Parks and Recreation Committee - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to our beautiful July meeting of the Parks and Recreation Committee. Welcome. And I'd like the clerk to call the roll, please.

Yes, Chair. Chair Black-Bride?

Here.

Vice Chair Sanchez?

Here.

And Committee Member Olchik?

Here.

Chair, you have a quorum.

Thank you. Is this where I would ask to add comments? guess at every meeting a walk-on item yes uh uh number two agenda order to business okay welcome items or changes to the agenda whichever you like um there i don't see if anybody comes in we can stop and yeah and add the comments rather than waiting for that gentleman like was here for an hour and a half last time

i'd like to discuss the school bus anybody has any thoughts on i just have a couple of thoughts we could add that to the agenda new business yeah it will be new business under item 5a somebody will have to make the motion for you all those in favor say aye aye any opposed motion carries okay That will be discussion on school bus. It's item 5A. Okay.

And I understand you have some information on silver sneakers. Yes. Okay. Did we get a motion to approve the June 16th meetings, or if anybody has any changes to them? I didn't see any.

No.

It's okay with me. Okay. It's okay with Martha. It's okay with Oliver.

Just making the motion to approve them?

If I read it, I won't. It's good.

Siga. It doesn't say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries.

All right.

Mr. Hernandez, July 4th. 4th of July event. So overall, guys, I think we had a pretty good event. Obviously, we had to deal with the weather that was on and off. So from about 2, 3, 3 to like 5 p.m., we were closed for lightning. But what we did before, we just kind of regrouped. No, we organized the whole event from being outdoors and brought everything indoors to avoid that issue. We anticipated the weather not being great. So we had the giveaways, towels, shirts. Obviously that's a big hit every single year for that event. We had the arts and crafts, which was a big hit this year too. The food, we had kosher food, hot, ready to go kosher food available for everybody. That was a big hit from, again, from my feedback that I received. And then the drones and the fireworks went off about any issue as well. We had issues after, and obviously the weather. We lost power in the community center around 9 or 5 p.m. The transformer went bad, so there was no power from 9 to the next day at 9 p.m. But aside from that, it went really well. We had good feedback. About 900 people attended. So it was less than last year, but it was due to the weather. We had a lot of rain on and off, and the inclement weather kind of not helped us a lot.

What was in the air on that? and everybody was very welcomed, and fireworks were great. Even though I've been for years and years and years asking to all the towns to get together, so we don't spend any money on that, but whatever money is paid, it's, I mean, everybody was raving about it. Even the people that I had at home that live in, well, Harbaugh was in that sometimes.

Yeah, I got two or three from Bar, but I didn't make the one from Churchill.

And that's the first time I usually am to a party up in Melbourne and this time I didn't go because I'm dying to see this drone show. And I saw one at Disney. I think ours beat it to a pulp. I just thought it was really good and it was just exciting, except it was too bad that Miami Beach moved their fireworks to 73rd Street this year. So we had people, you could just tell people were looking at art, then they were looking down the beach at theirs. So, but it was a, I don't know, the weather was nice. People behaved themselves on the beach. Yeah, definitely the weather got better towards the evening.

Who does the music? It's our DJ. We program the music with the drum company and the fire company. So we program together to play the music on the beach.

Right, but I just thought it could have been a little more patriotic.

There was a little hiccup that he played different playlists than we should have played, but we'll get that corrected for him.

Do you see that? I did. I did see the show. I think the dogs are really happy with the drone show. It's probably our second year, maybe? Third year now. Third year with the drone, so it's a great compliment. Uh, to the traditional fireworks, I think people appreciate both. Um, and obviously there's good dividends to that. Um, you know, there's always a concern costs of things. But, um, you know, it's a time to to. Be patriotic, so I don't know if there's a.

like the the drone show adds cost to the yes it's a hundred thousand dollars for photos it's 65k for the drones and then 25 for the fireworks now it might mean all these funds are coming out from the resort tax nothing comes out from general funding so it's often the resort tax so the hotels are virtually paying for it right i mean i spent most of my time in the public area

For the fireworks show, I didn't venture into the beach area, but I believe that's open to the public. Yes. It was crowded because, you know, everything bottlenecked along there. You mentioned that the power went out unexpectedly at 9?

Around 9 or 5, we lost power in the actual communities. I remember we do that on the beach, so it didn't really affect the show. But in the center itself, we were no power.

And when something like that happens, I mean, that's probably the worst possible Typically, there's no one here at 9 or there, and it would be less consequential. Is there a plan for something like that?

First, we checked the breakers, make sure there was no issue with the breakers. At first, it wasn't fully gone. We had some light power in some places. So I wanted to see the breakers with my remaining person, and everything was fine. So then what we do is we report the FPL on the outage. They reported it, they came on site the following day in the morning. They saw that the transformer was fully fried. And I think the issue, the first issue that happened was on Thursday morning, afternoon, we had a lightning strike that hit and our LED screen went down. Our lifeguard office, the EC went down, so that was the first effect, and the network went down. So we had no phones working, we had nothing working for a while. So I guess all the power that we used on Friday for the event, with the landing on Thursday, kind of fried the entire transformer. But they were pretty quick. I mean, I know I got on the phone with Mark and Public Works, and I spoke to FPL, and they got a new transformer on site the following day, and it was back on around 9 p.m.

