Virginia Key Advisory Board - Regular Meeting

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

The Virginia Key Advisory Board re-elected its Chair and Vice Chair, approved its annual report, and passed resolutions to reduce quorum requirements and oppose LED billboards in public parks. Members also discussed a planned speedboat race and a proposed city tree ordinance.

About this meeting

Government Body
Virginia Key Advisory Board
Meeting Type
Virginia Key Advisory Board
Location
Miami, FL
Meeting Date
January 28, 2025

Transcript

208 sections

0:01 – 0:20Speaker 12

Meeting on June, January 28th, and it looks like we have a quorum, which is wonderful news. And I think we'll be getting through the agenda fairly quickly. And we will start with a call of order and attendance with the help of Rafaela.

0:28Speaker 1

Peter Ehrlich.

0:30Speaker 1

Nicholas Lopez Jenkins.

0:33Speaker 1

Jackie Collier. John Crabtree. Kerry Johnson.

0:41 – 0:53Speaker 1

Steven Liner. Yeah. Lynn Lewis. Gary Milano. Vincent Richter. Monty Trainer. Here. Chris Evans.

0:55Speaker 1

Andrew Frey.

1:00 – 1:36Speaker 12

Thank you very much. We can move to the Pledge of Allegiance. Are there any requests for abstinence waivers?

1:39 – 1:50Speaker 12

Okay. So we're going to move on to the discussion items. We have a couple items to go through. We can do it quickly. The meeting dates for 2025.

1:51Speaker 5

Excuse me, through the chair. Apologies. I just wanted to make sure that I read the lobbyist note for the record.

1:56Speaker 12

Great, thank you very much.

1:57 – 2:34Speaker 4

Thank you Should any person desire to appeal any decision of the Miami Virginia key advisory board with respect to any matter to be considered at this meeting? That person will need a record of the proceedings and may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made Including all testimony and evidence upon which any appeal may be based any person who receives compensation remuneration or expenses for conducting lobbying activities is required to register as a lobbyist with the city clerk and prior to engaging in lobbying activities before city staff boards committees or the City Commission a Copy of the applicable ordinance is available at the office of the city clerk Miami City Hall Located at 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida 3 3 1 3 3.

2:34 – 2:54Speaker 12

Thank you Thank you very much Does everybody see the proposed meeting dates for this year? Does anybody have any any questions regarding these dates I? Mr. Evans?

2:55Speaker 7

Through the chair, have we made a decision on Thanksgiving?

2:59Speaker 12

Not that I know of. Well, why don't we discuss it?

3:04 – 3:21Speaker 7

I know the meeting is scheduled for the Tuesday before the Thursday of Thanksgiving. Is there any direction that the board would like to take on meeting in November? Do we recall what we've been doing traditionally?

3:26Speaker 1

No, historically, to my knowledge, we only didn't meet in December. But since that was the day before the Wednesday of Thanksgiving, I wanted to point that out in case you guys wanted to vote on that too.

3:38 – 3:58Speaker 12

Does anybody have any comments about the proposed date of November 25th, which is Tuesday, before the Thursday Thanksgiving? Yes. Should we try to keep it on the calendar and try to make it that Tuesday before that Thursday?

3:58Speaker 1

Sorry, we canceled the meeting in November due to lack of quorum this year.

4:02 – 4:39Speaker 2

Last time? Yeah. I think that near November, I think a lot of people are going to be going on vacation. So if we're going to have it a week or so before in November, If we're going to schedule at least a week before Thanksgiving because a lot of people go out of town for Thanksgiving or they go different places for Thanksgiving, the same thing for Christmas. If you, you know, schedule anything around a holiday, if you schedule it, people are going to be leaving two, three, four days before that holiday.

4:39Speaker 12

Ralph, we could maybe consider doing it the Tuesday before.

4:46Speaker 1

Yes, I can see if it's available, if the chamber is available.

4:49Speaker 12

All right. Would that be okay? We'll check and see if the Tuesday before that, so the 25th is available. I think that'll be better.

4:59Speaker 1

That would be the 18th.

