City Council - Regular Meeting

Well, good evening, everyone, and welcome. I could ask everyone to find a seat. We have some very special presentations this evening, and many of our folks in uniform have things to do other than, but this is not to diminish the acknowledgments and the presentations we're going to do tonight. So I'd like to ask our Chief Mario Knapp to join me.

What does that say about the caliber and the qualifications of the men and women of the Homestead Police Department? Incredible. Our members are receiving recognition signed by the director of the FBI for work done here over a couple-year period. So we have three proclamations tonight, and I think it's important. They're shorter, so I'm going to take the liberty of reading them all in their entirety. The first one is, whereas Special Agent Carlos Gibber entered federal service with the FBI in 2002, has dedicated 35 years to federal service, including 24 years as an FBI special agent, four year

So in no particular order, I think these are similar proclamations. So we'll say, whereas Detective David Mata has served the Homestead Police Department with distinction since beginning his law enforcement career as a reserve officer in September 2008, 2003 and becoming a full-time police officer in March 2005. Whereas throughout his more than 21 years of service to the city of Homestead, Detective Mata has demonstrated professionalism, dedication, and steadfast commitment to public safety, including eight years in uniform patrol and service as a member of the DUI squad, field training office

Got everybody? And thank you to the families of all of the officers involved. I know you've sacrificed a lot of time for their activities. And our final proclamation tonight is typed in way too small a font, by the way. So as Parks and Recreation is an integral part of communities throughout this country, including the city of Homestead, And parks and recreation promotes health and wellness, improving the physical and mental health of people who live near parks and use our parks. And whereas parks and recreation promotes time spent in nature, which positively impacts mental health by increasin

Well, thank you, Pedro. And that concludes our presentation agenda for this evening. Again, thank you and congratulations to all who have been recognized. We cannot put into words our thanks and appreciation. So with that, I will adjourn this agenda, and we will convene the Community Redevelopment Agency meeting in about five minutes. Thank you all.

Hi, if we could all take our seats so we can continue tonight's agenda items. So good evening, everyone, and welcome. I'd like to call the City of Homestead Community Redevelopment Agency meeting to order. Today is Tuesday, July 7, 2026, and it is now 535 PM. Madam Clerk, can we have a roll call, please?

Here. All right, so to deviate a little bit, what I would like to do is have a motion to place this meeting in recess, to move forward to open the council meeting for the sole purpose of having the legislative update, and then we'll come back to the CRA rather than having our senators and representative endure the CRA meeting because they're on the second. So it's been moved and seconded. All in favor? Aye. All right. So now, good evening, everyone. I'd like to call the City of Homestead City Council meeting to order. Are you ready, Madam Clerk? Okay. Call the regular Homestead City Council me

I'm here, and we're going to deviate slightly from the agenda. First, for the sole purpose of receiving our legislative update, understand we are graced with the presence this evening of our very own Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez. Representative Kevin Chambliss is here, as well as Senator Alexis Calatayud. together with a whole roomful of, well, we don't call them lobbyists anymore, our government relations folks, Jose Fuentes, Jose Diaz, and who did I miss? So come on down and let's have that update. Thank you all for being here tonight.

We'll all come down and join you. Anything from either Senator Calatute or Representative Chambliss?

Thank you. Thank you. Let's go down, council. Okay, so I need a motion to recess the council meeting. It's been moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. All right. Matt, we need a motion to reopen the CRA. Motion to reopen the CRA meeting. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor?

Okay, so we have had the... Roll call. Mr. Beck, do you have any deletions or deferrals for this agenda? Well, let's take it to tab one then, and if you have an abbreviated presentation.

the development partners here uh so we can certainly answer questions and and uh go into further discussion but that is the introduction and overview okay i'd like to give you know the principal of the proposer the opportunity to come up and and you know uh add to fill in uh give their perspective on on the proposal that's before us and then we'll open it up for questions good evening and welcome good evening mayor and vice mayor and council

then with that let me uh open the floor to to questions from our board members who would like to kick it off remember roth thank you mayor a couple things

You say we have debt service of about $4 million. What do we have in total expense in that building right now?

So we can say we got $5 million in the building?

Okay, so we got $5 million in the building. We're talking about selling the building for $4 million. That's a million-dollar loss on our end, plus if we if we do a lease to them we're giving them credit for the lease payments towards the principal amount of the loan that they will have right so correct so to me this is not a good situation this is not a lease option for the city to enter into i don't believe in selling the property for a million dollars less than what we've got into the property although it's not an investment it's a more of a quality of life purchase or investment that we mad

Chair Stroud. Board Member Roth. Thank you. Are we also being asked to invest more money into the building?

Great. As this is written, what is their cash investment?

It just seems like, you know, you're talking about $11 million to improve 18,000 square feet. Mm-hmm. Seems like an awful lot of It just doesn't, to me, justify the whole thing. So I'm going to rest for now and let everybody else talk, but I just think the numbers just don't add up.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for the updates, for the analysis, for the proposal. To my colleague, I see everything that you're pointing out, and the numbers are quite astonishing when it comes to the overall investment. I don't want to lose this opportunity tonight, but I don't think that this is a slam dunk win in terms of a negotiation. I did ask what was the process and the procedure for how we negotiated these terms. And I can sense our director's confidence in the structure, but I really would like to have our legal team go back at this and give it a real thorough review and renegotiation

Anyone else to my left? Board Member Fletcher. Yes, thank you. And I'm sorry I didn't ask this question earlier in my briefing, but when did we actually purchase the building, the actual date?