So the power outage was unrelated to any of the Fourth of July. Correct. Happening. Correct. So it didn't contribute. No. And that was my question. What was the cost?

and if an event such as for life does it draw power from the community center in any way you plug something in there yes yes yes yes okay we took typically we do stuff outside outdoors but this time around due to the weather we did it but mostly indoors so obviously we have vendors that are doing face painting or doing those other things that require power and we did it from inside But from what I got from FPL, that wasn't what triggered the whole issue. It was first a lightning strike, and then just it being old and corroded, it led to that. The town does not pay for that, I believe. That's all FPL property, and they're the ones that replace it and take care of the cost.

So it's an act of God. When something like that happens, and a community center is open, is there a backup of some? We don't have a general backup. There's a backup at Town Hall, I believe. I'm not sure. Don't go in there. I just want to be able to... Yes, almost certainly. That's right, you don't have a generator. There's a pool pump and stuff like that. We don't have one. So that's a thought, but more so just in the immediate moment when something like that, do you... Are you able to usher people through the premises and such just to continue with some operation?

I was on the beach and we couldn't come through the community center. there was no lights, but we came between the building, the new construction, and the lifeguards, or your staff, was out there with flashlights directing people up that walkway to get to commons.

Because typically we put temporary lighting on the green space and walkway into the commons. When the show's over, you guys come back in there obviously with a light walkway and path, and that wasn't the case this time around. So we had staff use flashlights and direct the traffic through the public entrance. That was a great one. Yeah, timely.

So it's something that is, you know, it's like that 100-year thing they call it, whatever they call it, the 100-year event. When we talk about having some backup so that it's not completely off, and that's a great point. We can do that. We can also talk about that in between the moment when, you know, before we have backup generators and in the event that something like that happens. I'm sure it was handled well because there was no incidents other than, you know, the unfortunate, but it can't happen. Anything that we can do to make your life a little easier, the town staff, you know, perhaps it's identifying other things that may or may not happen, there's power, plumbing, all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, that's a...

This is almost back to what Gerardo was saying, what's the future? We just discovered a problem, we don't have a generator. And technically, like I always bring up about the community center before we tore the existing community center down, before we had the weather channel, before we had cell phones, before we had more than three television channels, that was the place you met to hear about storms. At the community center, people came together.

And if we're a community center. Right. Thank you. To be as preparedness.

We also, you know, we are doing with yours. But we do have. The backup generator. Right.

I'm not sure why we don't have one. I'm not sure why it was designed that way. I don't know the full history behind that before I got here. But I'll find out. And obviously, yeah, we could get into that. But that's important. It's not. But we have some lightning network. I think there's an article that I read that there was over 25,000 lightning strikes in 24 hours, one day in July, which is a record.

We couldn't open or close the door that you come out with a push.

Because it probably fried the electricity, right? The power.

So then we have to do it mechanically.

Yeah, it was definitely a rough week. Movie night. Movie night. I mean, I was hoping to have Josh announce his item when he brought it up. So we had advertised for a movie night in the pool August 9th, but we had to move it into the park. The reason is because we got from the county, we were made aware that to swim at night, you need to have a certain amount of candle, you need three foot candle water to be able to do an outdoor swimming event in the pool. So we don't have that because we don't have permanent lighting. And even if we were to put temporary lighting, it wouldn't be enough to meet that requirement by the health department. So once we found out, we moved it back into the park. Obviously, at the park, we have lighting. There's no issue. It's not a pool. So we don't face the same issue. We've never, I mean, it's possible, but we've never had the issue of, if we have permanent lighting, it would be an issue. The street itself shouldn't be affected, but we have lighting after sunset that would be an issue with the trebles, yes. Okay.

So it's going to be at the park?

Yes. Same time, 8.30, we're showing Moana 2 at the park. And it's always been a success at the park. Yes, yes, definitely. We have ample space there to house even more people than we do at the pool. And the issue with the lighting, just in case you guys have any questions, if we do permanent lighting, obviously the cost is going to be astronomical. It will take long to install, but you cannot use it from the months of April to November for a turbo season. So you're going to be adding a feature that you're going to use half of the year. So that's why you need to determine the cost of it. Is it worth for six months to a year instead of for the full year? Because it's going to be a high cost.

You better don't do it because they always tell me that they cannot put the water warmer because it costs a lot. So you better don't say.

We're already operating about 13 hours a day. So the pool is open enough already. But just in case you have any questions about that.

It doesn't merit the... expenditure I don't think if you've got that time window considering the total season and something that's perhaps once or twice a month at the most with a relatively small attendance it may not be so the park is great in the park because it's dry it doesn't the county code doesn't call for the stadium lighting and stuff?

Well, we have like actual, yeah. So even if it did, it doesn't, but even if it did, we meet it, that requirement. Fantastic. Good evening.

Good evening.

another thing okay you're going to have a new problem at the end of the meeting but oh not a problem a a recommendation a recommendation okay next item 4c paddle which is the kayak kiosk vendor um i know mark you've been talking to him and i talked to him today in the morning nine something he will be on 23.

I think we just said that two minutes ago.

We just said it five minutes ago. I know.

Too many passwords. Go ahead.

Paddle, they're going to be on site tomorrow to install the first unit. So it's going to be a unit of eight items, but they come in parts. So the first one comes before paddle boards. That will be delivered tomorrow and installed tomorrow. Do you have an ETA on the other one? I don't have an ETA on the other one either.

I think they said like the end of the week or right after that.

I spoke to him in the morning. He still didn't have an exact date, but he told me he's working hard to get it in as soon as possible, which once the other unit of four kayaks comes in, it will be installed in conjunction with the first unit, and it will be one single unit installed together. But we should have the paddler boards working this week. I asked a question that you guys brought up last committee meeting. If you're a member and you book it in one site, you have to go back to that same site to return it. So you cannot book it in the search site and leave it in Miami Beach or vice versa.

Oh, they told us that?

