City Council - Regular Meeting

Our things are not on right? Are they supposed to be on?

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our February, I'm sorry, our March council meeting. Today is March 11th. The time is now 10.09 a.m., and I hereby call this meeting to order. Just a reminder to please silence your phones. If you need to take a call, we ask you kindly step outside so we can maintain a respectful atmosphere.

Mayor Kristi Fraga. Present. Mayor, you have a quorum. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Pinedo. Yeah, thank you, yes. Thank you very much. We now have our invocation led by Father Israel Mago from Our Lady of Guadalupe. Padre, thank you for joining us.

Amen. Gracias. Thank you, Father. Okay, we'll now move into the agenda order of business. Start with the City Manager's Office.

Thank you, Madam Manager. Mr. City Attorney?

Thank you, Councilman. Vice Mayor Cabral?

All right. Councilman Reynoso? No, Mayor. Okay. Councilwoman Porras? No, none. All right. I am going to go ahead and pour Item 6H. Okay, if there are no more comments on that, we'll go ahead and go into our public comments. We'll now open the floor for public comments. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak and address any item on today's agenda or anything germane to the city of Doral. Please begin by stating your name and address for the record. To ensure you are registered with the city clerk, we'll start with those who are preregistered, otherwise we will call your name at the end a

Mr. Richard Gluckstadt, please approach the podium. Three minutes.

Mr. Glutstadt, please be respectful in your comments. We have young women in the room.

Mr. Glutzak, we have always been very respectful to you. All I'm going to ask is that when you come up for public comments that you do not use foul language. It is unacceptable in this room. Do we have any more public comments? I believe we have no more pre-registered speakers. Anyone else would like to speak during public comments? Now would be your reasonable opportunity. Being none, public comments is now closed. Okay, we need a motion on the consent agenda. Madam Clerk, would you please read the items that are being approved on the consent agenda?

Okay, I need a motion. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reynoso, second by Councilman Pinedo. On favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Let the consent agenda be shown as passed unanimously. I now need a motion on the approval of the minutes. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reynoso. Second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. Let the minutes be shown as approved unanimously. All right, we'll now go into presentations.

Hi, welcome. Please join us. Thank you. Would you like to say anything?

Thank you so much. Thank you for believing in our city and for investing in our community. Please come up for a photo. Thank you.

All right. Let us continue. Madam Clerk.

All right. Thank you very much. This is my item. So the information was attached with, I think, a very Well-descripted reason why we need some type of structure for this we've had a lot of requests in the past and recently for support from the city to put donation boxes in our facilities and While this is something we like to encourage our students to do and we want to support we are have had situations where management has felt uncomfortable arbitrarily approving them and not others and not knowing where the items are going and who's the organization. There's really been no process in place.

Councilman Porras? Yes. Vice Mayor Cabral? Yes. Yes. Motion passes. Okay, great. Thank you very much for your support.

Okay, this is also my item. This is the appointment of the new members to the Parks and Police for Kids board. If there is no additional questions, I just need a motion to approve. I have some questions. Okay, Councilwoman Forrest.

So I was actually, I was out in December when the PP4K was changed and I couldn't make it to the meeting last month. So if maybe the attorney can give us just a very brief summary of what happened with the foundation and just what's happening now, where it went from directors that were appointed by each council member to where we are now, if you don't mind just giving us kind of like a brief summary of the transition and what's happened.

And isn't this an independent foundation from the city? What's the status of this foundation? I'm still trying to understand it, and I think it's important for the residents to understand it. If you'd like to.

Yeah, so this is what we're currently doing. This foundation, to give a little bit of history, was incorporated in 2009, I believe it was. I don't remember the exact, but I think it was 2009. And the reason was because when the PGA Tour was here, they had, as part of their mission, to leave a contribution to the communities that they come to, and they would give back to a foundation. At that time, the council here decided they would create their own foundation to receive the benefit from the PGA to donate. And in exchange, they gave police services and all these other things. So the only sourc

Yeah. No, and I completely think and find the basis very rational and reasonable. So I think what we're doing today is we're actually removing the city council from the board, right?

Or are we keeping? We're adopting the new members. We've already adopted the new bylaws. The new bylaws will make the mayor the chair, the police chief part of the board, the parks director part of the board, one member of the community, which I'm appointing Josh Rios, who has to be a member that lives in our community for at least two years. and I appointed Councilwoman Reynoso. So it's one member of the council, they're all appointed by the mayor, ratified by council. Right, so the council is not going to be part of the board. There'll be one member of the community, the mayor, one council m

the police chief and the parks director. Yeah, and that's what I don't support. I think that if we were going to dissolve the entity as it previously was and replace the board with the council, I was fine with that, right? But now we're saying we're not gonna have the council be part of the board. And I have two questions, actually. The first one is, is this in line with being that it is a foundation that is essentially working through the city? Is this in line with the charter that requires that all boards and committees be have an appointee by each member of the council? That's my first ques

We said there's going to be a member. Oh, you mean one member from the county. Okay, so it is going to be subject to public records that includes financials and everything. Okay, got it, got it.

