City Council - Regular Meeting

consent agenda, or no, we have not done the consent agenda.

Mayor, I'm sorry, before you get to it, I think you asked to pull item I? Yes.

But no vote was taken on that.

I thought we did that no okay can we. All right mayor does a man, yes, the vice mayor Timothy Councilman Burns Council woman as the mayor of in present Councilman Charles yes, I may have a quantum procedure that's what he's saying that I thought we did he said we just needed a a quick vote so I'm a little second.

Right so I make a motion to second to approve what they just yes.

Second, I have a motion made by Councilman estimate Irving to defer tab I to the July 14 Council meeting seconded by mayor doesn't may all in favor. Any oppose the motion cares of the 5, 0, vote as of 8, 0, 6, PM this attorney to a vice mayor Timothy is now president.

We have there's the same thing for top H right that was that was that occurred.

it was a and also um the if we can matter manager let's do the um miss miss um santana let's do the the budget thing um after the uh which tab is this let's do it towards the end so we'll go into consent there's no city announcement

Consent agenda.

Wait, wait, wait. Well, you could have gone ahead and then we did that. Because we're all over the place today. Go ahead, ma'am. Yes. How long is it?

and we did recognize state rep um fabian basabi after this i'm sorry if you want to say a few words yes but go ahead okay good evening mayor council staff north miami neighbors and guests my name is beverly graham and i am presenting the following announcements on behalf of the city of north miami Join the North Miami Public Library's 2026 Summer Reading Program running from May 30th through July 24th as we celebrate 100 years of stories during the city's centennial year. Readers of all ages can track their reading for a chance to win exciting prizes, including gift cards, electronics, toys, and more. Register today by scanning the QR code on the flyer and start your next chapter. Join Vice Mayor Cassandra Timothy for Yoga and Pilates in the Park, a free wellness series designed to help you relax, recharge, and stay active in North Miami's beautiful parks. Yoga classes will take place on the third Saturday of each month at North Bay Shore Park at 9 a.m. Pilates classes will be held on the first Saturday of each month at Alfred S. Passaic Park. For more information, please contact 786-385-8662. The City of North Miami Economic Development Department is now accepting applications for the Economic Development Small Business Grant, and eligible businesses may qualify for up to $7,500 in support. Funding is provided on a reimbursement basis and is subject to federal eligibility requirements, CDBG compliance, and funding availability. To apply, visit www.northmiamifl.gov. EconDevSBG. And for more information, please contact the Economic Development Department at 305-895-9801 or email economicdev at northmiamifl.gov. We are excited to invite you to experience the Nomi Night Market, a vibrant evening filled with food trucks, local vendors, and live music. The market will take place on the first and third Fridays of each month from 5 to 9 p.m. on Mocha Plaza. For more information, please contact the Economic Development Department at 305-895-9801. The city of North Miami is offering the residential tree trimming grant program, which provides up to $1,000 for hazardous tree trimming and removal with no repayment required. Funding is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents can apply now by visiting www.northmiamifl.gov slash tree trimming. For more information, contact the Community Planning and Development Department at 305-895-9825. The City of North Miami is offering basic to advanced computer classes for North Miami residents now through Saturday, September 5th at the North Miami Public Library. Sessions include basic classes from 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. Intermediate class from 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. and advanced classes from 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. with no classes on June 20th, August 1st, and July 4th of this year. To register for more information, residents should call 305-891-5535. The city of North Miami will be holding extended service hours on Wednesday, June 24th. This initiative takes place once a month. The city will offer extended service hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., including the following departments, finance, community planning and development, building, code enforcement, economic development, housing, social services, parks and recreations, human resources, and the clerk's office. Take advantage of the extended hours. We're here to serve you. Madam City Clerk Vanessa Joseph invites the community to take advantage of the tax collector mobile office offering convenient on-site services right here in North Miami. The mobile office will be available on Thursday, June 25th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the North Miami Public Library. Services include driver's license renewals, ID services, vehicle registration renewals, and more. With no appointment required, walk-ins are welcomed. The city of North Miami is offering free native trees for residents each Friday during the month of June. While supplies last, it is on a first-come and first-served basis. Residents can pick up their tree at the Community Planning and Development Department between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. As part of the North Miami Centennial Celebration, the city invites the community to attend North Miami Through the Century, an evening with the Pioneers, moderated by internationally acclaimed comedian Sussex Jr. The event will take place on Friday, June 26th, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the North Miami Senior High School Auditorium, featuring our very own Mayor Alex Isume, former Councilman Scott Galvin, and Senior Assistant City Manager John Lohrfels and more. Join us as we celebrate 100 years of North Miami through the stories and experiences of those who have helped shaped our community. Admission is free. Please RSVP at 1951nomilextures.eventbrite.com. councilwoman mary estimate urban and vice residents to attend the father's day barbecue at buccaneer park on sunday june 28th from 12 p.m to 4 p.m the event will feature music games food and giveaways for the entire family we encourage the community to come out and celebrate fathers and father figures while enjoying an afternoon of fun and fellowship America turns 250 years old during our centennial year. Let's celebrate big at the 2026 Independence Celebration by the Bay on Saturday, July 4th at the FIU Biscayne Bay Campus. Gates open at 6 p.m. Admission and on-site parking are free for all attendees. The celebration will feature food trucks, a kid zone, community resources, live entertainment, and spectacular fireworks display over Biscayne Bay. For additional information, please call 305-895-9840 or visit northmiamifl.gov slash celebrate. Councilman Pierre Franch-Charles invites the community to the District 4 food distribution drive-through, taking place Saturday, June 11, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Sunkist Grove Community Center. Proof of residency with a valid Florida-issued ID is required. No walk-up service will be provided. one game one passion and one north miami is the vibe join us for a high energy official fifa watch party on saturday june 11th and sunday july 19th at nomi village july 11th and sunday july 19th at nomi village this free event brings the community together to watch the match enjoy the atmosphere and rep your team with your neighbors please rcp at nomiwatchparties.eventbrite.com for the latest updates and event details In observance of Independence Day, the city of North Miami will be closed on Friday, July 3rd. Regular business hours will resume Monday, July 6th at 8 a.m. To stay up to date with NOMI news, events, programs, and services, log on to North Miami's official website at www.northmiamifl.gov. Click connect with NOMI on the homepage and sign up for the city's newsletters. Also, give us a follow on Facebook and Instagram at North Miami FL. This concludes the city announcements.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so very much. Now we would like to acknowledge, we see our state rep is coming and then we'll go to our consent agenda. Good evening, Mr. Representative Wasabi.

