City Council - Regular Meeting

So you should be here shortly.

Okay, thank you. Okay, so please stand for an invocation led by me. And so we ask this evening to be open to the opinions of residents. I want us to be reminded that we represent the residents of Miami Springs. We always have to keep them in mind with all of the decisions that we make up here. So please grant us that patience and wisdom to be able to listen and dissent in our opinions and come to the best decisions possible that we can find. Amen. OK. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You may be seated. Okay, so we move on to the order of business. Okay, so colleagues, a couple things that I'd like to propose. First, I'd like to propose moving 12A, which is under new business. It's a resolution on the ballot measure. I'd like to propose that we defer it so that we can discuss things further and have more briefings with the city planner, with the city attorney. I believe in the carpenter's adage of measure twice, cut once. I think that we'd all be best served by pushing it back just to next meeting. We will bring it up again then. How do you guys feel about deferring that item?

Chair, I agree. I agree. I think we need some more discussions.

Okay. Gentlemen? Okay. You guys are in favor? Okay.

I set a motion. I set a motion to defer.

Were there more items?

I'm sorry, yeah, no, I get it. But like all we need, we would approve the agenda after we've said everything. Thank you. So also, if you guys look at 13B, that is a discussion about parking. And I think we have some residents here that wanted to speak rather than have them speak in open forum when we're not talking about that. I figured we'd just bring it up and they could speak on that particular item. So we'd like to put 13B after open forum. And by that same token, 13A, which is the Boy Scouts, why leave them out of the fund? So we'll bring them up and that way we can get those things done. So we'll do 13A and then 13B right after open forum. We're deferring 12A. IS THERE ANYTHING ON THE CONSENT AGENDA THAT YOU GUYS WANT TO PULL FOR DISCUSSION?

NO?

NO. OKAY. SO THAT BEING SAID, I'D LIKE TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS STATED, DEFERRING 12A AND THEN MOVING 13A AND B AFTER OPEN FORUM.

IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE AGENDA? OKAY.

OKAY, WE HAVE A FIRST AND A SECOND. WE CAN DO THAT WITH A VOICE VOTE. ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE AGENDA, SAY AYE. AYE. ALL OPPOSED, SAY NO. Okay, so we move on from there to awards and presentations. So we've got 5A, Officer Lazaro Rodriguez couldn't make it and so we're going to do that at another time. So we have 5B, we're gonna recognize a Miami Springs resident, Jimena Alonso for starting the Acing Autism Program at the Miami Springs Tennis Courts. So Jimena, come on up. Speak into the mic, Amanda.

Hi, I'm Amanda Alonso. I am the starter and program director of Miami Springs of Asian Autism. So autism is a developmental disorder which affects how an individual communicates, interprets, and understands the world. Each individual is different and has to be accommodated in unique ways. Some challenges they may face are communicating, understanding social cues, and expressing their emotions. At Acing Autism, it's a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping kids learn how to play tennis, and there are many different programs in different states in the U.S. Here at Miami Springs, Acing Autism is primarily a student-run organization, and our volunteers are from majority students from either Doral Academy or AIHR school. From intros to stretching to swings, all steps of playing tennis are taught here at Facing Autism. Each session runs six weeks long. We meet every Saturday, try to be as consistent, as consecutive as possible, and each volunteer stays normally with the same participants, so they grow a bond and an understanding throughout the entire program. And by the end, the participant not only gains a new skill, but also a friend. Acing Autism gives participants the opportunity to participate in a sport that, like many, lack the opportunities, lack the accommodations necessary for them to thrive in. Here we focus on improving their hand-eye coordination as well as their teamwork. So here we, in ACE Autism, we not only focus on, we focus on the individual. Each participant is different and needs different accommodations. So it's necessary that we, that they gain the most from the program individually. So since starting Acing Autism and since the start of our newest session, both that just ended two Saturdays ago, we have had many returning and new families. Here, throughout the six weeks, they not only gain the ability to play tennis, but they also gain new social skills and a community. For this, this is Miami Springs donations. If you're interested, a donation can provide a scholarship or just one more hour can provide 10 more individuals the ability to join this program. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Jimena. We have a little recognition for you. Jimena, what school do you go to? Say it into the mic. Sorry, I didn't know you had walked away. What school are you from?

Doral Academy.

Okay, cool. And you live here in Miami Springs, that's why you did it here in our tennis courts? Yes. And how many kids have you had go through the program here in the Miami Springs tennis courts already so far? How many kids that are receiving the services, not including your volunteers?

Around 15 plus.