It was in 2023, so we expended $4 million at that point in time to purchase the facility. I'll tell you from the beginning, I haven't been a fan of the project. It's, you know, hearing Councilman Roth, and I'm going to listen to his expertise in the rental market, I think, you know, short term, this is a, it's a money loser for us. But if we don't do anything, it's a money loser for us. CRAs are built to help to try and reinvigorate. I'm kind of open to what everyone else has to say, but I've not been a fan of this project from the beginning. However, if we continue to let it sit there, I thin

Thank you. Thank you, Board Member Fletcher.

Thank you. Just a few more points for consideration. I agree with Vice Chairwoman's comments. I do think that the contract having some phasing and some real clear control measures on how we have matching with investments I think would be prudent for the council to have for the for the board to have. And as well as, you know, looking at this from a perspective of, you know, that two and a half million dollars at the end of the day, with regards to the gap from what we've invested into what the purchase prices and the overall re contribution from the CRA for building out. That's an investment th

at refining the negotiations so i mean if we can just give direction to continue the negotiations and try to bring it back at the july second council meeting of july i think that doesn't hurt thank you so let me let me weigh in then and then you can address board member avala and my comments first i want to say to staff and i know that you are not the cra director who who proposed this acquisition, nor was this the city manager who had oversight. There's a really serious allegation here tonight that our appraiser missed the mark three years ago by a million dollars. And there may not be probab

Any further? Councilman, or Board Member Roth first, followed by Board Member Avila.

Thank you. Question. The $9.5 million or whatever they're going to be investing into this Have they showed you any proof of finance? Have they showed they have money in the bank? Have they showed any note structures or anything from lenders that are going to help them achieve that goal?

I think that's a critical point because if we're going to invest another $2.5 million into a $5 million project, that's $7.5 million on our part where we're going to maybe four million dollars of the seven and a half million dollars that we have invested so i think i don't think we're close enough yet to make an educated decision on this project when it comes to the finances i think the terms of the agreement um at four million dollars is is truly not fair to the city or to the cra and i think we need to look at at those aspects But I'd really like to know if the developer has the wherewithal

Thank you, I just wanted to make mention for the further negotiations that one of the first things that I had mentioned when we had the unsolicited unsolicited proposal come in was my desire to see a D restriction with regards to residential. so just keep that in mind as you continue um you know seeing phasing vetting of the of the proposer the restrictions you know fine-tuning the terms and and final investment um if if if we're not potentially seeing the fruit of our investment until year eight the latest according to this um Councillor Stroud.

Thank you. Yeah, I'd like to continue to think that this is a potential catalyst for our downtown and that our investment into this project would would trigger those other things that we can be a little bit more intentional or more controlling on but I do think that there is opportunity to fine tune this more. Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. So let me ask you this. You've heard our concerns and our questions on a lot of different levels and from different angles. Are you interested in continuing to sit down with our attorneys and the CRA staff to attempt to address those concerns, or have we come to the end of the road?

okay just for my a moment ago when you mentioned that you had made a cash offer but at that time you did not know some facts until you learned a couple of months ago that you didn't learn until a couple of months ago and i didn't catch what you were referring to so my original submission my unsolicited came in and

My question is, what did you find out recently that you didn't know then?

Mr. Beck, let me ask you or Mr. Pearl, whoever. I know philosophically we, well, in actuality we have incurred debt to buy this building. Is it actual mortgage debt or general revenue in the CRA secured by CRA revenue debt?

Because a little different from Old City Hall, for example. Right. Psychologically, we have debt with respect to that property, but it doesn't have to be retired when we receive money with respect to the sale of a portion or portions of that parcel. Okay. I wasn't sure whether it was an actual mortgage. Yeah.

So again, you've heard our concerns, and I think you've indicated that you'd be willing to go back and take one more stab at it and bring it back. Mr. Beck? Your mic's on.

Oh, oh, I'm sorry. We're gonna work on ski.

Thank you. I think most of what I will say will just reiterate what we've all agreed to. Are we at a loss? We're at a loss. If we continue carrying it and don't move forward, we're still at a loss. But to reiterate what your point is, the director here, the priority is to revitalize downtown. And I think that's where the focus needs to be. We're looking at quality of life. and bringing restaurant generating business, generating movement, and quality of life to downtown homestead that's the priority here. Do I think that there is a way that we can confidently come to an agreement that is advant

that's a lot to offer in one location and a lot to offer to downtown and serving the purpose of why we're here at this meeting is to revitalize downtown that's a priority so again i just you know everything we all agree to just wanted to to nail it home and tell you that yeah i agree that that's our purpose and to stay focused for what we're here is it a loss it's a loss but at the end of the day the purpose is to bring that business downtown and i think that's what we need to stay focused to thank you

brought first and then yeah i'm not against the project what i'm against is not knowing the financial uh ability of them uh the previous group that made an offer to the city had experience in food hall business i don't believe you do Do you?