5:01Speaker 12

18. That's fine. We don't have to decide today.

5:12Speaker 12

Any other comments or questions? Next item on our agenda is elections for the board.

5:24 – 5:44Speaker 7

My apologies, I couldn't get the mic on fast. Sure. December, similar situation. The meeting scheduled for two days before Christmas. You're right. Similar issue. Historically, we've canceled the meeting.

5:44 – 6:13Speaker 12

Let's wait and deal with it. maybe September, but if we can definitely, if we can have a quorum in October and November, we might miss the December meeting and go right to the January of 2026. Or we could, technically we could choose that Tuesday before the December 23rd for a tentative meeting. What, you know what date that is? Raffaella? Raffaella?

6:15Speaker 1

It's December 16th.

6:17Speaker 12

All right. You want to check and see if the room is available?

6:22Speaker 1

Yes, I would have to email the city clerk's office to get that information, but I can let everybody know tomorrow.

6:28 – 6:42Speaker 12

Sure. So tentatively, thank you, Mr. Evans. It's a good idea to bring it up. Does anybody have any comments or objections to tentatively moving the meeting until December 16th this year?

6:45 – 7:03Speaker 2

I would just like to say that I think that's a good idea because sometimes I plan my vacations two weeks in advance for hotel rooms and stuff like that. And if you don't know at a certain time trying to get a room near Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's kind of hard to get. All right. Thanks.

7:04 – 8:22Speaker 12

Thank you very much. The next item on the agenda is elections for the board. I think I'd rather hear this one at the very end of the agenda. But I put it on because I wanted everybody to discuss it. I'm very, very open-minded. If somebody would like to be the chairman of the board or vice chairman, it's absolutely fine with me. I think it's good to have a good discussion. There is a resolution that our city attorney put on, which was item number one. So I can't remember when we had our last election, but It may have been 11, 12 months ago. But why don't we, we'll just, if you don't, if anybody doesn't, as long as nobody objects, we can do it at the end of the agenda. Let's see. Now, there was a Virginia Key Advisory Board 2024 annual report that was sent to everybody last week. And hopefully everybody had a chance to review it. We're required to submit it each year to the city administration. And does anybody have a chance to read it and have any comments? Anything they'd like edited on that annual report?

8:24Speaker 13

Peter, did you write that report?

8:26 – 9:13Speaker 12

No, it gets updated slightly every year. But the first draft, it was done a good number of years ago. And then every year, we just bring it up to date. But most of the language we've had for a good number of years. If there's any sentences or anything you'd like to change, we can certainly include it. but I think we've been using that template for a good while now. All right, so I guess there's no objections to the annual report. We can submit it to the administration. Is that okay, Raffaella? Is it the city attorney?

9:14Speaker 5

Just that you have to vote to approve it.

9:16Speaker 12

Oh, thank you very much. Do we have any motions to approve the annual report? Do we have a second?

9:25Speaker 8

All in favor, say aye.

9:27 – 11:04Speaker 12

Aye. Okay. And then there's this last item on the agenda, speedboats on Virginia Key Park. And there was a news article about this issue which was sent to everybody in our emails. Raffaella, did anybody have a chance to read it or had they seen that item in the Miami Herald or news reports? Anybody have any comments, questions? We don't have a copy of the article right here tonight, but my comment to city staff is we didn't really know anything about this. The first time I saw it was when it came up in a news report. But I believe items that are incredibly important you know, serious items that involve heavy use of the park, I believe should come to this board for our thoughts and recommendations. We can't stop anything from happening, but I believe we should be given the opportunity to be briefed. Can anybody brief us on this? Well, we're talking about the speedboats. This was a result of a news article that came out about a competition in speedboats.

11:05Speaker 1

Peter, sorry, if you could please speak into the record. Thank you. No, it's okay.

11:11 – 11:45Speaker 12

There's an event with a speedboat race in a historic Virginia Key Basin. And it was in the Miami Herald, I believe. Yeah. Right. And I haven't seen much about it, but there was a big article that day. But I hadn't heard anything about it, and we hadn't been briefed on that particular issue. Well, nobody's brought it to our attention through city staff. Mr. Frey, are you aware of this item?