Okay, awesome. All right, well, come on up. All right, good job. Good job, doing a great thing. OK, so we are done with awards and presentations. So we open it up to open forum. Mary, you want to speak? Mary Owens, please state your name and address for the record.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Neri Owens, 169 Coridan Drive. The minutes you are about to approve of Monday of March 9th on page 6 of 138 has an error. In number one, the following people are stated that they are present and they did not attend the meeting. JC Jimenez, Juan Pena, and Sylvia Vargas. And I know they were not here because I was present. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you, Naomi. Okay. Is there anybody online for open forum? Because otherwise, I think the... Okay. All right. Mr. Aguilar, as we spoke, we're going to defer 12A. You want to wait to speak about 12A then? Yes. Okay. So then that means with that, we are done with public comment. And we move on to... Number seven approve or actually, no, I'm sorry. We're doing 13 a and B. Okay. So we'll start with 13, a request by James Fulton for the following scouts requests for 2026 summer camp donation. Take it away.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor council members, city manager, Omar, James Fulton, four Oh six forest drive. Uh, currently the. troop committee chair for Boy Scout Troop 334 in Miami Springs. And I brought with me a young man here. This is Vince Vigna Jr. His father is Vince Sr. here behind me. He's the current scout master. But I have scouting in my blood, so I figured I would make the ask. But I want to let Vince Jr. talk to you all a little bit about summer camp this year. And I'll let him take it away, and then I'll close with a couple of comments.

Hello, everyone. My name is Vincent Vigna. I'm gonna be talking a little bit about summer camp. So every year the scouts look forward to spending their time in summer camp and this year we will be going to Woodruff in Georgia and this is basically a great place for us to learn leadership skills, get new merit badges and these merit badges could help us advance to our Eagle Scout ring, whether it's Eagle required merit badges or fun merit badges like fishing, rifle shooting, et cetera. The cool thing about this summer camp is we're going white water rafting, and that's gonna be a pretty fun experience in the troop, so yeah.

So our ask is for a donation to help us get up and back from summer camp. The tuition has gone up about $200 per scout this year. Normally it's around, normally roughly it's between $350 and $450 depending on the camp. This year it's gone up to like $550. So all in, up and back with room and board because it takes us two days up and two days back. It's about $800 per scout to go this year. I know I've worked with the city manager in the past I don't know where we are as far as budget wise for scouts But we normally would ask for 500 if we can get a little bit more this year. That would be great if not completely understand and As most of you were present on Saturday you can you know This is what it's all about the project that Daniel Iglesias completed so that he's on his way to his Eagle border review which is Knock on wood, he'll earn his Eagle rank, the highest rank in scouting, but that's what this is all about. Again, my son's eagled up, and Jack right now is playing in the sandbox in the Middle East for the Marine Corps, so we're... We're all about it, so anyway, thank you.

Thank you. Guys, do you think 500, we funded the summer camp in the past for Troop 334, and it usually is kind of earmarked in our budget for donations, so I'd like to keep that going. If you guys are okay with that? Can we do a little more?

Do we have any room for any more? Do we?

You want to add to that? So would we need a vote for this? A motion to vote? Yes. So why don't we do this? Can we say 500 and give JC permission to see if there's anything extra in there?

Can we do that? Yeah, we can do that. We're looking at the 500. Sure. OK. We're going to look to see where.

Yeah, I can attest to the cost of summer camp. I went to that camp. We've gone there before, and it has gone up. And the other thing is that since they can't drive past 10 hours, they have to stop somewhere. They have to rent someplace to stay overnight. So those things do add up. So I know for a fact that it is expensive, more than people think. And they also, like if there's a scout that can't afford to even be part of the program, the troop has a fund, so they'll help out any kid who needs a uniform, who needs registration money, or just doesn't have the money to participate, the troop does help them out. I know that firsthand. Right.

So may I can, we have 500 budgeted, but I can look to see if we can get an additional 500.

Right. I believe there's also two Eagle Scouts that are in the queue. Right. Coming in.

We have, right now, we have Life Scout William Cruz, and we also have Life Scout Fabian Junior.

He already got you. All right. And so, yeah, we do. He's staying careful. Right, right, right.

No, yeah, we do. And as a matter of fact, I have about five more Life Scouts that are not even queued up yet that are ready to go, so I have to actually meet with them tomorrow. But anyway.

All right. Okay, thank you. Pace yourself. Okay, so how about this? How about we propose to give $1,000 given the increases in the summer camp, and if we can't cobble that together, then you'll let them know and let us know. So do I have a motion to try to get $1,000 to give for Boy Scout summer camp?

I set a motion to give $1,000 for the Boy Scouts for summer camp. All right, do we have a second? I'll second. Okay.

Call the vote, please.

Vice Mayor Dionne?

Yes.

Councilman Santine?

Yes.

Councilman Lamas? Yes. Councilman Perez-Crespo?

Yes.

Mayor, go ahead.

Yes.

The motion carries. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, thank you, Mayor, Councilmembers, City Manager, everybody. Thank you very much.

Keep up the good work, please.

And listen, we're always there. You have my number, so if you need something or a project in the city, let me know. All right, Omar?

You got it. All right. Okay, so... So next we have 13B. This is a request by Councilman Santin to discuss parking enforcement on Westward Drive. Councilman Santin, do you want to hear from the people that came to speak first, do you think, or did you want to? Sure. Okay. All right. So I'd like to invite the people that were here to speak on 13B, on the parking enforcement, to please come up.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. State your name and address.

