City Council - Regular Meeting

Our regular scheduled council meeting for August. Today is August 13th, 2025. The time is now 10 10 a.m. And I hereby call this meeting to order. All right. Just a reminder, please silence your phones. If you must take a call, please kindly step outside and let's maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mayor, you have quorum. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilwoman Reynoso.

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.

Before we go into the invocation, I would like to quickly ask for a moment of silence for Alejandro Ruiz Martinez, a valued member of our parks and recreation team who tragically lost his life last week. In his honor, the city of Doral flew its flag at half staff, half mass, I'm sorry, of August 11th. The city of Doral will not be the same without him, and we send our condolences not only to his family but to his colleagues and friends as well. So if we can please take a moment of silence. Okay, thank you very much. We will now have our invocation done by Pastor Padma from Mi Casa de Oración.

Thank you, Pastor. All right, before we proceed, I want to take a moment of personal privilege to introduce something we're going to be trying out here in the city. As many of you may know, when I was first elected in 2022 as mayor, I brought forward an item that we wanted to provide opportunities for members of the public to hear our meeting in the language that they preferred, translation services to increase engagement and participation in our meetings. We did a study. We looked, and it turned out to be quite costly. Well, recently, I went to the clerk Technology is always advancing and cha

Sure, absolutely. So we're going to move the manager's report up to right after public comments. Okay. City Attorney? City Attorney?

We can leave yours where it is, if that's okay. Mayor. We'll now go to Councilman Pinedo.

All right. Councilwoman Reynoso. Yes. I would like to pull my item, 9H. Yes. Okay. And the reason why is... I was told, I was informed that there is going to be a rescue truck that is going to be added to Fire Station 45 by August 18th. For whatever reason that's not done, I'm going to place the item again on the agenda.

And also, Councilwoman, just to let you know, I have been in contact with the fire chief. He's going to come do his report, his annual report. I think somebody's here. Oh, okay. So I spoke to Erica Benitez. Are you doing the report today? Okay, okay, so I believe they're gonna come do, I've been in contact with his chief of staff for him to come do his yearly report to see if he comes in September. I know he had some issues, so. Yeah, we were trying to do it for this month, but so I think for September, he's gonna come give his report, so it'll be a great time to. Great, thank you. Thank you.

Okay, 6-0 for discussion. Mm-hm. All right, Councilwoman Cabral.

Morning, so it will be I'm gonna pull 6c 6e and 6x 6c 6e and 6x.

Okay. Give me one second, please 6c 6e and 6x X yes x-ray X.

I have a clarification for the city attorney. The councilman has pulled a settlement. What is your recommendation since those have all been discussed in the shade sessions?

All right. Okay, Madam Clerk, do you have anything? Okay, perfect. All right. Thank you. That's all. Anything else from anyone else? No?

All right, we will now open the floor for public comments. Each speaker will have three minutes to address an item on today's agenda or anything germane to this council. Please begin by stating your name and address for the record. We ask that you please keep your comments respectful to this council. Make sure you register with the city clerk's office. I do have comment cards in those who are preregistered, so I will start with those, and then I will open it up to anyone who has not registered and would like to speak. I'm gonna go ahead and call Miles Davis. Mr. Davis.

Thank you, Mr. Davis. All right, I have no other comment cards at this time. Anyone who would like to speak, this is your reasonable opportunity. Please approach the podium. Okay, being none, we are now closing public comments and moving on to the next item, which I believe will be the manager's report.

Thank you, Michael. We're happy to have you. We have a growing Parks and Recreation Department and system, and we have a great team. You guys are all wonderful, and we know that you coming on board is just going to continue to enhance that.

Thank you, Mayor. Perfect. Thank you very much, Madam Manager. That fulfills the manager's report. And now, Madam Clerk, if you could please read the items that will be passed in the consent agenda.

And 6O was pulled by Councilwoman Reynoso.

And we will hear those at the end of the discussion. Correct. All right. I need a motion on the consent agenda. Motion to approve by Councilman Finedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right. Okay. Let the record reflect. The motion has passed unanimously. We'll now move into the minutes. I need a motion on the minutes.

I have a motion by Councilman Reynoso, second by Councilman Finedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. Let the record reflect that the motion has passed unanimously, and now we will move into presentations.