Okay, well, you don't have any experience in a food hall business. No. And this is what we're trying to open here. Correct. So that's another concern. I get it. It's a loss. What I'm trying to protect is additional losses. So if we can get the financial information that they have the ability to do this financially, it will taste a little bit better. No pun intended to the food thing. That's all, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Chair. So my colleague, Board Member Roth here does have extensive experience in the food industry many years ago, but his advice on this, his experience, his wisdom, It's very valuable, at least to me. I would love for this to be a unanimous approval when it comes back, but do your best to really meet all the issues and the challenges here. Director Jarrett has my full vote of confidence on this item. But I think Matt will seal the deal for us. And I do think Bear Atlantic could do it best in this situation. Your renderings, your design, your concept, your plan, it really is impres

Thank you. Okay, I don't think there's anything further for us to direct or discuss on this item. I think you all have your clear picture. Okay, moving on to tab two regarding the installation for a placemaking feature at the Paseo Park on Mowry.

board member roth has weighed in with the first one board member thank you chair yeah the first one with the homestead just the way you read it homestead the future lives here and i think it's very appropriate that it's in the park where the kids are where the future of the city of homestead will be and you know the future lives here it's our tagline and i do want to be careful on how we maybe outplay it a little bit and you know, the other renderings that were in the packet, I think are nice too to maybe consider in other areas. So here in this spot as an entranceway to the park where our fut

You like the first one? Yeah. As do I. My preference is the Homestead lettering at the top in white with our branded blue, the future lives here.

Yes, thank you. leaning towards option one but i also have a question in regards to we've spent a lot of time and money rebranding the city over the last couple of years and and coming up with a standard homestead and now this is different than some of the other ones that we've done

I think this script of Homestead is used in the downtown through CRA, and it's on the banners.

If you go on our website, it's different. On our letterhead, it's different. No, I agree. Just look for some standardization is all. Other than that, again, option one with the vice mayor's comments. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Manager. Vice Chair, I think later tonight you may have the opportunity to encourage another proposer to use your artistic design and maybe an entrance feature for the revitalized football stadium and practice fields.

Yes, thank you, Chair. I mean, the reason why I was asking for a little bit more oomph was because I did kind of see the opportunity to make it a little bit more picturesque and not so blocky and plain. So out of the options that I had, if I had to pick one, it would be option number one. But if there's appetite to do something a little bit more Instagrammable and more engaging, I would like to see that option. So I am interested in seeing your sketch see your sketch and put a price tag to it compared to what this would be and maybe bring it for the the next uh meeting if we're going to do a c

on our meeting for the 22nd but we could bring this back to the next meeting and with those couple options or yeah let's just see what we can do beyond that if these are our options it seems that option one wins put it in this perspective we've owned the shotgun property for 21 years what's another two weeks with a sign

all right so next we have before us the meeting the minutes from our meeting our last meeting we've been moved and seconded all in favor any opposed moving on to tab four and this is the potential acquisition of some real estate

yeah i'm okay with this the my only concern matt would be if uh are there any non-competes with the parking garage to build a parking garage for the city not a non-compete but we're also not building we're not contemplating a garage of this space at this time but if we wanted to if you want to

I'm not aware of it. Because I mean, if we're going to buy it, I'd rather scrape it and build go up a few stories. So we have more space and just ground parking that would double triple the amount on the north side of Chrome Avenue. Yeah, so just look into that for us. Thank you. That's all.

Thank you. Remember, being further to my right. But moved and seconded. My only input would be is that I'd like the resolution, if it's not clearly stated now that someone would offer an amendment, it's clearly stated that this purpose is for the purpose of creating a public parking facility. So did you move it? yes and although that is the thought that i think we all have do we want to hold ourselves to that just in case something else comes up well i do given what's been discussed about granting easements that have no basis in fact i think we need to lock it into being a parking facility or

My final comment would be, as we go forward and do our due diligence, for you newcomers, that property is either adjacent or in close proximity to a former dry cleaners and two gas stations. So there will need to be...

But anything beyond that, if there's not going to be a restriction to a parking facility, which, by the way, I am not going to support this if it is not locked into being a parking facility. right so we've got a motion in a second is there anything further i don't think we need to take public comments did we have a vote on did i have an emotion to amend there was no motion to amend so this is the motion to uh to execute the agreement to to purchase as is with no restrictions so that's the case amount of court

And our final item for the CRA agenda is tab five. Mr. Beck?

Board, questions, comments? Do we have a motion?

I'll second the motion. Was there a motion? Yeah. Thank you. I do support this item. I just out of curiosity, if the property owner wanted to ever expand or do any additional redevelopment on the property, what's our term with regards to any repayment due to redevelopment? Is anything?

Okay, so Kathy thought they has, I think, is a very local favorite. And that's a great, you know, a great venue to have in our core downtown. And I, you know, I look forward to, you know, improving the condition of the parking lot, which is right across from our seminal theater. So it's very quite visible. If there's any additional curb appeal that we can do to maybe enhance it as well, that would be ideal, but not a condition of the approval. But that's just my comments. Thank you.

