in the corner and I really appreciate that. And I thank everyone here for that because that's what I love about Portel. It's small enough where we can get things done quickly and I appreciate that. But if that's one area of our town and next thing we have is more More development more. We're not going to be able to have that. And I worry about that. I worry about traffic. I worry about the peace of mind that everybody has walking down the streets. I worry about that. And I want things to yes grow in the right direction but with parameters as Miss Rodriguez said we really need that. And I want everybody to just take these things into consideration especially as developers are coming in and they're coming fiercely. They're coming to divide and conquer. And let's not be divided. Let's not. Let's not be divided as a town either. And let's not let them conquer us. Let's put our rules down as they should be. And I would really, really appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Daniel Rojas 60 Northeast 86th Street. To sound like a broken record. I'm actually going to try not to sound like a broken record. But I do agree with my neighbors that have spoken. This school doesn't make sense for Alport town. But I also want to bring to mind the all the examples of development that has happened throughout our county and throughout South Florida recently like wins for developers are setting presidents that are going to basically very negatively affect residents of South Florida. We can look at what just happened with the Calusa that basically the developer outlasted the will of the people until they were able to get a vote for for developing in this area that was supposed to be kept as a park not that was not to be developed for 65 years but their commission voted to allow it against the will of the people. So what we really want here in El Portal is to be heard. That's why we keep coming to the meetings. That's why we keep speaking in good and welfare even though the meeting is not about the school right. We want to make sure we're heard. We want to make sure that we act mindfully and that we learn from the mistakes of others and even from ours. We are human. We're going to make some mistakes but we can also learn and we can try to make sure that we don't get exploited that we don't get divided, that we don't get used by somebody that has a history of using people, of seeing human beings just as numbers. And make no mistake, that's why we are to them. We're just numbers. possible like money that they can make out of this. There is no wanting to be a part of this community. They want to set a precedent where they're going to change zoning where they're going to destroy our community and they will make some money and then they'll move on. So I want us to make sure that we do not allow this. And I appreciate you guys hearing your voice. Thank you.

Anyone else good in welfare. Probably comment.

Hi, good evening. My name is Ramona. I live on 136 Northwest 88th Street. This is just a question for the Consuls. Do you know that, I don't know if you're aware, that the property owned by Toll Real Estate, one of the properties, because now they have several in El Portal, and I still don't understand exactly the purpose of why buying so many properties here. The 205 Northeast on 87th Street, they still didn't pay their taxes, which was due in 2025. And we are already on February, March, April, and $99,939, they still didn't pay. And that's just to show the kind of person we're dealing here. So they own that property and they're already late on paying their own taxes. So I don't know if you're aware of that. Just an eye opening on what kind of people we're dealing with. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay. For public comment? Good. Public comment, did you, anybody wanna speak? This is public comment portion of the meeting. Going once. Going twice. Okay, public comment is closed for the meeting at this point. We're going to get back to the meeting. You will also have a chance to speak at the agenda items about those particular agenda items when we get there. Okay, also. That being said, Councilperson Irvine wanted to jump right in there.

just before the mayor gets into answering some of the questions everybody asked I just wanted to put 30 seconds worth of my two cents in real quick so I have been saying for several years now that there is a tsunami of money coming into Miami and if the council is not prepared to say no to people who have never heard the word no before then we are in trouble I have been saying that for years Newman's not the first he's not gonna be the last and so I just want the residents to know that The point is well taken, at least from this seat, that a need to understand how to say no to people who've never heard the word no before is a requirement, most likely to be sitting up here, I would say. In addition to that, I have also been saying, or at least warning, that multiple urban cores throughout North America are eliminating single-resident zoning. This is not hyperbole. I'm just telling you that multiple urban cores throughout North America... Some of them have already done it, others are talking about it, but the discussion of density and the need for density and the need to eliminate single family resident zoning is an everyday discussion, especially in developer class. So, I believe that if El Portal is to preserve its value as well as its character over the next few years, that some teeth are gonna need to be put into coding and ordinance that we do not presently have. I will just say that. So, I'll leave it at that.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that, Councilperson Urban. Are we all commenting now on? Yeah, I was gonna let you guys comment first. I usually answer the questions first. I was gonna let you guys go ahead first.

No worries. So I'll do my quick take on it first of all. This is the democratic process and it's a beautiful thing. The fact that you guys have all seen fit to gather your thoughts, gather your comments from your, neighbors do your research and come up here and share with us your thoughts and your perspective I do not take it for granted I think it's a beautiful thing and one of the main reasons why I've chosen to give my time in this way so I don't want anybody in the audience to think that you come up to this mic you kind of say what you got to say we nod and we don't take it to heart because I'm sure we all take copious notes I know I take very detailed notes about what you guys think every time you come up here whether or not the Raider Church issue or Soulful is on the agenda or not the time that you spend at that podium is valuable to me and I hope you understand from your seat that it's a really really valuable use of your time so I love the participation and I'm hearing everything that you are saying my reluctance to at any meeting sit and state exactly what i'm going to vote at a time in the future is because that is just how i do things i i am analytical i like to think about the issue that is in front of me with all of the information that is given to me it's going to be difficult for me to make a decision now about information that i do not have but i stand by the comments that i've said in previous meetings and if you wanted to Check out some of the videos, it has stayed the same. I have not met with any of the developers because I don't think that I should meet with them before the city manager meets with them, before there is some sort of concerted collective action or agreement as to what our terms are. What does a win look like for the residents of El Portal? But I do want to assure you that anything that comes before me has to come correct. I understand the magic of El Portal. I live it, my children live it. I understand the traffic issues that one of the young ladies that spoke earlier was talking about because I was caught in the same traffic wondering what is happening. So, we are all in this together, and though we sit on this dais, I very much am a resident of El Portal, so whatever comes before me, whatever comes through this seat is essentially coming through us. I take your comments to heart. I take our conversations very seriously. I take my seat very seriously in this position, and I do understand. that El Portal is this magical place that we have to preserve no matter what. And development is inevitable, but the correct development is necessary. And when I'm thinking about correctness, I'm thinking of all of the minute points or the big points that you guys have decided to share with me either publicly at the podium or privately. So I do want to reassure you that I am taking your thoughts into consideration. For me, I never sit and say this is exactly what I'm going to do because I just don't think that that's the way it works. I think you sit in that meeting, you listen to the things. This is nothing personal. I do not know Adam Newman. This is about whether or not this project is suitable for this community based on all of the objective criteria that we go through when we look at the appropriateness of a development for a community of this size, in this location, with this demographic, all of those things. So the facts will guide the decision. I hear your comments on the facts, and I will consider them and I hope that you trust me in my analytical process to be fair to you and your desires. So that's where I stand in. Thank you for your comments.