I talked to him this morning about it, and I confirmed that. It was a question that came up last meeting, so he did confirm that.

They should have changed that.

The issue with that is that they have to replenish the kayaks and all that. That's probably more work on them probably. That's why they don't do it.

It's safer also for us to know that people aren't going to be coming in from other places. They are dropping in. So we will have better control.

Oh yeah, that's when we wanted someone to come in until the park is closed at 10 p.m. and drop it off. And the gates are closed and it's all dark in there. Two

question that I have. Back to the liability thing. Do we have a release that the town is not liable for the rental of the kayaks?

We have nothing to do with the rental of the kayaks. The release is signed before anyone uses the kayak through the paddle app. So if you haven't downloaded the app,

That doesn't answer my question.

We don't make them sign anything because we have nothing to do with it.

Not us, but are we still liable in some way where this town could be? I guess I can own my own answer.

Yeah, anyone can sue anyone is the answer. Because we've got the bigger pockets, obviously. Right, but we obviously have insurance for any such claim, and if one did come in. and they would secure us council and handle that.

It's not like a... A playground, a pool, a beach, it's all a liability. But like at the pool, you've got people watching it. At the park, you've got somebody there.

Yes.

Putting a kayak in the water and we ain't got nobody. But I'm just trying to save some side of dying.

It's understood and I hear you. But for protected...

Are the paddle boards to be available only for the club members or anyone, residents, the public can use them?

It will be open for residents, hotel guests, and for paddle members.

The rental units. And is there, with this waiver in mind, is there something for residents to sign if they bring their own paddle boards? No, you bring your own paddle boards. You launch, you come back, you can come back. movement for residents with their own equipment, right?

Yeah, subject to the owls of the park, yes. Right, and their, whatever they have.

So I'm happy to say that some of our younger residents went with their own paddles. There was a group of four, and they enjoyed the facilities without incident. There was a little confusion with the, not some, the fog, or the park attendant and this and that. They figured it out and they were, everyone was, had nothing bad to say about it. So that's a good use. Good use, for sure. That's being used as it should be.

And it should be used a lot more moving forward now with the vending kiosk there now. Yeah, I'm interested to see the use. It should definitely go up. Any other questions for the item? Where's the, where's the, I don't know, maybe I didn't do it right.

You haven't, there you go.

I was going to show it to you guys now on the next item. Okay, go ahead, go ahead. So the app is now live, as you can see. This is the app. You can download it in your Play Store or Apple Store on your phone. You put it on the search side. It'll be the person that comes up on the top. Get it, and then you have to have an active Retro account. So if you're not active with us in the community center, you won't be able to get into the app, regret it. So if you're not active, please go see us. Get yourself renewed. Right now, obviously, right now you can sign up for any programs online through the app. You can check our hours of operation, see our, even scan in with the app. So you can get your ID through the app yourself. You can click on scan in. The barcode should come up here. And with this barcode, you can go into the CADAC FOB and also the community center. We are now working on getting all the lap lanes and core reservations for tenants also done through the app. So it will be a one-stop shop through the app. After that, we're going to work on getting the ID renewal and everything through the app as well. So you don't have to come in person anymore. You can just submit everything through an electronic batch. We review the paperwork. If everything matches, obviously, what we require. We'll say approve, and then all you gotta do is come in if you wanted to get a physical ID. If not, you don't need to come in at all. Because you can have an ID to the app. We will all be signed to the app.

No, actually, I brought that up.

So we're going to have staff do an educational workshop maybe once or twice a week to educate people that are not tech savvy to how to get the app, how to use it, and go from there. So I'll be done hopefully soon. I'll let you know once you get a 10-minute break.

I don't know what my password is. I have to speak to the executive secretary. It works on your jitterbug.

Here's my email. Great. Thank you for getting us up to speed on these devices and such. I want to make sure that others who are not as versed on these things or they don't have a phone or something are able to get the things that they're entitled to. The visitors, hotel guests, I think the tourists are just the hotel guests, right? Correct. Are they able to get temporary access to the... to the app while they're guests in the hotel, or how does that work for them? I mean, it's tricky, right?

Not at the moment, because most hotel guests, all they need access to is the pool. They don't really stay enough to sign up for a program or any of that. So they have to bring us a paper from the hotel itself that lists, obviously, how long they're staying for, their names, and the number of guests. And that's what we see. Once they see that, they go into the pool. And it'll be the same for the park, for the kayak launch. I mean, you can show it to the attendant and you can go into the kayak launch. But we don't have a feature right now for the hotel guests. Do you have a lot? Do you know how many hotel guests? We have a good amount. Yeah, we have a good amount. Especially from the residence in, we get the most. On the weekend, mainly, too. Because of the beach?

Yeah. whether they use it or not, or to whatever extent they might use it when it's available, it's a data point, so it becomes something that is measurable.

We're going to see what we can do to have that type of control there in the app to see how we can add it on there. But my goal right now is residents, residents, get the ID renewal on the app, and then go from there. And especially with making the pool lanes and the tennis courts so much easier. They're already signed in. Correct.

Ready to go.

And we have to make sure now, obviously, through the app, whoever wants to use it, you have to be a resident. So in the past with the tennis center, it's hard to control. It's just a different system. It's not linked to our system. So it's a double standard you have to follow and enforce. Now we're all through here. So it will be much easier to keep track of the numbers, like you said. and know exactly who's on there at all times.

Is there any consideration to the demographic, like age, say, minors using the app?

You won't be able to use it unless you're 12, 12 or older. That's the only way you're able to enter the tenant center, the community center. On your own? Yeah.

