City Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our May council meeting. Today is Wednesday, the 13th, and the time is now 10.04 a.m. I hereby call this meeting to order. Just a reminder to please silence your phones. If you must take a call, we kindly ask that you step outside and we maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Okay, we will now have our invocation led today by Pastor Eduardo Key from the Keys of Heaven Church. Welcome. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. All right. We move on to the agenda order of business, starting with the manager's office.

Good morning, Mayor. I don't have anything new. OK. Thank you.

There's nothing else. We'll move into the public comments portion. We'll now open the floor for public comments. Each speaker will have three minutes to address any item on today's agenda or any matters related to the city of Doral. Please begin with stating your name and address for the record to ensure you are registered with the city clerk. We will first hear from those who have pre-registered. I have a list of names, followed by any walk-in speakers. Once all the registered speakers have spoken, I will invite any walk-in speakers to have final public comments. As a reminder, in accordance

I have no more registered speaker at this time. Would anyone else like to speak? This would be your reasonable opportunity.

Okay. Public comments is now closed. Madam Clerk, I'd like the worker to reflect. Anyone else choose to speak at this time? We'll move into the consent agenda. Madam Clerk, can you read the items that were pulled and the consent agenda?

All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Let the minutes and the consensus then be reflected as passing unanimously. We'll now move into presentations.

Mr. Del Toro. Good morning. Good morning.

Thank you so much for your investment in our community and for keeping it beautiful.

OK. Ms. Jane Decker, how are you doing today?

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I want to thank James for actually putting this together. We had the conversation. I want to thank the manager as well, the administration, because this is a department that sometimes you don't hear quite often in a good term, let's put it that way. or the advertisement that sometimes you hear is not, we're really taking place inside the city, inside the building, inside the city. So I'm glad that you guys put these together. It's very good. And as a matter of fact, I will recommend to put it on the website as well so that we can actually have it there. But more

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say, and I meant to say it during the strategic planning session, but I didn't get a chance. You're doing a really great job overseeing the department's And the entire team and all the directors are doing amazing. Their response time, every time I send an email, an inquiry, they respond right away. And by the way, I don't expect you to respond the same day, but you do. And I do get a lot of good feedback from the people that you guys are helping. So I really want to say you're doing such a great job. And I'm also very eager to see all of the new things t

Thank you, Jean. I just have a quick question. Did we print enough of these to have them on the second floor?

OK, I'd get some more printed and put them around the city or maybe not just your office, but even with constituent services. We're doing constituent services days again. So I think it would be extremely helpful and a way to get the information out. We've had the conversation several times of you guys are extremely responsive. and diligent in your work. And I have talked to people throughout the county that say that we're one of the best departments to work with. So we're always happy to see that promoted and boasted about because we know how much work you guys put into it. So I think that we'

So like always, Doral is a city of excellence, and this department is definitely helping us propel to that. I would also suggest maybe working with realtor offices. And drop this off.

Okay, great. So yeah, I'm glad that's being done.

Yes, and start reaching out in addition to that event to them because they are really like the gateway of people that come and invest in our community. And I love the pamphlet. Very informative, very nice, very clean. Well, you guys do an excellent job and I'm proud to have you guys representing the city of Doral. Thank you. Yes.

Thank you. All right one move on Madam clerk discussion item 9a a resolution of the mayor in the City Council of the City of Doral for approving a tuition reimbursement benefit policy for the mayor members of the City Council providing for implementation incorporation recitals and an effective date all right, so this is my item so pretty self-explanatory the city has already a policy for tuition reimbursement for professional development and for our employees. So this extends it also to elected officials. The only difference between the city's employee policy and ours is that we have to be in

So during this review, I actually didn't know we had a reimbursement policy for employees, which is, I think, really great. I actually thought we had kind of like a partial COVERED OR FOR TUITION. I DON'T KNOW WHY. BUT I THINK THE REIMBURSEMENT POLICY FOR EMPLOYEES, I THINK IT IS GREAT. I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT HELPS TOWARDS RETENTION towards recruitment, but I just don't think that we should have taxpayers pay for the education of the city council. That's just my opinion. I think that if any of us, one, because we're not here permanently, we're here, however many years right but w

So a couple of things. It's not a full reimbursement. It's a partial, same as the employee's benefits are. And we spend a lot of money on, I think, a lot of things that are more wasteful. For example, we spend a lot of money going to events. And sometimes some of us don't even show up after we spend the money to go to these events, which are taxpayer dollars. And that's in the thousands of dollars. And I don't necessarily think that it's unbeneficial. We're networking and promoting the city, and it's part of our role. I think all professional development provides a benefit. Like I said, I did

Thank you, Mayor. So this item very simply is to make the month of June Children's Digital Wellness Month. In the summer, it's hard to entertain our youth, typically between the ages of 10 and 17. And they rely a lot on the tablets, the Nintendos, the online gaming. And this just gives an opportunity for the city along with the public library system to work on some programming that children can participate during the summer to kind of get them away from that. So I think it's very beneficial for families. I think it's obviously very beneficial for our youth. And I think it's good that the city

