City Commission - Regular Meeting
The Fort Lauderdale City Commission approved several event agreements and grant applications, including funding for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula. The Commission also discussed and approved a resolution to include Juneteenth as a recognized city holiday, following a contentious public comment period.
About this meeting
- Government Body
- City Commission
- Meeting Type
- City Commission
- Location
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Meeting Date
- March 19, 2026
Transcript
451 sections (from 523 segments)
Good evening, everybody, and thank you for being here tonight. I'm here to announce that the executive closed door session of the city commission is now terminated, and the public meeting will now be reopened. So at this point, I'd like to take a moment and recess the conference meeting and we'll begin our regular evening meeting. And as we do with every meeting, and those of you who are here for the first time, welcome. Our regular meeting, we start out with a few a few preliminary matters.
We begin with a pledge of allegiance, moment of silence, a few agenda announcements. So if I could all ask you to please stand and join Adonis Smoot from the Gateway Christian Academy and Oswald Park Play Program. Please join me at the podium. Do you remember the Pledge of Allegiance?
Yes.
Okay. You got to put your hand over your heart, and it's all up to you.
Hi, sir. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republics for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Beautiful. You.
I'll back for you.
Thank you so much for coming tonight. Is any any members of your family here tonight? Where are they? Your mom? Why don't we take a picture to you?
Sure. Why don't
we go back here?
You.
Okay. Thank you so much. And if I could all ask you to please share with us a moment of silence. Thank you. From time to time tonight, you're probably going to see us squinting up here because these lights are so bright.
I feel like we're in a Hollywood studio here. But so every time we have a meeting, we like to recognize individuals who are retiring and who have served with our city for over twenty years. And tonight, we have six such individuals, and I'd like to announce their names and recognize them for the great service they provided to the city of Fort Lauderdale. First, I'd like to recognize captain James Carroll with the fire department. He's been with us twenty six years. Thank you so much, Jim. Also like to recognize Richard Rivera who's been with our police department. He's been with us twenty one years. Great. Thank you so much.
Police records clerk, Patricia Hines, retiring after being with us for twenty four years. Thank you, Patricia. Police officer Thor Lockhart, who's been with us thirty four years. Wow. Great. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your service. Park supervisor, David Heeney, twenty four years. Thank you so much, David. And finally, battalion chief, John Ramirez, who's been with our fire department for thirty two years. Thank you so much. Enjoy your retirement and we thank you for your service to the city
of Fort Lauderdale. Mayor, can
we also add Ford to that list? Ford. Ford.
Ford. Yes. Ford. He is
a 17 year old American Mustang,
part of our mounted unit and he's only been with us ten, but I think
that is twenty in horse years. So but we should really thank Ford and hopefully Thank you. Thank you, Ford.
Is he out to pasture now?
Yeah. Appalachia. Is he going he's going
to Appalachia, isn't he? Retirement farm in Appalachia.
Oh, He's beautiful horse. He served us for ten years. Thank you, Ford.
Very nice. So we have a few agenda announcements. CM9 is going to be removed from the agenda at the request of the city manager. And CP1 is going to be removed from the consent agenda to the motion section. So we'll have an opportunity to discuss that.
There'll be three four walk on resolutions. One that will be delegating authority to the city manager to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation System regarding an 850,000 grant. Second one is a resolution delegating to the city manager to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District for a $565,000 grant. And the third one is a resolution delegating to the city manager to the authority to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District for $10,000,000 and finally a walk on resolution appointing an alternate representative to the solid waste disposal and recyclable materials processing authority of Broward County and that will also happen tonight as well. We have a couple of agenda item revisions CR three Exhibit two was revised as requested by Broward County and M1, the CAM was revised and Exhibits five through 12 were added as additional information.
So having said all that, do I hear a motion to approve the agenda as amended and the minutes? So moved. Do I hear a second? Second. Moved and seconded. Please call the roll.
Mayor, I'm just gonna do the roll call real quick.
I'm sorry? I'm just gonna
do the initial roll I apologize.
Okay. Do a do a membership roll call. Thank you.
Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Here. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Here. Commissioner Sorenson? Here. Mayor Trentellis?
Here. Now please do the roll on the agenda and the minutes. Yes. The agenda as amended.
Commissioner Beasley Pitman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst?
Yes.
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentales?
Yes. And the agenda as amended and the minutes are now been approved. So right now we also have some people to recognize and some organizations that we would like to present proclamations. First, we begin our first presentation tonight as with our Neighborhood Support Manager to recognize the twenty twenty six Neighbor Support Night sponsors and supporters, Louisa Agathon. For those of you thank you. For those of you who attended, it's a great turnout. You did a magnificent job, you and your team. So really, it was a wonderful night. So thank you once again for another great achievement.
Thank you, mayor. Appreciate those words. So tonight, we're gonna do a two part presentation. We're gonna present first our sponsors and supporters for the Neighbor Support Night event. And then the second, we're gonna announce who the Neighbor's Choice Award, the department winner is for the displays.
So to start, I as you said, mayor, I'd just like to thank, Jania, George and Jordan for helping us put this event together. So on February 12, we celebrated Neighbor Support Night, a night dedicated to our neighbors with the goal to strengthen our connections to elevate civic pride and to enjoy family friendly events. The success of Neighbor Support cannot be done without the possible, support from our sponsors and supporters. Their contribution arranged from monetary donations to in kind contributions to raffle prices with an estimated value of approximately $24,000. So I would like to call each sponsor, supporter this year to come up, receive the certificate, and then we're gonna have you move over to the flags and we can take a picture together at the end.
So to start, our partners from the Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations, Vanessa Alphathicker, with the president of Tarpon River and the CAA four representative. Stranahan High School drumline, the Mighty Marching Dragons. With us is the band director, Carlos Redman. We have Broward Center for Performing Arts, Erica Navarro. With the core construction team, Cody Keyes along with Alejandra and Vanessa.
Fairway Future Golf, Damian Kennedy. Florida Power and Light, Shashayn Maxwell. Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Rufus James. Fort Lauderdale Firefighters Local seven six five, Keith Costa. Pye fit, Ladicia Fernander.
We also have Pomarola Pixeria, Larry Milley. We have the four Richard Campillo. Waste management, Andres Limones Cruz. And from the water taxi team, we have Greg Farley along with, all his team members. And we also have the women's club for Fort Lauderdale, miss Annette Ross.
So as you gather for the photo, I just wanna make an announcement of all those that are not here with us today but also supported us, Adam and Joe's No Lunch, Bahia Mar, Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida Panthers, Fort Lauderdale FOP Lodge, three thirty one, Jet's Pizza, Jimmy John's, Cistrunk, Gianni's Pizza Plus, Mingo Makes It Pottery Studio, Museum of Discovery and Science, NSU Museum, Pelican Grand Beach Resort, Riverside Hotel, the Schlindler Kessler Group and Son of Fresca.
We appreciate all of your support for the neighbors support and I and all and throughout the year.
Alright. Special thanks to also our transportation mobility, parks and recreation, police, utilities, IT, public works, they do a tremendous job in helping us put the event together. So as you know, this year's theme was for Neighbor Support Night was the city of champions and every department made a lot of effort to display in creative ways their champions and what we do to help our city. So the the city departments were judged in three categories, the best department presentation, engagement with the community, and education of city services. They did, as I mentioned, an excellent job and but there could only be one winner. This year's winner of the Neighbor Choice Award is Parks and Recreation.