Thank you very much, Madam Vice Mayor, counselors.

Thank you everyone who came out tonight and spoke. I want to acknowledge that there were a lot of concerns raised, particularly around safety, traffic, the future of Village. Those are valid things for residents to care about, and I care about them as well. I do want to clarify one important point. The school has been referenced repeatedly tonight, but it's not on the agenda. Tonight, we are speaking about different things, and it's not there. So with respect to safety, I take it very seriously, and I was actually personally involved in an accident last week where I was hit by a car on my scooter. And I understand that it was only a few blocks from El Portal on the 2nd. It's very important to take safety seriously. I have the bruising on my ribs to prove it. But this is not... This is... I understand firsthand, but that's exactly why we need to make sure that addressing the issues through proper planning, data and coordination and not assumptions. As for comments about communication, it's not only appropriate but necessary for council members to speak with residents, stakeholders and applicants. That's part of the understanding of the issue fully. What matters is that any decisions are all to be made here on the record in compliance with the law. I do want to say this. There's been a lot of talk about division, and I agree that unity is important. It's the only way to get through all this. But unity doesn't come from shutting down conversations or drawing lines between people. It comes from making informed, lawful decisions that serve the entire village. So when items come before us, we will evaluate them carefully based on facts, not fear, and make the decisions the best we can for El Portal. So at this point, Mr. Geller, I wanted to note on the recent state legislation that got passed last Monday, Senate Bill 182 was something that we've talked about a few times, but it was signed into a law last Monday, and it does affect the village, it affects the school coming into the village, and it affects the, it makes, let me have the attorney explain SB 182 and how it's going to impact us.

You know, there are some provisions that probably are applicable to us, but understand Senate Bill 182 is what in Tallahassee they call a train. Because not everything gets through. Most bills fail. And when there's one that has something in it that people are confident they're going to pass, they amend all their unrelated stuff onto it because that's a bill that's likely to get through. So just... you know we can talk in some specifics but understand that senate bill 182 covers i mean it's a grab bag there's a big provision that has a lot a lot of the space in the bill that deals with teacher mentoring establishing the school teacher training and mentoring program in the Department of Education, and there's just a lot of different provisions. That's really, I think, what the heart of the bill was that everything else got tacked onto about a small stipend for teacher mentors. I'm not gonna spend much time on it because I don't think that's what most people hear, but in my other capacity that I serve in, that's a big deal for me. This bill actually requires, it's one of the, well, I'll save the editorial comment, patriotic displays in public schools, and it said subject to appropriation, as if that's not a burning problem in our schools, that every public school has to have pictures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln displayed in a conspicuous place. The bill also requires, and this is something some people feel very strongly about, that students in our public schools be instructed in cursive writing, which has fallen by the wayside. My daughter, who just graduated high school last June, did not have instruction ever in cursive writing. She can't read it, she can't write it, and I think that's a disadvantage. That's in this bill. There's a provision about Florida tax credit scholarships, so-called vouchers, that says if a student's account is closed, the funds remaining in it go back to the funding organization, not to the state. I mean, who pushed that?

I was specifically referring to 115.

I'm getting there, Councilman. There is a provision on charter school academic dismissal restrictions that have corrective action plans. I presume that you and maybe a lot of the people in the audience are more interested in private school facilities and land use, which is another provision here. And it allows private schools, flexibility in zoning land use and believe it or not compliance with fire prevention codes as if flexibility in dealing with fire prevention is if you'll pardon the expression a burning issue this bill requires, it provides any private school that enrolls 150 or less students or located within an unincorporated area of a county is exempt from rezoning, special exception, or land use change if it's in a commercial or mixed use zoning district. That's another example. It's not exactly live local, but I will editorialize. I got there in 2014, served eight years. This legislature has been hell bent on destroying home rule in this state because they think they're the only ones who know. I used to try to tell them when I was in the house that if they thought they got smarter when they walked in that capitol building, they were gravely mistaken and that local government officials like you guys have just as much knowledge, just as much expertise and are much closer to hearing what the public does and doesn't want But that's not what they've done. That's why they have live local. That's why they have this provision specifically, I mean, exempt from rezoning, special exception, or any land use change. It also, get this one, preempts local mitigation requirements, conditions, performance standards, ordinances, rules, codes, or policies for those schools. Now it says 150 or less, and we're gonna take bets about whether they raise that number next year, now that they've got it on the books, because I ain't taking that action. Except that a county or municipality may require mitigation measures necessary, here's something for you to hold onto. To address vehicular traffic, and pedestrian safety if it's directly attributable to the operation of the private school. So there's something that the citizens have been talking about tonight. But it authorizes a private school to submit a traffic study demonstrating the school will not have a disproportionate traffic impact. Anybody who's ever received one of those traffic studies knows that they're always accurate, they're always impartial, and they never lean in any particular direction, not even including the people who pay them to create the study. So I'm glad to stand up for their integrity. And finally, it authorizes a private school enrolling 150 or fewer students to operate in certain existing facilities and meet the Florida Fire Prevention Code for that occupancy classification. But they can do that through an alternative fire safety evaluation adopted by the state fire marshal. And let me say I have a lot of confidence in our Dade County, Miami Dade County Fire Department a little less so frankly, in what might be done by the state fire marshal. So this bill by itself has some limitations. I predict some of those will be gone in a year. But even what it does is disrespectful of local government. And I can only say to the citizens who've spoken tonight, and at other meetings, And I say this with deep respect for everyone that's here and how you feel and this is your village and you live here and you want it to be the place you moved into. reach out to state legislators, because these laws are not passed by the people who sit at your dais that you see. They're passed far away in Tallahassee, and they get away with it. Write them, email them, call them, and tell them how you feel, and tell them that you only have one representative that represents you here you only have one senator that represents you here but you know some of the others are a little sensitive to getting a lot of mail and a lot of phone calls if you can get up there because home rule the kind of government that you want for your village so you can make the decisions with the people you represent has been under assault for 10 years and it gets worse every single year. We need to editorialize one last time. We need a change in who runs things up in Tallahassee. Is it a bill or a law? A bill is introduced. If it passes both houses and gets signed by the governor, then it's a law. But it hasn't passed. This one passed.