Okay. So that's...

the staff trained on that, because I know there is such a turnover in this stuff. I mean, some of them don't even know who I am, even though I go there every week, at least once a week. So in the morning, some of them don't even know who I am. I said, you think I have to go?

Don't worry, I'm going to share it. People know who you are from now on. But yeah, most of them have been trained already, especially the ones that work the front desk. They all know how to use the app, how to download it, and how to educate the public in case you guys do not have any questions on how to use it as well. And like I said, we're going to do the education workshop soon, and we'll have one or two full-time staff run that workshop, so you guys can obviously ask any questions you may have on how to use it, how to download it, and what you can do with the app. Yeah.

Do you want to talk about silver sneakers?

Silver sneakers, I know there was a question last meeting regarding the cost of it. So right now, we have about 25 to 30 participants in that class every Tuesday and every Friday. The cost of the class is $10 if your insurance does not cover the program. Most people in the class have their insurance that do cover. So I want to say about 60% have it, and before he doesn't have it. We've had about one or two complaints from one or two different people that are complaining about the cost, which is $10 per session. I spoke to the insurances. Someone covered it, someone don't. I spoke to that person that complained about it. She's a former commissioner. And I told her, listen, the insurance is not covered. I called her insurance on her behalf, and they have a different plan that does cover it, but she does not want to leave the plan, which I understand. That option. Correct. Okay. Correct. The only other option is if you want to supplement the cost for the residents is, hey.

Boy, I really have to search you out. Hello.

Hello. Hi.

So did you start yet?

Yes, yes. I'll go back. I'll recap. I'm sorry.

It silenced it, but...

So as I was saying, our class now runs every Tuesday and Friday. The class is free to the Silver Sneakers program that have the insurance cover. And then if you don't have any insurance, it's $10 per class. The issue is that some of the participants don't have the insurance plan that covers that class, and we've had multiple complaints from some people that obviously the cost being too high. So the only option we have now to supplement the class is if we were to pay the instructor more an hour, which right now we pay her $40. And talking to her briefly last week about it, she will require about $120 to $140 an hour to be able to supplement the loss that she will have from not charging the $10.

That $10 goes to her salary?

Yes, from the ones that don't have the insurance program. The insurance pays her $2 from what she said to me. So obviously any participant that has the insurance, she gets $2 from those individuals.

What is $2?

That's what, again, I haven't confirmed it, but that's what she. You will have to pay the instructor $10 per session.

At what point can I speak? Do I fill out a card or anything?

You can fill out a card. Whenever the chair recognizes you, you can speak.

Who's the chair? No, we're on this item. So what is, bring up your points and then please fill out the card for this documentation.

So I've been looking into this because I really, I think the seniors need to have something at no charge. And this is our community. And my maybe a while ago, Tim says a while ago, but it used to be free. And then some of the insurance healthcare carriers started to allow it. Now, mine does, but at gym facilities. And digging into it, this is not considered a gym, it's considered a community center. So one of the possible options is to consider it a gym. I don't know how you get recognized, but because it's considered a community center and not a gym, I have to go down to 71st Street to the Crystal Beach Gym or to LA Fitness because my insurance covers silver sneakers, but at the gym. So this is like And I've gone to these classes and had to pay $10. I would like to participate twice a week, every month, which means it's $80, close to $100. And we're on a fixed income. So we're search side. We should be doing better for our seniors. We don't have any... exercise programs. We don't have a gym. We don't have exercise programs for free. We have to pay for Zimba aquatics. We have to pay for everything. I would love to do the yoga and Pilates as well, but it's costly. We have no free exercise programs for senior citizens. It helps to keep us happy and alive. Understand, I don't know what your budget is, but I feel like we should have something in the budget for senior citizens.

I remember when I used to be for free because I used to attend those classes. They were not professionals. They were people like... Trained, you know, or certified? They were people from this community center that they were doing exercise. This was years ago. So when they moved to this new... they did that. My insurance wouldn't cover the same thing as yours.

So I also reached out to some other residents, senior residents, and I don't know if I was going to speak. She goes down to the Crystal Beach gym also for silver sneakers in the gym. And we shouldn't have to, like, But I also reached out to Eli Turgerman, who said he wasn't free tonight, but he said he brought Silver Sneakers program here to the town some years ago. It was free with Care Plus members. But all that has changed now. And he's not able to come to these exercise classes either because no insurance covers it. And he indicated that there would

That's not a true statement, though. There are insurances that cover it.

Do you know which plans they are? Because everybody in the class, there's no one that could tell me that their insurance was covering it.

I believe when I spoke to him, I really didn't remember to your insurance, when I spoke to him, they had a plan called United. I don't recall the second part, but United something, which I don't know. We talked about it briefly. United Health.

But that's what it would have. That's what we have. That's what we have.

It was a plan in UnitedHealthcare that had it. The one that you had a commission didn't have that one at the moment, but obviously it wasn't worth it for you to switch from what you have now to that one just for now.

My plan is that plan, and it allows silver sneakers, but I have to go travel to some university, to the gym, or LA Fitness up in North Miami. It's just because this is considered a community center and not a gym. I don't know.

I'll be happy to inquire through the sneakers and see what are the requirements to be changed on that. We might not meet it, but I'll be happy to inquire and see what is it that they require. And if we do, I'll be happy to sign up for it and maybe fall in that category of gym. Okay? Yeah. I mean.

Put a Zumba ball in there. We'll be okay.

Everybody is raving about the teacher. They say she's fantastic. Yes, yes. And she's very informative.

She's an instructor from SilverSneakers.