Who do we have today for our Keep Doral Beautiful? Oh, Mr. Edgar Estrada, nice to see you.

All right. Welcome. Thank you very much for joining us. Please approach the podium. Would you like to say anything?

Awesome. Well, I've had the pleasure of visiting and taking a tour. It's beautiful, and we want to thank you for your investments in our community. If you would come up, we'll take a quick picture.

Okay. I believe that's the only presentation we have on the agenda for today, so we'll move into discussion items.

Okay, I believe the manager actually addressed this during her manager's report, so there's... Motion to table?

There's a motion to table the item and a second on the floor.

This is my item and my memo is attached to each of my colleagues. I worked on this with the city attorney after reviewing the city's charter and the Citizens Bill of Rights on promoting transparency, honesty and fairness on how information is shared with the public and reviewing previous case law. It's come to our attention that Flyers and official advertisements of the city are being altered to incorporate photos or logos of other entities, individuals or members of the commission of the council, and this could lead to. a misrepresentation to the public of these events and how we as a body mo

So I know you added some sample flyers that were mine. Connie, can you help me pass these out? I just wanna make sure that I'm using more examples of what we can or cannot do. So what Connie's passing out is a flyer with three pictures of three council members for a city event. So for the attorney, and you'll get a flyer too, can you confirm that this would also serve as an example of what's prohibited? I don't think so. This is not a city flyer. Look on the other side. We didn't alter the city fire. I just want to confirm. Mr. Attorney?

Any other questions? Yes. Motion to approve. Okay, there's a motion on the table. Is there a second? Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso, and Councilwoman Reynoso has a comment, and I also will have a comment after.

So I disagree with the example that Vice Mayor has presented to us. The original flyers in the front, additional information is in the back. But I have seen examples where I would classify it as political plagiarism when it's the exact flyer in the front and either a banner at the bottom with whatever council member, Vice Mayor, making it seem that this is being an event brought to by whoever that picture is on the bottom or on the top or wherever it may be. So... That's all my comments for this one.

Thank you, Councilwoman Reynoso. Yeah, I have the same comments. I think with the examples that were included in the agenda, the difference for what was passed out, and I appreciate you pointing this out because it's definitely a good comparison piece. Um, the difference is when you take an actual city flyer produced by our, you know, our department public affairs, and then you add your picture or your logo to it and say, like, if it's your event, as a matter of fact, I got an email, which I should have included in the back backup of this item. And I just came to my attention again, um, that t

Thank you, Mayor. Well, it's not a secret that the Silver Club is one of my favorite groups that we have in the city of Doral. And I do believe we have been improving the program, especially in the last year. They're very happy with all the programming, all the events, everything that we're hosting for them, not only as a city, but also when we do individual events for them as well. And this initiative will just reserve hours once a month at the new aquatic center only for our Silver Club members. During these reserve hours, participants will be offered specialized programming such as aqua aer

Any questions, comments, a motion? I have a comment. Okay, Councilor Reynoso. I'm actually jealous.

I wish I would have thought of this before. So this is a great item, Councilman Pinedo. I would like to co-sponsor the event.

All right, any other comments? Do you have a motion? Absolutely. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Reynoso. Second by Councilman Pinedo. If there's no other comments or questions, we will entertain the motion on the table.

Thank you, Mayor. Deciding is something that we have been discussing and working on for especially for the past year. And as a matter of fact, when when I had the chance to go to Tallahassee, it's something that I brought to our state representative, David Barreto's attention to and he took it in. in a very serious way and he has been very supportive on these matters since I brought it to his attention. We all know that certainly the increasing of micro mobility options such as electric bicycles, scooters, and other small motorized personal transportation dividers has created both opportunitie

Thank you, Councilman Pinero. Any questions or comments? Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reynoso. Second by Councilman Pinedo. I just want to thank Councilman Pinedo for bringing this item up. I think this is extremely important, and I think that it's prudent for us to codify an ordinance with these regulations. It's obviously something we've been asking for, and we have been restricted from the state. So with the new legislation that gives us the authority to do that, I think it's wonderful. So I hope to see this come back as soon as possible. Thank you. Thank you. All right, Madam

Thank you. So as you all know, I am expecting with a due date of December 25th of this year, and this is my notice to the Council that I will be absent from the meetings from November through March of next year. And this is my request for the council to pre-approve those absences as excused. And so I hope that my colleagues can support it. And with that, I'll make a motion.