Very good. Okay, so we have a motion and a second. If there's nothing further, let's have a roll call.

All right. Any additional items, Mr. Beck? No. Does that conclude the agenda? All right, so we need a motion to adjourn. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? And let's take five and we'll convene the council meeting.

All right, let's take our seats and see if we can get this agenda moving on. Okay, I need a motion to take the council meeting out of recess. It's been moved by Avila, seconded by Fletcher. All in favor? All right. We are now going, if I could have everyone rise, we'll have the invocation by Councilwoman Konski, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Councilman Canabal.

Please join me in prayer. Most gracious and merciful Father, thank you for your goodness, for your faithfulness, for your love, and for your Son. We thank you for the opportunity to gather together, for the freedom and privilege to publicly offer up our prayers. We invite your presence into this place, Father. We ask your Holy Spirit would guide and direct each and every person here. Give wisdom, discernment, judgment, and integrity to all those who lead, great or small. May we be like-minded in spirit and purpose, giving praise, honor, and glory to you. We pray a special blessing over our gre

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Please be seated. OK. It is now that time where we entertain general public comments. I will first go to those who have pre-registered. And first up is Brandi Ramirez. I know, Ms. Ramirez, you're still here. If you'd please come forward and make your comment. Good evening and welcome.

Thank you. That is the only preregistration I had. If that's not correct, let me know. All right, is there anyone else in the audience who would like to make a general public comment? Is there any, okay. Come on down. No one online, okay. If you'll give us your name and address for the record.

Give it to the clerk and she'll circulate it.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, is there anyone else in the audience? Has anyone joined us online? Okay. Going once, going twice. I will close the public comment section of the agenda. Mr. Manager, do we have any additions, deletions, or deferrals? None, Mr. Mayor. Okay, thank you. All right, our first item tonight is for discussion, tab two, car number 5103, Harris Field Park, public-private partnership proposal discussion. Is the podium mic on?

So let me open it up to questions or comments from my colleagues. Who would like to kick it off?

Councilman Fletcher? Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Mr. Sekulowicz and the team for giving us this opportunity. There are a few questions I have in your outlined term sheet here that basically you're just looking for us to give you direction on to move forward or make changes. So I'm in support of this with a couple of questions in regards to the term length. I think we have to nail down some of those. in this negotiation period. But I heard a couple of things in your presentation that caused me a little pause, not on your behalf, but I heard the word the surface is dangerous as it

Thank you, Mayor. Definitely heeding a lot of Councilman Fletcher's concerns and questions, which, of course, I'd like to learn the answers of as well. My question for staff is, where are we at with the reimagination process with our consultants? Is that the same consultant that was referenced as providing the letter of support on this?

I've met with Parks and one of the consultants, so I don't know if there's a secondary step. And I know that I held a walkthrough of the Doral City Park to get a lot of ideas and vision for continued workshops. Where I'm at with timeline is I'm not sure where we're at with the timeline of our plan. So while I think that this is a great opportunity, how does this fall in terms of our public input, our drawings, our vision? With the sports complex, I feel like we were very experienced at that point. We had multiple visioning sessions, several opportunities to identify our amenities, our goals, a

Sorry, and it's not to identify like who's holding up the or identify where any barriers are with the consultants currently, it's just but where are we in terms of the logistics? So we haven't done any public input yet, right? That's coming subsequent to some meetings.

And when is, according to the original timeline, when was the scheduling of public input engagement?

Okay. I want to make sure that we have all of our reimagination process done and completed so that we are coming to the table with a full vision that we can then entertain. with VSGS or any other competitive bidder to execute the development of Harris Field. I don't see why we would trump our current imagination process or re-envisioning process to jump into spending their money to negotiate. We implemented a process, right, for unsolicited proposals. We collected $25,000 from you at this point. I think we need to be very fair and transparent that before we spend your money into investigating

And if I might, that's exactly what occurred as we negotiated for the development of Homestead Regional Park. Have you dealt with AYSO? Have you dealt with Rodeo? And any number of other, Keys Gate School, whatever little league and other leagues played at the park, I kind of would envision this negotiation process as to have that piece that can assure us that all of those interested parties have been accommodated as they were with the regional park development.

Thank you, Mayor. So in my briefings with Nick, they assured me that the construction phase of the stadium, they would be working directly with the organizations that are already scheduled, especially our high school football teams and things like that, to relocate them to other facilities during the construction period. Because if they break ground in October, football season starts basically in September. So that means that field's not going to be available to them to play there. And also, I think they're only taking over the stadium aspect and I think the two fields to the east. Is that rig

Right. So there's still a tremendous amount of opportunity for reimagining the rest of what Harris Field will be. I think I remember during the talks we had about that, adding pickleball courts and adding other amenities to the park, which won't even come even close to being in this area. So I think the opportunity is tremendous. it's gonna save us a million dollars in renovations from taxpayer dollars, because we've got to do it anyways. And I think if we can get them started like today, they can get the field ready for football season, but I don't think that's gonna happen, so.