Good evening. Nice to see everybody. I actually came to speak on an item that was pulled today, so I really am just staying to say hello. I will let you know that we worked hard this legislative session and I'm gonna come back after we just finished our third special session. We've got the budget waiting to be signed by the governor. Once that's done, I'll come in in the next month or two when you guys think it's best and whenever we have the most people in town that we can do a proper legislative update. But I wanted to share something with you all. Interestingly enough, this was the first time that I've been privileged to put in appropriations for the city that I represent here in North Miami. And I only represent, to be fair, a very small part of North Miami, east of Biscayne. And it's a big city. And I got to witness firsthand what it is to fight for funding for this city. And as you know, a lot of this business is about the transparency, the accountability, and the relationships that we have. And we've got a seat at the table. And I was able to get a lot of funding in for this city for the first time that we worked together. And recently, and this is something that came to me up in the legislature, sorry my voice goes out every day at this hour, I talk so much all day. But up in the legislature, and also locally, I've been getting a lot of calls from residents, people that I meet, I spend a lot of time here when I'm back in town, and people have just pulled me aside and they talk to me, and a lot of the concerns are with spending. And I listened into some of the committee meetings. Actually, the first thing I was gonna say, and then I didn't wanna make too much fun of it, but I was gonna say, hey, you guys are giving away all this money. Can I take some? But my job is to bring you the money and to explain the relationships and partnerships and transparency levels that make the state not vetoed, that makes us invest in the cities that we have partnerships with. And some of the things that come to the attention are, some of the consultant agreements, the procurement practices, the amendments, the vendor relationships, some of the spending decisions. And what I thought, and these are messages that I'm getting from both the North and right here locally from you guys. And I'm not here to criticize. You guys have to run your city. The people put their trust in you. This is your role. I'm just giving you some feedback because a lot of people are afraid to speak up today. so they call me because my phone number is everywhere and i appreciate that and i encourage everyone to call me please but what i was thinking and if you guys are willing to do this because um Of the 10 cities that I represent, the majority of them are thriving. They're getting record, record dollars from the state. We're working together tremendously. And I know we're building that relationship. And one of the cities that I have the most problems with is Miami Beach. And when I had these issues come up, I said, okay, well, my role is to be responsible to the residents, the taxpayers, the business owners. How do I cut through this as quickly as possible to get some answers? And under the purview of the state legislature, I have a tool. It's the JLAC Committee, the Judicial Legislative Auditing Committee. Now, this is at no cost to the taxpayers. This is an agency, an office, that is funded year-round, whether we use them or not. But what they do is a comprehensive systems operational, fully comprehensive audit of a municipality. And I said, well, let me do that. Miami Beach could use an audit. We've never really done one. And it didn't get the best feedback from the politicians. The people loved it. So I thought I'd come about this differently and didn't take anyone by surprise, but instead offer the opportunity and us working together to better serve the public that we represent. If you all are interested and we can take some time over the next months, let's maybe go through some of the contracts, some of the no-bid contracts. Let's review some of the stuff. I have all the time in the world for this city. I love North Miami. The community, the neighborhoods, the businesses. Yes, Mayor.