Second. There's a motion on the table and a second. I have a comment. Yes, Councilwoman Reynoso. Through the mayor, city manager, or deputy city manager,

How much time do full-time employees have for parental leave?

Okay. Again, to clarify and summarize, parental leave is only four weeks, which is 30 days.

All right, thank you. So Vice Mayor, I wanna start by saying that I deeply understand the season of your life that you're in right now. As a mother of three, I have walked through some of the most challenging and emotional moments while still carrying significant responsibility. Now, I'm going to give a heavily abridged version of my own journey of being pregnant. When I had my first child, I was 24 years old. I was starting a master's, and I was working full time. My second child was born while I was in law school, and he came into this world with a serious heart condition that required medic

Thank you, Councilwoman. Any other comments? Councilman Pinedo?

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, congratulations. It's nice to see, I mean, and thanks to the city manager that provided the email regarding previous council members that have been here, well, including the mayor, that has been here or part of the council during their pregnancy. I didn't know that Councilwoman Maria Rodriguez, our state senator now, during her second pregnancy in 2014, didn't miss any meetings due to pregnancy. And I know back then the Vice Mayor Fraga, Councilwoman Fraga back then as well. So I thank Councilwoman Reynoso for her comments and certainly as a father, And that's w

Thank you, Councilman. I'd like to make some comments as well. If I may? Oh, sure, go ahead. Sure, so thank you.

I know that we're all sharing here our pregnancies and how it went. He's also sharing the time that he was off. And I didn't know that it was just one month, even though we're not considered employees, isn't it, Mr. Attorney? We're not.

Yes, so we don't fall into it. But I think that more than I'm just sharing, you know, how our pregnancies go, that I'm going to share mine too. Because on my first one, I went four days after giving birth to work. The second, I went the seventh day to work. And then when I lost my third, 10 days after the loss of my pregnancy on my third. And on the fourth... I was in respite from 32 weeks because I was bleeding with three centimeters. So I was almost going to have a premature child. But thank God I was able to hold it. And she was there also all the way to term. And I went right away. It was

agree with Councilman Cabral on some of these issues. So first, you know, again, congratulations. It's an incredible experience and honor to be a mother and to go through this period of your life. And we want to support that as best as possible. I share on both sides many of the same concerns. And as someone who was an elected official through my pregnancy, and worked the entire time. I think that there is definitely a middle ground and I understand the concern. First, I want to say being pregnant is not a disability. It's not a disability. Being a mother is not a disability. We come and we ar

But the charter does say you cannot have four consecutive absences.

Okay, so the other thing I just wanted to confirm, and I know the manager confirmed it, is we are not considered employees. So while the employees get four weeks of paid leave, and Councilman Cabral, to your point, Our employees do get up to 12 weeks of paid leave, and their job is secured, but they have to take the FMLA, which is accrued time, PTO, and all these things. So we do do that already, and I agree with Councilman Pinedo. I think it's really important to have consistency in how we treat our employees. We're no different, I think, in how we should treat ourselves and govern ourselves

We can also extend that courtesy in one of those meetings. So if you take December and then you want to participate in January via phone, we can consider that as well. What I say is there's a lot of options to make this amicable and work. And we want to support you in this journey. But I think that requesting five months of parental leave of absence is really I think it is a borderline violation of the charter. I also think that it's very aggressive and sends a wrong message to our staff. So I made an amendment to your motion if you're willing to take that.

OK, so I have another. Since that's not one you're willing to take, I have another amendment to the motion in that case. So my other amendment to your motion would be that you relinquish all activities, meaning we will not see you at any city event. We will not see you at any of our city participating in any of the city activities, as well as council meetings, and you will relinquish your pay for four months.

I'm sure you guys would like to not see me for five months, but that's not going to happen. No, as a matter of fact, we're not. I'm going to reject all of your amendments, and I have some comments after you're done.