Let me put on my microphone. Thank you again, Luisa, and all the folks that made that such a success that night. Thank you. Secondly, now I'd like to introduce our Commissioner Ben Sorensen to present a proclamation regarding National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And will Louis Louis Deluces is
that close enough? Come on up. Thank you, mayor. Thank you for being here. We appreciate it. Wanna read our proclamation and then love to turn it over to you for for some words. Sound good? Great. So this is from office of the mayor proclamation and recognition of colorectal cancer awareness month, March 2026. Whereas the city of Fort Lauderdale recognizes the importance of acknowledging and supporting efforts to prevent and treat colorectal cancer, a disease that affects thousands of Americans each year.
And whereas in 2026, an estimated one hundred and nine thousand adults are expected to be diagnosed with colon cancer and nearly fifty thousand with rectal cancer and approximately fifty five thousand deaths projected, reinforcing the urgent need for increased awareness, preventative action and access to timely screenings. And whereas colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable with early detection and regular screening can increase the survival rate to about ninety one percent, while survival rates decline significantly when the disease is diagnosed at a later advanced stage. And if most Americans aged 45 and older were routinely screened for colorectal cancer, deaths would be substantially reduced, aligning with the National Colorectal Cancer's goal of achieving an eighty percent screening rate in all eligible communities. And whereas American Indian, Alaskan native and black Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and more likely to die, highlighting persistent racial and ethnic disparities, whereas colorectal cancer accounts for approximately twelve percent of cancer related deaths among Hispanic men and nine percent among Hispanic women, closing the gap is critical. And whereas observing colorectal cancer awareness month in March provides a vital opportunity to educate the public, promote early detection and encourage lifesaving screenings.
Now therefore, we as a city commission do hereby proclaim March 2026 is colorectal cancer awareness month. Signed. Your mayor, Dean Trantellis.
Thank you. There you go. Hold it. You can. Sure.
Thank you, mayor and commissioners, for the proclamation and for standing up to bring awareness, to colorectal cancer and the importance of early screening. My wife, Kasha, was diagnosed with stage four cancer just at And And the liver. World. Proud Only And sixteen percent on average that get that diagnosis live longer than five years. But by the grace of God and some very skillful surgeons at Cleveland Clinic, she underwent intense chemotherapy to shrink the baseball sized tumor on her liver, and then they were able to surgically remove that section of her liver and a section of the colon.
Unfortunately, a year later, the cancer came back, but now on the opposite side of the liver. So copy and paste another 16 rounds of chemo to reduce that tumor, and then they were able to remove that. She got a two for one that day. After eight years, I can happily report to you that she's cancer free with no evidence of disease. In fact, she's in Arizona right now attending the Cologuard golf classic.
I wish I was there, but instead of speaking as a ambassador for Fight CRC. Just last month, our entire family, along with some Florida advocates and Fight CRC advocates nationwide, traveled to Washington DC where we planted 27,400 flags on the National Mall in plain view of congress. That number represented the number of people 50 who were projected to be diagnosed with colon cancer by 2030. Sadly, as of January, we've already hit that mark. The following day, we had scheduled meetings with our senators Scott and Moody's office as well as congressman Jared Moskowitz and Fredrika Wilson and Debbie Wasserman's office.
And we had two asks. One, for the congresspersons to sign on to the house bill forming a bipartisan congressional colorectal cancer caucus. I'm happy to report that Moskowitz and Wilson are already on board. The second ask of the senators and congresspersons was an allocation of $20,000,000 dedicated to colorectal cancer research as part of the Department of Defense's budget. Of the five top cancer killers, lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, colon cancer is the only one that does not have its own dedicated funding.
But why the Department of Defense? As colorectal cancer affects younger and younger people, it disproportionately affects young men and women of our armed forces and their readiness. This is a matter of national security. The meetings went well. The aides were very attentive.
The congressmen and senators were it wasn't a voting day, so they were in the office. But fingers crossed, we'll see what happens when they decide to reopen up the government. So in closing, if you're 45 older, please, please consider getting your colonoscopy screening. Best ten minute sleep of your life and it could save your life. And for those of you that are younger, there are FDA approved alternatives such as Cologuard or the Guardian Shield, which is just a simple blood draw.
No prepping. Nothing. And they've shown to be up to ninety five percent effective at detecting colon cancer at an early stage. So, again, mayor, commissioners, thank you for the proclamation, bringing awareness to this, and for allowing me to address the committee. Thank you.
Thank you for coming today. And I don't think that message could be said any more strongly getting a colonoscopy. What is it every ten years and then every five years? Yeah. After a certain age, I know. So it's a preventable disease and it's detectable early. And the only way you will detect it is if you go for the test. So thank you for bringing this to our attention tonight. Our last presentation is something that I will present a proclamation regarding National Procurement Month here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And I'd like to invite our Procurement Director, Glenn Marcos and the entire team to join me at the podium so I can present the proclamation.
Thank you. These are the guys that spend all our money. So from the office of the mayor of the city of Fort Lauderdale, this proclamation of recognition of National Procurement Month. So whereas public procurement professionals serve as stewards of the public trust and guardians of taxpayer resources, ensuring that public funds are expended responsibly, ethically, and in full compliance with applicable laws, policies, and recognized best practices. Every major capital improvement, public safety initiative, infrastructure project, technology deployment, and essential municipal service undertaken by the city requires a transparent, competitive, and legally sound procurement process before it can move from vision to reality.
The City of Fort Lauderdale Procurement Services Department serves as the structured gateway through which the city's strategic priorities and capital investments are transformed into executed contracts, enforceable agreements and successfully delivered projects. In fiscal year twenty twenty six alone, the department processed more than $433,000,000 in awarded good services and construction procurements directly enabling the city of Fort Lauderdale to advance critical infrastructure improvements, enhance public safety operations, support community programs, and deliver high quality services to residents, businesses, and visitors. Guided by the principles of integrity, accountability, ethics, impartiality, transparency and professionalism, procurement professionals uphold the framework that sustains public confidence in government operations while adhering to nationally recognized standards through its membership in the National Institute of Government Purchasing, the Florida Association of Public Procurement Officials, and the Southeast Florida Chapter of NIGP. Now therefore, we as the city commissioners of the city of Fort Lauderdale do hereby proclaim March 2026 as National Procurement Month here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. This dated is 03/19/2026, and signed by myself, mayor Dean Trentellis.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
You said your words?
Yeah. So
I do have a couple of words. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Your seats.
Yes. Mayor, commissioners, thank you so much. So on behalf of the procurement services department, I would like to sincerely thank you for the recognition of National Procurement Month. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our city manager, Ricardo Williams, and assistant city manager, Yvette Matthews, for their unwavering support. Procurement is not always the most visible function in government, we all know that, but it's one of the most essential.
Every project you envision, every initiative you approve, and every service we deliver to our community begins with a process that ensures that it's done fairly, lawfully, and responsibly. Just remember that a project has a process. There is that pre pre procurement phase which entails planning, designing, drafting the specifications. Then there's that procurement phase preparing the solicitation, administering and managing the process, and awarding the contract. And then the post procurement phase which consists of project management.
Behind every project, there is a procurement, and we all have a part to play. Procurement is proud proud to serve as stewards of public trust. That responsibility goes beyond simply procurement. It means safeguarding taxpayers dollars, maintaining a level playing field for suppliers and ensuring that every decision is made with integrity, transparency and accountability. As you mentioned mayor, our team facilitated over $433,000,000 in procurement.