I'll find out exactly from her what are the plans like that. I know one of the ones in your insurance that covers it, not the one that you have now. But I'll find out what other plans have it, and I'll go from there too. But I'll definitely inquire about the SilverSneakers label as a gym. How we can...

include this facility. It just gets down to the type of facility.

Yeah, if it's possible and wherever we meet it, then we'll definitely go that route, okay?

Okay. She's very good, this lady. Oh, she has a big following, yeah. Everybody that's there.

Yeah, I've gone, but I had to pay, and I would like to continue.

How many people are in the class?

Oh, 20.

Yeah.

She's had 20 to 25 sometimes. Yeah, she has a full labor. 20 to 25. And her cost now to the town is how much?

$40.

So you pay $40, and then we pay, the non-members pay.

The non-members. Yeah, because when you go to her personally, I think she charges us about $20 or something.

When she does private, she charges a lot more, yes.

She charges a lot more.

And what would she want? If she had 20, she's supposed to give me a proposal to let me know exactly, but she just, in talking to her briefly, she mentioned 120 to 140. But she's going to break it down based on what she makes now and see what is, you know, what's the number that's worth for her to do it for, just for the time to pay her completely. Which right now we don't pay any instructor that much money. No. Our average is 70, 65, 70K. Right. Yeah.

Through the chair?

Mm-hmm.

I'm recently retired, so I've got the packet, and I'm not very well versed on this, but I do understand that certain private gyms do honor some benefits that come with basic Medicare. I haven't looked into it, but I know people that use them. They have one in North Miami, and others don't. They don't abide by that, but if we have a trained professional That is paid by the town. I'll just say simply, I think that the town should consider subsidizing senior residents that want to participate in the ongoing programs. Whatever it is, anything that encourages and promotes physical culture, physical fitness among the elderly and everyone else for that matter. But I think that, you know, very simply said, we should seriously consider subsidizing that. It's already ongoing. the conditions that, you know, whether it's a, I don't know what a gym is, and what a gym isn't, or for that matter, a community center, but I urge everyone to be fit of mind and body. They go hand in hand, and our senior residents who just served that, I think they They've paid into it. They shouldn't be burdened by, you know, a $10 fee or something like that. How many classes does she teach a week? Twice. Tuesday and Fridays.

Like we discussed last month in the meeting before, to make that almost ADA compatible, to make it up to the standards of a gym, would be more cost than building a gym, I guess.

Yeah, I looked into that also. It's on several different levels. And where the rooms were, the locker rooms and the bathing rooms, they were separated, men's and women's, so you would have to go out in your towel to go to a steam room or to the locker from working out. I don't know, is there anything on the table for a gym?

We don't have a gym. We need a facility I know sometimes I don't make too much sense, but we have a gym of sorts. It's just spread out along the beach path.

Would that be considered, would that qualify as a gym?

Today? 134 degrees?

I'm just saying we actually have the main gym. Nobody is using those much. I walk everywhere. Excuse me, ma'am.

Please state your name and address for the record.

Name and address for the record. Amparo Corbeor. Amparo Corbeor. Can you please fill in this little card as well?

Do you do it during the day in the sun?

I used to do it very early.

It does get some use by the local wildlife.

When they check the turtle nest.

Can we get a motion to put this in form of a motion to bring this through the commission that until we can get clarification for insurance companies what a gym is that the town could supplement the instructors for the two classes a week until we can get clarification that's not continuous till we can get clarification how does it it may be putting equipment into a Where do they do the collections? In the little room? In the smaller room, in the fishbowl.

I'll be happy to sponsor that if I were in the sun there. Are you saying that...

I'm just saying I'm not going to tie the town into making this a permanent issue. If the commission wants to do that. But I'm saying until we can do some research, Adrian, with this instructor, on what specific insurance companies... would cover the classes, or what does it take to make our room a gym so the classes could be covered by all insurances? But until that time, if the commission wishes, then the commission could supplement the difference of, if she doesn't come back with, oh, $200 a glass, well, forget it, honey. You know, you ain't worth that much. I'm going to go out there and learn how to Zumba.

You'll never be there.

Absolutely. I see nine groups of children a day. I'll match your Zumba with that any day.

is mr manager is that a uh a fair recommendation from the board to go to the commission to see if they would entertain that thought yeah we're in the middle of a budget cycle now so um now would be the time to ask hit them up to be included but the motion will be to do it this fiscal year well it's pretty much over so you know yeah this is last week

Well, according to the... Yeah. Yeah, and then we'll start again in September. It would basically be for FY26.

Right. So the motion would be to subsidize the classes until we can get clarification about the insurances or how to designate our little room, our exercise room, as a gym room.

If someone would need to quantify what we're talking about, I mean, the subsidy... The subsidy we're talking about is for how many? $10 a person. For how many people, right?

But it would be a flat cost to the class. She's either $40 or $140, right?

We now leave free to the instructor for the duration of the class. So twice a week, for eight weeks. I could do that math. Yeah, because you just know the numbers. Okay.

Will anybody make a motion?

Let's hear the motion. Let's hear it. Let's hear the motion.

I have a motion. Motion to bring to the town commission for the town to supplement the structures classes for silver sneakers until clarification is done with the insurances or until the community center can be recognized as a gym.

Basically, yes.

That's what I had.

Do you want to add anything? I mean, I'm old. I'm a little confused. I think that it makes sense.

I mean, I'm with you. If I could go to a class for free, because I know my insurance with the school board didn't cover it, and then I had Medicare, and I don't know what that covers. I've got to speak to the executive secretary again.