My name is Alex Aguiar. I'm a resident here in Miami Springs at 810 Swan Avenue. Um, I like to briefly just kind of throw a shout out, um, like to briefly follow up on my public safety concern. The reason recently raised, uh, regarding vehicle crossing on sidewalks on westward near sushi Saki. I'm happy to report that the issue has been addressed and appears to be solved. And I want to thank the city public works and the police department for their quick response. Uh, it's appreciated and it shows that when a resident brings a concern forward, the city takes action. Um, I would also like to respectfully speak about a related matter on tonight's City Council agenda. There is ongoing concern affecting businesses along Westward regarding the current two hour limit in front of storefronts. While it's intended to support customer turnovers, it appears to be creating challenges for business owners and employees related on those spaces and are receiving citation while working. Additionally, some individuals have mobility limitations, and with limited nearby access on parking, this creates a further difficulty. I've also been observing that Uber drivers and food delivery drivers are frequently stopping on the roadway, particularly near the downtown circle and on westward, which is impacting flow safety. I respectfully ask the city to review these areas and explore a possibility solution. such as an employee permit option and improving the management of delivery activities. The goal is to support the local businesses while maintaining a safe, well-functioning area for everyone. I'm looking forward to continue working together with the city to address these issues and impact our residents and business. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Was there anybody else that was here to speak? Have you guys? No? You're good? Okay. All right. Okay. That aside, thank you for the public comment. Councilman Santin, it's your item. Yep.

Well, I think like everything, everybody wants something to happen quickly. I think our former council last year took the initiative of implementing parking with the three hour parking. Eventually it had certain phases that we were going to take. And here we are. Initially, we put it on the circle for three hours. Obviously, the goal was to customer turnovers, which is a lot of the complaints that we were getting from the business owners. And eventually, we would go to Westward Drive, which was phase two, because also business owners were complaining that people were just sitting there in front of their businesses all day long and was affecting their customers. Of course, that always comes back with another situation that we thought was going to happen. Just exactly how we actually talked about it almost a year ago. We're talking about phase three now. People are going to start complaining about where do the employees go? So of course that's something that we're here to discuss today. The possibilities, we did discuss it last year, but we got a good new council here I think is best that we discuss the options and we did at the time. At the time we talked about certain public parking places that we have, maybe sharing with the public as well as dedicating decals for the employees to park in these areas. Obviously at the end of the day of all this stuff is enforcement. Enforcement is the only way this thing will succeed. Any of them. Because if you basically don't enforce it, people know that you can do whatever you want and we'll be back to square one. So it takes time. Obviously this former councilor, I didn't think this councilor would be the same, We're not here to just initially kickstart something without thinking about it thoroughly. We have. Obviously, this town does not want anything to do with parking fees. We know that. We feel it. We've been there. We live it. But we need to start having certain phases in place so we can get a result. And here we are talking about employees. The majority of the complaints initially were because there was just not enough customer turnover and it was affecting their businesses. And now they're complaining about the employees. Got it. Okay. Everybody wants a cake and eat it too. But hey, we're going to do our best to figure out where the employees are going to be. And I think, like I said before, we've designated certain areas that maybe we can discuss it with decals, you know, behind the Starbucks, all the public parking areas that we have. Behind some of these buildings, there's public parking. Many of those are used by the multifamily. So it all has an effect, a domino effect. I'm open to listen to other suggestions that you guys may have in reference to employees, but we've talked about a decal, and we've talked about designating specific areas in Miami Springs where the employee could utilize as a specific place for them to park. Also, they've got to start getting used to walking a little bit, because nobody likes to walk in this town. They literally do not have a problem walking. We've talked to some business owners. city managers had several come over to him and they one of the first thing they do is they go look for a parking spot in the public places but everybody likes to be right in front of the shop and that's kind of difficult to satisfy everybody so open to conversations on where you think it could be options for the employees to park but we definitely have to tackle it

We spoke about the two-hour parking and you were going to change it.

Yeah, it was supposed to be three and it will be three, three hours to match the other side. A little background. We started receiving complaints from the business owners that everything was, all the parking spaces were taken and so there was no space for their customers to park. So that's why we decided that we're going to start implementing, especially there was some issue with teachers parking along there. So we started the enforcement. Not soon after that, we started getting the office that complained, hey, there's no place for my employees to park. You look at a map of all the city-owned spaces, there's only so many parking spaces that we have. The idea of a decal really works when you charge for parking, so then the decal actually gives an employee or somebody a spot to park and they don't have to pay the meter constantly. If you just do the decal program, then you have to find where they're going to park. And then what limits are you going to put? Because if everybody has their employees come in and they buy a decal, then we're going to have everything filled up with employees. And we're back to the square one, where there's no parking for the customers. So usually, you would find a designated spot for the employees to park. The areas that I'm looking at, they won't be close by. There's going to have to be some walking, because there's just not enough parking right in front. So it's a tough one, because now we're getting complaints from both sides.