Behind that number are critical infrastructure projects, public safety enhancements, and community services that that directly impact the residents and businesses of Fort Lauderdale. While those projects may take the spotlight, our role is to make sure they stand on a solid and compliant foundation. We all know that procurement often works behind the scenes. We're not typically at the ribbon cuttings, and we do not share in the public recognition of completed projects, but we do. We do take great pride in being the that steady hand that helps bring these projects to life.
The team that ensures the the process is sound, the competition is fair, and that the outcome serves in the public's best interest. I want to recognize dedicated professionals within our department, those behind me, who uphold these standards every single day. Their expertise, diligence, and commitment to doing the right things are what we make, what we actually work for. We also value our partnerships with city departments, suppliers and the broader procurement community. Collaboration is key to ensuring we continue to deliver efficient, innovative, and responsible solution for our city.
Thank you again for this proclamation and for acknowledging the important role procurement plays in supporting the city's mission. We remain committed to serving and performing our duties with professionalism, integrity, and purpose. Thank you. You. You. Thank Thank
much. I just want you to know you're invited to all the ribbon cuttings. Okay. So before we proceed, I want to resume our conference meeting. We had one item that remained there and I want to bring it up now.
Appreciate the patience of the folks that came here. Hold on a second. Let me pull up the agenda item. This was Business three for Lauderdale Executive Airport Lease Policy Follow-up with Aviation Advisory Board recommendations. City Manager.
Thank you, Mayor. This is a follow-up to the January 20 City Commission Conference meeting where this item was discussed. Chris Cooper is just going to give a brief overview of the Advisory Board's meeting and what the outcome was.
All right. Good evening, mayor and commission. Chris Cooper, deputy city manager. So as the city manager said back on January 20, city staff, particularly from FXE, provided an overview of FXE leases, a little background and history of the airport itself, and then a bit about a transaction fee that was inserted into a couple prior leases that there was an interest in having the commission weigh in on whether or not that should be part of our ongoing lease policy. So I won't go through this presentation in great detail, but just to give you some idea of what we shared with the Aviation Advisory Board as follow-up to that city commission meeting.
We went through the presentation that was given to you on the twentieth, delved a little bit more into the airport's leasing strategy, the transaction fee, and then we saw recommendation and feedback from the Airport Advisory Board. So just quickly going through this. Again, we shared the leasing policy, and this is things we shared with the commission as well. We talked about the purpose of the transaction fee that was proposed. We shared some examples with the commission and the advisory board.
We got into a little bit more detail on some of those examples. And at the end of that conversation, the airport advisory board made two recommendations. The first recommendation is that a formal stakeholder group be formed to look at the overall leasing policy for the airport. There's been a draft leasing policy, but there isn't a final usable leasing policy. So the Airport Advisory Board thought it would be helpful and beneficial for a work group that was is comprised of members of the board as well as some of our tenants at the airport and others that could provide some valuable input in the lease policy together and craft something that could be shared with the commission and ultimately approved as the leasing policy for the airport.
That motion passed nine to zero. We had one abstention because perceived conflict from one of the members of the board, so they did not vote. The second motion that the airport advisory board made and voted on, which passed unanimously 10 to zero, was directly related to the transaction fee, whereas the board wanted to recommend to the commission, in which we're sharing tonight, that the transaction fee not be part of the leasing policy. So just to share a little bit about some reasons we heard from the Board why they didn't feel like the transaction fee was an appropriate part of our leases or the long term airport leasing policy is we also shared a Stantec report that talked about the financial, sustainability of the airport over the long term. And the board felt that that showed that the airport had a strong fund balance and that there wasn't a really there wasn't a value that they perceived to the proposed transaction fee as part of our lease policy.
And then also just generally, they felt like this fee would impose a substantial burden on the tenants at the airport and really not provide a lot of overall long term benefit to the airport given the financial sustainability of the airport as well as the triggers for the fee and the likelihood that that fee would actually be assessed at any time in the future. So again, two recommendations. The first is that a work group be created to study and come back with a recommendation on an overall leasing policy. And the second motion is that a transaction fee not be part of the airport's leasing policy. Just to remind the commission, because of certain grant assurances, if the commission agrees with the airport advisory board, we would need to bring back two leases that had that transaction fee as part of it and have that term removed and then negotiate future leases without a transaction fee.
Well, doesn't the first motion first motion said they wanted to study to make recommendations and then all of a sudden they already make the recommendation in the second motion. I don't get that.
They did. So they feel like there's the airport advisory board felt like there was value to creating that lease policy. Again, we do have a draft policy that we've been working on that I think is a good starting point that that group can look at and provide a recommendation on to bring back to the whole advisory board and then the commission. But the board felt very strongly again a 10 to zero vote that the transaction fee they already had a position that that should not be part of our leasing strategy going forward.
Okay. Thank you. And is that complete your presentation? It does. Okay. Thank you. Anyone have any questions of mister Cooper? We have a few people who have signed up to speak.
Mayor, before Yes. Before, in regards to motion one, it says create a formal stakeholder group. What does that look like? How many people? It just it doesn't give us details other than a couple of what it says advisory board and then also stakeholders. So what does that look like?
Yeah. So reflecting on the meeting and the conversation around that, the ideas presented were, you know, one or two members, small group from the advisory board along with airport staff, city staff and some of the tenants and stakeholders of the group. So there wasn't a definition of the size of the group or exactly who would be on the group. But if the commission wants to pursue that recommendation, we would go back to the board to further define what that group would look like. But generally speaking, the groups and people that I mentioned would likely comprise that work group.
Okay. And that is definitely separate from the on the advisory board. This would be a separate entity.
Correct?
That's correct.
Alright. Thank you.
Alright.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you. So a couple of people sign up to speak. Tony Sherbert, is he here? Tony? Okay. How about Todd Anderson? Pass? Okay. All right. With you anyway. Ignacio Martinez? Okay. And Steve Wery. Steve, are you still here? There you are. Do you want to say anything? Okay. All right. So, you could have left a long time ago. Okay, folks.
So the thing is that, all right, the Commission has to make some sort of decision here. And if we look at the two motions that were created by the Advisory Board, we seem that before we got to motion two, we should deal with the results of motion one, let there be a meeting of stakeholders and the advisory board. I would think that the city itself is a stakeholder in this this because we need to have representation, just staff, but not just staff that is advising the advisory board, but also someone from this manager's office because clearly we have a stake in the outcome here, a financial stake. So I would recommend that we take the advice of the advisory board and proceed with the request in motion one and suspend any response in motion two until we see what motion one results in. What do you think?
Any questions or comments? John, we can't hear you. John, your voice is garbled.
I'm sorry. Mayor, so do you wanna vote on motion one and then vote on motion two?
So my suggestion is we take action on motion one, and my opinion is let's agree with that. And then we'll suspend any action on motion two until the results of motion one are reported to the commission. Does that make sense?
John,
your microphone is not coming through.
That's much better.
Is that better?
No. Keep going. Alright.
Let me try let me try this microphone.
It's not coming through.
So one thing that may be of interest that the Vice Mayor may want to express, I don't want to put words in his mouth, but we do have a few leases that are being negotiated and have been negotiated a long time now that we've been in talks with these tenants, Shelter in particular, WA Aviation is another that really are hinging on the decision on the transaction fees. So I think if they were to speak tonight, they might have said that they were anxious to get this issue resolved so that we can move forward with those lease negotiations. So I think the Airport Advisory Board's the reason for the multiple motions was to allow a path forward or at least get the feedback from the commission whether or not it was appropriate or in the interest of the commission to have the transaction fees that we could help finalize those leases and bring those in for landing?