We're going to go over it with who? No, no, I'm happy to go over some of the things that you have issues with. No, no, I wasn't clear because you, in reference to that, when we just be clear, you did call me, you know, we spoke last night. So this is the Doge version of that committee. in terms of that. So I do hear the concern and we, you and I, we had a lot of discussion yesterday. The residents, they called me as well and some emailed and I would urge them because I'm hearing from my colleague, they don't hear from their constituents as well, and you and I, we had a lot of those same calls regarding the thing, and I will urge the public, yes, I am the mayor, everybody in the city gets to vote for the mayor position, but individually, you have to engage with your individual council person because when i'm up here advocating for them they're like well i didn't get no calls from nobody in terms of that so um i mean you as as our state rep and we have a very great relationship you you do whatever you think you need to do in terms of um you know legislatively um and stuff and i know the manager the administration we open to meet with you um You know, that's what we do. But I do share the same concern, and we talked about it, you know, that the residents that basically that called, and that's why I had a conversation with the manager, that particular item, because I did not have much information on it. We did talk about it in passing, but I did not have any discussion. So I did ask the administration to defer it for the next meeting so that I could get some clarity. But you are more than...

The main purpose, Mayor, is that there's tremendous opportunity, right? I mean, I work hard at securing funding in grant silos, and that's everything from infrastructure, resiliency grants, environmental funding, economic development programs, public safety investments, and there's a lot that gets left on the table And I want to strengthen the relationship we have with Tallahassee and the best way to start a new relationship is in a fully transparent way. But I want to do this in partnership with you guys. It's merely a suggestion. I haven't taken any action yet, but my main concern was to voice the concerns of the constituency because they're calling me and some of them don't live within the lines of my district. but they're calling me anyway, and I think you guys are accessible. Kevin, I've known you a long time. You've never not answered your phone. Alex, I called you late last night. You answered the phone one o'clock in the morning, and I thank you for that, and I tell everybody, call your elected officials, voice your concerns, and I'm available. If you want to do a public town hall, if you want to go over specific, anything from budgets to legislation, I'm available for that. And just to be clear, DOGE has a little bit of a negative connotation to it. That's kind of a wham bam comes in, makes, you know, it's usually for a spot zoning. This is something that could take time. I can arrange where a state agency will work alongside you and help strengthen the tools for your system to work better. Major corporations bring out third party entities to audit themselves so they can be as accountable and fine tuned as possible. It is an opportunity. You guys are more than welcome to work within what you guys have. We have small teams, big teams, different cities, not one size cookie, there's no cookie cutter fit here. I'm just saying the availability is there. I'm interested to work with you all because I want to make sure that Tallahassee sees what I see. This is a hardworking community, people of faith, family, small businesses, hardworking, beautiful people that I would like to see some of the fruits of the labor and the partnerships and funding opportunities that I've created for all my other cities come here in a big way. We shouldn't just be dependent on the one or two appropriations we'll be able to get through. And yeah, mainly that. Just I wanted you to hear what I hear. So this isn't an attack on any one person and anything. It's just when enough people call me, I say if they're not going to, I'm gonna come here and let you know. And other than that, I came to say hello. Let me know what I can be doing for you all. I'll do a full legislative update. By the way, I do a tele-town hall every month So residents, if you see a phone call coming in, it says you're a state rep, Fabian Bazzabi's calling. It's not a spam call. That's me live. And I go on and I talk for an hour straight. I just finished one as I was driving up here. And you can YouTube Fabian Bazzabi Town Hall. Lots of legislative updates. It takes a long time to get through all of that stuff. Pick up the phone. Reach out to me. I'm going to have my cards in the back with my cell phone number on there for anyone who doesn't have it. And I look forward to keep working with you guys. And I'll be back with hopefully... a bag of money and some good legislation to share with you all next time I'm here.