It always has been. Got it, got it. Yeah, I wasn't clear on that, yeah. Again, I do appreciate the idea and I really do, honestly I do like it, right? But I don't think I can support not having either a member or each of us that are part of the city council as a member or having, allowing one of us each of us to appoint someone as well. And that's the only reason I'm not gonna be able to support it. But outside of that, yes, I do agree. It's actually been a very good source of revenue and also fundraising for programs and it's being done, the gala that was done last year was great in fundraisi

Well, we've been able to appoint and have had someone that can update us, that can actually represent each of the council. That's the reason why I won't be supporting it. But again, I think the rationale makes sense and it's fine for me.

Okay, thank you very much. Any other questions? Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. I'm just reiterating, I thought it was in the memo, but I did get to speak to him. We're going to be appointing Josh Rios as the community member. All right, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Yes. Councilman Porras. No. Vice Mayor Cabral. No. Yes. Motion passes. All right, thank you very much. I think we only have one item, Madam Clerk, that was pulled. Yes. We'll go to item 6H.

I pulled this because after it was also pulled in the November meeting, I've done a lot of research and talked to some of our members of the administration, particularly parks as well, that will have to deal a lot with these vendors. And I'm not comfortable with moving forward with one contract for all of our facilities. We had issues in the past with current vendor. I think we need to split it and have two vendors that we can kind of utilize. So I'm requesting that we put this back out different, that we put it out split up and allow for a new opportunity. Because I don't feel comfortable spl

Okay. All right. Is there any other questions, comments? In the meantime, we do have a extended contract of our current.

Okay, great. Thank you very much. I look forward to seeing you come back. Motion. All right, I don't think, do we need a motion for that? Mr. Cobiella, do we need a motion to put it back out? I don't think it's just directive, direction. It's just direction to the manager. Yeah, direction, I think we're good. Okay, perfect, thank you very much. All right, I believe we move on to the reports. Mayor's report. All right. Welcome all. I just wanted to make an introduction to the women of tomorrow that are here with us today, young ladies from Ronald Reagan Senior High School and JCB Doral. So welc

March 6th. I'm sorry, Lorenzo. I wasn't here. That's right. Your birthday was the day of the reception. I forgot. I'm so sorry. And that's pretty much it for our mayor's message. I just want to also remind everyone that the farmer's market is still going on. Councilman Moreno has been out there every Saturday. And it's a great opportunity to come out and support local small businesses. It's a wonderful opportunity to bring our family, connect with neighbors. It's been great. So thank you very much for that. We have some fun activities hopefully scheduled over the next couple of Saturdays to co

It wasn't just President Trump. Also, we had a lot of dignitaries here. So they were 24-7 the entire weekend. Our entire force was out. So thank you very much for what you guys do every single day. All right, that's it for my mayor's report.

Who's here for our status of women report? Belkis and Fernanda Gomez, please come up to the podium.

Absolutely, I believe we have Approved in the past for those status of women or to have an event during the month of women yes, and what you all request is just a Facility to do it in and the rest is fundraised and sponsored.

Wonderful. Thank you very much. I have no problems with that. I believe we've done it in the past. Just work on what facility is available for you all to have. I think last time you did it in the?

Yes. One year it was in Legacy Park, too, at the auditorium.

Okay, we need a motion. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilwoman Reynoso. All in favor say aye. Aye. And let it show as a unanimous support. All right, we move on to the next report. City Manager's report. City Manager. Madam City Manager.

Thank you for letting us know ahead of time, Madam Manager.

Okay, great report. We move on to the attorney.

Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Madam City Clerk. It's attached. Thank you very much. All right, I believe that this exhausts our morning agenda, so we need a motion to recess. Motion to recess by Councilman Reynoso.

Second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. Aye. All right, this meeting is recessed. We'll see you back here at 5 o'clock, 5.30 for our protocol and 6 p.m. for our evening session. See you all. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our March 11th council meeting. This is our evening session. The time is now 6.12 p.m. I hereby call this meeting back in session. Please remember to silence your phones, and if you need to have a conversation, we please ask that you step outside to maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilwoman Corrinoso.

Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Vice Mayor Cabral.