I think that, so I dusted off the stuff from the parking study that we went through. And what it found is that there are certain high demand areas and there are peak hours. And when there are peak hours in the high demand area, there's like big shortages in terms of parking. So we said that in response to that, so when they did the parking study, they actually noted there was no enforcement. So I can guarantee you that there's been more enforcement. Right, Chief? There's been a lot more enforcement. I think everybody would agree with that. Matter of fact, I've gotten calls. now the initial phase of high demand areas they got the three hour and we discussed this the three hour signs where were they they were around the circle circle the first block of westward on both sides and on both sides on both the first block of Western so from Park Street not Park Street from from Carroll Coons Way

Yeah, Carroll County basically all the way to the circle.

From Cozy Corner to the circle? To the circle.

Okay. And then Canal Street, I guess the beginning part of Canal.

The beginning of Canal Street, like where from about the UPS store to how far down does it go to about like Hanks and Klein? Roughly. Roughly. Okay, all right. Now, granted, we have construction going on and renovations on both bridges. That's taking up some spaces, so that's part of it, right?

There's a lot of spaces. We moved that staging area further down, so to leave the areas closer to the circle and the business district.

And so my understanding, so that was deemed, and actually, I'll say something. It's the refrain every time we have a parking discussion. It should not be pejorative to say there is a parking problem. There is a part of us that should all... hope that there's enough demand of our businesses in the central business district that there is limited parking. That would be great. The alternative would be like empty storefronts. And so we got to address a parking problem, but it's actually not a bad thing that we have a parking problem. That means that something works and there's businesses and movement and people and patrons and all good things for the business owner. um but having said that we recently put up some other signs because i guess there were some more high demand areas we were getting complaints about and that was what further it was from basically from further down on westward past carol coon's way right all the way down so like down to like esplanade all the way down to all right and so some signs were put up signs were put up it should be it should be corrected it should be three hours to match it okay and those are going to get corrected those will say three hours and i can tell you i uh i'll I'll bet you a nickel that if there are signs and it's posted that our police are going to enforce it. So I think that that, you know, should help because one of the things that the study found is you've got those shortages in high demand areas and in peak hours, right, and that, you know, like, We have to promote for those businesses turnover and availability of those convenient spaces. It can't be somebody, that's why we put those signs up, it can't be somebody who's got a six-hour shift at a store parked right in the front. It's not fair, right? The patrons deserve that, and so employees that are going to be more than three hours just have to find a space that's a little further away. But that's part of it, right? So I feel like our city manager did a good job of saying, hey, you know what? We're seeing a hot spot here. Obviously, we're down some spots because of what's happening on Canal Street with the bridges. But some enforcement along westward there, I think, because I see a lot. And I've heard complaints. from the little strip there where Sias Dental is and where the dog groomer is. I've heard complaints about not a lot of parking. So if there's somebody that has a six to eight hour shift and they're parking there, that's not fair and it's gonna upset patrons and that's not good for business. So I welcome the fact that the city manager did that and if those are gonna be corrected, I think that that is, That's a good thing. Do you guys have any comment about what you've been hearing from residents, what you think might be necessary or helpful?

I'd like to ask a question. When would the signs be corrected? Do you have a timetable?

I could be in about a week. I have those fixed.

Do you have any recommendations for where you think the employee should park for now?

That's the thing. Where should they park? And if we're going to continue enforcing, let me back this up a second. There is an issue with one particular employer. there that has a lot of employees. I'm not going to call anybody up that has a lot of employees that have been getting complaints about. And I don't know how to tell you, you know, that person, those people, your employees can't park here, but it's for everybody. So that's why I had to enforce. We're not enforcing the parking on the municipal lots, like the ones behind the post office, we have a municipal lot there, the Starbucks behind Starbucks, and also there's a row behind, I guess, on the westward, behind westward on the opposite side, away from the city hall, on the south side, that there's some municipal spots there. We're not going to enforce the three hours there, so people can park there. Problem is limited amount. And then you also have the distance factor that's not that close to the...

I think assessing the parking... I'm sorry. I think that assessing the parking demand is a fluid thing, right? I mean, eventually, you know, we may get to the point as... So, like, I was walking... Harvest Moon is about to open up. They've got furniture. It looks like they're about to open up there. As more businesses open up, that's going to change the parking demand it's a fluid thing eventually obviously one of the complaints that i just heard uh mr aguiar say was that or actually you mentioned it just just now that some of those public lots where it's got it has like overnight parking there's people that are parked there all day because it's people that live there maybe we'll get to the point where those spots will have to the parking demand will will change and we'll be doing three hour parking there to accommodate the businesses during those hours. So I think that we're looking at it, we're working on it. Can I, go ahead.

The next thing that we would have to address with that is the Uber. situation that Alex was talking about.

Yeah, that is done through putting dedicated spots along westward for pick-up and drop-off, like 10-minute parking kind of thing. We can explore that. But when you do that, then you take up

They might have to give up some of their private parking for something like that. So if we get together with the businesses and try to... So we'll work on that and find the best solution for that issue there.