Thank you, thank you so much, State Rep, again.

Thank you so much for your presentation. How much money did you bring to North Miami?

The dollar specific amount, I don't know. I've seen the budget right now. Right now it's sitting on the governor's office. I'm waiting for it not to be. It's the public safety funding. It's a good chunk. Good chunk. I've got a lot of line items, because I've got 10 cities. And by the way, I don't just put in for my cities. I go across district lines, party lines, like throwing spaghetti on the wall. I put in for everybody that asks, because I can't give cities or programs what they don't ask for. But I'll text you the exact dollar amount for the program.

We have it, and I want to say thank you. It's about a million from him. But the bottom line, thank you, Rep. Thank you so very, very, very much. We appreciate you. Thank you. Good to see you all. Just on that point. No, no, no, that's good. I'm just making my point. I did... tell the state rep that despite his advocacy and we love him, but it's not everybody in his party and we knew exactly what's going on. And I begged the city, don't even apply for nothing from Tallahassee, but they don't listen to me. So I think rep, we all notice. I know you're being very nice, but thank you. In terms of the concerns that you have in the residence, but I think we need to urge them to call their specific elected officials on their concern because they are calling me. And then when you called me last night, it was that. So we are on notice. And we would disagree. It is DOJ. It may be a different way of doing it, but thank you. Thank you so much. I know, we all know this. We got it. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Madam Clerk, there is a correction with the consent agenda. It's tab A through G, and we are on consent agenda. Thank you.

Unless a member of the City Council wishes to remove a specific item from this portion of the agenda, tabs A through G constitute the consent agenda. These resolutions and items are self-explanatory and are not expected to require additional review or discussion. These items will be recorded as individually numbered resolutions adopted unanimously by the following motion, that the consent agenda comprised of tabs A through G be adopted. Thank you.

Motion to approve.

Second.

I have a motion made by Councilman Burns to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Councilwoman Estimate Irvin. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries with a 4-0 vote.

Okay, and the next item is G.

A proposed resolution of the mayor and city council of the city of North Miami Florida approving fiscal year 2026 2027 annual action plan under the community redevelopment block grant CDBG and home investment partnerships program home programs authorizing the city manager to submit the plan to the U.S. department of housing and urban development Albert. Hyde and to execute all necessary documents providing for an effective day and all other purposes tab J.

Thank you public Karen is open on top J. Probably can is open seen none. Second.

There's not a moment looking.

i have a motion made by councilwoman estimator to approve the item at tab j seconded by mayor desame all in favor any opposed the item passes with a 4-0 vote thank you okay okay a proposed first reading ordinance of the mayor and city council of the city of north miami florida Amending chapter 7 of the North Miami code of ordinances entitled finance by amending relevant sections of article 3 entitled procurement code to modify the procedure for selection of evaluation committees and further updating the title of the purchasing department to procurement department providing for appeal conflict severability codification and for an effective date tab K. Thank you so very much, I'm not a manager.