11:46 – 12:27Speaker 8

Yeah, they're an event. You know, they rent... They rent the flex park and the basin just like regatta or triathlon or country bay or other folks that rent the area for a temporary event. They've rented it for an electric boat race. So they have these electric boats, they don't use gas, small, small power boats, and they're going to do a boat race in the basin.

12:28Speaker 12

And how many days will they take over the basin?

12:32 – 13:03Speaker 8

I don't know how many days total. I assume, like most events, there'll be a couple days load in and a couple days to break down. And off the top of my head, I couldn't even tell you the date. when the race is going to happen. But yeah, I was aware of this. It was booked through Junior, through our venues manager, just like I said, like other events that book the space.

13:07Speaker 12

It's in the fall, I believe.

13:09Speaker 8

Yeah, I would imagine it's in the article that was circulated.

13:13Speaker 3

It says November 7th and 8th.

13:14Speaker 8

November 7th?

13:15Speaker 3

7th and 8th, yeah, that's what it says right here.

13:23Speaker 12

That's certainly a worthwhile comment.

13:29Speaker 2

Do we know what speed these electric boats are going to be traveling?

13:43 – 13:58Speaker 8

I don't know the producers of the event. It seems to have some pretty large names attached to it. I saw that I think LeBron James is affiliated with one of the boat teams.

14:00Speaker 12

And do we know how many people they might expect in the audience?

14:08Speaker 8

I don't know. I mean, obviously they couldn't use the grandstands from the Marine Stadium, so it would have to be just people sort of standing in the parking lot watching.

14:19 – 14:33Speaker 12

And if it was like the electric cars, you can ask staff to send somebody who was involved with the contract.

14:38 – 15:33Speaker 8

It's already been rented. The deal is done. Like I said, similar to other folks that rent the flex park and the basin. There's an agreement, insurance, standard provisions, rates, and things like that. And so just like the rowing regatta or like the triathlons or Country Bay, which rents the Flex Park and the basin, this was just sort of another event. So it's going to happen. They're working with special events with the county on the MOT. I think that the last Country Bay event, the MOT, was pretty successful. I think that there was dramatically less complaints about traffic than past events. So maybe they finally found the right recipe there.

15:33Speaker 12

What's MOT stand for?

15:35 – 16:22Speaker 8

Maintenance of Traffic. So, yeah, they're going through the usual processes, getting their vessel exclusion permit from the Coast Guard. and for the weekend, for the date. And like I said, working with the county on the MOT. So, you know. I'm not asking anyone to feel any one way or another about it, but it is, you know, it is a... like any other event that we schedule, and we're handling it through all the appropriate procedures.

16:22Speaker 2

Does this help for funding for the park, as far as improving bleachers or other areas and other things that need to be done?

16:31Speaker 8

So all the revenue from our venues goes into the general fund, and so then can be used for any public purpose.

16:38Speaker 3

Okay. And I'm curious, they have to be setting up some kind of stands to watch this. I can't imagine everybody watching the Basin just standing up.

16:46Speaker 13

Oh, I'm sorry.

16:47 – 17:01Speaker 3

I mean, I'd love to see the site plan and stuff like that, if we can get somebody in the next couple, it's not until November, so if we can get somebody in. I'm just curious how they set up to watch the Basin, because if everybody's standing just on flat ground, it would be almost impossible to watch as a spectator, I think, so.

17:01Speaker 8

Yeah, I mean, if they've settled on a plan, I probably can have that circulated. I think they're probably still working on layouts and things like that.

17:13Speaker 12

I believe the electric boats are very quiet. The electric cars that race through downtown Miami were incredibly quiet.

17:23 – 17:46Speaker 2

I think that what we'd have to be concerned about is what the propeller is on whatever the boats that they're acquiring, because I don't know, I was speaking to him about, I know in Miami Beach they got manatees and things like that that's in the water. So if you're going to be doing boat racing, you need to know, well, you know, how high or what's in that water that's up near the surface. That's a good point.