Thank you. Gentlemen, do you want to chime in? Through the chair, I'd like to comment about, so when I was campaigning, I was walking around Westwood, where Isaac Academy is, and those businesses are on the second, first and second floor, where the Peruvian restaurant was, and yeah, they were, they knew it was the teachers from Isaac. I mean, keep in mind, this is a church. This is Crossbridge Church, which is really active on Sundays, or used to be. Once it became a school, that changed the game, the parking game. I don't think they have enough parking for their teachers, unlike Miami Springs Elementary that has a lot on the side. I don't know what we could demand of Isaac to transport their teachers over from another spot.

We're exploring options. Omar came up with a good idea that we're exploring. I don't want to share that right now. We're exploring options. We're reaching out to them, be like, hey, the killer's here. How and when I was approved and approved, I'm just dealing with what we have. So we're exploring options, talking to them is, we're gonna be doing that, see where they can move. It wasn't until that happened where they lost their parking when the church started to construct it. They were parking across the street where the Baptist church was. But it's under construction right now. And it will eventually reopen, and the parking lot will be redone. But I don't know if they'll be able to park there, because they didn't have an agreement.

Is that church, does the Baptist church own all those locks?

BEHIND THEM? IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, THOSE LOCKS WERE SOLD NOT THAT LONG AGO TO A PRIVATE PERSON THAT WANTS TO BUILD A HOUSE THERE. THEY NO LONGER OWN IT. THEY NO LONGER OWN IT. YEAH, WE'LL CHANGE IT EASILY.

TO THE CHAIR, I THINK THAT JUST TO THINK THAT THEY'RE GOING TO OPEN UP AND THAT PARKING LOT'S GOING TO BE UTILIZED BY OTHERS, WE SHOULDN'T COUNT ON THAT. THEY HAVE A REQUIREMENT THAT THEY'RE GOING TO MEET.

that parking is for them and their school so nobody else should be going over there and parking they did private property so that's not a solution honestly in the short term i'm in agreement with maybe exploring uh an employee decal renewed yearly where we issued two or three per business something limited and anything else you need a parking agreement with a local neighborhood what i'll do

is, oh, I'll come up with a game plan. Just so you know, for the time being, I've told the police don't enforce the parking. I don't want to tack on and add on. If we're going to do that, I want to find at least a dedicated area where they can park. And then based on the amount of spaces, then we'll know how many decals we'll have to give out on a first come first serve basis, unlimited. So let me work with Omar and Public Works and PD to kind of game plan it a little bit.

I know, JC, that there was a point there where the businesses where the UPS store were were complaining that the county contractor had blocked that area and they were able to move. So they were actually kind of responsive in that sense. Is there any way they can, if they were asked, can some of this stuff be stored somewhere else to free up some spots? Because they've got a lot of trailers, a lot of rebar, and they've got to be taking up about 30 plus spots.

I can ask.

Yeah, just approach them about it and see. I mean, they were responsive before when we asked them to move.

We go through the county and the county, but we'll talk to the county.

Okay.

THROUGH THE CHAIR. I DON'T WANT TO SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE, EITHER, AND I KNOW YOU SAID WE'RE NOT ENFORCING. IS IT JUST ON THE TWO-HOUR?

YES, ON THE THREE-HOUR AREA. THE THREE-HOUR, YOU'RE STILL ENFORCING? YEAH, WE'RE STILL ENFORCING, BUT THE AREA THAT WE JUST RECENTLY STARTED ENFORCING, THAT IS WHAT WE'RE TAKING IT EASY ON THAT AREA. Listen, I want the businesses to survive. Yeah, you know there's people that depend on their employees parking there me obviously they need parking and then you have on the flip side the customers part of it and Right now that's just not enough. And so what we're gonna game plan in a little bit and I'll come back and report to you The best that we can again, I can't create a parking spot parking lot or a garage I

By the way, on a positive note, I think we're doing a great job with the handicapped parking and the message that we're sending to the people that are parking illegally in the handicapped zone. Those spaces should be open for the people that need it. I appreciate that.

On the bright side, we did add spaces on either side of Curtis Parkway, right? That is correct. So we added what, about more than 10, right?

Yeah, yeah. We added the brick, I don't know what they call it. Sure, the pavers.

When we did the war memorial, we ended up with more spots on either side.

We ended up with more spots, including ADA spots and everything. Right, right. So, I mean, I guess that helps. It helps. Okay. But, you know... For somebody that works at the end of westward, to depart, I mean, it's a trek. We have to...

come up with some kind of yeah i just i wanted to underscore the fact that we we we tasked you with with implementing it and you did yes absolutely you put up the three hour signs they've been enforced you tried to quell you know some hot spots that were coming up and in other areas and it was working pretty well until the whole issue with teachers and that that kind of i got you i got you all right well keep us posted on that and we'll come we'll put a pin in that Okay, all right, so we're done with 13 A and B, so now we move on to approval of the council minutes. Erica, can somebody check on what Mary brought up?

Yeah, I'll make the correction if that's the case.