Right, which gives us more reimagining of Harris Field. So I think it's cool. I think, yeah, we need to give them an opportunity to negotiate a contract to see what comes out of that. But, yeah, I think it's a great idea. And I was kind of... when you were talking about the sponsor side on the north side and making i was kind of like are they going to put people on top of there because that would really be cool too i mean it's like a rooftop i don't know how many letters in the gentleman's name that passed away oh that's he's got a big last name i think yeah yeah so whatever i mean that's just

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to reiterate that I'm not saying I'm against the opportunity or the overall partnership at the Harris Field location. I just want to bring to the attention of my colleagues, for example, Vice Mayor, when you brought up this particular field, during my one-on-one with the consultant, it did not come to consideration how close this one was to the residential But in just this last week, there was a huge event at the field, and so I did receive a number of complaints on the noise issues that were pouring over into that residential community. And so there's more to lea

And then also you want to have the dedicated programming time when there's already a draw for for dates and time and the demand is high for those fields and now we're going to add in another 20 games. I think we need to finish what we started.

So my perspective is that we should move forward and authorize negotiations we know there are a lot of issues just as we addressed as i said earlier on the the prior uh transaction out at the future homestead regional park and we'll all have those punch lists and and address those issues throughout the negotiation um i'm I am confident that from day one when we retained the consultant that the sports hub folks have been in contact and close working relationship with them so that the two visions meshed, that there was no competing visions or plans for Harris Field. So we're faced with that if t

Well, and I also think about, Vice Mayor, the parents of the spectators and players for the other dozen or so high schools who play in Homestead they're gonna walk into maybe not world-class but pretty close that was another question with TV lighting with the OLED screen and with real concessions and real food would we as the city be able to rent it out to other high schools 100% that's built into the negotiation I wanted to add

Thank you. Vice Mayor. Mayor. Yes, sir. With regards to the security is the is the answer that you're going to provide the security for all the activities regardless of whose game it is. I think that was my understanding of the point.

placement of the metal detectors and designing that and maybe separate entrances for the home team and the visitors team when it comes to high school football. But it's my understanding is each school has to pay for security, whether they're paying City of Homestead, whether they're paying Miami-Dade School Board, Police Department, So they're already bearing that cost. So now, potentially, that payment may not be made to Homestead or the school board police. It may be made to the sports hub organization to provide it, or some combination. We're not adding a new level of payment for security.

I was looking for the, you know, I was looking for, you know, hopefully the confidence that this would be an add-on and an incentive, you know, that this would be a less of a cost to our end user, which at the end of the day supports our kids and the programming. So I would like to see some benefits.

Right and, in my mind i'm referring to our schools and nonprofits mayor, is it your vision that for the rest of the fields, the rest of the park itself that that would go out to competitive bidding or an opportunity for.

This proposal addresses solely the existing football stadium and the adjacent fields.

Right. So is the negotiation or the contract going to have a non-compete or a first right of refusal? I think they'll bid on whatever we do in the future.

Well, that's part of the negotiation, but I don't know that at this point they're interested in...

I'd like for that to be something that we're making a point of now, that we're not foreclosing the opportunity to get the job done with multiple options. Not at all. And I'll support the negotiations moving forward.

Okay. So if there's no other council comment, let me open the floor to any public comment very quickly. Is there anyone online? No one online. No one. Ms. Ramirez?

I think he's making great efforts. We gotta stop playing small ball. And I wanna be very clear. Unsolicited does not mean rushed and it does not mean sneaky. It means we simply did not advertise that this came to us at the proposer's initiative. You go find me somebody in Homestead that's got $5.5 million and we'll be glad to talk to them.

There will be at least 2 more public meetings regarding this, but I do understand that Miss Avila mentioned that there was a consultant.

Thank you for hanging in there tonight and your support.

the kids here in homestead okay thank you thank you all right any further public comment all right so i'll close the public comment yes

Before we vote, I just wanted to ask, in heeding just the public comments, is there an opportunity to coordinate and expedite the public engagement with our consultants? Can we start that now? Plenty of opportunity has come and gone for the one-on-ones. One-on-ones can continue to happen over the next month or two while the negotiations are happening. That way, I feel like we're getting the best of both worlds.

The one-on-ones could conceivably happen in one day or the course of two days. Correct.

I feel like I've done mine. I met with them before breaks.

I had to. Early on, I met with them, you know, with our lag and a new council assistant. I don't know whether a new date has been requested or if we're talking about prior.

Can we while you're scheduling and finalizing those interviews or one on ones, can we proceed with calling for the public engagement pieces and schedule it.

I think that is You know, a compromise and that would make me feel so much more comfortable with moving forward and supporting this project.

Okay. So we'll let staff coordinate that. All right. So, Madam Clerk, the motion is to commence with negotiations and to move forward on a non-competitive basis. Is that what you need, Mr. Pearl? So we'll call it, Madam Clerk.

Yeah. Well, I think we have. Yeah. Mr. Manager, your staff will undertake whatever we need tomorrow to get these one-on-one scheduled and And concurrently, go ahead and calendar public input. OK. All right. Now, before we go further, let's have a motion to extend the meeting from 8.30 to 9.15. It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? Any opposed?