It was signed a law last week.

It was signed, as the councilman said, Monday the governor signed it. Not a shock. Yeah, listen, it changes certain statutes, so from now on, it's not really a bill anymore. That's what passed. It has specific statutory references in it, but let me tell you, this one's done, but there's a whole new wave coming in the next session, I guarantee you, and the people who are running things in Tallahassee are not thinking about you. they're thinking about who pays the bills for them. So let them know how you feel because we need a change in the way it's run because if they're handcuffed by the law and the governor, This governor is known for removing people from office if they cross him and don't do what he thinks the law ought to be, not necessarily even what's been adopted. He finds creative ways. So I have to say to you, in all honesty, your hands are tied on a lot of this stuff. When Live Local says you have to do it, I mean look, There were big cheers in Bell Harbor when they voted not to do it. When they get sued by a Deep Pockets developer, a little town like that, they got a lot greater taxation than this town does. They have incredibly expensive property over there that pays lots and lots of money into the coffers of that little city. But if they lose that case, even Bow Harbor could be bankrupted. This city has financial challenges ready and defending against a deep pocket. I mean, the problem is that the law and the judges who've been appointed don't necessarily see things your way. We have to. ultimately find a way to change those laws because we're stuck with them until we do. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound cynical or defeatist, but this is the reality of what's passed, and it's not just this one, and it's not just live local. It's 10 years of of maybe 12 of putting cities and counties and school boards on the defensive. That's a fact.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Geller. If you didn't know, he also spoke last council meeting about the same law, but at that time it was just a bill that had been waiting for the governor's signature, which now happened. After all this, I want everyone to understand that whether you're for the school or against the school, this now basically allows them, in a mixed-use area, to put a school with 150 kids or less, circumventing council, circumventing development agreement. Basically, we have no say in it. It's very problematic. Well, there's certain ways that we're going to have to figure out. With new laws, we're going to have to figure out a lot of ways to try and save and protect Alport Tower.

There may be other angles that can be pushed. This law, it says it preempts a bunch of stuff, and that may be upheld. But, you know, we have environmental laws, too, and I would like to believe— that the interpretation of this does not say every environmental law on the books is now null and void, but that will be in the hands of judges.

So basically, we need to understand this reality and work towards what is the best outcome for El Portal. And knowing that this is a new law, we always have to work with new laws and we have to understand how they're going to affect us. They said 150. So actually... Please don't yell from the audience. I will address that. So something that Mr. Geller said earlier was that laws are actually changed quite often or amended later on, which right now they might start at 150, but they might increase that at some point. And that is something that we also have to worry about as well. So I hope everyone understands we're trying our best to understand this new law and or try and implement its actual fire code and other portions of it to try and do what's best for El Portal. So that was my two cents. Did I miss anything, Mr. Geller? Did I miss anything?

There's a lot out there, Councilman. Nobody catches it all all the time. I thought your discussion was thorough, but there's always other stuff.