So it's not the matter that we don't want to see you. As a matter of fact, we want you here. That's exactly what we're saying. We want you to be here and participate. But I think it's unfair to say you want us to pre-approved five months of absences of the council, but you're going to go to events. Because if you can be out there at events and interacting with the public, then you can be here doing the work of the public. So that's my position on this. And I'm sorry that you won't take the friendly amendment, because I really do want to support this for you. But I think that what you're doing

Well, thank you. I mean, it's really disappointing to see a council that is supposed to be family oriented, supporting families, trying to deny my leave request. And honestly, I think and I'm sorry, Councilman Reynoso, that you went through a lot of stuff. But instead of using that experience to actually change things, you want to pull people down with you and expect them to go through the suffering that you went through? We shouldn't. We shouldn't. And that's not leadership. In fact, this is the opportunity, just like Councilman Cabral said, to change things for the better. And we saw those c

Now, lastly, Today, we have such a long council meeting. It is literally all day. Not only do we have a council meeting that starts at 10, then we have a 2 p.m. budget workshop, then we have a 4 p.m. executive session, then we have a 5 p.m. protocol hour, then we have a 6 p.m. council meeting. That is an all-day thing. That is the reason why I'm requesting excused absences from the council meeting, because it's an all-day event. Now, I do like the idea of requesting a virtual participation. Thank you Councilman for proposing that. So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to amend my motion and I'm go

Second. Can I ask a question to the attorney, please?

Actually, one second. You're not recognized at this time. So we're going to take a second round of questions. Is there any questions? I know you had one, no? Councilwoman Reynoso and then Councilwoman Cabral.

So thank you so much, Vice Mayor, for your empathy. I was trying to support you. I was trying to tell you that through the toughest of situations, I still showed up. I still showed up and there's employees here that are full time and only get four weeks a month of parental leave. How do we justify to them that we're changing things, starting with ourselves? So we're reacting to a current situation of us, of you being pregnant. Versus seeing this months ago, years ago, because now you're coming up to your second term to discuss that before you became pregnant. To see what our employees needed b

Actually, within your comments, I don't think what makes a difference on voting or comments if you are present or you are on Zoom. I don't see how that can affect. No, no, permiso. How can that affect your ability to be able to make the decision for the well-being of the community? I don't really see how can that affect because you're not doing anything manually that you have to be here Caring things and things like that, I mean, it's your brain that you're using to make the decisions. So I don't know how that can affect.

There's a listening comprehension problem.

But I want to ask you, Mr. Attorney, through the manager. Well, no, I mean, you are a charter official. Could you please clarify that within the absence? Is this within a year or within is for the term that we're serving those four absences?

Okay, so it's in a calendar year, in one year. Okay, so.

Yes, on that clarification. Unexcused, yes.

But the purpose that that's in the charter is because we need to be present. That's what we're elected for.

Unless you're not going to excuse my birth month, it's not going to be four consecutive months.

Yeah, correct. It will be only three, so it doesn't really matter. But great that we are going to be able... I'm talking right now, no?

I understand that you're very, you know, hectic with this, but...

We are just, I'm just, because when I try, then you go after me if I try to make any comment or any gesture and things like that. Right now, you know, a fellow councilwoman that is pregnant is going to have a child. And also, I don't know how is, I mean, who knows when you're going to get pregnant. I mean, that also, that comment, I think that is out of order too. But thank you for answering my question and I second your motion.

OK, so I have a couple of comments again. First, I'm going to try and keep this as concise as possible. But to sit here and say that we don't support family or that this is a challenge, you didn't support family or you didn't care about family when you fired a mother of four just a year ago without caring about what that was going to do to that family. And you attacked my assistant the entire time she was pregnant to the point that she gave birth early and had to take FMLA. and basically was on medical leave. And oh, Maggie, who is our director of public affairs, you want to fire the entire ti

Please make sure the minutes reflect the changes on the title. Thank you.

Yes, and no changes to the title. This is my item, so.

Okay, I would now like to place a motion on the table that Vice Mayor Porras will have an excused absence in December. or January she will notify the council which one she wants to take an excused absence and then we will take every other month of her absence on a case by case scenario as per the code and please reference the code. Second by Councilman Pinedo. Madam Clerk, when you can, please call the roll.

