Remarks by Mark Merwitzer
132 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 6
- Play at 9:31
“Thank you. I want to start by thanking our village clerk and village attorney because I texted them yesterday at around six o'clock with this and they jumped right on it. So thank you to both of you for jumping on this and being willing to work with me and notice this and get this ready for the meeting and also to the rest of the council for agreeing to this because I think this is a matter of incredible importance to our village because We are home to quite a few Haitians in our community, and currently the country of Haiti is under a level four State Department travel advisory. And for…”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 12:41
“I'll move the first amendment that's printed here.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 18:01
“Anyone else want to be a co-sponsor as well?”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 18:42
“Yeah, I also, since the mayor's office is here, I also wanted to point out that her office has been working on this issue, and I wanted to say thank you. So that's all.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 29:20
“Yeah, thank you for that. So by the sounds of it, the county is waiting for school to start and then they're going to do a traffic study and then do implementation of whatever ideas come out from that study.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 29:51
“Sure, and I guess my next question would be, I remember this council approved a 20 mile an hour speed limit, and I'm wondering if we decide to order those signs and implement that in the next fiscal year, I'm wondering if that area can be prioritized for that 20 in the surrounding area so that especially if they start getting cut through, we're already responding to that. I'm wondering if that's a possibility.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 30:13
“Perfect. And the last question is, I know that there's discussion about potentially doing some pop-ups or temporary measures in place in terms of the actual intersections around 87th Avenue. I'm specifically talking about potentially converting some of the four-way stops into mini roundabouts or other improvements that we've done elsewhere in the village with temporary or pop-up materials. I'm wondering if that's part of our consideration, if that's something the county could consider as well.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 43:18
“Yeah, so to your point about making some motions, yeah, I actually just had two based on our conversation. I'd like to make a motion to also request the county include in any studies that they do the consideration of expanding any bike paths and also the repair conditions of the sidewalks on 87th Avenue as well. So that's my motion.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 44:03
“The next one is based on our conversation with the manager about the quick build projects. I would also just urge the county to implement where feasible quick build projects are.”
Village Council · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 19:37
“Thank you. Looking through your exhibit on this item, it appears that staff already prepares, I guess, staff time spent on this item. I'm wondering if either the manager or the parks director can speak to, I guess, the calculation of that and what goes into that and also just overall, just to answer, this is already standard practice in terms of the calculation that we're seeing here?”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 20:34
“So by the sounds of it, your office is already doing this calculation, and what's in front of me is what you just said in terms of the actual staff time that you just said with the $17 an hour per staffer. Correct. Got it. Thank you. That's all I have.”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 25:01
“Yeah, I support this item. I think it's a good idea. At least from a baseline, we're already doing this work of the calculation here. So to me, if we're just gonna be able to budget what's available and essentially deduct from what's in that calculation, set a budget for it i just think that's responsible budgeting so that we have control over how much in terms of fee waivers we're giving out so i think it's a good idea the other thing i would also point out from an operations standpoint is looking at our budget from 2020 and seeing the positions that we had in parks and recreations then…”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 33:50
“they don't use it they have not had a problem so far let's don't create one thank you thank you no see no other public comment we'll close that and I'll turn it over to Vice Mayor Mark Marwitzer Thank You madam mayor after having conversations with both our police major and also representatives of the police benevolent Association I think it'd be best to give this item some more time to work on and also to address especially in the legal context and also in the context of the November ballot issue. So I would seek deferral to the September 14th, 2026 regular council meeting for this item.…”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 41:05
“Thank you. I want to start by thanking Major Rodriguez, Village Manager Nick Marano, and also our Village Attorney John Quick for their collaborative effort on crafting this ordinance. This is an incredibly important step forward for our village because over the past year or two, I have heard repeatedly from residents who are concerned about fast-moving e-bikes or other motorized devices on our sidewalks and shared use paths. People should be able to walk through Palmetto Bay without worrying about being struck, forced off a sidewalk, or being surprised by a heavy motorized device moving past…”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 45:14
“defer to our village manager but my understanding is it would be pretty minimal for example in pinecrest at the moment they're maybe having about once or twice a month a training session within their city hall and if the police are willing and available to do that training i think it's just part of our general programming and i also foresee this being available at the different events that we have across the village of palmetto bay i would agree with that okay other questions”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 46:36
“Yeah, so two things. The first, in terms of enforcement, and to address something that one of our residents mentioned in terms of the visual difference, there's actually throttle on Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes, which is what this ordinance targets. So on a regular just electric e-bike, that gives you a little bit of pedal assist. You won't even see the throttle. So that's going to be the visual differentiation. In terms of your second question as to who pays, I would defer to our village attorney on that because I'm not fully familiar. And on the enforcement methodology, I'm also happy to…”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 49:22
“So I don't think we can regulate that. I'll defer to our village attorney. But my understanding is that because under state law, these are not classified as typical motor vehicles, unless it's one of those higher powered, essentially e-motor bikes that you see, those would fall under the same classification as like a regular motorcycle. But for class two and class three, they are under a special designation where the requirements are a little bit different and insurance is not a requirement, which is part of why I wanted to have an acknowledgement. Because for example, if your kid's on an…”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 51:30
“Yeah, in response to that, I'm wondering if the concern is, if the enforcement's the concern, would you be comfortable approving something that's similar to what's in front of you here, except instead of, for example, a fine, we essentially do education as the penalty, especially in this context of, obviously, we're trying to figure out where the money would go. I think just education in general is a more productive way of handling this problem. So I would defer to you on that, but I think that would be a reasonable way of addressing this issue.”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 52:45
“So Pinecrest is currently doing them at village hall, um, at their village hall. And then also the idea as well as I know that the sheriff's office has a tense, the parks record parks and recreation department has a tense at most of our events. So I feel like doing some outreach there would be a good idea. And I also know historically speaking, I remember seeing some like helmet giveaways in the past as well. So maybe that can be part of that program as well.”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 53:14
“Yeah, it's administratively flexible. Yeah, my preference with ordinances is to leave it as administratively flexible as possible.”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 58:47
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 1:02:40
“Is there language out there? I haven't heard of this, but is there language where we can revisit in the December regular council meeting of 2027?”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 1:03:12
“I'll make a motion to add that to the ordinance, which is in the December regular council meeting of 2027, the administration shall make a report as to the trainings provided and enforcement and all other relevant information related to this ordinance. So that's my motion.”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 1:17:20
“Does either the village manager's office or the village attorney's office have a, I feel like in front of us is all of the different cases that we have and also description of the hours billed, et cetera. I'm wondering, do we already track by case the expenditures that we have?”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026
- Play at 1:18:30
“So it's already being tracked by case and it's already public records requestable, correct? Correct.”
Village Council · Jul 20, 2026