All right, thank you so much. All right, you guys. Just to kind of quickly wrap that up. So this bill, Senate Bill 182, it's passed the House, it's passed the Senate. It now... It's due to kick in July 1st, okay? It's due to kick in July 1st. So the way, so Florida, and you know, this is kind of going back to civics class for me and things like that, but there's certain states that operate differently, right? So Florida's one of these states where when there's a law that's already passed, any amendment or adjustment to it, it doesn't necessarily have to be signed by the governor, right? So the governor, so whenever these amendments or adjustments are made and it passes through the House and through the Senate, these amendments or adjustments, they have a date where they take effect, let's say. The governor can veto those bills or veto those amendments or those adjustments before the date of effectiveness or whatever, before the date that it takes effect. But the governor doesn't have to necessarily sign it into law. in Florida. The governor can just leave it alone. Look at Geller's head. He was a state rep for a while. The governor can leave it alone and just kind of be ambiguous about it, and it will kick in at whatever the kick-in date is. So Governor DeSantis, I believe he signed this into law. But even if he didn't, it would still kick in on July 1 if he didn't veto it. And so not every state is like that, but Florida's just one of those states that's like that, or whatever. That being said, so, you know, I think that we just need to do whatever we can do, and there's things that's gonna happen. Like I said, I have a town hall that should be coming up, I believe it's the second or third week in May, about Live Local and things like that. I have some people flying down from Tallahassee about that, just kind of explaining what it's all about. This one right here, it says in it that private schools could use or buy buildings like churches, museums, theaters, colleges, or former schools or daycare centers without needing rezoning or special land approval from committees or councils or commissions. It said they could also build new facilities on these properties or on this land where churches, museums, theaters, colleges, or former schools once stood, or on land owned by the Florida College System schools and state universities without any zoning changes. So schools with 150 students or fewer could operate in a commercial or mixed use zone and in non-traditional buildings. as long as they meet fire safety standards and similar checks, which is basically like general information. Like if you open a business, you have to meet fire safety standards. So that's any building you have to go through the county for that. So with that being said, they may feel that, you know, they're coming, they may feel that they have a large upper hand right now, which I believe even makes even, you know, It's even more alarming and it's even more important that when you all were saying that we really have to come together to be a united front because any type of separation and any type of division is going to really allow them to try to bypass us in every way possible and they're counting on the state of Florida as their backup to be able to come down here and do what they want to do. Okay, just showing the importance, like I said, have somebody, have one or two people, definitely one, we're trying to see if we can get the other one coming down from Tallahassee, and they're going to do like a workshop to talk about Live Local, and exactly, you know, for this particular project, what can, what can't, what are our rights, and things like that, because there are certain things like parking, you know, restrictions or approvals, and traffic and things like that, that we can use on our side. Okay, just kind of wanted to put that out. As far as what was asked before, Mr. Gomez, you asked where do we stand. I had in my notes SB 182, so I was gonna explain that. And kind of what I said last week, I know that sometimes you guys, because I answer the questions at the end of Good and Welfare, sometimes people aren't here to hear it, so that's understandable, but I can only speak for myself. Where I stand is the same place I've stood, which is, My questions are kind of two into one, and it's traffic and quality of life, right? And so for me, traffic and quality of life are my two main reasons, right, that we're a serene and tranquil residential community. And for the location of the church, I just feel that the traffic aspect and the quality of life aspect is what kind of like brings me down on the church. And I said from the very beginning If I get an answer to the traffic situation and how it would affect our quality of life, then I would start to move that pendulum, but I don't see, I've never gotten any answer or any solution for that. I remember, you know, there was one point in time where early, you know, when we all kind of started to get the site plan and things like that, I told them, I believe it might have been after the first time we tabled the item at the first, it was either the first planning zone or after the first town hall, when they were cleaning up the food and stuff like that. And I said to them, I said, look you guys, I said, why don't you all purchase the property that is on the east side, south, on Northeast 2nd, south of 86th Street. I said that property where if you guys go over there, there's the hair, there's like the hair, the beauty shop, and then there's like, I believe like a little restaurant or cafe or something like that. Right behind those, if you guys walk over there, right behind those, there are like two-story or three-story apartments or something like that, or whatever. Those are almost empty. There's nothing really over there, you guys. The shops are, you know, the shops are up and running, but the apartments that are right behind there, they're pretty much empty. And this is just an example. And I said that, you know, you need to look at other just aspects. I even said, you guys, I said to them, I said, there is that property where if you're going south or northeast second and you make that right when you're going towards the Little River Post Office, on when you're getting to a little river post office on the left side there's there's that whole area on the right side it's like abandoned or something like that i was like you guys could you know buy that property and put a parking um a parking garage there you know and then you guys can take a shuttle and shuttle your people in so there's no traffic coming into upper town So anyway, that's just the traffic aspect. But under quality of life does lie traffic, but I think quality of life, there's so many other things that's a part of that. And those are my two hold-ups when it comes to the property, which is traffic and quality of life. And for that reason, I've always been in the same position when it comes to that. When we're talking about the code, Mr. Gomez, yeah, so we've been looking into that also. I actually have a meeting next week just about, with the building department and with Tallahassee also. and just looking at just code overall. Councilperson Winters is the Chair of Code Enforcement, so he might have some more to say about that. When it comes to the next P&Z meeting, Ms. Gomez, the next P&Z meeting in May, but we're waiting on, Clerk Jacoby could tell you, Clerk Jacoby last week, her and I were, her and I and the Zoning Department were trying to reach out to the developer because we're trying to get If they're having adjustments, we haven't seen any adjustments, right? So after the town halls and things like that, people said to them, hey, we're not comfortable with this, this, this, this, and that. They have to resubmit or amend their site plan with those changes. They haven't done anything. They haven't resubmitted any plans. They haven't amended or resubmitted anything. So until they resubmit plans, then there's really no new site plan to meet on. Now, we can't force them to meet. This is not like a court of law where they say, this is your date to show up. If you don't show up on this date, it's not like that. They have to tell us, hey, we're ready to meet. Now, they can come back with the same site plan. We'll vote no. Certain people will vote no or whatever. I can only speak for myself. They can come back with the same site plan, but they have to tell us that. we reached out to them madam clerk did we not right last week and zoni hasn't heard from them and nobody we reached out to them and they won't return and so the next planning is only meeting we want to have it i just don't know when it would be i'm thinking may because we have a couple other things that's that's that's coming up um and i usually try to put everything on one meeting if i possibly can so once those are finished I will schedule a planning and zoning meeting and we'll continue to reach out to them. But they have to at least respond to us and say, we're ready to go use the same site plan or here are our adjustments or whatever. Just think about it like this. You as a resident, if you wanted to do a project to your home, you tell us when you're ready for it to be presented. Oh no, Mayor, we'll be out of the country next month, can you put us on the agenda the month after or whatever. So we're still waiting, we've been reaching out to them, we're still waiting to hear from them whether they want us to put back on the same site plan or if they have any adjustments or any amendments to the site plan. And so as soon as we get that, I'll let you guys know and they'll be on the agenda and we'll let you guys know at least a couple weeks in advance. I'll let you guys know early for that. Mr. Omona, yes, we did hear, before you came in, they spoke about the taxes and how they haven't paid the taxes. So we did hear about that, but thank you very much for also letting us know about that. As far as questions, that's all I can have done. Mr. Pace, we did hear you about the comp plan. We think that would be important to kinda know their overall idea of what they wanna do. That's as far as questions you guys that I have. If I missed any, let me know, you all. We good? Anybody else from the council have any other questions or comments before we move to the resolution?

Just one final comment on all this. One of the residents who spoke, I agreed with almost everything she said except for one item, and that was the idea that we should be a unified body up here. When I came onto this council, I was relieved and encouraged to find out, oh, okay, I am an individual in this seat, and there are five of us up here, and I firmly believe that you need five individuals sitting up here to be able to get to a consensus that works for everyone. The very last thing that this village would ever need, and we've been through this before, is a voting block. You put a voting block of any kind whatsoever on this council, three people, all it takes is three people. A voting block will result immediately in a hierarchy where you will have one person who will tell the other two what to do, and there will be nothing anybody can do to stop them. You do not ever want a voting block, even if they all three agree with you on everything on this council. It will be the end of this community.

Thank you very much, Councilperson Erbom. All right, you guys, let's move on. Move on to consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve consent agenda?

So moved.

Moved by Councilperson Erbom. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Vice Mayor Martin. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Moving on to the resolutions. This resolution right here, I wanted to adjust a word or two, but go ahead and read into the record, Attorney Geller.

Yes, sir. Resolution H1. about an independent tree arborist. A resolution of the Village Council of the Village of El Portal, Florida, establishing a requirement for independent arborist reports for the removal of certain trees, providing that any arborist report required for tree removal must be prepared by a company or organization that is not financially compensated for the removal of said tree. Providing for transparency, objectivity, and environmental protection, acknowledging the recommendation of the Architectural Landscape and Environmental Mayoral Advisory Board, providing for implementation, providing for incorporation of recitals, and providing for an effective date.