Okay, so I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the council minutes with some revisions from Erica to correct the record. Would you like to entertain a motion for that? So moved. Okay, do I have a second?

okay we have a first and a second you want to call the vote on that please vice mayor dion yes councilman santin yes councilman lamas yes councilman perez krespa yes mayor fahad yes the motion carries okay thank you we have no reports from boards and commissions we move on to 9a and ordinance and second reading i'll let you guys read that in ordinance of the city council of the city of miami springs florida revising the board composition of the employees retirement system and police and fire pension plan Amending Code of Ordinance Section 35-05 to permit drop participants to serve as pension trustees on the General Employees Pension Board. Amending Code of Ordinance Section 35-56 to permit four-year terms of office and allow drop participants to serve as position trustees on the Police Pension Board, providing for conflicts and providing for an effective date.

All right. OK, so this passed on first reading.

If you want me to just briefly. Sure, please. This is a housekeeping item. And if Adam Levinson, our pension board attorney, I think he's online, Erica. Yes, he is. But this is very simple housekeeping. Right now, the general employees and the police pension have two different terms. I think the general employees serve four. The police has a two-year term. We're trying to make that all four so it's consistent. And then there's a little ambiguous language, vague language as far as whether drop participant can, or somebody that's in the drop can participate. And we're clarifying that to allow people that are still in the drop, that they can still be on the pension board if that need arises.

Thank you, well said. Councilman Lamas, I know that you had a question last time. Were your concerns addressed and you're good?

Well, if we have the attorney on line, I just wanted to make sure there was no conflict with changing that. It's such an odd wording, but I figured there was a reason for it.

Adam, did you want to respond to that?

Here I'm speaking to elected officials so it's a pleasure to appear before you and the quick answer is that there are two different sets of requirements for police and fire pension boards. They're governed by a Florida statute, which is Chapter 185 and 175 Florida statute. So there are different rules for police and fire. And also police and fire receive money from Tallahassee. So that makes a little bit of sense that there are different rules for police and fire. On the other hand, for general employees, there are no funding sources. So it's all the members... and you that pay for the pension. So it's a different animal, so it works a little bit differently. But what we're trying to do here is we're trying to conform the two pension boards so that the trustees are treated the same with the same four-year terms of office and to allow drop participants. And we could get into a lot of background about what a drop is, but a drop participant is a member of the pension who is a trustee who has ceased earning additional benefits. They are retired for pension purposes. And we could spend a lot of time talking about what drop is and how it works. But what it boils down to is, and I think the word that was used when this was first introduced was housekeeping. Really, that's what this is. There's no actuarial impact. And that's what the actuary who does the number crunching tells you is that this is just board composition. and increasingly across the state. And there are about 500 of these municipal pensions from north to south all across the state. And this is the state of the art, if you will, allowing flexibility on board composition. And the last point I'll make is really this is a democracy. If the members want to vote for somebody, then they get elected. If the members, meaning the police and the general employees, don't want to vote for somebody, they don't get elected. So it's about allowing flexibility and allowing people to continue on the board as a draw participant as long as the members vote to keep them. Does that make sense?

Yeah. Thank you for clarifying.

Thank you. All right. Any other comments or discussion? No? Okay. I'd like to entertain a motion to – oh, this is a public hearing. We have to open up for public comment. Okay. there's anybody who would like to comment on 9a they can do so now nope okay all right so now if there's no further discussion i'd like to entertain a motion to approve uh 9a on the second reading so move okay second We have a first and a second. Can we call the vote on that, please, here?

Vice Mayor Dionne?

Yes.

Councilman Santin?

Yes.

Councilman Llamas?

Yes.

Councilman Perez-Crespo?

Yes.

Mayor, go ahead.

Yes.

The motion carries.

Okay. We move on to the consent agenda. Nobody had anything for discussion. I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.

So move.

Okay, do we have a second? Second. Okay, we have a first and a second.

Go ahead and call the vote, please, Eric. Vice Mayor Dionne? Yes. Councilman Santine? Yes. Councilman Lamas?

Yes.

Councilman Perez-Grozbo?

Yes.

Mayor Fahad?

Yes.

The motion carries.

Okay, we have no unfinished business, and under 12 new business, we deferred 12A, so we move on to 12B.

A resolution of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Miami Springs, Florida, authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with PNMR GLVZ LLC for community education and engagement services for the Activate Southeast Miami Springs project in an amount not to exceed $60,000 and providing for an effective date.

Thank you. Mayor, I'm just completing what the council has asked me to do. We went, we met with different public relations firms. This was the best price, and it just so happens they're also a local shop, local business on Westward Drive. May have a parking issue or not, I don't know. But they're very familiar with the city and the learning curve. would be minimum. So I would recommend to authorize me to enter into, to negotiate and enter into an agreement with them and then not to exceed them out, 60,000. Their base price was 35,000. But I don't know how this campaign will go and if we need to send out extra mailers or anything like that. The goal is obviously to keep it as little as possible. but it's a decision that you guys are making.