Okay. Perfect. So you have one month excuse absence pre-approved. Please let us know when you would like to take it. You can email my office and then we will take each other one up. I'm very sorry that you did not want to give yourself parental leave.

All right, this item is Councilwoman Reynoso.

Thank you, Mayor. So my item is a seasonal farmers market. Colleagues, I am excited to bring this proposal for our seasonal farmers market in our city. I am hoping that the city of Doral's future farmers market will replace my current favorite, that of the village of Pinecrest. And they've done such an amazing job with that market. I'm sure that we're going to just do so much better. A farmers market in the city of a weekly basis will strengthen our community by supporting local economy and giving small businesses, artisans and entrepreneurs direct access to all customers here. And it will add

Thank you, Councilwoman Reynoso. Any questions? Any questions? Yes, Councilman Pinero.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, thank you, Councilwoman Reynoso, for bringing this forward. I do remember when we used to have the one on 97th Avenue and 41st Street by the Walgreens parking lot. And it was something that residents really enjoyed. And I believe it was Mr. Romero, no? Mayor? Yes. You were part of the council back then.

And people really like it. It was a fun family. Yeah, it was nice. It was nice. And then we tried it once at Doral Central Park before construction and all that. So I'm happy to support this event. And I look forward to participating as well. So I place a motion to approve.

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. second by Councilwoman Reynoso. I think this is a fabulous idea. Actually, like Councilman Pinero just said, the farmer's market that we had for a little time period, I was a big part of and also brought the ordinance that we have in the books for farmer's markets. So I think it's a great community initiative.

Yeah. I think that's great. All right. We look forward to seeing it come to fruition. We can get some fresh fruits and vegetables.

Okay, Council Member Reynoso, this is also your item.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, I want to make an amendment to the title because throughout my research, I did mention Maria Evita Salazar, but also this is a nonpartisan bill and it was presented by her and another House of Representative, Veronica Escobar. So we can add her also to the title. Thank you. So being a leader here in the city of Doral, we do represent a grand majority of an immigrant community. And seeing that there hasn't been many proposed bills that will lead to having at least a permanent residency here in the United States, this one does. So some of the things that this bill is prop

Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. Any comments? Councilman Pinedo?

If Councilwoman Reynoso agree, I would like to co-sponsor as well on this one.

Oh yeah, sure. Awesome, okay. Please add Councilman Pinedo as a co-sponsor. Thank you very much, Councilman Reynoso, for bringing this forward. I think we've all followed the Dignity Act, and we're hoping that there is a positive outcome at some point, and we're ready to support. Thank you. Any other questions? Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mayor Fraga? Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Item 9H was pulled, so we move on to Item 9I.

Okay, this is just additional nominations and we please remind everyone to send their nominations in so that these boards can start to meet as soon as possible. I think the clerk is going to be contacting those who have already been appointed so they could start meeting. Correct, yes, okay.

I have a quick question. When are they gonna start meeting?

Okay, yeah, because I have some members asking me. So beginning of September. Okay, all right. Yeah, we talked about it this week.

All right, I need a motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo.

Councilman cover that you have questions for city attorney Actually, I have a comment, and I hope that you all will support my amendment to this request that is giving to us on this item where It says here the part of the settlement will be divided into two paying half a million dollar for damages that is gonna be covered through our insurance, and then almost half a million dollar more for 125,000 as a reimbursement for attorney's fee. So I don't agree for us to be giving that amount of money. I think that our insurance have decided that they will not give more than half a million dollars, so

I just want to- Councilwoman, there's a point of order on the floor.

Yes, I just want to request- Councilwoman, there's a point of order on the floor. You need to stop for a second.

Yes, yes, yes, but I just want to- No, no, no, but yes, yes, yes, doesn't cover it.

You need to stop speaking when there's a point of order.

You have to stop for a second so we can hear the point of order, and then you can continue, but you have to stop, okay?

What is the point of order, though? She's about to say it. The point of order would be we have in the shade sessions to discuss this. If you attend those in the shade sessions, you would know why we have reached the decisions that we have reached. That's my point.

I already have the information from the city attorney because I met with him, and he knows exactly where I'm standing. But now that it's presented to us to make a decision, I just want to ask for us to amend that it will be only what the insurance is willing to pay. Okay.