Madam Clerk, I don't believe we have any changes to this evening's agenda. No, ma'am. All right. We'll go into the public comments portion of this meeting. I will now open the public comments portion of the meeting. We ask that if you are coming to speak on any item on this agenda or anything germane to this council, that you please allow three minutes to speak. We'll start with anybody who is preregistered with the clerk's office. If you have not preregistered, you will still have an opportunity to speak. Also, we have some public hearing items tonight. If you're coming to speak on a particul

All right, thank you, Madam Clerk. Before we move on, I just wanna mention, we're gonna be taking up item 20A and 20B together. The clerk will read the next one into the item after the presentation as well, so we'll have to do individual votes, but all the information that will be presented will be put into the record for both items. With that being said, I would like to go ahead and open up for public comments for this item. Anyone who would like to come and speak on item, I don't have my glasses, I left them.

20A, or 26-6516, please approach the podium. Also, this is public comments for item 20B, known as 262617. Anyone who would like to speak on these two items, now is your opportunity. Okay, being none, public comments for 20A and 20B is now closed. Madam Clerk, if the record reflect, I want us just to speak at this time, and I will take any ex parte communications. Has there been any ex parte communications?

I did meet with the applicant, but at the very, very beginning of their side plan process, I met with them once, so that now affects my decision. All right, I will hear now from staff.

Thank you, Michelle. Do we have a presentation from the applicant?

Thank you. All right, I believe this concludes the presentations from staff and the applicant. We will now open it up for any comments or discussion from the council.

Thank you to our staff and also to the public staff for bringing this forward and also for all the considerations. Obviously, I love Publix, and that's actually the Publix where I shop. So I always run into a lot of folks there, and it's a great space, right? And I am very supportive of the redevelopment. And I've been looking forward to a bigger Publix in that area. Obviously, my concern is the parking spaces. And I appreciate that you guys are making these larger, considering that some of the parking spaces there are a problem. But they should have never been that small in the first place. A

Okay, any other comments or questions? Yes, Councilman.

I also wanna thank the administration and Planning and Signing Department for making this possible. I know that we had a workshop last June in 2025, I guess, and I believe most of the concerns were addressed in that moment. And I also wanna thank the applicant. I mean, we all love Publix, right? I mean, everybody loves Publix. Speaking about concerns, my concern will be to keep the plaza the way that it is, to be honest with you. I mean, I do recall even when I was part of the staff, and I'm sure the city manager also remember, the mayor back then was part of the council too, I mean, one of th

not a lot of people actually do that, right? But the fact that you can now include that as part of the project too, and again, it's part of what we call progress, and I think that that's where you're making that happen with these particular changes. So I'll be more than glad to move forward on this and also present the motion to approve.

Thank you, Councilman. There's a motion to approve. I have a comment. Yes, Councilman Reynoso.

Through the mayor. Well, for this particular project, I want to thank everyone also for taking the opportunity to give us all this information that we can relay back to the residents. I do value and appreciate the improvements that are going to be made in this center. I think it's very reflective of the drought that we're trying to create and build today. And parking spaces to me is something extremely important. because we're seeing a lot of areas in Doral that should have had more parking spaces than planned for, especially in the residential area here in downtown Doral. Having said that, th

I'm also going to just make a quick comment. So when I first met with the applicant, there were several variances that were discussed. So I'm happy to see that there was a reduction in that and you were able to meet the standards of our Doral Master Boulevard, which I think is extremely important. I think your father would be very pleased with the J. So I think that this is a improved project from where we are today. I also use this public. I've lived across the street for 28 years now. And I can tell you I agree with the councilwoman completely even though there's more parking spaces there ri

So based on what each of you have just said, it's my understanding that under the code, this redevelopment would require larger parking spaces, right? If someone can answer that, please.

So the parking spaces would have to be larger than the seven foot or the smaller spaces. So that's why it's a variance. So we would have, under the code, the developer would have to create larger spaces anyway. So we would be able to utilize them. And that's why they're coming here to ask for a reduction. So they cannot rebuild under this the small spaces that we're seeing right now, the small parking spaces. So I just want to clarify that. So it's not going to be parking spaces that we couldn't use. And the reason why we don't have all the parking spaces filled right now is because they are t

Yeah, just to clarify, the reason they can't meet the number of parking spaces required by the code is because they have to do larger parking spaces, right, Michelle? So if you ask me which one is more practical, it's to have the larger parking spaces, because right now they have the number of parking spaces they're required to have, but they're not being utilized. That's correct. That's correct. So yes, I think that. Again, common sense. So, all right. We're ready to call the question. Madam Clerk, please call the question.

All right. Thank you very much. We're going to go ahead and read item 20B into the record, and then we're going to incorporate the same presentation we just had into those.

All right, we're gonna go ahead and incorporate all the previous comments into this item as well as the public comments and expert take communication unless anybody would like to add something. If there's nothing to add, I'll go ahead and entertain a motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinero. Second. Second by Councilman Reynoso. There's no additional comments to add. Applicant okay with all the comments on record? Yes? Madam Planning and Zoning Director.