Nothing's free. Right. It's going to sort of come from somewhere, and when I go to the gym class... we count the heads, right? And so the instructor gets a, there's a dollar amount attached to each head that may or may not be the right way to do it here. So I think that if we have an ongoing program of silver sneakers, that's sort of just like exercise sessions, do some floor stuff, some chair stuff, some calisthenics. And is there a cap on the number of people? Yes. And what is that? 30. 30. And on a typical session, sorry, I want to... just discuss it a little further. Are you getting 10, 20? About 20. You say you get 20, but that's twice a week? Correct. And the instructor is a trained professional or whatever? Oh yeah, he's certified. People are happy. So the motion is to find out what constitutes a You haven't been able to get it from the insurance company.

back with it was classified i called your insurance i'm going to call super sneakers so let's see yeah that we required to fall into that into that criteria and go from there. Yeah.

Because I couldn't get, I couldn't only go so far because I was not a facility asking for this overseas. Right.

I mean, it might be that 10 formats, 10 yoga mats is sufficient or, you know, some, like you said. And you do have a certified instructor.

Yeah, I don't know that.

You're not just, you know, that might be the easy solution. Quick is an easy solution. I'll go on the next weekend and see what we can do.

But that was, you got the first half of it. The second half that I brought up, I wanted to have the town to supplement the salary. How many people? No maximum of 30, but whatever she comes back with, as long as it's within a comfortable range, that until we can get some kind of a clarification with the insurance company, that the town would supplement, so the classic would be free.

I would imagine that right now, I think that right now we're doing that, I don't know, but I would imagine we're coming with the Zumba, because I pay $7. So I'm sure that you're supplementing that in order to pay her.

We pay her an hourly fee, but we charge senior residents less than we charge adult residents. Adults get paid $15 per class. Seniors pay $5 or $7. $7? Except for drop-ins, yes, $7 and $10. But if you do the whole session, you pay less. It's $5 per class for the whole session.

Do hotel guests, do we know, are they using the silver sneakers at all? Do they pay? Is it available to them? I don't have the data.

I just remember it all goes through her. In the classes I attended, I didn't see anybody from there.

I think our senior residents that want to stay fit, we should provide, even as a temporary thing, some kind of voucher, something that will waive those $10 per class until we figure this out.

Questions? we pay this instructor a flat fee for up to 30? Up to 40. Up to 40 students per class?

No, no. Oh, you mean they're not. So the max is 30 based on the capacity of the room that we have. We cannot go past that. What is our agreement with the lady? That we pay her $40 an hour.

$40 an hour, max 30 people.

Correct.

And... Does she care how she gets her $40? She gets $40, period? Period. Whether one shows up or 30 show up. It's a one-hour class, I'm going to guess. Does she get $40? Flat fee. Flat fee from the town. But she also gets money, you said, from the insurance.

And from the people that don't want insurance.

The people like me. I have to give her cash.

Well, I'm trying to understand. So... How does she know who's insurance and who's not?

They show her some proof that shows that they're eligible. And with that card, I would see the insurance would put into her $2 per person.

Is that part of our contract with her?

No.

That's through her. So maybe we need to look at that contract. It's like she's making out.

Two bucks from you, ten bucks from you, two bucks from you. Yeah, yeah. The town's not getting any of it.

I don't think so.

The town's getting the service of the class.

We're providing the town's getting healthy seniors. No, I'm saying we're providing a space.

She doesn't have any overhead. She has an overhead.

She has an overhead. Yeah? Yeah. It sounds good. It sounds good. She charges more Chinese than $40 in Balmoralis per person. I think she charges... Now, this is $40 per class. Yeah. So what I'm saying is that I think that she would entertain the idea that she would be making more of the same thing in Balmoralis.

No, she definitely wouldn't. She had a higher cost than what I anticipated in her mind. $120, $140 an hour is... uh-huh but in that case we'll get the revenue so maybe that doesn't different because right now every other shift that we pay them an hourly fee but we get the revenue from the program yeah this one we don't yeah let's look at the contract yeah and so we're talking two classes at two hours a week short yeah so eight classes a month and eighty dollars yeah you should get 40 a class as well oh yeah yeah 80 a week Plus whatever she makes. Plus the $10 cash. It's the plus that I want to look at the contract.

$10 cash. Sounds like she's doing pretty good. Anyone without a card. I know.

That sounds like a side gig. And you are right.

She's using the facility. Because when I was teaching private lessons, they charged me for the facility.

Right.

They pay my salary, but from their salary I have to pay for the, to use the classroom. And my character says the same thing. That's what I'm saying, because I don't know that in Balmoran she doesn't have to pay for the facility. Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if she does or not.

It's the same for the country.

Do you want to table the motion so I can look at the contract? I'd rather get it started.

I'm sorry. Did you already? Is there a second motion?

Not yet. What's your recommendation? I mean, it's July.

We only have one more class until September.

No, I understand, but I don't necessarily... need the recommendation. I'm here. I'm preparing the budget. I'm going to look at the contract. I can include something in the budget is my point.

So it sounds like you need to do it now.

I'm doing it now. The budget is right now. So I'll look at the contract. I understand the issue. I got it. Can we hear it again?

Are you going to second it? I want to hear it again.

The motion that I have is still the first one because the second one was not clearly done. So the motion that I have written down is a motion to bring to the Commission for the time to supplement the instructor's classes for silver sneakers until clarification is done with his insurances or until the community center can be recognized as a gym. The second motion was not clearly done.

Well, there was two motions. There was only one. No, there's only one. Okay. But under the recommendation of the manager, he would like to hold it rather than bring it to the commission, just include it as an item on the budget that the classes, unless this lady comes back with some outrageous salary, that we could, and what are we going to, like I say, review the contract to see,

We need to work together. Yeah, because something doesn't sound right about the arrangement. And I want to see what we have.