17:46 – 18:17Speaker 8

Yeah, so I think, I mean, obviously the basin was created for boat racing, so... Ultimately, it is the main purpose of the basin historically, but I do think that they're working with the county and with DERM on all the appropriate environmental permits. I hear you, and I think that they're working with the county to address those issues.

18:17 – 19:06Speaker 12

Right. Okay. Do you want to ask? You make an excellent point. That's why we put it on the agenda.

19:15 – 19:33Speaker 13

Is it okay to ask your question Andrew Andrew I don't want to put you in the hot seat, maybe the city attorney can help us with this, but is there any way to get the events department or staff to come to this board prior to approvals make us part of the process.

19:39 – 19:52Speaker 5

So this board is an advisory board. You can request that certain staff come before the board. Ultimately, there's no ability to direct staff for that.

19:53Speaker 13

But isn't there an ordinance that says that any activities on Virginia Key need to be reviewed by this group prior to the city approving it?

20:03 – 20:16Speaker 5

So the purpose, powers, and duties of the board include review and consideration of... She has the enabling legislation.

20:17Speaker 12

The city attorney is reading the enabling legislation.

20:21Speaker 13

I guess my point is, you get my point, is if we could evaluate that and see if there's any way that we could be part of the process, I think that would help a lot.

20:30Speaker 5

I don't disagree that the spirit and intent of the legislation appears to be that these items come before the board so that the board can provide input.

20:40 – 21:05Speaker 2

Thank you. I would think that, you know, anything that's going to be done on Virginia Key, we should be notified about it before anything. I think that's the purpose of our board, is to be able to recognize what's going on, approve it, disapprove it, or make a decision on it, and know these things before they already be approved.

21:07 – 22:06Speaker 12

Okay, we'll try to monitor this more closely. There is another item that I'd like to bring up that is not on the agenda, and that's the proposed tree ordinance. There's a proposed tree ordinance that's proposed by Commissioner Gabella and drafted with city staff and building lobbyists for the building industry. We have an existing tree ordinance that's been in effect for a long time. There was a sunshine meeting about 10 days ago dealing with this issue, and there were 200, 250 members of the public showed up. It's a very, very issue that's really galvanized a lot of nature groups and neighborhood groups, tree lovers. And I'd like to ask Steve. Steve Klebner has been very active in this particular issue. If he doesn't mind giving us a 90-second, two-minute summary.

22:07 – 23:56Speaker 11

Chair, I'd be happy to, but I had also asked that my visit with the city attorney to the historic Virginia Key Beach Park about two months ago be put on the agenda so I could review my findings with the executive director. Can that be discussed? Sure, let's do, if you don't mind, can we do the tree ordinance first, and then we'll discuss the- So in terms of the tree ordinance, yes, one of our commissioners has proffered an ordinance to basically significantly diminish the existing canopy of the city of Miami. And there is an existing ordinance which has maintained the canopy, but not expanded, but Now this new ordinance is actually threatening the existing canopy and will diminish the existing canopy. It's been proffered by a special interest. WLRN covered the story. Louie Aguirre covered the story. Basically, it takes the position that low-income housing is being... limited by over-regulation and the permitting process of protecting trees. Totally ridiculous, but that's the cover that the ordinance is being proffered under. And I could go into further detail. It's really troubling, obviously.

23:59Speaker 12

If the new proposed legislation manages to pass, would it have any effect on Virginia Key Park?

24:09 – 24:25Speaker 11

So, probably, I'm going to say I don't know off the top of my head. I would say probably not. Specimen trees are still protected. Of course, so much of the city's canopy is not specimen trees.

24:27Speaker 12

And Who are some of the groups that are in favor of maintaining the existing tree ordinance?

24:36 – 25:33Speaker 11

Yeah, the public's, as you said, Peter, the public's outcry against this proposed ordinance is, in my experience, historic. Basically, of course, the Sierra Club and Urban Paradise Guild and And Clio Institute, I mean, trees play such a significant role in terms of flood mitigation, in terms of heat. Most people don't realize, but trees, neighborhoods that have a significant tree cover, the ambient temperature is lowered by seven to nine degrees Fahrenheit. So trees play Of course, they're beautiful. They quiet a neighborhood. They add value to a neighborhood. There's so much value to our canopy. Okay.

