Virginia Key Beach Park Trust - Regular Meeting

Wow.

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust meeting for October 9th, 2025. I am your chair, Christine King, and we are here with my colleagues, Commissioner Rosado, Commissioner Gabella, Commissioner Pardo, Board Member Vince Brown, and our executive director, Ms. Athlea Edwards. We have a few items, three items on the agenda. Mr. City Attorney, would you please read the three items?

Sure. Thomas Fossler, Assistant City Attorney. The first item is a resolution of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust with attachments approving the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust meeting dates for the 2026 calendar year as set forth in Exhibit A. attached and incorporated, providing for an effective date. The second item is a resolution of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust with attachments approving and submitting the annual report for the fiscal year 2024-2025 pursuant to Section 2-890 of the Code of the City of Miami, Florida, as amended city code, and providing for an effective date. And the third item is a resolution of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, the trust, authorizing the executive director to negotiate and execute a memorandum of agreement, MOA, in a form acceptable to the general counsel between the city of Miami, Florida, the city, and the trust wherein the city will design and construct the Virginia Key Beach Museum project, project, and upon transfer of the project to the trust for operations and maintenance, provide additional funding to cover shortfalls in operational costs for a period of 10 fiscal years following said transfer in an amount not to exceed $1,700,000 and no cents. So just to repeat that, $1,700,000 per fiscal year further authorizing the Executive Director to negotiate and execute any modifications, amendments, and extensions all in forms acceptable to the General Counsel, as may be deemed necessary for said purpose in providing for an effective date.

Thank you. At this time, I will open the floor for public comment. Seeing none, public comment period is now closed. Gentlemen, may I have a motion to move Items 1, 2, and 3.

So moved. Can I just comment and use this opportunity, if I may?

Mm-hmm.

Okay. So, you know, this is a good thing, I think, that you guys are doing. I think it's long overdue. But how would you feel if I told you today that I have the inclination, if I had the inclination not voting for me, what would you think?

I don't know.

The reason I'm saying that is because I am waiting still for my Alapata CRA, which we passed here a while back. This is a message for the county. I hope they get the memo. I've been assured that the Alapata, and please indulge me for two minutes. I'm going to make it brief, but it's a platform that I have to make my case for my people in Alapata, which I think is also overdue, just like your people in this museum. I think that should have happened a long time ago. You know, and I'm all for it. But I say this because we went through tremendous, you know, strain here, Commissioner Paito, you and I, and the chairwoman, and you weren't here yet, Commissioner Rosado. Carollo was. He's not here now. But the point was, you know, with a lot of effort, it was passed. Okay? With a lot of effort, it was passed. And this gentleman here to my left, he kept his word on what the Omni CRA was going to do. He transferred the $2 million to us like it was. And then there was also supposed to be money coming from the Midtown CRA.

For five years.

For five years, yeah. And you kept your word, and I thank you for that, for being a gentleman. But the county is dragging their feet. The county is not forthcoming in this good faith effort. And I only mean well for my community. And I please urge the county, if you're listening, please get this done. I've been promised it's going to be done by the end of the year, okay? You know, and, you know, we're waiting, you know, we're waiting after a lot of due diligence and a lot of work here that this body did. And I thank you chairwoman for, because you voted with me. And so did commissioner, but you weren't here yet. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart, the people of Alapato, thank you from the bottom of their hearts, you know, but I use this occasion to, to see how you guys are getting a museum. You're gonna spend $1.7 million for the next, I believe, 10 years. That's what, about 17 mil, I calculate, which is good. And you guys are always, you're progressing. I'd like to do that for my community. I'd like to do that for Allapattah. I wish I was in these shoes that I can be already passing stuff like this. So I'm gonna vote for this. I wish you well, Madam Chair, in this museum and everything that goes with it. But please, I urge you to help me maybe draft a letter to the county, all commissioners, that we did this months back. Okay, we did everything that we're supposed to be doing, and they're sitting on it. For what reason? I have no idea. I have no idea. So I urge you to please help me. I'm going to write a letter, and I need your support, okay, to tell the county to stop dragging their feet and please get this done so we can have some progress in Allapattah. Thank you very much.

Thank you. We should do a resolution urging the county.

Yes, that's what I meant. We should do that.

Okay. Thank you, ma'am. So I have a motion. May I have a second?

Yes, second.

I have a motion and a second for items one, two, and three. All in favor?

Aye. Aye.

May I have a motion to pass the minutes as well?

So moved. Second.

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

Aye.

Our executive director has a report. Has everyone read the report, or do we need to have the report given to us?

We read it.

I read it. Okay, so that shall conclude. I'm so sorry, Chair.

Before we conclude, we have two absence waivers to hear.

I'm sorry, absence waivers.

We have absence waivers for Jones Peabody, April 10th and April, sorry, October 9th. She did phone in. She had some oral surgery. And then for Vincent Brown, July 10th.

Do we need a motion to accept those? Yes. So moved. So I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you.

And I would like to personally thank the chair for hosting the back business link up at the beach and for part on Vincent Brown for participating. So thank you, chair, for hosting that event at the park.

Thank you. That shall conclude the Virginia Beach Park Trust meeting for October 9th, 2025. I will see my colleagues October 23rd for our next commission meeting. Everyone have a wonderful day.

Thank you. Thank you.

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