City Commission - public_hearing

All right. Good evening, everyone. Today's date is Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. The time is 6 0 6 PM. This is our regular city commission meeting for the city of West Miami. The meeting is now called to order. Madam clerk. First item.

Madam Clerk, before the roll call, the mayor is en route. He'll be here shortly.

I also want to amend, Mr. Chair, 10A. That was a conditional deferral, and I don't see the condition listed there. So we had deferred that item with a condition of allowance of inspection. I just want it to be public record and known.

Do we have a motion for those items as amended? Do we have a second? Motion is second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? Seeing none. Motion carries. Next item. And the mayor is here. He'll take over.

Okay. I apologize. What, uh, w where are we? Catch me up. Item five public comments. Anyone from, uh, public comments not tied to any public hearing item going once going twice. Next item, please.

All right. Thank you. Next item, please.

Nothing unique. Perfect. Thank you. Next item, please.

Anyone for committee reports, just a quick reminder, Saturday, the charrette at Cooper park is at 9 0 AM. Vice mayor for anyone that would like to attend. Beautiful.

I am just going through this agenda here because it's a little bit of chaos. Um, we're going to move a whole bunch of stuff around to make this make sense more. So, and let's take some items so that some residents can get dinner tonight. Um, let's take items 11 C out of order. And then we'll take item 10A following that. And then we'll probably mess with the agenda more after that to get through all the items before budget so we can have a clean budget. Read the item, please.

Thank you. This is a public hearing, 11C. Public hearing is now open. Mr. Janowitz, the floor is yours.

talk about anything relevant to his plans. And from the board, any questions, comments?

Just a comment. One, the oak tree is still there. You didn't use it to make these, right? No, not yet. But more importantly, and jokes aside, you and your wife are an incredible family. The fact that you moved here and this was supposed to be a starter home for you and you found a home here in our city, we really appreciate the work that you guys do for the community, yourself obviously in your private life, and then your wife is involved in our schools. She's at our rec center. Much more to my wife. Right. So we see your kids everywhere, and if we can help to make your kids and your family mo

Yeah, I think I think she said all of us are obviously want to facilitate the growing family. So it's more of a question. There's anything that needs to be amended or anything that to to make sure the project is, is, you know, good for the family and the next family that comes after. But is there anything from the city or go ahead and Commissioner?

Is it one of those things where you dump everything to see if, you know, because you dump so much information, you can't?

Only questions I have. You said that you're following, you're within all of our setbacks, with the exception of the enclosed garage. Correct. Which is something that has been done many times in this city. Very few real garages left, I feel like. I mean, everyone needs more square footage than what was first built here.

And what else? I think you kind of addressed everything. The only quest is the second story and the enclosure. And like you said, the enclosure is not encroaching any more than the existing pillars that already exist today. Is that correct? Correct.

Yeah, and the second story, you're only here because that's what our code requires, right? Correct. So I went through this motion myself, so I can appreciate the effort that you have to go through for the second story.

And I commend you for doing a second story that is in a box and set back.

Alrighty. Um, seeing that there's not many other questions, comments from the commission recommendation for the city. Okay. Public hearing is now closed. Um, anyone like to make a motion motion? We have a motion second. We have a second for approval. Call the roll, please.

I'll leave this for the clerk. Wow, that's a workout.

That is... All righty, well... Madam Clerk, if you can start reading item 10A, please.

All right, can we get a motion on deferral next meeting A and B? So moved. We got a motion. Second. We got a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? Hearing none. Item passes. All right.

Would you like to amend the motion, Mr. Attorney, or is that sufficient? I know we probably didn't even need to do a roll call for a deferral, so it's sufficient, right? Okay. Let's move on. I'm sorry. This agenda, I'm just trying to piece it together. I'm going to do something here. Is there anyone in the audience that has an item that they are a party to, an applicant to? I don't, Mr. Manager, is there, what item? 11-0. 11-0. Okay, yeah. Read the resolution, please.

So thank you to the administration for facilitating this RFP, for working with me on this RFP. I know we got a bitter back and we'll work through a contract, but it's basically no cost unless we choose to move forward with any of the services. At that point, it's a cost per, so we can pilot and see what our employees want or don't want. But again, it's one of those situations where it's a tool in the toolbox. Should we like to pursue it? So if anyone has any questions, the applicant is here, but this is essentially something that I worked with the administration to get some responses back on t

It's a great benefit. I commend you for bringing it forward. Motion.

Thank you, sir. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? Hearing none, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Now, Mr. Manager, how do you want to take these items? Do you want to do the budget first? Do you want to go order? I mean...