25:34Speaker 12

Thank you very much for bringing it. I know you've put in a lot of hours on this issue.

25:40Speaker 12

And the other item that you brought up, you had a site visit. I did. Would you like to describe it?

25:47 – 27:33Speaker 11

With Ms. Edwards and our city attorney. And so basically, curious as to what we might do as a board to identify issues on... at the historic Virginia Key Beach Park, which may need funding, may need attention from a maintenance standpoint. And we had done an in-person visit and identified multiple issues. Peter, you were part of that visit. Basically, the meeting... I was particularly encouraged by the meeting. My sense was the funding's not an issue. They're working on the boardwalk, which has been out of commission for years probably at this point. It's a hazard. The public bathrooms are leaking. They have a canopy. That's tattered. They have a commissary. They have a kitchen that they could use for income generation. They could bring, you know, there's a lot of potential there. My impression was they're happy with the status quo. And as I said, funding's not an issue. The executive director is a as a general contractor, but I was told that they only prefer to do one project at a time.

27:36Speaker 12

Thank you very much.

27:37 – 28:00Speaker 11

So I would add, Corey, the other thing I was informed that you basically visit the park on a monthly basis and you're part of their updates. And I would ask that we maybe get a report monthly from Corey as to what's going on on the park and what kind of maintenance issues need addressing.

28:04 – 28:32Speaker 2

Yeah, I go there every so often and look and see what they're doing. Right now, they're making a movement toward that area where they're trying to build that museum. But yet, it's always a slower process than you would think it would be because they have to make sure all the permits is there and what's being done before the groundbreaking and all that. So right now, that's what they're working on. But hopefully this year, they'll move forward.

28:33Speaker 11

Have you seen any progress in terms of the boardwalk, in terms of the bathroom renovations?

28:38Speaker 2

Not that much. I mean, they keep the maintenance up on it, but it's not like doing a lot of improvements at the time.

28:47Speaker 11

I mean, I don't know that they even keep the maintenance. When we were there, the bathrooms were both flooded.

28:53Speaker 2

Where was these bathrooms located?

28:57Speaker 11

I don't know there's more than one bathroom.

29:00Speaker 2

Well, you know, what, two, three weeks ago we had a lot of rain.

29:05Speaker 11

No, this was three, four months ago, five months ago.

29:09Speaker 2

I'll check into that.

29:10 – 29:29Speaker 12

All right, thanks. I noticed we have four members in the audience tonight. Would anybody like to come up to the podium and speak or ask a question? Oh, wonderful, thank you.

29:32 – 30:40Speaker 6

Good evening, everybody. Good evening. My name's Katie Petros. I live on Key Biscayne, and I was on the council from 2016 to 2020. Virginia Key is near and dear to my heart. I lived on the island since 1993, and Coconut Grove really has been my second home. My children went to school out here and basically grew up. I've run these streets for years. And I understand, I've studied all the competing interests that Virginia Key has and the history that it has and the potential that it has. So this is something that's always been very interesting to me. And I'm looking to get, I guess, better informed and deeper involved and hope to try to solve some of these intractable, excuse me, intractable issues that you are faced with. And I understand that you're an advisory board. I think it's wonderful that the city has a board like this that can bring these issues to light. And I think the key to all of this is cooperation and collaboration. So hopefully... we can start to do some really significant things, and I would love to be a part of it, so thank you.

30:40Speaker 12

Katie, before you sit down, since you're here, so you've been living in Key Biscayne for over 30 years?

30:47Speaker 6

Yes, I have.

30:50 – 31:04Speaker 12

Can we get your input on anything that you've noticed regarding Virginia Key Park? and driving in and out of Virginia Key to Miami? Any unusual traffic or unusual construction?