Well, don't know what the I don't know what the I don't know how to respond to motion two. I would rather wait for the results of motion one to be able to intelligently respond. So if we can have a group meeting with the stakeholders, Advisory Board, I think that would make the most sense and the sooner that happens the better.
But Mayor, I think that motion two is very clear and that obviously if they do conclude with a meeting and wrap up some sort of report, it will still have the same information as in motion two that it's unanimous that they do not want the transaction fee. I don't think there's gonna be a different outcome even if they do a more comprehensive report to us. So I'm fine with approving both of those items as presented. The have that meeting, work everything out in terms of the leases, where do we go from here, and at the same time, just forget about the transaction fee.
Well, then what's the point of motion one?
Well, because there's more to discuss. Mayor, could you hear me now?
Yes. I can hear you better.
Mayor, am I coming through any better?
I can hear you better.
Because I I attended that meeting. So thank you. I I I pulled off on the side of the road. Perhaps the road noise was too much. So so I attended that meeting and participated in it. So let me see if I can clarify for you.
Okay.
The reason for motion one is because the tenants up there believe there are a lot of other issues relating to the operation of the airport that they would like to be able to participate in. Other terms, irrespective of the transaction fee. They already have a very strong opinion about the transaction fee, both the tenants and the advisory board themselves. And so that is the purpose of motion two. They have already discussed it at length and have a very, very strong opinion about motion two.
And so that's a separate issue. Motion one is they believe that on an ongoing basis, having a stakeholder group comprised of tenants at the airport that work in conjunction with the advisory board and staff will be beneficial for the relationship and operation of the airport in general. So I think there are two different issues. The purse the purpose of the stakeholder group is not to look at the transaction fee. They've all spoken about it and they are all adamantly opposed to it.
Okay. That makes that's a lot clearer. Thanks for thanks for letting us know that. So mayor,
who or city manager, so who would what would it be tenants who would comprise the stakeholder groups? So obviously the city would be part of that. Tenants would be part of that.
At the meeting, I was present. And so the discussion surrounded having some members of city staff, some advisory board members and some stakeholders or tenants of the airport.
Okay. So great. The financial impact of motion two, we've talked about what it would be with the kind of current lease negotiations. But if I'm understanding this right, it would we'd have to remove it from previously approved leases. So what's the financial impact to FXE of that?
So because the transaction fee would have been triggered by certain actions, is unknown as to whether those actions would have even occurred. There is no calculation on the fiscal impact of taking it out or removing it from those leases.
The previous leases.
Because there was no guarantee that it was ever going to be triggered.
Yes, basically the transaction never happened for those leases. What how many leases are we talking about that have been completed?
Two in 2023 and we have two pending the outcome of this discussion.
Okay, great.
At this moment.
So my sense is that the Mayor, the stakeholder group would and I think this has been said, but I think the stakeholder recommendation would be the same in terms of transaction fees, their desire to remove those. So I think we move forward with creating a stakeholder group and then also move forward with their second recommendation removing the transaction fee from the current leases under negotiation and then the previous ones in 2025 that included it.
Okay. So let's keep in mind that we met with some of the stakeholders and some of them were willing to give us money. And now we're sort of leaving money on the table by saying we should not be charging a transaction fee. If I recall correctly, there was some discussion I know I had a meeting and they were prepared to give us up to $1,000,000 for their ability to sell their leases to a third party. So are we just giving that up?
I think Mayor, the reason behind that is because they have been trying to negotiate that lease for three years and they felt the only way they could get that lease done was by agreeing. It was under duress and they felt they had no option but to agree to something in order to move their project forward. They're looking to do a major expansion that's Sheltair. So for Sheltair, they've got a major expansion plan. They've been working on it for three years now.
And as we know, time is money in the construction business. So three years of holding up up their project is coursing them enormously in terms of the inflation in construction. And so they made a business decision that we need to move forward and we'll acquiesce, but it was under duress, I can tell you certainly.
Well, if they offered us a million dollars three years ago, we could have solved this problem a long time long time ago. But nonetheless, there's still there's still offer was still there though, vice mayor. So I don't see why we're giving that up. That's a lot of money in my you know, from my perspective. If they're still prepared to do that, I think we should accept that. We can still move forward with eliminating a transaction fee going forward. But already, Shalltear said, we'd be happy to give you the $1,000,000 so long as you can move this process forward. And I don't think we should be giving up $1,000,000 but
No, because then we run into an issue with the FAA where we're treating tenants differently and we violate FAA rules when we do that. We can't charge one tenant a fee and not charge all tenants a fee. It's uniform. It's it's an all or nothing deal. If we're going to impose transaction fee, it gets imposed on everybody. We we can't do it on an ad hoc basis.
Okay. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? All right. There being none, so is there a motion?
This is a conference item.
Just wanna get the consensus so that we know what directions are I
guess there's a consensus that we move forward on both the recommendations of the aviation advisory board. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. All right. Yes. Okay.
Yes. Thank you.
You're welcome. Any questions?
I'll go back on mute.
You just saved yourself a million dollars. I'd like to take this moment, by the way, and recognize Federal Judge Dimitri Laius. Thank you for being here tonight. I know you're on one of the items, but I just want to recognize your patience in being here with us. Okay, that concludes our conference meeting. And now we're going to resume the evening meeting. And we'll go now to the consent agenda. And I will ask each member of the Commission if they have any consent agenda items that they would like to pull. Vice mayor, do you have any consent agenda items you'd like to pull?
I do not.
Okay. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
None. Thank you.
Commissioner Glassman? None. Commissioner Sorensen?
None.
Okay. And did I have one? Hold on. Hold on a second. I guess not. Okay. So a couple of people have signed up to speak on these consent agenda items. Chris Nelson,
are you here?
You asked to speak on CR four? Why don't you come on up? CR four is the resolution amending Rule 11 regarding legal holidays and the personnel rules of the City of Fort Lauderdale to include Juneteenth as a recognized city holiday. Good evening.
Hello, mayor
and commissioners. I know this is not gonna be popular, but I do not think that we should put Juneteenth on the official city holiday, and I'll tell you why. Most people or a lot of people didn't even know this holiday existed until about 2020 when you had the summer of love and the George Floyd riots. And it it's a good holiday. I mean, in looking at the history of it, it's when Texas finally found out that the slaves were free and then that freed slavery. But I've and then people knew that the slaves were free. They didn't have instant messenger back then, so they had to ride a horse all the way down. So there was a period of time where the slaves were technically free, but in Texas, they didn't know this yet. So June 19 was when they wrote in and and delivered the the message. So it became a it became a celebration.
Thank you for the history lesson.
Yes. Now, I was interested to find out last week that Saint Patrick's Day, a holiday that was started in sixteen o one here in Florida, actually, in Saint Augustine and celebrated every single year with a parade and everything like that is not an official city holiday. We don't have offices closed.
It's not
a federal holiday or state holiday.
So I'm just wondering why. I mean, this is a holiday that's celebrated in America very much and a very popular holiday, but it's just, you know what are we doing here? I mean, we're not gonna do Saint Patrick's Day, but Juneteenth, we are. So, you know, I I think that this holiday is used to pander a lot and to, you know, post about racism and and all the politicians love to put up their squares of posts and everything like that. And I don't like that.
And I I don't like that I've seen it also used to push this white guilt thing that white people today somehow are responsible for something we had nothing to do with, like hundreds of years ago with slavery. And I think it's divisive. And I don't like the fact that that this holiday has been it where the the spirit of the holiday should be to bring people together and say America is a great country because we got rid of slavery. But I haven't seen it done that. I've seen it really used to to pander and to and to try to to push white guilt and and to try to say that today we people have to white people have to be apologetic for something that we really had nothing to do with.