I mean, I guess let's get to the budget. In the future, let's run the agendas by my office so we can, you know, because I know every meeting I'm kind of doing this jujitsu with the items, and it's just kind of chaotic. So let's get them beforehand so we can just structure it in a way that makes the meeting flow. Let's go to the budget, and then we'll take on all these other items.

There's a quick question. The pickleball court that I saw there for 1.3, I mean, that's a lot higher than the original RFP, but it says grant funded. Is that all grant funding?

And, and I'm sorry to correct you, but on the same point, where are we still, are we still negotiating with the contractors on, on taking out some things from the RFP to where we are?

Okay. Thank you. Sorry, commissioner. Go ahead. Anyone else? on the enterprise funds. Um, when it comes to the water and sanitation, uh, so let's take water first. Um, where are we on the, uh, profits or losses on the water?

How much, give or take, does the water and sewer and then sanitation enterprise funds? In all the enterprise funds, the total is $6.6 million. Okay.

All right. I mean, look, we've gone over the budget a hundred times, so I'm, you know, I don't have any questions, but maybe I have questions from anything that comes up from fellow commissioners. Let's follow up. Go ahead.

Thank you. Anything else from the commission? Why don't we do this? Give a moment for any commissioners to have any questions, uh, read item, uh, G and H I guess.

Read items H and I as well. We'll take it all together.

Item G is a public hearing. The center of city budget fiscal year 2026, 2027. The public hearing is now open. Anyone from the public wishes to speak on this item? The floor is yours. As we wait for any residents, anyone from the commission have any additional questions for Cody, your CFO, for manager, anyone else on staff? Seeing none, public hearing is now closed. Let's take up item H item H. So an item H, um, I'm getting a motion motion. Second motion in a second. Uh, as this is a 5.7, seven, correct. Your motion is at 5.7, seven. Correct. Okay. You have a motion in a second. All in favor sa

We have a motion. Second. We have a second. You can't be shy with these seconds and motions. Come on. We're going to sit here all day. You have a motion. We have a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any against? Hearing none, item passes. Thank you. When is the next budget hearing?

September 23rd. Yes. This will be read again and heard again. Next item, please.

Second. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? None. Item passes. Let's go back to the original order of the agenda. Thank you. Item 11A.

Okay. And this is a public hearing. Public hearing is now open back to the board. Mr. Manager. Um, well, anyone wish to speak on the side of public hearing? Mr. Manager, context on this item?

Okay. Any questions from the board on this item for manager or for, I guess, Cody he's up there. So I imagine he's ready to take questions as well. Just the housekeeping item.

Okay. Public hearing is now closed questions, comments, motions, motion. You have a motion. There we go. We have a second. Call the roll, please, on the item. This is on, just clarify, your motion is on item A and E? Correct.

And your second as well on item A and E?

Sorry. This is the first reading. So we can take this opportunity to make any fundamental changes, but obviously this item will be coming back for a second reading and probably in a scheduled meeting or within a notice period. Want to provide any context that is relevant to this item?

If I could stop you there for a second. We're talking about interior side. Is that interior side?

What about when there's a lot that is a corner? I'm getting there. Okay. Do you?

Any questions? Go ahead. Commissioner and the commissioner.

First, I'd like to thank staff. I asked for a very small change, and you have done a complete overhaul of the entire thing, and I think it's great. One question I did see on the side street that it said the frontage is the shorter of the two. What are we doing for homes that face, like let's say 62nd Avenue, that they're much wider on one side than on the other side? Would we treat that as a side street?

I would ask that we just revisit that for a second reading and take a look at specifically, I'm concerned about certain houses on 62nd Avenue that I feel like they are much wider than they are deep. And that would allow a six-foot fence with an additional two-foot wrought iron or opaque, or not opaque, transparent to block the entire front of their home as opposed to the rest of the city.

Well, I'll give you an example to your point. My house I'm constructing right now in the city, the narrow side is on the avenue. My actual front is on 10th Street. um the front of my house would be on 10th street and it would like you said it would it would be counter counter and my front door neighbor has the same situation right so it would be it would be i agree i was that was the point i was going to make too to revisit that because we have a certain number of houses on 62nd avenue is the case but also certain corner properties like my own that would go counterintuitive to what we were try

Go ahead, Commissioner. And in terms of materials, I think we already addressed the finished, unfinished. We make sure that we can include that definition so that people know what the difference is because most fences are treated, but whether they're finished means whether they're painted or whatever it may be. I have seen a lot of homes, especially throughout Miami-Dade County, that have the white or colored PVC materials. Is that one of the materials that we're considering allowing or no? No, I defer to staff. I'm not saying it's pretty or it's not pretty, but I've considered it, so I don't know. I'll defer to staff to take a look at that and consider whether that's something that fits with the city and if it's an existing product that's already found throughout the city.