So this is an update to the procurement code regarding the selection committee um major changes include just changing the name from director um from manager to director and procurement and also that the city manager would appoint the evaluation committee or its designee and that when appropriate the evaluation committee could have a non voting technical advisor to assist in the selection committee.

wait a minute so who approved so who appointed those I thought this was just a title change so there are some others in the in the yes yeah who approved them now is it the director it's the director okay so you want to have that manager the city manager and also you say something from manager to director

Yes, the language, because it used to be called a manager, a purchasing manager, and it's really a procurement director.

Okay, but the biggest one is you appointing the evaluation selection committee. Yes. In terms of that. Okay.

Go ahead. and tech non-voting technical person would that be a city employees or would it be a outside person.

It could be either just someone who has specialization in certain in that area that may be helpful to the committee.

It has to be for free to really yeah, I'm selecting committees, the yeah, I'm at the outside technical person to come advice us.

For the selection committee being sitting on the selection committee that would be free.

Yeah, OK.

Thank you. This is the first reading of this. Go ahead. Madam clerk will call. Public hearing was open. Move for approval. Wait, wait, wait. Public hearing was open, but if it was not. Public hearing open. Public hearing closed. Mike, you good? You good. Okay. So move for approval.

I have a motion made by Councilman Estimator Irvin to approve the item at tab K. The motion was seconded by Councilman Burns. Councilman Burns, how do you vote? Mayor Desimé, how do you vote?

Yes.

Councilman Charles, how do you vote? Vice Mayor Timothy, how do you vote? Yes. Councilwoman Estimator Irvin, how do you vote? Yes. The motion carries with a 4-0 vote.

Thank you. And now we have discussion regarding the Enchanted Forest Matter Manager.

So currently at the Enchanted Forest as you can see this is kind of the condition of where our stables are. Currently we do have some lessons and where it is but it is in need of repair and to look at this look at this facility to see what can be done. We have a contract that has that has expired for over five years. Um yeah, it's it was expired in 2020 apparently. Um it allows her to continue to use it. So the facility has been um being used. Um but considering the amount of equestrian interest around the city. We wanted to bring that to the attention here and we were looking to see if we can have some level of private participation to help us rebuild the center into the right equestrian center or something that would be appropriate for our residents.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm just so glad this came a couple months ago. We had a discussion and not a discussion. Well, we did because something was in the paper in residence. I've been getting calls regarding that. It's just despicable. I thought this would have been a resolution to go ahead and pick this out and do what we got to do. So thank you, Madam Manager, for that. Public hearing is open on the item and we see our former elected official, Mr. Rowland.

But it's a discussion item.

Yeah, I'm sorry, that's true. We're just acknowledging you.

Well, I would ask that you allow me to speak about this issue, and I would ask that you allow Melissa Benton, who's given the last 10 years of her life. We're not doing that tonight, sir. Respectfully... Mayor respectfully, I don't want to say. Just wait, no, I'm saying. But I understand private participation.

No, no, no, Mr. Rowland, listen to what I'm saying. I'm saying on this item to follow protocol, we're not doing that tonight, but she could wait a few minutes, we're going to open a public hearing, then she could do that, and you can't. Okay, that's great. As long as we can speak on this issue before you go. Public hearing, you can do whatever you want, but not.

But what is the discussion? Like what's the acts or?

So we're just getting ready to, we would like to just move forward with some, an RFP, which we would have to do anyway, but we were going to look for possibly an enhanced and allow folks to give us feedback on what they would like, you know, that to look like.

Mr. Mayor.

Yes, sir.

The city, we did budget a decent amount of money out there this year, and so did the CRA. The city finally put the money to repair the shelters that had been closed for two years. We put money into the invasive removal. We put money into restoring the office and the residents out there, and money is in this year's budget.

How much money?