Thank you for putting your comments on the record. Do you want to address that?

off the off the record yeah councilman that's why i asked when you pulled this item earlier today because this is not the place to have the negotiation if there's a technical question you have but otherwise it completely changes the settlement we're settling because there was discussions that took place that the city had agreed on. So we can't not have those discussions here. That's why we have the in the shade sessions. Councilman Reynoso made a very good point. If you show up to those in the shade sessions, you would know. Therefore, we're not going to entertain any more questions at this ti Motion to approve. Second. Second. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Yes. Councilman Cabral. It's not fair for the taxpayers to be covering. Councilman Cabral. So no.

You are out of order. When we are taking a roll call, it is a yes or no answer. You have the opportunity to make comments before. Please respect this council. Thank you very much.

Yes. Motion passes. Okay. All right. We move on to the next item.

Through the chair to the city manager. I just pulled out this one, even though I know that we talked about it as being almost a decade, that unfortunately the residents haven't been able to have the full use on this area of the park, of Legacy Park. I just wanted to please to go over it a little bit because I know that there were many residents that have asked about the use of, for many years, that they haven't been able to fully use. So if you can just... give a summary. So it will be, we'll give more information to our residents on how you are right now managing this to be able to have this

I have a quick question. Yes, Vice Mayor Boris. So you do find that it's prudent to start looking for the experts now, even before the litigation ends?

OK. To my understanding, there had been experts obtained, but not by us, that has given, which is this is basically our argument. Just wanted to clarify that. All right. I need a motion, please. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Yes. Motion passes. Okay. We move on to item 6-0, which was pulled. This is Councilwoman Reynoso. Sorry. Go ahead, Connie.

I believe so. Mr. Espangaro, would you like to come forward?

Welcome, Mr. Spangaro. Thank you. Good morning. I know that you were trying to reach out to my office to discuss your item. I have to say this conversation that we're having is more than I ever had with your daughter, so I appreciate that. Could you tell me a little bit more about your item and what it is that you want to do in our city?

Well, thank you for your explanation. And I have to agree. Thanks to this administration, Central Park did get right back on track, and we were able to do that at a fast rate. And now I want to approve your event being done at Central Park. And I think it's an excellent event. I agree. Barbecue and meats and all that stuff is one way to get families and our community together.

We'll start with you, so thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilman. Second by Councilman Pinedo. Oh, Councilman Pinedo has a comment. Mr. Spangaro, go for it.

Please don't go. Yes. I just want to make a quick comment. First of all, I want to thank you for your time. We had a nice conversation in my office. And as I said to you, I was going to put community first. I mean, despite any political difference in the past, you have done great things for our community. And I believe this event, as you mentioned in the past, was a great success. It's something that people really like. And I know this time is going to be even bigger and better. We'll try. Yes, I know you will. And we're here to support you all the way and to be present too. So I just want to

Good for you, thank you. I have some quick comments too. Vice Mayor Porras. I also want to thank you. I actually went to the one that you did in 2019, and I remember it being so big and so fun, And honestly, I am always about elevating all of the communities that we have here in Doral. We just recently had a Colombian festival here in Doral, which was such a big success. We obviously have a large Colombian population, Venezuelan and Argentinian, because two really great Argentinian restaurants are here. And I just want to mention that I hope that, you know, you bring the game because, you know

Yes. Motion passes. All right, thank you very much. We move on to item 6X, which was also pulled.

Councilman cover that thank you Madam manager, thank you so much for sending the information. So I just want to thank you for this and Hopefully I will be you will be able to take in account my comments on the trolleys that still are functional that they don't have any other issue aside from the mileage or the engine, you know can be replaced so we will be able to add more trolleys and within the routes. So thank you so much. I don't have any other comments because I saw that you sent the email last night, but I didn't see it. I said this just, it was just brought to me while I was here in the

Yes, thank you. Okay, I need a motion. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinero, seconded by Councilwoman Cabral. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Thank you very much. Mayor's report. Yes. All right, very quickly, just want to wish all of our students a fabulous back to school. School does start tomorrow. Please give yourselves time to get to school without having to worry about being late. I know there's some schools that do staggered arrival. Our police will be out there tomorrow with high presence and visibility. I did have a conversation with Public Works yesterday about some areas that have road construction and could impact traffic flow. So we're hoping that will get resolved. And I also wanted to congratu

Thank you for indulging us. We love our city manager.