And it's just a way to, in a way, influence, just educate people on what is on the ballot.

No, not even the ballot. It's educate people on the Southeast Springs Project. That's what we're going to try to do. All right. So just educating people about the Southeast Springs. And we cannot talk to them about that.

Okay. Mr. Mayor. could we from 35 to 60 is a big chunk uh could we do it to check in with you at 45 000 absolutely yeah would you would you prefer that fine so if you want to give me up to 45 right now no no i'm okay with 60 just 45 yeah you approve at 45 and then not to exceed 60. perfect i'll keep you updated through the chair uh

I think we discussed it in our briefing, but the contract, starting at 35, compared to all the other bids that came in, for the same scope of work, was significantly higher. The other one was significantly higher. Correct. For the same scope of work, which is important. It's as nice if you give less work. Later on, of course, they're going to add up, and it's going to get to $60,000 very quickly. But they were all pretty similar in reference to the scope of work. Yes. According to you guys, and $35,000 was the least amount. Absolutely. Okay. So it shouldn't get to 60 that quickly, is my point.

No, no, no. No, it won't. So if you guys approve this, we'll negotiate the contract, execute it, and then get started right away. People have been wanting to know what's going on in 36th Street, what's happening with 36th. And we really want to get the community involved and just get a better understanding of where we are in this project.

OK. Is there any further discussion?

So are we putting a hold on 45 before we... No, he said just to check in with him at 45.

Yeah, to get the manager's approval at 45, not to exceed 60. I'm not comfortable giving card lines for that much money. So we're stopping at 45?

Yeah, come in and check in at 45. We'll vote on it again? No, he's approving the 60, but come in and check in at 45 if there's any issues. You guys can stop at that point.

but I really don't see any issues.

So are there benchmarks that they need to meet before?

There's a set task that will happen. And what we'll do is we'll share with you a strategy plan and all the things that we're going to end up doing. So we'll keep you updated throughout. There's going to be meetings to be held with the stakeholders. public outreach, whether it's social media posts, things that they have put together, mail outs. So we'll share with you the whole plan. No problem whatsoever. But again, I'm asking you to authorize me to negotiate, and then I'll show you the plan.

OK. All right.

Is there any further discussion?

Do we have a motion to approve 9b with amending saying that at 45,000 they have to check in with us in terms of the status of the project?

Approval to move forward at 45.

Okay. The way you said to move forward on 45. So the context is 35. Once they reach 45. How about this?

Approve it at 45 right now?

And then I'll come back for the remaining amount. Okay. So not to exceed 45? Not to exceed 45 at this point until coming back again.

Okay. So I'd like to entertain a motion to approve 9B, changing the not to exceed amount to 45,000. So moved. We have a motion? Second. And a second. Okay. Call the vote, please.

Vice Mayor Dion? Yes. Councilman Santee? Yes. Councilman Lamos?

Yes.

Councilman Perez-Crespo?

Yes.

Mayor, go ahead.

Yes.

The motion carries.

Okay, thank you. All right, we move on to reports and recommendations, and we'll start with reports and recommendations from our city attorney.

None this evening.

Okay.

All right, city manager? I wanted to give the council an update. Earlier today, uh our building officials at least he's invited me over to his office and the folks at the fair haven um work hasn't started yet but they were getting their permits all in order um apparently there were some open permits from before they have their contractor they're getting everything in order um closing out any old ones and getting applying for the new ones. But I made sure to tell them that whatever was approved by the Historic Preservation Board, the certificates of appropriateness, we're going to be watching those and we're going to be making sure that they do exactly what they were asked to do. They're a professional group. They're like, not a problem. You're not going to get an issue from us. We're going to continue doing that and reporting in and building exactly what they were approved to do. So I just wanted to give the council and the community an update on that. We're just happy today. Then also the council chambers, we will be there. If you go in there, it's pretty much done. They put the ceiling tiles in. They did all the cabling. This week, between this week and next week, the microphones will be installed. The sound system will be tested. We should be taking a roll soon. But after that, the chairs go in. So we're trying to clear the room out with all the electrical and the wiring for the mics.

It looks great. I'm looking forward to it.

that's it okay reports from our assistant city manager uh two things just one other congratulations to danny iglesias first project at stafford park uh i know most of you guys were at the ceremony on saturday i wasn't able to attend but i didn't go by this morning and it's a great addition to the park and i want to congratulate him on the record uh he's also one of our employees right for summer we've known danny a long time and i think it was a fantastic project i saw it in public works um worked with him with some things, so I want to congratulate Covered Works on helping him out. It was a great project. And I believe Wednesday, Senator Avila will be at the senior center at 11.30 a.m. So you guys are obviously always welcome to attend, but just wanted to keep you guys posted on that. He'll be there between 11.30 and 12.30 on Wednesday, April Fool's Day.

Thank you. Reports from our city clerk.

Yes, just an update. Effective April 1st, we will have a new vice mayor due to the six-month rotation requirement. So our new vice mayor will be Councilman Lamas. So for April 13th, you'll have a new vice mayor. And yeah, and our next meeting is April 13th. So, and hopefully at the council chambers. Excellent.