A few hundred thousand dollars are in there. The CRA put 200,000 to do a cover over the arena because this way you can use it year round. And there needs to be, we have to follow procedure and of course to an RFP. but I'm not looking, and I know the residents in that area are not looking for a Wellington-type, beautiful, pristine, you know, horse kind of a, you know, where it's perfect. People like the rustic. No, no, no, no, no.

Because we're going to have a discussion because a couple weeks ago, when this item, somebody went to the media, and it was on us, and I felt so disappointed that someone went and now you saying the way it looks, they were complaining and I got residents.

No, I agree that we do it. We have the money there to fix it.

We do not have enough money with 200 or 300. This thing looks so despicable. It's really, really, really bad. Yes, sir.

The stall itself is owned by the city of North Miami. And it was deferred and deferred for years and years that the city didn't make the investment. The last time that arena was restored was back in 2007, 2008 by the city. That is part of our responsibility. What I'm saying is we go out for an RFP, If there's a new operator or their new public-private partnership, what I don't want is it to become a pristine kind of just so perfect that you're scared to have a good time. Families like it.

Mr. Burns, no. I want the best.

we don't want the luxury aesthetic and i sometimes use an example if you've ever been in new york city and you go ice skating you have the rockefeller ice skating rink you go there and it is uh you know it's very expensive and it's ice but then you go into central park and it goes to the public ice skating rink everybody's there they can afford it it's beautiful hundreds of people having it but they're two different things What we need to think that is that accommodates the most of our residents who've been bringing their kids there for years and grandkids there. I'm just saying that we definitely got to replace the roofs. Two of them are in the process. And again, continue to make, clean up the deferred maintenance that we're doing. We do have to put an RFP out because of the code procedure. But when we do it, let's not put it that we're turning it into a Fortune 500. I disagree.

We want the best. We want the, of course, why not?

Then our residents can't afford what some of the horse people will charge.

So are you saying you'd rather for it when, I don't know who went to the media,

criticizing the city how it looks and this look despicable for anyone any area so because i don't you you're saying for it to just stay there's two different things there there's the operation of the tables and then there's the facility the facility is on us we as a city the last 10 years didn't do the investment that needed. This council last year did make the investment. The money is sitting in the account to do all this work and the pictures that she showed up there. The money's there, it's just gotta be spent. But at the same time, the operator of the, operator of the stables, by rules, we have to put that out because that lease has expired and let's see who bids on it. But I don't want to see us try to turn it into something that if you want to go horseback riding and the person's going to charge you $45 to go around the ring for a few minutes, that's not what we want. We want something that's family friendly, that people, our residents can afford. And it can be in first class shape. I'm not saying don't keep it as a derelict place because the blame is on the city and on the parks operation.

So the person who's operating has no, so it's all you. So it's all you because that's your, well, you've been here for a couple of years. So that doesn't make no sense if

No, the operator has a responsibility and they've lacked on some of their responsibility. But the city, if a roof is leaking, that's on us. The fact that the shelters have been closed for two and a half years, now they're going to be reopened by the end of the summer because we invested the money. We just have to invest in that park because it's been deferred. Not just the stables, but the whole park. Now that process is underway. We're working on getting rid of the manure, working on

uh the the moving the invasive right now you need direction to put this out for bid is that what you're saying yes yeah okay i know yeah thank you so we'll put it out for a bit thank you all right all right thank you thank you um meeting oh public citizen farm yeah

Mayor, council, my name is Frank Wolin. I'm here with Melissa Benton. She operates M&M Stables. She's operated it for the past 10 years. I know a little bit about this stable because my kids used to make a quarter I think we have a problem.

You've lost the quorum, haven't you? Yes. I'll stop until someone comes back. One second.

But go ahead, public, go ahead.

I'd rather speak, I'd rather. So you could talk, go ahead, I'm sorry.

I know, I said I'd rather speak to a quorum. If they're gonna come back and vote, then I would expect.

We're done, we're done, we're done. You can listen to me. Listen, all right, I'll speak, but.