And that's why I don't think it should be city holiday, but I definitely think that Saint Patrick's Day should be a city holiday. We should be asking ourselves why isn't Saint Patrick's Day a city holiday. So I I I know you're gonna vote yes on this, but I ask you to vote no.
Alright. Thank you.
Mister Nelson, I'd like to say a few words about your comments.
And I'll follow you,
commissioner And
here's here's my reaction to you. It's ironic to hear you talk about being divisive. For years now, I've read your post all over social media.
Good. You are probably You don't
wanna be blocked
anymore. You are probably one
of the most
bigoted, discriminatory Bigoted. I'm not I'm not You're bigoted, I'm
not done.
You're bigoted. I'm not done. Your bigoted not your time. And I've read your I don't It's not your time.
No. Wait. Just wait. He doesn't get to sit there and do this.
Stop. You had your chance to speak. Yes. Please sit please have it. Please sit down. This is not
a game.
But I'm not gonna hear this clown stand up here
and say these things.
You're the biggest clown up here.
I know that.
Know You're
so ready.
Please sit down.
Ready? Here you go.
Please sit down.
Because because the community needs to know when you get up here and you pontificate, you're really just full of it. And here it is. You are one of the most racist racist posters. Just this other night, Tuesday night in our city, we had some folks at the beach Tuesday night. Your post. Your post. Your post. Here's another George Floyd riot at the beach. No. It was not another George Floyd riot at the beach and I don't even know what you mean when you're saying that.
Then you posted a video of the folks that were on the beach Tuesday evening and you used some of the most racist, disgusting, offensive language in narrating your post. I'm glad he's gone, but everyone needs to know that this guy is a phony. And when he gets up here and he tries to charm everyone in the in the membership, on the dais, in the audience, he's full of it. He's full of it. Go back and try to find his history on social media.
It's absolutely disgusting, offensive, and hateful. And and I'm talking about every group that you can imagine. He has written the most disgusting things that are the most racist things about the black community. He has gone after the LGBTQ community like you've never seen before. He has definitely the most the most horrific post against the Muslim community.
You name a community, that man has denigrated them. And so when he gets up here and talks about us trying to make Juneteenth a holiday as being divisible, I just can't even take it anymore. I listen to this man every single time he comes up here. I have kept my mouth quiet. But I'm done not challenging these people when they get up here and try to fool our community.
He doesn't even know that Saint Patrick's Day is not a state holiday or a national holiday. And the only reason we don't celebrate it, in fact, the state is actually possibly preventing us from even having our parade next year because their new anti DEI legislation that takes place in January says, you can't celebrate any kind of cultural celebration if it's not a recognized state or federal holiday. So Saint Patrick's Day might be done for us. We'll have to find out. But that man is nothing but hate and I'm tired of it. And I excuse me if I'm getting a little emotional, but I just about had it had it with that guy.
Alright. Thank you. Commissioner Beasley Pittman, did you wanna say something?
Yes. Just wanted to just highlight the the positiveness of Juneteenth. We know that that holiday the holiday, it commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. It was a point where our nation did a pivot. And then also, that was the last state that was notified or advised of the end of slavery.
So it there's much, opportunity for us as a, nation, as a city, as a community to celebrate that freedom that was officially known across our nation. Also, it's a day where our community comes together and recognize and celebrate our history, our culture, achievements. It's not a day of of day of diverse of being divisive. It's a point where we come together, where we invite everyone to be a part of the celebration. So I wanted to bring that part that portion to the floor to this conversation as well as education and awareness.
And just bringing that to this part of the conversation right now indicates why it is so needed and so important that we as a city celebrate Juneteenth. Just that part about education and awareness of Juneteenth. Thank you.
Alright. Thank you. And it's a national holiday.
Yes. It is a national holiday.
It is a holiday.
Mayor? Yes.
It is.
If I could add, we have with Teamsters and the Federation Unions agreed to Juneteenth as part of our city holiday list. We also have been in negotiations with our police union as well as our fire union and both unions have requested that Juneteenth be an acknowledged and celebrated holiday. And so we have several other municipalities in Broward County that also recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. So we're definitely not doing anything that is outside of the norm for our community And we are looking forward to negotiating those agreements to include Juneteenth.
All right. Thank you. Anyone else on the commission wish to speak? Okay. There being none, the other person who signed up to speak on consent agenda item is Greg Parks regarding the CP1, which is the Red Speed Florida. Just for information. I'm sorry?
Just for information if needed.
Okay. All right. So that's it. And everybody else, Steve Witten. Steve, you're just for questions. Mr. Willy Wonka, thank you for your candy. And Stephanie, the same thing. Okay. We're good. All right. Do I hear a motion approve all the consent agenda items?
Moved. Second.
Moved. Seconded. Please call the roll.
And mayor, that's minus c p one because that's moving to the motion section.
Correct. Minus c
p Yep.
Not including c p one.
Thank you. Right.
Because that's
been pulled. Right.
Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
Yes.
Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentov?
Yes. And all the consent agenda items are now approved. So if you hear on any of those, your item has been approved. We thank you for being here in the meeting. You're certainly welcome to stay and listen to the rest of the meeting. Moving on to motions. I was supposed to take up hold on just a second. City manager, which one did we move?
What's that, mayor? C c
p one was the one that.
Yeah. Okay. So we'll take up CP one now as a motion. Motion approving an agreement for request for proposals, automated school speed zone detection camera program. So no one has signed up to speak other than this gentleman who's here just for the to respond to questions. Anyone from the commission have any questions? Do I hear a motion to approve? Moved.
Second.
Moved and seconded. Please call the roll.
Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorensen?
Yes.
Vice Mayor Herbst? John? Vice Mayor Herbst?
Yes.
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentalis?
Yes. And CP1 now turned into M1 has been approved. Okay. Moving on to the scheduled M1, motion approving a design build agreement for request for proposals, federal courthouse parking garage, Finfrock Enterprises. Any questions with regard to that? No one to sign up to speak? Judge, you wanna speak? Okay. Do I hear a motion to approve?
Move to approve and build as fast as possible, mayor. Yeah. We don't want the judge upset with us,
mayor. Second.
Please. Thank you. He's usually got the gal. Right.
Please. Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Any questions? There being none, please call the roll.
Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis?
Yes. And M1 is now approved. Let's get it built, right? Okay. M2, motion approving a services agreement between the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency. No one has signed up to speak. Anyone have any questions? There being none, please call the roll.
I just need a first and second.
So moved. Second. Okay.
Commissioner Beeson Pitman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Tarantellis?
Yes. And m two is now approved. M three, motion designating representative to the 10 most populous city seat on Florida League of Cities Board of Directors. That's a position that I've usually held. I like to continue to hold that.
You're doing a great job. I nominate you.
Thank you. Do I hear a second? Second. Okay. Please call the roll.
So that Glassman moved it and And
Sorensen second.
Alright. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst?
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Where is it? Mayor Turtles.
Yes. And m three is now approved. M four, motion designating the city of Fort Lauderdale voting delegate an alternate for National League of Cities twenty twenty six city summit and annual business meeting. Pam, is
that something you still wanna do? She's doing a great job. I nominated her. Keep it up. Where's he's
doing a
good job and looking good while still doing Excellent job.
Where is it next where is it this November?
Doesn't matter. She'll go anywhere. Anywhere.
Commit. Where is it, Pam?
Nashville.
Beautiful. Nashville. Oh, yeah. It is Nashville. Yeah.