But if not, the other one on the boulevard will be just fine. But the new one is... extraordinary. It's going to be a great asset to our community. All right. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Marine also this is your item Thank You mayor well as many of you may know this year we're celebrating 250 years as a nation so our July 4th should be the most spectacular show and all of maybe our lifetimes right to celebrate our nation our Commissioner Natalie Or million Orbis which is not really our commissioner for this district, but she does support a lot of our initiatives and great programming within the county Came up with the agenda item that I'm supporting today within the city to promote flags within our city so the idea is Have as many homes businesses display an American f

Awesome. Thank you. Please extend our gratitude to Commissioner Milian Orbis and our congratulations as well for coming up with this initiative. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. I do have a motion that I need to make. I need to amend some things in my item. Yes. Okay. First, I would like my colleagues to consider this resolution with the following amendments. The title of the resolution will be amended to strike, directing the city manager to explore a community flag distribution program, and also the sixth whereas clause, which states, whereas the mayor and the city council find the authorizing a citywide patriotic display initiative and exploring a community-based American flag distribution program in honor of the United States' 250th anniversary serves a

Yes, I really like this initiative. Thanks for bringing it forward. I was getting asked by people like what the city was doing for the 250th. And I think this is a great way to celebrate it. I know that in maybe like two years ago, we talked about having a parade. Hopefully. We can look into that maybe next year. Obviously right now it's too late. I think that 4th of July should be celebrated a lot more and just have a lot of the community participate. So thanks for bringing it. I like it. I really do.

Thank you. Yes, this is a wonderful item. We're happy to support it and promote it within the city. And we are working on several 4th of July initiatives coming up for the summer. that will celebrate the 250 year anniversary and this will just be another thing that we can continue to enhance and promote throughout the city So Thank You councilman Reynoso and thank you to the commissioners office.

Yes. Mayor Fraga. Yes. Motion passes. All right. I think we have item 6A.

Thank you. So I just wanted the attorney to put on record what this was about. We spoke earlier. If you could just briefly, just so that we can educate the residents and also have it on record.

have taken possession of the road and it's now a public road how we can enhance it and bring it up to to code so that's basically the idea yeah and just again for the record there they will have to decide whether they want to give the road to the city correct if they don't do it it's not voluntary yes yeah okay thank you

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to take the opportunity to thank the city attorney and the administration because since we started this conversation back in 2024, I know has been an ongoing effort from the administration and the city attorney in making this happen and Congratulations, because it's a big step. I mean, it's a big step when I remember we used to hear comments from current and former elected officials saying that that was going to be impossible, legally speaking. And I do remember one of my comments was, you know, nothing is impossible if we have the willingness to make it happen. A

Thank you. So just some clarity over the last two years. The last workshop we had was overwhelmingly attended with residents in that area and the boards. You didn't go to that one. But the boards were extremely engaged in wanting to get this done. And they've shown interest in trying to get this done for years. And unfortunately, the city just didn't provide an avenue to do so until We pushed. And honestly, their attorneys pushed back. I actually attended the meetings with Lorenzo. And the attorneys pushed back. And the reason we ended up at M&A Domain was because it's really the only legal av

All right. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I would like to thank Public Affairs Team and the Parks Department for their hard work and dedication in making National Day of Prayer a meaningful and successful event. You all know that that's one of my favorite events of the year. And it's such a great opportunity for us to come together as a family and praise. So thank you very much for joining us and for staying and for just making it so special. It really is a fabulous night. I have two requests. We need to change the October council meeting to October 7 because it will conflict wi

So we're going to sing happy birthday to everyone who's Birthdays are here. Join me. Ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Connie. Happy birthday to you. Thank you, IT.

You're welcome. Appreciate you. Have a great one. God bless you. All right. That exhausts our morning agenda. I need a motion to recess, and we'll be back at 6 p.m. Motion. Motion to recess by Councilman Reynoso, second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right. We'll see you back here for protocol hour, and then our 6 o'clock meeting.

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our May Council evening session. Today is Wednesday the 13th. The time is now 6.11 p.m. Hereby call this meeting to order. Reminder, please silence your phones. And if you need to take a call, we kindly ask that you step outside to maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Present. Mayor McCormick. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Pinedo.

All right, I don't believe there's any changes to the agenda order of business. I know that earlier today we pulled off item 20D. Correct. It was deferred to the next council meeting in June. We'll move into public comments. All right. We will now open the public comments portion of this meeting. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak and address any issue on this agenda or any matter related to the city of Doral. Please begin by stating your name and address for the record to ensure that you are registered with the city clerk. We will first hear from those who are pre-registered to spe

Thank you. We moved on to, the only thing it says is Giova, Jovu, Jovu? It only says G-I-O-V-U, Jovu. OK, sorry. That's all it says on the registration.

Thank you, Mr. Abarca. Unfortunately, we only have three minutes and we can't go over that. There's currently a lawsuit going on in different cities that if we allow any additional time.

