Special Magistrate - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

All right, Your Honor. I know we're already here. It's 2 p.m. I don't see anybody in the waiting room. I don't know if you want to go ahead and get started.

Okay. Well, do we have people here that are?

Nobody in the waiting room quite yet that I see.

Oh, well, let's, I mean, we're just going to be talking to ourselves. Let's give them a few minutes.

All right.

Give them a few minutes to get in. Yeah, I guess we'll start.

OK. Hit record.

OK. Recording in progress.

All right, here we go. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Regine Monestine. I am the special magistrate for today's hearing. Welcome to North Bay Village Code Enforcement Hearing. It will be conducted pursuant to Chapter 162 of the Florida Statute. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but fundamental due process shall be observed and shall govern these proceedings. I will hear testimony from the code inspector and the alleged violator that I deemed competent and relevant. All witnesses and parties offering testimony must be sworn in. The village will present its case first and the alleged violator will have an opportunity to examine the religious evidence as well as cross-examine any witnesses. At the conclusion of the presentation, I will announce the decision of the hearing and issue a written order thereafter. If you are found guilty, you will be ordered to comply with the code within a certain time. If you fail to do so, you'll be fined up to $250 per day for the first violation and $500 for repeat violations. If you desire to appeal my order, you may do so by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of courts in Miami-Dade County. You will have 30 days within which to do so. At this time, Madam Clerk, please swear everyone who will be testifying, and then you may call your first case.

You're muted.

Do you swear that your testimony will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to help you, God?

I do.

Thank you. Case number 08591, property address 1441 South Treasure Drive, owner Jonathan Offerman, in violation of Code Section 105.1 of the Florida Building Code, will perform without the required permits, install a new half-moon canopy roof on the north side of the home, Inspector on this case, Orlando Rodriguez.

Good afternoon, Your Honor. For the record, Orlando Rodriguez, Code Enforcement Director for North Bay Village. This case was before you last hearing, August 20th, and the property was ordered to comply with the violations and ordered to return today for a status report. with no daily fines running at that time. As we discussed in the last hearing, the owner, Mr. Offerman, was able to apply for his permit and got the variance approved for this canopy. However, he's still working with his engineer to submit some missing documents that the building department has requested. They requested some engineering drawings on the roof that was installed. He stated that his engineer was actually going to submit it this week, so we're hoping that that will be reviewed soon. So then our recommendation is for the property to get this permit as soon as they can. The property, we request the property begin to approve fines of $250 per day commencing today until compliance is achieved.

Okay. And no one is here.

The owner is here.

The owner is here?

No. No, Your Honor. I don't see him here this afternoon. He was here the last two.

Oh, he was here. Okay. Yes. Yeah. All right. I'm going to go ahead and accept the village's recommendation.

Thank you.

Case number 08169, property address 7711 Beachview Drive, owner Carmen L. Valerino, in violation of Code Section 104.01F of the North Bay Village Code of Ordinances, standards for for maintenance and appearance of construction sites. Barriers shall be built and maintained for the duration of the project. Sorry. Code Officer Orlando Rodriguez.

Yes, and again, Your Honor, we're happy to report this case is in compliance before the hearing. Just ask for a dismissal.

Okay, case dismissed.

Thank you.

Case number 260401, Property address 7920 East Drive, number 3. Owner, Val Al-Amafaz. In violation of Code Section 8.17J of the North Bay Village Code of Ordinances, built-in maintenance violation, all buildings and unit dwellings shall be maintained in good repair. Wall, ceiling, floor, and etc. Inspector on this case, Orlando Rodriguez.

Good afternoon again, Your Honor. Orlando, for the record. Your Honor, this is the new case. On February 16, 2026, in the early afternoon, we received word that the reference unit had kitchen fire. Police in the fire department did respond to extinguish the fire. Luckily, nobody was hurt. We immediately contacted the property owner, representative, or the board members, which indicated that a gentleman named Jason was the one that is in communication with the owner. He was able to get the unit boarded up with some plywood, because some of the windows were broken, so nobody would enter. And he went ahead and secured it until repairs could be made. The village building official was contacted, and he did declare the unit unsafe for habitation. So we posted the unsafe structure notices to the property. We proceeded to advise the board of the issue there, and they began to research how the repairs would be made. Some areas of the repairs will actually be the responsibility of the board. Some are the responsibility of the unit owner, since some of the areas affected are, you know, according to the condo docs, are responsibility of the board. He communicated, the board did communicate with the building official on how to proceed with repairs and what they need. They do have the information. However, after several months, they have not gotten anything done at the unit, still boarded up as of today. and unfit for habitation. We proceeded to issue the notice to appear for today's hearing, certified mail. And our recommendation at this point is for the property to obtain the permits and fix the unit up to standards. We'd ask for the fines to up to $250 per day to start occurring today until compliance is achieved.

Okay. And no one is here, correct?

No, we did get emails from some of the board members indicating they would find an agent for the property to attend the hearing. However, they were not able to provide any verifiable information, articles of incorporation, power of attorney, or anything for us to verify an owner. So it seems like nobody could make it.

Okay. All right. Based on testimony, I'm going to go ahead and enter the order in accordance with the city's recommendation.

Okay.

Thank you. And that does it for the agenda this afternoon. I appreciate it.

All right. Thank you so much. Have a great day, everyone.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ray.

My pleasure.

Recording stopped.