All right, our next item is a consent agenda, item seven, which is considered tabs three, A, B, C, D, and E. Moved by Councilman Fletcher, seconded by Councilman Canabal. All in favor? Any opposed? Mr. Perl, you're doing double duty tonight.

Okay, so we're going to jump to tab four. Go ahead and read it by title, please.

Councilman. Okay, go ahead, Mayor and Council.

Rather than a blanket exemption, I think we probably need some acoustical advice on what a reasonable next level would be.

Mr. Mayor, yes. Let me get to Councilman Fletcher first, and then Councilwoman Alvarez.

And then Councilman Kongsky reminded me of this. And you may remember, as we were kids prior to Andrew, there used to be a huge Australian pine buffer on that south end. So maybe we make that part of the new reimagination on the whole buffer zone, that we plant some bigger trees that . Yes, sir. That's all.

OK. Plenty of opportunity, Councilwoman.

Thank you. And then between now and the future, we do need to also control the content of the music that's being played. A lot of the complaints I received was the profanities that were being heard in the music. So I know that that's sometimes difficult to catch in that moment. But if we can just have a little bit more control and monitoring of the type of music that's being played. Thank you.

And to the extent that we can navigate that censorship thing, I agree. Okay. So, roll call vote on a second reading of the noise ordinance.

Council, questions or comments on this second reading?

We all understand this is a one-year compliance from the effective date. Yes. Mm-hmm. All right. All right, so it's been moved by Councilman Canabal, seconded by Councilman Fletcher. Any public comment? Okay, I'll close the public comment and ask for a roll call vote on tab five.

Thank you. Moving on to resolutions. Tab 6, please, Mr. Pearl.

Thank you. Any objection to waiving the staff report? Do we have a motion? We have a motion by Councilman Avila, seconded by Councilman Canabal. Nothing further from Council? Roll call, please, Madam Clerk.

Thank you. Weigh the staff report. Moved by Roth, seconded by Canabal. Roll call, please, Madam Clerk.

Yes, with a comment. Can we make sure that we advertise this heavily with our community programs at the Dickinson and at Fico Williams? There's a lot of adults that need to learn how to swim. And maybe doing a flyer in the electrical, what do you call it, utility bill? Thank you. Sorry, it's late.

That takes us to tab 11. 11. Guess we have to slow down now.

Okay. So I have a motion by Councilwoman Avila. I have a second by Councilman Canabal. Okay. All right, obviously no questions or comments from Council, so let's have a roll call vote.

motion yes this property is fenced in can we put some decorative I'm fencing not just the ugly green fencing can they do that actually it's part of the resolution that's what's there now six foot okay we have motion a second roll call please

All right, we have tab 13, which is a second reading. Right. Moved by Ross, seconded by Avila. Roll call vote, please.

Okay. Moved by Avila, seconded by Cannavale. All right. No comment. Roll call, please, on the renewal of the Interfaith Advisory Board.

And I think we have a presentation from a representative from Fairchild Tropical Garden. And as you're on your way up, I apologize for, yeah, apologize for keeping you so late. Please pull down the microphone so it fits your size. But, you know, a couple of meetings ago, we kind of skipped around to accommodate people and it turned into a real nightmare. So kind of the luck of the draw of where you were on the agenda tonight. But thank you for coming down.

and talk about the Ag Committee and other things, it gives our agricultural students, and particularly South Dade High School, the opportunity to take part. Several years ago, I know that the prior manager was contacted by one of the sponsors the uh a teacher at south dave and it never went anywhere but as we're moving forward with beautification throughout the city what other flower is more equated with homestead i mean in robert fuchs we have one of the world's foremost and most known and knowledgeable Orchid experts. So, you know, in short, this is, like some of our other items tonight, tha

I just want to say one thing. It took me a very, very long time to figure out that orchids are probably the most easiest flower to bloom. Just don't touch them. Just don't do anything to it. Put it outside and let nature take its course. I have many planted around the base of my palm trees and things like that. And every once in a while, I walk out, hey, look, another one bloomed. Hey, another one bloomed. And they don't do it at one time. They do it at different times. And they're different colors. And it's really cool to see. So I kind of like this. And I think we ought to put some out by th

Well, there's some really pretty orange ground orchids that bloom perpetually almost that we could incorporate. It's your microphone.

being involved in this, you create a sense of community and teach them from the beginning how to take care of the plants and everything. That's very important.

From what I've heard, it doesn't seem to be egregiously expensive to do. We can do this in phases.

And for example, I had inquired about out in the redo of Homestead Regional Park. Because that does not yet really exist,

they can't analyze it but at some point in the future another council may wish to to take that on as a phasing as you know showcasing to folks from all over the world orchids out at homestead regional park yes thank you no i some flowers orchids all the flowers let's be the city of flowers you know i think this is an excellent um addition to beautifying the city of homestead i love the partnership that we can have with fairchild tropical gardens um as a Longtime member of the Eastern Everglades Orchid Society. I highly support this item, and I look forward to the collaboration, the continued c

thank you thank you guys again apologies for the lateness of the hour but we really appreciate you being here thank you okay so we have a motion and a second roll call councilwoman avila yes councilman cannibal yes councilman rob yes councilman fletcher yes councilwoman konski vice mayor bailey yes mayor lozner yes promotion all right moving on to tab 16 mr pearl

background again it's a great opportunity for the police athletic league and the homestead explorers to to bring other municipalities into homestead and provide these different competitions uh you know all it no impact to the city so very good thank you moved and second moved by fletcher seconded by we'll give it to alva this time roll call out of court

All right, thank you. Okay, I switched agenda packages here. Tab 17.