Motion passes. All right, thank you very much. All right, thank you very much. Thank you very much.

All right, you can tell me later. You can tell me later. I'm excited to see it.

Okay, Madam Clerk, let's move on to Item 20C. Just like 20A and 20B, we're going to take up Item 20C, 20D, and 20E together since they're all the same project as well.

All right, we're gonna go ahead and open up public comments for item 20B, also known as 26, I'm sorry, 20C, sorry, 20C, also known as 25-6431, 20D, also known as 25-6432, and 20E, also known as 26-6515. Anyone who would like to speak on any of these three items, please approach the podium. Being none, and seeing no one is walking into the chambers at this time, we will close the public comments for these three items. Madam Clerk, let the record show that no one has chosen to speak at this time. And now I will take any exporte communication. I did have exporte communication with the applicant a

Okay, thank you very much, Michelle. We'll hear from the applicant if there's any additional comments.

Okay, we'll now hear from the council if anybody has any comments. I believe, like I said, we're gonna be, we're taking up item 20C, 20D, and 20E. We'll have the clerk read each one into the record, but we'll need a conversation or a motion to approve at this time. Motion. Motion to approve by Councilwoman Reynoso. Do we have a second? Second by Councilman Pinero. Yes, you have a comment, Councilman Pinero?

Thank you, thank you, Mayor. I just wanna say that, as I mentioned during the first reading, I think that it's a great project. When people ask about traffic concerns, which is my concern too, I always like to explain, well, what are the options? You wanna have an office building of 14 stories? as you're allowed in that property, or you wanna have something that really makes sense and improve the area, increase property values as well, like the project that you're presenting. And for me, when it comes to traffic, You don't need to be an engineer or an expert to realize that office buildings an

Thank you. All right, any other comments? I think we have a motion and a second. If there's no additional comments, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Yes. Motion passes. All right. Madam Clerk, please go ahead and read item 20D into the record.

All right, we're gonna go ahead and incorporate the presentation, the comments, public comments, exportate communication into this item as well, unless anybody has anything else to add. If there's nothing else to add from the applicant or from staff, I need a motion. Motion to approve by Councilman Pinedo. Second. Second by Councilman Reynoso. If there's no additional comments, Madam Clerk, please call roll.

Yes. Motion passes. All right. Go ahead and read item 20E.

All right. We're going to go ahead and incorporate all the comments and presentations as well as PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC AND EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS. IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE TO ADD, WE NEED A MOTION TO APPROVE. MOTION TO APPROVE BY COUNCIL MEMBER PINEDO. SECOND. SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER MARINOSO. THERE'S NO ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. MADAM CLARK.

YES. COUNCIL MEMBER PORRAS. NO. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU TO THE APPLICANT. I THINK IT'S A GREAT PRODUCT. Thank you so much. Very innovative with the parking spaces right in front of the units. Very high end. Thank you.

All right, this is my item. It's the second item. Let me go ahead and open up public comments. Public comments now open for item 20F, also known as 26-6511. Anyone who would like to speak on this item and this item alone, please approach the podium. Being none, public comments now close. Madam Clerk, if the record reflects, no one has chosen to speak at this time. There's been no changes from first to second reading. This is the same item that we heard at the last council meeting regarding the regulating businesses with OFAC. which may not even apply very soon. But we'll go ahead and entertain

Yes, hopefully our Secretary of State and our President are working on not having to worry about things like that anymore. All right, before we conclude, I have two points of personal privilege real quick that I'd like to say. First, I want to thank our planning and zoning temporary director that was here, Michelle Lopez. Thank you very much to you and Corradino Group for stepping in when the city really needed you. It's been a roller coaster of a ride. Planning and zoning is a very difficult department, very technical, but we are very pleased to now have Mr. Magriso join our team as the new d

I don't know about all that, but no, I'm just kidding. I love you, Michelle.

Thank you. And you're still driving to Doral. Your office is such a good place. Yeah, yeah.

I will. Yes, next time. Where shopping is a pleasure. Yes. All right. Thank you. And lastly, we have Milkshake's birthday on Friday. She will be a year already. So we just wanted to wish her a happy birthday at the request of our chief. Thank you guys so much. You're wonderful. And Officer Carrillo, thank you so much for taking care of her. Has she learned a lot?

Yeah. Thank you, Officer Carrillo, for everything you do in our community. And I know that the community loves Milkshake. So thank you very much for bringing her today. Yes. And that will conclude our March council meeting. We will see you all back here in April. If there's nothing else, I need a motion to adjourn. Motion. Motion to adjourn by Councilwoman Reynoso. Second. Second by Councilman Pinedo. All in favor say aye. This meeting is adjourned. See you all in April.