I can't allow one second over three minutes anymore. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. We have to protect the city. Thank you so much. Is there any additional speakers at this time? Being none, OK, public comments is now closed.

OK, councilwoman Porras, this is your item. Thank you, Mayor. And I want to start off by saying thank you to all the residents that are here. I know that there's a lot of residents that called, emailed, and that are probably watching, too, that couldn't make it to the meeting. So thank you for your time. And for those of you that spoke today, I want to thank you as well. As you guys know, this is a discussion on the creation of a City of Doral Condo and Homeowners Association Advisory Board. we probably the majority of us i think it's more than 80 percent of us live in one of those condo hoa c

Thank you, Councilwoman. So I'd like to make a couple of comments and to clarify a couple things as we have this discussion. First, Cesar, I'm sorry I had to cut you off, but there's a lawsuit going around in different cities that if you don't give everybody a certain amount of time, even if I was to give you an extra five, six, seven seconds, a minute, we could be sued because everybody didn't get that opportunity, or I would have to open it up all again. So I'm sorry that I had to cut you off, but I have strict orders to do that. So I apologize. So I just wanted to clarify. So I know that th

No. Well, first of all, I just want to thank everyone that is here because certainly it's an issue that affects everybody in Doral. I mean, it's not a secret. It's not something new. We have been facing this issue for years. But at the same time, I do recognize that as a city, especially since we got elected, we have been working on this matter. as the mayor explained. I mean, not only everything that we go to Tallahassee, but the relationship that we have at the state level, and especially with our state representative, has been something that for the past, especially three, four years, has b

So I feel that I can recognize the intent of the original item brought by my colleague. HOWEVER, I FEEL LIKE IT'S SLIGHTLY MISLEADING. WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO TRULY PROCESS AND DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN JUST HEARING THE VOICES OF THE RESIDENTS. NOW, LAST YEAR, ONE OF OUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES DID BRING UP A BILL THAT HAD TO DO WITH HOA. HIS HOUSE BILL WAS 98-3. And in that bill, he had said he wanted to expand oversight of board elections, increasing financial transparency, strengthening recall procedures, and enhancing protections for the homeowners. And even so, the only authority t

Thank you, Councilwoman. Yeah, I think at the end of the day, the last thing we want to do is create another layer of bureaucracy. And truthfully, I think that that's what would be caused with an advisory board. It's just another layer of some other board that has no authority. That's what we're here for. That's what you elect us for. So you guys come here and complain to us, and we do what we can to support you. So I think my motion has a second. I want to make sure administration is clear on what we're looking into. Mr. City Attorney, would you like to add anything?

Clear? OK. I think that this may give us some type of avenue. And I'm not even sure yet we're going to have him. The motion is for him to go and investigate to create A fund and a fee, the associations will have to pay into yearly, almost like a BTR, that will hopefully grow over time, that will help the city pay in the case that we get a complaint that can be pursued. Fair? So I think that may be the only avenue we have to be able to create a real opportunity that will pursue a case. There's not much that can be done. However, I think what happens in many of these circumstances is that the re

So everyone here is I think everyone here is part of the board. Some right. OK, so, you know, coming in here offering a an opportunity to be part of the solutions that are being mentioned. And I think they're great, by the way. I think that it's definitely good work that the city is doing. I think the advisory board was to have better participation and organized participation. And all of you guys being part of a board, you are coming here and now hearing that you guys are going to be charged more fees. That is not a solution. I mean, I'm very sorry. I know that it's well-intended. And I think

So just to clarify a couple of things, all the boards that were discussed were actually currently looking at consolidation, because Madam Clerk, How is the issue with attendance? How many times do the boards really, really meet?

And staff has to stay over time and be able to. So we're currently in the process of consolidating our boards. There's actually an item that will be coming forward. We're letting them finish up this year. There's elections in November, so the boards will change again. So once that happens, we will actually be consolidating boards because they just don't meet. It's hard. It's a volunteer basis. So it's a commendable thing to do, but it's unfortunate that they just don't meet. So it really, again, creates another layer that doesn't result in anything. Secondly, the purpose is not to create a new

Okay, we're going to go ahead and open up for public comments on item 266591, or also known as 20A. Anyone who would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Being none, public comments is now closed. Madam Clerk, no one has chosen to speak at this time. Mr. Del Toro.

Any questions? I do, Mayor. Yes. Okay. So currently we're not charging to recuperate the carts.

Right. And it's an involvement that the city is having with these businesses. Okay. And now we're going to to create a code to charge for the service of returning the cards?

But in the, but we're also adding that if we do recuperate the cards, the city is now going to be able to charge for that service.

Okay, but some form of monetary compensation for the time that it's taken the city to essentially do another business's job.

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and open up public comments for item 20B, also known as 26-6603. Anyone who would like to speak on this item, please approach the podium.

All right. We move on to the second reading, item 20C.

Motion to adjourn by Councilman Reynoso. Second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. Meeting is adjourned. We'll see you all on June 10th. Thank you very much.