Towards the other classes that we offer?

Towards how she's collecting additional monies. That's the part that looks a little something.

How would that interfere with? with making a motion, what would be the difference if you made a motion tonight?

Because it might move this whole motion. And you know, there are other trainers. She's not the only certified silver sneaker trainer.

I was going to bring that up.

No reflection on it.

Because they're all good, even

And to be fair, this ambiguity, it's ambiguous now because we don't really know, but people make do with how they make do. It's not good or bad. It's just the way it is. So if she's able to do that, then we should be aware of it.

He's a small person doing a small thing that does good for the town. He looks at the contract and negotiates. Are all these contracts up at this time of the year?

They typically have termination clauses that we can get out of at any time. So that would be... And typically they're going from October 1st to September 30th.

So yeah, there's a point that I was going to renew them for October. Honestly, we're going to cancel them before that point. Okay.

Like you say, maybe this is... So get the facts. We don't have all the facts. I'm just looking at... I was just looking at something to... Well, why don't we...

Does this get... Because it starts September 3rd again. So at least if you have...

They're not going to... It's going to take two meetings for them to discuss it.

Right.

But if it's in the budget array... then you're not going to have a discussion on it. They're just going to approve the budget.

Is it in the budget right now?

No, but he can... I can add it to the budget for that commission's consideration, and then you can speak to the commission.

At what juncture?

Right now. In August and September. This is the whole season.

Okay, you know. No, I wanted to make sure. I know, I know. But I wanted to make sure I knew what you were talking about.

Well, you need to bring your silver sneakers, buddies, to the commission meeting.

So the motion puts this in the spotlight as quick as possible. I'm looking for the quickest way to get relief.

for our elderly residents that want to use this and are the quickest ways through contract review and negotiation with the vendor which is what i will undertake when i get the contract after this meeting yeah that sounds really good and does the motion help you do that the motion has nothing to do with that because the motion is directed to the commission but um I can deal with the commission through the budget process if I see that it's necessary. Should I not be able to resolve it through the contract review and discussion with the vendor?

And then, Adrian, will you add this to the agenda next? Yeah. So we can make sure that it kind of actually continues.

And hopefully it'll all be solved. So, yeah, let's prioritize it and let's make it in for a short week.

Mm-hmm.

I will call them tomorrow, I promise. And I'll reach out on my behalf to see what we can do to categorize it.

Yeah, and it's not just me. It's several people I wrote to that couldn't be here tonight. Thank you for your consideration.

And thank you for your time. Oh, anytime.

Is this where you meet all the time now?

This is, yeah, this meeting is.

Okay. Thank you. Okay.

Have a good night. Thank you.

You're welcome. Hope to see you there. Okay.

Okay. And we're up to item five.

By the way, the fireworks are great.

So we just leave it all to him.

He died for lack of a second, so nothing happened.

I'd like to bring up for discussion the school bus situation. We're spending $12,000 to $14,000 a month for 25 children. Yeah, about $28,000.

28 children, that's... A little less than that. 425 average. Sometimes 29, sometimes 19, 18.

It's not consistent. So there's no... If mom shows up, decides to get out of bed and bring the kid to the bus stop, the kid gets on the bus. If not, the kid gets there anyway. Because I guarantee the kid's not staying at home with mom. I just have been not a fan of this since the commission. And I say we tried it, but it's an expensive thing.

We went to a smaller bus now. I think we're paying $11,600.

And the numbers are basically, and this is with this particular vendor. Obviously, there are other vendors that we could explore if the commission wants to pursue it. But when we reduced the size of the bus, it was $690. That's how I came up to, it was basically $25 per kid per day. That's how it comes down.

Round trip.

Round trip. Has the commission discussed any of this? This has come up recently in some e-mail topics. They will be discussing it. Again, there are some members of the commission I can't say if there's a majority or not, but I know some support it and some don't. And it's going to come up again. But it did expire on June 30th, and if they're going to readopt it, it will happen very soon. There's arguments on both sides.

$690 a day, so that's $345 a trip. to take kids from here to there.

Is this one of those things where they're also getting paid from the school board or something? No, no, no.

This is all private and I just think… And they're certified.

When you're doing Surfside, you can't do another school.

This is a privately engaged company for Surfside students.

Is it a luxury coach?

Yeah, some argue it's too luxurious. There may be a cheaper option.

A courtesy shuttle type of vehicle?

So there's a few options that I have been looking at. One, I'm waiting for a school board member, Geller, and this office to tell me this week, one way or another, if they're going to include bus stops from Surfside, even though the rule... It's not within the two-mile range. Well, yeah, but there's flexibility. That's a statutory rule that you're referring to, and I've already looked at it, as well as the school board rule on it, and... Like anything else, the school board could do more than the statute requires if they choose to. So I've asked, and they're supposed to give me an answer. Then her dad, we've all heard Doe before. But with the cutbacks of 47... There's a lot. They have shortages, and I get all that. Big time shortages this year. But they're still driving buses to Ruth K. Broad for some people. So I figured if they...

I just know that my parents at my school paid $24 a week to ride Rosanna's bus. Rosanna came to North Miami. She made multiple stops, brought them to Natural Bridge. It was basically $23 to $25 a week. Is that per bus? Per child. Per child. I just think it's a parent's responsibility to make an arrangement for their child to go to school. Either you take them, they walk. I don't want them riding scooters and the electric bikes, but we already pay for an officer to be at the school, correct? Yes. And a nurse. Really?

I mean, there's a long time ago, yeah. A nurse? That's when we started.