You know, we don't have that many fires, but if I make commissioner, it could happen. How is, how is it different than, for example, I believe correct me if I'm wrong. Cause I'm, I don't read the code every night. Um, we allow now right on interior, for example, um, eight foot hedges. right? So a thick hedge, right? I was, I was done necessarily different in terms of visibility for fire department or fireman.

Well, I'm going to stop you there because I know in our city we used to use the word liability like the block of everything. There's no liability issue there. I'm not going to allow – no, not because of you. I know we were on a commission together for a while where liability was thrown around like candy. But, you know, it's – I agree with you. Yeah. I know we served together on that. So I know we have that – Vice Mayor, you want to –

I'll say all great points that you're making, but ultimately the homeowner, what we're giving them is the freedom to determine if they want to take that risk, say if it is a risk, and in order to have more privacy in their home. A lot of homes are on crawl spaces, so I think that's why this was brought forth to begin with. Six foot fence, your home is elevated, you're looking right into your neighbor's yard. So as the mayor mentioned with the hedges, all the points that you're making, I mean, ultimately the residents are going to have more flexibility to have privacy for their families. And as

I was going to say I'll play devil's advocate the other way. So firefighters and police officers might not be sizing up our property, but as a mom of two young girls, peepers and predators are, and honestly, that's why I had asked for a variance. I'm one of the ones that has a very elevated property. And the fence really didn't keep me and my backyard where the girls play private. So we have hedges now. I think I wanted to propose, I know we have eight foot hedges now, but I did want to kind of, and I made this proposal and the planning and zoning board, if we could, separate the hedge limitat

I'd be supportive of that as well. I know we're only talking about fences now, but hedges are in the first reading of the ordinance. I think now there's a moratorium that goes back a while, right, for the hedges, if I understand correctly.

Is that still the case? Do we still have the moratorium? Did we never take that up? I thought we took it up finally.

It was lifted. Okay. But regardless the intent, I think for hedges specifically would be if it's maintained and it looks nice, the height isn't so much the concern as it is. Cause somebody got a four foot hedge. That's the show. It looks terrible. So I think in the past this was an issue because people were getting violations because their hedges were, were tall. And then you drive by and look at it. They're beautifully maintained. We see in other cities around us. So I'm in favor of looking at hedges separately.

Okay. Is that something, go ahead, commissioner. Go ahead. Sorry.

Uh, agreed. I would take hedges completely out as I don't think there should be a high limitation on a hedge as long as it's being maintained. Um, but to your comment, cause now I'm thinking the way a firefighter would think, um, trying to at least three firefighters on here. I know that's why I'm going to defer to their expertise. So my only question is right now, the proposal for the front fences would be six feet. So if a firefighter or a police officer arrived on scene to a property in the front of the home, the only barricade between them and the backyard is a six-foot fence. Is that corr

In the front. So I guess my question is, your concern is they would have to get access from another property to get to that fence, what would be the eight foot fence?

I'm going to ask a question right now because you have the opportunity, but it has nothing to do with this ordinance. When we're talking about fences, if a fence is fully interior on the lot, if it's a wall, fully interior in the lot, right? So let's say it's on the front of a house, right? But it's not blocking the front. It's extending from the house to block a side yard, right? Is this ordinance limiting that? I'm not talking about blocking from the side. I'm talking about blocking from the front, but not blocking the house, blocking a side yard, like extending from the house. that would th

Anything located in front of the front building. So the front, but it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be in the front of the building. If it's parallel. Yeah. It will be limited to six feet on the front of the property.

Interesting. Okay, cool. All right. Um, this is a first reading. Obviously there's a lot of detail put into this. Um, Personally, I'm okay moving it forward to second reading. We'll vote on that now, but I wanna go over with staff, obviously go to fine tooth comb and make sure that we're not missing anything that should or shouldn't be in here. I'm okay with moving it forward to a second reading if we need to continue the conversation after that. We'll continue the conversation after that. I'm glad that along with this item and the swales item and previously the hedges item that we're moving a

If we left the hedges in here, can we add something in there where it's not so much the height but the way that it's maintained?