31:05 – 32:45Speaker 6

Well, I've seen the traffic patterns change over time. I was here during Hurricane Andrew. It was probably right around the time that I first moved to that area. Traffic's definitely increased. I would say one of the interesting things about Virginia Key and this is because I have been someone who's run those streets for many years, is the quantity of people that use that island now for their recreation. And it's not just a place that people drive through. And all of the changes that have happened over the years, and most recently with North Hobie, they opened that and immediately you see all these people using it. Which place? The county just finished on the north end as you're leaving Key Biscayne and finishing Virginia Key. That whole area that they spent years doing and they cut down the Australian invasive pines, which people were upset about talking about tree canopies. And yet I think that ultimately it'll be for the better of the environment because they put all the native species back and planted there. And I think with the increased density of our city, I would love to see Virginia Key be the central park of our community and that people from all over the county with an enhanced public transportation would be able to be there more frequently without putting too much burden on those roads so that we could get more people with less vehicles to and from not only the state park, which is at the southern end of our island and Crandon Park and Virginia Key. Did that answer your question?

32:46 – 33:06Speaker 12

No, that's super helpful. It's really important to us to hear from people that are living the issues regarding the causeway and the park on a daily basis. You should give your contact information to Raffaella. Maybe we might have an opening on our board.

33:07 – 33:53Speaker 6

Okay. I mean, I live through Ultra. I live through the boat show. I would say I'm very cognizant that our community would like to be able to go to and from their homes without too much of an inconvenience, recognizing that we move to a place that only has one way on and one way off. So we understand we need to cooperate, or I understand that we need to cooperate and have solutions together. that allow the city to get the revenue that they could from that island, that allow the county and the residents to have this recreational area. And hopefully there's so much area on Virginia Key that hasn't been developed in a way that allows people to use it in a productive way.

33:54 – 34:19Speaker 12

It's very kind of you. Nice comment. And I must confess, I played tennis at the Key Biscayne Tennis Association. Okay. At the golf course? Yes. It's a wonderful public facility. Been there for decades and decades. But yes, Key Biscayne is really special. Do you communicate with your mayor, Joe Rasco? I do, yes. He's a former chairman of this board.

34:19Speaker 6

Yes, and Bob Vernon, yes. I do know the history of the board.

34:23Speaker 12

It's wonderful getting their perspective. But please leave your contact information with her. I will.

34:33Speaker 12

We do have a vacancy.

34:34Speaker 6

And I got the benefit of seeing Monty Traynor, who's a legend in this community. So I'm glad you showed up tonight.

34:42Speaker 12

Any comments or questions for Katie?

34:49Speaker 10

I'm all for the pre-ordinance, and I've always supported it. Thank you very much. But if you look through your master plan, we've got speedboat racing in the master plan.

35:00 – 35:22Speaker 10

So I feel better about that. In 2010, we supported speedboat racing. It's a historic picture from 60 years ago. That's right. But that makes me supportive. Look in your master plan. You'll see it. But everybody should be for the free ordinance in Coconut Grove. Anybody that doesn't support it is not a Grover.

35:24Speaker 12

I guess we'll come to the last item, which was elections for the board.

35:28Speaker 8

Any questions or comments?

35:30Speaker 12

We could have an election tonight, or we could defer to the next meeting, whatever the board members would like.

35:40Speaker 2

I need some feedback.

35:43Speaker 12

Comments from our wonderful board members.

35:45 – 36:15Speaker 2

Okay. I think what we need to do is keep track of how many times each and every person meet at the board. So like last year, we can say, well, there was a person that came to the board meetings six times or eight times or how many other times each member is coming to the board meeting. And that way we'll start with who's going to be on the board and who may not want to be on the board or who may be taken off the board to replace that person.

36:17Speaker 13

I think, Peter, for clarification, you're talking about the officers, right?

36:21Speaker 12

Yes, I am. The chairman and the vice chairman.

36:26Speaker 10

There have been some nominations or appointments that we've got to recommend.

36:28Speaker 12

Well, at the moment I'm the chairman and Nicholas Lopez is the vice chairman. and I'm completely open to anybody's suggestions.

36:38Speaker 13

All right, I'm going to ask a question. You guys willing to make another run?

36:44Speaker 3

Like I said, I'll be...