Go ahead. All right. I've worked in over 100 stables. Some of you don't know my background, but at one time, that's what I did in central and north Florida. Yeah, more than 100 over a couple of years. miss benton really has run this place in an exemplary fashion mayor i don't know when you were last there i've never seen you there excuse me sir i was there last week okay well and then guess what i have to say no no no i'm there let me ask you this well i haven't seen you

So you don't know where I go 24 seven. So to say, no, Frank, you got to take that back because I had residents who went and called me to come and see the stuff that was there. I don't want to use a word that was there. And when I came in, I called the manager immediately. And she told me she had already went out there and checked the stuff. Let me make myself clear.

You have about 45 seconds. I'm going to make myself real clear. Okay. I believe that this is being driven by by a very wealthy family who'd like to have their own private stables here in North Miami. And I think that before you decide to put this out for an RFP and you lower the cone of silence, you ought to think about the community that has used this stable that will next year be in somebody's private stable paying you know a hundred dollars an hour or thirty dollars to take their kids on a pony ride thank you it's really thank you it's really disturbing first of all it's disturbing there you it's disturbing really i didn't realize the city was for sale okay yeah thank you for okay we're done thank you public hearing is done thank you speak i'm done

Thank you. Hello. Thank you for your time. I'm Melissa Benton. I run MM Equestrian Farm at the Enchanted Forest Park. And I appreciate the barn and the the farm being on the agenda because it's been something that i think has been a long time coming as we said before the rfp should have already went out there was a lot of postponing due to covid due to multiple park directors that each time we would get a little bit of forward motion motion or um traction to get money into the budget, we would either have a new director, or there was a long time we went with no director, so my contact was often cut off or I just didn't have any. So now we have a great director, we have a great group of people that have been coming in. Mr. Burns has been super helpful since he's been in and I've gotten more attention from anyone in the city and the Parks and Recreation Department than I've gotten in five years probably. So I'm really excited to see it move forward. I know that we did get money from the CRA and I really appreciate that. We did have a lot of money, as Mr. Burns said, go to shelters and the invasive air potato plants that are taking over the park and the office that was down for years. And now we are trying to also get that money brought to the barn. So as you guys see the pictures, the roof is rotting in multiple places and needs to be replaced. The fencing as well, the posts, the fence boards are rotting which we have been starting to fix the arena fence and it's looking amazing. So I feel like we've been getting traction. I hope that we can keep moving forward and I look forward to this RFP going out and getting the contract

renewed and settled and and everything on track so i appreciate your help and i'm here to help and i'm also going to thank you so much ma'am everyone an email thank you so much thank you first of all i've been here for 12 years and you've been there for whoever been over this park for 10 years but the fact that a former elected official would be here and make a ridiculous claim, if we want to make a claim, we could do that. Because first of all, when the item was supposed to be on here, there were some people who went behind our backs to the media against the North. Yes, so if you don't know some details, So I could have, sir, we're not having that. It's okay. Well, no, no, no, no. Mr. Rowland, you know the process. And you're an attorney, used to be a mayor and a commissioner. I'm sorry, a city clerk. So you know the process. You came and made whatever claim that you want to make, which you have the right to do. I have receipts also. So excuse me, sir. So I'm just letting you know. And that was out of bounds. for you to even incinerate whatever you wanted to claim this, we want the best for North Miami. And I would hope that's what you want as well, regardless how any of us look or any community that we represent. With that being said, thank you.

I can do the report. Well, in lighter news, City of North Miami was awarded the Florida Stormwater Association Award, 2026 Outstanding Achievement Award for the North Miami Stormwater Parks and transforming a flooded property into resilient infrastructure. It's recognizing the city's innovative accomplishments and outstanding commitment to stormwater management practices. And we recently started a project to continue to restore the stormwater park that we have. And with that, I also want to say happy birthday to Yama Pierre, Chief of Staff. And that's my announcements. Thank you.

Will we defer the budget update for the next meeting?

We could give it if you just be the only one here and then we'll have to do it next. No no deadline we can do it in the next meeting.

The July meeting.

All right, thank you so much.

That's it. The meeting's adjourned.

Meeting is adjourned at 8.46 p.m. Good night, everyone.