The manager's report was already done. City attorney's report. City attorney's report. Mr. City attorney, I had mentioned in your report, I had asked the city attorney to provide us an update on Lake Drive.

Okay, thank you. And I expressed to the city attorney, I'm gonna reach out to the board of the association who was present at the workshop we had, let them know what's happening so that they could put pressure as well so we could get it done. And if not, then we can discuss other actions. Exactly, other actions. Okay, any other?

Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. All right, Madam City Clerk, your report. It's attached.

Any other comments, questions, concerns? All right, that exhausts our morning agenda. I need a motion to recess until our afternoon. Motion to recess by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilman Reynoso. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right, motion to recess. We'll see you all at 2 o'clock for our budget workshop.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our regular council meeting agenda. Today is August 13th, 2025. The time is now 614 p.m. And I hereby call this meeting to order. Just a quick reminder, please silence your phones. And if you must take a call, kindly step outside and let's maintain a respectful atmosphere. Okay.

Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Pinedo. Pledge of 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. Okay, agenda order of business. I don't believe there's any changes this morning. None, okay. Being none, we'll move into the public comments portion of our meeting. I am now opening up the public comments section of our meeting. Each speaker will have three minutes to address any item on this agenda or anything germane to this council. Please begin with

So you need to speak into the microphone. There you go. Name and address for the record, please.

Yes, you can give it to the city clerk, and she will incorporate it into the record and share it with us.

Thank you, Mr. Castro. So our parks and recreation director is in the back and can address your concerns on the way out. Perfect. I do believe that a constituent services has been in contact with you as well. Artists from constituent services, I believe maybe has been in contact with you as well, but I believe parks can probably address your concerns. Yes, of course. So they can definitely address your concerns. We don't do back and forth. for public comments, but our staff is here to address the concern. So if you mind, Michael, if you don't mind, he can definitely speak with you and give you a little bit more information. But thank you, thank you for being here and bringing it to our attention again.

Thank you very much, Mr. Castro. Okay, I have no other public comment cards at this time, but anyone else who would like to speak, this is your reasonable opportunity. Please approach the podium. Being none, OK, public comments is now closed. And we will go into the public hearing items. Madam Clerk, would you like to swear in the witnesses?

All right. Thank you very much. Madam Clerk, let me go ahead and open up public comments for this item. Public comments is now open for item 25-6267. Anyone who would like to speak, please approach the podium. Being none, we close public comments for this item. And I turn it over to Rita Carbonell, our Assistant Planning and Public Works Director.

Thank you very much. I believe we've done this and we just had to Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. No, there's no other questions. Madam Clerk, please call the vote.

All right. Thank you very much. We're going to go ahead and open up public hearing for Item 25-6254. Anyone who would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. I do have one comment card for this one, Mr. Gonzalo Pescieri. Did I say it right?

Thank you very much. Anyone else would like to speak on this item? Sir, name and address for the record, please.

Thank you for addressing that, appreciate it. Thank you. Please register with the city clerk just to have on record your public comments, thank you. Anyone else would like to speak on this item? We're on item 25-6254. Seeing none, public comments is now closed and we will move into hearing from Planning and Zoning.

THANK YOU, MICHELLE. IS THERE ANY PRESENTATION FROM THE APPLICANT? NOT NECESSARY, BUT OKAY. YES.

JUST HAVE A QUICK COMMENT. I'LL BE IN FAVOR. but miss lopez can i know we had the conversation about 95th avenue yes it tends to you know when it rains a lot all that section tends to be under pretty much underwater uh and it's a private road and i know each business owner has been trying to take care of their section yes outside in the 95th avenue are we doing the same with the applicant is there

Second. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinero, seconded by Councilwoman Reynoso. If there's no additional questions or concerns, comments, then we can call the roll.

Okay, opening a public hearing for item 25-6255. Anyone who would like to speak on this item, please approach the podium and speak only to this item. Okay, I have no comment cards and no one has chosen to speak. Closing public comments. Madam Clerk, with the record in effect, no one has chosen to speak at this time. And I will now hear from Planning and Zoning. Thank you.