I thought, really? You are optimistic. I like that. I'll slip to news. Okay, all right, so we move on to reports from our city council. So we'll go back, we'll start with you, Councilman.

So I want to just congratulate also Danny Iglesias for the Stafford Memorial. I encourage residents to go by and see the work that's been done. And as the mayor said that day about looking forward and improving things. So that is very true. It is much better than it was before. And I want to congratulate for everything you did to make the Glen Curtis exhibit at MIA happen. That's a wonderful, if anyone can get out there and see it, I highly recommend it. I know parking's a bit of an issue even at the airport, but if you can get out there, maybe there's a way to get a bus service or shuttle out there. I'm glad that the members of the adult community center were able to go. I think that was a big treat. This Wednesday, I wanted to mention, we have confirmation that the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector will be here in this building downstairs. No, at the Aquatic Center. Oh, the Aquatic Center, I'm sorry. It will be at the Aquatic Center from nine to four. You need to renew your license, fishing permit, hunting permit, organ donors, pay your bill. What day? This Wednesday. his team will be there. They won't have the mobile unit, but they'll be inside the aquatic center. And I wanted to give a shout out to a person who grew up in VG and in Miami Springs. He was my former martial arts teacher. His name is Mr. Julio Anta. And he's in throughout, but he was newly appointed the chairman of the IFBB USA Fitness Challenge Committee. The IFBB is the International Federation of Bodybuilders. They are interested in collaborating with the City of Miami Springs to attract youth competitors through schools, city recreation sports, and other athletic activities. This may result in having a child or an adult represent the City of Miami Springs in a national championship. So I'm going to reach out to him. He reached out to me and see if that's something that maybe a resident here in the city would like to participate. So again, I just want to give him a shout out. He grew up in the Springs, he grew up in Virginia Gardens, went to school here, and he still has ties to the community. And that's it for me. Thank you.

May I have one more update when you're done? Sure. I DID WANT TO LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW, I KNOW THAT THE CLOCK, THE CAVALIER CLOCK IS NOT WORKING RIGHT NOW. THERE'S A PART THAT WE'VE ORDERED, WELL, ACTUALLY SENT IT TO GET FIXED FOR THE COMPANY. THEY RECEIVED IT AND WE SHOULD BE GETTING IT BACK IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS SO WE CAN PUT IT IN AND IT WILL BE WORKING AGAIN. WE REALIZE IT, WE KNOW IT'S NOT WORKING, BUT WE'RE GETTING IT FIXED. YES.

Also, the monument and plaque that go with the clock is installed. I had somebody that questioned whether or not that was moved over as well, and it is there. It's there. Yes, thank you.

Nothing to report. Okay. I'd like to congratulate the Chief and the Miami Springs Police Department on the $500,000 grant we received as a testament of the how pro-police we are and public safety being our top concern and priority. So congratulations. You could definitely continue to count on our support. I'd also like to thank Mario Diaz-Palart for helping us with that grant. And I have to send my wife, who has been my number one supporter, a big reason why I'm here today and able to do all the great things that I'm blessed to do and wish her a happy birthday on April 8th. So happy birthday. I love you. And one more thing. So we're blessed with having T.Y. Hilton as our coach, and he's doing a golf fundraiser coming up on, I believe, May 8th. You can get in touch with me if you want, and I could point you in the right direction, or the Miami Springs football program.

I also want to congratulate the chief for getting a nice, hefty check. I think he gave a hint to you that you better run to the bank as quick as possible. But overall, you really also to pat ourselves on the back, and it also is a lot of the work behind the scenes, including councils and administration that play a part in getting involved in Washington with all these officials and making sure that we get a little piece of the pie. So I'd like to say kudos to some of ours that have been participating, and as well, more importantly, our city manager who's taking the initiative in hiring lobbyists up in Washington, D.C. And, of course, we've got our favorite festival, River Cities Festival, the Regatta, coming up April 10th, 11th, and 12th. Everybody's looking forward to it. Hope to bring back a lot of the community feel that we've been wanting and a lot of people have been asking for. So be ready for it. It's around the corner, 10 days away. And looking forward to it. Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you, Constable. Okay, so yeah, I just wanted to reiterate Saturday was a busy day, but the rededication of Stafford Park and the new and improved Stafford Memorial and the work of Danny Iglesias, it was good for us to honor Officer Stafford's memory. but at the same time also recognize Danny Iglesias for the project that really galvanized the community, so we're really happy about that. And the rest of Saturday was at the Rotary Poker Tournament, and I'm happy to say that Spencer Dino III, current mayor's dad, Spencer still jet lagged from travels abroad, won the Poker Tournament, and so it was a good time and obviously as a member of the Rotary we got a couple of Rotary members up here. It was a great event and raised money that will go to a good cause which is all the efforts of the Rotary. Okay so having said that I'd like to call this meeting adjourned at 8.02 p.m. Thank you everyone.

Thank you.