Tab 17. Okay, that's yours, Mr. Canabal. So let's, Mr. Pearl, read it into the record.

Well, this is giving some tools to the homeowners, again, some associations. This is being done already, and we have a pioneer of this law and this thing here with our chief of police that will help me explain to you how to do this.

Councilman are off. It's interesting. You said that the new boards that come in. are evaluating the past performance. So you can actually go after them even though they're not on the boards anymore?

Great. That's good stuff. Thank you for bringing this. Yes. Thank you, Mayor.

I actually made a recommendation to a new board that was installed to reach out to our police department specifically to take advantage of this unit's ability to give them closure and insight and confidence that they are taking over something valid, right? And as a longtime association member in my community, it only works to the benefit of the people who are doing it right. and to clear your name and your concerns. So I appreciate you bringing this up. Thank you. Okay.

So you want to move your resolution? Yeah. All right. It's moved and seconded. Roll call, please.

All right. Moving on to tab 18. Okay. Final agenda item.

Okay, so the first question is with respect to a reduction in the mayor's term of office from four years to two years.

Thank you, Mayor. Just for my colleague's benefit, there was a change to the verbiage from the last time we saw this to now, which was heeded from our legal counsel's recommendations to avoid any challenges to the verbiage. But that was the main change, and for that reason.

Well, the change is with respect to the question as it will appear on the ballot. Right. Not the impact, but... a more neutrally framed question. Right. Council, any further questions or comments on this first item? Does somebody want to move it? Moved by Avala, Councilwoman Avala. We have a second on the reduction of the Mayor's term from four years to two years.

Okay, second by Councilman Roth. Anything further from Council? let's have a roll call vote on the ballot question calling for a reduction in the term of the mayor commencing in 2027 from four years to two years at a time but not limiting a total service of eight consecutive years councilman ron councilwoman aguilar yes councilman fletcher no

So the next question, then, Mr. Attorney, is with respect to appointed time.

term years served as virtue by virtue of an appointment would not count towards the year of service so if someone steps in to fill that vacancy they run for they still have eligibility to run for the full term limit okay any questions or comments from council on this item moved by councilwoman vice mayor bailey second by councilwoman conski so let's have a roll call vote on the We've more public comment to all issues to the front of the meeting. Generally, I've been very liberal with this particular speaker this evening that I think that this has been talked and talked to death in prior meetin

No, this would, if adopted and passed by the voters, anyone who's on council now who was appointed in the past or may be appointed in the future, that abbreviated term would not count against their term limit, whether it be eight or 12 years. This is the appointment part. This is the appointment exemption that we're dealing with now. Okay, so let's have a roll call vote on the calculation of time.

And finally, the third and final question this evening. is a question as to whether, and it would not apply to anyone currently in office, anyone first elected for a term starting in 2027 and thereafter to counsel would be under a term limit of eight years versus the current 12 years. So, Mr. Ramirez.

If I might take it to your point though, Mrs. Ramirez.

Some historical perspective. Yes, sir. In the election of 2002, there had not been term limits in Homestead prior to that. and there was a very vast committee, I think of 19 folks, who also recognized the political reality that given who sat on that council at the time and what their terms of office were, that 12 would be the least amount of term limit they would accept for council. Mr. Bronis was there. And while they knew that term limits needed to happen, they were kind of hedging their bets. I think my research today reflects that of all the cities who have term limits, only Homestead and

And we need to enhance the opportunity of others to serve without being up against an 8, 10 year incumbent.

Yeah, that was my initiative approved for discussion tonight by at least three other colleagues. Two of us don't have the ability to place anything on this agenda. So we'll close the public hearing, and I believe there's been a motion and a second on this one? No? Okay. So this is a motion to reduce from 12 to 8. Do we have a motion? Moved by Councilman Fletcher. Do we have a second? for a term reduction. No second for a reduction in term from 12 to eight years. So let me hand the gavel to the vice mayor. I will be happy to second it. I think people need to stand up and be counted. So it's bee

Very good, so it's been moved by Councilman Fletcher. I second. And seconded by Councilman Canabal to transmit the one question for placement on the November ballot. All right, so let's have a roll call vote.

Okay, so who's next? Is it Mr. Attorney or Mr. Manager? Mr. Manager of Business.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Okay, Mr. Attorney. Nothing for me this evening. Councilwoman Alvarez.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Fabulous 4th of July. Congratulations to all the teams that put this together, all their hard work and effort. It really was beautiful. I'm interested in seeing the final accounting, but as far as I'm concerned, it was a success. Kudos to Parks and Rec. They would pick the hottest month of the year to make it Park Month, so congratulations to the recognition. keep doing all that hard work same to our homestead police department continue doing a great job and recognizing our officers i love to see our officers being recognized here every month so if we could have each mem

So let's let's look at that and all be up to speed on the exceptions to the upfront comments. You know, there are exceptions. to agenda items where we are not foreclosing the opportunity to make comments at the actual time the item is discussed.