All right. So the reason why this came up, you guys, is because, so just being here for, you know, as long as I have, and this was something that I used to, I brought up a couple of times. So we have situations in El Portal where, and you guys know we have these large oak trees and things like that. We have situations in El Portal where there will be times that there will need to be a tree that needs to be removed, a large oak tree, very big, very large, been here for a number of years and things like that. As of today and up until all the way to today, the way we do it is, El Pratau, we will hire an arborist, right? So these large trees and, you know, there's a lot of trees, takes an arborist report to remove it. The arborist is from the same company that cuts the tree down. And I've always thought that was an issue because, especially when you get to these large oak trees, right? These large trees are like $30,000, you know, $25,000, $40,000 sometimes to cut it down. They chop it up and all that type of stuff. And it costs a lot of money. And to me, it just seems like almost a conflict of interest, or a conflict of interest where the individuals that are saying that the tree is no good, or the tree is sick, or the tree should be cut down, they have a financial connection of a payout of tens of thousands of dollars to say the tree is sick. We don't know. So if they say, oh, we're going to do an arborist report also, yeah, the tree is sick. It's going to fall any day. We don't know to say, well, that's not true. I'm not an arborist. So I just think a way to kind of make things right is to have another level of us looking at it. And the way to do that, I feel, is to have the arborist not be connected financially to the company that's gonna be cutting down the tree. So whoever you get to hire to cut down the tree, the arborist doesn't come from the same company. Now, that being said, I wanna make sure that, I think this is what I kinda wanna do and why I wanna maybe change a couple of words, because I wanna make sure that for our residents, we're dotting all of our I's, crossing all of our T's, and we're not putting something out there that will harm the resident in any way. So I wanna go over that aspect first with the Architectural Landscape and Environmental Railroad Board. So for this one, I do want to have something in place because it happens too often where the government of El Portal removes trees, and the government of El Portal chooses arborists that come from the tree removal company. And I just don't think that's right. So for what you read in the beginning, Attorney Geller, a resolution of the Village of El Patel, of the Village of El Patel, Florida, or the Village Council of the Village of El Patel, Florida, establishing a requirement for independent arborist reports for the governmental removal of trees needing an arborist report. So we'll just change that little part up right there. And so this right here. We'll get that done for you, man. Yeah, thank you very much. So this right here, we'll immediately put in place to where we don't have that conflict of interest and we'll go on to protect more of our trees because El Portal a lot of times is tasked, especially like in the swell and things like that, with tree removal. Okay, so that's kind of what this is all about. I'll open it up to the council before I open it up to the public.

Any idea of what the fiscal impact will be? I'm not an arborist either, I have no idea. How much would it cost, if anything, to have those independent reports?

It would not cost anything because if a tree needs to be removed with an arborist report, great question, Madam Vice Mayor, um with the arborist report they already have to get an arborist report so the only thing that i'm saying is the arborist report cannot come from the same company as the company cutting down the tree but you have to get we have to get our report regardless so it's no extra cost we still have to pay for the arborist report as if if this didn't go into effect we would still have to pay for an arborist report it would just come from the same company of the tree company the company cutting down the tree that's the only difference so then a follow-up question for you just to make sure i'm thinking about it correctly

you can get the arborist report from an organization or a company that is not the tree removal company and that tree removal company based on that outside arborist report will go ahead and execute the removal absolutely thank you very much thank you yes uh

Yes, so the, the changes there are very helpful, and take care of most of my concerns. And in the spirit of just transparency, I guess I would say that the tree board is looking to, to advance a, a tree ordinance similar to this. But but fairly comprehensive for guiding all residents on the removal of of trees so I know that there's a a similar effort from the same board that produced this and so I just the residents should know that there is a kind of a comprehensive tree ordinance that is That is in the works and coming into a focus from two different committees. So this is an excellent start, I think. And in addition to that, the tree board also is trying to advance an idea and look at a solution for having a line item in the budget for an El Portal arborist. that in theory in the future would even be available for residents to be able to have some assistance with if a resident's trying to figure out why a fruit tree's not fruiting or concerned about losing a tree, these types of things, that we might have a resource available to residents in the future So this is kind of a great first step, honestly, towards really putting our money where our mouth is as far as Tree City USA and maintaining our canopy and the ecosystem that thrives underneath the canopy as well.

Thank you very much, Council President Winters. I very much appreciate the change to the resolution. For those of you who don't know, I've been looking into this. I believe in the good intentions of it, and I want to do everything I can to see the trees, Our building department does not issue permits for moving trees. That's Miami-Dade government in Durham. Just like we do not issue permits for demolition of buildings. This is outside of our scope and for us to create a law that forces all the residents and citizens to follow that has to be implemented by the county instead of us is very difficult for our little government. This new verbiage really does actually make it easier and protects, I think it protects our little village, especially our budget and our trees. Thank you.

Thank you very much. From the audience, you guys can come up and talk about this particular item if you want to. Anybody, first and last name, address?

Merlin Brooks, 400 Northeast 90th Street. I'm here to get a clear understanding of what's going on with these trees. This tree, I saw it growing. No one that I know of planted it. However, the tree is between both my house and the neighbor. The area on the east side is closer to each other than on the west side. I saw it growing and I spoke to the neighbor and the only thing he said he didn't plant it. Probably he didn't, I know I didn't. I have no trees planted near to my house because I know tree leaves damages your roof. However, this tree has grown all the way up there now to the point it rests on my bedroom ceiling, roof. I've paid $300 two different times to cut the roof, the tree. It affects the gutters that I placed around my home because the gutter gets full with the leaves. and the water reverses to my house. I've spoken about it several times. I'm here to get a clear understanding of what's happening because I am sure the roof, the root of that house, that tree is under my house. And I want you all to know it won't be too nice if that root comes up in my house. I want a clear understanding of where you all stand with it because I am going to take, you know, it's not fair to me to have to be cutting something I didn't plant. That's bad enough. I played to put gutters around my house. I had to take it down. And now it's the root. I'm sure it's under my house already. I want you all to know it won't be nice. I also noticed two weeks ago, I'm seeing termites now. So I'm here to speak to you all about it. I won't hear we didn't know about it. Please tell me what you all are about to do, if anything, so that I will know what I need to do. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Anyone else good in welfare about this particular item?

No?

We're good? Okay. All right. We're closing. No, we're... What topic do you want to talk about?

Come on.