Nice museums.
Well, we need an alternate also. Who would like to be the alternate? I think I was the alternate last year.
Right? You're doing a great job. Second.
Alright. I'll stay as alternate. It's been moved to seconded. Please call the roll. I'm glad to see you have such a unanimous schedule.
We're so happy about your performance and the commissioner Beasley Pittman's You.
Thank you.
Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herz?
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Tarantales?
Yes. And that motion is now approved. Moving on to resolutions, the appointment of board and committee members. Mister Clerk, would you please read the names into the record?
Thank you, mayor. So before I read the names, I wanted to just bring up the we also do have a vacancy on the large users wastewater advisory board for one of the commissioners or on the commission. Want to see if anyone's interested.
I already got one on there. The the waste He's got solid waste. Yeah. Got solid liquid. Come on, commissioner Glass. Sounds right us are out.
I'm busy that day. I just checked my calendar.
Sorry. Liquid.
It's only once a quarter.
Once a quarter. It's nothing. You can do that.
Come on. We can do that.
If we don't
have anybody. Oh, Dave, you want to do it?
I'm I'm booked with this latest appointment that I'm gonna
be getting. So thank you.
John Herbst, vice mayor, why don't you be I
did it.
I'm passing it off to somebody else now.
It's once a quarter.
Oh, it's four times two minutes.
I hear you can appear by Zoom.
That's
Fine. I will keep doing it. I tried not to, but
I will
do it one more time.
You're doing a great job. I nominate vice mayor Hurst.
Thank you for your service.
I'll bring it back at the next meeting.
We just did. Okay.
Thank you.
Alright. So for the April 7 resolution, Board of Adjustment, Robert Wolf, nominated by Vice Mayor Herps Douglas Meade nominated by Vice Mayor Herps and for tonight's resolution, Economic Development Advisory Board, Benjamin Greaves nominated by Mayor Trentalis Education Advisory Board, Heather Pumper Brinkworth, nominated by Vice Mayor Herbst Housing Authority, the City of Fort Lauderdale Board of Commissioners Nicole Blake, nominated by Mayor Trentellis Marine Advisory Board, Katherine Fernandez, nominated by Commissioner Beasley Pittman Planning and Zoning Board, Monty Lalwani nominated by mayor Trentell. So that rounds it out.
Okay. Great. Are there any modifications or additions to those introduced tonight? There being none. Someone like to introduce the resolution. Introduced. The resolution has been introduced. Please call the roll.
A resolution of the city commission of the City Of Fort Lauderdale, Florida appoint appointing or nominating, if applicable, Boarding Committee members as set forth in the exhibit attached hereto and made a part here of. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentels?
Yes. And those board and committee members are now going to be members of those boards and committees and we want to thank each and every one of them for their commitment to their community. Thank you. Our two resolution appointing the city of Fort Lauderdale voting director alternate and second alternate to the Broward League of Cities Board of Directors. I believe Pam you're the you're the director. Correct? The voting director? Yes.
Yes. And I hear nothing but incredible things from
all the other people in the county
about her service on that board. I nominate her to continue.
Well, we need okay. We need an alternate and a second alternate.
Well, you are the alternate and you are the alternate.
Are the alternate.
I am the alternate. But who's
gonna the second alternate? Is there a second alternate?
Yes. I'll I'll happily be the second alternate. If we need that. Yes.
Okay. Very good. All right. So Commissioner Glassman introduced the resolution nominating Commissioner Beasley Pittman, myself as alternate and Commissioner Sorenson as second alternate. Please call the roll.
A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida appointing Pamela Beasley Pittman as director to serve on the twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven Board of Directors of the Broward League of Cities, Dean J. Trentel as alternate for the twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven Board of Directors of the Broward League of Cities and Ben Sorenson as second alternate for the twenty twenty twenty twenty seven board of directors of the Broward League of Cities. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentos?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. Thank you for your service. R3 resolution approving a third amendment to the operations agreement and operational transition schedule with the Broward Performing Arts Center Authority, the Discovery Center and the Downtown Development Authority related to the Arts And Science District parking facility. Anyone have any questions with regard to that? There being none, someone would like to introduce the resolution. Introduced. Resolution has been introduced. Please call the roll.
A resolution city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida approving and authorizing execution of the third amendment to the operations agreement relating to the Arts And Science District parking facility between the city of Fort Lauderdale, the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale, the Discovery Center Inc. And the Performing Arts Center Authority to change the operating agent from the City of Fort Lauderdale to the Performing Arts Center Authority, delegating authority to the City Manager to manage the coordination of the transition of duties and responsibilities on behalf of the city of Fort Lauderdale pursuant to the transition schedule and execute any and all documents necessary to effectuate the transition of duties and responsibilities on behalf of the city of Fort Lauderdale and providing for an effective date. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson?
Vice mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman?
Mayor Trent Ellis?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. R four, this is a resolution delegating to the city manager the authority to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District for a grant of up to $75,000 to design and permit floating docks at the George English Park Tennis and Pickleball Center. No. Tennis Center dock. No one has signed up to speak. Someone like to introduce the resolution. Introduce. Anyone have any questions? There being none, please call
the roll.
A resolution to city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida delegating the city manager the authority to execute and submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District Waterway Assistance Program for grant funding of up to to 75,000 for the design and permit for floating docks at the George English Park Tennis Center Dock Project. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst?
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Turcotales?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. R5, a resolution delegating the city manager the authority to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District's Waterways Assistance Program for $85,000 to design and permit an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible kayak launch and floating dock at the North Fork Riverfront Park. No one has signed up to speak. Someone like to introduce the resolution. Introduce. Resolution has been introduced. Any questions? There being none, please call the roll.
A resolution of the city commissioner of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida delegating the city manager the authority to execute and submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District Waterway Assistance Program for grant funding of up to 85,000 for the design and permit of an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible kayak launch and floating dock for the North Fork Riverfront Park project. Commissioner Beezer Pitman?
Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst?
Commissioner Glassman?
Mayor Trentales?
Yes. And R5 is now approved. Moving on to public hearings, PH1. This is a public hearing, a quasi judicial hearing to consider a resolution for a waiver of limitations at 736 Northeast 20th Avenue for two triple mooring pile clusters extending 60 feet plus or minus and three triple pile clusters extending a maximum distance of 120 feet plus or minus as measured from the property line to the adjacent waters of the Middle River. Anyone wishing to speak must be sworn in and the commission will announce any site visits, communications or expert opinions received and make them a part of the record.
Vice mayor, do you have any disclosures? Vice mayor?
None.
None. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
No disclosures.
Okay. I do. I met with the applicant this past week. Commissioner Glassman.
I met with the applicant on 03/12/2026. I also had communication with the Victoria Park Civic Association
president.
Okay. Commissioner Sorensen? None. None. Two people signed up to speak. Alejandra Geraldo. Is Alejandra here? Questions. Only to Mr. Witten, did the Marine Advisory Board have an opinion about this? Would you like to come forward and tell us as Chair of the Board what the Marine Advisory Board has recommended?
Mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, thank you very much. So that, this came before us. I believe it was in January, at that time. We had a tight vote. The MAB recommended denial of it.
There is no navigational concern. As I might have shared, this went under the category of fool me one, shame on me. This, what it really came down to is the history of the applicant and the use of the property where, again, in this case, as attorney Dunkel has made clear, the, whoever either owns or rents the property or uses the boat slip also has to occupy the premises. So in this case, the history of the applicant was such that no matter what happened, the board members who had been around the block a few times felt that the representation wasn't exactly clear and that the history was that the applicant had rented out the slip previously. There was some confusion on the size of the boat.