We share the cost, you see. We share the cost with the SIPCOS. We share the cost with Bay Harbor and Bell Harbor. We share the cost with this. Because school zones are a little different, aren't they? We don't share the cost of the bus. No, the cost of the bus.

The police officer is. Is that one officer? Yeah. We put a second. Every school now has a school board police officer. We supplement that with another officer.

And then there's a certified nurse. Yes. Is that cost? So there's our zip code, but there's a school zone. It's a little different. Boundaries, correct? It's pretty much 315. It goes by zip? Okay. You know, I think I don't think a lot about this because my kids are all grown up and I'm not involved with the school much, but As the development, as the area develops, we used to have K-6, now it's K-9, right? Bigger school, more traffic. I think we all want to get cars off the road at these peak times. you know, there's value in making life bearable for residents and the motoring public. And, you know, there's a lot of frustrations that people feel. You've got to do this thing twice a day, and you've got to do it 15 miles an hour. with the camera now and the tickets and all this kind of stuff. And you do the 15? Yeah, you do the 15. That's fine. The 16, you know, I don't know. But, you know, we want to alleviate the traffic congestion. $12,000 a month. I understand that.

I'm trying to...

it all on a scale and see where this, you know, how it goes out.

What do you think of the books we have here, the little books that they're all used to have?

Gone.

They're gone.

Freebies, free rides, freebies. Freebies.

They have freebies.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I know.

But there might be that, whatever we would pay

Can families use freebie to send their kid to school?

So the answer is you can use freebie, and it does go to Bay Harbor Islands. In fact, I have a backup plan, which I'm waiting to get our new freebie vehicles, which are going to be the VW ID Buzz, like SUV, minivan types vehicle. So we will have two of those. that will hold up to 14 people. So in theory, you can use those to transport a group of kids as an example. But I don't have those yet, so I can't say if they'll be available at the start of the school year or not. But that was another plan. That's a great idea.

You know, having your kid taken to school and brought back to the house, that is kind of like a...

It's a real nice thing. They're brought to the house.

They're brought to certain points.

$24 a day per child. My parents were spending $24 a week for door-to-door service, not dropped off at the dog park or wherever.

Yeah. Paws Up Park is one stop. The garden is the other stop.

I think that would be a great answer.

I say Tim and I get a bus.

Frank, that's your retirement plan.

I'm telling you.

That's a lot more than I get for doing nine groups of kids a week. I'll tell you. And I know insurance is incredible for a bus. And I know that they have to be inspected every single month. That was Maria's and Rosanna's and all of the private bus drivers I used to deal with. And I have to take it downtown. It's a whole day. I drop the kids off. I have to sit there all day to get my bus inspected. Every single month was $30-some. But it is what it is. That was my question.

Who monitors the bus when it gets picked up?

You know? Sure. Does this bus get inspected? I don't know.

And also, when the kids go from the park, to here to the community center for the different activities. How do we, what do we use for transport?

Most of them bikes and a lot of them walk, scooter, I mean.

Okay, so then maybe we can. I could buy you a scooter for four bucks a day. No, but the transportation with the car, the 3D. It's going to be cheaper.

I just wanted to bring this up because it has been a discussion of residents that don't have children. It's the same old thing. Why do I have to pay taxes for schools? I don't have any children.

I see the older kids and they bus by in the morning and you see those things that you're not a fan of. and they fly by and, you know, I think, oh great, you know, they're getting themselves to school. This is not a, this is a great neighborhood. I think Opie, Mayberry should have, families should have freedom and comfort that kids can go to school and come back of a certain age and have that reassurance, you know, so it's great that we have that here. The little ones, you know, I mean, they're all our kids, but the little, little ones, I mean, you can't expect them to vote.

The little ones don't go on.

It's grades two and up. It's grades two and up, yeah. It's two and up, so you're up to eight-year-olds and up.

Frank, can I just tell you that this is going to be before the commission, because I've been privy to a lot of emails about this, and it's coming up on

I don't have an answer on that, Martha, but that's a whole separate thing. They do their own thing. We do our own thing. It would be great if Gellert could supply a bus.

Because I guarantee, it used to kill me. I would have some special needs buses, a 66 passenger special school bus. One child gets on. One child. Door-to-door service.

No.

Child handicapped in a wheelchair, mental handicapped, I got you. One? You mean the driver couldn't go to two, three stops? One. The principal was telling me in summer school, we have a middle up to 22 years old. He has 29 buses every afternoon. Some of them take home one child. And some of these children, like I said, have mental problems and physical problems. They're 22 years old.

And I took the kid to school every day. I walked her in. I was able to pull over. It seems like those days are gone, whether you're stuck trying to get out of town and get back in. And I'm not one to tell others how to go about their day, but you could just take your kid to 96th Street and let them walk the rest of the way. And I have to come in, I come home at 2 o'clock every day.

Bay Harbor's got the lock. These ladies, and I don't know, they're not certified crossing guards, but they're certified at some point. They are a lot. Boy, you try to get past that white line. They will tag you. So they are.

They're like the military police out there. Can you see some motivational idea where you get people excited about something and the kids know that?

We're retired now. Make it exciting.

Make it interesting. Get the kids to the park where there's already someone there. Have them walk the rest of the way and vice versa. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money.

When Michael went to school with Bay Harbor, one thing that bothered me was walking them to school. I didn't want to walk themself over the bridge, the water bridge. Anything else for the good and welfare of the pool eater?

Pool eater. Mark has a bad reputation.

Anyone making a motion to adjourn?

Motion to adjourn.

I motion to adjourn. Don't leave me.

Second.

All those in favor?

Yeah.

Yes. Meeting adjourned.