Come on. Elida, 12 Northeast 90th Street. So I wanted to follow up on the law that you mentioned, the council mentioned, SB 182. I didn't want to speak from the chair. The reason is because obviously we want to be very cordial, very respectful, but it's the second time. So we are now like January, February, March, April, and we have discussed no zero issues. So it's the second time that he actually throws into the community the law SB 182. And my understanding is, why are you asking the same question again? You asked it in the last meeting, so why are you asking it again? But what I would like to say through that is that you're explaining the law SB 182, but you are actually not... It's almost like you are wanting to imply to the citizens that this law will be applied into our village, right? And then the next one, the mayor actually added the second part. This is regarding to an existing building. The attorney said the same thing. It has to be an existing building. There's no building. The building has been demolished. So if you ask the attorney for the second time to give to the majority of the residents being here tonight to explain the law 182, which I'm not, and I'm not understanding why you're so obsessed with it, instead of being more focused on like how to find solutions and actually mitigate this problem that is coming to our village. This is not an issue blocking the school. This is an issue actually understanding that a 350 student school will be the suicidal of this village. My street already has that impact with no school. So that's what we are talking about. But I never heard you, even the last time, I never heard you discussing our needs. I know your house is very well suited in a corner, there's no traffic, there's no nothing. But our houses are exposed to this traffic that is incoming. That's where we're coming from. So for you to come and ask again the law SB 182 for an existing building when there's no building there. So I don't understand the purpose. So I would appreciate it if the council member goes, gives more knowledge onto something, what can be done to mitigate this instead of scaring everyone, like sitting there. It's the second time that this happened. And also, if the attorney can emphasize this, it's an existing building or not, how does he apply that there's no building in that lot any longer?

Thank you very much. Thank you, I appreciate it.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it. wanted to add the reason that we asked the question and then the answers are given an hour later it makes it very hard to have a conversation and maybe the meeting would have gone a little bit more I mean we have we have suggested that before and I understand and now it's going to be even harder to to keep or three hours of questions, and then we do not get, again, this is gonna be the fourth month that we do not have the straightforward opinion of one of the council members. So thank you, I appreciate it.

I understand, I understand. So this is what I'll do, I'll let him answer during my mayor's report. You guys have to understand also that, right, and I feel you guys, and I don't disagree with you, but there are policies and procedures with the meeting, right? There's a meeting procedure. And so we have to do public comment and then close public comment and then that's when I try to give you guys the answers. What I'll do since we are on this resolution, during my mayor's report section, I'll allow you guys to, I'll allow Councilperson Winters at that time, you can respond, all right? Okay, so getting back to this, is there any other questions or comments about this particular resolution about the arborists?

I just want to offer just a little more clarity that what we're discussing tonight, I know Ms. Brooks was wanting to know exactly what it is we're talking about tonight, and tonight what we're talking about are trees that the village of El Portal would be removing, think swales, basically. It could be from other places, but what's happening tonight is that any tree that the the the government of el portal is going to remove they cannot use the same arborists that also represents a company that would be getting money for saying oh we need to cut it down um that is exactly what we're talking about tonight and nothing beyond that there are other things we're talking about beyond that but that is all future tonight we're talking about el portal uh and the trees that they would cut down the the government of el portal would cut down okay

All right, any other questions or comments about this particular resolution? Hearing, seeing none. Madam Clerk, do I have a motion to approve?

I was gonna say, Madam Clerk, do I have a motion to approve? So moved, I'll move to approve.

Councilperson Urban, do I have a second? Second. Councilperson, was it Wintersford? Yeah, Wintersford. I'll defer to the title. Vice Mayor Martin for the second. Madam Clerk, may I please have a roll call, please?

Roll call. Councilperson Winters. Yes. Councilperson Erbom.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Mayor Nickerson. Yes. Motion passes four to nine.

Thank you very much, you guys. The next resolution, Attorney Gill, if you would go into the record.

Yes, sir. Resolution H2, El Portal Little Peacock Park. A resolution of the Village Council of the Village of El Portal, Florida, officially naming the El Portal top lot as the El Portal Little Peacock Park. Providing for implementation and providing for an effective date.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that. So this right here, you guys, this resolution I put together. All right, so when we were redoing the El Pratel Tot Lot, the Tot Lot was never officially named. So I was going through the paperwork, going through everything, so there is no official El Pratel Tot Lot. As a matter of fact, if you were to Google El Pratel Tot Lot, Google that, and you'll see what pops up is the Miami Shores Park, Miami Shores Tot Lot. So I don't know if our predecessors just decided to just casually call it the Tot Lot and things like that, but I kind of ran into this problem when we were redoing the quote unquote Tot Lot because that wasn't the official name. So I believe that this park, not only because it was redone and it's beautiful, but I believe that in the element of El Portal, I believe this park should have a name. and it should have a name that signifies and dignifies El Portal. Once the Elbertile Park was redone, first of all, there was an individual. Now, I'm going to have Mr. David come on up for a second. Come on up for a second. Come up for a second. I know you're shy. Come up for a second. Come up for a second. Come up. Come over here. Come over here for a second. And so you guys know it's been such a popular park. It's a beautiful park, beautifully redone. And so... His son is not here today, because it's kind of late. But tell everybody, when you guys first approached me, what your son calls a park.

I really appreciate the park. I hate you for this. When we started going there, even before the remodel, just because the peacocks lived there, a bunch of kids called it the Peacock Park, right? So when they referred to our playground, they referred to it as the Peacock Park because you have the peacocks living right in front of there in the tree, they're always there, they're beautiful. So a bunch of little kids, that started with the son of my friends. And since then, my son has always called it that, the Peacock Park. And I kind of pitched in the idea to the major.

And what did I tell you when you said that? I said, you know what? What did I say? I said, we're going to make that happen.

Yes, yes. And I actually did not know it was going to happen tonight.

You didn't know it was going to happen tonight. It's funny you say that because I saw you walk in tonight. I was like, I didn't tell him that it was going to happen tonight, but maybe this is a great thing. So it's good to see you, man. Thank you. And shout out to your son. That's my homeboy. I love him to death. And him and his friends, they really know what they're talking about when they named it the Peacock Park.