36:50Speaker 1

Sorry, if everybody can please speak into the mic so everybody can hear, I'm sorry.

36:55Speaker 13

Because I would totally support the two of you for re-elections.

37:00Speaker 12

It's okay with me. Any other comments?

37:03Speaker 13

Anybody want to be chairman or vice chairman?

37:07Speaker 3

It's fine with me also.

37:09Speaker 10

I'm voting for you. If you want to stay chair, I'll vote for you.

37:12Speaker 12

I'd like to make a motion then. We have a motion from Gary.

37:16Speaker 13

Yeah, that the two of you be reelected.

37:19 – 37:34Speaker 12

Before you can say no, second. What's the term? The calendar year, is that right, Ms. City Attorney? Roughly?

37:34Speaker 5

So it is one year, yes.

37:37 – 37:56Speaker 12

All right. We have a motion and a second to continue. Current chairman and the current vice chairman, chairman myself, and Nicholas as the vice chairman. I'm happy to accept if any. It's entirely up to the seven of you.

37:59Speaker 6

Can we have a vote?

38:00 – 38:12Speaker 12

Yes. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Reluctantly, I will accept for another year.

38:12Speaker 11

Damn it. And thank you, Peter, for your service thus far.

38:17 – 38:29Speaker 12

And Nicholas is doing a great job. Peter, you've been fantastic. And Nicholas. Ms. City Attorney or Mr. Evans, any other comments or questions? Anything we should discuss?

38:30Speaker 5

Just wanted to confirm that the board approved the existing chair and the vice chair.

38:36Speaker 4

Okay, thank you.

38:37 – 38:58Speaker 12

Oh, there was one more item. Two more items. Yes, thank you. We have these resolutions. This will only take a minute. Resolution number one, we just did that one. The board? Oh, no, that's a different one. Changing the quorum requirements.

38:59Speaker 1

Yeah, that's from the last meeting in October where we didn't have quorum.

39:03Speaker 12

Can you give us a summary of this one?

39:07 – 39:52Speaker 5

So at the last meeting, some members of the board had requested that an ordinance be created to be provided to the city commission so that what's in front of you today is a resolution requesting that the city commission APPROVE THIS ORDINANCE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE ORDINANCE WASN'T ATTACHED TO THE AGENDA, BUT I CAN READ YOU THE TITLE. BASED ON WHAT WAS DISCUSSED AT THAT MEETING, AT THE LAST VIRGINIA KID ADVISORY BOARD MEETING, THE REQUEST WAS THAT THE ORDINANCE THAT IS PROPOSED TO CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZE A REDUCTION OF THE QUORUM REQUIREMENTS FROM 50% PLUS ONE TO THREE VOTING MEMBERS.

39:55Speaker 12

Thank you. I remember we discussed this thoroughly meeting or two. I'm certainly in favor of it.

40:02Speaker 13

Do we have anybody that would like to make a comment or make a motion to approve? Make a motion to approve. I second.

40:09Speaker 12

And we have a vote on the item.

40:11 – 41:03Speaker 5

So just to, sorry, just to read into the record the title of the proposed ordinance to be considered by the City Commission, which would serve as an exhibit to the resolution that this board is passing today. It's an ordinance of the Miami City Commission amending Chapter 2, Article 11, Division 2, Section 2-887 of the City of Miami, Florida Code of Ordinances as amended, City Code titled Quorum Requirements, Exceptions, and Chapter 2, Article 11, Division 13.5, Section 2-1193 of the City Code titled Officer's Rules of Procedure, Meeting, Quorum, and Public Notice to reduce the quorum requirements of the Virginia Key Advisory Board containing a severability cost and providing for an immediate effective date. And again, it reduces the number of members necessary for a quorum to three voting members.

41:04Speaker 12

Thank you very much. I hope we still have seven or eight members show up, but in the event of an unusual month, we'll meet the three minimum.

41:14Speaker 1

Peter, I'm sorry. Who did the motion? I apologize. I missed that.

41:18Speaker 12

The motion was, was it Gary? It was Gary. Yes. And two gentlemen made seconds. I seconded it.