It was initially represented at 98 feet, and then it grew up to 115 feet. Again, the we had recommended rejection, based upon the history, to be perfectly honest, the width of the waterway and everything else, if there wasn't an issue with that, we probably would have approved it. So it's based upon the negative history of the applicant.
Okay. So the actual encroachment into the waterway was not the issue, it was more like the conduct of the applicant and the activities that were taking place over time that were found to be offensive and therefore the Marine Advisory Board decided not to vote in favor. Is that correct?
That is correct. There was a concern that construction began there before permitting, but the construction that began was within the permitted allowance that we have, etcetera. So there was no issue with that. So it really came down to the fact that the a number of the members of the board have been around the block and a couple senior guys knew what the history of. That's really what it came
down to. Alright. Thank you so much. Thank you. Commissioner Glassman, do you wanna comment on this?
I I do. So Steve, first of all, thank you for your work with the entire marine advisory board. So here's where I struggle whenever I see an eight to seven vote. That that's such a split. And I I
think you've answered this question to a certain extent because you said if you get rid
of that history and this was just like a first time coming to you, this most likely would have
been approved. Correct? To be completely honest, yes. I believe it would
have been approved.
And I and I thank you for that honesty. But so here's where I struggle with that. I struggle with that because so is
this an enforcement issue or is this
a code issue or should we be doing a better job as a city enforcing the rules that are in that zoning district which basically means you can't rent out that dock. You need to it needs to be your property and you need
to be there and you just can't start a commercial enterprise and you can't advertise for, you know, charters or whatever else. So that's that's why I'm having difficulty with this because any other kind of a request like this that has come to the marine advisory board would basically be approved. That's correct.
And and Bob Dunkel has spent a great deal of time on this. And in discussing this, when we look at this he's hiding over there, Dean. So the when we look at this, again, on the surface, it would seem as if it does comply. So, again, we seem like we're signaling out somebody for bad history. Bob Dunkel has has suggested that there might be a possibility that we approved it, subject to making it very clear that anything other than the applicant's vote there is is indeed an enforcement issue.
But so much of what we come down to is enforcement. When we started first started working on that street, that street's pretty screwed on. You can't see anything from the street. It's very hard to get to the houses. There's a lot of illegal dockage activity there. And one of the members of our board said, why don't we simply send code over there and start walking down the street? That seems unfair to do because we have that same issue almost any canal, anywhere we go is there's an enforcement issue, but it comes down to compliance. In this particular location, again, it's a wide canal and there is no issue with navigation whatsoever.
Right. And I Northeast 20th, you're right. It has had a history and we've had cases come before us and especially right here where people have been upset and the neighborhood's been upset. I did speak I had communication with the neighborhood president. They they're not objecting to this. Objecting to it. They're not objecting to
this. No.
So the history the history, excuse me, is that back in 2019, the Marine Advisory Board did approve this, and it was actually turned down by the city commission for exactly the release and based upon the history of the applicant. So we had just the reverse situation then. So it's up to you guys. It's a very tentative situation. I think if we have proper enforcement, proper compliance, we can probably maintain that. And this will have to do again when we get to another waiver. We keep talking about, you guys have seen me share our whiteboard. One of the things on the whiteboard is make boating and access to the waterfront available for everybody. We want everybody. You've been working hard on that.
You slowed the speed down. So we want the applicant to have their boat there, but we just want a clearer picture of what they're doing. And, there should be proper compliance with this as well in enforcement.
I agree. Thank you.
Thank you, madam.
Thank you, Steve. So what did the what resulted from your meeting with the president of Victoria Park? What was their what was the opinion of the of the community?
No no objections. No objection. Okay. But again, I I think if we do decide as a commission to approve this, we have to make sure that we're monitoring the situation as a city that we're enforcement seems to
be the key here.
People are nervous about the history. Again, the applicant has said that at that time, he was not aware of some of those rules and regulations. I'm just saying because I've, you know, I've I've met with the applicant. So I'm just saying that, you know, I in my opinion, I'm thinking that because of the fact that this is not a navigational issue, because of the of the width there of the waterways, I'm willing to actually approve this, but again, that city staff really stay on top of this and
make sure that we're enforcing.
The thing is that, you know, we shouldn't be here rewarding bad behavior. So and my doubts as to the veracity of those statements that the applicant didn't know about the rules is I think baloney because this is not the first time that this applicant has come before here and we've had complaints about the activity that's taking place there. And the resources that we have as a city to sit on top of these people and make sure they comply with impossible to procure. We just don't have enough resources to 20th Avenue alone could take up the whole team because there's so many violations there. But at the same time, I think this is more this application is not about behavior.
It's about it's about compliance with the with our practice of extending docs and doc waivers and it's consistent with what we have there already. Correct? We have already have something that's this far out.
This is not as Steve said, this is not an unusual request. And, typically, if it wasn't for the history and the behavior, it would most likely have passed at the marine advisory board. Again, eight to seven eight to seven is a real split vote. So, you know, there's not any kind of mandate either way here.
But what's your recommendation then?
Well, again, that bad behavior was seven years ago. I'm I'm always willing to give someone a second chance. And, you know, if if as Steve said, fool me once, you know, whatever the rest of that expression is. But I'm hoping that that doesn't happen a second time. And, the reason I reached out to the to the neighborhood was just to see what, you know, the temperature was there.
I'm I'm willing to give this a chance and, again, making sure that the applicant's representation goes back and please make sure that they understand that this is you know, we're just not gonna accept any more violations and we're not gonna accept any more of that kind of past behavior. And we're doing this, At least if we do pass this, we're doing this with a, you know, maybe perhaps an olive branch and saying, okay, but please abide by the rules.
Okay. Does anyone else wish to speak on this item? You're being I have mister
mayor. Yes. Go ahead. Listening to this, I understand that, Steve, you spoke to the neighbors and everyone is okay with the approval with this. But I'm also hearing where compliance and being in align with the the code, Who's watching this now? We say yes or we say no. Who's gonna are we gonna really stick to the plan to make sure that we stay in compliance? That's my that's where I'm on the fence at. Because right now, how long has this been going on? And and it's just now being brought back to the to us?
It's not so much, that it's been going on all these many years. There was there were incidents that occurred years ago.
Okay.
Yeah. And and currently, the neighbors don't seem to think that there's any interference with their quality of life. So something that was done years ago, the the the point that's being made is we shouldn't, you know, deny them the the ability to have this dock waiver extension for something that that happened years ago.
And this is a different boat, commissioner, than Okay. Than the boat that was presented to us, like, seven years ago.
Same owner, different boat? Correct. Same property, only a different boat?
Correct.
Okay. Alright. Thank you. You're welcome. Would someone
like to move to close public hearing? Moved. Second.
We move the seconded. Please call the roll.
Commissioner Beasley Pittman.
Yes. Standing with this city commissioner of approving it.
No. This is just for a closing public hearing.
Closing. Yes.
Commissioner Sorensen? Yes. Vice mayor Herbst?
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentales?
Yes. And public hearing is now closed on PH one. Would someone like to introduce the ordinance? Introduced. Excuse me. The resolution. Introduced.