That's true. And I'm going to take the opportunity to thank you guys for the great job you did. I mean, it's a huge difference for the kids. I have a five-year-old. We go as much as we can. He loves it. All the shade, everything, the plants. THE AMOUNT OF BUTTERFLIES WE GET NOW BECAUSE YOU DID A CONSCIOUS DECISION, YOU KNOW, AND THE ARBOR AND NATURE AND EVERYTHING. SO THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT TIME.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE. I APPRECIATE YOU, MY BROTHER. THANK YOU. COUNSELOR URBAN, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE PEACOCKS?

to let everybody know that the redesign and remodel of this park is truly the brainchild of Mayor Nickerson. And so Mayor Nickerson put this park together. And it is awesome. So he's being humble. you know spreading it out but understand that uh that the success of the remodel of this park is is fully credited to mayor niggerson so appreciate you council person i appreciate you um any other questions comments about the peacock park mean

I think it's super cute. And my little peacocks enjoy it as well. I have a six and a seven year old that have been going there forever and they love the peacocks. They're also really into the trains, so I think the manager might be looking into whether or not we can activate the space in that way. But it is a great name and it is an excellent space. I do hear from, not to be a Debbie Downer, but I do hear from residents that it's so popular sometimes that our, yes, our residents of El Portal feel a little bit boxed out by our neighbors in Miami Shore. So maybe we need to engage in a conversation about how we control the use and make sure our residents have a benefit when it comes to reserving the space for birthday parties and also usage. So maybe we could just think around what that looks like so we can have a formalized policy. Because it is the hottest tot lot in the area, I can confirm. The kids love it.

I appreciate that, Madam Vice Mayor. And to your point, I know that not to start a battle with Miami Shores, but I have been, I think somebody else has also been reaching out to Miami Shores. And I've had two meetings with them. My next one, I'm going to include some residents in a Zoom meeting about getting into their water park. And I'm like, you guys always come to our park, but you don't allow us in your water park. And we're getting into the summertime, and it's just not fair. You know, you cut off your streets a long time ago, so now we get most of the traffic, right? You come to our park all the time, but we can't go to your water park. And so, you know, if somebody from Miami Shores is watching this right now, I don't mean to start a fight with you guys, but I've had meetings with... three of their current council members. I tried to do this years ago also, and I remember the night they took the vote, this was when Mayor Crystal Wagger was on as the mayor, and the night they took the vote, it failed by one vote. And so I'm trying to do it again. And we're trying to do it again, I should say. And I think that's something that Miami Shores needs to really consider and be, as we talk about with developers coming in, Miami Shores needs to be a great neighbor. And I think that's something that is important.

If I may, I completely agree. And I think that this Peacock Park is a great bartering chip. And also, if historically, Miami Shores were to look into the nature of why this restriction even exists, I think it's time in 2026 to let that go and to explore a new way to share space with El Portal. Absolutely.

Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Council President Irvine. Council President Winters. So what will be the short abbreviation for when you want to call it out?

It's called a peacock park. What's wrong with that? It's Jordan. That's great.

It's great.

Peacock Park is good.

I will want to state that I've also spoken with Miami Shores about the water park, but also the parking situation that's developing because the Peacock Park is so, I know I'm saying it too early. It's still taught a lot, but it will be Peacock Park probably. But we have a lot of over parking and I think that the swale over in Miami Shores which has a Jonah parking sign would make a great little section to make little parking spaces for all the extra Miami Shores residents coming here and it's on Miami Shores property so maybe we can also work with them to see if they want to give us extra parking over there so their residents can come use our Peacock Park. That's good.

I'm gonna, through the clerk, you guys, I'll let her know what meeting of Miami Shore's I'm gonna go to their meeting, and doing their good and welfare, we'll get up and talk about all of this stuff, so if some of y'all want to join me, I'll let the clerk know, and then I'll put out a flyer of what meeting I'm gonna go. I don't know if it's gonna be next month or the month after for their meeting. I believe they have two meetings per month, so. They have one? I thought they have one early in the weekend. Something else. Oh, something else, okay. Thank you very much. Are there any questions or comments from the audience about the Peacock Park? Good? Come on up. Say your address, name and address for the record.

Merlin Brooks, 400 Northeast 90th Street. The people from Miami Shores are the ones that enjoy the park. We have streets that need to be fixed for the longest with all the potholes and the river on 90th Street as soon as it drizzles. I have been to this parking lot three different times. People from Miami Shores in their cars bring their kids to our park. Okay, so we're fixing all these things for people from Miami Shores and the things that needs to be done in our area is left undone. Thank you.

All right, thank you very much. Anybody else, questions or comments about the council? all right thank you very much appreciate that understand that the park was done completely 100 percent in those taxpayer dollars through um development agreement and through uh grant and so a lot of you guys uh probably know when you do get a grant and things like that it's for a particular purpose so you can't get a grant for a park and then use it on like a street it just doesn't work like that um so so those are those type of things all right and that's how that works i appreciate that any other questions or comments about the park Okay, hearing, seeing none. Do I have a motion to approve, oh, part, oh, no, excuse me. Do I have a motion to approve resolution H2? So moved. Thank you very much, Madam Vice Mayor. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you very much, Councilperson Winters.

Madam Clerk, may I please have a roll call, please?

Madam Vice Mayor motioned it, and Winters seconded it. Councilperson Winters seconded it. And I ask for a roll call, please.

Roll call. Councilperson Winters.

Yes.

Councilperson Erbom.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Mayor Nickerson. Yes. Motion passes four to none.

Thank you very much. Attorney, I mean, Mr. Manager, do you have anything to report or anything you want to say? Yes, sir.

Very briefly, I know that we... Yeah, in fact, I'm just going to say no report, Mayor. I need to get a pleading file, then I'll leave to the manager. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Vice Mayor. I have been reaching out to So for Brightline, to see if they will be interested. They have been doing a lot of promotion and marketing, and to see if they would want to come in and be a corporate sponsor for these changes that we are, and provide some funding as well for the benefit. I think that it would be a great idea to have these walls capture the essence of the now named The Little Peacock Park. So we could add some graphics to it and have some educational messages that the children can also enjoy and have it kind of reflect the the peacocks and the trains and all the things that happen. Because as you mentioned, I see the excitement of the children every time the train goes by. I think that this will be a really good combination of things that are happening naturally. So I think that this will be something that they may want to bite.

And not to cut you off, Mr. Manager, but we literally had the conversation about offering Brightline an opportunity to sponsor the space in this way. Right. Maybe last week, so the fact that you've already reached out to them, kudos to you, and I appreciate the immediate attention to that.