41:25Speaker 1

Nicholas? Yes.

41:28Speaker 10

That doesn't make much of a committee. You just need three voting members.

41:33Speaker 12

We had a troubled meeting quorum last year, like maybe two or three months ago.

41:38Speaker 2

Right, we didn't have five board members at any time to make a quorum.

41:43 – 42:04Speaker 12

But we hope we get seven or eight members every single meeting. But if there's a very unusual month, we'll do our best with three or four, a minimum of three. The next item is item number two. This was, we've discussed this seven or eight months ago.

42:04Speaker 5

Apologies. I didn't hear the vote. I don't know if the- Unanimous? Was it?

42:09Speaker 8

Unanimous. I'm not unanimous with that.

42:27Speaker 12

Thank you. Thank you for helping.

42:29Speaker 10

Would you like to call, do a roll? Raffaella?

42:37Speaker 1

Nicholas? Yes. Stephen? Yes. Carrie?

42:47Speaker 1

Vincent? Monty?

42:54 – 44:29Speaker 12

Thank you very much. Can we move to item number two? This is an item. I probably brought up asking the board to vote in opposition to some legislation that's been voted on or pending at the City Commission it's to ask the city commissioners not to allow any more billboards particularly LED billboards in public parks like Virginia Key Park and you know there's been a A lot of articles about it. There's a front page story in the Miami Today dated October of 2022. Miami targets larger ad signs at more locations. I think all of you have seen these articles over the last few years. And many of you who've driven by Bayfront Park or Foray Park have seen the monster LED billboards on Biscayne Boulevard that are incredibly distracting. and make it hard for tourists and residents to see trees and grass and anything other than the bright advertisements. So I guess we need a motion to pass or deny this proposed resolution. That would just go to the city commissioners for their review.

44:30Speaker 13

Motion to pass.

44:32Speaker 12

Gary's making a motion. Second.

44:35Speaker 8

Point of clarification. Would this apply to a marquee at a renovated Marine Stadium event space?

44:44 – 44:56Speaker 12

This would apply to putting LED billboards on Virginia Key Park. This opposes LED billboards on parks.

45:06Speaker 8

It says Virginia Key, not Virginia Key Park though.

45:12 – 45:29Speaker 12

That's okay with me. That would be okay with me too. We have a motion and a second. Can we have a vote? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye.

45:29Speaker 5

Just to be clear, there were no modifications to this, correct?

45:35Speaker 12

Can you illuminate them to us?

45:38 – 45:55Speaker 5

No, no, I was requesting whether, I mean, I was asking clarification as to whether, because I know there was a question about the language, what it applied to. Right now it says public parks located in Virginia Key. I wasn't clear if there was a change based on the discussion. Okay, no change?

45:57Speaker 5

As is, got it.

45:59Speaker 12

We're a little late on some of these issues, but at least we have a...

46:04Speaker 8

get our voice heard.

46:07Speaker 12

Any other comments or questions? Anybody else from the audience like to speak?

46:17 – 46:34Speaker 13

Peter, I would like to request at the next meeting as far as the agenda that we have staff give us an update on all the projects that are ongoing in Virginia. It's been a long time since we've all been together and we've gotten an understanding for what's going on. So I think that would be helpful.

46:34Speaker 12

Okay. We will ask staff to show up. Do you have anything?

46:44Speaker 7

I'm sorry, I didn't want to cut you off. Were you speaking?

46:47Speaker 12

Any questions?

46:48 – 47:13Speaker 7

No questions. I missed the ceremony, but I also wanted to take the time to congratulate Monty Treanor on having a street named after him here in Miami. Definitely am a pleasure to serve on the board with you. I know from me and Andrew and working with you and discussing, you know, the issues here in the Grove, I really appreciate all the moments you've had with the city and leading us in the right direction. So I want to take a moment to...

47:14Speaker 3

I second that.

47:20Speaker 10

Very nice. Thank you, Director Evans.

47:23Speaker 12

Motion to adjourn?

47:28Speaker 12

All in favor? Aye. Thank you all very much. Thank you, City.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.