We're on our way to second reading, so let's take care of that now. How do we want to deal with the hedges? Are the hedges necessary for this item right now? What is the...

Yeah, let's do that. Let's make this clean. Do you want to make a motion on... Wait, are we still in public here? No, this is the first reading. Do you want to make a motion on the item as amended removing hedges for second reading?

Yes, with staff's comments. I'll second.

We have a motion. We have a second. Call the roll, please.

Correct. Everyone, everyone on board of that. Everyone's the same page. Yes. Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Attorney.

Thank you. Questions, comments from the board?

Just for everyone listening, it's in Veterans Park, which is Sylvania Boulevard and 11th Street, roughly.

All good. Yeah. All right. Someone, uh, motion. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against hearing none item passes. Thank you to our veterans affairs board for working hard on this and hopefully we can get it done in a timely fashion in a, in a reasonable way. But what's it, what's the, what's the best attorney work reasonable timeframe. All right. What's the next item please. Talking about attorneys.

Well, this event, the last time they had it, was very successful. I didn't want to eat pork for a long time after that. Hopefully, I don't get asked to judge again because I'm on a diet. But anything on this item, Commissioner Ceballos, you're the sponsor.

No, it's a, it's a great event. Um, uh, last time we did this, I was not on this commission, but, uh, the city was very helpful in getting this event to be as successful as successful as it was. Um, it benefits the bar, the community American bar association, specifically their pro bono aspect. It's all 501 C three. Um, it's a great fundraising event for all. Maybe I'll bother the chief. You know, depending on how we do at FIU, pig roast later this month. By the way, what date is that on? 26. 26. Reminder to all of our commissioners if they want to attend. But I appreciate staff and city worki

Anyone else from the board? This item? Can I get a motion? Motion. We have a motion. Second. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? Hearing none. Great item. Thank you. Next item.

Is anyone against accepting grants for modernizing your fleet? Motion. Second. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? Hearing none, item passes. Thank you. Next item.

Mr. Mayor, do we have, I'm sorry, Mr. Manager, do we have the photos by any chance?

You're going to paint us a picture. Go ahead.

No worries. So it's a brand new food truck. They're over at Freedom Park right now where the soccer team is playing. Very highly recommended. And this is something that, as a park board, we had been discussing bringing over an amenity like this to our city. It was probably going to come later in the future when you saw the pickleball facilities and such completed. So we'd have more foot traffic. These folks want to come in as a 90-day pilot program, essentially as a free amenity to our residents. The risk is all on them. They understand that. I've explained to them that we don't have a lot of

I'm in favor. I think we want to provide amenities and opportunities for our residents to enjoy the rec center. So obviously if it works, great. If it doesn't, there's no risk to the city. So I'm, I'm very much in favor. And I've, I've heard good things about this vendor. So they come with a good reputation. So I'm, you know, excited. Hopefully we can, we can, we have a great partnership with them.

I gave a shout-out to Lucho, though. I have to give a shout-out to Chopping Block as well. Can't forget about them. Haven't tried the Smash Burgers yet. I don't know if anybody here has, but looking forward to seeing folks on our staff. Some residents, they've tried it, so...

I've seen them both on Instagram. And actually, Lucha Do got a feature on Channel 10 or Channel 4 recently. So it's bringing a lot of good publicity to the city, as well as everything that the Casa Cultura team is doing there. So it's been a great partnership with the city as well. all right we have a get a motion on this or questions comments motions motion motion second we have a second all in favor say aye aye any against hearing none item passes consent can we get a motion of consent motion we have a motion second we have a second all in favor say aye aye any against hearing none good to t

Just one thing to mention. We have a proclamation that we're going to sign, all of us, when we can, for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And then I'm waiting for a date from Sylvia that she's with the Mystic Force Foundation. They just had their parade Saturday. We're always in attendance. Our PD was there.

I actually saw them going up the 7th Avenue. I didn't realize that they went down that, but it was very impressive.

It's incredible, and sorry I missed it this year, but our cops are always there, of course, supportive. So I'm waiting for a date and a time to go to their facility. It's a house that they have set up for the kids, and we can go and present a proclamation and get a tour. So I'll give you that info when I get it. Sounds great.

She was a great resident. It's a very, very sad passing, but, uh, thankfully a long life lived. Thank you for that, for that update, uh, commissioner. Um, anyone else for good of the order? Seeing that all the items on the agenda have been completed, have I got a confirmation on that, Madam Clerk, and that we jumped around a lot? Did we complete all the items? Yes. All right. Meeting adjourned. Thank you.