Oh, I feel like that's what's been happening. So if we just want to make sure.

Well, there are limited exceptions. So let's all re-educate ourselves on that. If Mr. Attorney, you could recirculate that.

And then what was the schedule for the big game in Lossner Park? July 19th. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. And again, great job this weekend. Saturday yeah the 4th of July was a it does it feels like it's forever but uh great job uh great turnout even though the weather kind of turned bad for us for a little bit um just a reminder to all the residents out there with the rain mosquitoes have increased in their capabilities so we need to all call 3-1-1 and request the county assist us with that and one thing and I'm i'm ashamed that i didn't think about this earlier and we kind of all dropped it over the past couple years but the jet on us-1 we need to we need to start looking at who

For that, Councilman, I recently reached out to Larry Ventura at the base, because I had heard that wraps were now permitted, that we didn't have to go into an actual air-based paint shop and have it painted under the same standards as an active duty airplane. He clarified that for us. There are some approved wrap vendors. But we have that information from about a month ago. I'd be happy to share that, you know, because that's not off my radar either and we're going to need to have some conversation, I believe, about a relocation of that jet. That is not a sufficient location in this day and a

Yeah, just to piggyback on the jet thing. I know the MAC, the Military Affairs Council, had been working a couple years ago with the military base, and it was scheduled to be repainted. And then something happened.

That happened. And I thought we were also looking into maybe purchasing a second jet, retired jet, and placing it somewhere else in the city as well. So I think those are some cool projects. And I think if there's expense involved, We need to find out how much it's gonna cost us to do it. I'm sure we can find dollars to do that or even civic organizations to help us raise the money to re-wrap these jets. As Vice Mayor Bailey mentioned, earlier about the photo ops for the new signage. The jet would be a great idea for a photo op. That's why it needs to be moved. You can't do it there. You can't

Kind of like it is without patriotic music, but that's another discussion.

Yeah, I didn't want to go there. But anyways, great job. We can work on next year, too. And I'm going to work on getting some flags. I passed out some flags in the audience. Just walked through there, and man, they were trying to mob me. So...

Yeah. But no, I looked. I mean, they're very inexpensive. You can get by 500 flags for like 80 bucks. Right. The little three by five little handheld ones. And I think it'd be cool for everybody sitting in the stands and everybody, you know, that's standing up wherever they are, that have little flags and wave them as the fireworks and stuff shows goes on. So and I'd be I'd be even. uh happier to see the drone show come back too so i think that was actually better than the fireworks show so just my two cents thank you mayor so councilman with respect to the jet it's always and i remember you k

The original Military Affairs Committee, I guess it's called Council now, always took the lead, and they had a contractor who donated the crane and the flatbed truck to move it out there to the paint shop, and they also had a benefactor for the repainting. You may recall that when we first started talking about moving it, that organization, whether it was committee or council at the time, was resistant to the relocation. I took the opportunity at the time to look at the agreement. The agreement from the National Museum of the Air Force is between the city of Homestead and the National Museum o

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Kudos and a big round of applause to staff for Saturday and to Homestead and the residents that even through the downpour, they stayed. And I was told they were dancing in the rain and playing in the puddles and hiding out in the tunnel. So rain or shine, they stayed. So that says a lot about who they are and the event itself and their willingness to stick it out. It meant that much to them. So just for those of you who weren't aware, you know, I was really impressed with the residents of Homestead.

So thank you. So quickly, tell us about Havana Nights that you're involved in. What is that raising money for? What's the purpose?

Havana Nights is a benefit. It's the first annual. My very good friend, Miriam Cruz and Bernie Cruz, they started Closet of Living Hope where they started with taking in clothing for either the homeless or those who are in need. Domestic violence, many times they leave with just the clothes on their back. They have nothing. So it started out as just a closet for clothes, but now they have many other items, a lot of baby products and stuff like that. And then they have two other colleagues with them. One nonprofit is a feeding ministry primarily in Miami, but they also work with the Homestead S

It will be at the Women's Club Saturday night. Cocktails start at 5, and I believe dinner's at 7.30. Yeah, cocktails.

Early cocktails. Early cocktails. 5 o'clock somewhere.

That's right. I was told that espresso martinis at 5 o'clock.

yes sir havana knights no i do not believe they're available because there's limited seating remaining but you can uh social media they are on instagram i know havana knights okay councilman

Hello, yes. I want to congratulate everybody in the city of Homestead. That 4th of July event was a wonderful one, a magical one. So thank you for that and to the police for keeping it organized and safe. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Do we have any crowd estimates yet? Did we do any geofencing or anything? No? Okay. Just curious.

Thank you, and given the lateness of the hour, there is nothing of mine that can't wait until a later date, so I'll entertain a motion to adjourn, and I heard that in the second. All in favor, aye. Thank you all, and good night. Meeting adjourned.