And that's for approval? Yes. Thank you. A resolution of the City Commission of the City Of Fort Lauderdale, Florida pursuant to Section 40 seven-19.3 of the City Of Fort Lauderdale, Florida Unified Land Development Regulations granting a waiver of the limitations of ULDR Section 40 seven-19.3 to permit 1,476,446 Ontario Limited Installation and use of two triple mooring pile clusters extending 60 feet plus or minus and three sets of triple pile mooring clusters extending of a maximum distance of 120 feet plus or minus into the adjacent waters of the Middle River, such property being located at 736 Northeast 20th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312, and more particularly described below, subject to certain terms and conditions repealing any and all parts of resolutions in conflict herewith and providing for an effective date. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. And Mayor Trent Ellis?
Yes. And that ordinance is now approved. So thank you. Right. Excuse me, resolutions. OFR one first reading. This is an ordinance amending Section thirteen-one 151 Ambulance Transport User Fees of the code of ordinances to modify emergency medical service transport user fees for basic life support, advanced life support, and advanced life support level two. No one has signed up to speak. Someone like to introduce the ordinance. Introduce. The ordinance has been introduced. Any questions or comments? There being none, please call the roll.
And ordinance of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida amending article five emergency medical transport services of chapter 13 fire prevention and protection section thirteen-one 151 ambulance transport transport user fees of the code of ordinances of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida by increasing ambulance transport user fees and providing for severability repeal of conflicting ordinance provisions at an effective date. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice mayor Herbst?
Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentales?
Yes. And OFR one is now approved on first reading. OSR one, this is second reading of a quasi judicial ordinance approving vacation of right of way, 40 foot wide by 140 feet long portion of Southeast 2nd Court. John Terrell, Agnes Howard, Luciano and Meyer del Valle Bonaldo. Anyone wishing to speak must be sworn in. The commission will announce any site visits, communications, or expert opinions received and make them a part of the record. Vice mayor, do you have any additional disclosures to make on this item? Vice mayor?
I met with mister Lockery.
Okay. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
No new.
I have no additional disclosures. Commissioner Glassman? No new. And Commissioner Sorensen? No new. Okay. So Mr. Lockrey just just signed up for answer any questions. Anyone wishing to anyone else wishing to speak on this item? There being no. Someone please move to close public hearing.
Move to close. Second.
Move and seconded. Please call the roll to close public hearing.
Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Swanson?
Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trentals?
Yes. A public hearing on OSR one is now approved. Would someone like to introduce the ordinance? Introduced. The ordinance has been introduced. Please call the roll.
In Orrin's of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida vacating an approximately 40 foot wide by a 140 foot portion of Southeast 2nd Court right of way line between the west line of Lot 5, Block 3 amended Platte of Oak Ridge according to the Platte thereof as recorded in Platte Book 10, Page 48 of the public records of Broward County, Florida, extended southerly and east of said Lot 5 extended southerly located West of Rio Navarro Waterway north of East Los Oles Boulevard, East of South Victoria Park Road and South of Southeast 2nd Street, all said lands being in the city of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida. Commissioner Beasley Pittman?
Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis?
Yes. And that ordinance is now approved on second reading. So we have several walk on resolutions. So let's begin with those. These are the ones I announced at the beginning of the meeting. The first walk on resolution delegates authority to the city manager to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District Waterway Assistance Program for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula Public Promenade Construction. Someone like to introduce the resolution. I'm sorry. I didn't hear any of that.
Somebody's trying. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I somebody driving somewhere. He's got ways on.
Okay. Okay. No one has signed up to speak. Anyone have any questions? There being none, please call the roll.
A resolution of the city commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida authorizing the city manager to submit a grant application in the amount of $407,500 to the Florida Inland Navigation District for construction of the West Promenade for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula located at 501 Seabreeze Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida subject to conditions delegating authority to the city manager to to execute it in any all documents necessary or incidental to the grant application providing for an effective date. Commissioner Beasley Bittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice mayor Herbst?
He's on the fastest route.
Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. I think that was a yes. I think that was
a yes.
That was a yes.
That was a yes.
Okay. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. Now second resolution delegating authority to the city manager to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District Waterway Assistance Program for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula Public Promenade Design. This is on the elevated portion. Someone someone like to introduce the resolution? Introduce. The resolution has been introduced. Does anyone have any questions? There being none, please call the roll.
A resolution City Commission of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida authorizing City Manager to submit a grant application in the amount of $282,500 to the Florida Inland Navigation District for the design of the elevated public promenade for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula located at 501 Sea Breeze Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, subject to conditions and delegating authority of the city manager to execute any and all documents necessary or incidental to the grant application providing for an effective date. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trent House?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. Next walk on resolution, a resolution delegating authority to the city manager to submit a grant application to the Florida Inland Navigation District Waterway Systems Program for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula Public Elevated Promenade Construction. Would someone like to introduce the resolution? Introduced. Resolution has been introduced. Any questions? No one signed up to speak. Please call the roll.
A resolution to city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida authorizing the city manager to submit a grant application in the amount of 5,000,000 to the Florida Inland Navigation District for the construction of the proposed elevated public promenade for the International Swimming Hall of Fame Peninsula located at 501 Sea Breeze Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, subject to conditions and delegating authority to the city manager to execute any and all documents necessary or incidental to the grant application and providing for an effective date. Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson? Yes. Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trent Ellis?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. Our final walk on resolution is appointing an alternate representative to the Solid Waste Disposal and Recyclable Materials Processing Authority of Broward County, Florida. Would someone like to introduce the resolution?
Introduce proudly. With gusto. Proudly.
Yes. So excited. Excited. Anyone have any regrets?
I mean, Yes. Hear you. Regrets. Please
call A resolution to the city commission of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida appointing an alternate representative to represent the City Of Fort Lauderdale on the governing board of the solid waste disposal and recyclable materials processing authority of Broward County, Florida providing for an effective Commissioner Beasley Pittman? Yes. Commissioner Sorenson?
Vice Mayor Herbst? Yes. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Mayor Trenton?
Yes. And that resolution is now approved. Thank you so much, Commissioner Sorenson. Thank you. You know let me just say something. Know with regard to recyclables it would be great if the city of Fort Lauderdale began a program of commercial recycling. We do not have the restaurants and bars all those thousands and thousands of bottles and cans just get dumped into a regular the regular landfill or however else we dispose of other garbage. It'd be nice to if we could somehow recapture that if that ever comes up in conversation.
I will happily advocate tomorrow.
Could you please? I appreciate that. And you know
what else, Mayor, I'd like in addition to that is composting. Would love a composting Composting. Go have a composting in addition to what we do. Well.
Well, we've had a compost site at Snyder Park. And then we suspended that even before we built the pickleball courts there. So to find a site would be great because I think composting would be important.
I think that was just for seaweed.
Well, we did that, but we discovered or I went to a panel discussion at Nova one day and during the one of the panelists said, oh, by the way, you know, seaweed is like chock full of arsenic. And so I spoke to our people and they said, yeah, it is full of arsenic. So we were we were giving people compost materials so they can poison their their ground with arsenic. So we stopped. So there's another filtration process to get rid of the arsenic, but we didn't. So anyway, I think that the seaweed we didn't have a bit as big of a seaweed issue this year, did we? I think we did. But you're right though. We'd be nice to have a compost site. City managers, any further business with the commission? You can
take the lead.
Would the commission like us to investigate potential compost?
I can't hear you.
Would the commission like us to investigate
opportunities Yes, would love for that. Yes, please.
Okay. We can look into it.
Yes. Thank you very much.
We can also bury our political enemies there too. Can we do that too?
Grind them up. No comment.
So So That's So
a very strong do you have any anything further?
Was very strong, wasn't it?
No, ma'am.
Thank Okay.
So here it is.
750. Let it be seen. 750. We ended this meeting. Thank you.
This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.