Thank you. Excuse me. I sent you a few weeks back an email concerning the Jaguar Parade. It's an initiative out of Brazil. They want to identify areas where they can place statues in such an environment, such as El Portal, where they can have these jaguars made out of ceramic that people can visit. They want to do this during the June and July month. I think it will be a great opportunity to add to whatever we do in celebration of our 4th of July, the 250th anniversary of becoming a nation. And I think, Mr. Mayor, you and the Mayor of Daniela Levine are working on these things. I'd like to be able to to tell these folks that we will be participating on this. There's no cost to the village. They will come in and we will take some pictures. I thought that the Sherwood Forest Park will be a great site for some of these placements, our village hall as well. The nature trailer may also be something that could participate in this kind of thing. You will see I got sent an email with a documentary, captured some of the pictures of the things of the children that it impacts. I want to reach out to Horace Mann Middle School before it's finished, so to see if their children would want to be participating in this initiative as well. That's basically the totality of my report. I hope that you can have a chance to see it and support this effort as part of what we're doing with the adding of the tree and just make the whole environmental case and take it beyond the village of .

Thank you very much. For my report, I'm gonna turn it over to Councilperson Winters in a second, just so he can respond to the question that was asked. But I just wanted to say, I've been thinking about different things, so to you guys' point, because I want to be able to kind of add to, and this is not what would go up, I'm gonna explain this in a second. I wanted to be able to kind of add to the, our official name. Now we're going to have, for the first time ever, that part where we have an official name. And so I was thinking of different signs and things like that. But this is what I want to do. Let me kind of run it past you guys. What I want to do is I want to, and not necessarily contest you guys, because I don't want anybody to be like a loser or a winner. But I want to have it to where, you know, in El Portal, we can have individuals kind of design what the park sign should be, because I think we should have a park sign that maybe goes on the front of the gate that's out there, you know, so it kind of, you know, it shows the sign there. And so I want to kind of have that also. I'm trying to figure out, you know, which way to do it, and you guys might give me ideas, just kind of think about it or whatever. But I want to figure out a way to then incorporate. So let's say we have the sign. Let's say somebody brings it. We vote up here. We'll bring it up here. We vote or whatever. And we vote on the sign that goes outside of the front gate. So that's our official sign that says that. But then what I also kind of want to do also is that on the other side of this wall right here, you have a huge blank space when you go to the park. And I want to have some type of mural or something there that kind of brings, because when I designed the park, I wanted to make it colorful, which is why I picked those four colors, yellow, blue, purple, and the key lime green, because I wanted the brightest colors that they had that were available. But that wall is so empty right there, and I want that wall to pop. And so, you know, maybe we can one day, you know, get a muralist in here or something like that and kind of look through that. But what I was thinking about, though, was in that mural, I wanted to somehow in that mural maybe incorporate all of the designs that we receive. You see what I mean? So that we have one individual that might kind of quote unquote win. I don't want people to be contested against each other. But one individual where we choose the actual sign to go up on the outside, but then a mural that might be like a big peacock or something, but then maybe has little incorporations, maybe about this large, of the small designs that were also entered. So they're also a part of it overall. so just something to kind of keep in mind but that's kind of like what i'm thinking about going moving forward you guys with that being said council person winters um you're in my mayor's report section and you can answer the question that was given um

So responding to the fact earlier about informing the public about SB 182, a law that directly impacts El Portal, I'm not sure why the resident doesn't want me as on the council to inform the public about this, but last month we told everyone in the public here that the bill was signed into law by the House and the Senate, and we were waiting for the governor to sign, And then again today, when we mentioned SB 182, we said that it has been signed as of Monday. So we gave two pieces of valuable information to you. One is that it was waiting for the governor, and one that has been signed. Now, the next part of that was about building on the property. As, I don't know where the attorney's gone to, last month he stated that they could build on that property using that law. And I believe the mayor, you read something earlier that has something to do with building on that property as well?

Let me see if I can bring it up. Go ahead and I'll find it.

That was it. I was gonna have both of you restate what was already stated.

I believe this is it. Private schools could use or buy buildings like churches, museums, theaters, colleges, and former schools or daycare centers without needing rezoning or special land use approval. They could also build new facilities on these properties where churches, museums, theaters, colleges, and former schools or daycare centers stood without needing rezoning or special land approval, or on land owned by Florida college system schools and state universities without needing a zoning change. Schools with 150 students or fewer could operate in commercial or mixed use zones and in non-traditional buildings as long as they meet fire safety standards and similar checks.

So as the mayor just read, they can build new facilities where churches once stood without needing rezoning. The whole purpose understanding is that we as El Portal residents need to protect ourselves. We need to also make sure that we do what is best for ourselves. and we need to figure out how to either work with this law or find some way to fight it, honestly, that makes this work for us. But there's very few, with the attorney not present right now, I can't say, there's very few options at the point. I think one was fire code, and I don't remember what the other one was, but this is something we all should work together for to figure out what is best for us. Thank you.

All right, thank you very much. I have nothing else on my report. You guys, my report is there. If you have, go ahead, go ahead, Council Member Zerba.

Just a final point. The residents should know though that they cannot build anything without a site plan approval. So the council is your firewall. They cannot approve their own site plan. So nobody's building anything anywhere in this village period bar none without a site plan approval. Now the question I think is what people are kind of like, figuring out is what recourse would a developer have to sue us successfully in the event that they disagree with the decision that the council makes. But understand, nobody builds anything in this village without a site plan approval from this council. If someone wants to remodel their home and more than 51% of the home will be affected, they must have a site plan approval from this council to begin the work. So I had grave concerns, honestly, when I saw the property over here. When they started demoing it, I was like, they told us they were going to preserve that structure. They said they only wanted two buildings, and here they are demoing the structure. But I... I held my tongue and I can see that it does seem that they're gonna preserve the structure, they're gonna remodel it, but they're not gonna be able to remodel it until they bring us, because my first thought was they didn't show us anything. Why are they starting to tear it down? And so I just want you guys to know nobody builds anything in this village without a site plan approval from this council.

Does that also include live local? Like if they want to do a live local plan, are they allowed to do that without a site plan approval or is it always with a site plan approval?

Nobody can just start building in this. It has to have a site plan approval. And so Live Local will guide whether or not Corradino Group recommends approval or not, but the end of the story is going to be you're not building anything unless you have a site plan approval. So they can make the argument that they are guaranteed a site plan approval based on law, and that's an argument they can make, but the reality is nobody's going to build anything without a site plan approval. Thank you.

Thank you guys, appreciate it. Everybody good? Okay. You guys can look at my report. If you have any questions, reach out to me. We have no attorney reports. Do I have a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Moved by Vice Mayor Martin. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Councilperson Winters. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay. Hearing none, the regular council meeting for Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 is adjourned at 9.20 p.m.