All right, any questions for any of the department heads or administration? Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilman Reynoso. If there are no further questions, comments, or concerns, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Okay, I'm going to open a public hearing for this item first. Public hearing is now open for item 25-6256. Anyone who would like to speak on this item, please approach the podium and speak only on this item. Being none, public comment on item 256256 is now closed. Madam Clerk, record reflect, no one has chosen to speak at this time, and I will now take ex parte communication.

I've spoken to the applicant, and that will not influence my decision.

Okay. Also, I want to disclose that I spoke with the applicant. It will not affect my decision.

All right. Being none, okay. Motion to approve. Well, I need to hear from planning. We have to put on the record the presentation, so I need to hear from planning and zoning. Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle. Would the applicant like to make a quick presentation?

Thank you. Tracy, I don't know if anybody has any additional questions or would like to see the presentation from the applicant. Okay. Second. Okay, there's a motion by Councilwoman Cabras, second by Vice Mayor Porras. I believe Councilwoman Reynoso wanted to clarify the record.

Yes, so I did speak with the applicant and it won't affect my vote.

Okay, thank you very much. If there's no additional questions, Madam Clerk, I believe you can call the roll.

Okay, I'm going to open up the public hearing for item 25-6268. Anyone from the public who would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Okay, being none, public comments is closed on item 25-6268. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect, no one has chosen to speak at this time. And this is my item along with Planning and Donating, who was very instrumental in helping develop it. So Michelle, do you want to go ahead and present? I can help a little bit after that. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

Just to put it into a little more layman's terms for everyone as to why I asked to bring this forward, we are pretty restrictive in our industrial area when it comes to entertainment uses. And, for example, we get a lot of requests for paddle or ice indoor soccer fields or a golf simulator, you know, type of business where they want to do indoor golf lessons. But we have been very intentional about preserving the uses of the industrial zones, which I very much believe is important to do. And we want to continue to do that. However, we also don't want to be so restrictive or we're losing value.

Motion. Motion to approve by Vice Mayor Porras.

Second by Councilman Pinedo. Any other questions, comments? No? All right. Thank you very much, Michelle, for your hard work on this. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Madam Chair.

Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and open a public hearing for this item. Public hearing is now open for item 25-6276. Anyone who would like to speak, please approach the podium on this item. Being none, we will close public comments on item 25-6276. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect, no one has chosen to speak at this time. And I will now turn it over to Councilman Bineto. I believe this is your item.

Thank you, Mayor. As some of you might know, the last time that we actually had a revision on the telecommunication on rights away ordinance was back in 2008. In 2019, the state of Florida passed legislation that removed many of the rights of local governments to regulate telecommunication infrastructure on rights of way. However, this legislation, this prescribed the manner in which local governments through local legislation could regulate distance placement, permit process, application, and something that is very important and is one of the reasons why I decided to bring this forward is the

Motion. Okay, motion to approve by Vice Mayor Porras. Second by Councilman Pinedo. All right, if there is no other questions or comments. Done? Okay. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

All right. Thank you very much. Great job.

All right, opening up public comments for item 25-6266. Anyone who would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Being none. Okay, we will close public comments. Madam Clerk, I get the record of black. No one has chosen to speak at this time, and I will turn it over to the city clerk.

I grilled the city clerk on this, making sure that it wasn't removing any opportunity to participate. It's just really creating a more digital way of keeping the record. So, less papers. All right. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Cabral, second by Vice Mayor Porras. If there's no other questions or comments, please call the roll.

All right. I'm going to open a public hearing for item 25-6185. Anyone who would like to speak on this item, please approach the podium. Being none, public comments is now closed. Madam Clerk, let the record reflect, no one has chosen to speak at this time, and as if finance had not gotten grilled enough today, we have questions. No, I'm just kidding. Anybody have any questions? If not, I need a motion to approve this as the second reading. I don't believe there's any changes. Motion to approve by Councilman Cabral. Second by Councilman Pinedo. All right, no additional questions for finance. T

Yes. Motion passes. All right. Thank you very much, everyone. That exhausts our council meeting for August. We appreciate your attendance and participation today. I need a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn by Councilman Pinero, second by Councilman Reynoso. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. This meeting is adjourned. God bless. See you all in our September council meeting.